"Just relax and concentrate." Master Corsi coached, "Remember to breathe slowly..." his voice droned on in a low voiced rhythm that invaded Kardæn's consciousness and somehow expanded it.

He was sitting in front of the small cook fire, staring into it as it popped and fluttered cheerily in the light breeze. The soldiers were settling down in their tents with faint murmurs of conversation and rustling of fabric. The only people still out of their tents, just beyond the perimeter of the orderly military camp, were the soldiers on watch.

Kardæn steadied his breathing and stared deeply into the flickering light... The gentle fluctuations seemed to pull him in but not down. Almost like a casual lover embracing him with warm welcome, a light and uplifting feeling. That's when he realized that the fire had a kind of life of it's own. Not an intelligence, or a will per se; but a life no less vital than that of a tree or even a very early-term fetus. Content, loving, pure... Life. Even in the undeniable, unadulterated light there were different shades. Not exactly shadows but differing colors and strengths of light. He tested the feel of every shade exploring the subtle textures and even taste and smell of the light. He was absolutely enthralled by the entire existence of the flames, how they consumed the wood and other fuels, how it breathed the air that flowed through it, how good the warm earth felt beneath it... when a gnat started buzzing in his ear.

He waved the annoyance away, never taking his eyes off the flames, but it only became more insistent. He swatted at it and it grew larger so he tried striking out at it.

He felt the cold death of the flames then, screaming agony as an unexpected deluge of water smothered and drowned the brightness. His link was broken painfully and he was starting into the wary and concerned eyes of his mentor and the captain of the watch. The former had his hands on Kardæn's shoulders, shaking him, the latter held a dripping bucket over the large, blackened, steaming hole where the cook fire had been.