TWO BEAUTIFUL EYES
"I'm glad you've came" she said. Her hair was bushy and she was beautiful as everything else about her was. Her dark, deep eyes gazed at him with benevolence. He felt his skin burning as the first time when she looked at him back in that inn in Baerlon… as every time she looked at him. Her body looked so fragile after the battle. He didn't want to remember. But he did.
"The pure form of death was before his eyes. Servants - slain or being slain where they stood, Defenders of the Stone – slain or being slain with very little resistance. Trollocs and Myrddraals everywhere. It was as if they had appeared out of thin air. He knew that this had to be a nightmare but he was not sure that he would wake up if a sword hit him. He quickly pulled out his sword and ran. He knew not where to look but he knew he had to find her."
He shook his head and tried not to think about this. Everything he ever needed was now in his arms. And everything was quiet now. He gazed at her. She looked like a beautiful porcelain doll that could break if he doesn't hold her. She was tired. The other guy that was with her during the attack, Andra or something like that fought really well but he was slain while battling two Myrddraals. Neal didn't feel sorry for him. He lifted her chin as she wetted her lips…
…and he woke up… like every night. "Burn me!" How did he let himself to do this? This woman was under his skin. How could be so foolish, so blind? Why did he follow her? Now he understood what she was after. This was not what should have been. He had seen the pattern right after the group left Rhemen but at that time he didn't know that he would come here – in Tear. She seemed to follow this strange lead of weird things happening. The village with the weddings, Rhemen, everywhere she went following the road to Tear and into the Stone, things that could almost never happen did happen. And then – the Dragon proclaimed himself by taking Callandor. But why did Neal follow her? Why had the lord to send him to Baerlon last year? Why did she have to enter his life? Too many questions. He knew the answers of most of them. He was in Baerlon last year because of some stupid tradesman who never actually came. He saw her there for the first time. Since then he was obsessed with this woman and couldn't think of anything else. Who she was? What was she doing? Why? And this year, as he seen her in that small village he just had to follow her. He had to listen to his heart. He had to have her.
'It's all her fault' He laughed at himself. How do you say to a woman you've never met that it's her fault for your life messed up? If he was wiser he would never come this far. "Really?" - A thin voice in his head asked. It was a crime to be as beautiful as that woman was.
It was too late to go back. Maybe he would finally get his chance to meet her. As she was in the Stone now she was not with those men all the time. Still the group she traveled with until reaching Tear was strange. A guy who looked like walking death. A rock compared to him would look soft. Another guy, broad-shouldered,with weavy hair and strange yellow eyes. Strange companions. Maybe not so strange for a woman like her actually. As he knew from Baerlon, this woman called herself lady Alys. Lady Alys Sedai to be more accurate although it looked as she didn't want people to know this extra bit. This Andra guy had to be her Warder but what was doing the yellow-eyed with them Neal didn't know. He actually didn't care too. How mad had Neal to be to go after an Aes Sedai? Mad enough as it seems.
He was very proud of himself that he figured out the pattern she was following but what she was doing in the Stone at that moment Neal didn't know… yet. He was determined to find out. Especially now, when he had free entry to the Stone of Tear.
"Maybe I should just go to her?" he thought.
He got up and put his clothes on. He felt that today was the day. Something was going to happen. Maybe his dreams were to come true? He picked his sword from under the bed. If they were to come true than it would be better for him to take the sword with him. He quickly left the room and went off to the stone.
As he walked through the crowd he thought of Andra. How close were they? And where was he from? Kandor? Arafel? Andra sounded like a name from Kandor. What Ajah was she? Green? Neal knew little about the different Ajahs, only that the green sisters sometimes marry their warders. Well, the same guy that told him that also said that the sisters from the red Ajahs eat men… and he really sounded as if he believed it. Fool. "Are you not a fool too?" said the thin voice again. Part of Neal knew that what he was doing was wrong but this woman was too much under his skin. Could she be a darkfriend? If she was he would have to become one too to win her love. And would he? Neal shivered from that thought.
When he finally got Alys out of his mind he found himself in front of the well known weaver shop next to the Stone. He quickly found the door down to the cellar and from there through the passage that led into the Stone. To be a son of one of the lesser lords had its pluses. He had many friends among the servants of the stone. And you never see a servant to walk in through the front gate don't you? As Neal got closer to the passage he heard strange noises from within the Stone. As if this passage didn't lead to the servant's quarters but to the blacksmith. Metal that hit metal… and screams. Something was very wrong.
