A/N: read and review please, I hope u like the story's about to get going
really well this though the next chapter will be hardest to write I think.
****** = change of focus
Disclaimer: I don't own anything, all characters and storylines belong to R.J.
Chapter one: The Awakening
Distantly he was aware of the sound of rushing water, the feel of a tugging at his feet and the soft ground giving way underneath him as he moved. It was as if it was coming from a distant place, happening to another body while he slept. A body that he knew he must return to but had no wish to do so at the moment. The world was full of horrors, he knew, and the feel of blissful ignorance for the moment had enraptured him so much so that he fought it every step of the way. He knew that his body was waking around him and he in turn struggled to maintain his subconscious state.
Against all his wishes his mind began to operate faster, than faster still, as if giving him away to his enemies, betraying him of his own will, the soul fighting the mind and the body supporting both regardless. Dizzyingly all three crashed together on a conscious level. Soul, mind and body took a collective gasp and his lungs screamed in protested at the sudden unwelcome impact. His eyes fluttered open and slammed shut again instantly, pain seared through his eyes into his brain. The sun was directly at its apex high in the midday sky. It was not a strong sun like the middle of summer, in fact it was as if it was the middle of winter but his eyes, so used to darkness cold not stand even a little direct light straight away.
A breeze stirred blowing gently across him, a normal man would have shivered but he did not let the cold touch him, that didn't mean he took no notice of how cold it was. He knew the feeling well, for where he had grown up winter was just like this, it got warmer as the season lengthened and spring drew near but winter always seemed to struggle to maintain its hold on the land, and its claws could be felt most acutely in the wind, raking the heat from an unwary body.
Pulling himself into a sitting position and bringing his right hand to cover his eyes from the sun, he allowed his eyes to open and survey the surrounding countryside. It took a few seconds for his eyes to focus in the still hurtful light but slowly his vision returned. He was at the edge of a river, at a bend in its gentle flowing streams, upon its sandy banks. With a start he realized that his legs where still in the water and realized that the flowing water was what had been tugging at his legs when he was in his subconscious fight. Removing his legs from the stream and scrambling back from the waters edge so that he was sitting completely on dry ground he continued his observations. He was in the middle of wide open country on both sides of the river all he could see where open grass lands sparsely populated by trees. On the horizon to the west he could see the outlines of mountains, though none he had ever seen before, and in every other direction was just unbroken sky, with the odd cloud breaking its blue splendor. It was like waking from a drunken stupor with no hangover and also no idea where he was. Even the trees looked odd in a way he didn't understand and there was something else, a feeling of something missing though he couldn't say what, it niggled at the back of his head and every time he turned to look it seemed to disappear, vanish leaving an aftermath that he didn't recognize at all.
Standing required using muscles that stiffened in protest, almost into cramps all over his legs, the feeling was as unusual to him as his surroundings, and he had never been here before. Although most countryside's looked the same, and he had seen a lot of empty country in the last ten years he was sure he had never been here. Thinking of the last ten years made unwanted memories rise to the surface, as if visions rose from buried graves, he turned his head to the side, as if doing so could make the images of death and destruction vanish, the images of chaos and desperation suddenly disappear. Abruptly, like a fist striking his face, he realized what was missing. And he was almost knocked over in surprise. It was Death and fear. For ten years he had lived around death, it had filled the very air with its stench until he had taken it as part of everyday life, taken it for granted that it was going to be there no matter what he did, it had almost become comforting in a strange sort of way, as long as you could smell death you where not dead. Accompanying death had always been fear, everywhere he went there was fear, it pulsed in the very air until one could almost touch it.
Both where missing from this place, an absence that put him on edge and made a feeling rise in his stomach that he remembered from his childhood, pure joy. No death or fear, it was as he remembered from his earliest childhood memories before the shadow had begun to make itself know and it made him laugh with delight, he through back his head, raised his arms and shouted to the sky in the most joy filled voice he ever remembered using, "we won, after all those disparate years, those years that it seemed it would never end, not with victory, we won, WE WON." His laughter took control but he continued, "Thank the Light, thank the Creator, and thank the DRAGON!"
He didn't remember falling to his knees but he didn't care, he was laughing so much in pure joy that he had started crying. Bringing his hands to his face to scrub away stray tears he froze, his mirth froze and he remembered. On his left hand where five black rings, one on each finger. It was at those that he stared for they where the key to his memory, it grew until it enveloped him, until he was forced to relive it, he did not want to but there was nothing he could do, it came.
