Elayne sent strike after strike from horseback, tired hands clinging to the saddle as she blinked eyes that seemed leaden. Dead Trollocs toppled, forming like a scab over the hole, blocking the others from ripping through. Reserve troops stumbled up, seizing ground and pushing the Trollocs back.
Elayne breathed out, wavering. Light! She felt as if she’d been forced to run around Caemlyn while pulling lead weights. She could barely sit upright, let alone hold the One Power. Her vision dimmed, then darkened further. Sound faded in her ears. Then . . . darkness.
Sound came back first. Distant yells, clangs. A very faint horn. The howls of the Trollocs. Occasional thundering from the dragons. Those aren’t firing as often, she thought. Aludra had moved to a rhythm in her firing. Bashere would pull back one section of troops and let them rest. The Trollocs would pour through, and the dragons would bombard them for a short time. As the Trollocs tried to crawl up and destroy the dragons, cavalry would come in and smash them at the flanks.
It killed a lot of Trollocs. That was their job . . . kill Trollocs . . .
Too slow, she thought. Too slow . . .
Elayne found herself on the ground, Birgitte’s worried face hovering above her.
"Oh, Light?" Elayne mumbled. "Did I fall off?"
"We caught you in time", Birgitte muttered. "You slumped into our arms. Come on, we’re pulling back".
"I . . ".
Birgitte raised an eyebrow at her, waiting for the argument.
It was hard to make one, lying on her back mere paces from the front lines. Saidar had fled her, and she probably couldn’t take hold of it again if her life depended on it. "Yes", she said. "I should . . . should check on Bashere".
"Very wise", Birgitte said, waving for the guard to help Elayne back onto her horse. She hesitated, then. "You did well here, Elayne. They know how you fought. It was good for them to see".
They began a hurried trip through the back lines. Those were very shallow; most soldiers were committed to the fight. They needed to win before that second Trolloc army arrived, and that meant throwing everything they had at this force.
Still, Elayne was surprised at the depleted reserves, the small number that could be spared to rotate from the front and rest. How long had it been?
The clouds had enveloped the open sky that often accompanied her. That seemed a bad sign. "Curse those clouds", she muttered. "What time of day is it?"
"Maybe two hours from sunset", Birgitte said.
"Light! You should have made me return to camp hours ago, Birgitte!"
The woman glared at her, and Elayne vaguely remembered attempts to do just that. Well, no use arguing about it now. Elayne was recovering some of her strength, and forced herself to sit straight-backed on her horse as she was led to the small valley between hills near Cairhien where Bashere gave battle orders.
She rode right up to the command post, not trusting her legs to be able to support her walking, and remained in the saddle as she addressed Bashere. "Is it working?"
He looked up at her. "I assume I can’t count on you any longer on the front?"
"Too weak to channel for now. I’m sorry".
"You lasted longer than you should have". He made a notation on his maps. "Good thing. I half think you were the only thing that kept the eastern flank from collapsing. I’ll need to send more support that direction".
"Is it working,?"
"Go have a look", Bashere said, nodding toward the hillside.
Elayne gritted her teeth, but nudged Moonshadow up to where she could find a vantage. She lifted her looking glass with fingers that shook far more than she would have liked.
The Trolloc force had hit their bowed line of defenders. The natural result of this had been the infantry falling back, the bowl inverting as the Trollocs pushed forward. This had let the Shadowspawn feel as if they were gaining the advantage, and had stopped them from realizing the truth.
As they pressed forward, the infantry line had wrapped up and surrounded the Trolloc sides. She’d missed the most important moment, when Bashere had ordered the Aiel to attack. Their quick sweep around to hit the Trollocs from behind had worked as hoped.
Elayne’s forces had the Trollocs completely surrounded. An enormous circle of writhing Shadowspawn fought with her encircling force, pressing them together to constrict their movements and their ability to fight.
It was working. Light, it was. The Aiel beat against the back flanks of Trollocs, slaughtering them. The noose had been drawn.
Which of them was blowing those horns? Those were Trolloc horns.
Elayne searched through the Shadowspawn, but could not find the ones sounding the horns. She did spot some dead Myrddraal near the Aiel ranks. One of Aludra’s dragons—attached to its cart and pulled by a pair of horses—was with the Band’s horsemen. They had been positioning the carts on different hilltops to fire down into the Trollocs.
"Elayne . ". Birgitte said.
"Oh, sorry", Elayne said, lowering the looking glass and handing it to her Warder. "Have a look. It’s going well".
"Elayne!"
With a start, she realized how worried the Warder was. Elayne spun, following the woman’s gaze south, far beyond the city’s walls. Those horns sounding . . . they’d been so soft, Elayne hadn’t realized they were coming from behind.
"Oh, no . . ". Elayne said, hastily raising her looking glass.
There, like black filth on the horizon, approached the second Trolloc army.
"Didn’t Bashere say they weren’t supposed to be here until tomorrow?" Birgitte said. "At the earliest?"
"It doesn’t matter", Elayne said. "One way or another, they’re here. We need to get ready to turn those dragons the other way! Send the order to Talmanes, and find Lord Tam al’Thor! I want the Two Rivers men armed and ready. Light! The crossbowmen too. We have to slow that second army, any way possible".
Bashere, she thought. I have to tell Bashere.
She spun Moonshadow, moving so fast she became dizzy. She tried to embrace the Source, but it wouldn’t come. She was so tired, she had trouble gripping the reins.
Somehow, she made it down the hill without tailing off. Birgitte had left to convey her orders. Good woman. Elayne rode into camp to find an argument in progress.
"—won’t listen to this! " Bashere yelled. "I will not stand by and be insulted i
