Elfsorrow

Chapter 24

The Raven, led by Rebraal and flanked by the mysterious painted elf and his companion panther, set off towards Aryndeneth as first light began to pierce the morning's heavy cloud cover. Just before dawn, they'd witnessed a deluge harder than any they'd seen before, accompanied by a spectacular lightning storm and splitting reports of thunder.

There was something indefinably powerful about the pair that Ilkar had named ClawBound. They were linked in mind, he'd said, and utterly dependent on each other. The panther had sized up and dismissed The Raven immediately. All bar Thraun. Shapechanger and panther had stared deep into each other's eyes, Thraun crouching to stroke the animal's head, the panther responding by licking his hand and face. An understanding passed between them, that was certain. And when Thraun had stood, Hirad saw the painted elf nod at him. Very slight, but there nonetheless. Thraun showed no emotion bar the slightest of smiles.

Crossing the log bridge, they could see the trench had claimed the lives of many small rodents while the lizards and snakes kept their heads above water while they searched for a way out.

Rebraal led them south, occasionally pausing to look over his shoulder, shake his head and offer prayers to whichever God he thought was listening before slipping away again through the dense forest, leaving almost no mark. The same couldn't be said of The Raven. Rebraal had given Hirad and The Unknown a short, angled chopping blade each and told them in halting and very rusty Balaian that they should only use it when they ran out of room.

Through the morning, the heat grew and Hirad finally understood what Ilkar had meant by the sapping conditions in the forest. Sailing and rowing upriver, they'd been outside the oppressive heat-trapping weight of the canopy and a light breeze had kept conditions tolerable. Now though, only a few hours into their walk, he could see the wisdom of the light leather Ilkar had insisted they buy for armour.

Sweat beaded and ran on his face, it dripped down his back and soaked the backs of his legs. He felt as if he'd dipped his head in a hot stream, and the more he wiped it away the more it came. They were plagued by clouds of flies the magnitude of which they certainly hadn't seen when camping on the way to the village. For a brief moment, Hirad wondered if he shouldn't wear the fine net that covered his hammock at night. Imagining himself dressed in it brought the only smile to his face the whole morning.

Holding aside a draping plant, Hirad looked behind him. Denser and Erienne walked together, faces set and anxious, eyes darting everywhere, following every noise. But they'd drawn closer again and for that Hirad was grateful, even if the sounds of their love-making had kept him awake last night.

Darrick looked miserable, waving incessantly at flies or scratching at his legs and arms, while Aeb betrayed nothing and Thraun, bringing up the rear, was smiling, loving every moment of it. He still hadn't said much but Hirad could see in his eyes that he was coming back to them. And the way he'd formed up in The Raven's line outside the village had set Hirad's heart singing. There was still pain there, though. The pain of the loss of his pack and of his friend Will Begman's death, for which he blamed himself so unfairly.

'Come on, Hirad, keep up,' called Ilkar from up ahead.

Hirad turned to see Rebraal, Ren and Ilkar watching him. He held the plant aside until Denser reached it and then strode on, scowling.

'God, I hate patronising elves,' he muttered at The Unknown's broad back.

'Just don't let it get to you too much,' said The Unknown over his shoulder.

'Too late. Just because they're bloody born to it. I don't have to be here, you know.'

'Of course not, Hirad,' said The Unknown. 'After all, I've never heard you mention how The Raven never works apart.'

'Some rules you live to regret, don't you?' he said.

'No, you don't,' replied The Unknown. He upped his pace a little, Hirad responding. 'What a place.'

Rebraal kept up a hard pace all day. The going was difficult and in the afternoon they tired quickly. A brief stop for food after the third rain of the day hadn't brought much respite. Interrupted by having to move smartly away to avoid a foraging mass of inch-long ants, the meal of cold dried meat and bread was as tasteless as it was hard to eat.

