It reminded her of so many arguments she'd heard over the years. There were a great many people who lived like that, to heal someone only to send them back out into a war. Even Aeotha had done that, but she'd always saw it as a choice. If the battle was no longer in their heart then they would not fight. She fought for peace, for those that couldn't fight for themselves. She fought against the evils in the world and if she died then she died. It was a price she was more than willing to pay. She thought things though a lot of the time, but when it came to what was right she would do it. She would fight a thousand more Drow in the pits of hell in order to save the King's wife or a temple of priestesses. She'd fight another dozen priestesses of Armas if it meant saving a dozen people from slavery for the rest of their lives.
But she could see how someone would find Gershul's ideas appealing, but if the cost of a life without war meant destroying their world, destroying magic, it wasn't something Aeotha would ever consider. Especially from the mouth of a madman. He thought he had the right to decide such a thing. None of them did. Tens of thousands of lives, more than that. She couldn't put a number on such a thing, destroying their world. Why did he hate magic so much? Why did he hate religion so much? Aeotha didn't hate people who didn't believe in Lorien, or thought her teachings were rubbish. Aeotha questioned her role, her ideas of religion all the time. It was natural. But without Lorien, and without the temple, what was she?
Nothing else defined Aeotha the way those things did.
She would always be a priestess. Even if she gave up praying, gave up magic, or gave up simply the robes they used. It was the greatest gift anyone had ever given her, a purpose. A gift she cherished and hated. It gave her Eibhear, and just as quickly stole him away, didn't it? Aeotha had one of her hands up by her neck now, fingers ready to grab her staff should Shantar move to attack Shantar, she would move to back him up.
There was no reason any of them needed to fight Gershul alone. All of them wanted to stop him, didn't they? Shantar didn't want to see their world ruined, Skandra didn't, and Aeotha would fight to save it until she could no longer move or breath.