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So they are after me, Marwyn thought. Five warriors were more than he could handle with the sword, but he was certain he could thin that number before they closed the gap. The problem lay with damane and the "flyer". If that "to'raken' and it's rider escaped it could bring back larger parties. Marwyn was not so far from Ebou Dar, for it to take more than a few hours. Especially with those flying beasts to carry them. The to'raken could not be allowed to escape. And the damane were a greater threat. Just as those five warriors were no match for Marwyn if he used the One Power, Marwyn was ill equipped to face damane without it. At least he was holding saidan. It was harder to shield someone who already held the Source. But there were two damane and they might be able to link — Marwyn had heard women could do that, link their use of the power together—and over power him. They knew he was Asha'man, so those damane had to be strong. Stronger than many Aes Sedai he had met. Wilder's were always stronger, and Marwyn had already figured that most damane had to be wilders. Wilder was a term he had picked up at the White Tower. It was what Aes Sedai called women who were born with the ability to channel, women who did not need to be taught, as Marwyn had been. They would channel no matter what. Wilders were almost always stronger than others; just men were almost always stronger than women. Marwyn was strong in the power, but not greatly so, just a bit stronger than most. One of those women down there might be able to match him, or come close, both together...
All of that reasoning took place outside the Void. Within, Marwyn was already prepared to act. An arrow was already nocked. First the to'raken, then the sul'dam. If there was time he would pick off a soldier or two, then fall back into the trees. He could get at least two more good shots off before they were too close for the bow. Then he would hurry back to a small clearing near the center of hilltop. He knew the place well enough and they did not. With the odds still against him it was best if he choose the ground. It was too bad he would have to kill the sul'dam, they were women, and the tall one had nice eyes. He was sure they were green.
He focused on the patrol. They were grouped too tightly together. Easy targets. Wonder at why they had not spread out floated beyond the Void. Fear, Marwyn supposed. He could understand that. Who in their right mind would want to be near a man who could channel? A man who was doomed to rot while still living, if he did not go mad and kill himself, and everyone near him, first.
Marwyn was not one to question fortune; he rose to one knee and drew the fletching to his ear. He released the first arrow, and drew a second. Before the first had traveled the full distance, the second flew. The Beast gave half a scream before it fell, Marwyn's arrow shaft in its eye. The next took the sul'dam in the shoulder as she turned toward the scream, that turn saving her life. Marwyn had aimed for the heart. The third missed.
Just as Marwyn drew the third shaft back he felt saidin channeled, less than a hundred paces away, his eyes turned toward the source just as he released, spoiling his aim. Who in the Pit of Doom would...?
A vertical slash of golden light formed before Marwyn's eyes. The line stood in the open with only a few small leafless shrubs, on the hill slope. Branches fell, as the light seemed to rotate through them widening into a square hole in midair. At least it should have been square. The edges and corners seemed to ripple and bend. More branches dropped as the edge of the hole rippled through the shrubs. The man who stepped through the hole paid it no mind. It was at least eight feet high and just as wide, so the wildly twisting edges presented no danger to the man, but Marwyn knew that fellow. Radrahm Nakima was at his best inattentive. Likely he had not noticed the wild pulsing of saidin. The way the very air seemed to shudder when it was used. Nakima let go of the Gateway, but it stood open for a moment, trembling, as if it planned to remain there without anyone to maintain the weave. Then it snapped shut, vanishing in a flash of greenish light.
Marwyn had never seen a Gateway close that way before, and distantly he suspected that they were all very lucky. Something far, far worse might have happened. Still, if an Asha'man appearing out of nowhere had not caught the Seanchan's attention, the last flash had. They were already shouting and pointing at Radrahm, who was looking back at them as if he wasn't quite sure what they were.
Biting off an oath, Marwyn channeled. Suddenly the torrent of saidin that had been raging through him seemed to vibrate and sway. He could see the flows of Spirit and Air he was trying to weave, bending back toward him and looping into improbable designs in the air. He focused on them, forcing the flow the barrier he wanted. The mind numbing vibrations rolling off of the Source only served to amplify the foul taste of the Taint. His stomach twisted and tried to empty itself again, and Marwyn rode through the chaos.