Hirad had heard the sounds of water for some time before Rebraal brought them to a stop on the banks of a wide sluggish river. He could see the dirty brown water through the bankside vegetation and could just about make out the opposite bank some hundred yards away. Light was fading fast and he didn't know about anyone else but he was exhausted. Soaked by sweat and rain and with blisters irritating in his boots, he was ready to string up his hammock, confident that nothing would keep him awake once he got his head down.

'Which way?' he asked.

They'd gathered under the branches of a huge tree which soared up into the canopy and leaned out over the river.

Ilkar pointed across the river. 'That way.'

'How, by boat?'

Ilkar smiled. 'No, a bridge.'

'Really?' Hirad peered through the leaves and branches again. 'Where is it?'

'Hirad, this isn't Korina. You're not going to find a stone arch across the river. You're not even going to find lashed logs. You're looking in the wrong place.'

Ilkar tilted his head skywards. 'We do things by rope here. That way, people that shouldn't know crossing points don't find them.'

Hirad followed his gaze. He could see nothing. 'How far up?' Ilkar asked Rebraal. 'About a hundred feet. It's an easy enough climb. Rebraal will show you.'

'Wait a moment…'

But Rebraal was already climbing. Favouring his right arm, he stormed up the trunk, his agility leaving Hirad open-mouthed.

'Hirad, light's fading. We need to get across tonight. The opposite bank is far better for camping.'

'Why?'

'Less crocodiles, more space,' said Ren. 'And Rebraal doesn't want to stop here. This is where Mercuun fell.'

Hirad sighed and spread his hands. 'Let's do it. Anyone else not looking forward to it?'

'Didn't you ever climb trees as a child?' asked Denser.

'They weren't miles in the sky and full of snakes,' said Hirad. 'What are you two smiling about?'

Erienne and Denser had the look of people reprieved from execution.

'Tell you what,' said Denser. 'I'll try and catch you if you fall.'

Hirad frowned. 'You'll what?'

And then they were casting. So was Ilkar. In moments, all had ShadowWings at their backs.

'Bastards.'

Erienne laughed, her fear of the forest forgotten for a moment. 'One clear patch of bank is all we need. You should learn a bit of magic, Hirad.'

'I should choose new friends.' Hirad shook his head. 'You'd better have a good fire going by the time I get across. Make yourselves at least a little useful.'

'What, and miss the chance to see you wobbling on the rope bridge?' said Ilkar.

Hirad ignored him, turning instead to The Unknown. 'Who's first?'

'Don't be an idiot,' said The Unknown. 'Denser, Ilkar. Carry us. Let's show your brother we aren't so helpless.'

Hirad smiled. 'Great idea.'

'It was always the plan,' said Ilkar. 'And so was winding you up.'

Hirad laughed as he was lifted from the ground, arms locked around Ilkar's waist.

'What is it?' asked Ilkar

'Thraun,' said Hirad. 'Just look at him.' The shapechanger was scurrying up the tree, his agility a match for Rebraal's. 'Your brother's got a lot to learn about us.' Yron was woken by distant thunder and opened his eyes on a day kept dim by heavy cloud. He could see a swathe of blue over to the north but didn't hold out any hope of avoiding a soaking before the break arrived. Not that it would make much difference, given his plan for the morning.

As if to prove him right the heavens opened, drowning out the dawn chorus he had come to expect and now didn't disturb him at all. He shook Ben-Foran, the youngster coming to wakefulness with a start and groaning as he stretched his limbs and back, stiff after an uncomfortable night on the rock. He eyed Yron with a scowl but managed to force a smile onto his face as he stood up.

'What's for breakfast?' he asked.

Yron patted him on the shoulder. 'You know the rules of my army. Exercise before nourishment.'

'Why am I not surprised, Captain?' said Ben. He got to his feet and stretched again, arms high and back arched. 'Which way are we walking, then?'

'Same direction as yesterday. But there's nothing better than a healthy swim first thing, I always say. What say we race to the other side?'

Ben looked at him in total disbelief. 'You are joking, I hope, sir?'

Yron shook his head. 'Got to put something more impressive between us and them than distance, if we're going to survive this.'

