I AM SO SO SORRY I HAVE NOT UPDATED IM FOREVER!!! I have been gone for the last month on vacation, so I could not upload anything. Please forgive me and continue reading and REVIEWING!!!!

BTW, GO REDWINGS!!! They won the Stanlet Cup AGAIN! *sticks out tongue* that's for the Hurricanes! HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!

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A NEW QUEST: CHAPTER 9

"AAAAAAAH!"

Bone had crunched, and Senaara woke from her faint with a shocking amount of pain in her knees. Each time her knees hit the next step, the bone sent jolts of pain through her legs. The bone moved painfully around inside her skin, and she screamed again. Her grip around Mayodin's waist slipped as she wailed, but she closed her mouth and hung on grimly. Where ever this path from the Dark One was leading, she was going, too, and she knew she could not walk on her legs now. It was foolish, she knew, but she would not leave Tel'aran'rhiod until she knew what was going on. Besides, whatever force had shielded her from saidar probably would not let her back into the waking world.

"Egwene," pleaded the girl, "please help! PLE-E-EASE!" Sobs broke into her desperate words, and she clung to Mayodin with new energy. She could not let go, not know. Thud. Pain, the pain! How unbearable! She could not think. Redness resonated inside her skull, the color her mind coordinated with pain. Nothing she ever felt could match this. Sheer, awful, excrutiating pain in her knees told her that they were only being mashed worse with each step Mayodin took.

"Mayodin! STOOOOP!" she cried helplessly, but it was in vain. A thought crossed her mind- she could splint her knees, anything was possible in the Unseen World. Concentrate as she would, she could not change anything around her. But, she told herself, biting back a scream, if the light does not reach this place, why should other "rules" of Tel'aran'rhiod apply? Her last conscious thought was: Oh, Light, have mercy.....

Blissful unconsciousness took over, making pain and thought irrelevent.

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"No! No, no, NO!" A stream of curses followed from Nynaeve's mouth as she stood over her student. Mayodin did not look good at all. What was going on? He wouldn't wake up and the glow around his face was growing darker and darker with every second. She tried to use the Power, but nothing would touch the boy on the bed.

She had already tried to wake him up, but her hand had nearly blistered from heat when she reached to touch his shoulder. No amount of noise would wake him, either. Lan was the only comforting presence. The bond she held told her he was concerned and patient, alert, and overall ready for anything.

Nynaeve's eyes blurred with tears and she turned to Lan, who stood behind her patiently waiting. "Nothing I do can help him!" she wailed, thumping a fist on her husband's chest feebly. I think I have to go into Tel'aran'rhiod again. This is so not good...." She left the room as though in a daze. Lan, looking down at Mayodin's distorted features, was unsure whether it was wise for the Aes Sedai to do this, but said nothing and simply followed her from the room.

"What if the same thing happens to you?" demanded Lan as Nynaeve sat and slipped on the ring.

*She shrugged and said, "Who cares?" but then decided better and frowned.

She looked at her bare feet and said quietly, "I have no idea. If anything does, my question is what will happen to you?" She looked back up, across the room at the Warder. Not even her brown eyes showed emotion, but the bond flooded fear, concern, and love.

He did not meet her eyes. She sighed and whispered, "That's what I was afraid of. I love you, Lan. I WILL see you again. Whatever is going on will be put to rights."

She lay down and, after some time, fell asleep. The ter'angreal did its work, and Tel'aran'rhiod came into focus quite suddenly.

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Mayodin did not know what was going on. He was completely out of control of his body. Not once had his clothing flickered as his thoughts raced, which was unusual for him since he had almost no control normally in Tel'aran'rhiod. What was going on?

At first, he had thought that this was completely normal- there was no problem, he did this every day. Didn't he? He had been down this stair case millions of times.

Hadn't he?

Then he felt a weight pressing against his back. When he tried to turn and look, his body would not move. When he tried to talk, his mouth would not move. He could not see anything, but he presumed this was due to no light being in the stairwell. Suddenly he knew that this was NOT normal, that he didn't do this every day. But he could not do anything, not a thing. He was trapped inside his own mind.

He tried to scream. He tried to kick. He tried to move his hands to see what was hanging on to him.

More thoughts came. Senaara. Where was she? What had happened to her? What had happened to HIM? Where was HE? Had she followed him into this unknown place? Was she trying to talk to him? Could he hear anything? Nynaeve, and Lan. Where were they? Would they come to help? He was still in Tel'aran'rhiod, wasn't he? Was Senaara?

He strained his ears. Or at least he tried, but once again he found he had no physical control over his body. But if he concentrated on listening and listening only, he discovered he could hear a faint crushing noise that was heard everytime a sharper noise came. He presumed that the sharper noise was his boots clicking on the stone of the stairs. Then what was that other noise?

This was utterly not good. Where was he going and what was he doing? More importantly, who, or what, was controling his body?

A light appeared at the end of the stairs. He could barely see it; it was only a pinprick. With each step it grew larger and larger. He would have squinted into it if he could, but once again, he could not control it. /The Light burn whatever is doing this./ And still his feet took steps.

Click- thud. Click- thud. Click- thud.

He reckoned on another twenty steps until he entered the light. Click- thud. Click- thud.

Ten. Click- thud. Click- thud. He was convinced that if these were normal circumstances his heart would be racing so fast he would have to sit down and wait it out. What was in the light? Click- thud. Click- thud.

Two. One. His feet stepped down onto an empty platform and his body stopped. The light around them was limited to a circle with a radius of about twenty feet and all he could see through his ever looking forward eyes was bare gray stone. No one or thing sat in the space. Then, suddenly, he crumpled to the floor. The thing around his waist let go and he heard the whoosh of material as whatever it was fell to the floor. He wondered what was going on briefly, then realized he had control again.

He pulled his hand out from underneath his body. It was searing with pain, and he found that it was slightly bent in an unnatural direction. /Blood and ashes! Broken! What in the name of the Light is going on?/ He turned to see what it was that had been holding onto him and making the curious thudding noise.

A cry erupted from his throat as he saw a girl in green silk crumpled in a heap behind him, blood staining the front of her dress where her knees had broken. "Senaara! No, no, no! What is going on?" He pulled himself to her side and listened for a heart beat, then let out a sigh of relief. At least she was still alive. He then straightened her so she was laying with her head in his lap. Stroking her cheek gently, he began talking to her, trying to wake her up. "... and.... The Light burn me, Senaara, I'm sorry. I don't know what happened. I just don't know!"

Tears rolled down his cheek and dripped onto hers. "The Light burn me," he whispered.

"That can be arranged," said a familiar voice. His back stiffened, but as he turned, something hit his head and unconsciousness took over all thoughts.

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End of Chapter 9. Chapter ten will either be the last chapter or second to last, and then eleven or twelve will be like an epilogue. PLEASE REVIEW. Once again, I AM SOO SORRY I HAVE NOT UPLOADED IN FOREVER!!!!!! I need to know that i still have readers- REVIEW PLLLLLEEEEEAAAAASE!