iuxpEcta

1Hurin stood holding his horse by the reins. He had on one of the long vests
2instead of his coat, and despite the heavy cloak that hid his short sword and
3sword-breaker, he shivered with the cold. “Lord Ingtar’s back there,” he said,
4nodding down the narrow passage. “He says we’ll leave the horses here and go
5the rest of the way on foot.” As Rand dismounted, the sniffer added, “Fain went
6right down that street, Lord Rand. I can almost smell it from here.”
7Rand led Red down the way to where Ingtar had already tied his own horse
8behind the stable. The Shienaran did not look very much a lord in a dirty fleece
9coat with holes worn through the leather in several places, and his sword looked
10odd belted over it. His eyes had a feverish intensity.
11Tying Red alongside Ingtar’s stallion, Rand hesitated over his saddlebags. He
12had not been able to leave the banner behind. He did not think any of the soldiers
13would have gone into the bags, but he could not say the same for Verin, nor
14predict what she would do if she found the banner. Still, it made him uneasy to
15have it with him. He decided to leave the saddlebags tied behind his saddle.
16Mat joined them, and a few moments later Hurin came with Perrin. Mat wore
17baggy trousers stuffed into the tops of his boots, and Perrin his too-short cloak.
18Rand thought they all looked like villainous beggars, but they had all passed
19largely unnoticed in the villages.
20“Now,” Ingtar said. “Let us see what we see.”
21They strolled out to the dirt street as if they had no particular destination in
22mind, talking among themselves, and ambled past the wagon yards onto sloping
23cobblestone streets. Rand was not sure what he himself said, much less anyone
24else. Ingtar’s plan had been for them to look like any other group of men
25walking together, but there were all too few people out-of-doors. Five men made
26a crowd on those cold morning streets.
27They walked in a bunch, but it was Hurin who led them, sniffing the air and
28turning up this street and down that. The rest turned when he did, as if that was
29what they had intended all along. “He’s crisscrossed this town,” Hurin muttered,
30grimacing. “His smell is everywhere, and it stinks so, it’s hard to tell old from
31new. At least I know he’s still here. Some of it cannot be older than a day or two,
32I’m sure. I am sure,” he added less doubtfully.
33A few more people began to appear, here a fruit peddler setting his wares on
34tables, there a fellow hurrying along with a big roll of parchments under his arm
35and a sketch-board slung across his back, a knife-sharpener oiling the shaft of his
36grinding wheel on its barrow. Two women walked by, headed the other way, one
37with downcast eyes and a silver collar around her neck, the other, in a dress
38worked with lightning bolts, holding a coiled silver leash.
39Rand’s breath caught; it was an effort not to look back at them.
40“Was that . . . ?” Mat’s eyes were open wide, staring out of the hollows of his
41eye sockets. “Was that a damane?”
42“That is the way they were described,” Ingtar said curtly. “Hurin, are we going
43to walk every street in this Shadow-cursed town?”
44“He’s been everywhere, Lord Ingtar,” Hurin said. “His stench is everywhere.”
45They had come into an area where the stone houses were three and four stories
46high, as big as inns.
47They rounded a corner, and Rand was taken aback by the sight of a score of
48Seanchan soldiers standing guard in front of a big house on one side of the street
49—and by the sight of two women in lightning-marked dresses talking on the
50doorsteps of another across from it. A banner flapped in the wind over the house
51the soldiers protected; a golden hawk clutching lightning bolts. Nothing marked
52out the house where the women talked except themselves. The officer’s armor
53was resplendent in red and black and gold, his helmet gilded and painted to look
54like a spider’s head. Then Rand saw the two big, leathery-skinned shapes
55crouched among the soldiers and missed a step.
56Grolm. There was no mistaking those wedge-shaped heads with their three
57eyes. They can’t be. Perhaps he was really asleep, and this was all a nightmare.
58Maybe we haven’t even left for Falme, yet.
59The others stared at the beasts as they walked past the guarded house.
60“What in the name of the Light are they?” Mat asked.
61Hurin’s eyes seemed as big as his face. “Lord Rand, they’re. . . . Those
62are. . . .”
63“It doesn’t matter,” Rand said. After a moment, Hurin nodded.
64“We are here for the Horn,” Ingtar said, “not to stare at Seanchan monsters.
65Concentrate on finding Fain, Hurin.”
66The soldiers barely glanced at them. The street ran straight down to the round
67harbor. Rand could see ships anchored down there; tall, square-looking ships
68with high masts, small in that distance.
69“He’s been here a lot.” Hurin scrubbed at his nose with the back of his hand.
70“The street stinks of layer on layer on layer of him. I think he might have been
71here as late as yesterday, Lord Ingtar. Maybe last night.”
72Mat suddenly clutched his coat with both hands. “It’s in there,” he whispered.
73He turned around and walked backwards, peering at the tall house with the
74banner. “The dagger is in there. I didn’t even notice it before, because of those—
75those things, but I can feel it.”
76Perrin poked a finger in his ribs. “Well, stop that before they start wondering
77why you’re goggling at them like a fool.”
78Rand glanced over his shoulder. The officer was looking after them.
79Mat turned back around sullenly. “Are we just going to keep on walking? It’s
80in there, I tell you.”
81“The Horn is what we are after,” Ingtar growled. “I mean to find Fain and
82make him tell me where it is.” He did not slow down.
83Mat said nothing, but his entire face was a plea.
84I have to find Fain, too, Rand thought. I have to. But when he looked at Mat’s
85face, he said, “Ingtar, if the dagger is in that house, Fain likely is, too. I can’t see
86him letting the dagger or the Horn, either one, far out of his sight.”
87Ingtar stopped. After a moment, he said, “It could be, but we will never know
88from out here.”
89“We could watch for him to come out,” Rand said. “If he comes out at this
90time of the morning, then he spent the night there. And I’ll wager where he
91sleeps is where the Horn is. If he does come out, we can be back to Verin by
92midday and have a plan made before nightfall.”
93“I do not mean to wait for Verin,” Ingtar said, “and neither will I wait for
94night. I’ve waited too long already. I mean to have the Horn in my hands before
95the sun sets again.”
96“But we don’t know, Ingtar.”
97“I know the dagger is in there,” Mat said.
98“And Hurin says Fain was here last night.” Ingtar overrode Hurin’s attempts
99to qualify that. “It is the first time you have been willing to say anything closer
100than a day or two. We are going to take back the Horn now. Now!”
101“How?” Rand said. The officer was no longer watching them, but there were
102still at least twenty soldiers in front of the building. And a pair of grolm. This is
103madness. There can’t be grolm here. Thinking it did not make the beasts
104disappear, though.
105“There seem to be gardens behind all these houses,” Ingtar said, looking
106around thoughtfully. “If one of those alleys runs by a garden wall. . . .
107Sometimes men are so busy guarding their front, they neglect their back. Come.”
108He headed straight for the nearest narrow passage between two of the tall
109houses. Hurin and Mat trotted right after him.
110Rand exchanged looks with Perrin—his curly-haired friend gave a resigned
111shrug—and they followed, too.
112The alley was barely wider than their shoulders, but it ran between high
113garden walls until it crossed another alley big enough for a pushbarrow or small
114cart. That was cobblestoned, too, but only the backs of buildings looked down on
115it, shuttered windows and expanses of stone, and the high back walls of gardens
116overtopped by nearly leafless branches.
117Ingtar led them along that alley until they were opposite the waving banner.
118Taking his steel-backed gauntlets from under his coat, he put them on and leaped
119up to catch the top of the wall, then pulled himself up enough to peek over. He
120reported in a low monotone. “Trees. Flower beds. Walks. There isn’t a soul to be
121—Wait! A guard. One man. He isn’t even wearing his helmet. Count to fifty,
122then follow me.” He swung a boot to the top of the wall and rolled over inside,
123disappearing before Rand could say a word.
124Mat began to count slowly. Rand held his breath. Perrin fingered his axe, and
125Hurin gripped the hilts of his weapons.
126“. . . fifty.” Hurin scrambled up and over the wall before the word was well
127out of Mat’s mouth. Perrin went right beside him.
128Rand thought Mat might need some help—he looked so pale and drawn—but
129he gave no sign of it as he scrambled up. The stone wall provided plenty of
130handholds, and moments later Rand was crouched on the inside with Mat and
131Perrin and Hurin.
132The garden was in the grip of deep autumn, flower beds empty except for a
133few evergreen shrubs, tree branches nearly bare. The wind that rippled the
134banner stirred dust across the flagstone walks. For a moment Rand could not find
135Ingtar. Then he saw the Shienaran, flat against the back wall of the house,
136motioning them on with sword in hand.
137Rand ran in a crouch, more conscious of the windows blankly peering down
138from the house than of his friends running beside him. It was a relief to press
139himself against the house beside Ingtar.
140Mat kept muttering to himself, “It’s in there. I can feel it.”
141“Where is the guard?” Rand whispered.
142“Dead,” Ingtar said. “The man was overconfident. He never even tried to raise
143a cry. I hid his body under one of those bushes.”
144Rand stared at him. The Seanchan was overconfident? The only thing that kept
145him from going back right then was Mat’s anguished murmurs.
146“We are almost there.” Ingtar sounded as if he were speaking to himself, too.
147“Almost there. Come.”
148Rand drew his sword as they started up the back steps. He was aware of Hurin
149unlimbering his short-bladed sword and notched sword-breaker, and Perrin
150reluctantly drawing his axe from the loop on his belt.
151The hallway inside was narrow. A half-open door to their right smelled like a
152kitchen. Several people were moving about in that room; there was an
153indistinguishable sound of voices, and occasionally the soft clatter of a pot lid.
154Ingtar motioned Mat to lead, and they crept by the door. Rand watched the
155narrowing opening until they were around the next corner.
156A slender young woman with dark hair came out of a door ahead of them,
157carrying a tray with one cup. They all froze. She turned the other way without
158looking in their direction. Rand’s eyes widened. Her long white robe was all but
159transparent. She vanished around another corner.
160“Did you see that?” Mat said hoarsely. “You could see right through—”
161Ingtar clapped a hand over Mat’s mouth and whispered, “Keep your mind on
162why we are here. Now find it. Find the Horn for me.”
163Mat pointed to a narrow set of winding stairs. They climbed a flight, and he
164led them toward the front of the house. The furnishings in the hallways were
165sparse, and seemed all curves. Here and there a tapestry hung on a wall, or a
166folding screen stood against it, each painted with a few birds on branches, or a
167flower or two. A river flowed across one screen, but aside from rippling water
168and narrow strips of riverbank, the rest of it was blank.
169All around them Rand could hear the sounds of people stirring, slippers
170scuffing on the floor, soft murmurs of speech. He did not see anyone, but he
171could imagine it all too well, someone stepping into the hall to see five slinking
172men with weapons in their hands, shouting an alarm. . . .
173“In there,” Mat whispered, pointing to a big pair of sliding doors ahead,
174carved handholds their only ornamentation. “At least, the dagger is.”
175Ingtar looked at Hurin; the sniffer slid the doors open, and Ingtar leaped
176through with his sword ready. There was no one there. Rand and the others
177hurried inside, and Hurin quickly closed the doors behind them.
178Painted screens hid all the walls and any other doors, and veiled the light
179coming through windows that had to overlook the street. At one end of the big
180room stood a tall, circular cabinet. At the other was a small table, the lone chair
181on the carpet turned to face it. Rand heard Ingtar gasp, but he only felt like
182heaving a sigh of relief. The curling golden Horn of Valere sat on a stand on the
183table. Below it, the ruby in the hilt of the ornate dagger caught the light.
184Mat darted to the table, snatching Horn and dagger. “We have it,” he crowed,
185shaking the dagger in his fist. “We have both of them.”
186“Not so loud,” Perrin said with a wince. “We don’t have them out of here,
187yet.” His hands were busy on the haft of his axe; they seemed to want to be
188holding something else.
189“The Horn of Valere.” There was sheer awe in Ingtar’s voice. He touched the
190Horn hesitantly, tracing a finger along the silver script inlaid around the bell and
191mouthing the translation, then pulled his hand back with a shiver of excitement.
192“It is. By the Light, it is! I am saved.”
193Hurin was moving the screens that hid the windows. He shoved the last out of
194his way and peered into the street below. “Those soldiers are all still there,
195looking like they’ve took root.” He shuddered. “Those . . . things, too.”
196Rand went to join him. The two beasts were grolm; there was no denying it.
197“How did they. . . .” As he lifted his eyes from the street, words died. He was
198looking over a wall into the garden of the big house across the street. He could
199see where further walls had been torn down, joining other gardens to it. Women
200sat on benches there, or strolled along the walks, always in pairs. Women linked,
201neck to wrist, by silver leashes. One of the women with a collar around her neck
202looked up. He was too far to make out her face clearly, but for an instant it
203seemed that their eyes met, and he knew. The blood drained from his face.
204“Egwene,” he breathed.
205“What are you talking about?” Mat said. “Egwene is safe in Tar Valon. I wish
206I were.”
207“She’s here,” Rand said. The two women were turning, walking toward one of
208the buildings on the far side of the joined gardens. “She is there, right across the
209street. Oh, Light, she’s wearing one of those collars!”
210“Are you sure?” Perrin said. He came to peer from the window. “I don’t see
211her, Rand. And—and I could recognize her if I did, even at this distance.”
212“I am sure,” Rand said. The two women disappeared into one of the houses
213that faced the next street over. His stomach was twisted into a knot. She is
214supposed to be safe. She’s supposed to be in the White Tower. “I have to get her
215out. The rest of you—”
216“So!” The slurring voice was as soft as the sound of the doors sliding in their
217tracks. “You are not who I expected.”
218For a brief moment, Rand stared. The tall man with the shaven head who had
219stepped into the room wore a long, trailing blue robe, and his fingernails were so
220long that Rand wondered if he could handle anything. The two men standing
221obsequiously behind him had only half their dark hair shaved, the rest hanging in
222a dark braid down each man’s right cheek. One of them cradled a sheathed
223sword in his arms.
224It was only a moment he had for staring, then screens toppled to reveal, at
225either end of the room, a doorway crowded with four or five Seanchan soldiers,
226bareheaded but armored, and swords in hand.
227“You are in the presence of the High Lord Turak,” the man who carried the
228sword began, staring at Rand and the others angrily, but a brief motion of a
229finger with a blue-lacquered nail cut him short. The other servant stepped
230forward with a bow and began undoing Turak’s robe.
231“When one of my guards was found dead,” the shaven-headed man said
232calmly, “I suspected the man who calls himself Fain. I have been suspicious of
233him since Huan died so mysteriously, and he has always wanted that dagger.” He
234held out his arms for the servant to remove his robe. Despite his soft, almost-
235singing voice, hard muscles roped his arms and smooth chest, which was bare to
236a blue sash holding wide, white trousers that seemed made of hundreds of pleats.
237He sounded uninterested, and indifferent to the blades in their hands. “And now
238to find strangers with not only the dagger, but the Horn. It will please me to kill
239one or two of you for disturbing my morning. Those who survive will tell me of
240who you are and why you came.” He stretched out a hand without looking—the
241man with the scabbarded sword laid the hilt in the hand—and drew the heavy,
242curved blade. “I would not have the Horn damaged.”
243Turak gave no other signal, but one of the soldiers stalked into the room and
244reached for the Horn. Rand did not know whether he should laugh, or not. The
245man wore armor, but his arrogant face seemed as oblivious to their weapons as
246Turak was.
247Mat put an end to it. As the Seanchan reached out his hand, Mat slashed it
248with the ruby-hilted dagger. With a curse, the soldier leaped back, looking
249surprised. And then he screamed. It chilled the room, held everyone where they
250stood in astonishment. The trembling hand he held up in front of his face was
251turning black, darkness creeping outwards from the bleeding gash that crossed
252his palm. He opened his mouth wide and howled, clawing at his arm, then his
253shoulder. Kicking, jerking, he toppled to the floor, thrashing on the silken carpet,
254shrieking as his face grew black and his dark eyes bulged like overripe plums,
255until a dark, swollen tongue gagged him. He twitched, choking raggedly, heels
256drumming, and did not move again. Every bit of his exposed flesh was black as
257putrid pitch and looked ready to burst at a touch.
258Mat licked his lips and swallowed; his grip shifted uneasily on the dagger.
259Even Turak stared, openmouthed.
260“You see,” Ingtar said softly, “we are no easy meat.” Suddenly he leaped over
261the corpse, toward the soldiers still goggling at what was left of the man who had
262stood at their shoulders only moments before. “Shinowa!” he cried. “Follow
263me!” Hurin leaped after him, and the soldiers fell back before them, the sounds
264of steel on steel rising.
265The Seanchan at the other end of the room started forward as Ingtar moved,
266but then they were falling back, too, before Mat’s thrusting dagger even more
267than from the axe Perrin swung with wordless snarls.
268In the space of heartbeats, Rand stood alone, facing Turak, who held his blade
269upright before him. His moment of shock was gone. His eyes were sharp on
270Rand’s face; the black and swollen body of one of his soldiers might as well not
271have existed. It did not seem to exist for the two servants, either, any more than
272Rand and his sword existed, or the sounds of fighting, fading now from the
273rooms to either side out into the house. The servants had begun calmly folding
274Turak’s robe as soon as the High Lord took his sword, and had not looked up
275even for the dead soldier’s shrieks; now they knelt beside the door and watched
276with impassive eyes.
277“I suspected it might come to you and me.” Turak spun his blade easily, a full
278circle one way, then the other, his long-nailed fingers moving delicately on the
279hilt. His fingernails did not seem to hamper him at all. “You are young. Let us
280see what is required to earn the heron on this side of the ocean.”
