He stood looking at the man. There was something about him... He decided to let it go for now. "Hanal is it?" He extended his hand to Hanal. "I am Al'Ric and what you see are the remains of my small group. We have been here for near a fortnight. The thing that you see there on the field is a Waygate. We were sent here by The Lord Dragon and Lord Logain to defend Fal-Dara, which is my home, from the Shadowspawn that have been using the gate as a means to let themselves in to Shinear without being seen in Fal-Dara or Fal-Moran. Last night, we beat back a fearsome onslaught, and I nearly died myself. I would have if not for the help of Zarin Sedai. As you can ascertain, there only one score and seven. If you choose to remain with us, you will have need of your ability to use the sword. We are going to leave here shortly, and I will tell you that we are going into the Blight. If what I feel is correct, we will end up at the Black Forge of Thakan'dar."
Giving Hanal a moment to think, he turned and called to Tovra and Zarin Sedai. "We will be leaving soon. Our camp is packed, and the horses are ready."
Turning back to Hanal. "Will you go? You have nothing to fear here Hanal, so long as we have nothing to fear from you.If you are afraid that I will go mad and kill all around me," he laughed softly, "you have nothing to fear. The Taint has been gone from Saidin for months now. Do not fear Hanal. I will not break the world " Smiling and winking at Hanal, he could not help but add " Yet."
xxxx
Through the bond, Zarin felt an overwhelming happiness. The joy was so great, Zarin felt that she could cry. She felt Tovra draw nearer, until she was certain that she could reach out and touch her.
Turning her head, Zarin looked at Tovra as she calmly wiped off her blade. "He wants to know," Tovra said softly, "if we shall go with him. Al'Ric, is it? Will we?"
Zarin pushed herself up so she was in a sitting position before answering. "I am not sure. I thought that when we left the Tower that my path would lead me elsewhere. Maybe it was fate that brought us here; maybe it was luck. Or, possibly, the Creator took a hand in matters. Whatever it was and is, I think we had best stay with Al'Ric."
Zarin looked over to Al'Ric and saw that he was talking to a strange man. "We will be leaving soon. Our camp is packed, and the horses are ready," Al'Ric called over to them. Speaking softer than she had before, Zarin said, "I think we might not have much of a choice."
Zarin looked at her Warder. This woman had to know what would happen if Zarin died, that she would be driven to avenge her fallen Aes Sedai at all costs. But yet, she had chosen to accept the bonding. She chose to pledge her life to an Aes Sedai. Zarin had no right to make the decision without Tovra's opinion. "What do you think we should do?"
xxxx
Zarin pushed herself up, looking up at her calmly, still smooth as stone though she must have felt what had happened to Tovra. "...I think we should stay with Al'Ric." Tovra nodded. That made sense; she had yet to find out what had happened when she touched her hand, or why, and he seemed to be the logical one to seek an answer from. You sound more like a Brown yourself everyday, she told herself wryly. Al'Ric called over to them that they were ready to go, and Zarin lowered her voice, speaking for Tovra's ears alone.
"I think we may not have much of a choice." Tovra's face hardened. Had Al'Ric done something, said something to her...? He couldn't have, she told herself quickly. You would have felt it! "What do you think we should do?"
Tovra stood still for a moment, gazing at the man in the distance, talking loudly to a stranger. Could an Asha'man be trusted? Could they trust someone doomed to go mad from the Taint? Yet something nagged at her. Somehow, she knew she had to stay with this man.
She hesitated a moment more, then spoke. "I think we should go with him," she said finally. Then she in turn lowered her voice. "When he touched me... something happened." She looked into the distance, avoiding Zarin's eyes. "Something's different. I don't know what it is yet," she said, carefully, looking intently at the Black-coated man in the distance, "But I think I have to stay near him to find out what it was. Or why it happened." She looked back at Zarin, meeting her eyes. "Shall we go?"
xxxx
Walking away from Hanal, Al'Ric wandered back into the middle of the camp. The ground was scorched and torn asunder. The smell of fire and lightning mingled with the odor of Earth and blood. Such a waste, he thought. The Shadow had lost this small part of the War. Shadowspawn would not use this Gate again. He wondered if one of the Sniffers from his Homeland could stand the smell of the place. A fleeting thought to free his mind from the horrors of the night before. He had come close to the last embrace. Zarin Sedai had Healed him. He could still feel the twinges in his body where the Trolloc arrows had struck home. He could still see the Tolloc raise its blade........... Be that as it may, he was alive, and he knew that he must carry on. Death, he understood now, was not the end that many thought, but was a new beginning. He wondered what he would have gazed upon had he been able to go through the White door...
"Al'Ric", a voice called, pulling him back from his musing. He looked up to see Trenchan and Delphin standing before him.
"I see you Delphin, Trenchan," acknowledging the Aiel's presence.
"We are ready Al'Ric. What would you have us do when we depart?"
He thought only a moment. "Delphin, have your Stone Dog's take the rear, not all of them mind you, I want fifteen of them for the rear guard. I want you and Trenchan and three others with me. I will make a Gateway, like the one that brought you here. Two Asha'man will be here with us in the Vanguard, and the two other Asha'man will stay with the rear guard Stone Dog's. Zarin Sedai and her Warder, I want in the center of the formation. Both are strong, and I only want to use them as a last measure, and if this Hanal chooses to accompany us, he will ride with us up front. The man claims to have some skill with a blade. We go to the Blight, Delphin. Be wary, death will await us around every turn." The Aiel looked at him, then at one another, before turning back to him. Trenchan leaped high into the air, and preformed a series of dazziling kicks and open hand chops.
