The Sea Devil's Eye - Mel Odom [95]
"What do you mean?" Ildacer asked.
"The Taker seeks to keep the races of Seros divided." Though the locathah spoke softly, Pacys knew she had the attention of everyone there. "The merfolk wouldn't let you cross the Hmur Plateau to get here. The Taker's attack on Es'rath and occupation of parts of the Xedran Reefs has assured that their paranoia has increased. The elves of the Dragon Reach have erected battlements to keep out those potentially hostile to them."
Pacys knew it was true from the conversations he'd had with Reefglamor. The Dragon Reach sea elves stayed on guard against sahuagin attack, as well as hostilities from the nearby coastal lands.
"How do you know this?" Ildacer demanded.
The locathah ranger pointed at the dolphins that had accompanied her. "The whales sing of it, and we are friendly with the whales."
"What would you have them do?" Ildacer asked sarcastically. "Lay down arms and let the sahuagin death tide wash over them?"
"No," Tyhlly answered. "Freedom is precious-something that should never be easily given up. A bigger foe may threaten you or imprison you for a time, but you should always be looking for your first chance at freedom. My people learned this long ago, and at great cost."
Pacys's fingers stroked the keys, echoing the locathah words.
"Now that the shalarin are put on guard," Tyhlly went on, how do you think they would feel about another race invading their lands?"
"They wouldn't tolerate it," Jhanra said. "They would fight against anyone who wasn't one of them."
Tyhlly nodded, turning her head from one side to the other to fix her other eye on the young High Mage. "Exactly. You do see."
"I don't," Talor Vurtalis grumbled.
Unlike the other two newly made High Mages, Vurtalis wore his seluldira gem openly on his forehead. Over the months-long journey, Pacys had learned the choice was in direct opposition to elven tradition and propriety.
"The Taker has allied himself with the morkoth," Tyhlly said. "If he joins with them again and marches on Eadraal, successfully forcing the mermen from the Lesser Hmur Plateau and Myth Xantar, where will they retreat to?"
"Possibly the shalarin lands." Reefglamor said.
Pacys saw understanding light the Senior High Mage's eyes.
"And, after the attack on the hatcheries," the locathah asked, "what would the shalarin do?"
"They would attack. Vhaemas's army and his people would be cut down from both sides." Reefglamor's answer was sobering. He stared at the locathah with new respect. "You have quite an understanding of war."
The locathah ranger spread her hands. "It is just that we have been involved with them for so long, Lord Senior. We have come to understand war, and we have come to understand that unity often means our freedom. In times past, when the locathah were taken as slaves, we were particularly vulnerable when we fought among ourselves. We have learned from those experiences and vowed never to make them again. Working together, we understand that we are stronger than we would be if we stood alone." She hesitated, then added, "Some of our leaders, as well as the whales, feel that is something the other races of Seros would do well to learn."
An uncomfortable silence followed her words.
Tyhlly rounded her shoulders self-consciously, making herself more vulnerable. "Forgive me if I have trespassed in my zeal to spread the news I have learned," she said.
There's no need to apologize," Reefglamor assured her.
"You have spoken fairly. Sometimes the truth is a hard thing to hear."
"Thank you, Lord Senior."
"Perhaps we should be thinking about a unity of some sort," Reefglamor suggested.
"With the mermen?" Ildacer scoffed. They wouldn't even let us travel across their lands. An alliance will be out of the question."
"I take it you are not in favor of it?" Jhanra asked.
Ildacer's answer was immediate. "Of course not. With all the wars between us, how could anyone entertain such an idea?"
"In some of those wars," Reefglamor said, "the Alu'Tel'Quessir and the merfolk