281Suddenly Rand saw. Standing tall on Turak’s blade was a heron. With the little
282training he had, he was face-to-face with a real blademaster. Hastily he tossed
283the fleece-lined cloak aside, ridding himself of weight and encumbrance. Turak
284waited.
285Rand desperately wanted to seek the void. It was plain he would need every
286shred of ability he could muster, and even then his chances of leaving the room
287alive would be small. He had to leave alive. Egwene was almost close enough
288for him to shout to her, and he had to free her, somehow. But saidin waited in the
289void. The thought made his heart leap with eagerness at the same time that it
290turned his stomach. But just as close as Egwene were those other women.
291Damane. If he touched saidin, and if he could not stop himself channeling, they
292would know, Verin had told him. Know and wonder. So many, so close. He
293might survive Turak only to die facing damane, and he could not die before
294Egwene was free. Rand raised his blade.
295Turak glided toward him on silent feet. Blade rang on blade like hammer on
296anvil.
297From the first it was clear to Rand that the man was testing him, pushing only
298hard enough to see what he could do, then pushing a little harder, then just a little
299harder still. It was quick wrists and quick feet that kept Rand alive as much as
300skill. Without the void, he was always half a heartbeat behind. The tip of Turak’s
301heavy sword made a stinging trench just under his left eye. A flap of coat sleeve
302hung away from his shoulder, the darker for being wet. Under a neat slash
303beneath his right arm, precise as a tailor’s cut, he could feel warm dampness
304spreading down his ribs.
305There was disappointment on the High Lord’s face. He stepped back with a
306gesture of disgust. “Where did you find that blade, boy? Or do they here truly
307award the heron to those no more skilled than you? No matter. Make your peace.
308It is time to die.” He came on again.
309The void enveloped Rand. Saidin flowed toward him, glowing with the
310promise of the One Power, but he ignored it. It was no more difficult than
311ignoring a barbed thorn twisting in his flesh. He refused to be filled with the
312Power, refused to be one with the male half of the True Source. He was one with
313the sword in his hands, one with the floor beneath his feet, one with the walls.
314One with Turak.
315He recognized the forms the High Lord used; they were a little different from
316what he had been taught, but not enough. The Swallow Takes Flight met Parting
317the Silk. Moon on the Water met The Wood Grouse Dances. Ribbon in the Air
318met Stones Falling From the Cliff. They moved about the room as in a dance,
319and their music was steel against steel.
320Disappointment and disgust faded from Turak’s dark eyes, replaced by
321surprise, then concentration. Sweat appeared on the High Lord’s face as he
322pressed Rand harder. Lightning of Three Prongs met Leaf on the Breeze.
323Rand’s thoughts floated outside the void, apart from himself, hardly noticed. It
324was not enough. He faced a blade-master, and with the void and every ounce of
325his skill he was barely managing to hold his own. Barely. He had to end it before
326Turak finally did. Saidin? No! Sometimes it is necessary to Sheathe the Sword in
327your own flesh. But that would not help Egwene, either. He had to end it now.
328Now.
329Turak’s eyes widened as Rand glided forward. So far he had only defended;
330now he attacked, all out. The Boar Rushes Down the Mountain. Every
331movement of his blade was an attempt to reach the High Lord; now all Turak
332could do was retreat and defend, down the length of the room, almost to the
333door.
334In an instant, while Turak still tried to face the Boar, Rand charged. The River
335Undercuts the Bank. He dropped to one knee, blade slashing across. He did not
336need Turak’s gasp, or the feel of resistance to his cut to know. He heard two
337thumps and turned his head, knowing what he would see. He looked down the
338length of his blade, wet and red, to where the High Lord lay, sword tumbled
339from his limp hand, a dark dampness staining the birds woven in the carpet
340under his body. Turak’s eyes were still open, but already filmed with death.
341The void shook. He had faced Trollocs before, faced Shadowspawn. Never
342before had he confronted a human being with a sword except in practice or bluff.
343I just killed a man. The void shook, and saidin tried to fill him.
344Desperately he clawed free, breathing hard as he looked around. He gave a
345start when he saw the two servants still kneeling beside the door. He had
346forgotten them, and now he did not know what to do about them. Neither man
347appeared armed, yet all they had to do was shout. . . .
348They never looked at him, or at each other. Instead, they stared silently at the
349High Lord’s body. They produced daggers from under their robes, and he
350tightened his grip on the sword, but each man placed the point to his own breast.
351“From birth to death,” they intoned in unison, “I serve the Blood.” And plunged
352the daggers into their own hearts. They folded forward almost peacefully, heads
353to the floor as if bowing deeply to their lord.
354Rand stared at them in disbelief. Mad, he thought. Maybe I will go mad, but
355they already were.
356He was getting to his feet shakily when Ingtar and the others came running
357back. They all bore nicks and cuts; the leather of Ingtar’s coat was stained in
358more than one place. Mat still had the Horn and his dagger, its blade darker than
359the ruby in its hilt. Perrin’s axe was red, too, and he looked as if he might be sick
360at any moment.
361“You dealt with them?” Ingtar said, looking at the bodies. “Then we’re done,
362if no alarm is given. Those fools never cried for help, not once.”
363“I will see if the guards heard anything,” Hurin said, and darted for the
364window.
365Mat shook his head. “Rand, these people are crazy. I know I’ve said that
366before, but these people really are. Those servants. . . .” Rand held his breath,
367wondering if they had all killed themselves. Mat said, “Whenever they saw us
368fighting, they fell on their knees, put their faces to the floor, and wrapped their
369arms around their heads. They never moved, or cried out; never tried to help the
370soldiers, or give an alarm. They’re still there, as far as I know.”
371“I would not count on them staying on their knees,” Ingtar said dryly. “We are
372leaving now, as fast as we can run.”
373“You go,” Rand said. “Egwene—”
374“You fool!” Ingtar snapped. “We have what we came for. The Horn of Valere.
375The hope of salvation. What can one girl count, even if you love her, alongside
376the Horn, and what it stands for?”
377“The Dark One can have the Horn for all I care! What does finding the Horn
378count if I abandon Egwene to this? If I did that, the Horn couldn’t save me. The
379Creator couldn’t save me. I would damn myself.”
380Ingtar stared at him, his face unreadable. “You mean that exactly, don’t you?”
381“Something’s happening out here,” Hurin said urgently. “A man just came
382running up, and they’re all milling like fish in a bucket. Wait. The officer is
383coming inside!”
384“Go!” Ingtar said. He tried to take the Horn, but Mat was already running.
385Rand hesitated, but Ingtar grabbed his arm and pulled him into the hall. The
386others were streaming after Mat; Perrin only gave Rand one pained look before
387he went. “You cannot save the girl if you stand here and die!”
388He ran with them. Part of him hated himself for running, but another part
389whispered, I’ll come back. I’ll free her somehow.
390By the time they reached the bottom of the narrow, winding staircase, he could
391hear a man’s deep voice raised in the front part of the house, angrily demanding
392that someone stand up and speak. A serving girl in her nearly transparent robe
393knelt at the bottom of the stairs, and a gray-haired woman all in white wool, with
394a long floury apron, knelt by the kitchen door. They were both exactly as Mat
395had described, faces to the floor and arms wrapped around their heads, and they
396did not stir a hair as Rand and the others hurried by. He was relieved to see the
397motions of breathing.
398They crossed the garden at a dead run, climbing over the back wall rapidly.
399Ingtar cursed when Mat tossed the Horn of Valere ahead of him, and tried again
400to take it when he dropped outside, but Mat snatched it up with a quick, “It isn’t
401even scratched,” and scampered up the alley.
402More shouts rose from the house they had just left; a woman screamed, and
403someone began tolling a gong.
404I will come back for her. Somehow. Rand sped after the others as fast as he
405could.
406CHAPTER
40746
408To Come Out of the Shadow
409N ynaeve and the others heard distant shouts as they approached the buildings
410where the damane were housed. The crowds were beginning to pick up, and
411there was a nervousness to the people in the street, an extra quickness to their
412step, an extra wariness in the way they glanced past Nynaeve, in her lightning-
413paneled dress, and the woman she held by a silver leash.
414Shifting her bundle nervously, Elayne peered toward the noise of shouts, one
415street over, where the golden hawk clutching lightning rippled in the wind.
416“What is happening?”
417“Nothing to do with us,” Nynaeve said firmly.
418“You hope,” Min added. “And so do I.” She increased her pace, hurrying up
419the steps ahead of the others, and disappeared inside the tall stone house.
420Nynaeve shortened her grip on the leash. “Remember, Seta, you want us to
421make it through this safely as much as we do.”
422“I do,” the Seanchan woman said fervently. She kept her chin on her chest, to
423hide her face. “I will cause you no trouble, I swear.”
424As they turned up the gray stone steps, a sul’dam and a damane appeared at
425the head of the stairs, coming down as they went up. After one glance to make
426sure the woman in the collar was not Egwene, Nynaeve did not look at them
427again. She used the a’dam to keep Seta close by her side, so if the damane
428sensed the ability to channel in one of them, she would think it was Seta. She felt
429sweat trickling down her spine, though, until she realized they were paying her
430no more attention than she gave them. All they saw was a dress with lightning
431panels and a gray dress, the women wearing them linked by the silver length of
432an a’dam. Just another Leash Holder with a Leashed One, and a local girl
433hurrying along behind with a bundle belonging to the sul’dam.
434Nynaeve pushed open the door, and they went in.
435Whatever the excitement beneath Turak’s banner, it did not extend here, not
436yet. There were only women moving about in the entry hall, all easily placed by
437their dress. Three gray-dressed damane, with sul’dam wearing the bracelets. Two
438women in dresses paneled with forked lightning stood talking, and three crossed
439the hall alone. Four dressed like Min, in plain dark woolens, hurried on their way
440with trays.
441Min stood waiting down the entry hall when they went in; she glanced at them
442once, then started deeper into the house. Nynaeve guided Seta down the hall
443after Min, with Elayne scurrying along in their wake. No one gave them a
444second glance, it seemed to Nynaeve, but she thought the trickle of sweat down
445her backbone might become a river soon. She kept Seta moving quickly so no
446one would have a chance for a good look—or worse, a question. With her eyes
447fixed on her toes, Seta needed so little urging that Nynaeve thought she would
448have been running if not for the physical restraint of the leash.
449Near the back of the house, Min took a narrow stairs that spiraled upwards.
450Nynaeve pushed Seta up it ahead of her, all the way to the fourth floor. The
451ceilings were low, there, the halls empty and silent except for the soft sounds of
452weeping. Weeping seemed to fit the air of the chilly halls.
453“This place . . .” Elayne began, then shook her head. “It feels. . . .”
454“Yes, it does,” Nynaeve said grimly. She glared at Seta, who kept her face
455down. A pallor of fear made the Seanchan woman’s skin paler than it was
456normally.
457Wordlessly, Min opened a door and went in, and they followed. The room
458beyond had been divided into smaller rooms by roughly made wooden walls,
459with a narrow hallway running to a window. Nynaeve crowded after Min as she
460hurried to the last door on the right and pushed in.
461A slender, dark-haired girl in gray sat at a small table with her head resting on
462folded arms, but even before she looked up, Nynaeve knew it was Egwene. A
463ribbon of shining metal ran from the silver collar around Egwene’s neck to a
464bracelet hanging on a peg on the wall. Her eyes widened at the sight of them, her
465mouth working silently. As Elayne closed the door, Egwene gave a sudden
466giggle, and pressed her hands to her mouth to stifle it. The tiny room was more
467than crowded with all of them in it.
468“I know I’m not dreaming,” she said in a quivering voice, “because if I was
469dreaming, you’d be Rand and Galad on tall stallions. I have been dreaming. I
470thought Rand was here. I couldn’t see him, but I thought. . . .” Her voice trailed
471off.
472“If you’d rather wait for them . . .” Min said dryly.
473“Oh, no. No, you are all beautiful, the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen.
474Where did you come from? How did you do it? That dress, Nynaeve, and the
475a’dam, and who is. . . .” She gave an abrupt squeak. “That’s Seta. How . . . ?”
476Her voice hardened so that Nynaeve barely recognized it. “I’d like to put her in a
477pot of boiling water.” Seta had her eyes squeezed shut, and her hands clutched
478her skirts; she was trembling.
479“What have they done to you?” Elayne exclaimed. “What could they do to
480make you want something like that?”
481Egwene never took her eyes off the Seanchan woman. “I’d like to make her
482feel it. That’s what she did to me, made me feel like I was neck deep in. . . .” She
483shuddered. “You do not know what it is like wearing one of these, Elayne. You
484don’t know what they can do to you. I can never decide whether Seta is worse
485than Renna, but they’re all hateful.”
486“I think I know,” Nynaeve said quietly. She could feel the sweat soaking
487Seta’s skin, the cold tremors that shook her limbs. The yellow-haired Seanchan
488was terrified. It was all she could do not to make Seta’s terrors come true then
489and there.
490“Can you take this off of me?” Egwene asked, touching the collar. “You must
491be able to if you could put that one on—”
492Nynaeve channeled, a pinpoint trickle. The collar on Egwene’s neck provided
493anger enough, and if it had not, Seta’s fear, the knowledge of how deserved it
494truly was, and her own knowledge of what she wanted to do to the woman,
495would have done it. The collar sprang open and fell away from Egwene’s throat.
496With an expression of wonder, Egwene touched her neck.
497“Put on my dress and coat,” Nynaeve told her. Elayne was already unbundling
498the clothes on the bed. “We will walk out of here, and no one will even notice
499you.” She considered holding her contact with saidar—she was certainly angry
500enough, and it felt so wonderful—but, reluctantly, she let it go. This was the one
501place in Falme where there was no chance of a sul’dam and damane coming to
502investigate if they sensed someone channeling, but they would certainly do so if
503a damane saw a woman she thought was a sul’dam with the glow of channeling
504around her. “I don’t know why you aren’t gone already. Alone here, even if you
505could not figure out how to get that thing off you, you could have just picked it
506up and run.”
507As Min and Elayne hurriedly helped her change into Nynaeve’s old dress,
508Egwene explained about moving the bracelet from where a sul’dam left it, and
509how channeling made her sick unless a sul’dam wore the bracelet. Just that
510morning she had discovered how the collar could be opened without the Power
511—and found that touching the catch with the intention of opening it made her
512hand knot into uselessness. She could touch it as much as she wanted so long as
513she did not think of undoing the catch; the merest hint of that, though, and. . . .
514Nynaeve felt sick herself. The bracelet on her wrist made her sick. It was too
515horrible. She wanted it off her wrist before she learned more about a’dam, before
516she perhaps learned something that would make her feel soiled forever for
517having worn it.
518Unfastening the silver cuff, she pulled it loose, snapped it closed, and hung it
519on one of the pegs. “Don’t think that means you can shout for help now.” She
520shook a fist under Seta’s nose. “I can still make you wish you were never born if
521you open your mouth, and I do not need that bloody . . . thing.”
522“You—you do not mean to leave me here with it,” Seta said in a whisper.
523“You cannot. Tie me. Gag me so I cannot give an alarm. Please!”
524Egwene gave a mirthless laugh. “Leave it on her. She won’t call for help even
525without a gag. You had better hope whoever finds you will remove the a’dam
526and keep your little secret, Seta. Your dirty secret, isn’t it?”
527“What are you talking about?” Elayne said.
528“I have thought about it a great deal,” Egwene said. “Thinking was all I could
529do when they left me alone up here. Sul’dam claim they develop an affinity after
530a few years. Most of them can tell when a woman is channeling whether they’re
531leashed to her or not. I wasn’t sure, but Seta proves it.”
532“Proves what?” Elayne demanded, and then her eyes widened in sudden
533realization, but Egwene went on.
534“Nynaeve, a’dam only work on women who can channel. Don’t you see?
535Sul’dam can channel the same as damane.” Seta groaned through her teeth,
536shaking her head in violent denial. “A sul’dam would die before admitting she
537could channel, even if she knew, and they never train the ability, so they cannot
538do anything with it, but they can channel.”
539“I told you,” Min said. “That collar shouldn’t have worked on her.” She was
540doing up the last buttons down Egwene’s back. “Any woman who couldn’t
541channel would be able to beat you silly while you tried to control her with it.”
542“How can that be?” Nynaeve said. “I thought the Seanchan put leashes on any
543woman who can channel.”
544“All of those they find,” Egwene told her. “But those they can find are like
545you, and me, and Elayne. We were born with it, ready to channel whether
546anyone taught us or not. But what about Seanchan girls who aren’t born with the
547ability, but who could be taught? Not just any woman can become a—a Leash
548Holder. Renna thought she was being friendly telling me about it. It is apparently
549a feastday in Seanchan villages when the sul’dam come to test the girls. They
550want to find any like you and me, and leash them, but they let all the others put
551on a bracelet to see if they can feel what the poor woman in the collar feels.
552Those who can are taken away to be trained as sul’dam. They are the women
553who could be taught.”
554Seta was moaning under her breath. “No. No. No.” Over and over again.
555“I know she is horrible,” Elayne said, “but I feel as if I should help her
556somehow. She could be one of our sisters, only the Seanchan have twisted it all.”
557Nynaeve opened her mouth to say they had better worry about helping
558themselves, and the door opened.
559“What is going on here?” Renna demanded, stepping into the room. “An
560audience?” She stared at Nynaeve, hands on hips. “I never gave permission for
561anyone else to link with my pet, Tuli. I do not even know who you—” Her eyes
562fell on Egwene—Egwene wearing Nynaeve’s dress instead of damane gray.
563Egwene with no collar around her throat—and her eyes grew as big as saucers.
564She never had a chance to yell.