"We are not afraid, distant son of Malkier. Everyone must wake from the dream at some point. With teeth bared, I will go to spit in Sightblinders Eye. We are with you until the end." Delphin nodded his agreement. " Till water and shade are gone, and we wake from the dream, we will be with you." Al'Ric nodded back, what noble men he thought.
"Till water and shade are gone, and we wake from the dream. I am with you also Delphin, Trenchan. May you find water and shade this day." And with that was off again.
Whistling for Distancer, he called to Zarin Sedai and Tovra. "We are done here, let us be on our way." Mounting Distancer, he rode towards Hanal. "We are done here Hanal, let us be gone." Gathering the formation into the triangular shape that he had in his mind, he rode Distancer to the front of the group. He knew he could make a Gateway now. That was one of the things that was passed to him when he was near death. He knew that he had more control over Saidin now. He could bend it to fit his needs exactly. He also knew that he could channel so much more now. It was if something had been removed from that had only allowed a portion of the Power to come through to him. He felt there was no restriction on the amount now.
Seizing Saidin, he knew that all he had to do was picture an area of the Blight to go there. Traveling did not require knowing where you were going, only knowledge of your starting point. Another word came to him. Skimming. He understood the concept once he had the word in his mind. Skimming required a knowledge of your destination to be used, and it was slower. Maybe another time, but not now. He concentrated on an area in the Blight to the East and somewhat North. Working to 'Fold" the Pattern in on itself, he conjured the image in his mind of where he wanted to be. The pattern folded in his mind at the time a bright silvery slash appeared in the air in front of the band of Hero's, turned ninety degrees and began to open wider onto a scene of snow and ice. Rocky slopes of disaster loomed before them. Tying the Gateway open, he leaped through the Gateway.
xxxx
After listening to what Tovra said, Zarin nodded. Her Warder gave her advice, and she listened. That was her job. "Shall we go?" Tovra asked.
"Yes, of course." Placing a hand on Tovra's shoulder, Zarin pushed herself to her feet.
Once standing, Zarin took her hand away from Tovra's shoulder. "We are done here, let us be on our way," Zarin heard Al'Ric call. Telling herself that she would not fall, Zarin walked slowly over to where her horse was. Surprisingly, throughout the whole battle, her horse made it out alive.
Soothing her horse by rubbing the mare's neck. Since she already held saidar, Zarin readied the weaves that were used in Healing. Letting them flow into her horse, the mare nickered quietly. This wasn't the first time the mare had experienced Healing, and she was used to it.
Zarin let go of the Source and swung into her saddle. She rode over to where Al'Ric was, although she reigned in her mare well short of him when she saw a silvery slash form in the air. It twisted around before opening into a doorway. Zarin watched the gateway, trying to puzzle out how to do that with saidar. This had to be the legendary Traveling that she had read about. Lost in thought, Zarin didn't notice when Al'Ric went, with one step, from Shienar to the Blight.
xxxx
Tovra's head snapped towards Al'Ric as he called to them, telling them it was time to go. She followed Zarin to their horses, calming her eye-rolling stallion with a firm hand. She patted his sleek ebony neck, glad to see he had no injuries other than a few small cuts and scrapes. Ayende could take care of himself. The glow of Saidar surrounded Zarin as she healed her horse, not as independent as Tovra's.
She quickly swung up into her saddle, following Zarin to where Al'Ric waited. They stopped before they had reached him, however, which turned out to be a good thing. A blazing silver slit appeared in the air before him, and Tovra's sharp eyes saw how easily it split the slender stalks of grass in its way. Now that would be a formidable weapon, she thought, impressed. Nothing compared to what she felt when she saw what lay beyond it, however.
The sickly plant of the Blight lay beyond that square of light, though they lay nowhere near it; could it be? It had to be... Traveling. The Black Tower could Travel. Al'Ric stepped through the door, and she began to ride after him, a hand firmly on her sword, and solidly between Zarin and the Blight. Zarin may have need of all my abilities, here, she thought. The Blight is a very dangerous place... Her head swiveling to watch all around her, she stepped leagues in a breath.
Tovra embraced the Source, wanting the added senses it gave her now. She had only been in the Blight twice before, and both had been... unpleasant... experiences. To say the least. Death lay in everything, all dead, dying, or causing death. A flat silence lay over everything, devoid of the usual sounds of life. This place made her uneasy. Unnoticed, a sneer crept up one side of her face as she stared as a particularly sickly 'tree'. If you could call the misshapen stump that.
xxxx
Zarin took her little book out from her pouch and balanced her small inkwell on the saddle. Frustrated that no one had ever come up with a way of writing that didn't need an inkwell, Zarin began to take notes.
She described as best she could about the gateway that took them to the Blight in one step. Once that was finished, she started drawing quick sketches of the different plants that they passed. Looking up for a quick moment, Zarin saw that her horse had kept up with the group. Sparing a moment to pat her mare's neck, Zarin went back to her book.
Part of her mind registered Al'Ric mentioning that they would be stopping soon, but she forgot as soon as she went back to making notes. The thought occurred to her that it would make sense to wonder what they were doing here, but Zarin trusted her Warder, and Tovra trusted Al'Ric. For her, that was enough.