Bracing myself for news about another fire-breathing salamander – or worse – I’m surprised when it’s not that at all.

I was right – the aura is old. A powerful predator was here at some point, perhaps a few double-moons ago. Maybe even as much as a moon-cycle. It left a mark – to warn others away, would be my guess.

Then why did you say there was danger? I ask, not a little exasperated – why worry me like that with no reason?

Because there is. Just not from the creature which left the imprint. Right. I suppose it would be fairly out of character for River to play a joke like that. Then again, I’ve only known him for a few days – for all I know, he’s a regular prankster.

What is it, then? In response, River sends a picture instead of explaining verbally. It’s the first time he’s sent me a memory like that. Bastet does it all the time, but River doesn’t. I’m interested to note that his eyesight is very good, the clarity of the picture better even than Bastet’s. He can even see more colours than either of us, which makes my brain hurt as it tries to process information that it has no reference for.

I quickly focus on the content of the image rather than all the incidental details – I don’t want to accidentally give myself an aneurysm. If it’s possible to do, I’ll probably succeed. Though, I do wonder whether this might be a good way of improving my Intelligence – except then I remember that my Intelligence stat is now way over twenty. No earning points in that anymore.

The image sent shows a group of creatures lounging around the entranceway of the cave. They’ve clearly made a den of the first few metres of the cave, though it’s strange that that they haven’t chosen to go further in. Can they detect the imprint of the predator too, and don’t want to risk it? But then why make their home in the cave mouth? I move on, not able to answer the question and not wanting to spend more time on it. As luck would have it, these particular creatures are rather familiar to me: lizogs.

I remember the first time I came across lizogs. It was the day I met Bastet. I mean, properly met, and Dominated, not the day she probably was one of the pack chasing me across the forest. Kalanthia had slaughtered Bastet’s family, leaving their bodies where they died. As is predictable, the dead bodies lying around attracted scavengers; lizogs were the ones who happened to come while Bastet and I were fetching the cubs from where they were hiding in a cave.

The creatures are relatively small, their heads only reaching just above my knee. But what heads they have: heavy jaws full of sharp teeth, and with the crushing power to bite through bone. As for their bodies, they’re like moving tanks; last time I killed them by causing an avalanche of stones to land on their heads. Even then, one out of five survived the rock-slide.

Although they’re not fast, they’re superb trackers; once they catch our scents, it’ll be game-over if we’re trapped in this tunnel. While I could potentially kill them by luring them to the vine-stranglers, frankly I wouldn’t be confident in managing to travel through the area quickly enough to guarantee success. And what if they entered the cave with the Energy-Hearts and decided to stay there? No, we need to find another game plan.

Any ideas? I ask my two Bound tiredly, sending Bastet the picture of what River saw. Bastet sends back a strong opinion that we should run for our lives. Yeah, but that’s just putting off the problem until later. We need time to rest, and if we’re being chased by a lizog pack, we’re not going to get that. Bastet and I go back and forth on the matter for a moment. She seems convinced that we’ll be able to put enough distance between us and the pack that we’ll be able to rest; I’m not so sure.

Eventually, we’re interrupted when River comes up with an alternative suggestion.

One of the first things I learnt when I started my apprenticeship was about poisons. Identifying them, treating them...and making them. My people often coat our weapons in a type of poison that targets stamina…. He trails off and I remember that Kalanthia had been affected by some sort of attack on her stamina; that’s why we’re in this mess to begin with.

Go on, I tell him, wary, but if this can get us out of our current situation, then I’m all ears.

Essentially, we have two versions, and usually create a hybrid for our warriors. One poisons the stamina currently in our target’s bodies; one poisons the body’s ability to reproduce stamina. Combined, it renders our targets helpless. The poison’s ability fades over time though, the speed of which depending on both how much poison entered the target and its healing ability. The image of Kalanthia collapsed next to the stream, even her mental voice laboured flashes through my mind. I wonder how much poison she must have taken to cause such a strong and long-lasting effect. But the fact that this weapon was used against her shouldn’t mean that I can’t use it against my own enemies.

Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website.

I hope you’re raising this to tell me that you have some with you, I tell River dryly. Because if you’ve given me this whole spiel only to tell me that you’re missing some key ingredients, I’m not going to be happy. Amusement tinged with the slightest apprehension comes across the Bond from his side.