******
Knocking on the redwood door he shifted nervously, he couldn't help but to be nervous, it was just a few hours until the attack. An attack that was more than a little risky and it would decide the fate of the world, for better or worse by this time tomorrow the war will have been decided with either the light or the shadow decapitated at the head. He shivered at the thought, either the bore will have been closed and the dark one sealed away again or Lews Therin would be dead and most of the hundred companions with him, most of his brothers, dead. Lews Therin believed that this was the last hope of the light, they could not afford to sit and wait for the access ter'angreal to be recovered because by the time they where the war would be over and no Aes Sedai would be left alive to use them.
He was right, their armies would not hold out much longer, weeks at most. The light burn Latra Posae Decome and her 'fateful concord'. They would need those bloody women in a few hours, without them it was going to be a hundred times harder, with much more risk of something going wrong. Form the other side of the door came a solemn "come". Taking a deep breath, he entered.
The room was large though sparsely decorated with just the bare essentials needed to receive guests and look over reports that where scattered across the large desk that would have dominated the room if not for the man that sat on the only chair behind it. He was a large man, strongly built and tall when standing, he had a face that constantly bore the strain of worry, the look of someone not liking what they knew and unable to change it no matter how hard he tried, hair gray before his time and brown eyes deep sunken in his face as if retreating from what they had seen, regarded him with a determined look of a man about to do something that he knew the other would not like.
"My lord Tamyrlin, you summoned me?" he said as he gave a little bow.
Lews Therin regarded him silently as he straightened then nodded his head slightly as if finally agreeing with what he had been planning. "Ethan, there is no need for formalities and you know it. You have been a faithful friend to me over these long years and have saved my life more times than I care to remember. Now be at ease, please."
Relaxing his stance he regarded the Tamyrlin of the Aes Sedai with the true familiarity that the men shared with each other. "Lews, there is no need to bring that up. It was my job as head of your bodyguard, what else could I do, besides" he added with a rueful grin, "if you died I would have had to face Ilyena, I would rather face the dark one by myself than that!"
Laughing silently Lews nodded his head in agreement. "I can imagine your fear, it must make you sweat at nights, the though of me dying." His mirth faded and was replaced again with the determined that had been their earlier. "Now as to why I summoned you, I have a task for you in the coming raid. It is very important to me and to the world that you complete this task to the best of your abilities"
"What is it you wish of me, Lews, I will do it as best I can, anything to help and ensure the success of the attack!" all laughter was forgotten, this had become deadly serious very quickly. Lews never got straight to the point unless he was dreading what he was about to say.
"Ethan, the task I have for you," he paused and took a deep breath lowering his gaze so not to meet his eyes, "the task, the task is to stay here, you are not to come with the rest of the companions to Shayol Ghul, you are to stay here with a group of our brothers that will not be coming with us."
Fury raged so hard throughout his body that he had to assume the oneness to control himself, when he spoke his voice was as flat as the floor tiles. "You cannot do this to me Lews I have been by your side for ten years fighting the shadow, I have been one of your most loyal and devoted supporters no matter what anyone else though, I was one of the first to join the companions, now I know I my still be considered young but I am more experienced then half the others put TOGETHER!" he didn't mean it to come out as a shout, visibly calming himself he continued. "I know you must fear for Ilyena but surely someone else can stay and look after her. I would be much more usefu..."
"ENOUGH", the command pushed home by the sound of Lews Therin's hand slamming into the table. "Ethan I do not do this to slight you or dishonor you or even because of Ilyena. I do this because the task is not to sit and guard my family for me but because I'm worried, worried that I might not succeed in what I'm about to do that even if I succeed something terrible might happen, I don't know what but who knows what the dark one is capable of? All I know is what I'm about to attempt has a very good chance of having some very nasty unexpected consequences that we might not survive."
"All the more reason for me to come along, with me there we have a greater chance of success, a better chance of nothing going wrong, a muc......"