Neal pulled out his sword and quickly opened the door at the end of the passage-way. The pure form of death was before his eyes. Servants - slain or being slain where they stood, Defenders of the Stone – slain or being slain with very little resistance. Trollocs and Myrddraals everywhere. It was as if they had appeared out of thin air. He knew that this had to be a nightmare, his nightmare but he was not sure that he would wake up if a sword hit him. He knew not where to look but he knew he had to find her so he ran.
He hadn't even made two steps when a Trolloc with antlers on top of his human head swung to hit him. He dodged the slow attack and counterattacked. The Trolloc head fell on the floor in a fountain of black blood. In that moment another Trolloc kicked the body of his fellow out of his way and attacked. Too much and too little time. Neal parried and went round the Trolloc with grace. Normally he would strike the Trolloc at the moment as he went round him but now he didn't. There was now time. While in the void Neal felt as if all the Trollocs moved slowly than they normally would. Everybody feel that while using the void. He ran though the door and upwards the stairs. How many floors did the Stone of Tear had, Neal had no idea. Floor by floor he ran. Trollocs and Myrddraals were everywhere fighting with the defenders and the Aiel. Those strange people fought with no hesitation and were very deadly. But now he had no time to think about them. The echoes of battle came from everywhere. Trollocs and people's screams filled the air. 'The Stone Stands!' someone shouted. As an echo to that he heard again from behind him 'The Stone Stands!'
And then, on one of the floors, while passing through a hall-way he saw her. Alys and Andra surrounded by Trollocs. She stood still with her eyes on the ceiling, she was beautiful. Creatures of the Dark one were all over the Aes Sedai and the Warder. Bursting into flames as fast as a the eye can count — but despite that it was as if they were an endless mass, When one fell he was immediately replaced by another one. Every creature that didn't burst into flames fell struck by Andra. The Warder had blood on both sides of his face, yet he flowed through the forms as coolly as if practicing. Then a wolf-snouted Trolloc thrust a Tairen spear toward Alys' back. Andra whirled as though he had eyes in the back of his head, taking off the Trolloc's leg at the knee. The Trolloc fell, howling, yet still managed to thrust spearpoint at Andra just as another clubbed the Warder awkwardly with the flat of its axe, buckling his knees.
Déjà vu. Within the void one didn't think but Neal suddenly realized that the dream he had every night was more than just a dream. Much more. He knew what would happen so he hesitated no more. As he entered the room he struck a Trolloc while gently moving to dodge another Trolloc's axe. If there were no blood and no weapons people would think that he is dancing. Creatures of the Dark One appeared as if from nowhere and fell as fast as his arms could move. With the edge of his eyes he saw Andra moving towards two Myrddraals. 'The look of the Eyeless is fear'. Few people can kill a Myrddraal, no one can kill two at the same time. This guy had no fear. No time to think, no time to move. Neal parried another attack and struck the Trolloc in front of him. Slowly he was moving towards the woman of his dreams. She still stood there killing, everything that moved near her, apparently with the One Power. Andra was still battling the Myrddraals.
A heartbeat. Neal moved left as he was pulling his sword out of the chest of a Trolloc with a goat's head. A heartbeat. Step forward. Neal's sword hit fur, then skin, then bone. Another Trolloc with a strange mix of pig's and human's head dropped his black blade and grabbed his knee. A heartbeat. A scream. A scream coming from first Trolloc, who finally realized what had happened. Or maybe the time goes by slower? A heartbeat. Another step forward. Andra still held the Fades off. Neal felt pain in his left shoulder. In the void the pain felt as if it was someone else's. Awful pain. 'This was not in the dream!' The void almost shattered as if to deny what had happened. Andra pulled his sword out of the chest of one of the Fades and swung with grace. The white, eyeless face separated from the body and sprung black blood. 'This was not in the dream! If the dream was not a prophecy then what was it!' The void finally shattered and the pain came three times stronger. Suddenly the answer struck him harder than any blade – manmade or not. 'Love.'
The Trolloc beside him swung and the Thakan'dar steel went deep down into Neal's chest, tearing his heart and lungs. Andra whirled and cut off the head of the second Myrddraal.
