“How many were killed?” Tae laid his fork down and focused on the Red Cap.
“Many.” Varcir grunted again. “Over forty, thirty-two of which are unaccounted for.”
“Unaccounted for?” I asked.
“Bodies missing,” Varcir said and shrugged. “Not uncommon. Farungal like Goblin flesh as much as we Red Caps like Farungal blood.”
“What?” I growled. “Are you saying that theyeatGoblins?”
Varcir looked at me as if I were daft. “Yes; I thought I was clear when I said they like Goblin flesh.”
“I knew they were monstrous, but I didn't know they were cannibals,” I muttered.
“Technically not cannibals,” Varcir said casually. “We are two different species.”
“I think that's stretching it, Commander,” General Gravenne said.
Varcir grunted once more. “True, especially now that we know we are related in a way.”
I frowned pensively. “Related and yet they consume Goblin flesh.” I looked at Tae. “That must have something to do with it. Why else show us a page with a drawing of the anatomy of a Goblin?”
“I don't know,” Tae murmured. “Could be. But what are we supposed to do with that knowledge?”
“Hold on, Red Caps drink Farungal blood?” I asked the Commander.
“We don't drink it, just soak our hats and enjoy the occasional taste.” He grinned viciously.
“But isn't Farungal blood poisonous?”
“Only after they've been dead for several hours,” Varcir explained. “It's the venom from their fangs and tails—it spreads through their bodies once they die.” He cocked his head pensively. “Maybe we should poison the Goblins after they die?”
The entire table stared at Varcir in horror.
“They would want their deaths to mean something,” Varcir said defensively. “Perhaps it would be easier to give them the poison and they can take it if they receive a death blow.” He shrugged. “If they have the strength left. Hard to know what would be a death blow though, what with their two hearts.”
“That would be a fitting payback,” Tae murmured. “Killed by the flesh they harvested from a battlefield.”
“Serve them right,” I added.
“I will offer the choice to my Goblin soldiers,” Varcir said firmly. “They can decide if they wish to carry the poison. But, knowing Goblins, I think they will all accept.”
Could that be it? I frowned at Tae, then at Varcir. It seemed wise, but I couldn't understand what a knowledge of Goblin anatomy had to do with it. Even Varcir had mentioned the two hearts and for some reason, that felt significant to me. Still, it was the best idea we had and with a fleet of Farungal ships looming on the horizon, we'd have to go with it.
Chapter Forty-Four
It began like any other battle, with the exception that I was on the front line as opposed to the back. I stood beside Taeven in my falcon form, head cocked to peer over the wall of sandbags before me, waiting for my warlord's instructions. Tae stood confidently, head lifted and one falcon eye angled toward the rowboats full of Farungals coming our way.
“Archers!” Tae shouted from his falcon beak.
Our human archery units pulled back their bowstrings and aimed.
“Release!”
Arrows whizzed through the air, hitting Farungals before they'd even made it to land. But there were so many of them. They came like a swarm of bugs, rushing the shore with their shields lifted to ward off the arrows.
“Release!” Tae shouted again.
Another wave of arrows shot past, and that was it for the archers. We couldn't have arrows flying through the air at the same time as Falcon Faeries.