"NO, no Ethan. Shut up and listen. We have more than enough people ready to go, over one hundred of the companions and thirty thousand soldiers, what we need to do won't take long and there are better people than you at placing the seals, your talents are elsewhere. My orders for you are to sit in the cellar with the men I have chosen, if I return then you are to come out and join in the celebrations but if the men that will be stationed in the palace hear of anything strange, anything at all wrong then my orders are for you to be placed into the stasis-box with warding to be placed around the box so that it will only open when the danger has passed. The box will be moved to a safe place, where it will wait until it is able to open. These are my orders and I will enforce them if I have to."
"There is no way to talk you out of this is there," he muttered resigned to defeat, Lews Therin nodded his head making him sight, "why me?" asking was just so he could hear it from Lews, he already knew the answer.
"Knowledge must be preserved and whatever happens it must survive. The knowledge of channeling cannot be written so it must be passed from person to person, can you imagine what would happen if something happened that killed every Aes Sedai but left those with the spark that would start to channel again, they would have no one to instruct them, no one to teach them, how many would die? How much would be lost? I have sent to the females for someone like you but they have denied my request, I have chosen you for this task because you fit what is needed much better than anyone else. You are very young, so you will live a very long time when you are released, you will have many years to gather those you can find and start teaching them, or just join back into the established Aes Sedai if it still survives and restart your life as you have no family." He took a deep breath and continued. "You are a very rare channeler, very strong in every power except water and you are almost as strong as me. Your talents lay in very rare areas, areas that are not likely to be so common in a world where no male channeled has been taught properly. It is very likely that delving would have been lost and your strength in earth makes this an easy talent for you, making mining simple, you are one of the best healers still alive and although this is one of the most basic talents the complexity of the major healing weaves makes it a talent that will be half lost at best! But most importantly your understanding of the power is much better than almost everyone if not everyone is why I need you, you designed the Choedan Kal. No one ever though of using access ter'angreal before, there is a genius there, that ability will be needed, the ability of making all type of angreal for it will surely be lost, it is rare even now."
He bowed his head in resignation, he knew when he was defeated, Lews argument all made sense for he was the best candidate. He had been told many times in his career how rare he was and he remembered the shocked faces in the hall of the servants when he announced that he wanted to become a carpenter rather then the politician they all had thought he would be since when he was found to be able to channel at the age of sixteen. "I will do it but I don't have to like it!"
********
The memory faded away and others tried to replace it, memories of Lews Therin describing what he would envision if he could start they Aes Sedai again, of him trying to give his rings to Lews Therin and Lews refusing, of sitting in the dark room with some of the other man while they waited, all nervous, all waiting and then sitting there staring at a wall when one of the man stood up and embraced saidin, he had taken two steps before throwing up then telling the rest of us what was wrong. We all embraced saidin and we all had thrown up even though we where expecting what we felt, it was horrible and then they had all turned to look at him before forcing him into the box. He shivered at the memory, at what he had felt, the ....anomaly on the source he had had no time to think on what it was, to him it felt like it was barely a few hours ago, time did not pass in a stasis-box. Idly he wondered how long had passed outside the box.
Tentatively he reached for the male half of the one power, he reached for saidin. He grabbed hold and life filled him, pure saidin rushed into him, filled him near to bursting, he strained to feel it all, to see if anything still remained. Letting out a breath he had not realized he was holding he sighed and closed his eyes saying a silent pray to the creator, it was gone, the anomaly was gone. What had removed it?
Relief washed through him so strong that he felt it inside the void, the warding had worked as it should have. Words began floating to the surface inside the void, words he couldn't suppress, his orders from the tamyrlin boomed inside his head. "Gather those you can find and start teaching them, or just join back into the established Aes Sedai if it still survives." He had his orders. Turning back to the spot beside the river where he had awoke from his sleep he reasoned that his subconscious had taken enough note of his surroundings in that area to be able to make a gateway. Stepping up to the spot he wove a gateway to the traveling grounds at the hall of the servants in Paaran Disen, capital city of the Light. Readying himself to confront the hall, confront his sisters that had turned on Lews Therin at the last moment. Confront a city that may not be the same as he rememb-.
The gateway spiraled open and nothing could have prepared him for what he saw, nothing. Of the largest city on the world, capital seat of the government and the Aes Sedai, crown jewel of the world, there was no sign, nothing. Through the gateway a vast ocean could be seen to the horizon in all directions water rolled and tossed and splashed in on itself. It was the middle of an ocean. Eyes wide all he could do was stare and mutter "oh my creator, oh my creator" over and over again. He closed the gateway and released saidin, trying to dispel the image from his mind. What could have done that? What could turn the greatest city in the world into the middle of the ocean?
