"That's the plan?" Ryker sounded bored and unimpressed. "Poison them all?"
"Yes, Ryker that is the plan." Jay sounded tired and annoyed.
"But that's so simple!" Ryker continued. "Anyone could have guessed that that would be our plan."
"You didn't," Percival pointed out.
"Which is exactly why we're doing it," Jay agreed. "It's so simple that they would expect us to discard the idea immediately, while in reality we'll be doing exactly the opposite. Sometimes the simplest plans are the most effective; there's less of a chance that things will go wrong."
Zia, Heath, Ike, Elaina, and all the others nodded in agreement.
"Or maybe they'll just laugh to death when they realize what a stupid plan we have," Ryker grumbled.
"They won't realize what's happened until it's too late." Surprisingly it was Elaina who had spoken.
Heath stiffened next to Zia when she spoke. Elaina had been surprisingly supportive of them and their plan to eliminate the entire army, which, Zia would admit, was a little strange, but Heath insisted that this was a sign of something darker. "She's hiding something," Heath had said to Zia one night after a long day of rushed traveling to make up for lost time. "I know she is."
"Of course she is," Zia had told him. "She just met us. She's not exactly obligated to tell us everything about herself."
Heath had rolled his eyes and grumbled the rest of the evening to that response, and he had been irritable ever since.
"That's the plan," Jay agreed with the Skilae girl. "Any questions?"
Ed raised his hand. "How exactly are we going to poison that many people? Follow-up question: How many people are there, exactly?"
"By my estimations," Jay said, "about five hundred or so. We'll poison their food. It's the only thing that can affect that amount of people."
Ed paled. "Ah. So five hundred against thirteen? I don't like the look of those odds."
A few of the other men nodded in agreement.
"There won't be much fighting," Jay promised. "There are many more men than I had anticipated, so there might not be enough to kill them all, but any of them who are even slightly poisoned will hopefully be in too much pain to fight back."
Zia raised her hand. "Don't you think they'll get suspicious if men just start dropping like flies?"
Jay smiled. "Quick as a whip, you are." He reached into his armor and pulled out out a handful of tiny pouches. "I put the poison in these little sacks. We will sneak up on the top of the Pass and throw it in their food while it's being prepared. This particular poison will first make whomever intakes it very sleepy. And when they are slumbering peacefully, the poison will start to kill them. And, as a bonus, everyone will be too tired and groggy to notice anything strange happening."
"Brilliant," Zia said appreciatively.
"Hold on a moment," one man said. "Have you had those hidden on you this whole time?"
Jay nodded. "Yes, I have."
"So you could have poisoned our food at any time?" he continued.
"I suppose so, yes."
The company fell silent, as if waiting for someone to fall over and die in the snow.
Jay smiled widely. "I didn't poison any of you. Although, sometimes it was tempting." Zia saw his eyes steal a glance toward Ryker.
"What kind of poison is it? Where did you get it?"
"I'm not entirely sure what kind it is," Jay admitted. "It was Link who supplied it for me."
Ike's head shot up. "Link? The old healer?"
Zia smiled and Jay nodded. She owed Link her life, though she hadn't seen him since the day of Daxtor's trial. "How is he?" she asked. "It's been so long."
"He's in good health. A little creaky at the knees, but he's well and happy."
"If you girls have completed plaiting each other's hair, we have pressing issues to take care of," Ryker growled.
Jay shook his head. "Of course. You're right."
"Of course I am," Ryker said smugly.
"Your head is getting too big, brother," Hamish grumbled.
Ryker reeled back, a defiant fire in his eyes. "Excuse me, brother?"
Before Ryker could keep going, Archibald cut him off. "We don' 'ave time for this! The sun is settin', which means they'll be startin' to make supper. If we don' act now we'll lose our chance."
"Archibald is right," Jay agreed. "Are we all clear on the plan?" Zia, Elaina, and the other ten men gathered all nodded. "Good." He dug into his hidden stash and he began to hand out little rolls of cloth with the poison inside.
"Pick your poison," he said as Zia grabbed a few from his offered hand.
