Moiraine's blood was on fire. The poison of the Black Ajah was calling for her, and she was trying her best to resist the strong attraction, but she didn't know how much longer she could fight. Her arms and legs were covered with scratches from her falls when Siuan had sent her back to the floor, and they were burning as well.
Panting she lay on the floor, while she was sending Lan a wave of her pain again. Where in lights name was he? She could barely stand on her own feet and her arms were shaking uncontrollably.
"Moiraine!", Siuan cried when her eyes fell on a barrel, which stood behind an open door. Two women lay motionless on the ground, and the Amyrlin knew that she would soon join them.
Groaning, Moiraine got back on her feet and moved to her best friend. Then she saw the barrel and the two women, and tears shot to her eyes. How many sisters would they lose tonight? Suddenly, she noticed that her feet were moving towards the barrel as well. Quickly, she cleared her mind and stopped. The pull was so strong this close to the source that she almost felt like ripping her body apart.
"Siuan, please. You have to stop!"
"I can't. Go. Save yourself." But the woman of the Blue Ajah shook her head, then she grabbed Siuan's arm and with one strong pull, she moved them to a statue, which was standing in the corridor, and sank to her knees.
'I just have to hold on a little while longer. Lan is on his way. I can feel it.'
Crying, Moiraine wrapped one arm around the leg of the statue, while she held on to Siuan's arm. Maybe this would slow her down. But the Amyrlin, who was on her knees as well, was reaching out for the deadly barrel. Both women were at the end of their tether. Moiraine tried to breathe through the pain, while Siuan was stretching the poor woman's body to its limits.
'Lan, hurry up!'
Lan shrugged when another wave of pain hit him, but he didn't slow down. He passed so many Aes Sedai, who were all walking in the same direction, all against their will. And Nynaeve was still following him. Where was Moiraine? Everyone else could wait, except his Aes Sedai. He couldn't let her touch the poison.
While he had been running through the corridors, he had kept yelling to wake the other warders. He would need help if they wanted to save as many of the Aes Sedai as possible. But until now, he hadn't seen another warder, so, he didn't know if anyone had heard him.
"The pull becomes stronger!", Nynaeve told him, when they ran through an empty corridor. So, they were on the right path.
"LAN!", Moiraine's voice echoed through the corridor. She had to be close!
Lan mended his pace once more, then he saw his Aes Sedai. She was clinging to the leg of a statue, while she was also holding Siuan's hand, and the Amyrlin was reaching out for the poison. Lan's eyes moved to Moiraine's arm, which was wrapped around the statue. Slowly, she was losing her grip, while the Amyrlin's finger came dangerously close to the door.
Quickly, he jumped to the door and clapped it shut. In the same second, Siuan's fingers slipped out of Moiraine's grasp and the Amyrlin fell on the floor.
Moiraine's eyes fell on her warder and tears ran down her cheeks. Her arms were shaking and she couldn't move a muscle. "Please. Get her out of here.", she whispered and looked at him with pleading eyes "You have to safe her, Lan."
Siuan tried to push herself off the floor, and Lan helped her to stand on her feet. Then he threw the Amyrlin over his shoulder, while Nynaeve kneeled beside a shaking Moiraine. "Can you stand up?"
"Help the others. They can't resist the pull."
"We can't leave you here! You are too close to the poison!"
"Stand up!", Lan growled and moved to the two women, but Moiraine shook her head.
"I can't move. My whole body…"
"Nynaeve, help her to stand up." Lan grabbed one of Moiraine's arms and the wisdom took the other one, although she wasn't convinced that the Aes Sedai would be able to stand on her own.
Moiraine groaned in protest when she had to move. There wasn't one part of her body that wasn't hurting. With Nynaeve's help, she made it to her feet, but she was only standing because the wisdom held her upright. "Lan, she can't walk. What…?"
Lan ducked, then he threw Moiraine over his other shoulder. "Follow me.", he said to Nynaeve and started to walk "I know a place where we can secure them."
Lan led Nynaeve to a room, which lay two floors above the barrel. It was a big room, which was totally empty, except for some ropes, which were hanging from the ceiling.
"What kind of room is that?", Nynaeve asked and took a closer look at a rope, while Lan crossed the room until he reached the other end.
"Get over here and help me with these two."
With Nynaeve's help, they put the shaking Amyrlin back on her feet, but when she tried to walk away, Lan pushed her to her knees. "Take this rope above her and tie up her hands, so, she can't channel."
"Tie her up?!"
