The journey was hard, even with one of the best trackers in Shienar. No matter how many days the group traveled for, the Trolloc party always seemed to stay ahead.
Within the group, there were also problems. Tensions ran strong between the Aiel and the Shienarians. The tracker, a small man by the name of Huin Blest, was constantly fingering his knife as he glared at the two Maidens. Aviendha and Enaila made a point to stroke the veils that hang around their necks whenever the man was nearby, spears always in their hands as they regarded the Shienarian with a cold gaze. Similarly, Rand and Alanna, as well as her two warders named Owein and Ihvon, also conflicted.
Rand didn't like Aes Sedai, mostly because they had gentled him and despite what good it had done for him; he wasn't going to go insane or develop the sickness that rotted the body away from the inside, Rand hated the Aes Sedai who made living a struggle to be fought everyday. Also, he had lived in the Royal Palace of Caemlyn for two years and had seen Elaida plot and manipulate and twist men and women into doing what she wanted.
So naturally, Rand showed a dislike towards Alanna and her warders had picked up on it. After three hours from leaving, Ihvon had stayed by Alanna's side with his hand on his sword, while Owein had watched Rand like a hawk. Alanna herself didn't seem to mind or notice, but Aes Sedai were good at hiding what they felt, and she showed a considerable interest in Rand. Despite sullen glares from her warders towards herself and Rand, Alanna stuck close to him, her dark eyes boring into his whenever Rand turned his head. She made him feel wary and uncomfortable.
The Aiel and the Aes Sedai had a strange relationship. Half of the time Aviendha and Enaila would dance naked and sing if Alanna commanded it, the other half the two Maidens would go out of their way to insult and ignore the woman. In fact, the only people the Maidens got on with were themselves and at times, Rand. Aviendha was still cold and curt towards him, her eyes watching him with an unreadable and sometimes dangerous expression. Whenever she noticed that he had noticed her staring, she shook her head and glowered at him until he looked away. Enaila, on the other hand, would sometimes meekly approach Rand as if she were still gai'shain, and sometimes throw sharp words and looks towards him. She was still undecided if she was supposed to be gai'shain and if she was losing honour in holding the spear, or if she was to be angry at Rand for making her wear white when she didn't have to, therefore, dishonoring her.
Captain Tallanvor was rather neutral regarding his attitudes. He was friendly with Huin with the two talking like old friends, respectful to Alanna therefore friendly with Owein and Ihvon and wary but courteous towards the Aiel, having never been involved in the Aiel war. He confessed later to Rand that the Maidens made Morgase on a bad day seem like a child.
"My Lord! Tracks ahead!" Huin called softly through a patch of trees.
Rand almost sighed, having told Huin numerous times that he was not a lord, but placed a hand on the hilt of his sword, drawing it up with a slight hiss as it scraped his scabbard. Aviendha and Enaila were veiled in a matter of seconds with spears in their hands, while Ihvon and Owein notched arrows onto their bows and Tallanvor withdrew his sword. Alanna just stood there regally, her head held proudly as Rand assumed that she embraced the True Source. The Goosebumps pricked on his arms as Huin dashed back into the clearing on foot. A small campfire blazed in the centre and the horses were tied to a tree. There were only six horses, Aviendha and Enaila running on foot instead of riding. Sometimes they were able to race ahead of the horses, but other times they slowed the party down.
"They're old, maybe a week or so." He said excitedly, before gulping at the arrows and swords facing his way.
Rand sighed as he lowered his sword. "What direction do they head in, Huin?" He asked.
"North East, not quite the Blight." Huin answered, scratching behind his ear as he swung himself onto his horse.
"There is a town east," Ihvon suddenly said, his dark hair flowing gently with the wind.
"Fredra," Alanna murmured, smoothing her skirts unconsciously with her hand. "That is the name of the town. I remember it from the maps,"
"If the Trollocs went there, should we not also follow?" Tallanvor asked.
"It will not be pretty." Huin mumbled.