Zia did a quick count of the number of poison pellets. There were about twenty-five of them, three of which she held in her hand. Each sat comfortably in the palm of her hand. She found it hard to believe that something so small could kill so many full grown, hardened warriors. But then she remembered that is was Link who developed these, and he had healed her of some of the worst bruising that she had ever seen in just a few days. If anyone could create something so powerful, it was Link.
"We should split off," Percival suggested. "That way we have someone to cover us, should we get caught."
"Good idea, Percival," Jay agreed. "Split into pairs," he instructed the others.
Archibald and Percival grouped together, as did Ed- the one with the atlatl, Zia remembered- and a Thief named Wilson.
"Heath, get your bow," Zia told him. "We've got some food to poison."
"Actually, Zia," said Ike, "I'd like to go with Heath, if you don't mind." Ike's eyes held a hidden message that Zia couldn't quite decipher, but she decided that Ike probably just wanted to talk to him about his behavior as of late.
"Alright," she agreed. "Elaina, would you like to come with me? We can put your new skills with throwing knives to the test."
Elaina smiled. "I'd love to."
As a result of staying with the company, Elaina had grown used to being around Zia, and had stopped calling her "the Golden-Eyed One," which Zia was thankful for, for it was rather odd to be gawked at.
"Come on, then. Let's find a good place to climb a mountain."
"That wasn't so difficult," Zia panted when they had finally reached the top. There had been a patch of stone that had acceptable hand- and foot-holds, but the wind had smoothed the holds down, so the journey to the top had been slippery and perilous. The cold snow didn't help either, turning their hands into icicles.
Zia pulled Elaina up after her. The poor girl was hopelessly out of shape, and it had been an even more difficult climb for her.
"Speak... for... your... self," Elaine gasped, clutching her side. "I do not think I will ever breath normally again."
"Take a moment to catch your breath," Zia advised. "But mind that you don't take too long; we don't want to miss our chance."
Heath ignored Ike's offered hand of assistance and heaved himself up on the top of the canyon. Panting slightly, he took in his surroundings. Saying that they were at "the top of the mountain" was not entirely accurate. They were on a flat, elevated area with no plant life and large boulders covered in snow. If they had the mind, it would have been a simple matter to cause a destructive landslide or avalanche. There was plenty more to climb to reach the peak, but where they were would suffice for what they needed.
"That was quite the climb," Ike panted.
Heath didn't reply. He knew that Ike wanted to speak to him about Elaina, but he wouldn't hear of it, and if he could insure that every conversation Ike attempted to stir up died, he wouldn't have to.
He knew something was off about Elaina. He just knew it. His nerves screamed at him to lock her in a cage and send her back where she came from every time her spotted her. But he couldn't voice his feelings, not again. He had already told Zia, the one person he felt he could absolutely rely on at the time, and she had waved his concerns away. Sure, she may have agreed with him about Elaina before, but her feelings had obviously changed, and it stung that she had changed sides so quickly.
"Do you think the girls have made it up yet?"
Heath sighed, having been pulled from his thoughts. "Probably."
"I'm not sure," Ike said doubtingly. "It is a pretty hard climb."
Heath would have let the conversation end there, but before he could stop himself, he heard himself saying, "If anyone's up here already, it's Zia." And it was true. Even with Elaina slowing her down, Zia would be more anxious than anyone to get this task completed before it was too late; she had begged Arch to come, and this was her chance to prove herself.
They began to follow the ledge around the bend that would lead them right above the enemy camp. At the curve, the ledge became very narrow, and Heath had to concentrate very hard to keep his balance.
Ike shuffled forward behind Heath. He cleared his throat as he took another step, his back flat against the canyon wall. "Speaking of Zia," he said slowly, "What's been going on between you two."
"Nothing."
"So you haven't told her yet?"
Heath nearly fell off the ledge, he turned around so fast. He stumbled, losing his footing, sending loose gravel bouncing down the Pass. When he finally regained his balance, he stared at Ike. "I beg your pardon?"
Ike looked flustered. "Well, I-I-I-I know that you have always... you know?"
"No, I don't know." But he did know. He knew all too well. He turned his head and began to move again, faster this time, so that Ike could not see his face turning maroon.
Ike shuffled quickly to catch up. "I know you've always... had feelings for her."
Heath turned to face him, his face contorted in a look of shock, horror, and confusion. "What?"