I have a vial of the first poison, the one that poisons the stamina currently in the target. I am missing a few key ingredients of the second, though.

Well, I shrug. Hopefully that will be enough. How do you poison the target? Does it just need to enter their bloodstream?

We generally stab our prey with spears, yes, he confirms. I think fast. Although River does have a spear, it’s probably not the best approach. Spears mean getting in close to those bone-crunching jaws. I think fast. I’ve got an idea, but need to check whether it’s possible.

Wait here, I tell my companions and then activate Fade. Stealth, of course, is already active as it basically always is unless I intentionally turn it off. Creeping forward, I hope that the lizogs’ excellent sense of smell won’t pick up my scent. At least we’re downwind: if we’d been upwind, we’d have probably already been attacked.

Taking my time to tiptoe almost soundlessly down the tunnel, I stick close to the walls like River did – I can learn. As I move, the vague sense of something waiting for me becomes stronger. There’s the impulse to run, to escape the danger waiting up ahead with its maw open wide, but thanks to knowing that this is just an old imprint, I’m able to ignore it.

Reaching the end of the tunnel, I realise why the lizogs haven’t come any closer – they probably can’t. Or maybe just don’t want to bother. The tunnel is almost closed, piles of rubble creating a barrier that is probably difficult for them to surmount: I didn’t get the impression from our last battle that lizogs would be particularly good at climbing. I can see where the rocks fell from, a chunk of the ceiling having just collapsed. It makes me very glad that such an event hadn’t happened somewhere else in the tunnel, closing it off completely. Or worse, happening while we were actually trying to travel through it.

Still, for our purposes right now, it’s practically perfect! The rubble comes up to about my waist, which is slightly above that on River. Bastet will be too short to do much, and I wouldn’t want her on the other side of the barrier…. I still have an idea of the role she could play.

Creeping back to the others, I don’t bother to hide my excitement. Even before I start speaking, I see them react to the emotion, some of the fear and dismay leaving their postures. Even the cubs relax a bit, obviously having sensed that the adults were worried. When they start to play, I have to ask Bastet to rein them in a bit, though – we might have a chance here, but if the cubs catch the attention of the lizogs too early, we’ll lose even that.

Alright, listen up, I tell both my Bound once the cubs have been subdued. Hopefully Lathani is able to listen in too. I’ve got a plan. So saying, I outline what I was thinking and watch their reactions. Do you think it’s possible? I check, though particularly looking at River: he’s the one who will be providing the cornerstone of the strategy.

Hopefully, he responds tentatively. I’m not sure I have enough ingredients for everything but…

Well, any you can make would help, I tell him. Honestly, it might be possible to win without River’s contribution, but it would definitely be harder. Much harder, potentially. But in the end, we don’t have much of a choice: my Bound both agree that this place is as close to perfect we’re going to get as a setting for a battle against lizogs.

With unanimous agreement to go forward with my plan, we set to preparing as much as we can. Once more, it seems, I’m going to set a trap for lizogs. This one’s going to be a little less elaborate than the previous, mostly due to not having a handy landslide nearby. Not one I can drop on top of them at any rate. Plus, with the number of lizogs River saw and the potential for there to be even more outside where he couldn’t see, it would have to be a massive landslide, and in a cave that would probably trap us in too.

River settles to the floor, pulling off his box-backpack. Lifting the lid, he removes several ingredients.

Can I watch? I ask. River wordlessly expresses surprise that I’d want to, and acceptance if I do. I look on with interest as he places some plump berries into a small hollowed-out section of a branch and then uses his fingers to squish them into pulp. Into the juice, he adds something that looks like a dried-out section of flesh, and lets that soak. Then he takes some leaves and presses them into the container too. Finally, he uses his wooden knife to nick the underside of his wrist. Blood starts dribbling out into the container, its colour a bit darker than my own.

It needs to stew for a few clicks, River tells me. I get the impression that ‘clicks’ is a bit like minutes for me. We wait, River patiently, me not so much. I’m tempted to go into Meditation, but just as I’m seriously considering doing it, River stirs the mixture. I realise that it’s changed colour a little, the red becoming darker and with hints of green in the light of the torch.

It’s ready? I ask.

It’s ready, he confirms. I nod, grinning. Operation Lizog massacre, commence.