Magic's Price by Mercedes Lackey Page A

the Companions withdraw themselves from the meld.
    For a moment, he panicked—until he Saw that the new Web was still in place, still intact.
    Damn. I’d hoped — but they’re still laws unto themselves, he thought ruefully. They were apart from the Web before — and it looks like they’ve decided it’s going to stay that way. Too bad; we could have used them to make up for Heralds with weak Gifts. And since every human magic I’ve seen has always left them unaffected, I was hoping they might have conferred that immunity on us. Companions have never done more than aid their Chosen, but it would have been nice if this time had been an exception.
    At least his original intentions were holding; the new Web was powered by the magic of the node, and only augmented by the Heralds instead of depending entirely on them. When the call came, those without more pressing emergencies would leave everything to meet greater threats to Valdemar.
    Now for the addition to the Web protections....
    He dropped out of the meld, for this was something he had to handle alone. He stilled himself, isolated himself from every outside sensation, then brought Savil in closer. Together, they reached out to the vrondi and Called—
    One came immediately; then a dozen, then a hundred. And still they Called, until the air elementals pressed around them on all sides, thousands of the creatures—
    It was a good thing they didn’t really exist on the same plane of reality where his body slumped in the Work Room, or he and everyone in it would have been smothered.
    He Reached again, much more carefully this time, and created a new line to the Web and the power it fed upon. And showed it to the assembled vrondi, as Savil told them wordlessly that this power would be theirs for the taking—
    â€”they surged forward, hungrily—
    :— if ,: said Savil, holding the line a bit out of their reach.
    :If?: The word echoed from vrondi to vrondi, ripples of hunger/doubt/hunger. :If? If?:
    They withdrew a little, and contemplated both of them. Finally they responded.
    : What?:
    Vanyel showed them, as Savil held the line. To earn the power, all they need do, would be to watch for mages. Always watch for mages. And let them know they were being watched.
    They swirled about him, about Savil, thousands of blue eyes in little mist-clouds. :All?: they asked, in a chorus of mind-voices.
    :That’s all,: he replied, feeling the strength of his own power starting to fade. :Watch. Let them know you watch.:
    The vrondi swirled around him, thinking it over. Then, just when he was beginning to worry—
    :YES!: they cried, and seized on the line of power—and vanished.
    And he let go of Savil, of the meld, and let himself fall.
    Â 
    â€œGods,” Kilchas moaned.
    Vanyel raised his head from the table, where he’d slumped forward. “My sentiments exactly.” Kilchas was half-lying on the table with his hands over his head, fingers tangled in his gray mane.
    â€œI think,” Lissandra said, pronouncing the words with care, “That I am going to sleep for a week. Did your thing with the vrondi work?”
    â€œThey took it,” Vanyel replied, staring at the single globe of iridescent crystal in the center of the table where the grouping of five stones had been. “Every mage inside the borders of Valdemar is going to know he’s being watched. That’s going to make him uncomfortable if he doesn’t belong here, or he’s up to no good. The deeper inside Valdemar, the more vrondi he’ll attract, and the worse he’ll feel.”
    â€œAnd he’ll have to shield pretty heavily to avoid detection,” Savil added, leaning into the back of her chair and letting it support all her weight. “The vrondi are quite sensitive to mage-energy. And they’re curious as all hell; I suspect wild ones will start joining our bound ones in watching out for mages just for the