Lan walked with Moiraine to the rope beside the Amyrlin. "We have to save as many Aes Sedai as possible, Nynaeve. But we can't do that if they keep attacking us because the poison calls for them. So, we tie them up." He grabbed the rope and put Moiraine back on her feet. But the Aes Sedai was too weak to stand on her own. She sank to her knees and only Lan's quick reaction saved her from collapsing. Worried, Lan cupped her face in his hands and dove into their bond. There was no strength left in her. He probably could leave her here untied and she wouldn't be able to move a muscle. But this was a risk he wasn't willing to take.
Sighing, he grabbed her hands, held them together, and tied the rope around them, so, she couldn't free herself. "How is Siuan?"
"Alive." Moiraine groaned when he pulled at the rope to tighten it, then Lan grabbed the other end of the rope. "I have to pull you up. This will hurt and will be uncomfortable, but…"
"Just do it." She tried to smile at him when a new wave of pain rolled over her. Carefully, he pushed her to her feet, then he pulled at the rope until her arms were stretched over her head. It hurt him to cause her pain, but this was the only way to prevent her from freeing herself.
"Lan, I need your help here.", Nynaeve called for him. Apparently, the Amyrlin had some strength left and tried to get rid of the rope, which the wisdom tried to tie around her hands. Quickly, Lan tied his end of the rope around the wall hook, which was located directly behind Moiraine. "Lan!"
Nynaeve, who wasn't known for her patience, was close to strangling the Amyrlin, although she knew exactly that the poor woman wasn't doing it on purpose. When Lan appeared beside her, she finally was able to tighten the rope around Siuan's hands. Lan took the other end of the rope and helped Siuan to stand up.
The wisdom's eyes moved to Moiraine, who was breathing heavily, while she fought against the pull of the poison. Although she didn't like the woman, Nynaeve couldn't help herself but feel bad for the Aes Sedai. She was a healer, and she didn't like it to see people in pain. "Are you sure that this is necessary?", she asked Lan, while he repeated the procedure, which he had used on his Aes Sedai.
"I don't want to do this, Nynaeve. But I can't allow them to go back there. And they will as soon as they are free. This poison doesn't give them a choice. They have to follow the call." The warder tied the rope around the wall hook behind Siuan, then he returned to Moiraine once more. He laid his forehead against hers and whispered: "I'll be back. Hang in there."
"Save them. Please."
Lan nodded, then he ran out of the room. Nynaeve threw one last look at Siuan and Moiraine, then she followed the warder.
The two returned to the corridor, where the barrel was standing behind the closed door. When they arrived, three Aes Sedai from the Yellow Ajah were opening the door. Lan didn't think twice and pushed the one at the front out of the way and closed the door again. "I'm sorry, but you can't go in there."
The three women were shaking. They were just as helpless against the poison as Siuan and Moiraine had been. Nynaeve grabbed the smallest of the three and forcefully pulled her away from the door. Meanwhile, Lan threw the second one over his shoulder before he turned to the woman, he had pushed out of the way.
"We can't take all three of them.", Nynaeve said panting. The Aes Sedai was fighting against her. "We are alone and we can't tie up all of them."
"We don't have to.", Lan answered and threw the second one over his other shoulder "As long as we can take them away from here, they are safe. They have to walk there over and over again. At least, this will slow them down until we get help from the other warders."
Lan grabbed one arm of the fighting Aes Sedai when suddenly two warders appeared in front of them. With shocked eyes, they watched how the three sisters were fighting against Lan and Nynaeve. "What is going on here?"
"The Black Ajah brought their poison into the tower. It's behind this door and every woman is drawn to it. Protect the door. Don't let them through."
"What about her?" One of the warders nodded at Nynaeve. "She is a woman. Why does she look fine?"
"I feel the pull of the poison like every other woman, but I haven't channeled much yet. Not like these Aes Sedai, who use the One Power for years. Every woman, who just started to use the One Power should be safe."
The yellow sister, who was the only one standing, noticed that Nynaeve was distracted and freed her arm from the wisdom's grip. Then she dug her fingernails into the back of Lan's hand. Lan hissed, but he refused to let her go. Quickly, Nynaeve grabbed the arm of the woman again and threw an apologetic look at the warder.
"We're losing time here. Protect this door the best you can." Then the warder pulled the fighting Aes Sedai away to the room where his own Aes Sedai and the Amyrlin were already waiting.
Even with Nynaeve's help, it was hard to move the woman since the other two were squirming on his shoulders. Another Aes Sedai passed them on the corridor, moving straight for the poison. Nynaeve wanted to grab the arm of the woman, but Lan said: "No! We can't help her now!"
"But she is so close to…"
"We are barely able to move those three! If we try to take another one with us, it will take us way longer to return to the door! Now come!"
Nynaeve's heart was aching when she thought about the danger this woman was in, but she knew that Lan was right. They needed to work fast and the third sister was already slowing them down.