And it wasn't. An hour later, the group approached the blackened ruins of a small farming village. The long wooden walls that had surrounded the village were smashed and broken, some little more than charcoal ashes. Two large watch towers, looking almost ridiculous for such a small town, were empty and one had a swarm of flies hovering at the top.
"Blood and Ashes!" Tallanvor muttered grimly as the group rode into the town. The horses clops echoed in the silent village, doors open and windows smashed. In the streets, corpses littered the street. The stench was unbelievable, the bodies almost unrecognizable. Some had been torn to parts; others had only bones with teeth marks left in them. Flies, ravens and rats swarmed over them, picking at the dead flesh and the dried blood on the ground. Rand sought the void immediately, and rejected it almost immediately as his senses were heightened. The smell of rotten carrion was enough to make Ihvon be sick, and he leaned to the side of the horses to do so. Normally such an incident would have earned scathing remarks from the Aiel, but Aviendha and Enaila had turned their backs to the carnage, and Enaila was looking very green and pasty as well.
"My Lord? What should we do?" Huin asked warily, a sword breaker held in one hand and a thin throwing knife in the other.
Rand frowned. Huin, Tallanvor and even Alanna watched him, waiting for an answer. Even Aviendha and Enaila, who would have commented on him being a Wetlander Lord, waited for instructions. Nobody wanted to take responsibility here, in this town of death. He looked from one face to the other, his mind trying to find what he should say in the face of such horrible carnage. After a minute of silence, Rand spoke up.
"Search the house for any survivors in pairs. Alanna, could you d-drive away those birds and rats? Aviendha, Enaila, have a quick look in the surrounding area and make sure no shadowspawn are out there. After the search, dig a hole and bury these people." Rand said quietly but firmly. "Alanna, maybe you can help…lift them."
Ihvon and Owein immediately strode away from the bodies, seeking the nearest house. Tallanvor and Huin left quickly as well, while Aviendha and Enaila moved stealthily out of the village, veils still covering their face and white-knuckles clutching spears.
"I have seen the aftermath of a Trolloc raid before, it was not like this." Alanna told Rand tightly as she lifted her hands. Rand didn't see what she did but ravens suddenly squawked and hundreds swarmed into the sky, while rats squeaked in pain and scurried away.
"What was different?" Rand was hesitant to ask.
"The bodies," Alanna said, turning to Rand. Her fiery eyes had a keen shine to them. "Trollocs do not leave half-eaten bodies littering the streets. They were in a rush here; they came for one purpose and left just as quickly. I can say that this raid took less than an hour. What did the Trollocs seek here? I would say that they were looking for more souls, but why kill all of these people?"
Rand had no answer to that.
It was a solemn group two hours later that stood at the edge of a large pit. The bodies had been placed inside by Alanna and the One Power, and now a mound of dirt hovered above the hole. It suddenly fell and Rand coughed, turning his head away from the dust that enveloped the area. When it subsided, Rand turned to Huin.
"What did you find?" He asked.
The Shienar shrugged. "This town had a population of eighty three, according to the Village Council's count. There was no warning from the Trollocs; they scrambled over the walls by the hundreds. One woman tried to write a message and send it by pigeon, but it was only half-finished."
"We did not bury eighty three bodies, it was closer to fifty." Tallanvor said quietly. There was a look in his eyes, a haunted remembrance, and Rand had the feeling that the Andorian Captain would not forget this day for the rest of his life.
"Maybe the Trollocs ate the rest?" Ihvon suggested with the cold and hard face of the warder back in place more firmly than before.
"No," Alanna said, shaking her head. "They took them."
"For the blades of Myrddraal?" Rand asked. His mind was now wrapped in the void, the horror, disgust and hatred floating outside.
Alanna nodded. "There were no young children's bodies in the pile, no small bones. I say that nobody under the age of sixteen was killed."
"I saw a baby's body." Tallanvor disagreed, quietly and with a pained look on his face.
"A baby is harder work to transport." Alanna said smoothly. Her face didn't twitch at all. "Children are younger, easier to intimidate and carry, and would have fresher and brighter souls than those of adults."
