‘How much frog poison do you need for a barb or arrow tip?’ Auum asked.
‘The scarcest molecule.’ Takaar rubbed thumb and forefinger together. ‘An amount vanishingly small. What I have in that one pot is enough to kill hundreds, maybe thousands. Contact is all that you need.’
Takaar’s expression was fierce.
‘The rainforest has bounties we still know nothing about. Man thinks he can rule the lands of the elves. He is sorely mistaken.’
‘With your help, we can send them back across the ocean, never to return.’
‘Back?’ said Takaar. ‘None are going back.’
Just at the moment Auum began to believe, he saw Takaar’s eyes dart left then right and his body tense. ‘You’re alone, aren’t you?’ he said, demanded.
‘You know I am,’ said Auum.
‘I see.’ Takaar nodded to himself. ‘Does anyone know you came to get me?’
‘What? Yes, of course. In fact I was ordered to come and find you.’
Takaar made a dismissive noise. ‘I doubt that. A TaiGethen never travels alone. It is an insult.’
Auum didn’t want to ask but felt he had to.
‘What is?’
Takaar’s eye blazed. ‘I am Takaar! I have the ear of the gods. I break bread with Yniss. I am the first Arch of the TaiGethen and saviour of elvenkind. And in our hour of greatest need, I am sought by a lone warrior.’
Takaar held up one finger.
‘One. Am I really so unimportant that I am granted but one guard? Was that the decision of the Ynissul wise? The priesthood? Katyett? Or perhaps I am merely to be thrown at the enemy should I be fortunate enough to make it alive.’
‘That wasn’t how the decision was taken,’ said Auum and instantly regretted his words.
‘Oh? And how was it taken?’
Auum considered fabricating something but Takaar was waiting for falsehood. He heard the truth unfold with increasing incredulity.
‘I am bodyguard to Priest Serrin of the Silent. We witnessed desecration at Aryndeneth. I was forced to spill the blood of men within its dome. Senior Ynissul in the priesthood have betrayed us. We had no time to seek the advice of Katyett or Jarinn or Llyron. So Serrin journeyed alone to Ysundeneth to make a report and warn the TaiGethen. I travelled here. To find you.’
Takaar settled back against the gunwale about halfway towards the bow.
‘So you two sat in the forest and decided it all by yourselves?’
‘It was and is the right decision,’ said Auum carefully, hanging on tight to his temper. ‘And one Katyett will embrace when she hears of it.’
‘You don’t know much about the history between us, do you?’
‘Does it really matter? The elven race, or at least the civilised elven race, is at risk.’
‘What matters is that I am summoned on a whim by two elves who’ve seen a couple of bad things in the forest. This is not a home-coming that is going to inspire a reignition of the harmony, is it?’
‘I’m bringing you back to help save lives, not to pander to your ego,’ muttered Auum. And then he shrugged. ‘The Takaar of Hausolis didn’t care for glory or for worship. Just to win. Maybe you’ve changed even more than you and I think you have. So if you don’t like it, if it’s too low for you to stoop, you can always leave and go home. I’m not dragging you to Ysundeneth against your will.’
Takaar nodded. He turned his head as if listening to something else before, quite calmly, rolling backwards out of the boat. Auum cursed.
‘Just couldn’t quite keep your mouth shut, could you?’ he said to himself. ‘Fool.’
The boat sailed on under the favourable wind. Auum put hard about, heading to the shore some hundred and fifty yards distant. The beach looked sandy and easy. Thirty yards beyond it was the rainforest. They were about midway between Tolt Anoor and Ysundeneth. Still a long way from where they needed to be.
Takaar was a very strong and graceful swimmer. The incoming tide helped his pace and his strokes were smooth, his kick light and rapid. While Auum had to make continual adjustments on this leeward tack to avoid spilling too much wind from the tatty sail, Takaar powered straight in. He beat Auum to the beach comfortably.
The fishing boat ground up the sand and Auum leapt out of the prow, pausing only to drag the craft above the high-tide mark. Takaar had run straight into the forest and disappeared from sight. Auum knew only where he had entered and followed him in, his sight adjusting fast to the dim light beneath the canopy.
Five paces in and Auum knew he had lost his quarry. The sounds of the sea were already eclipsed and the scent of the ocean had been submerged under the rich strong smells of earth and leaf. Takaar was the most light-footed elf Auum had ever seen. There was no trace of where he had gone.
Auum stopped, choosing to listen instead. This was an alien part of the forest to him. It was quieter than the deeps around Aryndeneth. Few of the larger predators patrolled this close and the warning buzz of reptile and rodent was muted. As for the sounds of a TaiGethen master moving through the forest, there was nothing at all.
‘We think your motives to be impure.’
Takaar’s voice came from the right and high. Auum moved softly, scanning the trees for any sign.
‘We think you would serve us up for slaughter.’
From the right and low. Impossible. No one moved that fast. Auum paused. He had his back to a tree and was facing thick undergrowth that grew head high. To his left, a slope ran down back towards the sand. To his right, the land rose gently, the vegetation thinning slightly.
‘I am TaiGethen,’ said Auum. ‘Incapable of betraying my own.’
‘But I am not your own any more, am I?’ Takaar’s voice echoed from rock and tree. ‘I am a thorn in the side of progress by dint of my survival.’
‘Only a very few know you’re still alive.’
Auum turned at a rustling just to his right. Tapir.
‘Idiot. A few is all you need when they are traitor priests. And the TaiGethen are the bodyguard of the priesthood, are they not?’
‘Some.’
‘Like you. And those must die.’
Auum frowned. Even for Takaar this was not a logical direction.
‘Without a hearing? That is not the elven way.’
‘The elven way is gone. Swept away by the few who wish all power for themselves.’
Takaar was closer now. Auum prepared himself, mouthing a silent prayer to Yniss.
‘I am not among them,’ said Auum. ‘I desire what every TaiGethen desires.’
‘And that is?’
Left. He was coming from the left. Did he really mean to attack?
‘The harmony enduring. Faith unwavering.’
‘Serve up Takaar and all will be well, won’t it?’
And that was barely the voice of Takaar. It was lower, malicious.
‘No,’ said Auum. ‘All will be in ruins.’
Auum didn’t draw a blade.
‘I thought you said you were not here to pander to my ego.’
‘I’m not.’
‘Good.’
Takaar’s foot caught Auum squarely on the right side of his head. Auum knew it was coming less than a heartbeat before and managed to balance himself enough not to be knocked unconscious. He landed on one shoulder, rolled with legs tucked to absorb the force of the blow and came up facing the direction of the attack.
Takaar was already on him. The heel of the master’s palm slammed into Auum’s sternum, knocking the wind from his body and sending him sprawling down a short slope and into a brackish stream. The chill of the water was revitalising, clearing his head. Auum moved up the opposite slope, looking to put a little distance between himself and Takaar. He scrambled up the bank, rolled right and came up to his haunches, his right-hand side nestling against the trunk of a balsa tree.
Takaar leapt the stream and ran around to his left. He was soundless, his feet the merest kiss on the forest floor.