Under Fallen Stars - Mel Odom [17]
Reefglamor ran his hand across the stone surface of the table. It hadn't always been smooth, but centuries of working at it, reading and studying, conversing with those few of whom he thought well enough to invite there, had worn away the roughness. Only his own contentious personality seemed to be unscathed by time.
That, he amended, and the ever-present threat of the Ravager.
"I shall need you at your best," Reefglamor said. "You may need to act with all the focus I've trained in you in order to salvage anything of this in case things go awry."
"Senior," Ildacer said quietly. He was rounder than most alu'tel'quessir because he had an appetite for food and drink that was legendary in its own right. His blue skin was paler than Reefglamor's and his silver hair still yet held stands of black. He wore a deep purple silken weave. "I know I risk your considerable displeasure by venting my own thoughts in this matter."
"You risk far more than that," Reefglamor warned.
"You asked me here, Senior, and I think that means you believe you can't do this without me." Ildacer's gaze met Reefglamor's glare and only flinched a little.
"And you think this gives you some sway over me?"
"No, but I hoped that it might influence you." Ildacer hesitated. "If only a little."
Reefglamor waved a hand at him. A few minutes of the junior mage's prattle wouldn't mean much in the scheme of dangers that faced them. "Speak, but cogently and with brevity, and always with respect in mind. I lack even more patience than usual."
"Thank you, Senior. I believe you should rethink your decision to try to summon a vision about the Ravager. We've gone all these centuries without success in that regard."
"I've never before attempted it," Reefglamor pointed out. However, he hadn't with good reason. It was only the great danger he felt now that prompted him to make this decision.
"But others have," Ildacer hurried on. "Six that I can think of. Four were driven mad. One slew himself, and the final one was drawn into a gate that had never existed before or ever existed afterward. There have been no successes connected with attempting to learn more of the Ravager. It was those attempts that brought the number of High Mages so dangerously low in these past years."
Reefglamor considered the younger man's words. They carried only the truth. He spoke softly, persuasive instead of demanding for the first time in centuries. "The Time of Tempering is upon us. We've done as much as we can do in every other avenue we've had open to us. There lies ahead only this way."
"But you've outlawed this spell's use against the Ravager."
"Yes."
Ildacer appeared surprised. "You made the law."
"So it's only just that I break it." Reefglamor paused. "No one else had better dare."
Shaking his head in regret, Ildacer settled back in his chair and reached for the wine bladder on the table. He drank from it quickly, glancing out the cut crystal window that overlooked Sylkiir.
Reefglamor followed the other mage's gaze. Most of the homes glowed with the luminescent lichens. Though only two hundred feet below the Sea of Fallen Stars, not much light got through to the depths, and when night fell even elven vision didn't help much.
His house was built on the side of the hill overlooking the underwater valley where the city had been built. From there he could see the twisted coral spires of Deep Sashelas's temple where he'd spent so much of his life. He'd designed the god's temple, and helped shape the magics that had encouraged the coral growth that created the structure. Long-bodied fish and other sea creatures traversed the currents throughout the city, but no predators that would dare attack the sea elves finned through those depths. Sylkiir had been well warded against those.
"Do you remember how long it took us