The immense amount of power it had taken to sever the Shadow took its toll on her. Neivayka dropped to her knees, trying to fight the weariness that was threatening to put her to sleep. Neivayka was so deep inside herself that she knew losing consciousness would be a horrible idea and fought the exhaustion back.
Almost blindly, she reached out towards the ball once more and allowed the power to fill her, giving her the strength that she needed. She pushed her eyes open wearily and stared down at the ground, trying to get her head to raise so she could find Shantane and make sure she was okay. When Neivayka finally managed… she really wished she hadn't.
Shantane was on her knees on the other side of the fire. The tiny girl was bent over and gasping as the sweat poured down her face. Her
