Darlin paled. "Like Ituralde . . . Light, they didn’t touch me. I swear it. I . . ". He raised a hand to his head. "Who do we trust if we cannot trust our own minds?"
"We must make the dance of spears as simple as possible", Aviendha said. Go to Rhuarc, gather your leaders. Plan how you will face the Shadow together, do not let one man control the battle—and set your plans in place; do not allow them to be changed".
"That could lead to disaster", Darlin said. "If we don’t have flexibility . . ".
"What needs be changed?" Aviendha asked grimly. "We hold. With everything we have, we hold. We don’t pull back. We don’t try anything clever. We just hold".
Darlin nodded. "I’ll send for gateways to put Maidens atop those slopes. They can take out those Trollocs shooting arrows down at our lads. Can you deal with the enemy channelers?"
"Yes".
Aviendha returned to her group, then started to draw on their power. The more of the One Power you held, the harder it was to cut you off from the True Source. She intended to hold so much that no man could separate her from it.
Helplessness. She hated feeling helpless. She let the anger at what had been done to her rage inside of her, and led her group toward the nearest source of male channeling that Flinn could identify.
CHAPTER 34
Drifting
Rand stood in a place that was not.
A place outside of time, outside of the Pattern itself.
All around him spread a vast nothingness. Voracious and hungry, it longed to consume. He could actually see the Pattern. It looked like thousands upon thousands of twisting ribbons of light; they spun around him, above him, undulating and shimmering, twisting together. At least, that was how his mind chose to interpret it.
Everything that had ever been, everything that could be, everything that could have been . . . it all lay right there, before him.
Rand could not comprehend it. The blackness around it sucked on him, pulled him toward it. He reached out to the Pattern and somehow anchored himself in it, lest he be consumed.
That changed his focus. It locked him, slightly, into a time. The pattern before him rippled, and Rand watched it being woven. It was not actually the Pattern, he knew, but his mind saw it that way. Familiar, as it had been described, the threads of lives weaving together.
Rand anchored himself in reality again and moved with it. Time had meaning again, and he could not see ahead or behind. He still could see all places, like a man standing above a globe as it turned.
Rand faced the emptiness. "So", he said into it. "This is where it will really happen. Moridin would have had me believe that a simple sword fight would decide this all".
HE IS OF ME. BUT HIS EYES ARE SMALL.
"Yes", Rand said. "I have noticed the same".
SMALL TOOLS CAN BE EFFECTIVE. THE THINNEST OF KNIVES CAN STOP A HEART. HE HAS BROUGHT YOU HERE, ADVERSARY.
None of this had happened the last time, when Rand had worn the name of Lews Therin. He could only interpret that as a good sign.
Now the battle truly began. He looked into the nothingness and felt it welling up. Then, like a sudden storm, the Dark One brought all of his force against Rand.
Perrin fell back against a tree, gasping at the pain. Slayers arrow had impaled his shoulder, the arrowhead coming out his back. He didn’t dare pull it free, not with . . .
He wavered. Thoughts came lethargically. Where was he? He’d shifted away from Slayer as far as he could go, but . . . he didn’t recognize this place. The trees were odd-shaped on top, too leafy, of a variety he’d never before seen. The storm blew here, but far more weakly.
Perrin slipped and hit the ground with a grunt. His shoulder flared with pain. He rolled over, staring up at the sky. He’d broken the arrow when falling.
It’s . . . it’s the wolf dream. I can just make the arrow vanish.
He tried to gather the strength to do so, but was too weak. He found himself floating, and he sent outward, seeking for wolves. He found the minds of some, and they started, sending back surprise.
A two-legs who can talk? What is this? What are you?
His nature seemed to frighten them, and they pushed him out of their minds. How could they not know what he was? Wolves had long, long memories. Surely . . . surely . . .
Faile, he thought. So beautiful, so clever. I should go to her. I just need to . . . need to close this Waygate . . . and I can get back to the Two Rivers to her . . .
Perrin rolled over and crawled to his knees. Was that his blood on the ground? So much red. He blinked at it.
"Here you are", a voice said.
Lanfear. He looked up at her, his vision blurry.
"So he defeated you", she said, folding her arms. "Disappointing. I didn’t want to have to choose that one. I find you much more appealing, wolf".
"Please", he croaked.
"I’m tempted, though I shouldn’t be", she said. "You’ve proven yourself weak".
"I . . . I can beat him". Suddenly, the shame of having failed in front of her crushed Perrin. When had he started worrying about what Lanfear thought of him? He couldn’t quite point to it.
She tapped one finger on her arm.
"Please . . ". Perrin said, raising a hand. "Please".
"No", she said, turning away. "I’ve learned the mistake of setting my heart on one who does not deserve it. Goodbye, wolf pup".
She vanished, leaving Perrin on hands and knees in this strange place.
Faile, a piece of his mind said. Don’t worry about Lanfear. You have to go to Faile.
Yes . . . Yes, he could go to her, couldn’t he? Where was she? The Field of Merrilor. That was where he’d left her. It was where she would be. He shifted there, somehow gathering himself just enough to manage it. But of course she wasn’t there. He was in the wolf dream.
The portal Rand would send. It would be here. He just had to get to it. He needed . . . He needed . . .
He collapsed to the ground and rolled to his back. He felt himself drifting into the nothingness. His vision blackened as he stared up at the churning sky. At least . . . at least I was there for Rand, Perrin thought.
The wolves could hold Shayol Ghul on this side now, couldn’t they? They could keep Rand safe . . . They’d have to.
Faile poked a stick at their meager cook fire. Darkness had fallen, and the fire glowed with a faint red light. They hadn’t dared make it larger. Deadly things prowled the Blight. Trollocs were the l