'Captain, if I may make a couple of points that may have slipped your mind,' said Ben, face pale in the falling rain. 'First, I'm scared in open water, and second, when we hit this calm stretch, you said we had to get out quickly to avoid crocodile attack. And now you're suggesting we jump back in? Are you really sure?'

'If we don't, they'll track us down and kill us before we get to the ships, unless we are incredibly lucky.'

'And if we do, we're breakfast for crocodiles.'

'Not necessarily,' said Yron. 'It's all a question of timing and appearance.'

Ben shifted and frowned. 'You're really scared of these elves aren't you?'

'More scared than I am of a crocodile or a piranha shoal,' said Yron.

'How can they be so good?'

'When we get across to the other side, I'll tell you,' said Yron. 'It's time you knew what we're up against.'

'What about the others, then?' asked Ben, jerking a thumb back into the forest.

Yron smiled. This boy would go far if he survived. About to risk his life in the water, he still had enough wit to be worried about the other men.

'They had a good head start,' said Yron. 'They have a chance.'

'Really, Captain?'

'Don't stop believing,' said Yron, though inside he had very little hope left, none for the groups travelling without mages. 'Come on, let's find ourselves a float and a place to cross.'

Yron led the way back down the short climb, dropping the last couple of feet to stand ankle deep in the water. He cast an eye over the river, looking for telltale ripples or the eyes of a crocodile just above the surface. Ben was descending slowly, favouring his left leg. He looked clumsy.

'You all right, Ben?'

'Yes, sir.'

'What's wrong with the leg?'

'Just a little stiff I think. I must have lain on it bent or something.'

'Right,' said Yron. He looked closely, watching as Ben jumped into the water by him, landing on his left leg only. 'Are you sure?'

'It's fine, really.'

'Right,' said Yron again. 'Stay here, watch the opposite bank. Count the crocodiles on the mud and tell me if any take to the water before I get back with the flotsam. Think you can do that?'

'Yes, sir.'

Yron hurried back upstream to the pocket of still water they'd finished their river journey in. The log was still there and Yron greeted it like an old friend. He edged it from its lodging place and shepherded it downstream much as the day before, smiling as Ben came into sight. The young lieutenant was staring across the river sixty yards to the mud slope where four or five of the big reptiles lay.

Yron knew they couldn't see them from that distance but they'd sense vague movement and see clearly from about halfway across.

'Anything happen?' he asked.

'Nothing at all. They haven't moved a muscle.'

'Glad to hear it. Right, follow me. And tread lightly; anything in the river will be able to sense movement, so take slow easy paces, all right?'

Ben nodded and Yron set off, keeping the log slightly ahead of him and brushing the rock face. His nerves began to tingle. Here there was no quick escape. Here they were vulnerable. But he really had no choice. Crocodiles were predictable to a point. TaiGethen were infinitely more dangerous.

There was no movement from the opposite bank. He didn't necessarily expect any. Of course they wouldn't all be resting, but it was early yet and reptiles that size would be sluggish until they warmed up. It was imperative they get across at the earliest opportunity.

About two hundred yards further downstream, the river took a bend to the left and narrowed to forty or fifty yards. The bank just before the bend was grass-covered and sloped sharply upwards but would be easy to scramble up in a hurry if necessary. The distance was as good as they were liable to get but the negative was that the river flowed that bit quicker here. It would take a lot of effort and noise to ensure they landed before drifting past the bank and into the next cliff-sided stretch.

'You ready for this?' asked Yron.

'I'll never be ready for it,' said Ben. 'So I'm just going to do it.'

'Good lad. We're headed there.' Yron pointed downstream. 'Anywhere along that stretch and we can get out quick. Now here's what we're going to do. Like yesterday, we're going to push gently out into the stream and swim up a little way against the current. Once we're across the middle of the river, I want you to stay quite still. Be part of the log. If you're inert, you won't attract attention. We'll drift down a way before pushing for the bank. When we do, don't thrash, for God's sake. Do you understand?'