565Before anyone else could move, Egwene snatched the pitcher from her
566washstand and smashed it into Renna’s midriff. The pitcher shattered, and the
567sul’dam lost all her breath in a gurgling gasp and doubled over. As she fell,
568Egwene leaped on her with a snarl, shoving her flat, grabbing for the collar she
569had worn where it still lay on the floor, snapping it around the other woman’s
570neck. With one jerk on the silver leash, Egwene pulled the bracelet from the peg
571and fitted it to her own wrist. Her lips were pulled back from her teeth, her eyes
572fixed on Renna’s face with a terrible concentration. Kneeling on the sul’dam’s
573shoulders, she pressed both hands over the woman’s mouth. Renna gave a
574tremendous convulsion, and her eyes bulged in her face; hoarse sounds came
575from her throat, screams held back by Egwene’s hands; her heels drummed on
576the floor.
577“Stop it, Egwene!” Nynaeve grabbed Egwene’s shoulders, pulling her off of
578the other woman. “Egwene, stop it! That isn’t what you want!” Renna lay gray-
579faced and panting, staring wildly at the ceiling.
580Suddenly Egwene threw herself against Nynaeve, sobbing raggedly at her
581breast. “She hurt me, Nynaeve. She hurt me. They all did. They hurt me, and
582hurt me, until I did what they wanted. I hate them. I hate them for hurting me,
583and I hate them because I couldn’t stop them from making me do what they
584wanted.”
585“I know,” Nynaeve said gently. She smoothed Egwene’s hair. “It is all right to
586hate them, Egwene. It is. They deserve it. But it isn’t all right to let them make
587you like they are.”
588Seta’s hands were pressed to her face. Renna touched the collar at her throat
589disbelievingly, with a shaking hand.
590Egwene straightened, brushing her tears away quickly. “I’m not. I am not like
591them.” She almost clawed the bracelet off of her wrist and threw it down. “I’m
592not. But I wish I could kill them.”
593“They deserve it.” Min was staring grimly at the two sul’dam.
594“Rand would kill someone who did a thing like that,” Elayne said. She
595seemed to be steeling herself. “I am sure he would.”
596“Perhaps they do,” Nynaeve said, “and perhaps he would. But men often
597mistake revenge and killing for justice. They seldom have the stomach for
598justice.” She had often sat in judgment with the Women’s Circle. Sometimes
599men came before them, thinking women might give them a better hearing than
600the men of the Village Council, but men always thought they could sway the
601decision with eloquence, or pleas for mercy. The Women’s Circle gave mercy
602where it was deserved, but justice always, and it was the Wisdom who
603pronounced it. She picked up the bracelet Egwene had discarded and closed it. “I
604would free every woman here, if I could, and destroy every last one of these. But
605since I cannot. . . .” She slipped the bracelet over the same peg that held the
606other one, then addressed herself to the sul’dam. Not Leash Holders any longer,
607she told herself. “Perhaps, if you are very quiet, you will be left alone here long
608enough to manage to remove the collars. The Wheel weaves as the Wheel wills,
609and it may be that you’ve done enough good to counterbalance the evil you have
610done, enough that you will be allowed to remove them. If not, you will be found,
611eventually. And I think whoever finds you will ask a great many questions
612before they remove those collars. I think perhaps you will learn at first hand the
613life you have given to other women. That is justice,” she added, to the others.
614Renna wore a fixed stare of horror. Seta’s shoulders shook as she sobbed into
615her hands. Nynaeve hardened her heart—It is justice, she told herself. It is—and
616herded the others out of the room.
617No one paid any more attention to them going out than they had coming in.
618Nynaeve supposed she had the sul’dam dress to thank for that, but she could not
619wait to change into something else. Anything else. The dirtiest rag would feel
620cleaner on her skin.
621The girls were silent, walking close behind her, until they were out on the
622cobblestone street again. She did not know if it was what she had done or the
623fear that someone might stop them. She scowled. Would they have felt better if
624she had let them work themselves up to cutting the women’s throats?
625“Horses,” Egwene said. “We will need horses. I know the stable where they
626took Bela, but I don’t think we can get to her.”
627“We have to leave Bela here,” Nynaeve told her. “We are leaving by ship.”
628“Where is everybody?” Min said, and suddenly Nynaeve realized the street
629was empty.
630The crowds were gone, not a sign of them to be seen; every shop and window
631along the street were shuttered tight. But up the street from the harbor came a
632formation of Seanchan soldiers, a hundred or more in ordered ranks, with an
633officer at their head in his painted armor. They were still halfway down the street
634from the women, but they marched with a grim, implacable step, and it seemed
635to Nynaeve that every eye was fixed on her. That’s ridiculous. I can’t see their
636eyes inside those helmets, and if anybody had given an alarm, it would be behind
637us. She stopped anyway.
638“There are more behind us,” Min murmured. Nynaeve could hear those boots,
639now. “I don’t know which will reach us first.”
640Nynaeve took a deep breath. “They are nothing to do with us.” She looked
641beyond the approaching soldiers, to the harbor, filled with tall, boxy Seanchan
642ships. She could not make out Spray; she prayed it was still there, and ready.
643“We will walk right past them.” Light, I hope we can.
644“What if they want you to join them, Nynaeve?” Elayne asked. “You are
645wearing that dress. If they start asking questions. . . .”
646“I will not go back,” Egwene said grimly. “I’ll die first. Let me show them
647what they’ve taught me.” To Nynaeve’s eye, a golden nimbus suddenly seemed
648to surround her.
649“No!” she said, but it was too late.
650With a roar like thunder, the street under the first ranks of Seanchan erupted,
651dirt and cobblestones and armored men thrown aside like spray from a fountain.
652Still glowing, Egwene spun to stare up the street, and the thunderous roar was
653repeated. Dirt rained down on the women. Shouting Seanchan soldiers scattered
654in good order to shelter in alleys and behind stoops. In moments they were all
655out of sight, except for those who lay around the two large holes marring the
656street. Some of those stirred feebly, and moans drifted along the street.
657Nynaeve threw up her hands, trying to look in both directions at once. “You
658fool! We are trying not to attract attention!” There was no hope of that now. She
659only hoped they could manage to work their way around the soldiers to the
660harbor through the alleys. The damane must know, too, now. They could not have
661missed that.
662“I won’t go back to that collar,” Egwene said fiercely. “I won’t!”
663“Look out!” Min shouted.
664With a shrill whine, a fireball as big as a horse arched into the air over the
665rooftops and began to fall. Directly toward them.
666“Run!” Nynaeve shouted, and threw herself into a dive toward the nearest
667alleyway, between two shuttered shops.
668She landed awkwardly on her stomach with a grunt, losing half her breath, as
669the fireball struck. Hot wind washed over her down the narrow passage. Gulping
670air, she rolled onto her back and stared back into the street.
671The cobblestones where they had been standing were chipped and cracked and
672blackened in a circle ten paces across. Elayne was crouched just inside another
673alley on the other side of the street. Of Min and Egwene, there was no sign.
674Nynaeve clapped a hand to her mouth in horror.
675Elayne seemed to understand what she was thinking. The Daughter-Heir
676shook her head violently and pointed down the street. They had gone that way.
677Nynaeve heaved a sigh of relief that immediately turned to a growl. Fool girl!
678We could have gotten by them! There was no time for recriminations, though.
679She scooted to the corner and peered cautiously around the edge of the building.
680A head-sized fireball flashed down the street toward her. She leaped back just
681before it exploded against the corner where her own head had been, showering
682her with stone chips.
683Anger had her awash in the One Power before she was aware of it. Lightning
684flashed out of the sky, striking somewhere up the street with a crash near the
685origin of the fireball. Another jagged bolt split the sky, and then she was running
686down the alley. Behind her, lightning lanced the mouth of the alley.
687If Domon doesn’t have that ship waiting, I’ll. . . . Light, let us all reach it
688safely.
689Bayle Domon jerked erect as lightning streaked across the slate-gray sky,
690striking somewhere in the town, then again. There do no be enough clouds for
691that!
692Something rumbled loudly up in the town, and a ball of fire smashed into a
693rooftop just above the docks, throwing splintered slates in wide arcs. The docks
694had emptied themselves of people a while back, except for a few Seanchan; they
695ran wildly, now, drawing swords and shouting. A man appeared from one of the
696warehouses with a grolm at his side, running to keep up with the beast’s long
697leaps as they vanished into one of the streets leading up from the water.
698One of Domon’s crewmen jumped for an axe and swung it high over a
699mooring cable.
700In two strides, Domon seized the upraised axe with one hand and the man’s
701throat with the other. “Spray do stay till I do say sail, Aedwin Cole!”
702“They’re going mad, Captain!” Yarin shouted. An explosion sent echoes
703rumbling across the harbor, sending the gulls into screaming circles, and
704lightning flickered again, crashing to earth inside Falme. “The damane will kill
705us all! Let us go while they’re busy killing one another. They will never notice
706us till we are gone!”
707“I did give my word,” Domon said. He wrenched the axe from Cole’s hand
708and threw it clattering onto the deck. “I did give my word.” Hurry, woman, he
709thought, Aes Sedai or whatever you be. Hurry!
710Geofram Bornhald eyed the lightning flashing over Falme and dismissed it from
711his mind. Some huge flying creature—one of the Seanchan monsters, no doubt
712—flew wildly to escape the bolts. If there was a storm, it would hinder the
713Seanchan as much as it did him. Nearly treeless hills, a few topped by sparse
714thickets, still hid the town from him, and him from it.
715His thousand men lay spread out to either side of him, one long, mounted rank
716rippling along the hollows between hills. The cold wind tossed their white cloaks
717and flapped the banner at Bornhald’s side, the wavy-rayed golden sun of the
718Children of the Light.
719“Go now, Byar,” he commanded. The gaunt-faced man hesitated, and
720Bornhald put a snap into his voice. “I said, go, Child Byar!”
721Byar touched hand to heart and bowed. “As you command, my Lord Captain.”
722He turned his horse away, every line of him shouting reluctance.
723Bornhald put Byar out of his mind. He had done what he could, there. He
724raised his voice. “The legion will advance at a walk!”
725With a creak of saddles the long line of white-cloaked men moved slowly
726toward Falme.
727Rand peered around the corner at the approaching Seanchan, then ducked back
728into the narrow alley between two stables with a grimace. They would be there
729soon. There was blood crusted on his cheek. The cuts he had from Turak burned,
730but there was nothing to be done for them now. Lightning flashed across the sky
731again; he felt the rumble of its plummet through his boots. What in the name of
732the Light is happening?
733“Close?” Ingtar said. “The Horn of Valere must be saved, Rand.” Despite the
734Seanchan, despite the lightning and strange explosions down in the town proper,
735he seemed preoccupied with his own thoughts. Mat and Perrin and Hurin were
736down at the other end of the alley, watching another Seanchan patrol. The place
737where they had left the horses was close, now, if they could only reach it.
738“She’s in trouble,” Rand muttered. Egwene. There was an odd feeling in his
739head, as if pieces of his life were in danger. Egwene was one piece, one thread of
740the cord that made his life, but there were others, and he could feel them
741threatened. Down there, in Falme. And if any of those threads was destroyed, his
742life would never be complete, the way it was meant to be. He did not understand
743it, but the feeling was sure and certain.
744“One man could hold fifty here,” Ingtar said. The two stables stood close
745together, with barely room for the pair of them to stand side by side between
746them. “One man holding fifty at a narrow passage. Not a bad way to die. Songs
747have been made about less.”
748“There’s no need for that,” Rand said. “I hope.” A rooftop in the town
749exploded. How am I going to get back in here? I have to reach her. Reach them?
750Shaking his head, he peeked around the corner again. The Seanchan were closer,
751still coming.
752“I never knew what he was going to do,” Ingtar said softly, as if talking to
753himself. He had his sword out, testing the edge with his thumb. “A pale little
754man you didn’t seem to really notice even when you were looking at him. Take
755him inside Fal Dara, I was told, inside the fortress. I did not want to, but I had to
756do it. You understand? I had to. I never knew what he intended until he shot that
757arrow. I still don’t know if it was meant for the Amyrlin, or for you.”
758Rand felt a chill. He stared at Ingtar. “What are you saying?” he whispered.
759Studying his blade, Ingtar did not seem to hear. “Humankind is being swept
760away everywhere. Nations fail and vanish. Darkfriends are everywhere, and
761none of these southlanders seem to notice or care. We fight to hold the
762Borderlands, to keep them safe in their houses, and every year, despite all we can
763do, the Blight advances. And these southlanders think Trollocs are myths, and
764Myrddraal a gleeman’s tale.” He frowned and shook his head. “It seemed the
765only way. We would be destroyed for nothing, defending people who do not
766even know, or care. It seemed logical. Why should we be destroyed for them,
767when we could make our own peace? Better the Shadow, I thought, than useless
768oblivion, like Caralain, or Hardan, or. . . . It seemed so logical, then.”
769Rand grabbed Ingtar’s lapels. “You aren’t making any sense.” He can’t mean
770what he’s saying. He can’t. “Say it plain, whatever you mean. You are talking
771crazy!”
772For the first time Ingtar looked at Rand. His eyes shone with unshed tears.
773“You are a better man than I. Shepherd or lord, a better man. The prophecy says,
774‘Let who sounds me think not of glory, but only salvation.’ It was my salvation I
775was thinking of. I would sound the Horn, and lead the heroes of the Ages against
776Shayol Ghul. Surely that would have been enough to save me. No man can walk
777so long in the Shadow that he cannot come again to the Light. That is what they
778say. Surely that would have been enough to wash away what I have been, and
779done.”
780“Oh, Light, Ingtar.” Rand released his hold on the other man and sagged back
781against the stable wall. “I think. . . . I think wanting to is enough. I think all you
782have to do is stop being . . . one of them.” Ingtar flinched as if Rand had said it
783out loud. Darkfriend.
784“Rand, when Verin brought us here with the Portal Stone, I—I lived other
785lives. Sometimes I held the Horn, but I never sounded it. I tried to escape what
786I’d become, but I never did. Always there was something else required of me,
787always something worse than the last, until I was. . . . You were ready to give it
788up to save a friend. Think not of glory. Oh, Light, help me.”
789Rand did not know what to say. It was as if Egwene had told him she had
790murdered children. Too horrible to be believed. Too horrible for anyone to admit
791to unless it was true. Too horrible.
792After a time, Ingtar spoke again, firmly. “There has to be a price, Rand. There
793is always a price. Perhaps I can pay it here.”
794“Ingtar, I—”
795“It is every man’s right, Rand, to choose when to Sheathe the Sword. Even
796one like me.”
797Before Rand could say anything, Hurin came running down the alley. “The
798patrol turned aside,” he said hurriedly, “down into the town. They seem to be
799gathering down there. Mat and Perrin went on.” He took a quick look down the
800street and pulled back. “We’d better do the same, Lord Ingtar, Lord Rand. Those
801bug-headed Seanchan are almost here.”
802“Go, Rand,” Ingtar said. He turned to face the street and did not look at Rand
803or Hurin again. “Take the Horn where it belongs. I always knew the Amyrlin
804should have given you the charge. But all I ever wanted was to keep Shienar
805whole, to keep us from being swept away and forgotten.”
806“I know, Ingtar.” Rand drew a deep breath. “The Light shine on you, Lord
807Ingtar of House Shinowa, and may you shelter in the palm of the Creator’s
808hand.” He touched Ingtar’s shoulder. “The last embrace of the mother welcome
809you home.” Hurin gasped.
810“Thank you,” Ingtar said softly. A tension seemed to go out of him. For the
811first time since the night of the Trolloc raid on Fal Dara, he stood as he had when
812Rand first saw him, confident and relaxed. Content.
813Rand turned and found Hurin staring at him, staring at both of them. “It is
814time for us to go.”
815“But Lord Ingtar—”
816“—does what he has to,” Rand said sharply. “But we go.” Hurin nodded, and
817Rand trotted after him. Rand could hear the steady tread of the Seanchan’s boots,
818now. He did not look back.
819CHAPTER
82047
821The Grave Is No Bar to My Call
822M at and Perrin were mounted by the time Rand and Hurin reached them. Far
823behind him, Rand heard Ingtar’s voice rise. “The Light, and Shinowa!” The
824clash of steel joined the roar of other voices.
825“Where’s Ingtar?” Mat shouted. “What’s going on?” He had the Horn of
826Valere lashed to the high pommel of his saddle as if it were just any horn, but the
827dagger was in his belt, the ruby-tipped hilt cupped protectively in a pale hand
828that seemed made of nothing but bone and sinew.
829“He’s dying,” Rand said harshly as he swung onto Red’s back.
830“Then we have to help him,” Perrin said. “Mat can take the Horn and the
831dagger on to—”
832“He is doing it so we can all get away,” Rand said. For that, too. “We will all
833take the Horn to Verin, and then you can help her take it wherever she says it
834belongs.”
835“What do you mean?” Perrin asked. Rand dug his heels into the bay’s flanks,
836and Red leaped away toward the hills beyond the town.
837“The Light, and Shinowa!” Ingtar’s shout soared after him, sounding
838triumphant, and lightning crashed across the sky in answer.
839Rand whipped Red with his reins, then lay against the stallion’s neck as the
840bay laid out in a dead run, mane and tail streaming. He wished he did not feel as
841if he were running away from Ingtar’s cry, running from what he was supposed
842to do. Ingtar, a Darkfriend. I don’t care. He was still my friend. The bay’s gallop
843could not take him away from his own thoughts. Death is lighter than a feather,
844duty heavier than a mountain. So many duties. Egwene. The Horn. Fain. Mat
845and his dagger. Why can’t there just be one at a time? I have to take care of all of
846them. Oh, Light, Egwene!
847He reined in so suddenly that Red slid to a halt, sitting back on his haunches.
848They were in a scanty copse of bare-branched trees atop one of the hills
849overlooking Falme. The others galloped up behind him.
850“What do you mean?” Perrin demanded. “We can help Verin take the Horn
851where it’s supposed to go? Where are you going to be?”