Somehow, in all that madness, Marwyn managed to erect the barrier around Radrahm before the damane attack reached the man. Four balls of blue-white flame flew directly for the newcomer; three of them actually hit the shield. The fourth spun wildly in mid air before grounding out in a fountain of fire and earth ten paces short of its target.
The Seanchan pressed the attack. Lightnings flashed toward the man and tiny fireballs seemed to spring up around him like a swarm of angry bees. Radrahm was almost useless in combat; one of the primary reasons he had never achieved the rank of full Asha'man. He did have talent, however, and strength. He was constantly inventing some new use for a weave. This time the man wove Spirit, Fire and Water into a complex web, which he snapped. The tiny fireballs exploded into a harmless multicolored shower of sparks like an Illuminator's display.
Marwyn let his shield drop, quickly weaving Fire, Air and Water. Even as Radrahm's web turned the lightning aside, Marwyn's own lightnings fell amongst the Seanchan. As the dust settled he could see three of Seanchan soldiers down, two would never rise. It wasn't the first time he'd killed. It wouldn't be the last. Inside the Void, Marwyn cared as much for the dead as he did the Queen of Saldaea, which was to say not at all. He wrapped himself in that cold emptiness, with only the raging heat of saidin to warm his soul. Better that than thought of those wives who would never see a husband, or children he'd just made orphans.
Suddenly the earth rippled in waves, rolling toward Radrahm. Marwyn lost his footing, dropping heavily against a leather leaf. He heard the other Asha'man give a harsh cry and when he looked for the man saw only rows of overturned soil. He pulled in as much saidin as he could and launched two weaves, one of pure Earth, the other of Fire. The ground erupted, twenty paces from him. Rock and earth shot skyward with force, followed by a blast of flame, both in a broad arc. Without pause a second eruption followed the first, further out, and yet another, further still, a deadly arc of stone and flame marching swiftly toward the Seanchan. The Rolling Ring of Earth and Fire it was called. It was an attack taught to all Asha'man strong enough to use it, but it had been designed for large groups, working together to produce a ring. Marwyn was alone, but the tactic was enough to hide his dash from cover toward where his comrade had fallen.
The other man lay staring at the sky, eyes glazed and unfocused. As Marwyn leaned over him those eyes shifted toward him. "The sky is a pretty shade of blue tonight Mairesa," he whispered. "Very pretty." Those eyes never focused on Marwyn. Radrahm's black coat was darker on the right side, and wet.
Marwyn glanced over his shoulder toward the damane, and would have been gaping like a village idiot if not for the Void. Not only had they not been harmed or moved by the ring, but the ground around them was completely untouched. One of those damane was far stronger with Earth than was normal for a woman. He hooked an arm under Radrahm's shoulder, thanking the Light that the man was as absent minded about food as he was everything else. The air before him rippled as though heated and suddenly a Gateway rotated open. Again it was unlike any Gateway Marwyn had channeled before. The fact that he had opened this one provided no comfort. Channeling in this place could easily kill a man. Even as he threw himself through the Gateway the world turned white, and he felt more than heard a thunderous roar. Suddenly he was off his feet, unable to see to know where the ground was or when he was going to meet it. He focused on the Gateway instead. He had to hold that. Better than risking losing saidin and letting the thing unravel itself. There was a sharp pain in his right arm, dulled somewhat by the Void, and he was rolling along damp grass. He could see again, somewhat. It was like seeing the world through a gray-green fog. The Gateway was an indistinct form to his right. He raised his arm, in spite of the pain, and a bar of liquid light sprung from his fingertip, lancing though the gateway even as it began to close. Suddenly the world seemed to turn upside down and darkness took him.
