Slowly, Lan opened his eyes and was almost blinded by the sudden brightness around him. He was standing in the White Tower of Tar Valon! But it was awfully quiet. There were no Aes Sedai, no warders, and no novices walking through these corridors.

As quiet as possible, the warder moved through the tower, which he knew so well. He didn't want to miss a sound. When he passed the corridor, which ended at the Hall of the Tower, where the Aes Sedai were meeting the Amyrlin Seat, he had to stop. The door! It was covered with a black, shining layer. And there were a lot of symbols drawn on it. Was this the reason why Moiraine couldn't touch the source anymore? Was this layer blocking her? Could he…?

'No! This is not why I'm here. First, I have to find out where Rand is. If Nynaeve finds out that I'm trying to help Moiraine again, instead of finding Rand, she will kill me.'

Reluctantly, Lan turned around and ran. Surprised, he noticed that this version of the White Tower was missing a lot of doors. And then, there were doors, which didn't belong to the original building. For a second, Lan imagined what his mind would look like. Would it be the White Tower, since he was bonded to Moiraine? Or would his mind look like Malkier?

Suddenly, he noticed a black string of weaving. This wasn't Moiraine. She was using Saidar, and this was free from the influence of the Dark One. But Rand was a man. Men used Saidin, and this was impure.

'This is her bond to Rand! When I follow it, maybe it will lead me to them!'

Quickly, Lan ran beside the string, but he didn't dare to touch it. Finally, he reached Moiraine's bedroom and stopped. At least, this door was still looking like the original. The black string of weaving went right through the door.

Carefully, the warder opened the door, then he ducked under the string and entered the room. Just that it didn't look like a room anymore. He was standing on a mountain, and the wind was pulling at him. When he turned to his left, he saw the Blight in the background and there was Fal Dara, even when it was small.

'Rand is moving East.'

"You can't escape me!" It seemed as if the male voice was coming from the sky and was roaring inside of Lan's head. But when he searched the sky for the reason, he couldn't find anything. "This will never be over! You will come to me as you have been before!"

The pain was washing over him and brought him to his knees. How was that possible? Didn't Rand win against the Dark One? Why was he still torturing the boy in his dreams? Shouldn't this be impossible? And where was…?

Finally, his eyes fell on Moiraine's small frame. She was sitting on the ground, while her hands were holding her head as if it would explode any moment. A sleeping Rand al'Thor lay beside her, but his face was distorted from the pain. His curly, red hair was a mess.

Immediately, Lan was back on his feet and ran to his Aes Sedai. He didn't dare to touch Rand, but he needed to help Moiraine. When he laid his hand on her small back, she looked up and he saw the tears, which were running down her cheeks.

"Lan?" She was confused, but he just wiped away her tears and smiled at her.

"Yes, I'm here." Her hands were moving over his chest, then his shoulders until she reached his face. Obviously, she couldn't believe it. Fresh tears ran down her cheek when the realization hit her.

"You're really here. And I can feel you." Lan laid his forehead against hers. Yes, he was able to feel her and he was enjoying it, even if it meant that he had to feel the pain from Rand as well. "You have no idea how much I missed you in my head."

"You'll get your powers back and then you will unmask our bond."

"You don't know that.", she whispered, then she pulled him closer to her. This way, she could lay her head against his chest. Her fingers grabbed his tunic. She groaned when another pain wave washed over her before it moved to Lan. Gently, he put his arms around his Aes Sedai and held her close.

"You can't run from me! I will find you wherever you go!"

"Who is talking to him, Moiraine?"

"The Dark One."

"Rand didn't kill him." It wasn't a question, but she nodded anyway. Lan sighed heavily. So much for finishing their mission.

"LEAVE ME ALONE!" Lan shrugged when Rand yelled beside him and suddenly the boy was sitting upright.

"Rand? Can you hear me?" The warder still didn't dare to touch the boy, but at least, he could try to talk to him. Rand's brown eyes were filled with fear, while Lan also noticed a bloody cut on the throat of the boy.

"No, he can't.", Moiraine answered "He is awake now and the bond is fading."

Surprised, Lan noticed that she was right. Rand was disappearing and so, was his surrounding. The Blight and Fal Dara were already gone. Lan threw a look at Moiraine's bedroom door, which was still open. Quickly, he pulled her to her feet.

