Beyond her half-focused eyes the meadow grew bright, throat-catchingly beautiful, with a light that had nothing to do with the sun. She could see/feel the busy life of Nature growing, feeding, scurrying, scarcely mindful of the approaching weight of men, horses and cruel intent. And there was Lurias beside her, a few yards off, closer than her skin.
Link... So easy, like clasping hands. Good, my girl. Now to the Web... A deep sense of contact, power, expansion: eight familiar presences pouring out a wave-front of strength. And now it must be used. Form the Illusion. Form and maintain.
Flicker of acknowledgment, tightening of focus, slight pulling away: then the surge of power, the almost-visible thickening of the air that centered on the waiting image. If she had looked, Ashrayan knew, s