Deep down in his bones the answer came to him, he knew. He didn't know how it could be possible but he knew. It was the anomaly that caused it, it was the only thing that had been different, it had to be it. It wasn't logical to be so positive without been told or finding more evidence but he was sure. Again the words came to him "gather those you can find and start teaching them." He was sure that he would have to find them, if the greatest city in the world was an ocean, surely nothing of the Aes Sedai survived. He needed answers and he needed them now. Embracing saidin again he reached out with the power and felt for life. There was abundant life hidden in the sparse forest all around him but that was not the type of life he was looking for, he was looking for human life. He extended his weave as far as it would go, inverting it at the same time for safety. To the west there where small centers of human activity that had to have been small towns, to the north and south he could only feel limited amounts of human life forms but to the west he found what he was looking for. Close to him there was a large amount of human activity about half moving away from him and the other back towards him, as if they where birds that had all been startled into flight and some where still running but others where returning to their tree. Almost straight west there where densely populated towns at regular intervals until at the very most edge of his sense's he found what he was looking for. A city that must support a population of at least one hundred thousand, perhaps even double that. Not a large city by any means but still the largest he could feel in any direction, he would find his answers there. He was sure of it.
Again the words entered his head, "gather those you can find and start teaching them." Aes Sedai Ethan Quillus Farvian had a job to do. He opened a gateway and stepped through; in the distance he could see a walled city that was sparsely surrounded by what had to be soldiers from the look of them. He found himself standing at the edge of a forest. Hidden by trees it was hardly surprising that no one noticed his arrival, all their attention seemed to be focused on the city anyway.
Distantly he noticed the breeze had stirred the banners that hung from every tower within the city, a rearing white lion on a field of red. He did not know where he was, he didn't recognize the banner but he knew his answers where in that city. Dressed in only his silver robe and sandals he took his first step forward, toward the closed city gates, Apprehensive of what he might find. Whatever he found he would carry out the dragons wishes. Glancing down at his left hand and the rings, nothing short of death would stop him.
****** = change of focus
Disclaimer: I don't own anything, all characters and storylines belong to R.J.
Chapter one: The Awakening
Distantly he was aware of the sound of rushing water, the feel of a tugging at his feet and the soft ground giving way underneath him as he moved. It was as if it was coming from a distant place, happening to another body while he slept. A body that he knew he must return to but had no wish to do so at the moment. The world was full of horrors, he knew, and the feel of blissful ignorance for the moment had enraptured him so much so that he fought it every step of the way. He knew that his body was waking around him and he in turn struggled to maintain his subconscious state.
Against all his wishes his mind began to operate faster, than faster still, as if giving him away to his enemies, betraying him of his own will, the soul fighting the mind and the body supporting both regardless. Dizzyingly all three crashed together on a conscious level. Soul, mind and body took a collective gasp and his lungs screamed in protested at the sudden unwelcome impact. His eyes fluttered open and slammed shut again instantly, pain seared through his eyes into his brain. The sun was directly at its apex high in the midday sky. It was not a strong sun like the middle of summer, in fact it was as if it was the middle of winter but his eyes, so used to darkness cold not stand even a little direct light straight away.
A breeze stirred blowing gently across him, a normal man would have shivered but he did not let the cold touch him, that didn't mean he took no notice of how cold it was. He knew the feeling well, for where he had grown up winter was just like this, it got warmer as the season lengthened and spring drew near but winter always seemed to struggle to maintain its hold on the land, and its claws could be felt most acutely in the wind, raking the heat from an unwary body.
Pulling himself into a sitting position and bringing his right hand to cover his eyes from the sun, he allowed his eyes to open and survey the surrounding countryside. It took a few seconds for his eyes to focus in the still hurtful light but slowly his vision returned. He was at the edge of a river, at a bend in its gentle flowing streams, upon its sandy banks. With a start he realized that his legs where still in the water and realized that the flowing water was what had been tugging at his legs when he was in his subconscious fight. Removing his legs from the stream and scrambling back from the waters edge so that he was sitting completely on dry ground he continued his observations. He was in the middle of wide open country on both sides of the river all he could see where open grass lands sparsely populated by trees. On the horizon to the west he could see the outlines of mountains, though none he had ever seen before, and in every other direction was just unbroken sky, with the odd cloud breaking its blue splendor. It was like waking from a drunken stupor with no hangover and also no idea where he was. Even the trees looked odd in a way he didn't understand and there was something else, a feeling of something missing though he couldn't say what, it niggled at the back of his head and every time he turned to look it seemed to disappear, vanish leaving an aftermath that he didn't recognize at all.
