Androl stared blankly at Pevara, as if he had just heard a surprising piece of news. "I don’t know. Maybe it’s something to do with my Talent". "I see". Pevara was silent a moment. "By the way, what happened to your sword?"
Androl reached by reflex to his side. The sheath hung there, empty. He’d dropped his sword when the lightning had struck near them, and he hadn’t had the presence of mind to grab it as they fled. He groaned. "Garfin would send me to grind barley at the quartermaster’s for weeks straight if he heard of this".
"It’s not that important", Pevara said. "You have better weapons".
"It’s the principle", Androl said. "Carrying a sword reminds me. It’s like . . . well, seeing a net reminds me of fishing around Mayene, and springwater reminds me of Jain. Small things, but small things matter. I need to be a soldier again. We have to find Taim, Pevara. The seals . . ".
"Well, we can’t find him the way we’ve been trying. Do you agree?"
He sighed, but nodded.
"Excellent", she said. "I hate being a target".
"What do we do instead?"
"We approach this with careful study, not with swinging swords".
She probably had a point. "And . . . what we did? Pevara, you used my Talent".
"We shall see", she said, sipping from her cup. "Now, if only this were tea".
Androl raised his eyebrows. He took the cup back, opened a small gateway between two fingers and dropped a few dried tea leaves into the cup. He boiled it for a moment with a thread of Fire, then dropped in some honey through another gateway.
"Had some back in my workshop in the Black Tower", he said, handing the cup back. "It looks like nobody moved it".
She sipped the tea, then smiled warmly. "Androl, you are wonderful".
He smiled. Light! How long had it been since he’d felt this way about a woman? Love was supposed to be something for young fools, wasn’t it?
Of course, the young fools never could see straight. They’d look for a pretty face, and stop there. Androl had been around long enough to know that a pretty face was nothing compared to the type of solidity a woman like Pevara displayed. Control, steadiness, determination. These were things that only proper seasoning could bring.
It was the same way with leather. New leather was fine, but really good leather was leather that had been used and worn, like a strap that had been cared for over the years. You never knew for certain if you could rely on a new strap. Once it had been your companion for a few seasons, you knew.
"I’m trying to read that thought", Pevara said. "Did you just . . . compare me to an old strap of leather?"
He blushed.
"I’ll assume it’s a leatherworker’s thing". She sipped her tea.
"Well, you keep comparing me to . . . what is it? A bunch of little figurines?"
She smiled. "My family".
"The ones killed by Darkfriends. I'm sorry".
"It happened very, very long ago, Androl". He could sense that she was still angry about it, though.
"Light", he said. "I keep forgetting that you’re older than most trees, Pevara".
"Hmm . . ". she said. "First I’m a strap of leather, now I’m older than trees. I assume that, despite the several dozen jobs you’ve had in your life, none of your training involves how to speak with a lady?"
He shrugged. When younger, he might have been embarrassed to have his tongue tied in such knots, but he’d learned that there was just no way to avoid it. Trying to do so only made it worse. Oddly, the way he reacted pleased her. Women liked to see a man flummoxed, he supposed.
Her mirth died down, however, as she happened to glance at the sky. He was reminded, suddenly, of the empty fields below. The dead trees. The growling thunder. This was not a time for mirth, not a time for love. For some reason, though, he found himself clinging to both precisely because of that.
"We should be moving soon", he said. "What is your plan?"
"Taim will always be surrounded by minions. If we continue attacking as we have, we’ll be cut to ribbons before we can get to him. We need to reach him stealthily".
"And how are we going to manage that?"
"That depends. How crazy can you be, if the situation warrants?"
The valley of Thakan’dar had become a place of smoke, mayhem and death.
Rhuarc stalked through it, Trask and Baelder at his sides. They were brothers of his from the Red Shields. He had never met these two before coming to this place, but they were brothers nonetheless, and their bond had been sealed by the spilled blood of Shadowspawn and traitors.
Lightning broke the air, striking nearby. As Rhuarc walked, his feet crunched on sand that had been turned to shards of glass by the lightning. He reached cover—some Trolloc corpses in a pile—and crouched down, Trask and Baelder joining him. The tempest had finally come, furious winds assaulting the valley, nearly enough to pull the veil from his face.
It was difficult to make out anything. The fog had blown away, but the sky had darkened, and the storm kicked up dust and smoke. Many people fought in prowling packs.
There were no more battle lines. Earlier in the day, a Myrddraal attack—and an all-out Trolloc assault afterward—had finally broken the Defenders’ hold on the mouth of the valley. The Tairens and Dragonsworn had pulled back into the valley, toward Shayol Ghul, and now most of them fought near the base of the mountain.
Fortunately, the Trollocs that had piled through didn’t have overwhelming numbers. The killing in the pass and the long siege had reduced the numbers of Trollocs at Thakan’dar. In all, the Trollocs remaining probably equaled the number of Defenders.
That still would be a problem—but in his opinion, the Honorless who wore red veils were a far greater threat. Those roved across the expanse of the valley, as did the Aiel. In this open killing field, obscured with fog and swirling dust to ruin visibility, Rhuarc hunted. Occasionally, he would run across Trollocs in groups, but most had been driven by the Fades to fight the regular forces, the Tairens and Domani.
Rhuarc waved to his brothers, and they moved through the tempest along one side of the valley. The Light send that the regular forces and the channelers could hold the path up to the mountain where the Car’a’