Ike looked even more agitated than before. "Well, I-I, uh, well, um. Oh, never you mind. Forget I ever said anything."
"I'll do that."
Heath managed to refrain from letting out a sigh of relief. He faced forward once more and began to scoot along the mountain, his back chilled from the cold rock behind him. His back brushed up against snow that melted at his touch and ran down his back.
Ike cleared his throat as he shuffled behind Heath. "So, uh, Heath, what do you think of Elaina?"
Heath barely managed not to growl as he said, "She's a fast learner. She really took up knife throwing." What he didn't say aloud was, And I hope she doesn't plan on using those skills against us.
"She really has," Ike said proudly. "She's very nice too, Heath, when you get to know her. I'd think you'd really like her."
Heath sighed. He took a deep, calming breath, trying to keep his frustration in check. "Whatever you're trying to say, Ike, spit it out. I need all your attention for this task, and you've obviously got something on your mind. So spill it. Don't be shy."
Ike sighed. "I just want you to know that I would never let anything tear us apart- we're brothers. And brothers stick together."
"Is that it, then?" Heath asked, getting impatient. His nerves were as taut as a bowstring, and they were running out of time.
"Yes, that's it."
"Are you ready to go?" Zia asked.
Elaina nodded, having caught her breath now. "Yes, I believe I am."
Zia offered her hand and the girl accepted it, allowing herself to be heaved to her feet.
"Thank you."
Zia nodded. "You've got the knives Ike gave you?"
Elaina nodded. As her skill had grown in the art of throwing knives, Ike had decided that she had earned her own set of the weapons. He had presented her with one of his old spare sets. They were a little worse for wear, but they were sharp and would suffice should they run into any trouble.
"Great. Come, we should hurry. The food could be completed at any moment."
Elaina nodded in agreement. She took a deep breath to calm her taut nerves. She had never had the best head for heights, but she was willing to do whatever needed to be done.
She followed Zia, telling herself not to look down. She took deep breaths, but despite her best efforts, she found herself getting shaky and faint.
Zia glanced back over her shoulder to make certain that Elaina was still following her, for she had not heard the girl's footsteps behind her for some time.
What she saw when she looked back chilled her blood and sent shivers down her spine.
"Are you ready?" Heath whispered to Ike, who was crouched down behind a large boulder next to him.
Ike nodded and held his throwing knives at the ready. They both peered over their rocks at the Skilae army camp below.
There was an assortment of fires in various sizes throughout the camp. Men wandered about, laughing and shouting at one another, completely unaware that they were going to die soon.
Heath looked around for the nearest cooking pot. It was a cauldron, about ten meters below them, and it was full of a bubbling stew that looked more like swamp marsh. The cook looked even more repulsive than the food. He was of average height, and even from Heath's distance he could see the oil and grease in his hair. He had a stomach almost as large as his cooking pot, and his clothes were splattered with old food. At least, Heath hoped it was food.
"Ike, see the cook?" Heath whispered to his friend.
"Hard not to."
"Right, well, watch him. I'll be focusing on the pot, so you need to tell me when he's distracted so I can throw the pellet in."
Ike nodded, and Heath watched the cooking pot, taking in heights and distances to evaluate how hard he needed to throw the poison for it to land in the stew- if you could call it stew.
"A man's talking to him," Ike said under his breath. "Looks important. Oh, brilliant, he's going away with the man. Now's your chance."
Heath crept out of the cover of his rock so that he could get a clear shot. He reached for the bow that he always had slung on his back. He placed the poison pellet where he would have notched an arrow. He held the bow horizontally like a crossbow. He set his sights on the center of the cooking pot, kept both eyes open, took a deep breath, and released.
The pellet went flying in a steep downward slop as it raced through the air. It landed squarely in the pot with a plop! that could be heard from their height. The noise was so loud Heath was worried it would draw eyes, which it did, but when they realized the sound came from the food, they shrugged and gave it no mind. Apparently things fell into the food quite frequently.
"Heath."
Heath was brought out of his wonderings when Ike's panicked voice pierced his thoughts. He quickly ducked back behind his rock. "What? What is it?"
"What are Percival and Archibald doing in the enemy camp?"
