I reached for my flashlight to see if there was space or reason to try to move further inside the lip of the mountain when I felt the hair on the back... of my arms rising with static electricity. ~ I awoke shivering, with a splitting headache, and wondering where I was. The white noise of rain falling hard outside my rock shelter put substance and background to my addled thoughts. Soon enough they began to coalesce into recollections, a mountain, climbing, a storm, hail — and a blinding flash.. It dealt with foreign ambassadors and foreign trade delegations, which neatly coincided with his experience.He’d expected no less. Lamyra was particularly good at judging and understanding people.As Colyn worked on the upcoming negotiations with the elven trade delegation, Lamyra Wehran, Queen Synel IX of Wenland, paced behind him, her gray peasant dress flowing around her. Wearing the dress was like her because she had a keen sense of appropriate dress and behavior. In the throne room or even. . little... bitch!As she drove, her fury grew. Not at Mark or Pam, because she knew her kids. She knew how innocent they were compared to so many others their age, and how easily their teenaged emotions could be unleashed at any moment with a little direction. And it was growing painfully obvious that Susan had been doing plenty of directing.By the time she pulled into the gravel drive by the house. Linda was fuming. Something had to be done about this situation right now, before it got any. The resilience and tenacity of the underbrush shouted the competitive growth of nature. Suppressed juvenile trees reached at the light in the canopy gaps. Here and there the death of a tree provided an opening for bushes, moss and ferns to prosper. Forest underbrush species adapted well to surviving disturbances like falling trees or man-made trails. The plant life reminded me that there was a lesson about the importance of functional components in the forest. In particular, walking among the.