Standing required using muscles that stiffened in protest, almost into cramps all over his legs, the feeling was as unusual to him as his surroundings, and he had never been here before. Although most countryside's looked the same, and he had seen a lot of empty country in the last ten years he was sure he had never been here. Thinking of the last ten years made unwanted memories rise to the surface, as if visions rose from buried graves, he turned his head to the side, as if doing so could make the images of death and destruction vanish, the images of chaos and desperation suddenly disappear. Abruptly, like a fist striking his face, he realized what was missing. And he was almost knocked over in surprise. It was Death and fear. For ten years he had lived around death, it had filled the very air with its stench until he had taken it as part of everyday life, taken it for granted that it was going to be there no matter what he did, it had almost become comforting in a strange sort of way, as long as you could smell death you where not dead. Accompanying death had always been fear, everywhere he went there was fear, it pulsed in the very air until one could almost touch it.
Both where missing from this place, an absence that put him on edge and made a feeling rise in his stomach that he remembered from his childhood, pure joy. No death or fear, it was as he remembered from his earliest childhood memories before the shadow had begun to make itself know and it made him laugh with delight, he through back his head, raised his arms and shouted to the sky in the most joy filled voice he ever remembered using, "we won, after all those disparate years, those years that it seemed it would never end, not with victory, we won, WE WON." His laughter took control but he continued, "Thank the Light, thank the Creator, and thank the DRAGON!"
He didn't remember falling to his knees but he didn't care, he was laughing so much in pure joy that he had started crying. Bringing his hands to his face to scrub away stray tears he froze, his mirth froze and he remembered. On his left hand where five black rings, one on each finger. It was at those that he stared for they where the key to his memory, it grew until it enveloped him, until he was forced to relive it, he did not want to but there was nothing he could do, it came.
******
Knocking on the redwood door he shifted nervously, he couldn't help but to be nervous, it was just a few hours until the attack. An attack that was more than a little risky and it would decide the fate of the world, for better or worse by this time tomorrow the war will have been decided with either the light or the shadow decapitated at the head. He shivered at the thought, either the bore will have been closed and the dark one sealed away again or Lews Therin would be dead and most of the hundred companions with him, most of his brothers, dead. Lews Therin believed that this was the last hope of the light, they could not afford to sit and wait for the access ter'angreal to be recovered because by the time they where the war would be over and no Aes Sedai would be left alive to use them.
He was right, their armies would not hold out much longer, weeks at most. The light burn Latra Posae Decome and her 'fateful concord'. They would need those bloody women in a few hours, without them it was going to be a hundred times harder, with much more risk of something going wrong. Form the other side of the door came a solemn "come". Taking a deep breath, he entered.
The room was large though sparsely decorated with just the bare essentials needed to receive guests and look over reports that where scattered across the large desk that would have dominated the room if not for the man that sat on the only chair behind it. He was a large man, strongly built and tall when standing, he had a face that constantly bore the strain of worry, the look of someone not liking what they knew and unable to change it no matter how hard he tried, hair gray before his time and brown eyes deep sunken in his face as if retreating from what they had seen, regarded him with a determined look of a man about to do something that he knew the other would not like.
"My lord Tamyrlin, you summoned me?" he said as he gave a little bow.
Lews Therin regarded him silently as he straightened then nodded his head slightly as if finally agreeing with what he had been planning. "Ethan, there is no need for formalities and you know it. You have been a faithful friend to me over these long years and have saved my life more times than I care to remember. Now be at ease, please."
Relaxing his stance he regarded the Tamyrlin of the Aes Sedai with the true familiarity that the men shared with each other. "Lews, there is no need to bring that up. It was my job as head of your bodyguard, what else could I do, besides" he added with a rueful grin, "if you died I would have had to face Ilyena, I would rather face the dark one by myself than that!"