Zia felt a strong hand on her shoulder. She nearly screamed, thinking that they had been caught, but when she looked at who the hand was connected to, she nearly cried with relief.
Ed bent over next to Zia. He took a firm hold of Elaina's wrist and heaved as hard as he could. Zia joined him, and their combined efforts were enough to pull the unconscious girl safely onto the mountain ledge.
"Miss Zia," Ed said as he check Elaina for injury. "What happened?"
Zia's breathing was labored from a mixture of panic, the thin air, and the strain her body had taken from holding the girl up on her own for so long. Elaina was about the same size as Zia, but she sure had a lot of hidden weight to her. "I'm not sure. I looked behind to make sure she was still following me and she was falling down the side of the shelf."
Ed checked Elaina's forehead. "Hmm," he said to himself. "I don't see any sign of injury. It was a difficult climb up here; perhaps a combination of panting and the thin air caused her to pass out."
"How did you know we were in trouble?" Zia wondered.
"Wilson and I climbed up this way and we heard you shout. Wilson was struggling with the climb, so I left him behind. He should be along shortly." Ed pulled Elaina's head into his lap. He dug around in the satchel at his hip and pulled out a small wooden cylinder. It had a firm cap on the top, and Ed unstopped this cap. A white mist emanated from inside, and Zia wondered what it was. She tried to lean forward to see, but the mist was so thick it blocked her sight. As she leaned closer to the cylinder, an awful, potent odor met her nose, making her recoil swiftly and hold her nose closed with her fingers.
"What is that?" she asked, disgusted.
"Salt," Ed said as he brought the cylinder beneath Elaina's nose. Suddenly her eyes shot open and she jolted away from the horrid-smelling thing in Ed's hand.
"What on earth is that repulsive thing?" she demanded after she stopped coughing, trying to get the smell out of her sinuses.
Zia stared at Ed. "How did you wake her up with that?"
"That's a very long and complicated answer, Zia." He put the cap on the salt container and placed it carefully back in his bag. "Suffice it to say that the potent scent of the salts jolts one awake, as Miss Elaina has just so splendidly demonstrated."
Elaina looked confused. "I don't understand. What happened?"
"We were hoping you'd be able to tell us that," Ed said. "Can you remember anything?"
"I-I remember looking over the edge and getting frightened; I've never been one for high places," she said sheepishly.
"Well, between the thin air and the fright, I'd say you started to hyperventilate to the point of losing consciousness."
Zia had never seen Ed so confident or so knowledgeable. He had always seemed to be the first one to be panicked in a startling situation, yet here he was, completely calm after the thrill of what had just happened.
Elaina was still perplexed about the details of the events that had taken place while she was passed out, so Zia explained how the girl had fallen over the side and how Zia was barely able to catch her in time and how Ed had come to save them both.
Ed turned red at Zia's praise and recounting of his bravery and strength, but Zia felt that he had earned every word.
Wilson appeared just as Zia was getting to the part with the salts. He looked confused as to what had happened, but he didn't ask any questions.
"We should get you back to the camp, Miss Elaina," Ed said. "You need to rest."
"But what about the poison?" Eliana's brown eyes were full of concern, worry, and even shame. "I've ruined everything, haven't I?"
"No, no, it's alright," Ed assured her. "We can still get the poison in the food. We'll have to move quickly, though. But you really should get some rest."
"I'll take Miss Elaina back to camp," Wilson offered. "The pair of you can go on and complete the task. Mind you, you'll have twice as many pots to find, and you'll also have less time."
"We can do it," Zia said confidently. "What do you say, Ed?"
"Well, nothing is going to get done with us sitting here discussing it." He stood and rubbed the dirt from his breeches. "Let's get moving."
Jay counted the heads gathered around him. Wilson was caring for Elaina in a pitched tent and two other pairs had returned and reported that their poison pellets had ended up where they were meant to. This would have been great news, but Archibald, Percival, Heath, Ike, Zia, and Ed had not yet returned.
"Is something wrong, sir?" Will asked him, shaking Jay from his thoughts of where his companions could be.
"I'm sure it's nothing," Jay replied. "A few groups haven't yet returned, that's all."
"Who's missing?"
"Ike and Heath, Zia and Ed, and Archibald and Percival."
