"No! Nyrielle!" Ashlynn screamed, her eyes finally opening as she tore her way free of the darkness of the vision. In her mind's eye, however, she was watching Nyrielle turn her back on her, flying away into battle and leaving her to die on the wall. In the vision, Nyrielle's face had once again become an impassive mask and though she called Ashlynn her darling, there was no warmth in her voice when she did.
Ashlynn's scream echoed across the small island, startling a flock of birds from their roosts in the Ancient Willow's branches. Her emerald eyes flew open but it took several moments before she could focus on the world around her. Her mind was caught somewhere between the cold stone battlements of her vision and the humid reality of the Briar, and for a few terrifying moments, she wasn't sure which was reality and which was a dream.
