Sea Devil's Eye (The Threat from the Sea) by Mel Odom

Author:Mel Odom [Odom, Mel]
Language: eng
Format: azw3
ISBN: 9780786963973
Publisher: Wizards of the Coast Publishing
Published: 2012-09-18T00:00:00+00:00

“Aye, an’ there’s trouble afoot, friend Pacys.”

Drawn from his work on the saceddar, the old bard glanced up at the dwarf. Khlinat’s face was grim and hard. The last sweet notes from the saceddar died away.

“What is it?” the bard asked.

Khlinat pointed forward with his bearded chin and said, “It appears we’ve run afoul of a war party of mermen. They’re refusing to let us pass through.”

“Why?”

Pacys uncoiled from the flat rock on the sea bottom where he’d been working while the caravan took a brief respite. They’d crossed the outer edges of the Hmur Plateau a couple days back. At present, they were only a few miles east of the Pirate Isles.

“I’m figurin’ the merfolk don’t exactly take to what looks like a military group paradin’ through their land. At least, that’s the gist of what I heard afore I decided to come back for ye.”

“What does Reefglamor say?” Pacys asked, securing the saceddar to his back.

“A whole lot,” the dwarf replied, “but ain’t none of it doing him any good. Him and that merman baron are both puffing up like toads. Me, I’m keeping a ready hand for me axe.”

The old bard launched himself into the water, and Khlinat followed him. Pacys swam easily, making his way along the caravan line to the front. Undersea mountains around the Pirate Isles made their journey hard even for swimmers. Bands of raiding seawolves and scrags had attacked them during the nights, costing them nearly a dozen warriors before they were turned back. The mountains created too many potential ambush points, but the deeper water toward the center of the Hmur Plateau offered dangers as well. The depths also shortened even the sea elves’ undersea vision to but a few feet.

The sea elf rangers among the caravan saw to the care of the narwhals and sea turtles that pulled the flat supply sleds. The warriors formed protective units around the steep hills, stationed in positions that allowed them to see in all directions.

Even with the bright sunlight streaming through the shallows, Pacys didn’t see Reefglamor and the mermen until he was a hundred feet away. Twenty warriors floated behind the merman baron with their tridents in their fists.

Reefglamor stood on a small rise in front of the baron, “You must let us pass,” he said.

“No.” The merman baron studied Pacys as the bard approached. His tone turned derisive. “You even brought humans with you.”

“This is not an ordinary human,” Reefglamor argued. “This is the Taleweaver. Your people have legends of the Taker …”

“Yes.”

The baron didn’t appear convinced. He was broad and muscled. His long brown hair floated over his shoulders, following the path of the currents that swept over the area. Tattoos covered his arms and chest, and a spiral representing Eadro decorated his right cheek.

“Then you’ve heard of the Taleweaver, Baron Tallos,” Reefglamor persisted.

The baron narrowed his eyes. “Those tales have been twice-told hundreds of times over,” he argued. “I choose not to believe in them as much as some of my people do.

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