852“Maybe he’s going mad already,” Mat said. “He wouldn’t want to stay with us
853if he was going mad. Would you, Rand?”
854“You three take the Horn to Verin,” Rand said. Egwene. So many threads, in
855so much danger. So many duties. “You do not need me.”
856Mat caressed the dagger’s hilt. “That’s all very well, but what about you?
857Burn me, you can’t be going mad yet. You can’t!” Hurin gaped at them, not
858understanding half of it.
859“I’m going back,” Rand said. “I should never have left.” Somehow, that did
860not sound exactly right in his own ears; it did not feel right inside his head. “I
861have to go back. Now.” That sounded better. “Egwene is still there, remember.
862With one of those collars around her neck.”
863“Are you sure?” Mat said. “I never saw her. Aaaah! If you say she is there,
864then she’s there. We’ll all take the Horn to Verin, and then we will all go back for
865her. You don’t think I would leave her there, do you?”
866Rand shook his head. Threads. Duties. He felt as if he were about to explode
867like a firework. Light, what’s happening to me? “Mat, Verin must take you and
868that dagger to Tar Valon, so you can finally be free of it. You don’t have any time
869to waste.”
870“Saving Egwene isn’t wasting time!” But Mat’s hand had tightened on the
871dagger till it shook.
872“We aren’t any of us going back,” Perrin said. “Not yet. Look.” He pointed
873back toward Falme.
874The wagon yards and horse lots were turning black with Seanchan soldiers,
875thousands of them rank on rank, with troops of cavalry riding scaled beasts as
876well as armored men on horses, colorful gonfanons marking the officers. Grolm
877dotted the ranks, and other strange creatures, almost but not quite like monstrous
878birds and lizards, and great things like nothing he could describe, with gray,
879wrinkled skin and huge tusks. At intervals along the lines stood sul’dam and
880damane by the score. Rand wondered if Egwene were one of them. In the town
881behind the soldiers, a rooftop still exploded now and again, and lightning still
882streaked the sky. Two flying beasts, with leathery wings twenty spans tip to tip,
883soared high overhead, keeping well away from where the bright bolts danced.
884“All that for us?” Mat said incredulously. “Who do they think we are?”
885An answer came to Rand, but he shoved it away before it had a chance to
886form completely.
887“We aren’t going the other way either, Lord Rand,” Hurin said. “Whitecloaks.
888Hundreds of them.”
889Rand wheeled his horse to look where the sniffer was pointing. A long, white-
890cloaked line rippled slowly toward them across the hills.
891“Lord Rand,” Hurin muttered, “if that lot lays an eye on the Horn of Valere,
892we’ll never get it close to an Aes Sedai. We’ll never get close to it again
893ourselves.”
894“Maybe that’s why the Seanchan are gathering,” Mat said hopefully. “Because
895of the Whitecloaks. Maybe it doesn’t have anything to do with us at all.”
896“Whether it does or not,” Perrin said dryly, “there is going to be a battle here
897in a few minutes.”
898“Either side could kill us,” Hurin said, “even if they never see the Horn. If
899they do. . . .”
900Rand could not manage to think about the Whitecloaks, or the Seanchan. I
901have to go back. Have to. He was staring at the Horn of Valere, he realized. They
902all were. The curled, golden Horn hung at Mat’s pommel, the focus of every eye.
903“It has to be there at the Last Battle,” Mat said, licking his lips. “Nothing says
904it can’t be used before then.” He pulled the Horn free of its lashings and looked
905at them anxiously. “Nothing says it can’t.”
906No one else said anything. Rand did not think he could speak; his own
907thoughts were too urgent to allow room for speech. Have to go back. Have to go
908back. The longer he looked at the Horn, the more urgent his thoughts became.
909Have to. Have to.
910Mat’s hand shook as he raised the Horn of Valere to his lips.
911It was a clear note, golden as the Horn was golden. The trees around them
912seemed to resonate with it, and the ground under their feet, the sky overhead.
913That one long sound encompassed everything.
914Out of nowhere, a fog began to rise. First thin wisps hanging in the air, then
915thicker billows, and thicker, until it blanketed the land like clouds.
916Geofram Bornhald stiffened in his saddle as a sound filled the air, so sweet he
917wanted to laugh, so mournful he wanted to cry. It seemed to come from every
918direction at once. A mist began to rise, growing even as he watched.
919The Seanchan. They are trying something. They know we are here.
920It was too soon, the town too far, but he drew his sword—a clatter of
921scabbards ran down the rank of his half legion—and called, “The legion will
922advance at a trot.”
923The fog covered everything, now, but he knew Falme was still there, ahead.
924The pace of the horses picked up; he could not see them, but he could hear.
925Abruptly the ground ahead flew up with a roar, showering him with dirt and
926pebbles. From the white blindness to his right he heard another roar, and men
927and horses screamed, then from his left, and again. Again. Thunder and screams,
928hidden by the fog.
929“The legion will charge!” His horse leaped forward as he dug in his heels, and
930he heard the roar as the legion, as much of it as still lived, followed.
931Thunder and screams, wrapped in whiteness.
932His last thought was regret. Byar would not be able to tell his son Dain how
933he had died.
934Rand could not see the trees around them any longer. Mat had lowered the Horn,
935eyes wide with awe, but the sound of it still rang in Rand’s ears. The fog hid
936everything in rolling waves as white as the finest bleached wool, yet Rand could
937see. He could see, but it was mad. Falme floated somewhere beneath him, its
938landward border black with the Seanchan ranks, lightning ripping its streets.
939Falme hung over his head. There Whitecloaks charged and died as the earth
940opened in fire beneath their horses’ hooves. There men ran about the decks of
941tall, square ships in the harbor, and on one ship, a familiar ship, fearful men
942waited. He could even recognize the face of the captain. Bayle Domon. He
943clutched his head with both hands. The trees were hidden, but he could still see
944each of the others clearly. Hurin anxious. Mat muttering, fearful. Perrin looking
945as if he knew this was meant to be. The fog roiled up all around them.
946Hurin gasped. “Lord Rand!” There was no need for him to point.
947Down the billowing fog, as if it were the side of a mountain, rode shapes on
948horses. At first the dense mists hid more than that, but slowly they came closer,
949and it was Rand’s turn to gasp. He knew them. Men, not all in armor, and
950women. Their clothes and their weapons came from every Age, but he knew
951them all.
952Rogosh Eagle-eye, a fatherly looking man with white hair and eyes so sharp
953as to make his name merely a hint. Gaidal Cain, a swarthy man with the hilts of
954his two swords sticking above his broad shoulders. Golden-haired Birgitte, with
955her gleaming silver bow and quiver bristling with silver arrows. More. He knew
956their faces, knew their names. But he heard a hundred names when he looked at
957each face, some so different he did not recognize them as names at all, though he
958knew they were. Michael instead of Mikel. Patrick instead of Paedrig. Oscar
959instead of Otarin.
960He knew the man who rode at their head, too. Tall and hook-nosed, with dark,
961deep-set eyes, his great sword Justice at his side. Artur Hawkwing.
962Mat gaped at them as they reined in before him and the others. “Is this . . . ? Is
963this all of you?” They were little more than a hundred, Rand saw, and realized
964that somehow he had known that they would be. Hurin’s mouth hung open; his
965eyes bulged almost out of his head.
966“It takes more than bravery to bind a man to the Horn.” Artur Hawkwing’s
967voice was deep and carrying, a voice used to giving commands.
968“Or a woman,” Birgitte said sharply.
969“Or a woman,” Hawkwing agreed. “Only a few are bound to the Wheel, spun
970out again and again to work the will of the Wheel in the Pattern of the Ages. You
971could tell him, Lews Therin, could you but remember when you wore flesh.” He
972was looking at Rand.
973Rand shook his head, but he would not waste time with denials. “Invaders
974have come, men who call themselves Seanchan, who use chained Aes Sedai in
975battle. They must be driven back into the sea. And—and there is a girl. Egwene
976al’Vere. A novice from the White Tower. The Seanchan have her prisoner. You
977must help me free her.”
978To his surprise, several of the small host behind Artur Hawkwing chuckled,
979and Birgitte, testing her bowstring, laughed. “You always choose women who
980cause you trouble, Lews Therin.” It had a fond sound, as between old friends.
981“My name is Rand al’Thor,” he snapped. “You have to hurry. There isn’t
982much time.”
983“Time?” Birgitte said, smiling. “We have all of time.” Gaidal Cain dropped his
984reins and, guiding his horse with his knees, drew a sword in either hand. All
985along the small band of heroes there was an unsheathing of swords, an
986unlimbering of bows, a hefting of spears and axes.
987Justice shone like a mirror in Artur Hawkwing’s gauntleted fist. “I have
988fought by your side times beyond number, Lews Therin, and faced you as many
989more. The Wheel spins us out for its purposes, not ours, to serve the Pattern. I
990know you, if you do not know yourself. We will drive these invaders out for
991you.” His warhorse pranced, and he looked around, frowning. “Something is
992wrong here. Something holds me.” Suddenly he turned his sharp-eyed gaze on
993Rand. “You are here. Have you the banner?” A murmur ran through those behind
994him.
995“Yes.” Rand tore open the straps of his saddlebags and pulled out the Dragon’s
996banner. It filled his hands and hung almost to his stallion’s knees. The murmur
997among the heroes rose.
998“The Pattern weaves itself around our necks like halters,” Artur Hawkwing
999said. “You are here. The banner is here. The weave of this moment is set. We
1000have come to the Horn, but we must follow the banner. And the Dragon.” Hurin
1001made a faint sound as if his throat had seized.
1002“Burn me,” Mat breathed. “It’s true. Burn me!”
1003Perrin hesitated only an instant before swinging down off his horse and
1004striding into the mist. There came a chopping sound, and when he returned, he
1005carried a straight length of sapling shorn of its branches. “Give it to me, Rand,”
1006he said gravely. “If they need it. . . . Give it to me.”
1007Hastily, Rand helped him tie the banner to the pole. When Perrin remounted,
1008pole in hand, a current of air seemed to ripple the pale length of the banner, so
1009the serpentine Dragon appeared to move, alive. The wind did not touch the
1010heavy fog, only the banner.
1011“You stay here,” Rand told Hurin. “When it’s over. . . . You will be safe,
1012here.”
1013Hurin drew his short sword, holding it as if it might actually be of some use
1014from horseback. “Begging your pardon, Lord Rand, but I think not. I don’t
1015understand the tenth part of what I’ve heard . . . or what I’m seeing”—his voice
1016dropped to a mutter before picking up again—“but I’ve come this far, and I think
1017I’ll go the rest of the way.”
1018Artur Hawkwing clapped the sniffer on the shoulder. “Sometimes the Wheel
1019adds to our number, friend. Perhaps you will find yourself among us, one day.”
1020Hurin sat up as if he had been offered a crown. Hawkwing bowed formally from
1021his saddle to Rand. “With your permission . . . Lord Rand. Trumpeter, will you
1022give us music on the Horn? Fitting that the Horn of Valere should sing us into
1023battle. Bannerman, will you advance?”
1024Mat sounded the Horn again, long and high—the mists rang with it—and
1025Perrin heeled his horse forward. Rand drew the heron-mark blade and rode
1026between them.
1027He could see nothing but thick billows of white, but somehow he could still
1028see what he had before, too. Falme, where someone used the Power in the
1029streets, and the harbor, and the Seanchan host, and the dying Whitecloaks, all of
1030it beneath him, all of him hanging above, all of it just as it had been. It seemed as
1031if no time at all had passed since the Horn was first blown, as though time had
1032paused while the heroes answered the call and now resumed counting.
1033The wild cries Mat wrung from the Horn echoed in the fog, and the drumming
1034of hooves as the horses picked up speed. Rand charged into the mists, wondering
1035if he knew where he was headed. The clouds thickened, hiding the far ends of
1036the rank of heroes galloping to either side of him, obscuring more and more, till
1037he could see only Mat and Perrin and Hurin clearly. Hurin crouched low in his
1038saddle, wide-eyed, urging his horse on. Mat sounding the Horn, and laughing
1039between. Perrin, his yellow eyes glowing, the Dragon’s banner streaming behind
1040him. Then they were gone, too, and Rand rode on alone, as it seemed.
1041In a way, he could still see them, but now it was the way he could see Falme,
1042and the Seanchan. He could not tell where they were, or where he was. He
1043tightened his grip on his sword, peered into the mists ahead. He charged alone
1044through the fog, and somehow he knew that was how it was meant to be.
1045Suddenly Ba’alzamon was before him in the mists, throwing his arms wide.
1046Red reared wildly, hurling Rand from his saddle. Rand clung to his sword
1047desperately as he soared. It was not a hard landing. In fact, he thought with a
1048sense of wonder that it was very much like landing on . . . nothing at all. One
1049instant he was sailing through the mists, and the next he was not.
1050When he climbed to his feet, his horse was gone, but Ba’alzamon was still
1051there, striding toward him with a long, black-charred staff in his hands. They
1052were alone, only they and the rolling fog. Behind Ba’alzamon was shadow. The
1053mist was not dark behind him; this blackness excluded the white fog.
1054Rand was aware of the other things, too. Artur Hawkwing and the other
1055heroes meeting the Seanchan in dense fog. Perrin, with the banner, swinging his
1056axe more to fend off those who tried to reach him than harm them. Mat, still
1057blowing wild notes on the Horn of Valere. Hurin down from his saddle, fighting
1058with short sword and sword-breaker in the way he knew. It seemed as if the
1059Seanchan numbers would overwhelm them in one rush, yet it was the dark-
1060armored Seanchan who fell back.
1061Rand went forward to meet Ba’alzamon. Reluctantly, he assumed the void,
1062reached for the True Source, was filled with the One Power. There was no other
1063way. Perhaps he had no chance against the Dark One, but whatever chance he
1064did have lay in the Power. It soaked into his limbs, seemed to suffuse everything
1065about him, his clothes, his sword. He felt as if he should be glowing like the sun.
1066It thrilled him; it made him want to vomit.
1067“Get out of my way,” he grated. “I am not here for you!”
1068“The girl?” Ba’alzamon laughed. His mouth turned to flame. His burns were
1069all but healed, leaving only a few pink scars that were already fading. He looked
1070like a handsome man of middle years. Except for his mouth, and his eyes.
1071“Which one, Lews Therin? You will not have anyone to help you this time. You
1072are mine, or you are dead. In which case, you are mine anyway.”
1073“Liar!” Rand snarled. He struck at Ba’alzamon, but the staff of charred wood
1074turned his blade in a shower of sparks. “Father of Lies!”
1075“Fool! Did those other fools you summoned not tell you who you are?” The
1076fires of Ba’alzamon’s face roared with laughter.
1077Even floating in emptiness, Rand felt a chill. Would they have lied? I don’t
1078want to be the Dragon Reborn. He firmed his grip on his sword. Parting the Silk,
1079but Ba’alzamon beat every cut aside; sparks flew as from a blacksmith’s forge
1080and hammer. “I have business in Falme, and none with you. Never with you,”
1081Rand said. I have to hold his attention until they can free Egwene. In that odd
1082way, he could see the battle rage among the fog-shrouded wagon yards and horse
1083lots.
1084“You pitiful wretch. You have sounded the Horn of Valere. You are linked to
1085it, now. Do you think the worms of the White Tower will ever release you, now?
1086They will put chains around your neck so heavy you will never cut them.”
1087Rand was so surprised he felt it inside the void. He doesn’t know everything.
1088He doesn’t know! He was sure it must show on his face. To cover it, he rushed at
1089Ba’alzamon. Hummingbird Kisses the Honeyrose. The Moon on the Water. The
1090Swallow Rides the Air. Lightning arched between sword and staff. Coruscating
1091glitter showered the fog. Yet Ba’alzamon fell back, his eyes blazing in furious
1092furnaces.
1093At the edge of his awareness, Rand saw the Seanchan falling back in the
1094streets of Falme, fighting desperately. Damane tore the earth with the One
1095Power, but it could not harm Artur Hawkwing, nor the other heroes of the Horn.
1096“Will you remain a slug beneath a rock?” Ba’alzamon snarled. The darkness
1097behind him boiled and stirred. “You kill yourself while we stand here. The
1098Power rages in you. It burns you. It is killing you! I alone in all the world can
1099teach you how to control it. Serve me, and live. Serve me, or die!”
1100“Never!” Have to hold him long enough. Hurry, Hawkwing. Hurry! He
1101launched himself at Ba’alzamon again. The Dove Takes Flight. The Falling Leaf.
1102This time it was he who was driven back. Dimly, he saw the Seanchan
1103fighting their way back in among the stables. He redoubled his efforts. The
1104Kingfisher Takes a Silverback. The Seanchan gave way to a charge, Artur
1105Hawkwing and Perrin side by side in the van. Bundling Straw. Ba’alzamon
1106caught his blow in a fountain like crimson fireflies, and he had to leap away
1107before the staff split his head; the wind of the blow ruffled his hair. The
1108Seanchan surged forward. Striking the Spark. Sparks flew like hail, Ba’alzamon
1109jumped from his stroke, and the Seanchan were driven back to the cobblestone
1110streets.
1111Rand wanted to howl aloud. Suddenly he knew that the two battles were
1112linked. When he advanced, the heroes called by the Horn drove the Seanchan
1113back; when he fell back, the Seanchan rose up.
1114“They will not save you,” Ba’alzamon said. “Those who might save you will
1115be carried far across the Aryth Ocean. If ever you see them again, they will be
1116collared slaves, and they will destroy you for their new masters.”
1117Egwene. I can’t let them do that to her.
1118Ba’alzamon’s voice rode over his thoughts. “You have only one salvation,
1119Rand al’Thor. Lews Therin Kinslayer. I am your only salvation. Serve me, and I
1120will give you the world. Resist, and I will destroy you as I have so often before.
