Through the Ice by Piers Anthony, Launius Anthony, Robert Kornwise

are the others safe? You drew me out, but—"
    "Well, let's see," Seth said, realizing that there was neither physical nor mental contact with the other two. "All we need to do is take their hands."
    They reached across and scrambled for hands. Seth found Vidav's/
    /The flames reared up in front, forcing him back. He turned, only to find more flames behind. He was in a burning building, and there seemed to be no way out. His skin was blistering, and he was choking from the smoke.
    It's a dream! he thought. It's not real! I have your hand, follow me out!
    Then, slowly, the flames faded. The four of them were sprawled in the tent, hands linked.
    Thank you, Seth, Tirsa thought. I could not pull him out! The flames were overcoming us both.
    Rame helped, he replied. With two of us helping, it wasn't hard to end the dream. But what did you mean by a siege?
    We can return to our own bags now, she thought. I shall maintain the linkage, and will explain.
    Seth crawled back to his sleeping bag and got in. In a moment Tirsa's thought came again:
    I believe that this is a sending by Nefarious. He is not telepathic, but he can project crude emotion, such as fear. He knows we are coming for him, and when his spies were unable to keep track of us, because of our unpredictability and Rame's clever dodging, he tried to scare us away by broadcasting fear. I have encountered this type of thing on my plane, though never as powerfully. He sent the elements — water, earth, air and fire — and each of us reacted according to the one we related to. My greatest fear is of being trapped in the deep earth, of being suffocated and crushed, because that is the way I was dying when I was transported here. Seth's is of water — dark, icy water, drowning him. Vidav's is of fire; he was on the verge of burning to death when we came here. Rame's —She paused, reading the faun's thought. Is of air, a violent storm. He suffered it in life, I think, at the same time as the others of us suffered our traumas. We all verged on dying, and so when the sending came we all relived it.
    That makes sense! Seth agreed. It would be too much of a coincidence that we all had bad dreams simultaneously. You must be right: Nefarious doesn't know where we are, so he sent out a scare-broadcast, a siege as you call it, and we feel it because we are scared of what almost killed us.
    I did not realize that my encounter with the storm was connected, Rame thought. It came up so quickly I was caught before I could flee it, and I thought I was about to die. But then it passed as suddenly as it came, and dropped me unharmed to the forest floor. Malape soothed me and healed me. I put it out of my mind as a fluke — but I see now that the fear of it remained.
    It is natural to fear what almost kills one, Vidav thought. Yet this fear must be resisted.
    With that they all agreed. But if Nefarious could do this to us this time, by a blind sending, can't he do it again? Seth asked.
    Surely he can, Tirsa replied. But probably with diminishing effect, because we have overcome it this time. If we remained linked, we can withstand it. Then we will be proof against both his spies and his mental siege.
    Can we remain linked while we sleep? Vidav asked.
    Yes, as long as I focus on it. I could not do it continuously, but for a night or two I can.
    With that they slept, linked.
     
    And regretted it. Seth found himself standing where his prior dream had left him, beside the icy lake. This time the ice wasn't threatening him directly, it was threatening the town. He saw a monstrous glacier approaching, grinding toward him at horrendous velocity, for ice. It seemed to tower miles high, and to cast its shadow far ahead.
    I don't like this dream! he thought, trying to break out of it. But he could not; he seemed to be trapped. The mental linkage, instead of freeing him, locked him in to the horror.
    He ran, not to save himself, but to warn the town, which seemed oblivious to the threat. "Beware the