Adept (The Essence Gate War, Book 1) - By Michael Arnquist Page 0,5
he resumed running a cloth the length of his blade.
Halthak turned his gaze back to the night sky. Try as he might, he could not puzzle the man out. His actions and speech were unlike any soldier he had met. Bolstering his courage, he cast a furtive glance toward the sleeping Sil’ath and spoke again, more softly.
“Is it true, what they say about the Sil’ath?” he asked.
“No,” Amric replied at once, without turning his head.
“How can you know which part I mean?”
“I don’t need to. I have lived among the Sil’ath for many years, and I have also traveled broadly enough to know that whenever ‘they’ talk about the Sil’ath, they invariably get it wrong.”
“You live––have lived among them?” Halthak blurted, rising to prop himself on one elbow.
Amric snorted. “What tales have you heard, healer? That they eat their own offspring? That they attack other races without provocation? That they are incapable of reason or honor?”
Halthak reddened, hoping his discomfort was not visible in the poor light. Amric’s derisive comments did indeed align with some of what he had heard, and he was beginning to worry that his curiosity and ignorance might have angered his savior. From the dismissive tone of Amric’s next statements, however, he had little cause for concern.
“Nothing more than hot air that could just as easily have emanated from either end of the speaker, for all the wisdom it contained.” The warrior held up his sword to sight down its edge, looking for nicks. Satisfied, he sheathed the blade and set the crossed scabbards aside but within easy reach. They sat in silence for several moments, and Halthak thought the conversation was at an end until Amric finally spoke again.
“There are no doubt elements of truth in what you have heard of the Sil’ath, healer. They are indeed fearless and implacable in battle, and their warriors are trained from birth with any weapon they can lift. Contrary to the tales, however, they are not motivated to conquer or pillage, and they are never unnecessarily cruel. Any such behavioral flaws are dealt with swiftly in Sil’ath society. They are a pragmatic people in all things, and so when they are provoked to conflict they aim to put a decisive end to it. They bend the knee to no one.”
“That does not sound very pragmatic. What if they face an overwhelming force?”
Amric chuckled. “That depends on your point of view. When I call them pragmatic, I do not mean to say they will take the easiest path. Far from it. They are uncompromising in their principles, and every last one of their warriors is worth several of their enemy on the field of battle. Make no mistake, each will fight until he can no longer draw breath. As a result, no one enters lightly into conflict with the Sil’ath. Think of it as promoting peace by advertising the high cost of the alternative. In the end, all they want is to live and raise their own without interference or encroachment from other races, which they find generally baffling and unpredictable by comparison.”
Halthak considered his words for several moments. “And despite their dislike of other races, they accepted your presence among them?”
“To be fair, they gave me a home among them when I was quite young, so I had few behaviors to unlearn as they raised me.”
Amric glanced over his shoulder at Halthak when he heard no reply, and laughed.
“Close your mouth, healer, it is not so terrible a fate. The Sil’ath raise their own with the principles of honor, integrity, capability and dedication. Not just the words, but ingrained in their core. They treat each other with the deepest affection and loyalty. No, I have spent time among humans as well, later in life, and I am fortunate for the upbringing I had.”
Halthak started to object, and then paused. He considered his own past treatment at the hands of both men and Orks, and his arguments faded before him like so much smoke. Who was he to defend the merits of being with one’s own kind, when he himself had never found such acceptance? He stole another look at the sleeping Valkarr, and then turned back to Amric.
“How did you come to dwell among them?” he asked.
But Amric shook his head. “This is a barter system, my friend, and it is time to balance the scales.”
Halthak swallowed his disappointment. “Very well, what would you know of me?”