1121But this time I will destroy you to your very soul, destroy you utterly and
1122forever.”
1123I have won again, Lews Therin. The thought was beyond the void, yet it took
1124an effort to ignore it, not to think of all the lives where he had heard it. He
1125shifted his sword, and Ba’alzamon readied his staff.
1126For the first time Rand realized that Ba’alzamon acted as if the heron-mark
1127blade could harm him. Steel can’t hurt the Dark One. But Ba’alzamon watched
1128the sword warily. Rand was one with the sword. He could feel every particle of
1129it, tiny bits a thousand times too small to be seen with the eye. And he could feel
1130the Power that suffused him running into the sword, as well, threading through
1131the intricate matrices wrought by Aes Sedai during the War of Power.
1132It was another voice he heard then. Lan’s voice. There will come a time when
1133you want something more than you want life. Ingtar’s voice. It is every man’s
1134right to choose when to Sheathe the Sword. The picture formed of Egwene,
1135collared, living her life as a damane. Threads of my life in danger. Egwene. If
1136Hawkwing gets into Falme, he can save her. Before he knew it, he had taken the
1137first position of Heron Wading in the Rushes, balanced on one foot, sword raised
1138high, open and defenseless. Death is lighter than a feather, duty heavier than a
1139mountain.
1140Ba’alzamon stared at him. “Why are you grinning like an idiot, fool? Do you
1141not know I can destroy you utterly?”
1142Rand felt a calmness beyond that of the void. “I will never serve you, Father
1143of Lies. In a thousand lives, I never have. I know that. I’m sure of it. Come. It is
1144time to die.”
1145Ba’alzamon’s eyes widened; for an instant they were furnaces that put sweat
1146on Rand’s face. The blackness behind Ba’alzamon boiled up around him, and his
1147face hardened. “Then die, worm!” He struck with the staff, as with a spear.
1148Rand screamed as he felt it pierce his side, burning like a white-hot poker. The
1149void trembled, but he held on with the last of his strength, and drove the heron-
1150mark blade into Ba’alzamon’s heart. Ba’alzamon screamed, and the dark behind
1151him screamed. The world exploded in fire.
1152CHAPTER
115348
1154First Claiming
1155M in struggled up the cobblestone street, pushing through crowds that stood
1156white-faced and staring, those who were not screaming hysterically. A few ran,
1157seemingly without any idea of where they were running, but most moved like
1158poorly handled puppets, more afraid to go than to stay. She searched the faces,
1159hoping to find Egwene, or Elayne, or Nynaeve, but all she saw were Falmen.
1160And there was something drawing her on, as surely as if she had a string tied to
1161her.
1162Once she turned to look back. Seanchan ships burned in the harbor, and she
1163could see more in flames off the harbor mouth. Many squarish vessels were
1164already small against the setting sun, sailing west as fast as damane could make
1165the winds drive them, and one small ship was beating away from the harbor,
1166tilting to catch a wind to take it along the coast. Spray. She did not blame Bayle
1167Domon for not waiting longer, not after what she had seen; she thought it a
1168wonder he had remained so long.
1169There was one Seanchan vessel in the harbor not burning, though its towers
1170were black from fires already extinguished. As the tall ship crept toward the
1171harbor mouth, a figure on horseback suddenly appeared around the cliffs skirting
1172the harbor. Riding across the water. Min’s mouth fell open. Silver glittered as the
1173figure raised a bow; a streak of silver lanced to the boxy ship, a gleaming line
1174connecting bow and ship. With a roar she could hear even at that distance, fire
1175engulfed the foretower anew, and sailors rushed about the deck.
1176Min blinked, and when she looked again, the mounted figure was gone. The
1177ship still slowly made way toward the ocean, the crew fighting the flames.
1178She gave herself a shake and started to climb the street again. She had seen
1179too much that day for someone riding a horse across water to be more than a
1180momentary distraction. Even if it really was Birgitte and her bow. And Artur
1181Hawkwing. I did see him. I did.
1182In front of one of the tall stone buildings, she stopped uncertainly, ignoring the
1183people who brushed past her as if stunned. It was in there, somewhere, that she
1184had to go. She rushed up the stairs and pushed open the door.
1185No one tried to stop her. As far as she could tell, there was no one in the
1186house. Most of Falme was out in the streets, trying to decide whether they had
1187all gone mad together. She went on through the house, into the garden behind,
1188and there he was.
1189Rand lay sprawled on his back under an oak, face pale and eyes closed, left
1190hand gripping a hilt that ended in a foot of blade that appeared to have been
1191melted at the end. His chest rose and fell too slowly, and not with the regular
1192rhythm of someone breathing normally.
1193Taking a deep breath to calm herself, she went to see what she could do for
1194him. First was to get rid of that stub of a blade; he could hurt himself, or her, if
1195he started thrashing. She pried his hand open, and winced when the hilt stuck to
1196his palm. She tossed it aside with a grimace. The heron on the hilt had branded
1197itself into his hand. But it was obvious to her that that was not what had him
1198lying there unconscious. How did he come by that? Nynaeve can put a salve on it
1199later.
1200A hasty examination showed that most of his cuts and bruises were not new—
1201at least, the blood had had time to dry in a crust, and the bruises had started to
1202turn yellow at the edges—but there was a hole burned through his coat on the
1203left side. Opening his coat, she pulled up his shirt. Breath whistled through her
1204teeth. There was a wound burned into his side, but it had cauterized itself. What
1205shook her was the feel of his flesh. It had a touch of ice in it; he made the air
1206seem warm.
1207Grabbing his shoulders, she began to drag him toward the house. He hung
1208limp, a dead weight. “Great lummox,” she grunted. “You couldn’t be short, and
1209light, could you? You have to have all that leg and shoulder. I ought to let you lie
1210out here.”
1211But she struggled up the steps, careful not to bump him any more than she
1212could avoid, and pulled him inside. Leaving him just within the door, she
1213knuckled the small of her back, muttering to herself about the Pattern, and made
1214a hasty search. There was a small bedroom in the back of the house, perhaps a
1215servant’s room, with a bed piled high with blankets, and logs already laid on the
1216hearth. In moments, she had the blankets thrown back and the fire lit, as well as
1217a lamp on the bedside table. Then she went back for Rand.
1218It was no small task getting him to the room, or up onto the bed, but she
1219managed it with only a little hard breathing, and covered him up. After a
1220moment, she stuck a hand under the blankets; she winced and shook her head.
1221The sheets were icy cold; he had no body warmth for the blankets to hold. With
1222a put-upon sigh, she wriggled under the covers beside him. Finally, she put his
1223head on her arm. His eyes were still closed, his breathing ragged, but she thought
1224he would be dead by the time she came back if she left to find Nynaeve. He
1225needs an Aes Sedai, she thought. All I can do is try to give him a little warmth.
1226For a time she studied his face. It was only his face she saw; she could never
1227read anyone who was not conscious. “I like older men,” she told him. “I like
1228men with education, and wit. I have no interest in farms, or sheep, or shepherds.
1229Especially boy shepherds.” With a sigh, she smoothed back the hair from his
1230face; he had silky hair. “But then, you aren’t a shepherd, are you? Not anymore.
1231Light, why did the Pattern have to catch me up with you? Why couldn’t I have
1232something safe and simple, like being shipwrecked with no food and a dozen
1233hungry Aielmen?”
1234There was a sound in the hall, and she raised her head as the door opened.
1235Egwene stood there, staring at them by the light of the fire and the lamp. “Oh,”
1236was all she said.
1237Min’s cheeks colored. Why am I behaving like I’ve done something wrong?
1238Fool! “I . . . I’m keeping him warm. He is unconscious, and he’s as cold as ice.”
1239Egwene did not come any further into the room. “I—I felt him pulling at me.
1240Needing me. Elayne felt it, too. I thought it must be something to do with—with
1241what he is, but Nynaeve didn’t feel anything.” She drew a deep, unsteady breath.
1242“Elayne and Nynaeve are getting the horses. We found Bela. The Seanchan left
1243most of their horses behind. Nynaeve says we should go as soon as we can, and
1244—and. . . . Min, you know what he is, don’t you, now?”
1245“I know.” Min wanted to take her arm from under Rand’s head, but she could
1246not make herself move. “I think I do, anyway. Whatever he is, he is hurt. I can
1247do nothing for him except keep him warm. Maybe Nynaeve can.”
1248“Min, you know . . . you do know that he cannot marry. He isn’t . . . safe . . .
1249for any of us, Min.”
1250“Speak for yourself,” Min said. She pulled Rand’s face against her breast. “It’s
1251like Elayne said. You tossed him aside for the White Tower. What should you
1252care if I pick him up?”
1253Egwene looked at her for what seemed a long time. Not at Rand, not at all,
1254only at her. She felt her face growing hotter and wanted to look away, but she
1255could not.
1256“I will bring Nynaeve,” Egwene said finally, and walked out of the room with
1257her back straight and her head high.
1258Min wanted to call out, to go after her, but she lay there as if frozen.
1259Frustrated tears stung her eyes. It’s what has to be. I know it. I read it in all of
1260them. Light, I don’t want to be part of this. “It’s all your fault,” she told Rand’s
1261still shape. “No, it isn’t. But you will pay for it, I think. We’re all caught like
1262flies in a spiderweb. What if I told her there’s another woman yet to come, one
1263she doesn’t even know? For that matter, what would you think of that, my fine
1264Lord Shepherd? You aren’t bad-looking at all, but. . . . Light, I don’t even know
1265if I am the one you’ll choose. I don’t know if I want you to choose me. Or will
1266you try to dandle all three of us on your knee? It may not be your fault, Rand
1267al’Thor, but it isn’t fair.”
1268“Not Rand al’Thor,” said a musical voice from the door. “Lews Therin
1269Telamon. The Dragon Reborn.”
1270Min stared. She was the most beautiful woman Min had ever seen, with pale,
1271smooth skin, and long, black hair, and eyes as dark as night. Her dress was a
1272white that would make snow seem dingy, belted in silver. All her jewelry was
1273silver. Min felt herself bristle. “What do you mean? Who are you?”
1274The woman came to stand over the bed—her movements were so graceful,
1275Min felt a stab of envy, though she had never before envied any woman anything
1276—and smoothed Rand’s hair as if Min were not there. “He doesn’t believe yet, I
1277think. He knows, but he does not believe. I have guided his steps, pushed him,
1278pulled him, enticed him. He was always stubborn, but this time I will shape him.
1279Ishamael thinks he controls events, but I do.” Her finger brushed Rand’s
1280forehead as if drawing a mark; Min thought uneasily that it looked like the
1281Dragon’s Fang. Rand stirred, murmuring, the first sound or movement he had
1282made since she found him.
1283“Who are you?” Min demanded. The woman looked at her, only looked, but
1284she found herself shrinking back into the pillows, clutching Rand to her fiercely.
1285“I am called Lanfear, girl.”
1286Min’s mouth was abruptly so dry she could not have spoken if her life
1287depended on it. One of the Forsaken! No! Light, no! All she could do was shake
1288her head. The denial made Lanfear smile.
1289“Lews Therin was and is mine, girl. Tend him well for me until I come for
1290him.” And she was gone.
1291Min gaped. One moment she was there, then she was gone. Min discovered
1292she was hugging Rand’s unconscious form tightly. She wished she did not feel as
1293if she wanted him to protect her.
1294Gaunt face set with grim purpose, Byar galloped with the sinking sun behind
1295him and never looked back. He had seen all he needed to, all he could with that
1296accursed fog. The legion was dead, Lord Captain Geofram Bornhald was dead,
1297and there was only one explanation for that; Darkfriends had betrayed them,
1298Darkfriends like that Perrin of the Two Rivers. That word he had to carry to Dain
1299Bornhald, the Lord Captain’s son, with the Children of the Light watching Tar
1300Valon. But he had worse to tell, and to none less than Pedron Niall himself. He
1301had to tell what he had seen in the sky above Falme. He flogged his horse with
1302his reins and never looked back.
1303CHAPTER
130449
1305What Was Meant to Be
1306R and opened his eyes and found himself staring up at sunlight slanting through
1307the branches of a leatherleaf, its broad, tough leaves still green despite the time
1308of year. The wind stirring the leaves carried a hint of snow, come nightfall. He
1309lay on his back, and he could feel blankets covering him under his hands. His
1310coat and shirt seemed to be gone, but something was binding his chest, and his
1311left side hurt. He turned his head, and Min was sitting there on the ground,
1312watching him. He almost did not know her, wearing skirts. She smiled
1313uncertainly.
1314“Min. It is you. Where did you come from? Where are we?” His memory
1315came in flashes and patches. Old things he could remember, but the last few days
1316seemed like bits of broken mirror, spinning through his mind, showing glimpses
1317that were gone before he could see them clearly.
1318“From Falme,” she said. “We’re five days east of there, now, and you’ve been
1319asleep all that time.”
1320“Falme.” More memory. Mat had blown the Horn of Valere. “Egwene! Is she
1321. . . ? Did they free her?” He held his breath.
1322“I don’t know what ‘they’ you mean, but she’s free. We freed her ourselves.”
1323“We? I don’t understand.” She’s free. At least she is—
1324“Nynaeve, and Elayne, and me.”
1325“Nynaeve? Elayne? How? You were all in Falme?” He struggled to sit up, but
1326she pushed him back down easily and stayed there, hands on his shoulders, eyes
1327intent on his face. “Where is she?”
1328“Gone.” Min’s face colored. “They’re all gone. Egwene, and Nynaeve, and
1329Mat, and Hurin, and Verin. Hurin didn’t want to leave you, really. They’re on
1330their way to Tar Valon. Egwene and Nynaeve back to their training in the Tower,
1331and Mat for whatever the Aes Sedai have to do about that dagger. They took the
1332Horn of Valere with them. I can’t believe I actually saw it.”
1333“Gone,” he muttered. “She didn’t even wait till I woke up.” The red in Min’s
1334cheeks deepened, and she sat back, staring at her lap.
1335He raised his hands to run them over his face, and stopped, staring at his
1336palms in shock. There was a heron branded across his left palm, too, now, to
1337match the one on his right, every line clean and true. Once the heron to set his
1338path; Twice the heron to name him true. “No!”
1339“They are gone,” she said. “Saying ‘no’ won’t change it.”
1340He shook his head. Something told him the pain in his side was important. He
1341could not remember being injured, but it was important. He started to lift his
1342blankets to look, but she slapped his hands away.
1343“You can’t do any good with that. It isn’t healed all the way, yet. Verin tried
1344Healing, but she said it didn’t work the way it should.” She hesitated, nibbling
1345her lip. “Moiraine says Nynaeve must have done something, or you wouldn’t
1346have lived till we carried you to Verin, but Nynaeve says she was too frightened
1347to light a candle. There is . . . something wrong with your wound. You will have
1348to wait for it to heal naturally.” She seemed troubled.
1349“Moiraine is here?” He barked a bitter laugh. “When you said Verin was gone,
1350I thought I was free of Aes Sedai again.”
1351“I am here,” Moiraine said. She appeared, all in blue and as serene as if she
1352stood in the White Tower, strolling up to stand over him. Min was frowning at
1353the Aes Sedai. Rand had the odd feeling that she meant to protect him from
1354Moiraine.
1355“I wish you weren’t here,” he told the Aes Sedai. “As far as I am concerned,
1356you can go back to wherever you’ve been hiding and stay there.”
1357“I have not been hiding,” Moiraine said calmly. “I have been doing what I
1358could, here on Toman Head, and in Falme. It was little enough, though I learned
1359much. I failed to rescue two of my sisters before the Seanchan herded them onto
1360the ships with the Leashed Ones, but I did what I could.”
1361“What you could. You sent Verin to shepherd me, but I’m no sheep, Moiraine.
1362You said I could go where I wanted, and I mean to go where you are not.”
1363“I did not send Verin.” Moiraine frowned. “She did that on her own. You are
1364of interest to a great many people, Rand. Did Fain find you, or you him?”
1365The sudden change of topic took him by surprise. “Fain? No. A fine hero I
1366make. I tried to rescue Egwene, and Min did it before me. Fain said he would
1367hurt Emond’s Field if I didn’t face him, and I never laid eyes on him. Did he go
1368with the Seanchan, too?”
1369Moiraine shook her head. “I do not know. I wish I did. But it is as well you
1370did not find him, not until you know what he is, at least.”
1371“He’s a Darkfriend.”
1372“More than that. Worse than that. Padan Fain was the Dark One’s creature to
1373the depths of his soul, but I believe that in Shadar Logoth he fell afoul of
1374Mordeth, who was as vile in fighting the Shadow as ever the Shadow itself was.
1375Mordeth tried to consume Fain’s soul, to have a human body again, but found a
1376soul that had been touched directly by the Dark One, and what resulted. . . .
1377What resulted was neither Padan Fain nor Mordeth, but something far more evil,
1378a blend of the two. Fain—let us call him that—is more dangerous than you can
1379believe. You might not have survived such a meeting, and if you had, you might
1380have been worse than turned to the Shadow.”
1381“If he is alive, if he did not go with the Seanchan, I have to—” He cut off as
1382she produced his heron-mark sword from under her cloak. The blade ended
1383abruptly a foot from the hilt, as if it had been melted. Memory came crashing
1384back. “I killed him,” he said softly. “This time I killed him.”
1385Moiraine put the ruined sword aside like the useless thing it now was, and
1386wiped her hands together. “The Dark One is not slain so easily. The mere fact
1387that he appeared in the sky above Falme is more than merely troubling. He
1388should not be able to do that, if he is bound as we believe. And if he is not, why
1389has he not destroyed us all?” Min stirred uneasily.
1390“In the sky?” Rand said in wonder.
