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Logain walked slowly through the grounds of the Black Tower. It was only half finished, but already its height could compete with the White Tower. It was a massive tower, dominated by all black stone. Even as Logain watched, Asha'man lifted more blocks with the power and fused them together into the structure. The two carved posts that were the gates were shaped like dragons, massive and tall in the morning. He looked around at the bustle of activity, and was surprised to see so many full Asha'man.
When a male channeller first came to the Tower, he was trained harshly and held the designation of Soldier. If he survived and did well, he was given a sword pin on his collar and named a Dedicated. After several missions outside as a Dedicated, and after distinguishing themselves in the field, channellers would be given the dragon pin and named an Asha'man. There were several exceptions, such as Logain and Mazrim Taim, the M'Hael, who had learned how the channel well enough by themselves. They were made Asha'man immediately.
Logain thought again about his mission. It wasn't given to him by anyone, specifically, like the Dragon Reborn, but he still took it seriously. More seriously than he would an assigned mission, in fact. He had given the mission to himself, and he believed he was the only one who could succeed in completing it. He had to find the corruption and treachery in the Black Tower, the infestation which was eating the Asha'man from the inside out. Already, the assassination attempt on the Dragon Reborn was serious, but if Logain's suspicions were correct, it was even worse than that.
He believed that the treachery went up as high as the M'Hael himself, Mazrim Taim. The man was a dark and unsavory person, and it could clearly be seen that he had no love for the Dragon Reborn. He was a sick man, and a jealous one. He needed to be contained. It was obvious he was the source of all the problems within the Black Tower. His two most trusted men, the Storm Leader and the Battle Leader, had been the traitors who had made the attempt on Rand's life. It was impossible he could have known nothing. Further more, a message Logain had received from Rand suggested that the traitors had mentioned Taim.
Logain entered the Black Tower without being stopped by the guards, who apparently knew who he was. He wasn't taken aback by this, since it was probably Taim's doing. He walked down a long corridor, and began to ascend the stairs at its end. He could have just traveled to Taim's chambers, which would have been easier. However, Logain wanted Taim to be surprised. Taim would be expecting him to come out of the small area ringed off especially for traveling channellers. If Logain walked through the doors, it would give Logain an advantage.
Perhaps I'm insane. Maybe Taim isn't a traitor, and I don't need to do this. But Logain couldn't believe that thought, nor could he disregard all the evidence. He had to investigate the Black Tower's leader, and he didn't have that much time.
Logain walked into Taim's office at the set time, and found the M'Hael alone. Mazrim Taim was every inch the Saldaean, with the distinctive hooked nose that marked him as such. His eyes bored into Logain's, but Logain matched him with a glare of his own. The sheer mass of their personalities made it impossible for them to get along, and they had almost no opinions in common. They always disagreed on how to go about doing things, and unofficially the Asha'man were two factions; one for Taim and one for Logain. Logain's faction was smaller at the moment, but it was picking up members faster. It was generally held that Logain's faction was the more loyal faction.
" Welcome to the Black Tower. More impressive than your little town, I'm sure." Taim's greeting was cold and mocking. His sharp barb against Logain's base was ignored. He was confident about his base, and he didn't believe Taim could hone a sharp enough insult to truly hurt him.
" Hi. So this is it?" Taim's face darkened considerably, and he scowled. Logain couldn't resist returning a barb to Taim, who was too confident in himself. His Power ability was no greater than Logain's, certainly, but he acted as if he could defeat the Dragon Reborn.
" Remember how long it took the White Tower to be established. I've had a year, and I believe I've made good work of it."
" I believe I've made good work of my time, too, and I've had less than you." Taim walked around the desk and straight toward Logain. Though he was a smaller man, his presence wasn't diminished by Logain. It was one of the things that made him unliked by Logain. It was one of many things.
" I will be blunt. I want to know what you are doing here." Taim glanced evenly at Logain, and Logain decided to answer honestly.
" I will also be blunt. I am searching for further treachery in the Tower. If so many Asha'man can desert, there is no reason more won't." Taim nodded, but said something else.
" Fine, but know this: I'm doing a good enough job of weeding out traitors. Or haven't you seen the tree outside?" Logain had seen the tree, and the brutality had disgusted him. It was a crude way to keep the soldiers in line. He himself would have tried to inspire the troops and earn their loyalty instead of making them fear him.
" You're tree is very nice and good, but treachery can be in everybody. Even you." He had said it now, issued his challenge. He wanted desperately to see how Taim responded to the studed insult, and if Taim had the grace to let it slip. Logain didn't think he did.
" You, too." Taim replied. The room was as cold as Taim's tone.
***
Demandred was satisfied. He didn't smile, though. His face remained cold and dispassionate. He thought quietly about his plans, and about their near completion. Events in both Towers were coming into a boil, and the explosion would be good. Whether the Black or White would fall first was an academic question, and insignificant. With Logain's arrival at the Black Tower, the seeds for conflict with Taim had been sewn. With Mesaana's work in the White Tower, the army sieging them, and the problem of the Dragon Reborn, the Aes Sedai would have problems for many years to come.
