Under Fallen Stars - Mel Odom [19]
"Argue though you may, I won't shirk from this. Events have been put into play. According to the merman Thraxos, the Ravager has already taken action against the surface world. Though it is not widely known yet, above water or below, sahuagin attacked Waterdeep two tendays ago. They were accompanied by all manner of sea creatures."
"You believe this to be the work of the Ravager?"
"Could it be anyone else?"
Hdacer held his gaze only a moment before looking away. Fear stamped into his features. "No. Of course not."
"That's why we need to know," Reefglamor said softly. "If there is any way to foretell where the Taleweaver may soon be, or discover who he is, I have to try. And if there's a way to discover the Ravager's whereabouts, I have to attempt that as well."
"There's nothing, then, that I may offer as argument in this?"
"Pharom Ildacer, I've argued with myself for days," Reefglamor said sternly. "Can you imagine a fiercer opponent?"
"No, Senior, truly I can not."
"Then prepare your wards that we may begin." Reefglamor already had his own in place. He ran his fingers over the white pearls in the gold bracer adorning his right wrist, the hand he'd given in service to his god Deep Sashelas, also known as Dolphin Prince and Sailor's Friend.
Long moments passed as Ildacer prepared, digging items from the kit he carried. He marked different colored symbols on the stone floor with the selection of oily gels from the writing packs the alu'tel'quessir had created. Since they'd chosen to live in the Sea of Fallen Stars after the Crown Wars that had torn apart the empire of the elves they'd had to design many things that would help them with their undersea life.
When the younger mage was finished, he looked at Reefglamor. "What do you have to offer?"
Attempting a vision called for the sacrifice of an item the caster cared about. Reefglamor's hand almost trembled as he took a clamshell from a nearby shelf. He opened it slowly, revealing the contents. "This." He took out a common spined urchin's shell and placed it gently on the table.
"That?" Ildacer's effort to not sound disbelieving went unrewarded.
Reefglamor touched the spined urchin's shell. "This was given to me by my wife on the day I met her," the old mage said, his voice surprisingly tight despite the centuries that had passed. "She thought I was full of my own worth, pompous even."
Graciously, and perhaps wisely, Ildacer didn't comment.
"She gave me this shell, plucked from the ground at our feet, as a token that I should remember worth is only in the eye of the person who perceives it. Those who perceive it in themselves oft fool first themselves." Reefglamor smiled at the memory. Their time together had been short. She'd died at his side, fighting the enemies they'd found while questing for one of the legendary elven devices he'd learned of. For all the long lives of the elves, they'd had scarcely a dozen years together, a heartbeat in time, actually. He'd never loved another woman.
"I'm sorry I never got the chance to meet her," Ildacer said.
"She was a remarkable woman."
"Perhaps the gift you offer is too generous."
Reefglamor looked at the younger mage. "I treasure nothing above this simple shell. So common in Seros, yet there is not another like it in the entire world, above or below. Yet, at this moment, I can only hope that it is enough. This is strong magic I seek to employ, against a foe more powerful than we have ever known. The threat-by the fins of Deep Sashelas-the threat against all of Seros has never been as potentially devastating. You know that."
"Yes."
Reefglamor closed his hand briefly around the shell, then pushed it to the center of the table and left it there. "Make yourself ready. This should be done."
Without another word, Ildacer bent to the task. He took the needed items from the kit he carried with him, then inscribed a circle and powerful symbols on the floor around Reefglamor. The younger mage used the different colored oily