***
Raynelle looked around at the devastation around the remaining Seanchan with a detached eye. Logically, she should have expected as much, but it was surprising still. And as much as she did not want to admit it, it was frightening. There was no logic in denial, and now more than ever she needed her logic. Raynelle Daiharan Aes Sedai of the White Ajah had survived because of her logic. She still thought of herself as Aes Sedai, as Raynelle Sedai, despite the fact that she'd been long ago denied her true name. The collar around her neck felt like a stone of lead. Part of her wanted to scream and howl and crawl under the nearest rock. To remain under that rock until her mother told her it was safe to come out. She accepted that part of her, embraced it as if it were the True Source, and in doing so mastered it. Outwardly she was calm, although she was certain the green eyed sul'dam she was linked with knew the truth of her feelings. Playing the good damane, Raynelle kept her eyes down, as meek as novice in the Amyrlin Seat. She was certain the sul'dam, knew that for an act as well, but she would not be broken!
Sooner or later she knew it would come back to torture. The a'dam gave them the ability to inflict whatever pain they wished on her. On any woman restrained by that evil collar. Raynelle had seen two other Aes Sedai collared. Both she knew, although neither well. One had already broken and the other was on the edge. Both had worn the collar only a fraction of the time she had. Being dragged through hot coals daily could do that to any woman, but Raynelle had been certain that if she could stand the pain, if she could see the logic of being seen to submit, then any other Aes Sedai could do as much. She had certainly never thought her will power as something extraordinary.
She had watched her most recent opportunity to escape vanish through a hole in mid air. Who could have guessed the Asha'man would rediscover Traveling! It had always been said that the greatest feats of the One Power had always been accomplished by men and women together, but until now she had not truly believed. But it was not the loss of the opportunity, as slim as the chance had been, to escape that frightened her. It was the raw destructive force of the Asha'man. He had held off two very strong women and retaliated with force. She was not certain if he had acted alone. That second Asha'man had appeared at the end of their short conflict but the damage was still impressive. She shuddered inwardly, there were supposed to be hundreds of these Asha'man. Hundreds! Logically as many of the Sisters in the Tower could do as much, but constrained for nearly three thousand years by the Three Oaths, no Sister would consider doing such, except against shadowspawn.
Of the ten members of this scouting party only she and five others remained. The to'raken was dead, and the morat'to'raken and the other sul'dam had vanished. She recalled a beam of pure white heat at the end of the battle and shuddered to think what it had been.
You know what it was, she berated herself. Fearing it won't make it cease to be. Only fitting for the Asha'man to rediscover that. Again it was purely logical, but the fact that the Asha'man had used it, had known how to weave it, made her stomach knot. Balefire. A nearly legendary weave outlawed by the White Tower. Balefire destroyed what it touched, burned it out of time. What ever was destroyed by Balefire ceased be before it was destroyed. The effect ran backwards in time. The more Power drawn into the balefire the further back the thing was destroyed. Raynelle remembered the other sul'dam being present through most of the short battle, but just before it ended, she and the flyer had simply vanished.
Something strange had happened after that, but Raynelle had been too busy—too terrified, she corrected—to tell exactly what. She was still turning that over in her head. She was certain it was important, but not how, so she didn't try to pick at it overmuch. She had found that patience usually solved problems like that. But she wasn't certain how much time she would have.
Seara, the sul'dam holding her leash, was arguing fiercely with the Under Lieutenant who had lead this force. The man had broken an arm and a leg when Asha'man lightnings had thrown him to the ground, and he wanted no part of that again. Not without more troops and more damane. Seara, as sul'dam in many ways had more authority than this man did, but he was the soldier, and the Command had been given to him by one of the Blood, as the Seanchan called their nobility. It was obvious that Seara could not countermand him, but she still insisted that returning to Ebou Dar was out of the question.
"A runner can be sent," she said to the soldier, Callric. "If none remain here we may not find this Asha'man again. In any case, we have no one to hold Salleane's leash. She cannot travel as she is."
Callric frowned from behind the bars of his helmet. He could not argue with that, Raynelle saw. It was logical, and true. A damane could no more move her leash without a sul'dam than she could lift a mountain with her hands. The man spat. "Very well, sul'dam, we will remain here the night. I will send a man to Ebou Dar at first light, but we are no longer a part of this hunt." He bit of each word as if each were a threat in itself. He had fought against the Asha'man before, if Raynelle remembered correctly. He had more than sufficient reason for fear.
