Heirs of Prophecy - Lisa Smedman [88]
"Elves do not 'die,' " he explained, "unless they are the victims of violence or accident. When they have reached a venerable age and are in decline, as Somnilthra was, they travel to Arvanaith."
"You mean Arvanaith is a place, here on Toril?" Larajin asked. "Like Evermeet?"
Leifander sighed, feeling as if he was talking to a very young child. "Their bodies remain here on the world of Toril but their souls journey to Arvanaith, where they await rebirth."
"So Somnilthra is dead," Larajin said, a twinge of uncertainty in her voice.
Leifander shook his head, trying to remain patient.
"No, she is-" he nodded at the windriders-"in a kind of Reverie."
"They buried her alive?"
"What?"
"Isn't that what forest elves do with their dead? Bury them in the Vale of Lost Voices, under the trunks of trees?"
"Somnilthra was a seer," Leifander reminded her, hoping that at last Larajin would understand.
Her blank look told him she didn't.
"Seers are laid to rest in the crystalline towers under Lake Sember."
"Oh!" Larajin exclaimed. "I've heard of them."
Now it was Leifander's turn to look skeptical. "You have?"
How could a human-no, a half-elf raised in Sembia, he reminded himself-know of the crystalline towers? The woods around Lake Sember were forbidden to humans. Any found there were killed without question or mercy.
Larajin nodded eagerly. "Several months ago, a priest from Selgaunt-Diurgo Karn is his name-set out on a pilgrimage. The goddess Sune bid him travel to Lake Sember, a lake whose sacred waters she shares with the elf goddess Hanali Celanil. He had heard that crystalline towers within the lake rose to the surface on the night of the full moon and that their beauty surpassed all other-"
"How did he know of this?" Leifander asked harshly.
Larajin shrugged. "Diurgo didn't tell me. Nor did he make it to the lake. He abandoned his pilgrimage before he even got close."
Leifander shook his head in silent wonder, amazed that humans would know so much about a secret the elves had striven so diligently to preserve.
Larajin continued to prattle on. It seemed her foolish questions weren't finished yet.
"If Somnilthra is in Reverie, could we awaken her?"
"Only if the gods will it."
Larajin glanced up at the moon. "How far is it from here to Lake Sember?"
Leifander could see where this was headed, but he answered. "On foot, it would be a full day's journey to the southern shore of the lake."
"Could we see the crystalline towers from there?" Larajin asked.
Leifander decided to nip this idea in the bud. "Lake Sember is sacred. Only elves may look upon its waters. Any humans found on its shores are slain-and half-elves are just as unwelcome. We would be killed on sight."
That, of course, was a partial he. Leifander could easily pass for a full-blooded elf, but he doubted if the gods would be so easily fooled, and he had no wish to anger them.
"Besides," he added, "even if we somehow avoided the elf patrols and managed to see the crystalline towers rise, they are in the middle of the lake. There would be no way to reach them."
Larajin sat a moment, thinking. "How are the bodies transported to the towers?"
"By the pallbearers-the clerics who lay them to rest." Leifander answered. "The gods give them the ability to walk upon the lake's surface."
"Ah."
"Do you know a spell that would allow you to do that?" he prodded.,
Larajin shook her head. "I don't-and I know what you're going to say-that learning a new spell without a more experienced cleric to guide you in your prayers is impossible-but I've been doing a lot of impossible things these last few days."
Leifander gave a long, heavy sigh. "Why do you care so much about stopping the war? You're not a soldier."
"No, I'm not, but Tal is. If this war continues, he will die. I saw his death in a vision. He'll be shot…" Her voice caught, but she steeled herself. "He'll be killed by an elven arrow. Your curse has condemned him."
"My curse?" It took Leifander a moment to realize what she was talking