A Touch of Magic
A word tore itself from Erliand's throat. The sound of it was painfully alien, and Randall would have felt it impossible for such a sound to come from human vocal chords. The three-syllable utterance seemed to have a strange sing-song rhythm that Randall found oddly familiar. On each syllable, light flickered from the sky outside and Randall felt power pulsating around him. On the third beat, Erliand finished with a hoarse croak, and a jagged shaft of lightning exploded from the clear sky, slamming into the ash tree and cleaving it lengthwise! Randall started and screamed in fear...