Under Fallen Stars - Mel Odom [117]
He played the saceddar by striking his fingers and thumbs against a single crystal or a combination of crystals at the same time. Striking a new crystal or combination broke the vibrations of the last ones, effectively silencing them and providing for long and short notes.
When Taareen had given it to him, Pacys had been fascinated. That fascination had grown even more when the old bard discovered how easily playing the instrument came to him, and how parts of the song he'd been working on seemed to knit themselves to the new medium. He'd composed new parts over the past days, as well as learning the songs from Taker legends.
Scrabbling to his right, the sound dimmed by the water reached Pacys's ears at the same time as the vibrations from the stone shelf he sat on. He turned and saw Khlinat pulling himself up through the twisted coral growth.
"Ye got up early this morning," the dwarf commented as he settled himself across from the bard. The potions the sea elves kept him supplied with allowed him the same free movement and breathing ability as Pacys had from his enchanted bracelet.
"I couldn't sleep," Pacys said.
Khlinat wiped at his face, and the old bard knew it was because even though the potion protected him from the harsh nature of the sea, it left the dwarf feeling like he was wet the whole time. "I didn't rest too well either, songsmith, but I know it's 'cause I ain't never going to get acclimated to this way of living. What's yer excuse?"
"Restlessness, I think." Pacys pulled on the saceddar and fastened the straps. He took the finger and thumb caps from the small fish bladder bag that hung around his neck and fitted them on.
"Oh, and ye mean yer through prowling through them sea elf books, then?" Khlinat asked hopefully.
"I don't know that I could ever be satiated with that, my friend. The wisdom of the ages resides in those tomes. Magic, history, travel, philosophy, worlds await any adventurer with the skill to read."
"Aye," the dwarf said, "and a goodly pouch of gold, I'm thinking, for any man clever enough and brave enough to make off with some of them books. Like as not, nobody's ever seen anything even kin to them topside."
"I'd say you're right. Even skilled as I am in languages, when trying to read ones that should be open to me, I found them hard to decipher."
Most of the books were written in special pastes that hardened and adhered permanently to pages that were cut from the shells of giant clams. A lot of time went into the creation of each book, so they were highly prized. Some of them were even tonal books, pieced together with crystals like the sacedder and designed to be struck by a tiny mallet in order to be read. Still others were merely books ensor-celled to withstand the sea.
Khlinat waved irritably at a small school of fish that seemed determined to find hiding places in his beard and hair. With the constant immersion of living beneath the Sea of Fallen Stars, his peg had started to show signs of distress. Taareen had asked a local smith to help out, and the dwarf had been issued a new peg made of green-gray coral Taareen had called claw coral and hydra's stone.
"So what are we to do?" the dwarf asked.
"I don't know." Pacys's fingers wandered across the saced-dar's surface, pinging crystals. Before he knew it, he'd started a new song weave. The notes from the struck crystals cut through the water like a knife, pouring out into the sea.
The music surged through him, building, and he gave himself over to it. The sound was haunting and evil, at turns strident and threatening. It stabbed Pacys deep within his heart with an icy finger, yet he found he couldn't let go the song.
Sharp, poignant notes echoed across Faenasuor and floated toward the surface. Movement, barely sensed in the currents and then only because the old bard had attuned himself to listen for vibrations because of the saceddar, swirled around him. He knew from the feel that it was something large.
In front of him, Khlinat's eyes rounded in horror. "Get down, friend Pacys!" The dwarf pushed up quickly,