‘Once we’ve taken the towns, we can split to use all four game trails for a swifter ascent. To the west, here, the land is bounded by the Great Roar; from what I learnt, no one lives there because the river is so wide and dangerous. There’s a possibility they might flee that way to try and evade us, and I’d recommend sending a good number of pods there once we’ve taken the main territory just to clear it, but it’s wild land, uncultivated, and they struck me as people who preferred the illusion of safety provided by stone walls.’

‘Beyond Malel?’ Pilos asked, gesturing at the crude map.

Ilandeh was shaking her head. ‘Hardly anyone lives beyond the hill, or even on its northern slope. Their territory ends abruptly and the salt pans bordering it extend almost to its base and much of the lower land is poisoned from the salt blowing onto it.’ She drew two lines, one heading up the triangle representing the hill, the other circling around to its rear before ascending. ‘If we can co-ordinate it, I recommend a pincer, but the force skirting the hill to take its northern face should set out today – it gives them time to cover the additional distance while we take the necklace of towns.’

Feather Calan leant forward. ‘Keep two Talons down here to fool them into thinking it’s our full force while the third climbs its northern slope? Can we get up high without being seen?’

‘They don’t frequent the northern slope?’ Pilos added, cautious excitement flaring in his chest.

Ilandeh grinned at them both. ‘Yes, we can, and no, they don’t. In all the moons Dakto and I were there, only shamans went onto the upper northern slope to collect medicine. They don’t farm it; they haven’t settled it. Plus, they say it’s spirit-haunted by people who died trying to cross the salt pans. The most we should encounter are shamans and maybe a few scouts. Easily dealt with.’

Pilos glanced north, as if he could see the Tokob hill through the thick canopy. ‘I like it,’ he said.

It was audacious, and they stood to lose far too many spies and assassins if they were discovered, but the urgency in his blood, and the continued wrongness of the song, reported to him each day by Citla, drove him on. He didn’t want to waste Whispers, but better them than his eagles.

‘If I may, High Feather, what about what happened to Dakto? Is there a risk that the Whispers’ loyalty might be tainted?’ Calan asked. She blushed when Ilandeh narrowed her eyes at her, but it was a valid question. Pilos gestured for the Flight to answer.