“Well, if you have a headache,” Snowfire said gently after a few minutes, “then this will be a good excuse to go find Nightwind and introduce you to the third species that is with us on this expedition.” Snowfire patted him on the shoulder and rubbed at Darian’s back a bit, companionably. “Nightwind can get you a soothing-potion, and you can meet Kelvren.”
“Who’s Kelvren?” Darian asked, both curious and a little apprehensive. His headache had subsided from the worst disorientation, and he tried to remember what the other non-human races were that Snowfire had mentioned. One was kyree, and one was tervardi -
“Oh, I think you’ll like him a great deal,” Snowfire said with a chuckle. “Though you mustn’t let him intimidate you. He won’t try to intimidate you, it is simply that sometimes, his people do, just by being themselves. Kelvren is - a gryphon.”
Five
Snowfire had been struck speechless when Tyrsell offered to “give” Darian the Tayledras language. Just what is he planning, here? he asked himself - not with any suspicion that Tyrsell intended any kind of wrong, but because of what that “gift” would entail. For one thing, Snowfire certainly hadn’t expected the dyheli to make any such offer, and for another, it was definitely an offer of far more than appeared on the surface.
:What do you think you’re doing?: he asked the stag. :Not that this isn‘t a great deal more expedient, but the boy has no idea what this is going to mean to him!:
:That is precisely why I suggested it,: Tyrsell replied calmly, blinking as lazily as if he had suggested a change of grazing spots. :In this case, it is quite true that although what he does not know about what we’ll have to do is not going to hurt him, what he doesn’t know about the Mind-Gifts is, and if by taking a few shortcuts we can keep his own budding abilities from harming him - and, not so incidentally, us - where’s the wrong?:
:The wrong is in the deception,: Snowfire told him severely. :You’re deceiving him into thinking this is something very simple.:
:What deception? He won’t care about what we have to do to put the knowledge in his mind, he’s only interested in the results.: Tyrsell, as was the case with most of the dyheli, had a slightly different perspective on morality than humans did. To Snowfire’s mind, this was one of the two-edged swords of being allies with nonhumans. Dyheli focused on expediency, hertasi saw no harm in meddling in private affairs because hertasi had no such thing as a “private affair,” and gryphons were downright bloody-minded at times.
:And he is rightly concerned only with results, too,: Tyrsell continued. :We know that the fact is that we’ll have to establish links and shields in order to get that knowledge into him, but that’s of no concern to him. He could care less, and since those links and shields are not only not going to harm him, but are actually going to help him, I think that the fact that we‘II have to put them in place without his actual consent is irrelevant.:
Snowfire couldn’t put into words why he objected to the dyheli’s high-handed assumption that mucking about with someone else’s mind didn’t matter as long as the results were good - but he Sent his feelings about it as forcefully as he could.
Tyrsell remained calm, switching his tail to ward off some troublesome flies as he continued to bombard Snowfire with impersonal logic, his eyes warm and serene above the dark cheek-stripes that made his face look like a painted mask. :Let’s look at this from the position of efficiency. Can you really afford the time, effort, and energy it would take to give him the language magically? Of course not. Can you keep shepherding him around and translating for him? That’s equally absurd. Can you explain to him what links and shields are in a way he‘II understand right now, given that you are not only working with someone who doesn’t have the understanding of Mind-Gifts, but are having to translate from your language to his? Not a chance. So, by doing this, you free yourself for other work, you give him some much-needed autonomy, and you keep him from being overwhelmed if his Gift of Mindspeech suddenly decides to develop. What would you, what could you do if it decided to flower overnight at a time when you were off on a scouting sortie or trying to fend off those barbarians? Expect Wintersky to take care of it? He’s barely into controlling his own Mindspeech as it is! Leave it to Stariall? And just how is he supposed to hold the matrices at the same time? Nightwind’s Mindspeech is rudimentary; she hasn’t the tools to teach a beginner. And who else is there he will trust?:
Snowfire frowned, but he had to admit that Tyrsell was right. :You come perilously close to amorality,: he told the dyheli.
:Never. My morality is just that of the herd, that the herd is more important than a single member; and when it comes to it, your morals are the same. Didn‘t you just say that if it would save the world from another Ma‘ar, you wouldn’t hesitate to sacrifice yourself and the boy and anyone else?: Tyrsell held his head up and looked Snowfire right in the eyes, challenging him stallion to stallion, daring him to deny what he had told Starfall not more than a few moments ago.
:I said, I’d sacrifice volunteers - : he replied weakly, but Tyrsell had him, and they both knew it. :You win,: he admitted. :This time.:
:And next time, you may.: Now that the challenge was over, Tyrsell was perfectly amiable again. :Don’t worry so much about winning arguments, my friend. Concentrate on keeping the herd intact and in good health.:
Darian was pathetically eager to have the ability to understand those around him, and from the little Snowfire could sense from him, he would have been willing to get it at almost any cost. That soothed his raw conscience a little. After he’d given his immediate consent, the boy waited expectantly, eyes focused on Tyrsell’s, for the magic to happen.
:Get ready to catch him,: the dyheli warned, and reached out to seize the boy’s mind. This was the greatest Gift the herd leaders had; the ability to overwhelm any mind not heavily shielded - and many that were - without any damage to that mind whatsoever. This was how a herd leader could guide his frightened followers to safety when they were hysterical with terror and unable to think or reason. He could seize as many as a dozen minds at once or even more, and use those he controlled to guide the rest of the herd behind him. Dyheli never seemed to resent this, perhaps because herd morality was as deeply a part of them as individuality was for Tayledras. This was how the herd leaders were chosen. Instead of grappling horn-to-horn as their distant ancestors had, they fought mind-to-mind, and the strongest mind, or the one with the most endurance, won the right to father the next generation and guide this one.