Elayne paused in mid-sentence and looked at Nynaeve. "Is anything…wrong?"
Nynaeve hurriedly smoothed her skirts and looked at Elayne. "No, why?"
Elayne shrugged and turned to Rand. "Listen, Rand. These Seanchan…they use a'dam, a device--"
Rand cut her off. "Yes, yes, I know that!" Elayne's eyes burned fire.
"They can control Aes Sedai, Rand! No 3 oaths…they could rip your Asha'man to shreds!"
Rand gave her a cool look. "I wouldn't be so sure of that, Elayne." Nynaeve gulped. Asha'man always made her nervous; nowadays, Rand made her more so.
"I don't know what's gotten in to you, Rand. You're…" she trailed off as she saw sadness come into his eyes for a second.
"Well, what are you going to do?" Elayne pushed on ruthlessly. The coldness came back into Rand's eyes.
"I'm doing what the Dragon Reborn is supposed to be doing, Elayne: be the Dragon Reborn." He put emphasis on 'Dragon Reborn'. Nynaeve bit her lip and looked away for an instant.
Elayne, however, wasn't satisfied. "Don't start talking to me like that, Rand! Dragon Reborn or no, I should beat you so hard with air…" she tried, too.
Rejik, meanwhile, was looking at Rand doubtfully. Sure, Taim taught him and all the others how to shield, but he never tried it in real life. When he sensed saidar, though, he was on his feet. In about 2 seconds, he had both Elayne and Nynaeve on the floor and shielded from the Source.
Rand shook his head and started undoing Rejik's weaves of saidin. Puzzled, Rejik looked at him. "My Lord Dragon…this one was attacking you!"
Nynaeve was still surprised at her position. She shot accusing glances at Elayne every 2 or 3 seconds.
Rand sighed and smiled, much to the surprise of Rejik. "I'm not sure that that was an all-out attack, Dedicated. Aes Sedai get some strange notions when dealing with us." Rejik, though bewildered, shook his head in sympathy.
Meanwhile, Elayne and Nynaeve were just getting to their feet, and not very happily at that. "I will not have one of your Asha'man attack me again, Rand!" Elayne said the 'Asha'man' part with enough contempt to curdle milk. A dangerous look from Rejik made her decide to go no further.
Rand, however, was enjoying the whole affair. "Rejik Al'Gonath isn't an Asha'man, Elayne. He is only a Dedicated." When he saw the confused looks the 2 women gave him, he elaborated, "An equivalent to an Accepted, in your Aes Sedai terms." He sounded just like Elayne. Rejik put his hand over his mouth, hoping to hide a laugh.
Nynaeve saw that this was going nowhere. "Rand, would you make him leave so that we can have a peaceful conversation?" All the while, she shot fierce glares Rejik's way.
Rejik, gave an 'I'm sorry, I didn't know' look to both Elayne and Nynaeve. Then he turned to Rand. "Request permission to leave your presence, my Lord Dragon?"
"Granted, Dedicated. You may leave." With the traditional fist-to-chest signal, Rejik left, obviously trying not to look at either of the women.
Rand looked up at them. "You see, Elayne? We can deal with them. You've got to believe me." His voice sounded soft, pleading. Nynaeve gaped up at him.
"Why don't you just leave?" Elayne shouted angrily. Her eyes, Nynaeve thought incredulously, were tearing up.
Rand shook his head in frustration. "Listen, Elayne! Just because you don't want me to stay here doesn't mean that it's the best for the world! The Seanchans after Andor…this is serious, Elayne. I need…I feel like I need to be here." He ended with a sigh.
Elayne seemed to calm down some. "Nynaeve, I would…ask you to leave. Rand and I need to have a talk."
Nynaeve smiled and turned to leave in reply. Men! Rejik, of all people, met her outside the door. Just as she was about to angrily question him, he spoke up. "I…wanted to apologize for what I did out there…I really thought your friend was going to hurt the Lord Dragon."
"If you believe that, then you Asha'man aren't all you're cracked up to be. They're in love, or is that a topic they didn't teach you about when you trained to be a ruthless killer--"
Rejik cut her off angrily. "Why do you purposely provoke me, Aes Sedai?" he shouted. Burn her! Just another person hating me. Light!
Nynaeve looked away. She forcibly met his gaze and asked, a little shakily, "What is the symbol…of saidin?"
Rejik again looked at her strangely. "A blazing sun, radiating power," he said slowly. "Would a rose mean anything to you?"
Nynaeve looked down at her toes, thoughtful. "How do they join…" she muttered under her breath.
"A circle," Rejik said. Immediately, he was embarrassed. Unconsciously, he held a tiny amount of saidin, too small an amount for Nynaeve to detect, but still enough to sharpen his senses.
"Do you have any idea how?" Nynaeve asked, rather annoyed.
"No…we could try, though. What do you feel…now?"
Nynaeve tensed immediately. A foreign presence, undeniably saidin, flowed into her body. "Could you recognize it again--" his face contorted with concentration. Nynaeve no longer felt the presence.
"What's wrong?" she asked.
"Someone," he panted, "very strong." "Trying to shield me…" His face lightened up. "I blocked the attempt, but barely." Abruptly, he beat his hands together in frustration. When given a questioning look, he said, "I didn't stop to check which Power it was."
"About the test…"
"Make a column of spirit, maybe…right in between us. I'll do the same." Nothing. They tried it with each segment of the Power, each not successful.
"Blood and bloody…" Rejik trailed off when he saw the look on Nynaeve's face. He muttered 'sorry' and tilted his head thoughtfully. He looked up suddenly. "Try making a column of Air, Water, Earth, Fire, and Spirit with saidar. I'll do the same with saidin."
Nynaeve shook her head, and for the 100th time in her estimation, embraced the Source. Immediately, they knew something was amiss.
***
Rand looked up from his shouting match with Elayne. He suddenly saw some images he saw from Rhuidean…images of the start of the breaking of the world. One look from Elayne told him that saidar was being used as well as saidin. "I just saw the breaking of the world…Blood and bloody ashes, Elayne! We've got to stop them! They'll tear open Shai'tan's prison!" Elayne flinched at the name, but ran with Rand towards the door.
"Light…" Elayne's voice trailed off. Black mist was swirling from the space in between Nynaeve and Rejik. Both of them had different expressions--Nynaeve's was expectant while Rejik's was grim. Both Elayne and Rand could see an auger created by both Powers eating away at an unknown wall.
"Release, Rejik! Please!" Rand sounded desperate.
Rejik abruptly shuddered. Rand breathed a sigh of relief; the Power-wrought auger fell apart before any damage that he could see could be done. Nynaeve collapsed on the spot, but Rejik convulsed as if his body was being taken over. One final shudder, and he was apparently free. "My Lord Dragon," he managed to get out, "the Dark One. The key to her friend is through the Dark One." He fell unconscious.
Rand and Elayne shot each other uneasy glances. "I'll Heal Rejik…you Heal Nynaeve," Rand said after a moment.
***
Morridin walked through a gateway to Shayol Ghul.
"WHY DID YOU STOP, NAE'BLIS?" came the Dark One's voice inside Morridin's head.
"If I may ask, Great Lord of the Dark…I have done nothing extraordinary for the past few decades. What are you referring to?"
"MY PRISON…IT WAS CUT INTO AND ALMOST BROKEN. GATHER ALL OF MY CHOSEN. MY TIME OF GLORY MIGHT ARISE SOON."
"As you wish, Great Lord of the Dark."