אין כמו רגעי התעתועים של רייסטלין
בהם טאקי הופכת לרוזמונד, דרקונים הופכים לשפנים... הייתה לי פעם חברה, שקטע מסויים היה מאוד מיוחד עבור שתיינו: Although Laurana disliked speaking to the mage, she had to know! What had he meant-along farewell? "What do you see when you look far away like that?" she asked softly, sitting down next to him, feeling a sudden weakness of fear sweep over her. "What do I see?" he repeated softly. There was great pain and sadness in his voice, not the bitterness she was accustomed to hearing. "I see time as it affects all things. Human flesh withers and dies before my eyes. Flowers bloom, only to fade. Trees drop green leaves, never to regain them. In my sight, it is always winter, always night." "And-this was done to you in the Towers of High Sorcery?" Laurana asked; shocked beyond measure. "Why? To what end?" Raistlin smiled his rare and twisted smile. "To remind me of my own mortality. To teach me compassion." His voice sank. "I was proud and arrogant in my youth. The youngest to take the Test, I was going to show them all!" His frail fist clenched. "Oh, I showed them. They shattered my body and devoured my mind until by the end I was capable of-" He stopped abruptly, his eyes shifting to Caramon. "Of what?" Laurana asked, fearing to know, yet fascinated. "Nothing," Raistlin whispered, lowering his eyes. "I am forbidden to speak of it." Laurana saw his hands tremble. Sweat beaded on his forehead. His breath wheezed and he began to cough. Feeling guilty for having inadvertently caused such anguish, she flushed and shank her head, biting her lip. "I-I'm sorry to have given you pain. I didn't mean to." Confused, she looked dawn, letting her hair fall forward to hide her face-a girlish habit. Raistlin leaned toward almost unconsciously, his hand stretching out, trembling, to touch the wondrous hair that seemed possessed of a life of its own, so vibrant and luxuriant was it. Then, seeing before his eyes his own dying flesh, he withdrew his hand quickly and sank back in his chair, a bitter smile on his lips. For what Laurana did not know, could not know, was that, in looking at her, Raistlin saw the only beauty he would ever see in his lifetime, Young, by elven standards, she was untouched by death or decay, even in the mage's cursed vision.