Suddenly the thing that had been bothering her became crystal in Raynelle's mind. She was standing near two women who could channel. It wasn't that she had not puzzled that out in the past. Despite the Seanchan ignorance in such matters, Raynelle had long wondered how they could not know. In order for the a'dam to work both women had to be capable of channeling, but for the first time she sensed the ability in Seara. She had Channeled, and recently. Raynelle could sense the girl's potenial. With training she would be as strong as Raynelle herself was. But that was not the true revelation. It was Salleane, sitting with her collar and leash...and no sul'dam. Raynelle couldn't remove her own collar, despite the fact that she had long ago figured out how the clasp worked. If she thought about doing that very thing too long, her hands cramped and her stomach tried to empty its contents. But she had been idly imagining what she would do if she had Salleane's collar in hand. How easy it would be to remove the collar form the other damane and... Maybe she could do just that, she realized. She had never been ordered not to touch another a'dam. She wanted to laugh out loud. She wanted to dance. She quickly suppressed those thoughts.
Seara was looking at her. The woman had obviously felt her excitement through the a'dam. Callric was still scowling at the sul'dam. He shook his head, clearly angry at being ignored so suddenly. But he was a simple soldier, and she sul'dam. He limped off, every movement screaming anger.
"What excites you so, Tillie?" the green eyed Seanchan asked, as soon as the man was out of earshot.
"I had hoped we would not return to Ebou Dar so soon, Mistress," Raynelle said, truthfully. She was bound by the Three Oaths. She couldn't lie, but neither did she have to tell the whole truth. Returning to Ebou Dar too soon would ruin her opportunity to escape. Fear welled up within her. She had to hope the woman didn't see the half-truth for what it was.
"You fear to return to Ebou Dar?" the other woman asked.
That offered far more room. She did have many reasons to fear a return to Ebou Dar. Raynelle quickly selected one she thought would suffice. "I think I will be punished upon our return to the city."
Seara shook her head and smiled. It would have been a pretty smile, Raynelle supposed, if she had not been sul'dam. Raynelle had a hard time thinking anything pleasant about those women. "This is not your failure, Tillie," Seara said in that slurring accent, her tone meant to be comforting. To Raynelle it sounded like a mother speaking to a not overly bright child. "I will see that you are not harmed for what happened here."
Raynelle sighed with relief, and Seara's brightened smile only added to it. She did not yet suspect. There might be time.
***
Marwyn opened eyes slowly. The sun hung low on the horizon shining directly into his face. He smelled tea, and he was hungry. He tried to sit up but could not. His whole body ached. He let a groan and rolled on to his side, just to get the sun out of his eyes.
"You are awake," Radrahm said from nearby, for all of the world as if he were pronouncing some obscure fact not known before. "I feared to rouse you after that Healing. It took much of your strength."
"How long?" Marwyn asked the other man. How long would it take the sun to travel so far? He could not remember where the sun had been when the fight began.
"Three hours, Asha'man," Radrahm had always been one to stand on ceremony, at least when he paid attention to his surroundings.
"What of your hurt?"
"Excuse me, Asha'man?" Radrahm replied. "I took no hurt that I am aware of."
Marwyn turned that over in his head. He could clearly remember the man had a wound, a large one by the blood on his coat, in his side. He raised his head to look at the Dedicated. Radrahm was sitting a few paces away with a tin coup in hand, looking more puzzled than usual. It did not make sense. But then, Marwyn supposed that it did not have to. They were both alive.
"I doubt I can make a gateway from here, Asha'man," Radrahm said after a time. "Small uses of saidin seem to work, but I cannot seem to control stronger flows."
Marwyn frowned. It wasn't news that he had not already known, but it wasn't good either. The Gateway he wove should have taken them both to Caemlyn, and the Black Tower. From what he was able to see they were still near Ebou Dar. Closer to the city in fact. "We cannot really trust the Source here," he said finally, Radrahm nodded absently. "Why are you here, Radrahm?"
"Lord Logain sent me," the other man replied. He seemed to inspecting the cup in his hand. "You are instructed to return to the Tower and report. I am to take the watch."
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