Rand wished he would have been smarter so long ago. His interest in the World of Dreams and the intricate devices he and Mierin had designed back then was purely academic, but he should have known some day they could fall in the wrong hands.
"When we were studying we found that the ability to enter the World of Dreams was diminishing. A hundred years before us almost every channeler could enter Tel'aran'rhiod without thinking. By the time we graduated, only one in ten was able to do it effortlessly.
We feared the ability would be lost some day, so the two of us worked very hard on a device that would allow anyone wearing it to enter the World of Dreams. That way we could ensure this World would not become a wasteland, and the Talent would not be lost."
Egwene looked intently at Rand's worrying face.
"You mean like the ones Elayne and Nynaeve can use?"
Rand smiled. "Exactly, that was our goal, we wanted to create that very ter'angreal."
"So what happened?"
Rand sighed and looked at Mierin. She was the one to answer Egwene's question.
"We failed. Neither of us had the talent to create ter'angreal. We created dozens of devices, most didn't do anything at all. But our most dangerous creations were those ter'angreal that did have an effect, but not the desired effect."
Her next words were almost a whisper.
"Like the anfear'nayabo"
Rand took over again.
"We created a night prison. A device that could indeed transport you to Tel'aran'rhiod, just like we intended. But instead of bringing you to where you were in the living world, it transported you to the nearest nightmare and sucked you in. You had no resistance whatsoever, no control over it."
Egwene frowned: "Nightmares are certainly not the most fun experience, but an experienced Dreamer like Aviendha could surely escape from a nightmare."
Mierin looked straight in her eyes with an ice-cold gaze.
"No, she couldn't. When I swore to the Dark Lord, I continued our research on Tel'aran'rhiod. My intentions were a bit more practical than Lews Therin's at the time. I made some minor adjustments to our original failure. When you arrive in Tel'aran'rhiod, you arrive in two parts. The first thing to arrive is your spirit, only when that has arrived fully, your conscious body follows. This is the reason why you can travel great distances and touch other people's dreams in the World of Dreams. Your conscious being is transported in your spirit and leaves your body."
Egwene nodded. She understood what Mierin was saying.
"Like how I was able to convey messages in other people's dreams?"
"Exactly"
"So what does your device do that makes this so horrible?"
Mierin looked in the distance.
"It severs the connection between your spirit and your conscious self."
Egwene had no idea what that meant, she looked sideways for support from Rand.
Rand answered with a dry voice.
"She is in the waking world, her body is at least. But she has no control over it. Her spirit, that she uses to control her body has been trapped in Tel'aran'rhiod. She can't escape the nightmare because her senses tell her she isn't even in Tel'aran'rhiod. She can't move a muscle, but she also can't free herself from the nightmare."
Rand continued
"You can't escape from a nightmare if you don't even know you're in one. For all she knows, she's paralyzed or had a stroke. But fact is, her spirit is severed from her body."
"What will happen to her?", Egwene asked.
"If the connection isn't restored, her spirit will remain severed and in the World of Dreams forever."
"Egwene, she will die."