Ben-Foran nodded. 'Sir.'

Gently, Yron pushed the log out and entered the water after it, hearing Ben do the same despite his care. With long slow sweeps of his legs, Yron moved them out from the bank, heading towards the crocodiles. It was uncomfortable but necessary. Fortunately the current was slow and they reached the middle of the river quickly. There they turned and began to drift downstream.

'Now's the time, Ben,' he said, voice quiet. 'Try not to move at all. Search the surface. Tell me what you see. Breathe slow.'

The rain had stopped and the cloud was breaking up quickly, for which Yron was not grateful. Heavy rain upset natural senses, cloud kept cold blood that way. Conditions were changing fast but out here peace was total. The water was cool beneath the immediate surface, and the sounds of the myriad rainforest creatures muted somehow. He forced himself to relax, to listen and to watch.

Beside him Ben was admirably silent, his eyes forward. Yron turned his head. Nothing he could see. The mudbank remained still. It was exactly as he had prayed.

Ben jerked back, his leg twitching. 'Dammit!'

'What was it?' Yron, tense all over again, looked immediately behind them.

'Nothing, I… Ow!' Ben slapped the water with a hand. 'Something bit me.'

Yron went cold all over. They were twenty-five yards from the bank. It could prove a very long way. Something bumped into his boot. He felt another impact on his leather. He knew this behaviour. This was the vanguard of an invasion. The army would not be far behind and they were unstoppable. Piranha.

'Swim, Ben!' he shouted, thrashing his legs to action, driving them across the river. 'Pump those legs and don't you fucking stop! Swim!'

He knew it gave out distress signals but they had no option. The fish had scented blood from somewhere and he and Ben were the targets. As he swept his legs through the water, bringing the log around to steer them straight for the bank, he saw the mudbank was empty. The crocodiles were already in the water, heading downstream. Their thrashing had been like a call to feeding time and none wanted to miss out. They had a start of a hundred and fifty yards or so. It was going to be very close.

Ben was under concerted attack. His heaving legs made purchase difficult but piranha were quick and their jaws awesomely strong. He cried out again and again as they bit clean through cloth and into his flesh, every bite pumping more blood into the water, attracting more of the voracious killers.

From their left, the crocodiles closed in, strong tails powering them through the water faster than any man could hope to swim. The bank was nearing, moment by moment. Yron felt a sharp bite on his ankle through the leather of his boot. He thrashed his legs harder.

Ben moaned.

'Keep going, son, almost there,' urged Yron. 'You can do it. Don't you give up on me, lad.'

'No… intention,' gasped Ben, but he was weakening quickly.

'So much more to teach you, Ben. Don't let go now, don't let go.'

Yron's legs struck the bottom. Reacting instantly, he plunged his feet to the bed of the river and stood upright, dragging Ben with him. He forced his way through the stomach-deep water, feeling the press of the fish around him, their incessant probing, feeling the brush of teeth and the tearing of cloth.

With Ben practically under one arm and barely able to stand, he scrambled up the mud at the edge of the river and pushed Ben ahead of him, the boy stumbling through the shallows and falling forward onto the grass. His right leg was a bloody mess, his trousers shredded; one of his boots hung by its laces and his jerkin was ripped and torn around the waist.

'Don't stop, Ben.' He heaved in a breath. 'Not safe.'

Ben tried to get to his feet, made it to a crawling position and dragged himself up the slope of the bank. Behind Yron the water boiled. A crocodile erupted from the river, hammering at them with extraordinary speed. Yron slipped on the bank, fell onto his backside and pushed himself backwards, his back against Ben's floundering body.

The crocodile came on, head still, running at its intended prey. Behind it, others fought each other in the shallows but it ignored them. Its jaws snapped once, missing Yron's foot by a hair. The captain lashed out with his boot, catching it across the snout. It hesitated then came on. He kicked again, another good contact. The crocodile stopped and hissed.

'Ben, go!' he yelled. 'Go!'