Will laughed, showing a few missing teeth. "Well then, I hardly think you have any need to worry. Tough as steel, they are."
"You're right, of course," Jay agreed. "I'm sure they'll turn up soon."
As if Jay had spoken some words of power, Zia and Ed appeared from the shadows. They had taken longer than expected, Zia throwing the pellets into the army's food and Ed covering her with his atlatl. They had to journey to twice as many cooking pots as the others, some of which were on the far side of the enemy camp, but they had made it back alright.
"We the last ones back?" Zia questioned as they stepped into the light of the moon; Jay had ordered that there be no fires, just in case the glow was spotted in the Skilae camp.
"Percival, Archibald, Heath and Ike still haven't returned," Will told them. "I'm sure they're right behind you two. Should be here any moment now."
"They're not back yet?"
Jay shook his head. "Not yet. Though I'm sure they're right behind you."
Even though he sounded confident, Jay could ignore a sinking feeling of foreboding settling in his stomach.
"What were they doing?" Ike gave voice to Heath's thoughts.
They had followed Archibald and Percival as deep into the Skilaen's camp as they could, but their shelf jutting out of the mountain only went so far. Soon they lost sight of the two men, and the setting sun sending long, dark shadows over the camp did not help their cause.
"I guess we'll have to ask them that ourselves," said Heath.
They entered their own camp. It was bathed in deep shadows, and there was only one tent pitched. There was no fire, and the men were talking quietly to one another.
Suddenly Heath felt something hard, pointed, and cold on his back. "Who are you?"
Heath would recognize that voice anywhere.
"Don't you recognize your own brother?" Ike said indignantly.
The sword tip disappeared from Heath's back and he turned around. Sure enough, it was Zia who stood behind him.
"Sorry," she mumbled. "Just a little on edge... no pun intended."
Heath didn't understand that, but he did understand that something terrible must have happened if Zia was agitated.
Ike seemed to have similar thoughts, because he asked "What happened?"
So Zia explained how Elaina had blacked out and fallen off the Pass ledge and how she had managed stop her falling and how Ed had helped her pull Elaina back to safety.
By the time Zia had finished, Ike looked as white as a ghost. "I should go check on her, see how she's faring."
Zia nodded in understanding, but Heath was glad it was dark enough that Ike couldn't see him rolling his eyes.
Ike bid Heath and Zia farewell and made his way in the dark towards the looming shadow that was the tent.
"Have a nice talk with Ike, did you?" Zia asked once he had gone.
"I would describe the conversation in three ways: awkward, too long for my liking, and your fault. But I definitely wouldn't say 'nice'."
Zia reeled back slightly. "My fault? How is it my fault?"
"You agreed to go with her and left me with him."
Even though Heath couldn't see her face, he was sure Zia rolled her eyes. "Not this again. Heath, you're being paranoid. Elaina means us no harm. And even if she did, what could she do? She's even smaller than I am, and she's up against twelve well-armed and well-trained men- and me! She would never be able to do anything, even if she did mean to, which I am confident she doesn't."
Heath scoffed. Of course she was against him. Part of him had to admit that it was logical, but the other part of him told the admitting side of him to shut up. This was deeper than just distrust of Elaina. It was a feeling of dread he got in the pit of his stomach every time he saw her- the same feeling Zia had admitted to him that she used to feel when she spied the Skilae girl too. But apparently that feeling has left Zia.
"You changed your mind about her quite quickly," Heath commented slowly.
Zia folded her arms. "Yes, so?"
"So maybe that's what she wants."
"That's enough, Heath."
"I'm serious-"
"So am I. You need to wake up and realize that sometimes your instincts are wrong. Think about it, Heath. You've been living an isolated life for nearly a decade; you're sure to mistrust anyone new that you meet. But you need to get over that and realize that not everyone is out to get you."
"I don't think everyone is out to get me!" he said defensively. "I just have a bad feeling about her."
"I appreciate your concern for our wellbeing, Heath, I really do, but this time you're not being helpful. If fact, your attitude towards Elaina has caused more contention than help."
Heath stared hard at her. "You know, this conversation is feeling very one-sided."
Zia didn't have the chance to reply because just then Percival and Archibald came running and panicked, into the camp.