Laughing silently Lews nodded his head in agreement. "I can imagine your fear, it must make you sweat at nights, the though of me dying." His mirth faded and was replaced again with the determined that had been their earlier. "Now as to why I summoned you, I have a task for you in the coming raid. It is very important to me and to the world that you complete this task to the best of your abilities"
"What is it you wish of me, Lews, I will do it as best I can, anything to help and ensure the success of the attack!" all laughter was forgotten, this had become deadly serious very quickly. Lews never got straight to the point unless he was dreading what he was about to say.
"Ethan, the task I have for you," he paused and took a deep breath lowering his gaze so not to meet his eyes, "the task, the task is to stay here, you are not to come with the rest of the companions to Shayol Ghul, you are to stay here with a group of our brothers that will not be coming with us."
Fury raged so hard throughout his body that he had to assume the oneness to control himself, when he spoke his voice was as flat as the floor tiles. "You cannot do this to me Lews I have been by your side for ten years fighting the shadow, I have been one of your most loyal and devoted supporters no matter what anyone else though, I was one of the first to join the companions, now I know I my still be considered young but I am more experienced then half the others put TOGETHER!" he didn't mean it to come out as a shout, visibly calming himself he continued. "I know you must fear for Ilyena but surely someone else can stay and look after her. I would be much more usefu..."
"ENOUGH", the command pushed home by the sound of Lews Therin's hand slamming into the table. "Ethan I do not do this to slight you or dishonor you or even because of Ilyena. I do this because the task is not to sit and guard my family for me but because I'm worried, worried that I might not succeed in what I'm about to do that even if I succeed something terrible might happen, I don't know what but who knows what the dark one is capable of? All I know is what I'm about to attempt has a very good chance of having some very nasty unexpected consequences that we might not survive."
"All the more reason for me to come along, with me there we have a greater chance of success, a better chance of nothing going wrong, a muc......"
"NO, no Ethan. Shut up and listen. We have more than enough people ready to go, over one hundred of the companions and thirty thousand soldiers, what we need to do won't take long and there are better people than you at placing the seals, your talents are elsewhere. My orders for you are to sit in the cellar with the men I have chosen, if I return then you are to come out and join in the celebrations but if the men that will be stationed in the palace hear of anything strange, anything at all wrong then my orders are for you to be placed into the stasis-box with warding to be placed around the box so that it will only open when the danger has passed. The box will be moved to a safe place, where it will wait until it is able to open. These are my orders and I will enforce them if I have to."
"There is no way to talk you out of this is there," he muttered resigned to defeat, Lews Therin nodded his head making him sight, "why me?" asking was just so he could hear it from Lews, he already knew the answer.
"Knowledge must be preserved and whatever happens it must survive. The knowledge of channeling cannot be written so it must be passed from person to person, can you imagine what would happen if something happened that killed every Aes Sedai but left those with the spark that would start to channel again, they would have no one to instruct them, no one to teach them, how many would die? How much would be lost? I have sent to the females for someone like you but they have denied my request, I have chosen you for this task because you fit what is needed much better than anyone else. You are very young, so you will live a very long time when you are released, you will have many years to gather those you can find and start teaching them, or just join back into the established Aes Sedai if it still survives and restart your life as you have no family." He took a deep breath and continued. "You are a very rare channeler, very strong in every power except water and you are almost as strong as me. Your talents lay in very rare areas, areas that are not likely to be so common in a world where no male channeled has been taught properly. It is very likely that delving would have been lost and your strength in earth makes this an easy talent for you, making mining simple, you are one of the best healers still alive and although this is one of the most basic talents the complexity of the major healing weaves makes it a talent that will be half lost at best! But most importantly your understanding of the power is much better than almost everyone if not everyone is why I need you, you designed the Choedan Kal. No one ever though of using access ter'angreal before, there is a genius there, that ability will be needed, the ability of making all type of angreal for it will surely be lost, it is rare even now."
He bowed his head in resignation, he knew when he was defeated, Lews argument all made sense for he was the best candidate. He had been told many times in his career how rare he was and he remembered the shocked faces in the hall of the servants when he announced that he wanted to become a carpenter rather then the politician they all had thought he would be since when he was found to be able to channel at the age of sixteen. "I will do it but I don't have to like it!"
