Chapter Three
Lews and I led the remainder of the Aes Sedai through the city of Paarad Disen. We found small groups of Darkfriends, but they were soon taken care of. We were in a rush. It was not pretty. We made our way to the main gates of Paarad Disen, where we could see the forces of Ishamael the Betrayer waiting for us. Lews climbed up the stairs that ran over the main gates. It was amazing how quickly they had been built. It had only been three years since the start of the War of Power, and it had been built in that time. Over three leagues of wall, in three years. It was amazingly done, I thought. I heard Lews shout over the wall to the Darkfriends outside.
"Betrayer, you are insane to attack Paarad Disen and the Hall! Leave now, while you can still have your head, and your ability to channel!" he shouted. A man stepped out of the crowd. I knew him well. He was one of Lews' friends in the days before the Bore. His name was Elan Morin Tedroni. He was the second strongest man I had ever known who could channel.
"How mocking you are, Dragon. I will always win over you. It has been so ever since there was Time itself. You and I will see each other again a thousand times, and I will still win." I remembered Tedroni's philosophy now.
One of his most famous books "The Disassembly of Reason" was republished since the Bore was created, and he had written that since Time was created, that there had been a constant struggle between the Creator and the Dark One, and that in every Age, there had been a champion of the Dark One and the Creator. It seemed that Elan Morin believed himself to be the Champion of the Dark One, and because of this, it seemed that it was the Dragon who was the Creator's champion. I hoped that the side of the Creator would win this battle.
I felt Lews holding saidin, and he created a shield around our little force of channellers, who by now were all holding the One Power. Then Ishamael attacked.
His force suddenly hurled fireballs at us. They were reflected off the shield, and we heard a few screams from beneath us. They Elan Morin Tedroni the Betrayer of hope channelled. He stood out of the crowd, and as he channelled, I heard Lews say "Jump away from the wall! He is using balefire!" As we jumped, the walls collapsed, for the sole reason that the gates of Paarad Disen were destroyed. As they charged, we knew that it was too close for us to use the Power: we would more likely do damage to our own force. So we drew our weapons, swords for the men, and daggers for the women. We did not see the point in weapons. We were fighting in small groups, back to back. I was back to back with Vaerlin, when we came up against the Spider. Moghedien was running away from the fighting, hiding away like the spider she was.
"Vaerlin, I am going after the Spider." She nodded her agreement, and I ran after her. She saw me as I ran after her, and I screamed after her.
"Run into your little web, Moghedien. I will find you." She ran through the streets of the city, but she did not know where she was going. She was born in Comelle, and that was destroyed. I had spent my entire life in this city, I knew all the back alleys, and I quickly cornered her. I stared into her eyes. She stared into mine. She suddenly channelled. I did know no about it until after I read the resonance. She had inverted her bloody weaves. I lost consciousness for some reason. I think that she used some weave against me that I had never known about. I only woke up after Vaerlin slapped me into consciousness.
"Welcome back Latra."
"My head, what in the name of the Creator happened?" I asked Vaerlin, and I got the answer I had prayed for, but never expected.
"We won. Lews Therin captured the Betrayer. He is being held in the hall of the Servants. Lews decided to wait for you to be found before they pressed judgement. He is going to be severed, without a doubt, and I think that is all he deserves." I got up, and I was a bit unsteady on my feet, so I held on to Vaerlin. But my voice was still as strong as it always was.
"Take me to the Hall of the Servants."