Nightchild

'All too much for you, my sweet,' whispered Erie

'I'll stand here and listen,' she said. 'If she stirs and calls for her mother, I'll come for you.'

Erie

'Thank you, Ren'erei,' she said. 'You're a friend, aren't you?'

T hope so,' the elf replied.

Erie

'She went straight to sleep then?' asked Aviana. Erie

Erie

T do apologise for this appalling habit,' she said, sounding hoarse. 'But we find the inhalation eases our lungs and aching limbs. Unfortunately, as you can hear, it rather affects our voices.' She passed the pipe on to Aviana who sucked deeply, coughing as she swallowed the smoke that smelled of oak, roses and a sweet herb she couldn't quite place.

As if seeing them for the first time, Erie

Her robes hung on a fleshless body from which her long, narrow neck, tendons and veins standing proud, jutted like a rock from a dark sea. Her hands were long, almost spidery, unadorned by jewellery and shaking slightly, her fingers ending in carefully tended short nails.

Erie

'I expect you're thinking you didn't get here a moment too soon,' she said. 'And you aren't far from the truth.'

'Oh Ephy, don't be so dramatic,' scalded Myriell, her voice ragged from the pipe.

'Is it so?' hissed Ephemere, tone hardening. 'I, for one, will not hide from the risk we all take and the likely outcome for us all.'

'The girl must know the truth. All of it,' added Cleress.

'Know what, exactly?' asked Erie

'Off you go, Ephy,' said Cleress.

'Erie

'And it would be fair to say we none of us would still choose to be alive were it not for our enforced wait,' said Cleress.

Ephemere nodded. 'You're going to see things here that you won't like. You're going to want to stop us doing what we do with Lya

'Damage?' Erie

'Calm yourself, Erie

'Death?' Erie

'That is the ultimate price any mage may pay for attempting to realise the gift of magic,' said Cleress. 'But for Lya

'But in her mind there is a conflict caused by her Dordovan training. Only part of her ability has been stirred and now we must awaken the rest, but we fear that the Dordovan-trained part of her

mind will resist unless we can retrain it not to. It's a difficult enough concept to grasp for anyone but for a child so young…' Cleress shrugged.

Erie

'If we could, we would. But the process of her Awakening has been started. U

'I beg your pardon?'

'Whatever they may have told you, the Dordovan masters hoped their magic would stifle the rest within her, so like fools they went ahead to bring it out. No doubt they told you it was the only way to save her,' said Myriell.

'Well yes, but…' There was a clamouring in Erie

'What they wanted was to save themselves from her. But they had no real conception of what they were dealing with, Erie

'No, no, no.' Erie

Ephemere put a cold hand on Erie

'Child, relax,' she said, her tone soothing despite its roughness. 'Here is what you must know, but first keep in mind that you are not to blame for anything that has happened and that your bringing Lya

Erie

'Within Lya

be like visiting the ManaBowl in each College to accept the mana and lore. This should be learned as one but Dordover has upset the balance.

'I ca

'She is so young and physically frail. The poor girl should not have had to face this until she was your age.'

'But you can make it happen?' Erie

'We have to.' It was Aviana who spoke. 'Because if we fail, there will be no Al-Drechar.'

'Why, what will happen to you?' Erie