Egwene woke up from a pleasant dream, only to hear screams and explosions. Embracing saidar, she leapt from her bed frantically. Once she was out of the tent, she knew what the source of the screams was. Tar Valon soldiers stormed through Gareth Byrne's ranks. They wreaked havoc at first--Byrne's men were unprepared and taken by surprise. By the time they recovered, over an eighth of the force was lost. Egwene was more worried about the explosions--power-wrought explosions. How can they use their power to attack us? Unless everyone in the Tower is Black, the 3 oaths should bind these women! I shall not use the Power to kill unless it's a Darkfriend or unless I'm defending my own life… Egwene then knew why they were able to attack. Elaida must have persuaded the whole Tower that we are darkfriends!
An explosion knocked her off her feet, and almost into Sheriam's arms. Both women fell to the ground. Sheriam got up and looked at Egwene worriedly. "Mother, we were caught totally by surprise…I don't know how they destroyed our cloak without us knowing it…"
Egwene grabbed her by the arm. "Never mind that! The sisters are attacking us, Sheriam! Tell all Aes Sedai in the camp to head towards the center of the field over there and link up." When Sheriam's eyes widened, Egwene added, "Yes, I mean all of them. There's no way that even all the sisters in the Tower could shield 200 of us."
Sheriam still shook her head. "Who will control all of that power…"
"I will," Egwene said determinedly, "but first I must go to our last hope."
Sheriam looked at her hopefully. "Who?"
Egwene set her jaw grimly. "The Dragon Reborn."
"Good luck, Mother…you're going to need it."
Once the portal to the Sun Throne was woven, Egwene stepped through.
***
Rand sat back in his throne and listened to Narishma and Flinn's description of the Black Tower. Once it was finished, he sighed. "Listen, na'lin…I can't do anything for you. I've tried to lift the men's spirits, but apparently it hasn't worked. Maybe those 20 could make a difference…"
Flinn shook his head. "My Lord Dragon, these men are the weakest of the weak. They feel that," he spat out the next word, "nursing is the only field in which they can succeed."
"Also, my Lord Dragon, if I may be so bold…" Narishma butted in quickly. When Rand nodded, he continued, "The M'Hael is worrying both Flinn and me. We think…we think he might be going insane."
Rand suppressed a snort. No news to me.
No news is often good news was all that Lews Therin had a chance to say before Rand muted his voice. He turned back to Narishma. "Why would you say that?" Narishma started to answer when he stopped and embraced saidin, Flinn not close behind. Rand, sensing their apprehension, also took hold of saidin.
"A woman is forming a portal, my Lord Dragon!" Narishma almost panted.
Rand immediately let go of saidin when he saw who exited. "Egwene! What brings you here…" he trailed off when he saw her flushed face.
"Rand al'Thor, you've got to listen to me," she began in a desperate tone. "I need at least a hundred Asha'man, now!"
Rand wordlessly looked at her for a moment, and then turned to form a gateway to the Black Tower.
Once there, he amplified his voice. "The Dragon Reborn requests that any who are willing to fight for the Light Travel to the Apartments." To Rand's surprise, only about 75 men appeared, most just Dedicated. Rand shook his head, but motioned for them to follow him.
Egwene shook her head at the numbers, but she formed a portal big enough for 20 men to go in at a time. Rand stepped in last. With a nod of his head, they all poured through the gateway.
One of the Dedicated suddenly shimmered and Mazrim Taim stood in his place. Rand glared at him, but realized that there was no time for talking. He nodded to Taim.
Taim started to group the men in 'task forces' while Rand marked the rebel Aes Sedai with saidin so that the Asha'man wouldn't kill them. The whole process took about an hour, and all the time the battle raged on in front of them. Rand was surprised that none of the men had taken any actions.
He strode to the front of the men. His voice carried briskly, "This is what the Tower trained you for, men. You will destroy, but destroy in my name and in the Light's. Any who harm those marked with my Power will be severely punished." A chorus of cheers greeted his proclamation. Rand threw his arm in the air, and a lightning bolt that blew 5 feet of earth into the air signaled the start of the attack.
Rand watched his Asha'man bitterly. Light, this is Dumai's Wells all over again. What have I created?
***
Egwene and all the linked sisters turned to see what Rand was looking at. Egwene slowly sank to her knees with revulsion. Everywhere she looked, Tower sisters and Asha'man were exploding, screaming, burning, and dissolving. Sheriam's lips were trembling. She turned watery eyes to Egwene. "If you call this our last hope, I wish we had fallen."
Egwene bowed her head. Light, what kind of Amyrlin would do this? It had to be done…the Tower must be whole again.