1391“Both of you,” Moiraine said. “Your battle took place across the sky, in full
1392view of every soul in Falme. Perhaps in other towns on Toman Head, too, if half
1393what I hear is to be believed.”
1394“We—we saw it all,” Min said in a faint voice. She put a hand over one of
1395Rand’s comfortingly.
1396Moiraine reached under her cloak again and came out with a rolled
1397parchment, one of the large sheets such as the street artists in Falme used. The
1398chalks were a little smudged when she unfurled it, but the picture was still clear
1399enough. A man whose face was a solid flame fought with a staff against another
1400with a sword among clouds where lightning danced, and behind them rippled the
1401Dragon banner. Rand’s face was easily recognizable.
1402“How many have seen that?” he demanded. “Tear it up. Burn it.”
1403The Aes Sedai let the parchment roll back up. “It would do no good, Rand. I
1404bought that two days gone, in a village we passed through. There are hundreds of
1405them, perhaps thousands, and the tale is being told everywhere of how the
1406Dragon battled the Dark One in the skies above Falme.”
1407Rand looked at Min. She nodded reluctantly, and squeezed his hand. She
1408looked frightened, but she did not flinch away. I wonder if that’s why Egwene
1409left. She was right to leave.
1410“The Pattern weaves itself around you even more tightly,” Moiraine said.
1411“You need me now more than ever.”
1412“I don’t need you,” he said harshly, “and I don’t want you. I will not have
1413anything to do with this.” He remembered being called Lews Therin; not only by
1414Ba’alzamon, but by Artur Hawkwing. “I won’t. Light, the Dragon is supposed to
1415Break the World again, to tear everything apart. I will not be the Dragon.”
1416“You are what you are,” Moiraine said. “Already you stir the world. The
1417Black Ajah has revealed itself for the first time in two thousand years. Arad
1418Doman and Tarabon were on the brink of war, and it will be worse when news of
1419Falme reaches them. Cairhien is in civil war.”
1420“I did nothing in Cairhien,” he protested. “You can’t blame that on me.”
1421“Doing nothing was always a ploy in the Great Game,” she said with a sigh,
1422“and especially as they play it now. You were the spark, and Cairhien exploded
1423like an Illuminator’s firework. What do you think will happen when word of
1424Falme reaches Arad Doman and Tarabon? There have always been men willing
1425to proclaim for any man who called himself the Dragon, but they have never
1426before had such signs as this. There is more. Here.” She tossed a pouch on his
1427chest.
1428He hesitated a moment before opening it. Within lay shards of what seemed to
1429be black-and-white glazed pottery. He had seen their like before. “Another seal
1430on the Dark One’s prison,” he mumbled. Min gasped; her grip on his hand
1431sought comfort, now, rather than offering it.
1432“Two,” Moiraine said. “Three of the seven are broken now. The one I had, and
1433two I found in the High Lord’s dwelling in Falme. When all seven are broken,
1434perhaps even before, the patch men put over the hole they drilled into the prison
1435the Creator made will be torn asunder, and the Dark One will once more be able
1436to put his hand through that hole and touch the world. And the only hope of the
1437world is that the Dragon Reborn will be there to face him.”
1438Min tried to stop Rand from throwing back the blankets, but he pushed her
1439gently aside. “I need to walk.” She helped him up, but with a great many sighs
1440and grumbles about him making his wound worse. He discovered that his chest
1441was wrapped round with bandages. Min draped one of the blankets about his
1442shoulders like a cloak.
1443For a moment he stood staring down at the heron-mark sword, what was left
1444of it, lying on the ground. Tam’s sword. My father’s sword. Reluctantly, more
1445reluctantly than he had ever done anything in his life, he let go of the hope that
1446he would discover Tam really was his father. It felt as if he were tearing his heart
1447out. But it did not change the way he felt about Tam, and Emond’s Field was the
1448only home he had ever known. Fain is the important thing. I have one duty left.
1449Stopping him.
1450The two women had to support him, one on either arm, down to where the
1451campfires were already burning, not far from a road of hard-packed dirt. Loial
1452was there, reading a book, To Sail Beyond the Sunset, and Perrin, staring into one
1453of the fires. The Shienarans were making preparations for their evening meal.
1454Lan sat under a tree sharpening his belt knife; the Warder gave Rand a careful
1455look, then a nod.
1456There was something else, too. The Dragon banner rippled on the wind over
1457the middle of the camp. Somewhere they had found a proper staff to replace
1458Perrin’s sapling.
1459Rand demanded, “What is that doing out where anybody who passes by can
1460see it?”
1461“It is too late to hide, Rand,” Moiraine said. “It was always too late for you to
1462hide.”
1463“You don’t have to put up a sign saying ‘here I am,’ either. I’ll never find Fain
1464if somebody kills me because of that banner.” He turned to Loial and Perrin.
1465“I’m glad you stayed. I would have understood if you hadn’t.”
1466“Why would I not stay?” Loial said. “You are even more ta’veren than I
1467believed, true, but you are still my friend. I hope you are still my friend.” His
1468ears twitched uncertainly.
1469“I am,” Rand said. “For as long as it’s safe for you to be around me, and even
1470after, too.” The Ogier’s grin nearly split his face in two.
1471“I’m staying as well,” Perrin said. There was a note of resignation, or
1472acceptance, in his voice. “The Wheel weaves us tight in the Pattern, Rand. Who
1473would have thought it, back in Emond’s Field?”
1474The Shienarans were gathering around. To Rand’s surprise, they all fell to
1475their knees. Every one of them watched him.
1476“We would pledge ourselves to you,” Uno said. The others kneeling with him
1477nodded.
1478“Your oaths are to Ingtar, and Lord Agelmar,” Rand protested. “Ingtar died
1479well, Uno. He died so the rest of us could escape with the Horn.” There was no
1480need to tell them or anyone else the rest. He hoped that Ingtar had found the
1481Light again. “Tell Lord Agelmar that when you return to Fal Dara.”
1482“It is said,” the one-eyed man said carefully, “that when the Dragon is Reborn,
1483he will break all oaths, shatter all ties. Nothing holds us, now. We would give our
1484oaths to you.” He drew his sword and laid it before him, hilt toward Rand, and
1485the rest of the Shienarans did the same.
1486“You battled the Dark One,” Masema said. Masema, who hated him. Masema,
1487who looked at him as if seeing a vision of the Light. “I saw you, Lord Dragon. I
1488saw. I am your man, to the death.” His dark eyes shone with fervor.
1489“You must choose, Rand,” Moiraine said. “The world will be broken whether
1490you break it or not. Tarmon Gai’don will come, and that alone will tear the world
1491apart. Will you still try to hide from what you are, and leave the world to face the
1492Last Battle undefended? Choose.”
1493They were all watching him, all waiting. Death is lighter than a feather, duty
1494heavier than a mountain. He made his decision.
1495CHAPTER
149650
1497After
1498B y ship and horse the stories spread, by merchant wagon and man on foot, told
1499and retold, changing yet always alike at the heart, to Arad Doman and Tarabon
1500and beyond, of signs and portents in the sky above Falme. And men proclaimed
1501themselves for the Dragon, and other men struck them down and were struck
1502down in turn.
1503Other tales spread, of a column that rode from the sinking sun across Almoth
1504Plain. A hundred Bordermen, it was said. No, a thousand. No, a thousand heroes
1505come back from the grave to answer the call of the Horn of Valere. Ten
1506thousand. They had destroyed a legion of the Children of the Light entire. They
1507had thrown Artur Hawkwing’s returned armies back into the sea. They were
1508Artur Hawkwing’s armies returned. Toward the mountains they rode, toward the
1509dawn.
1510Yet one thing every tale had the same. At their head rode a man whose face
1511had been seen in the sky above Falme, and they rode under the banner of the
1512Dragon Reborn.
1513And men cried out to the Creator, saying, O Light of the Heavens, Light of the
1514World, let the Promised One be born of the mountain, according to the
1515Prophecies, as he was in Ages past and will be in Ages to come. Let the Prince of
1516the Morning sing to the land that green things will grow and the valleys give
1517forth lambs. Let the arm of the Lord of the Dawn shelter us from the Dark, and
1518the great sword of justice defend us. Let the Dragon ride again on the winds of
1519time.
1520—from Charal Drianaan te Calamon, The Cycle of the Dragon,
1521 Author unknown, the Fourth Age
1522The End
1523of the Second Book of
1524The Wheel of Time
1525GLOSSARY
1526A Note on Dates in This Glossary. Three systems of recording dates have been
1527in general use since the Breaking of the World. The first recorded years After the
1528Breaking (AB). Since the years of the Breaking and immediately after were
1529years of almost total chaos, and since this calendar was adopted a good hundred
1530years after the end of the Breaking, its starting point was arbitrarily assigned. At
1531the end of the Trolloc Wars many records had been lost, so much so that there
1532was argument about the exact year under the old system. A new calendar was
1533therefore established, dating from the end of the Wars and celebrating the
1534supposed freedom of the world from the Trolloc threat. This second calendar
1535recorded each year as Free Year (FY). After the disruption, death, and
1536destruction caused by the War of the Hundred Years, a third calendar came into
1537being. This calendar, of the New Era (NE), is currently in use.
1538a’dam (AYE-dam): A device, consisting of a collar and a bracelet linked by a
1539silvery metal leash, that may be used to control, against her will, any woman
1540who can channel. The collar is worn by the damane, the bracelet by the
1541sul’dam. See also damane; sul’dam.
1542Aes Sedai (EYEZ seh-DEYE): Wielders of the One Power. Since the Time of
1543Madness, all surviving Aes Sedai are women. Widely distrusted and feared,
1544even hated, they are blamed by many for the Breaking of the World, and are
1545thought to meddle in the affairs of nations. At the same time, few rulers will
1546be without an Aes Sedai advisor, even in lands where the existence of such a
1547connection must be kept secret. See also Ajah; Amyrlin Seat; Time of
1548Madness.
1549Agelmar; Lord Agelmar of House Jagad (AGH-el-mar; JAH-gad): Lord of Fal
1550Dara. His sign is three running red foxes.
1551Age of Legends: The Age ended by the War of the Shadow and the Breaking of
1552the World. A time when Aes Sedai performed wonders now only dreamed of.
1553See also Wheel of Time; Breaking of the World; War of the Shadow.
1554Aiel (eye-EEL): The people of the Aiel Waste. Fierce and hardy. Also called
1555Aielmen. They veil their faces before they kill, giving rise to the saying
1556“acting like a black-veiled Aiel” to describe someone who is being violent.
1557Deadly warriors with weapons or with nothing but their bare hands, they will
1558not touch a sword. Their pipers play them into battle with the music of dances,
1559and Aielmen call battle “the Dance.” See also Aiel warrior societies; Aiel
1560Waste.
1561Aiel warrior societies: Aiel warriors are all members of one of the warrior
1562societies, such as the Stone Dogs, the Red Shields, or the Maidens of the
1563Spear. Each society has its own customs, and sometimes specific duties. For
1564example, Red Shields act as police. Stone Dogs often vow not to retreat once
1565battle has been joined, and will die to the last man if necessary to fulfill this
1566vow. The clans of the Aiel frequently fight among themselves, but members
1567of the same society will not fight one another even if their clans are doing so.
1568In this way, there are always lines of contact between the clans even when
1569they are in open warfare. See also Aiel; Aiel Waste; Far Dareis Mai.
1570Aiel Waste: The harsh, rugged, and all-but-waterless land east of the Spine of
1571the World. Few outsiders venture there, not only because water is almost
1572impossible to find for one not born there, but because the Aiel consider
1573themselves at war with all other peoples and do not welcome strangers.
1574Ajah (AH-jah): Societies among the Aes Sedai to which all Aes Sedai except the
1575Amyrlin Seat belong. They are designated by colors: Blue, Red, White,
1576Green, Brown, Yellow, and Gray. Each follows a specific philosophy of the
1577use of the One Power and the purposes of the Aes Sedai. For example, the
1578Red Ajah bends all its energies to finding men who are attempting to wield
1579the Power and to gentling them. The Brown Ajah, on the other hand, forsakes
1580involvement with the mundane world and dedicates itself to seeking
1581knowledge. There are rumors (hotly denied, and never safely mentioned in
1582front of any Aes Sedai) of a Black Ajah, dedicated to serving the Dark One.
1583Alanna Mosvani (ah-LAN-nah mos-VANH-nie): An Aes Sedai of the Green
1584Ajah.
1585alantin (ah-LANH-tin): In the Old Tongue, “Brother;” short for tia avende
1586alantin, “Brother to the Trees;” “Treebrother.”
1587Alar (AYE-lahr): Eldest of the Elders of Stedding Tsofu.
1588Aldieb (ahl-DEEB): In the Old Tongue, “West Wind,” the wind that brings the
1589spring rains.
1590al’Meara, Nynaeve (ahl-MEER-ah, NIGH-neev): A woman from Emond’s
1591Field, in the Two Rivers district of Andor (AN-door).
1592al’Thor, Rand (ahl-THOR, RAND): A young man from Emond’s Field, once a
1593shepherd.
1594al’Vere, Egwene (ahl-VEER, eh-GWAIN): A young woman from Emond’s
1595Field.
1596Amalisa, Lady (ah-mah-LEE-sah): Shienaran of House Jagad; Lord Agelmar’s
1597sister.
1598Amyrlin Seat (AHM-ehr-lin SEAT): (1) The title of the leader of the Aes Sedai.
1599Elected for life by the Hall of the Tower, the highest council of the Aes Sedai,
1600which consists of three representatives (called Sitters) from each of the seven
1601Ajahs. The Amyrlin Seat has, theoretically at least, almost supreme authority
1602among the Aes Sedai, and ranks socially as the equal of a king or queen. A
1603slightly less formal usage is simply the Amyrlin. (2) The throne upon which
1604the leader of the Aes Sedai sits.
1605Anaiya (ah-NYE-yah): An Aes Sedai of the Blue Ajah.
1606angreal (anh-gree-AHL): A very rare object that allows anyone capable of
1607channeling the One Power to handle a greater amount of the Power than
1608would be safely possible unaided. Remnants of the Age of Legends, the
1609means of their making is no longer known. Few remain in existence. See also
1610sa’angreal; ter’angreal.
1611Arad Doman (AH-rahd do-MAHN): A nation on the Aryth Ocean.
1612Arafel (AH-rah-fehl): One of the Borderlands.
1613Avendesora (AH-vehn-deh-SO-rah): In the Old Tongue, “the Tree of Life.”
1614Mentioned in many stories and legends.
1615Aybara, Perrin (ay-BAHR-ah, PEHR-rihn): A young man from Emond’s Field,
1616formerly a blacksmith’s apprentice.
1617Ba’alzamon (bah-AHL-zah-mon): In the Trolloc tongue, “Heart of the Dark.”
1618Believed to be the Trolloc name for the Dark One. See also Dark One;
1619Trollocs.
1620Barthanes, Lord, of House Damodred (bahr-THAN-nehs): Cairhienin lord,
1621second only to the king in power. His personal sign is the Charging Boar. The
1622sign of House Damodred is the Crown and Tree.
1623Bel Tine (BEHL TINE): Spring festival celebrating the end of winter, the first
1624sprouting of crops, and the birth of the first lambs.
1625Betrayer of Hope: See Ishamael.
1626Birgitte (ber-GEET-teh): Golden-haired heroine of legend and a hundred
1627gleemen’s tales, she had a silver bow and silver arrows, with which she never
1628missed.
1629bittern (BIHT-tehrn): A musical instrument that may have six, nine, or twelve
1630strings, and is held flat on the knees and played by plucking or strumming.
1631Blasted Lands: Desolated lands surrounding Shayol Ghul, beyond the Great
1632Blight.
1633Blight, the: See Great Blight, the.
1634Borderlands, the: The nations bordering the Great Blight. Saldaea, Arafel,
1635Kandor, and Shienar.
1636Bornhald, Geofram (BOHRN-hahld, JEHF-rahm): A Lord Captain of the
1637Children of the Light.
1638Breaking of the World, the: During the Time of Madness, male Aes Sedai who
1639had gone insane, and who could wield the One Power to a degree now
1640unknown, changed the face of the earth. They caused great earthquakes,
1641leveled old mountain ranges and raised new mountains, lifted dry land where
1642seas had been and made the ocean rush in where dry land had been. Many
1643parts of the world were completely depopulated, and the survivors were
1644scattered like dust on the wind. This destruction is remembered in stories,
1645legends, and history as the Breaking of the World. See also Time of Madness.
1646Byar, Jaret (BY-ahr, JAH-ret): An officer of the Children of the Light.
1647Caemlyn (KAYM-lihn): The capital city of Andor.
1648Cairhien (KEYE-ree-EHN): Both a nation along the Spine of the World and the
1649capital city of that nation. The city was burned and looted during the Aiel War
1650(976–978 NE). The sign of Cairhien is a many-rayed golden sun rising from
1651the bottom of a field of sky blue.
1652Caralain (KAH-rah-layn): One of the nations wrung from Artur Hawkwing’s
1653empire during the War of the Hundred Years. It weakened thereafter, and the
1654last traces vanished about 500 NE.
1655Cauthon, Mat (CAW-thon, MAT): A young man from the Two Rivers. Full
1656name: Matrim (MAT-rihm) Cauthon.
1657channel: (verb) To control the flow of the One Power. See also One Power.
1658Children of the Light: A society holding strict ascetic beliefs, dedicated to the
1659defeat of the Dark One and the destruction of all Darkfriends. Founded during
1660the War of the Hundred Years by Lothair Mantelar (LOH-thayr MAHN-tee-
1661LAHR) to proselytize against the increasing numbers of Darkfriends, they
1662evolved during the war into a completely military organization, extremely
1663rigid in their beliefs, and completely certain that only they know the truth and
1664the right. They hate Aes Sedai, considering them, and any who support or
1665befriend them, Darkfriends. They are known disparagingly as Whitecloaks.
