Adonis led the attack, an assault that would finally break the impasse upon the great river. United, the Tangata would sweep the humans back from their barricades, shatter their defences. Without the natural advantages of the river to bolster their defences, it would only be a matter of time before the armies of humanity crumbled, before their cities fell, before their so-called civilisation was reduced to ashes.
His stomach churned strangely at that thought, and he found himself thinking back to New Nihelm, the human city the Tangata had conquered, that they had made their home. Though he loathed the creatures who had built the city, Adonis couldn’t deny there had been a beauty about the place. Those who had first raised the wooden buildings had long since passed, but their descendants continued their work, caring for the city, adding to it, until seceding generations had built something grand.
Striking out through the racing waters, Adonis found himself wondering if one day his children might build such a city, if they might raise wonders from the stones of this earth…
…or if they too would bring destruction.
He shook off the thought as the shadow of a ship rose above him, the curve of its hull illuminated by a lantern hung from its rigging. Pausing, Adonis sought the Voices of his brethren, their rage, the thrill of their excitement for the battle to come. His own heart responded, his anger stirring, though he could not muster the same emotion he had felt at Maya’s side.
A rope ran from the ship into the waters, taut with the weight of the anchor. Quiet now in the swirling currents, Adonis directed himself towards the rope, catching the coarse fibres in strong hands. As the others gathered nearby, he began to climb.
The night greeted him with a cold breeze that cut through his thin clothing. Water poured from him to splash upon the river, loud enough that he feared the humans might hear. But the creatures’ senses were blessedly poor, and no shouts carried through the night to alert the sleeping soldiers.
A smile touched Adonis’s lips as he continued his climb. He had missed the battle with the Anahera, being one of the few Maya had trusted to hunt the fledgelings. Now he once again had the honour of leading his people in battle. This was what he lived for, what he had been born to do. The third generation had been great warriors, the last of the true Tangata, possessed of the strength to run all day and battle all night.
The stench of humanity struck Adonis as he pulled himself over the railings, the reek of dozens of bodies crushed together in filthy conditions. He couldn’t imagine how the creatures stood to live in such cramped confines. Even now he could hear them below, the whisper of voices, the snoring and the grunts. The ship must hold a hundred of the creatures, yet it could not be larger than the villa he had occupied in New Nihelm.
Dropping to the deck of the ship, Adonis examined his surroundings, waiting for his brethren to join him. Most of the soldiers slept below and at first he saw no one. A small cabin was lit by a lantern at the stern, a pile of barrels stacked nearby. This was the largest of the dozen ships anchored on the river. Maisie had claimed it was the flag ship of the Flumeeren kingdom, that it might belong to the queen herself.
That thought made Adonis’s heart clench with anticipation. If the Flumeeren Queen fell this night, their kingdom would not be long in following. That was the way of these creatures. Led by the right man or woman, they fought like demons, refusing to lay down and die when they had no right to fight on. But when that leader fell, their followers fell with them.
Adonis tensed as he sensed movement, before a human armed with a spear emerged from behind the cabin. He must have been making his rounds, for he continued along the railings, eyes on the water below. Adonis watched the man, wondering if the humans were truly so arrogant to post only a single guard. Surely this close to Tangatan Territory, there must be another…
The squeak of a board was the only warning Adonis had to his peril. Spinning, he flung up an arm as the soldier creeping up behind him thrust out with a spear. Adonis wore no armour and the blow would have driven the blade straight through his back—if not for his inhuman speed. Instead, he twisted, wrist slamming against the haft of the weapon and deflecting it into the wooden boards at his feet.
The soldier’s eyes widened as his attack failed, and snarling Adonis leapt at him, seeking to silence the threat before it could alert others. But the soldier recovered his wits quickly, and a scream escaped his lips a second before Adonis tore out his throat.
Adonis stilled as the body struck the deck, fists clenched, praying that none had heard the cry, that the foolish humans would put it down to a trick of the wind, of the river…
Whoooorl!
Adonis cursed as a bugle horn came from the other side of the ship, the second soldier sounding the alarm. The note rose above the silence of the night, carrying to the soldiers below—and the other ships as well—alerting them to the danger that stalked them this night.
But it alerted the Tangata too, and the battlecry of Adonis’s brethren rang out across the river.
Adonis’s body reacted before his mind. Surging across the deck, he caught the human before it could blow another warning note. The horn struck the deck with a heavy thump
