Auum smoothed the verbena paste across Elyss’ forehead, up into her short-cropped hair and along the line of her nose and cheeks, leaving no speck of skin visible.
‘Close your eyes,’ he said. He covered her eyelids and worked the paste into the corners of her eyes. She winced. ‘Sorry. All done.’
Elyss opened her eyes and smiled. ‘Your turn.’
‘I can’t wait,’ said Auum, closing his eyes and leaning forward.
Their poison of choice lay at their feet: black cap mushrooms, finely cut and warmed over a hidden flame to dry them out ready for sprinkling. Auum had no idea if human magic could defeat their harsh toxins, but the thought of causing widespread gut cramps that felt like evisceration, combined with vomiting and shitting blood, and leaking bile from ruined kidneys, however temporarily, would give the ClawBound fresh opportunities to strike and buy the TaiGethen more precious time.
By the time Elyss was finished Ulysan had placed the dried mushroom crumbs in two small leather pouches. He threw one to Merrat and the other to Auum.
‘Swim with your arm in the air.’
‘I’ve got a much better idea,’ said Auum.
They swam slowly and gently, hidden behind the rainforest debris that washed continually down the Ix from the Cerathon Falls a few hundred miles to the south. Auum and Merrat perched their pouches of mushrooms atop knots of vines and branches.
Approaching the lead barge, Ulysan and Elyss slipped away into the shadows of the craft’s hull. Auum abandoned his float as he reached the fourth barge. Merrat’s cell was heading for the eighth and twelfth barges. Auum rested a hand on the hull, the mushroom pouch caught between his thumb and forefinger.
Lights ringed the gunwale rail, pooling weakly on the open forward deck, which was filled with soldiers attempting to sleep. Guards wandered along the rail, their eyes on the banks of the river some hundred and fifty yards to either side. They knew what lurked in the water. Not one of them trailed a lazy hand in it.
Auum worked his way towards the stern, past the mast to the cargo stays, where dozens of barrels, sacks and crates were lashed to the deck a beneath a timber rain hood. The tiller deck was behind them, three steps up and surrounded with its high rail. Four men stood there talking, looking along the length of the barge and directly across the cargo.
Auum tossed the pouch in among the nearest sacks and waited, looking upstream. He could make out Ulysan’s head at the prow of the lead barge. Of Elyss there was no sign until her head broke the surface and the pair of them began moving along the length of the craft.
Gently, as if propelled by the merest breath of wind, the barge began to turn towards the bank, pivoting on the stern anchor. A single shout of alarm sent men scurrying about the deck. Orders to raise the sail echoed across the river and Auum saw men hauling on the anchor rope only to discover it untied. When the barge was at almost ninety degrees to the others, Elyss released the aft anchor as well.
Above Auum, the deck had come alive. Men ran down to the prow. The tiller deck emptied, scowling sailors marching forward, leaving one looking suspiciously down at the spot where his anchor rope disappeared into the dark water. Auum heard raucous laughter and a few cheers from within the barge, over which furious shouts and orders fought to be heard.
Auum moved quietly around to the rear of the tiller deck. The guard was still staring down, almost daring his anchor to shift, when Auum saw the merest shadow in the water, about three feet down, heading for the rope. He smiled.
Something flashed up the rope, using it to propel herself out of the water. Elyss slammed into the guard, a dagger thumping into his throat. He made a low gurgling sound, cut off when he hit the deck. Auum stared over at the fifth barge, fifteen yards away in the gloom. No one had seen her.
Auum moved silently onto the deck, keeping himself low. Elyss was kneeling over the body, her hands slick with his blood.
‘I’m sorry,’ she said. ‘There was no other way to do it. But they’ll see this, won’t they?’
‘Don’t worry about it. Watching all those humans has given me a better idea than all this stealth nonsense. Watch for my signals.’
Elyss nodded, wiped her hands on the soldier’s leggings and moved forward along the port side of the cargo. Auum retrieved the pouch and crawled over the cargo, beneath the rain hood, sniffing at the lid of each crate and barrel, seeking dried meat. He found it in four barrels, all securely lidded and three sealed. The fourth had been opened. Auum used a knife to lever the lid up and sprinkled mushroom shavings over the salted meat strips, mixing it in with a hand.
He replaced the lid; next, grain. The humans had a bizarre fondness for barley soups and stews, and it would be stored in sacks. Auum crawled back down to the deck, motioning Elyss to return to the tiller.
Another loud commotion broke out: Merrat’s Tai must have begun their attack. Auum smiled and began checking the sacks. Three were open and roughly tied at the neck. Auum glanced down the length of his barge. Men were walking back down the deck — one was waving soldiers back to their mats with little success. The other three were marching with some purpose towards the tiller.
Auum’s time was short. He grabbed the thin rope from the neck of a sack and tipped the mushroom into the top. He scooped it under the surface and pushed the rope back round the neck, hoping it would go unnoticed. Ahead, the trio were splitting up to walk either side of the cargo. Two were coming Auum’s way; so much the better.
He looked behind him. Ulysan was now on deck with Elyss and both of them had seen the approaching danger. Good. It was impossible to ignore this opportunity to inflict more damage on the enemy… and as for their own escape, they’d just have to make that up as they went.
Auum pressed himself hard into the shadow of the cargo. Humans were blind and these two men wouldn’t see him unless they stepped on him. He drew a dagger and held the blade close to his body, hiding the shine. The deck was only wide enough for one man. The pair didn’t stop talking as they hurried on, gesturing angrily at the barge behind them and the commotion ahead of them.
They were four paces from Auum when he stood to block their path, shouting in the ancient tongue of the elves, ‘ Flethar kon juene bleen.’ Make the river red.
Auum leapt forward and flashed his dagger across the first man’s face. He threw up his hands up to defend himself. Auum reversed the blade across the backs of his hands, stepped in and jabbed an elbow up into his throat. The man began to choke, his eyes widening in fear as Auum spun on his left leg and cracked his right foot into the side of his enemy’s head. The move was quick. The man lost his balance and plunged into the river.
Auum did not pause. He ran at the second sailor, straight-kicked him in the stomach and shoved him hard on the shoulders as he doubled over. The man scrabbled for a hold on the ropes tying the cargo. Auum swept his dagger down, severing a finger. The man cried out and fell sideways into the water. It was only a matter of time now.
Auum paced past the cargo and on to the open deck. To his right, Ulysan was moving past the falling body of the third sailor and mirroring Auum’s advance. Elyss was behind him. Ahead, the enemy were just waking to the fact they were under attack. Shouts echoed across the river. Men surged to their feet, seeking weapons and armour.
‘Get in, and get out,’ said Auum. ‘We have business elsewhere. Tai, we strike.’
One of the humans in the water gave the long scream of a man suffering a thousand bites, while Auum sprinted into the heart of the enemy. There had to be almost a hundred soldiers on board, living in a cramped chaos that could only aid the TaiGethen. As many scrambled away as squared up to them, peering into the half-light of the gunwale lanterns.