********
The memory faded away and others tried to replace it, memories of Lews Therin describing what he would envision if he could start they Aes Sedai again, of him trying to give his rings to Lews Therin and Lews refusing, of sitting in the dark room with some of the other man while they waited, all nervous, all waiting and then sitting there staring at a wall when one of the man stood up and embraced saidin, he had taken two steps before throwing up then telling the rest of us what was wrong. We all embraced saidin and we all had thrown up even though we where expecting what we felt, it was horrible and then they had all turned to look at him before forcing him into the box. He shivered at the memory, at what he had felt, the ....anomaly on the source he had had no time to think on what it was, to him it felt like it was barely a few hours ago, time did not pass in a stasis-box. Idly he wondered how long had passed outside the box.
Tentatively he reached for the male half of the one power, he reached for saidin. He grabbed hold and life filled him, pure saidin rushed into him, filled him near to bursting, he strained to feel it all, to see if anything still remained. Letting out a breath he had not realized he was holding he sighed and closed his eyes saying a silent pray to the creator, it was gone, the anomaly was gone. What had removed it?
Relief washed through him so strong that he felt it inside the void, the warding had worked as it should have. Words began floating to the surface inside the void, words he couldn't suppress, his orders from the tamyrlin boomed inside his head. "Gather those you can find and start teaching them, or just join back into the established Aes Sedai if it still survives." He had his orders. Turning back to the spot beside the river where he had awoke from his sleep he reasoned that his subconscious had taken enough note of his surroundings in that area to be able to make a gateway. Stepping up to the spot he wove a gateway to the traveling grounds at the hall of the servants in Paaran Disen, capital city of the Light. Readying himself to confront the hall, confront his sisters that had turned on Lews Therin at the last moment. Confront a city that may not be the same as he rememb-.
The gateway spiraled open and nothing could have prepared him for what he saw, nothing. Of the largest city on the world, capital seat of the government and the Aes Sedai, crown jewel of the world, there was no sign, nothing. Through the gateway a vast ocean could be seen to the horizon in all directions water rolled and tossed and splashed in on itself. It was the middle of an ocean. Eyes wide all he could do was stare and mutter "oh my creator, oh my creator" over and over again. He closed the gateway and released saidin, trying to dispel the image from his mind. What could have done that? What could turn the greatest city in the world into the middle of the ocean?
Deep down in his bones the answer came to him, he knew. He didn't know how it could be possible but he knew. It was the anomaly that caused it, it was the only thing that had been different, it had to be it. It wasn't logical to be so positive without been told or finding more evidence but he was sure. Again the words came to him "gather those you can find and start teaching them." He was sure that he would have to find them, if the greatest city in the world was an ocean, surely nothing of the Aes Sedai survived. He needed answers and he needed them now. Embracing saidin again he reached out with the power and felt for life. There was abundant life hidden in the sparse forest all around him but that was not the type of life he was looking for, he was looking for human life. He extended his weave as far as it would go, inverting it at the same time for safety. To the west there where small centers of human activity that had to have been small towns, to the north and south he could only feel limited amounts of human life forms but to the west he found what he was looking for. Close to him there was a large amount of human activity about half moving away from him and the other back towards him, as if they where birds that had all been startled into flight and some where still running but others where returning to their tree. Almost straight west there where densely populated towns at regular intervals until at the very most edge of his sense's he found what he was looking for. A city that must support a population of at least one hundred thousand, perhaps even double that. Not a large city by any means but still the largest he could feel in any direction, he would find his answers there. He was sure of it.
Again the words entered his head, "gather those you can find and start teaching them." Aes Sedai Ethan Quillus Farvian had a job to do. He opened a gateway and stepped through; in the distance he could see a walled city that was sparsely surrounded by what had to be soldiers from the look of them. He found himself standing at the edge of a forest. Hidden by trees it was hardly surprising that no one noticed his arrival, all their attention seemed to be focused on the city anyway.
Distantly he noticed the breeze had stirred the banners that hung from every tower within the city, a rearing white lion on a field of red. He did not know where he was, he didn't recognize the banner but he knew his answers where in that city. Dressed in only his silver robe and sandals he took his first step forward, toward the closed city gates, Apprehensive of what he might find. Whatever he found he would carry out the dragons wishes. Glancing down at his left hand and the rings, nothing short of death would stop him.