1666Their sign is a golden sunburst on a field of white.
1667Chronicles, Keeper of the: Second in authority to the Amyrlin Seat among the
1668Aes Sedai, she also acts as secretary to the Amyrlin. Chosen for life by the
1669Hall of the Tower, and usually of the same Ajah as the Amyrlin. See also
1670Amyrlin Seat; Ajah.
1671Corenne (koh-REEN-neh): In the Old Tongue, “Return,” or “the Return.”
1672Covenant of the Ten Nations: A union formed in the centuries after the
1673Breaking of the World when nations were first recreated (circa 300 AB).
1674Dedicated to the defeat of the Dark One. Broken apart by the Trolloc Wars.
1675See also Trolloc Wars.
1676cuendillar (CWAIN-der-yar): Also known as heartstone. See heartstone.
1677Daes Dae’mar (DAH-ess day-MAR): The Great Game, also known as the Game
1678of Houses. Name given the scheming, plots, and manipulations for advantage
1679by the noble Houses. Great value is given to subtlety, to aiming at one thing
1680while seeming to aim at another, and to achieving ends with the least visible
1681effort.
1682Dai Shan (DYE SHAN): A title in the Borderlands meaning Diademed Battle
1683Lord. See also Borderlands.
1684damane (dah-MAHN-ee): In the Old Tongue, “Leashed Ones.” Women who can
1685channel who are held prisoner by a’dam and used by the Seanchan for many
1686purposes, chiefest of these being as weapons in battle. See also Seanchan;
1687a’dam; sul’dam.
1688Damodred, Lord Galadedrid (DAHM-oh-drehd, gah-LAHD-eh-drihd): Half-
1689brother to Elayne and Gawyn. His sign is a winged silver sword, point down.
1690Darkfriends: Those who follow the Dark One and believe they will gain great
1691power and rewards, and even immortality, when he is freed from his prison.
1692Dark One: Most common name, used in every land, for Shai’tan. The source of
1693evil, antithesis of the Creator. Imprisoned by the Creator at the moment of
1694Creation in a prison at Shayol Ghul. An attempt to free him from that prison
1695brought about the War of the Shadow, the tainting of saidin, the Breaking of
1696the World, and the end of the Age of Legends.
1697Dark One, naming the: Saying the true name of the Dark One (Shai’tan) draws
1698his attention, inevitably bringing ill fortune at best, disaster at worst. For that
1699reason, many euphemisms are used, among them the Dark One, Father of
1700Lies, Sightblinder, Lord of the Grave, Shepherd of the Night, Heartsbane,
1701Heartfang, Grassburner, and Leafblighter. Someone who seems to be inviting
1702ill fortune is often said to be “naming the Dark One.”
1703Daughter-Heir: Title of the heir to the throne of Andor. The eldest daughter of
1704the queen succeeds her mother on the throne. Without a surviving daughter,
1705the throne goes to the nearest female blood relation of the queen.
1706Daughter of the Night: See Lanfear.
1707Dome of Truth: Great audience hall of the Children of the Light, located in
1708Amador (AH-mah-door), the capital of Amadicia (AH-mah-DEE-cee-ah).
1709There is a King of Amadicia, but the Children rule in all but name. See also
1710Children of the Light.
1711Do Miere A’vron (DOH me-EHR a-VRAWN): See Watchers Over the Waves.
1712Domon, Bayle (DOH-mon, BAIL): The captain of the Spray, who collects old
1713things.
1714Draghkar (DRAGH-kahr): A creature of the Dark One, made originally by
1715twisting human stock. A Draghkar appears to be a large man with bat-like
1716wings, whose skin is too pale and whose eyes are too large. The Draghkar’s
1717song can draw its prey to it, suppressing the victim’s will. There is a saying:
1718“The kiss of the Draghkar is death.” It does not bite, but its kiss will consume
1719first the soul of its victim, and then its life.
1720Dragon, false: Occasionally men claim to be the Dragon Reborn, and
1721sometimes one of them gains following enough to require an army to put it
1722down. Some have begun wars that involved many nations. Over the centuries
1723most of these have been men unable to channel the One Power, but a few
1724could do so. All, however, either disappeared or were captured or killed
1725without fulfilling any of the Prophecies concerning the Rebirth of the Dragon.
1726These men are called false Dragons. Among those who could channel, the
1727most powerful were Raolin Darksbane (335–36AB), Yurian Stonebow (circa
17281300–1308 AB), Davian (FY 351), Guaire Amalasan (FY 939–43), and
1729Logain (997 NE). See also Dragon Reborn.
1730Dragon, Prophecies of the: Little known and seldom spoken of, the Prophecies,
1731given in The Karaethon Cycle, foretell that the Dark One will be freed again
1732to touch the world. And that Lews Therin Telamon, the Dragon, Breaker of
1733the World, will be reborn to fight Tarmon Gai’don, the Last Battle against the
1734Shadow. See also Dragon, the.
1735Dragon, the: The name by which Lews Therin Telamon was known during the
1736War of the Shadow. In the madness that overtook all male Aes Sedai, Lews
1737Therin killed every living person who carried any of his blood, as well as
1738everyone he loved, thus earning the name Kinslayer. See also Dragon Reborn;
1739Dragon, Prophecies of the.
1740Dragon Reborn: According to prophecy and legend the Dragon will be born
1741again at mankind’s greatest hour of need to save the world. This is not
1742something people look forward to, both because the Prophecies say the
1743Dragon Reborn will bring a new Breaking to the world and because Lews
1744Therin Kinslayer, the Dragon, is a name to make men shudder, even more
1745than three thousand years after his death. See also Dragon, the; Dragon, false;
1746Dragon, Prophecies of the.
1747Dragon’s Fang, the: A stylized mark in the shape of a teardrop balanced on its
1748point. Scrawled on a door or a house, it is an accusation of evil against the
1749people inside, or an attempt to bring the Dark One’s attention, and thus harm,
1750to them.
1751Dreadlords: Those men and women who, able to channel the One Power, went
1752over to the Shadow during the Trolloc Wars, acting as commanders of the
1753Trolloc forces.
1754Elaida (eh-LY-da): An Aes Sedai of the Red Ajah who advises Queen Morgase
1755of Andor. She sometimes has the Foretelling. See also Foretelling.
1756Elayne (ee-LAIN): Queen Morgase’s daughter, the Daughter-Heir to the Throne
1757of Andor. Her sign is a golden lily.
1758Fain, Padan (FAIN, PAHD-ahn): A man imprisoned as a Darkfriend in Fal Dara
1759keep.
1760Far Dareis Mai (FAHR DAH-rize MY): Literally “Maidens of the Spear.” A
1761warrior society of the Aiel, which, unlike any of the others, admits women
1762and only women. A Maiden may not marry and remain in the society, nor may
1763she fight while carrying a child. Any child born to a Maiden is given to
1764another woman to raise, in such a way that no one knows who the child’s
1765mother was. (“You may belong to no man, nor may any man belong to you,
1766nor any child. The spear is your lover, your child, and your life.”) These
1767children are treasured, for it is prophesied that a child born of a Maiden will
1768unite the clans and return the Aiel to the greatness they knew during the Age
1769of Legends. See also Aiel; Aiel warrior societies.
1770Five Powers, the: There are threads to the One Power, and each person who can
1771channel can usually grasp some threads better than others. These threads are
1772named according to the sorts of things that can be done using them—Earth,
1773Air, Fire, Water, and Spirit—and are called the Five Powers. Any wielder of
1774the Power will have a greater degree of strength with one, or possibly two, of
1775these, and lesser strength in the others. Some few may have great strength
1776with three, but since the Age of Legends no one has had great strength with all
1777five. Even then this was extremely rare. The degree of strength can vary
1778greatly between individuals, so that some who can channel are much stronger
1779than others. Performing certain acts with the One Power requires ability in
1780one or more of the Five Powers. For example, starting or controlling a fire
1781requires Fire, and affecting the weather requires Air and Water, while Healing
1782requires Water and Spirit. While Spirit was found equally in men and in
1783women, great ability with Earth and/or Fire was found much more often
1784among men; with Water and/or Air among women. There were exceptions,
1785but it was so often so that Earth and Fire came to be regarded as male Powers,
1786Air and Water as female. Generally, no ability is considered stronger than any
1787other, though there is a saying among Aes Sedai: “There is no rock so strong
1788that water and wind cannot wear it away, no fire so fierce that water cannot
1789quench it or wind snuff it out.” It should be noted this saying came into use
1790long after the last male Aes Sedai was dead. Any equivalent saying among
1791male Aes Sedai is long lost.
1792Flame of Tar Valon: The symbol of Tar Valon, the Amyrlin Seat, and the Aes
1793Sedai. A stylized representation of a flame; a white teardrop with the point
1794upward.
1795Forsaken, the: Name given to thirteen of the most powerful Aes Sedai ever
1796known, who went over to the Dark One during the War of the Shadow in
1797return for the promise of immortality. According to both legend and
1798fragmentary records, they were imprisoned along with the Dark One when his
1799prison was resealed. Their names are still used to frighten children.
1800Gaidin (GYE-deen): Literally, “Brother to Battles.” A title used by Aes Sedai
1801for the Warders. See also Warder.
1802Galad (gah-LAHD): See Damodred, Lord Galadedrid.
1803Galldrian su Riatin Rie (GAHL-dree-ahn soo REYE-ah-tin REE): Literally,
1804Galldrian of House Riatin, King. King of Cairhien. See also Cairhien.
1805Game of Houses, the: See Daes Dae’mar.
1806Gawyn (GAH-wihn): Queen Morgase’s son, and Elayne’s brother. His sign is a
1807white boar.
1808gentling: The act, performed by Aes Sedai, of shutting off a male who can
1809channel from the One Power. This is necessary because any man who learns
1810to channel will go insane from the taint on saidin and will almost certainly do
1811horrible things with the Power in his madness. A man who has been gentled
1812can still sense the True Source, but he cannot touch it. Whatever madness has
1813come before gentling is arrested by the act of gentling, but not cured by it, and
1814if it is done soon enough death can be averted. See also One Power, the;
1815stilling.
1816gleeman: A traveling storyteller, musician, juggler, tumbler, and all-around
1817entertainer. Known by their trademark cloaks of many-colored patches, they
1818perform mainly in the villages and smaller towns.
1819Goaban (GO-ah-banh): One of the nations wrung from Artur Hawkwing’s
1820empire during the War of the Hundred Years. It weakened, and faded away
1821approximately 500 NE. See also Artur Hawkwing; War of the Hundred Years.
1822Great Blight, the: A region in the far north, entirely corrupted by the Dark One.
1823A haunt of Trollocs, Myrddraal, and other creatures of the Shadow.
1824Great Game, the: See Daes Dae’mar.
1825Great Hunt of the Horn, The: A cycle of stories concerning the legendary
1826search for the Horn of Valere, in the years between the end of the Trolloc
1827Wars and the beginning of the War of the Hundred Years. If told in its entirety,
1828the cycle would take many days.
1829Great Lord of the Dark: The name by which Darkfriends refer to the Dark
1830One, claiming that to use his true name would be blasphemous.
1831Great Serpent: A symbol for time and eternity, ancient before the Age of
1832Legends began, consisting of a serpent eating its own tail. A ring in the shape
1833of the Great Serpent is awarded to women who have been raised to the
1834Accepted among the Aes Sedai.
1835Hailene (heye-LEE-neh): In the Old Tongue, “Those Who Come Before,” or
1836“Forerunners.”
1837Halfman: See Myrddraal.
1838Hardan: One of the nations wrung from Artur Hawkwing’s empire, now long
1839forgotten. It lay between Cairhien and Shienar.
1840Hawkwing, Artur: A legendary king (ruled FY 943–994) who united all the
1841lands west of the Spine of the World. He even sent armies across the Aryth
1842Ocean (FY 992), but all contact with these was lost at his death, which set off
1843the War of the Hundred Years. His sign was a golden hawk in flight. See also
1844War of the Hundred Years.
1845heartstone: An indestructible substance created during the Age of Legends. Any
1846force used in an attempt to break it is absorbed, making heartstone stronger.
1847See also cuendillar.
1848hide: A unit of area for measuring land, equal to 100 paces by 100 paces.
1849Horn of Valere (vah-LEER): The legendary object of the Great Hunt of the
1850Horn. The Horn supposedly can call back dead heroes from the grave to fight
1851against the Shadow.
1852Hundred Companions, the: One hundred male Aes Sedai, among the most
1853powerful of the Age of Legends, who, led by Lews Therin Telamon, launched
1854the final stroke that ended the War of the Shadow by sealing the Dark One
1855back into his prison. The Dark One’s counterstroke tainted saidin; the
1856Hundred Companions went mad and began the Breaking of the World. See
1857also Time of Madness; Breaking of the World; True Source; One Power.
1858Hurin (HEW-rhin): A Shienaran who has the ability to smell where violence has
1859been done, and to follow the scent of those who did it. Called a “sniffer,” he
1860serves the King’s justice in Fal Dara, in Shienar.
1861Illian (IHL-lee-ahn): A great port on the Sea of Storms, capital city of the nation
1862of the same name.
1863Ingtar, Lord, of House Shinowa (IHNG-tahr); (shih-NOH-wah): A Shienaran
1864warrior. His sign is the Gray Owl.
1865Ishamael (ih-SHAH-may-EHL): In the Old Tongue, “Betrayer of Hope.” One of
1866the Forsaken. Name given to the leader of the Aes Sedai who went over to the
1867Dark One in the War of the Shadow. It is said that even he forgot his true
1868name. See also Forsaken.
1869Karaethon Cycle, The (ka-REE-ah-thon): See Dragon, Prophecies of the.
1870kith: Close friends and acquaintances.
1871Laman (LAY-mahn): A king of Cairhien, of House Damodred, who lost his
1872throne and life in the Aiel War.
1873Lan; al’Lan Mandragoran (AHL-LAN man-DRAG-or-an): A Warder, bonded
1874to Moiraine. Uncrowned King of Malkier, Dai Shan, and the last surviving
1875Malkieri lord. See also Warder; Moiraine; Malkier; Dai Shan.
1876Lanfear (LAN-fear): In the Old Tongue, “Daughter of the Night.” One of the
1877Forsaken, perhaps the most powerful next to Ishamael. Unlike the other
1878Forsaken, she chose this name herself. She is said to have been in love with
1879Lews Therin Telamon. See also Forsaken; Dragon, the.
1880league: See Length, units of.
1881Leane (lee-AHN-eh): An Aes Sedai of the Blue Ajah, and Keeper of the
1882Chronicles. See also Ajah; Chronicles, Keeper of the.
1883Leashed Ones: See damane.
1884Length, units of: 10 inches = 3 hands = 1 foot; 3 feet = 1 pace; 2 paces = 1
1885span; 1000 spans = 1 mile; 4 miles = 1 league.
1886Lews Therin Telamon; Lews Therin Kinslayer: See Dragon, the.
1887Liandrin (lee-AHN-drihn): An Aes Sedai of the Red Ajah, from Tarabon.
1888Logain (loh-GAYN): A false Dragon, gentled by the Aes Sedai.
1889Loial (LOY-ahl): An Ogier from Stedding Shangtai.
1890Luc; Lord Luc of House Mantear (LUKE; MAN-tee-ahr): Tigraine’s brother.
1891His disappearance in the Great Blight (971 NE) is believed to be connected to
1892Tigraine’s later disappearance. His sign was an acorn.
1893Luthair: See Mondwin, Luthair Paendrag.
1894Malkier (mahl-KEER): A nation, once one of the Borderlands, now consumed
1895by the Blight. The sign of Malkier was a golden crane in flight.
1896Manetheren (mahn-EHTH-ehr-ehn): One of the Ten Nations that made the
1897Second Covenant, and also the capital city of that nation. Both city and nation
1898were utterly destroyed in the Trolloc Wars.
1899marath’damane (MAH-rahth’dah-MAHN-ee): In the Old Tongue, “Those Who
1900Must Be Leashed.” Term used by the Seanchan for women who can channel,
1901but who have not yet been captured and collared. See also damane; a’dam;
1902Seanchan.
1903Masema (mah-SEE-mah): A Shienaran soldier who hates Aiel.
1904mashiara (mah-shee-AH-rah): In the Old Tongue, “beloved,” but meaning a
1905love that is lost beyond redeeming.
1906Merrilin, Thom (MER-rih-lihn, TOM): A gleeman.
1907mile: See Length, units of.
1908Min (MIN): A young woman with the ability to read the auras she sometimes
1909sees surrounding people.
1910Moiraine (mwah-RAIN): An Aes Sedai of the Blue Ajah.
1911Mondwin, Luthair Paendrag (LEW-thair PAY-ehn-DRAG MON-dwihn): Son
1912of Artur Hawkwing, he commanded the armies Hawkwing sent across the
1913Aryth Ocean. His banner was a golden, spread-winged hawk clutching
1914lightning bolts. See also Hawkwing, Artur.
1915Mordeth (MOOR-death): Councilor who turned the city of Aridhol to use
1916Darkfriends’ ways against the Darkfriends, thus bringing its destruction and
1917earning it a new name, Shadar Logoth (“Where the Shadow Waits”). Only one
1918thing survives in Shadar Logoth beside the hate that killed it, and that is
1919Mordeth himself, bound in the ruins for two thousand years, waiting for
1920someone to come whose soul he can consume and so take on new flesh.
1921Morgase (moor-GAYZ): Queen of Andor, High Seat of House Trakand
1922(TRAHK-ahnd).
