"_We_ are not now penned for
their pleasure. We may flee into the sea once more, and there live as
did our fathers' fathers, and they dare not follow us there--"
"Who knows?" It was Sssuri who raised that objection. "With their
ancient knowledge once more theirs, even the depths of the sea may not
be ours much longer. Do they not know how to ride upon the air?"
The knot of mer-warriors stirred. Several spears thudded butt down
into the sand. And Sssuri accepted that as an invitation to descend,
summoning Dalgard after him with a beckoning finger.
Later they sat in a circle in the cushioning gray powder, the two from
the south eating dried fish and sea kelp, while Sssuri related,
between mouthfuls, their recent adventures.
"Three times have _they_ flown across these islands on their way to
that city," the Elder of the pitifully decimated merman tribe told the
explorers.
"But this time," broke in one of his companions, "they had with them a
new ship--"
"A new ship?" Sssuri pounced upon that scrap of information.
"Yes. The ships of the air in which _they_ travel are fashioned
so"--with his knife point he drew a circle in the sand--"but this one
was smaller and more in the likeness of a spear with a heavy
point--thus"--he made a second sketch beside the first, and Dalgard
and Sssuri leaned over to study it.
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