Elayne had stopped channeling in an attempt to let the women recover. Most of them slumped in their saddles or sat on the ground. In front of them extended a ragged battle line. Men fought desperately before the Cairhienin hills, trying to hold against the sea of Trollocs.
Their victory over the northern Trolloc army had been short-lived, as they now found themselves strung-out, exhausted and in serious danger of being surrounded by the southern one.
"We almost managed", Arganda said from beside her, shaking his head. "We almost made it".
He wore a plume in his helmet. It had belonged to Gallenne. Elayne hadn’t been there when the Mayener commander had fallen.
That was the frustrating part. They were close. Despite Bashere’s betrayal, despite the unexpected arrival of the southern force, they had almost pulled it off. If she’d had more time to position her men, if they’d been able to catch more than a moment’s breather between defeating the northern army and then turning to meet this southern one . . .
But that was not the case. Nearby, the proud Ogier fought to protect the dragons, but the Ogier were slowly being overrun. The ancient creatures had begun to collapse, like felled trees, pulled down by Trollocs. One by one, their songs broke off.
Arganda held a bloodied hand to his side, pale-faced, barely able to speak. She didn’t have the strength to Heal him. "That Warder of yours is a fiend on the battlefield, Your Majesty. Her arrows fly like light itself. I’d swear . . ". Arganda shook his head. He might never hold a sword again, even if Healed.
He should have been sent with the other wounded . . . somewhere. There wasn’t really anywhere to take them; the channelers were too exhausted to make gateways.
Her people were fracturing. The Aiel fought in clumps, the White-cloaks nearly surrounded, the Wolf Guard in no better shape. The Legion of the Dragon heavy cavalry still rode, but Bashere’s betrayal had shaken them.
Now and then, a dragon fired. Aludra had rolled them back up to the top of the highest hill, but they were out of ammunition, and the channelers didn’t have strength to make gateways to Baerlon to fetch the new dragons’ eggs. Aludra had fired bits of armor until her powder ran low. Now they had only enough for the occasional shot.
The Trollocs would push through her lines soon, fragmenting her army like ravenous lions. Elayne watched from one of the hilltops, guarded by ten of her Guardswomen. The rest had gone to fight. Trollocs broke through the Aiel to the east of her position, right near the dragoner hilltop position.
The beasts charged up the hill, killing the few Ogier defenders on that side, roaring their victory as the dragoners pulled out sabers and grimly stood to defend.
Elayne wasn’t ready to let the dragons go yet. She gathered strength through the circle; women groaned around her. She took up barely a dribble of the Power, far less than she’d hoped, and directed Fire at the lead Trollocs.
Her attack arced in the air toward the Shadowspawn. She felt she was trying to stop a storm by spitting at the wind. That lone ball of fire hit.
The earth exploded beneath it, ripping the hillside and hurling dozens of Trollocs back in the air.
Elayne started, causing Moonshadow to shuffle beneath her. Arganda cursed.
Someone rode up beside her on a large black horse, emerging as if from smoke. The man was of medium build and had dark curls of hair down to his shoulders. Logain looked thinner than she remembered from last time she’d seen him, his cheeks sunken, but his face was still handsome.
"Logain?" she said, shocked.
The Asha’man gestured sharply. Explosions sounded all across the battlefield. Elayne turned to see over a hundred men in black coats marching through a large gateway on top of her hill.
"Pull those Ogier back", Logain said. His ragged voice was raw. Those eyes of his seemed darker now than they once had been. "We will hold this position".
Elayne blinked, then nodded for Arganda to pass the command. Logain shouldn’t give orders to me, she thought absently. For the moment, she let it pass.
Logain turned his horse and rode to the side of the hilltop, looking down at her army. Elayne followed, feeling numb. Trollocs fell as Asha man called up strange attacks, gateways that seemed tied to the ground somehow. They stormed forward, killing the Shadowspawn.
Logain grunted. "You’re in bad shape".
She forced her mind to work. The Asha’man were here. "Did Rand send you?"
"We sent ourselves", Logain said. "The Shadow has been planning this trap for a long time, according to notes in Taim’s study. I only just managed to decipher them". He looked at her. "We came to you first. The Black Tower stands with the Lion of Andor".
"We need to get my people out of here", Elayne said, forcing her mind to think through the cloud of fatigue. Her army needed a queen. "Mothers milk in a cup! This is going to cost us". She’d probably lose half her force withdrawing. Better half than all of them. "I’ll start bringing my men back in ranks. Can you make enough gateways to lead us to safety?"
"That wouldn’t be a problem " Logain said absently, looking down the slope. His impassive face would have impressed any Warder. "But it will be a slaughter. There’s no room for a good retreat, and your lines will grow weaker and weaker as you pull back. The last ranks will be overwhelmed and consumed".
"I don’t see that we have any other choice", Elayne snapped, exhausted. Light! Here, help had come, and she was snapping. Stop it. She composed herself, sitting up straighter. "I mean to say that your arrival, while appreciated greatly, cannot turn a battle that is this far gone. A hundred Asha’man cannot stop a hundred thousand Trollocs on their own. If we could arrange our battle lines better, get at least a short rest for my men . . . but no. That is impossible. We must retreat—unless you can produce a miracle, Lord Logain".
He smiled, perhaps at her use of "lord" for him. "Androl!" he barked.
A middle-aged Asha’man hurried over, a plump Aes Sedai joining him. Pevara? Elayne thought, too exhausted to make sense of it. A Red?
"My Lord?" the man, Androl, asked.
"I need to slow that army of Trollocs long enough for the army to regroup and refield itself, Androl", Logain said. "How much will it cost us for a miracle?"
"Well, my Lord", Androl said, rubbing his chin. "That depends. How many of those women sitting back