1923Myrddraal (MUHRD-draal): Creatures of the Dark One, commanders of the
1924Trollocs. Twisted offspring of Trollocs in which the human stock used to
1925create the Trollocs has resurfaced, but tainted by the evil that made the
1926Trollocs. Physically they are like men except they have no eyes, but can see
1927like eagles in light or dark. They have certain powers stemming from the Dark
1928One, including the ability to cause paralyzing fear with a look and the ability
1929to vanish wherever there are shadows. One of their few known weaknesses is
1930that they are reluctant to cross running water. In different lands they are
1931known by many names, among them Halfmen, the Eyeless, Shadowmen,
1932Lurks, and Fades.
1933Niall, Pedron (NEYE-awl, PAY-drohn): Lord Captain Commander of the
1934Children of the Light. See also Children of the Light.
1935Nisura, Lady (nih-SOO-rah): A Shienaran noblewoman, and one of the Lady
1936Amalisa’s attendants.
1937One Power, the: The power drawn from the True Source. The vast majority of
1938people are completely unable to learn to channel the One Power. A very small
1939number can be taught to channel, and an even tinier number have the ability
1940inborn. For these few there is no need to be taught; they will touch the True
1941Source and channel the Power whether they want to or not, perhaps without
1942even realizing what they are doing. This inborn ability usually manifests itself
1943in late adolescence or early adulthood. If control is not taught, or self-learned
1944(extremely difficult, with a success rate of only one in four), death is certain.
1945Since the Time of Madness, no man has been able to channel the Power
1946without eventually going completely, horribly mad, and then, even if he has
1947learned some control, dying from a wasting sickness that causes the sufferer
1948to rot alive, a sickness caused, as is the madness, by the Dark One’s taint on
1949saidin. For a woman the death that comes without control of the Power is less
1950horrible, but it is death just the same. Aes Sedai search for girls with the
1951inborn ability as much to save their lives as to increase Aes Sedai numbers,
1952and for men with it in order to stop the terrible things they inevitably do with
1953the Power in their madness. See also channel; Time of Madness; True Source.
1954Pattern of an Age: The Wheel of Time weaves the threads of human lives into
1955the Pattern of an Age, often called simply the Pattern, which forms the
1956substance of reality for that Age. See also ta’veren.
1957Powers, the Five: See Five Powers.
1958Questioners, the: An order within the Children of the Light. Their avowed
1959purposes are to discover the truth in disputations and to uncover Darkfriends.
1960In the search for truth and the Light, their normal method of inquiry is by
1961torture; their normal attitude that they know the truth already and must only
1962make their victim confess to it. The Questioners refer to themselves as the
1963Hand of the Light, the Hand that digs out truth, and at times act as if they
1964were entirely separate from the Children and the Council of the Anointed,
1965which commands the Children. The head of the Questioners is the High
1966Inquisitor, who sits on the Council of the Anointed. Their sign is a blood-red
1967shepherd’s crook.
1968Ragan (rah-GAHN): A Shienaran warrior.
1969Red Shields: See Aiel warrior societies.
1970Renna (REEN-nah): A Seanchan woman; a sul’dam. See also Seanchan;
1971sul’dam.
1972Rhyagelle (rheye-ah-GEHL): In the Old Tongue, “Those Who Come Home,” or
1973“Homecomers.”
1974sa’angreal (SAH-ahn-GREE-ahl): Any one of a number of objects that allow an
1975individual to channel much more of the One Power than would otherwise be
1976possible or safe. A sa’angreal is like unto, but much more powerful than, an
1977angreal. The amount of the Power that can be wielded with a sa’angreal
1978compares to the amount of the Power that can be handled with an angreal as
1979the Power wielded with the aid of an angreal does to the amount of the Power
1980that can be handled unaided. Remnants of the Age of Legends, the means of
1981making sa’angreal is no longer known. Only a handful remain, far fewer even
1982than angreal.
1983saidar (sah-ih-DAHR): saidin (sah-ih-DEEN): See True Source.
1984Saldaea (sahl-DAY-ee-ah): One of the Borderlands.
1985Sanche, Siuan (SAHN-chay, swahn): An Aes Sedai formerly of the Blue Ajah.
1986Raised to the Amyrlin Seat 988 NE. The Amyrlin Seat is of all Ajahs, and of
1987none.
1988Sea Folk: More properly, the Atha’an Miere (a-tha-AHN mee-AIR), the People
1989of the Sea. Inhabitants of islands in the Aryth (AH-rihth) Ocean and the Sea
1990of Storms, they spend little time on those islands, living most of their lives on
1991their ships. Most seaborne trade is carried by the Sea Folk’s ships.
1992Seanchan (SHAWN-CHAN): (1) Descendants of the armies Artur Hawkwing
1993sent across the Aryth Ocean, who have returned to reclaim the lands of their
1994forefathers. (2) The land from which the Seanchan come. See also Hailene;
1995Corenne; Rhyagelle.
1996Seandar (shawn-DAHR): Capital city of Seanchan, where the Empress sits on
1997the Crystal Throne in the Court of the Nine Moons.
1998Selene (seh-LEEN): A woman met on the journey to Cairhien.
1999Seta (SEE-tah): A Seanchan woman; a sul’dam. See also Seanchan; sul’dam.
2000Shadar Logoth (SHAH-dahr LOH-goth): A city abandoned and shunned since
2001the Trolloc Wars. It is tainted ground, and not a pebble of it is safe. See also
2002Mordeth.
2003Shai’tan (SHAY-ih-TAN): See Dark One.
2004Shayol Ghul (SHAY-ol GHOOL): A mountain in the Blasted Lands, the site of
2005the Dark One’s prison.
2006Sheriam (SHEER-ee-ahm): An Aes Sedai of the Blue Ajah. The Mistress of
2007Novices in the White Tower.
2008Shienar (shy-NAHR): One of the Borderlands. The sign of Shienar is a stooping
2009black hawk.
2010shoufa (SHOO-fah): A garment of the Aiel, a cloth, usually the color of sand or
2011rock, that wraps around the head and neck, leaving only the face bare.
2012span: See Length, units of.
2013Spine of the World, the: A towering mountain range, with only a few passes,
2014which separates the Aiel Waste from the lands to the west.
2015stedding (STEHD-ding): An Ogier (OH-geer) homeland. Many stedding have
2016been abandoned since the Breaking of the World. They are shielded in some
2017way, no longer understood, so that within them no Aes Sedai can channel the
2018One Power, nor even sense that the True Source exists. Attempts to wield the
2019One Power from outside a stedding have no effect inside a stedding boundary.
2020No Trolloc will enter a stedding unless driven, and even a Myrddraal will do
2021so only at the greatest need and then with the greatest reluctance and distaste.
2022Even Darkfriends, if truly dedicated, feel uncomfortable within a stedding.
2023stilling: the act, performed by Aes Sedai, of shutting off a woman who can
2024channel from the One Power. A woman who has been stilled can sense the
2025True Source, but she cannot touch it. See also One Power, the; gentling.
2026Stone Dogs: See Aiel warrior societies.
2027sul’dam (SUHL-DAHM): A woman who has passed the tests to show that she
2028can wear the bracelet of an a’dam and thus control a damane. See also a’dam;
2029damane.
2030Sunday: A feastday and festival in midsummer, celebrated in many parts of the
2031world.
2032sung wood: See Treesinger.
2033Suroth, High Lady (SUE-roth): A Seanchan noblewoman of high degree.
2034Tai’shar (TIE-SHAHR): In the Old Tongue, “True blood of.”
2035ta’maral’ailen (tah-MAHR-ahl-EYE-lehn): In the Old Tongue, “Web of
2036Destiny.” A great change in the Pattern of an Age, centered around one or
2037more people who are ta’veren. See also Pattern of an Age; ta’veren.
2038Tanreall, Artur Paendrag (tahn-REE-ahl, AHR-tuhr PAY-ehn-DRAG): See
2039Hawkwing, Artur.
2040Tarmon Gai’don (TAHR-mohn GAY-dohn): The Last Battle. See also Dragon,
2041Prophecies of the; Horn of Valere.
2042Tar Valon (TAHR VAH-lon): A city on an island in the River Erinin. The center
2043of Aes Sedai power, and location of the White Tower.
2044ta’veren (tah-VEER-ehn): A person around whom the Wheel of Time weaves all
2045surrounding life-threads, perhaps all life-threads, to form a Web of Destiny.
2046See also Pattern of an Age.
2047Tear (TEER): A great seaport on the Sea of Storms.
2048Telamon, Lews Therin (TEHL-ah-mon, LOOZ THEH-rihn): See Dragon, the.
2049ter’angreal (TEER-ahn-GREE-ahl): Any one of a number of remnants of the
2050Age of Legends that use the One Power. Unlike angreal and sa’angreal, each
2051ter’angreal was made to do a particular thing. For example, one makes oaths
2052taken within it binding. Some are used by Aes Sedai, but their original
2053purposes are largely unknown. Some will kill or destroy the ability to channel
2054of any woman who uses them. See also angreal; sa’angreal.
2055tia avende alantin (TEE-ah ah-VEN-day ah-LANH-tin): “Brother to the Trees.”
2056Tia mi aven Moridin isainde vadin: In the Old Tongue, “The grave is no bar to
2057my call.” Inscription on the Horn of Valere. See also Horn of Valere.
2058Tigraine (tee-GRAIN): As Daughter-Heir of Andor, she married Taringail
2059Damodred and bore his son Galadedrid. Her disappearance in 972 NE, shortly
2060after her brother Luc vanished in the Blight, led to the struggle in Andor
2061called the Succession, and caused the events in Cairhien that eventually
2062brought on the Aiel War. Her sign was a woman’s hand gripping a thorny rose
2063stem with a white blossom.
2064Time of Madness: The years after the Dark One’s counterstroke tainted the
2065male half of the True Source, when male Aes Sedai went mad and Broke the
2066World. The exact duration of this period is unknown, but it is believed to have
2067lasted nearly one hundred years. It ended completely only with the death of
2068the last male Aes Sedai. See also Hundred Companions; True Source; One
2069Power; Breaking of the World.
2070Tinkers: See Tuatha’an.
2071Traveling People: See Tuatha’an.
2072Tree, the: See Avendesora.
2073Treekillers: An Aiel name for the Cairhienin, always said in tones of horror and
2074disgust.
2075Treesinger: An Ogier who has the ability to sing to trees (called “treesong”),
2076either healing them, or helping them to grow and flower, or making things
2077from the wood without damaging the tree. Objects made in this manner are
2078called “sung wood” and are highly prized. Few Ogier remain who are
2079Treesingers; the Talent seems to be dying out.
2080treesong: See Treesinger.
2081Trollocs (TRAHL-lohks): Creatures of the Dark One, created during the War of
2082the Shadow. Huge in stature, they are a twisted blend of animal and human
2083stock. Vicious by nature, they kill for the pure pleasure of killing. Deceitful in
2084the extreme, they cannot be trusted unless coerced by fear. They are divided
2085into tribe-like bands, among them the Dha’vol, the Ko’bal, and the Dhai’mon.
2086Trolloc Wars: A series of wars, beginning about 1000 AB and lasting more than
2087three hundred years, during which Trolloc armies ravaged the world.
2088Eventually the Trollocs were slain or driven back into the Great Blight, but
2089some nations ceased to exist, while others were almost depopulated. All
2090records of the time are fragmentary. See also Covenant of the Ten Nations.
2091True Source: The driving force of the universe, which turns the Wheel of Time.
2092It is divided into a male half (saidin) and a female half (saidar), which work
2093at the same time with and against each other. Only a man can draw on saidin,
2094only a woman on saidar. Since the beginning of the Time of Madness, saidin
2095has been tainted by the Dark One’s touch. See also One Power.
2096Tuatha’an (too-AH-thah-AHN): A wandering folk, also known as the Tinkers
2097and as the Traveling People, who live in brightly painted wagons and follow a
2098totally pacifist philosophy called the Way of the Leaf. Things mended by
2099Tinkers are often better than new. They are among the few who can cross the
2100Aiel Waste unmolested, for the Aiel strictly avoid all contact with them.
2101Turak, High Lord of House Aladon (TOO-rak; AL-ah-dohn): A Seanchan of
2102high degree, commander of the Hailene. See also Seanchan; Hailene.
2103Verin (VEHR-ihn): An Aes Sedai of the Brown Ajah.
2104Warder: A warrior bonded to an Aes Sedai. The bonding is a thing of the One
2105Power, and by it he gains such gifts as quick healing, the ability to go long
2106periods without food, water, or rest, and the ability to sense the taint of the
2107Dark One at a distance. So long as a Warder lives, the Aes Sedai to whom he
2108is bonded knows he is alive however far away he is, and when he dies she will
2109know the moment and manner of his death. While most Ajahs believe an Aes
2110Sedai may have one Warder bonded to her at a time, the Red Ajah refuses to
2111bond any Warders at all, while the Green Ajah believe an Aes Sedai may bond
2112as many Warders as she wishes. Ethically the Warder must accede to the
2113bonding; but it has been known to be done involuntarily. What the Aes Sedai
2114gain from the bonding is a closely held secret. See also Aes Sedai.
2115War of Power: See War of the Shadow.
2116War of the Hundred Years: A series of overlapping wars among constantly
2117shifting alliances, precipitated by the death of Artur Hawkwing and the
2118resulting struggle for his empire. It lasted from FY 994 to FY 1117. The war
2119depopulated large parts of the lands between the Aryth Ocean and the Aiel
2120Waste, from the Sea of Storms to the Great Blight. So great was the
2121destruction that only fragmentary records of the time remain. The empire of
2122Artur Hawkwing was pulled apart in the wars, and the nations of the present
2123day were formed. See also Hawkwing, Artur.
2124War of the Shadow: Also known as the War of Power, it ended the Age of
2125Legends. It began shortly after the attempt to free the Dark One, and soon
2126involved the whole world. In a world where even the memory of war had been
2127forgotten, every facet of war was rediscovered, often twisted by the Dark
2128One’s touch on the world, and the One Power was used as a weapon. The war
2129was ended by the resealing of the Dark One into his prison. See also Hundred
2130Companions, the; Dragon, the.
2131Watchers Over the Waves: A group who believe that the armies Artur
2132Hawkwing sent across the Aryth Ocean will one day return, and so keep
2133watch from the town of Falme (FAHL-may) on Toman Head.
2134Web of Destiny: See ta’maral’ailen.
2135Weight, units of: 10 ounces = 1 pound; 10 pounds = 1 stone; 10 stone = 1
2136hundredweight; 10 hundredweight = 1 ton.
2137Wheel of Time, the: Time is a wheel with seven spokes, each spoke an Age. As
2138the Wheel turns, the Ages come and go, each leaving memories that fade to
2139legend, then to myth, and are forgotten by the time that Age comes again. The
2140Pattern of an Age is slightly different each time an Age comes, and each time
2141it is subject to greater change, but each time it is the same Age.
2142Whitecloaks: See Children of the Light.
2143White Tower: The palace of the Amyrlin Seat in Tar Valon, and the place where
2144Aes Sedai are trained.
2145Wisdom: In villages, a woman chosen by the Women’s Circle for her knowledge
2146of such things as healing, and foretelling the weather, as well as for common
2147good sense. A position of great responsibility and authority, both actual and
2148implied. She is generally considered the equal of the mayor, just as the
2149Women’s Circle is the equal of the Village Council. Unlike the mayor, the
2150Wisdom is chosen for life, and it is very rare for a Wisdom to be removed
2151from office before her death. Depending on the land, she may instead have
2152another title, such as Guide, Healer, Wise Woman, or Reader.
2153About the Author
2154Robert Jordan was born in 1948 in Charleston, South Carolina. He taught
2155himself to read when he was four with the incidental aid of a twelve-years-older
2156brother, and was tackling Mark Twain and Jules Verne by five. He was a
2157graduate of The Citadel, The Military College of South Carolina, with a degree
2158in physics. He served two tours in Vietnam with the U.S. Army; among his
2159decorations are the Distinguished Flying Cross with bronze oak leaf cluster, the
2160Bronze Star with “V” and bronze oak leaf cluster, and two Viet nam ese
2161Gallantry Crosses with Palm. A history buff, he also wrote dance and theater
2162criticism. He enjoyed the outdoor sports of hunting, fishing, and sailing, and the
2163indoor sports of poker, chess, pool, and pipe collecting. He began writing in
21641977 and continued until his death on September 16, 2007.
2165Table of Contents
2166Title Page
2167Copyright Page
2168Table of Contents
2169PROLOGUE: In the Shadow
21701 The Flame of Tar Valon
21712 The Welcome
21723 Friends and Enemies
21734 Summoned
21745 The Shadow in Shienar
21756 Dark Prophecy
21767 Blood Calls Blood
21778 The Dragon Reborn
21789 Leavetakings
217910 The Hunt Begins
218011 Glimmers of the Pattern
218112 Woven in the Pattern
218213 From Stone to Stone
218314 Wolfbrother
218415 Kinslayer
218516 In the Mirror of Darkness
218617 Choices
218718 To the White Tower
218819 Beneath the Dagger
218920 Saidin
219021 The Nine Rings
219122 Watchers
219223 The Testing
219324 New Friends and Old Enemies
219425 Cairhien
219526 Discord
219627 The Shadow in the Night.
219728 A New Thread in the Pattern.
219829 Seanchan
219930 Daes Dae’mar
220031 On the Scent
220132 Dangerous Words
220233 A Message from the Dark
220334 The Wheel Weaves
220435 Stedding Tsofu
220536 Among the Elders
220637 What Might Be
220738 Practice
220839 Flight from the White Tower
220940 Damane
221041 Disagreements
221142 Falme
221243 A Plan
221344 Five Will Ride Forth
221445 Blademaster
221546 To Come Out of the Shadow
221647 The Grave Is No Bar to My Call
221748 First Claiming
221849 What Was Meant to Be