Below him, the huge reptile shook its head from side to side, gave Yron one last malevolent look and retreated into the water. He looked down on it from the top of the bank, stood and dragged Ben further into the forest and under cover. He laid the boy down and stared at his wounds.

'Damn you, boy,' he said, though his tone carried no anger. 'You were cut, weren't you?'

Ben nodded feebly then slumped back to lie prostrate. He was a mess. Ignoring the scratches and bites on his own body, Yron assessed his charge. Blood poured from Ben's ravaged right leg, and oozed from more other places than he could count. Flesh had been ripped from bones, which showed through where the piranhas had got to work. Back home the leg would have been amputated; here it had to be patched up.

One thing was clear. If Yron didn't bathe and dress the wounds with the right herbs, the boy was going to die. Auum led his Tai along the banks of the River Shorth, his frustration growing. These men he'd ignored near the temple had proved to be difficult prey, and within his frustration there was a sense of grudging respect. A respect, though, that didn't lessen the outrage at the crime for which the strangers would pay.

They had followed the easy trail north and then east to the banks of the river. Footsteps had dragged down to the shore and there the trail had gone cold. It was clear they had gone downriver but how far was currently not known. Duele had found a disturbed pile of driftwood just upstream and it was then that Auum had to confess his surprise. The tributary was quick, with rocks not far under the surface. Even with driftwood to cling to, the chances of injury were very high, and where the flow eased, the predators massed.

They moved on at speed, never more than five yards apart in a line that gave them a view across the river and deep into the forest eastwards.

'Thoughts,' he asked of them.

'The ClawBound has sensed nothing of them north to Shorth's Teeth rapids,' said Duele. 'I suggest they are back on land upstream of the rapids, possibly on the opposite bank.'

'They moved quickly to the river yesterday,' said Evunn. 'They have direction and they are unharmed. They may have reversed, leaving a false trail.'

It had to be considered, but Auum dismissed it. 'Not that good,' he said. 'But quick, yes. I suspect one of them knows of us.'

'So he would take great risk to escape,' said Duele.

'Speed is nothing without guile. We will always be faster,' countered Evunn.

'To a stranger, distance is safety. They chase the goal of escape,' said Auum. 'We should alert the ClawBound west of the river. These strangers must not escape.'

A roar lifted above the buzz of the forest. It was echoed at greater distance. The Tai stopped, waited. It was communication. A series of calls circled out, some elven, some animal. Growls, whistles, wails, grunts and barks. Auum understood none of it. Despite the closeness of their alliance, the ClawBound never revealed any of their secrets. The TaiGethen would know what was relevant soon enough.

The discordant messaging went on, silencing the forest denizens. This was noise at odds, noise that meant trouble and the determination to find a cure. None of Tual's creatures would interfere. Most would be scared by what they heard; an instinctive memory cowed them where they stood, caused them to land on the nearest perch or hold themselves still in the water or high in the canopy.

The moment it died away, the forest buzzed once more and a ClawBound pair emerged from the shadows to Auum's left. The panther trotted in and stood in Auum's path, its eyes glistening, asking him to stop.

'Tai,' said Auum and they came to him.

The ClawBound elf, very tall, his face impassive beneath his paint, bowed his head and spoke, the voice unused to speech.

'We have one group. Two trails are new. The fourth is west. The fifth group has crossed the Shorth. They are hurt. We will follow.'

He turned to go. Auum's question stopped him.

'Where are they running to?'

'Verendii Tual,' said the ClawBound. 'Many strangers wait. We watch.'

He turned and walked away into the forest, the panther sniffing the Tai's scent on the air before growling low and trotting after him.

'Verendii Tual,' said Auum. 'We haven't much time. The ClawBound will not lose them as I did. We'll wait for them at the estuary.'

His Tai knew better than to question him and they followed him away from the tributary, which would soon carve away west to join the Shorth, the combined river flowing on to its mouth at Verendii Tual, the staggering high-cliffed inlet that bit deep into the forest.

All the groups were tracked and one would be down by dawn tomorrow. The net was closing.