“What I’m saying is that what you consider an act of kindness is going to backfire in the long run.” Salaark replied. “It’s been countless millennia since the merfolk have set foot on dry land for longer than a few minutes.”

“They claim they want to be here and recreate the glory of their past, but they have yet to fully grasp the price that fulfilling the dream of their ancestors demands. The merfolk have lived all their lives in the dark, surrounded by the roiling tides of the oceans that carried their songs.

“In more ways than one, they are like newborns, but with the mind of an adult. Our world is bright, dry, and noisy to them. They don’t like wearing clothes, everything is a mystery to them, and the only thing they really like about this place is the food.”

“They do sound like Elysia.” Lith couldn’t help but smile at the memory of the baby girl shredding her clothes with claws and fangs until he had covered her with a Skinwalker armor.

“The merfolk are much more reasonable than your daughter, but they are still tourists to the Blood Desert, Lith. They don’t belong here, and they never will unless they are willing to make sacrifices, compromise, and accept that life here is always going to be different from what they are used to.

“More importantly, merfolk are not humans, but they are still people. And people can never truly appreciate something that’s just gifted to them. To learn to value their place on the surface, they have to earn it. Fight for it.

“The merfolk must face every challenge that this new reality throws at them and decide for themselves if getting out of their comfort zone is worth so much effort. If I step in every time they face a hurdle and solve it for them, I’ll make them happy only in the short term.