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Alexina was dreaming. In her dream she was enclosed by a fog so dense that she could not see anything around her.
She seemed to be standing in a space just large enough for her body, with billowing pale gray walls. Through the
fog something began to glow, a luminous cord that stretched away from where she stood until it became a silvery
blur and was lost from view.
Something was approaching, moving toward her along the cord. With certainty, she knew it was him. Terror
rushed through her like a great wind, and she tried to pull away; but the polarity had reversed at last, and she
was helpless against it. She was aware also that within her fear lay a kernel of horrible fascination--for at long
last she would see his face.
There was a blur, darker than the fog, darkening. He stood before her. The link was no longer a cord but a clear,
brilliant light that enclosed them both, so that he stood within a nimbus of mist touched silver at its edges like
cold fire. He was a tall, slender man in his early thirties, with irregular features and full lips. His hair was
black, tied back from his face and braided, and he wore a thin beard. His eyes were long and narrow, as black as
his hair. They held a look that was neither threatening nor hostile. They were...interested, that was it. He was
interested in her.
For a moment he watched her. Then he smiled.
Hello, Alexina.
His lips did not move, but his voice was there in her mind, not like the impersonal flow of mindspeech, but
exactly as if he had spoken. His smile was like his eyes, interested, even friendly. There was no threat in it.
It struck terror to the very core of Alexina's soul.
Don't be afraid.
Alexina closed her eyes, but this was a dream, and she could still see him. Go away, she thought miserably.
Please, please, leave me alone. Oh, why can't I shut you out?
I couldn't shut you out, he replied to her thought. Why should you be able to shut me out?
I'm sorry. I didn't want to come to you. I had to do it--you must understand...
But it doesn't matter how you came, or why. The link makes it inevitable that it will happen. Somehow, you would
have found your way to me.
No. No, I never would.
Alexina, I won't hurt you. Don't you know that people who are linked can't harm one another? What befalls one befalls
the other in equal measure. The link is not merely spiritual. It is physical as well.
No, she thought. No.
There is much they have not told you, Alexina. I am not like them. I will tell you everything you wish to know.
Don't you want to know the answers? You will soon be where I am. Come to me then, and I will tell you everything.
No. I don't believe you. You want to find out about our plans. We won't be linked much longer. When we reach you,
they'll defeat you and the link will be broken.
He smiled again, briefly. We shall see. Remember my invitation when you arrive. Look to the hedge, and you
will see the way inside.
He paused a moment longer, regarding her with his dark eyes. Then he turned and began to recede, a black figure
growing more and more indistinct until he was finally gone. The link was once again a cord, glowing fainter and
fainter until it was only the smallest glimmer in the mist. At last it was extinguished altogether. The fog closed
round, damp and lightless, and suddenly Alexina was awake.
It was midafternoon. The sun slanted through the trees in great shafts of light that seemed almost solid, warm
gold to replace the cold silver in which the dark man had been enclosed. Inside the camp all was still, though
a restless wind stirred the woods outside the shimmering barrier. It could shut out air currents and make those
within invisible to passersby, but it could provide no defense against the link.
Alexina shook with the cold of her dream. She felt the hateful link, crouched within her like a living thing, falling
once more into sleep but always ready to wake and render her helpless. She put her hands to her throat as if she
could grasp the link itself, feeling her pulse beat against her palms. She could still see his smile, his narrow
eyes, the face she had both dreaded and wondered about. It was wrong that he should be just a man, a handsome man,
unravaged by time and unmarked by any obvious evil. He should be old, ugly, branded somehow with whatever terrible
thing had driven him to commit his unforgivable crime.
Only a few more days, she thought, breathing deeply to calm herself. A few more days. It would all be over then.
He would be defeated. And the link would be gone forever.
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