As Tia Sedai described the next Ward for her and began to demonstrate, Amaranie was sure she would never be able to reproduce it. She swallowed nervously as the Aes Sedai used Air, Spirit, and Fire to form a sort of net and settled it over the pile of books, making them disappear. She made it look so simple, but the novice knew it would not be so easy for her. Amaranie wasn't sure she wanted to try it at all, but somehow forced herself to try, motivated more by her fear of disappointing the Aes Sedai than anything else.
At first, it went exactly as she thought it would. The threads of Air almost always came to her with ease, and it was not hard for Amaranie to gather enough of that to cover the books. The silvery threads of Spirit were a little more elusive, but not terribly so, and weaving them into the Air threads was not a difficult task. It was Fire that was the problem, as it always was for her. It often seemed as if the threads of it actively avoided her, burning away no matter how Amaranie tried to hold on. She didn't know how much time passed as she tugged on the threads of it, most often coming up with nothing at all. The effort it took was exhausting, and she could tell she needed to rest soon, so she added what she had to the net she'd created and studied it critically, already able to tell that what she had of Fire was completely overwhelmed by the Air and Spirit. The novice sighed, shook her head, and let the entire construction go.
She stopped channeling then, looking anxiously at Tia Sedai, but when the Aes Sedai didn't scold her, Amaranie let herself rest for a short time. When she began to work again, she started with the Fire threads. They were still hard for her to grasp, and so thin it was hard to think they could be of any use, but once she had the small amount she could hold laid out, it was much easier to add the Air and Spirit she needed into the weave. Amaranie frowned at the weave in front of her. She'd been careful to match the amounts of Air and Spirit to the amount of Fire she'd used, and the result was a net of all three that wasn't much bigger than her hand. The novice looked from her work to the books and back again, then let out a sigh. "I don't think this will work on the books, Tia Sedai," she admitted.
At first, it went exactly as she thought it would. The threads of Air almost always came to her with ease, and it was not hard for Amaranie to gather enough of that to cover the books. The silvery threads of Spirit were a little more elusive, but not terribly so, and weaving them into the Air threads was not a difficult task. It was Fire that was the problem, as it always was for her. It often seemed as if the threads of it actively avoided her, burning away no matter how Amaranie tried to hold on. She didn't know how much time passed as she tugged on the threads of it, most often coming up with nothing at all. The effort it took was exhausting, and she could tell she needed to rest soon, so she added what she had to the net she'd created and studied it critically, already able to tell that what she had of Fire was completely overwhelmed by the Air and Spirit. The novice sighed, shook her head, and let the entire construction go.
She stopped channeling then, looking anxiously at Tia Sedai, but when the Aes Sedai didn't scold her, Amaranie let herself rest for a short time. When she began to work again, she started with the Fire threads. They were still hard for her to grasp, and so thin it was hard to think they could be of any use, but once she had the small amount she could hold laid out, it was much easier to add the Air and Spirit she needed into the weave. Amaranie frowned at the weave in front of her. She'd been careful to match the amounts of Air and Spirit to the amount of Fire she'd used, and the result was a net of all three that wasn't much bigger than her hand. The novice looked from her work to the books and back again, then let out a sigh. "I don't think this will work on the books, Tia Sedai," she admitted.