Chaos would be the ruler of this stage of the conflict, and in that area Demandred and the other Chosen were masters. The most obvious example of the spreading of chaos was Graendal's work in Arad Doman. The area was in such upheaval that hardly any news got out. Tarabon would be as bad, if the Seanchan had not taken it, but that didn't matter. No news came out of that country either. In fact, the only person who could spread chaos better than the Chosen was the Dragon.
Lews Therin's reborn counterpart had spread more chaos and problems than any of the Chosen, or all of them combined. It only served to remind Demandred that Lews Therin was closer to the Shadow than he thought. He was always the Light's greatest champion, yet his methods, problems, and results sometimes seemed like he was the most loyal servant of the Great Lord of the Dark. The Taint was a perfect example of Lews Therin's noble purposes deflected and twisted, and he was responsible for them.
The Taint had caused the worst upheaval ever, wiping out half of the Aes Sedai of the Age of Legends and breaking the world while they were at it. It was the main reason that the people of this age were still savages. The damage caused by the Breaking was so tremendous that three thousand years later the people were still crude.
The more Demandred thought of Lews Therin, the angrier he got. Lews Therin was a despicable person, and to no one more than Demandred himself. Sammael may have hated Lews Therin, but his hate was a sad thing compared to Demandred's. Sammael's death had been unsuspected, and in Demandred's mind it was suspect. He didn't believe that Sammael would have been so easily destroyed. In tactics, he might have been Demandred's near-equal, and the same with strength in the Power. Demandred certainly would never have lost to Lews Therin's ignorant counterpart.
Another suspicious thing was Moridin's reaction to Sammael's death. Or rather, Ishamael's. It was no secret that Moridin was Ishamael reborn, though why the Great Lord had given a failure the position of Nae'blis was an interesting paradox. Moridin had only smiled and said, " Of course," when the news of Sammael's death had been brought to him by his pet Moghedian.
If there was one thing Moghedian was good for, and reliable for, was getting information. She ran the Shadow's network of Darkfriends and spies, and she always got reliable information. Why Moridin had seemed smug and knowing at the time of Sammael's supposed death was a mystery. Demandred didn't like mysteries. Anything he didn't know had the potential to sneak up behind him and defeat him, and he had always been good at watching his back.
A gateway opened into his room, and he had to stop himself from jumping. He couldn't see the weaves that were forming the gateway, but he could feel the goosebumps on his arms. Mesaana stepped through. She had a lecturer's face on today, it was one she often wore. Before turning to the Shadow, Mesaana had been an unremarkable teacher. Her anger over her rejection to the prestigious research group had been significant and the eventual factor to her betrayal of the Light.
" Mesaana. Sit down." Demandred motioned with his hand.
" I don't need your permission," she snapped. She was still testing the limits of their new alliance, even as Demandred drew the strings tighter around her. It was a fine web he was weaving, but he could match Be'lal's skill in manipulation.
" No, of course not. How do things go in the White Tower? Your little pet Keeper hasn't done something stupid again, has she?" Demandred laughed at his question. Mesaana's intermediary to the leader of the so-called Aes Sedai was her second-in-command. The woman's name was Alviarin, and while she was a loyal Darkfriend, she was still incompetent.
" She is doing as she is told and advancing my cause appropriately."
" You mean our cause, don't you?" Demandred had to make the correction, as he was a perfectionist.
" I see no need to correct the statement." Demandred scowled, but nodded. He explained his plan very carefully to Mesaana, and at the end she was nodding. A light shone in her eyes, and Demandred knew then that he had her.
***
Moridin smiled as he watched Demandred and Mesaana's conversation. He was smiling constantly throughout the conversation, and wondering if Demandred was truly as big a fool as he seemed. Mesaana was clearly eating up his plan, but the thing was that the plan might not fail. Demandred seemed sure that his plan would be the end of Mesaana, but in working on it he had created a good plan.
Demandred had always been a gambler, foolish and reckless, but because of that he had often been defeated by Lews Therin's armies. Sammael was cautious but frenetic, and Be'lal was meticulous and careful. Both had lost much fewer troops that Demandred in their campaigns. In fact, during large offensives, Lews Therin's armies had always attacked Demandred and turned his blows. Demandred usually overextended his armies in lightning attacks, pulling them far away from supplies. When Lews Therin was done with Demandred, Sammael had probably stopped to dig in and Be'lal might have withdrawn altogether.
Sammael and Lews Therin had always fought the most even battles because they fought with the same style. No one ever lost too many troops in their battles, as commands whirled around and attacked and counter-attacked. They usually withdrew and struck so fast that no true damage was done in their battles. The only thing that happened was that Sammael's army usually retreated, or Lews Therin did. Their casualties never went above fifteen percent on the Shadow's side, and Moridin was sure it was lower on the side of the Light. Moridin laughed as he opened a gateway with the True Power.
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