Welcome to Gaia! ::

"Good, good," Leyenda said, her voice filled with relief. "When Haldia came back earlier, just about panicking, we were all worried ... she wasn't making any sense, she just kept saying something about being crushed in darkness, surrounded by vermin ..."

"That would be the gnomes," Rhea mused. "Good word for them ... even I was unsettled by them, and to be near them for a whole day and night ..."

She shuddered at the thought.

Leyenda blinked. "Gnomes?" she repeated.

"Nasty looking buggers," Earendil muttered. "Tiny little things. It's inhuman, putting people into cells meant for something less than half their size."

Kelirahc looked at Earendil. "I have never heard you so irritated," he commented, half smiling.

Earendil glared at him. "You would be too, if you spent a day and night in a cell so small you could hardly stand, let alone sit."

"Nasty buggers," Earendil repeated. "I wouldn't want to run into one outside of a cell, just because they're that creepy."

Kelirahc turned to Aethos. "Why in the world would you put anyone into such a place?" he asked, his voice filled with wonder.

Leyenda translated the question for him, since Kelirahc didn't know Common Elvish, and Aethos didn't know the common tongue.

Aethos rubbed one finger across his brow. "The gnomes have been attacking us since our arrival here," he murmured, "if we don't lock them up they'll just attack us again."

Aethos nodded at Lin. "We were here about ... well, one or two hundred years, we had just settled and built the city, when suddenly one day the gnomes began attacking. At first we had to push them back and build the walls at the same time, but since the walls have been completed, it's been better. Though ..."

He trailed off, a pained expression crossing his face.

"I ... it is my personal belief that if we would actually do something with our prisoners, or kill those who attack us, we would not have been fighting for so many centuries," Aethos said with a frown, "but my father believes that though they are attacking us, we are no different than they if we simply kill them. Yes, our people will be doomed to be forever fighting, and never have any peace, but at least we are not killers."

He sighed. "It makes no sense to me. They are constantly killing our people ... and not just killing, but torturing ... sacrificing them in manners I would not wish to tell you about ... and yet we do nothing but hold a wall against them, a wall which has proven time and again to be ineffective."

"That I do not know," Aethos admitted quietly. "I cannot believe that they would not have some reason in their own minds, though. What kind of creature would destroy simply for the sake of destroying? As for your people ..."

He trailed off thoughtfully. "I have never seen a gnome in or near water," he murmured, "so it is possible that they will be safe on their ship. Especially if they are near this side of the island, rather than the other."

"That's reassuring," Earendil muttered, not quite convinced. "Tell me, Aethos-sola, would it be possible for some of our people - not all, but some - to come ashore and do some research?" He leaned forward intently. "My great-grandmother, Her Majesty the Queen, has charged me with the task of mapping any lands that we were to find on this voyage, and there is another among us who wishes simply to study what cultures we find."

Aethos blinked, then nodded. "On our side of the walls, you will be safe," he said solemnly. Then he added, "But in order to complete your map, or your study, you will have to leave our walls, and go out to the other side of the island, where the gnomes live ... I can offer you a few men for protection, but beyond that you will be on your own."

Aethos shrugged one shoulder. "Well, I would hardly call it a walk in the park," he replied lightly, "but if one is careful, it can be safe enough to go there. And if you show your strength, sometimes they'll leave you alone altogether."

Earendil nodded. "Then I have but one question," he said. "If we are out there, and are attacked, what would your king's stance be on killing in defense?"

Aethos laughed. "My friend, if you are under attack, anything goes. It is only when they are in our prisons that Father does not allow us to kill them. It is one thing to kill out there when it is kill or be killed, but it is altogether a different story when they are in prison, and without weapons."

"If Rhea will come with us," Earendil replied, glancing up at the woman.

Rhea knew what he meant. She had the same ability as Caranthir, to protect anyone within a certain distance of herself. She had the same ability as Tinuviel, to phase out and go anywhere that was necessary. She had the ability of Aragost, to know when, where and how they might be attacked. In short, she had the ability to keep them safer than anyone could be - even here at the palace.

"I will go," she replied, "on the condition that we have someone with us who knows the area, as well as someone who can get us all safely away in case something happens."

"I will give you two of my Wing Riders," Aethos put in. "They know the land, even the mountains, and their steeds can not only bear you away in case of emergency, but also fight if needed."