***
All heads turned as Rand fell to his knees, grabbing his head and sobbing, Min, oh Min! over and over again. Narishma dropped to his knees and tried to Heal him.
Semirhage took notice. Breaking free of the link, she channeled with all of her might and knocked Narishma at least 20 feet back. He did not rise. She was not satisfied, though. Graendal had told her that Rand's assassin would be powerful; this one was not. Luckily for her, no one had noticed her attack.
Scanning the battleground, she saw a gateway forming. She knelt next to a tree and watched a man's approach. She noted that his path headed for the writhing Rand. The light that told her that he held saidin was all the excuse she needed to attack him.
He was ready, though. He had a shield up before she could destroy him, and counter-attacked swiftly. The man growled in rage when his weave was blocked by his attacker--al'Thor was regaining consciousness! In hopes of a quick kill, he looped a weave of saidin around the woman's back. To his dismay, the woman ducked to the ground and shot a bolt of saidar right at his belly. That was the last mistake that Demandred would ever make.
***
Rand crawled slowly to his knees. He could hear shouts of victory in the distance, but all he could think about was Min. Or the lack of her. He could no longer feel her inside of his head.
You can't have too many in you're head, you know, Lews Therin said groggily, and surprisingly sanely.
Rand was too tired to push Lews out. What happened?
Lews Therin, apparently awake enough now to be mad, laughed triumphantly. Now you know the pain that I have felt!
Rand's gaze was as hard as stone. A lot of people will pay for this, Lews.
Lews cackled. We are destroyers!
Rand shook his head. I sound mad. Listen to me!
Laughter was his only response. He finally summoned the strength to mute Lews' voice. He got up and looked around, and instantly wished he hadn't. Without saidin to throw him in the Void, he felt the full force of his own sadness and bitterness. One sight he saw that disturbed him particularly was Flinn kneeling over Narishma's body about 10 paces away from him.
"What happened, Flinn?" he asked hoarsely.
Tears streaked the other man's face. "I don't know, my Lord Dragon. He just…It didn't work out like it was supposed to."
Rand looked at him coldly. "What didn't work out, Flinn?"
Flinn winced. "My Lord Dragon, a lot of people believe that you're present condition…isn't good enough to survive Tarmon Gai'don. The Aes Sedai, led by Cadusane, came up with a plan to make you have a strong reaction to something…they were supposed to cloud your bond with Min and Narishma," he cleared his throat, "was supposed to shield you temporarily, but they never told us anything. Those dogs probably did something to Min!"
Rand's eyes narrowed, his jaw trembling slightly. "If that is the case, Flinn, they will pay. Dearly."
The look Rand gave him was enough to make Flinn want to turn tail and run. At any rate, he gulped. "I'm sure they will," and even his voice hardened slightly as he looked to Narishma.
Rand smoothed his coat and grabbed so much saidin that blood started oozing from the corners of his eyes. After he moderated the amount, he nodded slightly and set out across the battlefield.
As he was walking, he took note of the remaining forces. Only 15 Asha'man and only 90 or so rebel Aes Sedai remained standing. He saw Taim prowling around the edge of the battlefield, probably looking for more women to destroy. Rand nevertheless approached him. "Taim!" he called when he was within earshot.
"Yes, my Lord Dragon?" Taim said, sounding a little short of breath.
"How many Aes Sedai did we face and how many did we eliminate?"
Taim smiled proudly. "Our men performed admirably. Over 200 of the 400 or so Aes Sedai trash were killed! I myself accounted for at least 30."
"You may get to spill more Aes Sedai blood yet, Taim," Rand began quickly. "Min was cut off from me in the care of Cadusane." He spat the old Aes Sedai's name out.
Taim's eyes glimmered. "I'm sure that I could eliminate her by herself, but she's bound to have several other women around her that she could link with. Not even you or I could break a link of 10 women." His face showed regret at the last comment.
"You'll be surprised at what a man can do with Callandor, Taim."
***
Egwene, sweaty and exhausted, approached an equally ragged Gareth Byrne. "How many survived, General?"
Byrne shrugged his shoulders. "I'd say around half of our men. We would have been totally destroyed if it hadn't been for those men in the black coats."
"But over 200 Aes Sedai were, Byrne! Light, man!"
Byrne shook his head and massaged his temple. "Listen, girl," he went forward with the sentence, even with a fierce glare from Egwene. "You can't wage a war without blood. Lives will be lost--do you care to think for one second what the Tower would have done to the men if they had had the upper hand?"
Egwene shook her head slowly. "We still haven't won. We will, though--it's too late to turn back now. The Light only knows what the history books will put me down as."
Byrne nodded. "Maybe you shouldn't care."