"Come on. We have to get back to the door before it disappears as well."

"Lan, what are you talking about?" Moiraine sounded confused and tired, but she followed him stumbling. "There is no door. In a few minutes, this will all be gone, and then I'll wake up."

They stopped in front of the open door. Lan saw the corridor of the White Tower on the other side. "Do you wanna tell me that you can't see this door?"

"What do you mean?" Moiraine took a step forward and moved with her hand through the air to prove to him that he was hallucinating. "See? There is nothing."

Confused, Lan saw how her hand moved through the wood as if it was made out of air. Only a projection. But when he reached out for it, he felt the wood under his fingers. "You can't go there."

"Go where?"

"You can't enter your own mind."

"You're talking nonsense." Lan closed his eyes, while he was thinking. He had found out where Rand was at the moment. They finally had a direction they could use. But he was no step closer to helping Moiraine. Now that he finally was able to feel her again…

"Lan?" She cupped his face into her hands and gave him a sad smile. "I'm going to find a way to get our bond back."

The black layer appeared behind his eyes. The layer, which was probably the reason why she wasn't able to touch the source. She couldn't go there. But he could! "Moiraine. I need you to keep yourself from waking up."

"What?"

"I need to check on something, but I need as much time as you can give me."

"No! Please, Lan. Please don't go. I don't want to lose you. Just stay with me until we both are awake!" She was crying again, and it made his heart ache again. He didn't want to leave her. If there only would be another way to examine this door, he would stay with her until they were forced to wake up. But when this was his only chance to see that door, then he couldn't waste it by staying here.

Softly, he pressed his lips against her forehead. "Force yourself to stay asleep. For as long as possible. You can do that, Moiraine."

"At least, tell me why. Why do you need…?"

Lan pushed her away from him. He had no time for long explanations. "Trust me, Moiraine. Stay asleep!"

Then he turned around and was back in the corridor of the White Tower. Luckily, he didn't need to think much about the way. His feet knew the way all too well. Faster than he had ever been, he was back in front of the Hall of the Tower. The black, shining layer was still over the door.

"Alright, what are you?", Lan murmured, well aware that the thing wouldn't answer him. His hand reached for the surface. Maybe he could break through it just like he did with the…

"I'm your enemy."

Immediately, Lan turned to the male voice behind him, but he wasn't fast enough. A fist met his face, and he found himself on the floor. When he looked up, he was speechless. In front of him stood… himself! And this Lan Mandragoran had his sword with him! Lan cursed and got back on his feet, but the other Lan was already attacking him. The sword touched his upper arm and he felt pain spreading.

"You are a fast one, I have to admit that. I had waited for you outside Moiraine Sedai's room, but you didn't even see me. Well, now I will erase you to keep her safe."

'I have to end this!'

Lan started to fight back, while he tried to stay away from the sword. But in order to attack the other Lan, he had to get close to him. The sword swung and hit his stomach. The warder used the moment to overwhelm his opponent. The sword landed on the ground, while Lan held the other Lan down, although this guy didn't want to give up.

"Come on! You know me! You know that I'm not a danger to her! Before this thing blocked her access, I'd been in her head for over twenty years! Remember!"

"I will erase you!"

"Damn it, Moiraine!", Lan hissed then the corridor started to shake. Moiraine was losing the fight to stay asleep, which meant that he would only have a few more seconds before he would be awake as well. Quickly, he examined the black layer again, while he pressed the other Lan on the floor. There were a lot of symbols on it, which appeared and disappeared all the time. They made no sense at all! Suddenly, he noticed a red glowing symbol, which was growing the longer he looked at it.

'Is this thing on fire? I have this feeling that it is burning. Maybe it is a lock. If we can unlock this symbol, the layer will fade. I just don't know what it means.'

The corridor shook harder this time, and the symbol started to fade. If Lan had to describe it, he would say it looked like the letter 'M', while the letter 'L' was parting it.

The floor under his feet started to sway, and Lan lost his grip on the other Lan, who had waited for his opponent to be distracted. While the other one was reaching for his sword, Lan was running away, back to Moiraine's room. It wouldn't take long anymore, and he would wake up.

And from the shaking of the corridor, he was assuming that Moiraine was at the end of her powers. "WAKE UP! WAKE UP, MOIRAINE!", Lan yelled, then the White Tower disappeared and he fell into the darkness.