"If this town was here, why did they come south to take Jania?" Huin asked.
"Maybe it was chance. They would not have known that town was there, they were probably scouting when they chanced upon your group. They would not have been expecting such a large fight." Alanna answered.
"Why would the Trollocs leave a host of bodies uneaten?" Rand asked the Aes Sedai. "I though it was in their instinct to eat and kill?"
Alanna met his eyes grimly. "I suspect that there is a greater force pushing these Trollocs. Not a Myrddraal, but something worse. That is the only reason they would have left the town in the state it was in."
"A greater force than a Myrddraal?" Huin wondered out loud. "Surely…not a Forsaken!"
"Do not be a fool," Alanna said sharply, her fiery eyes burning into Huin as he shrank onto himself. "The Forsaken are bound at Shayol Ghul."
"Where we may end up," Tallanvor said grimly.
Alanna stared at him with an Aes Sedai expression that had made kings leap where they were told and Queens curtsy hurriedly, but Tallanvor stared back grimly, quite used to these looks from Elaida.
"A Dreadlord perhaps," Rand offered, but in his heart he knew who it was. "Or Slayer,"
"It could be a Dreadlord, but it would have to be a male one. I have felt no resonance from saidar but I will admit that I was not looking for Saidin. That is beyond the scope of my abilities. It could also be this Slayer, but I have heard that he is a Darkfriend, an important one as he may be, a Darkfriend could not inspire such fear within Trollocs." Alanna said.
"Perhaps he is more than a Darkfriend." Rand said softly.
"It very well may be. There are other powers not associated with the True Source, they are not as powerful but they could inspire the fear needed to hurry Trollocs." Alanna murmured thoughtfully.
"I see you Rand al'Thor," Enaila murmured as she hurried into the clearing, her face clear of the veil. "There are none of Leafblighters creatures around this village,"
"I saw tracks heading north. There are no towns nearby; it heads straight for the Blight." Huin admitted, giving a slight shudder.
"The Wetlander is right." Aviendha said as she appeared from the shadows of the buildings. She glared at Rand hatefully but she spoke up. "There were many tracks, perhaps two hundred Trollocs. There were also the hooves of a riding beast, just one of them."
"So we follow them?" Tallanvor asked Rand. Huin looked at him expectantly as Alanna regarded him with a calm gaze and slightly upturned lips. Aviendha and Enaila squatted in the dirt, their hands moving rapidly as they made signals to each other. Ihvon and Owein just stood by Alanna, prepared to follow her wherever she went.
"Yes," Rand said. He frowned as he regarded the village. "Somebody…somebody needs to know of this."
'I can set the signal fire," Alanna said as she gestured to one of the Towers. "A patrol would be here in hours. The villagers hadn't had a chance to light the fire before the Trollocs invaded, so I am sure that there would be enough wood."
"Do it." Rand ordered.
Alanna arched an eyebrow, her mouth open and her eyes fiery, before she smiled slightly and closed her mouth. Goosebumps suddenly popped on Rand's arms and he almost shivered as Alanna stood still, before the top of the tower suddenly cackled in flames. The goosebumps disappeared as Alanna sagged on Owein as she was helped to her saddle, her warder glaring at Rand as if it were his fault she was tired.
Rand paid him no attention as he turned to Aviendha and Enaila. "You'll have to ride on the horses if you want to keep up." He began.
Aviendha glared at him angrily. "I will not…"
"Or you will be left behind like a Stone Dog." Rand finished, smiling slightly as Aviendha growled at the implied insult. Enaila looked sullen but she bowed, knuckling her forehead.
"Who do I ride with?" Enaila asked meekly and Rand sighed.
"Tallanvor, if you do not mind." Rand said as the man looked up.
"No…my Lord," Tallanvor said, bowing his head.
"Light, not you as well!" Rand mumbled.
"I hate you Rand al'Thor!" Aviendha suddenly hissed, before she jumped up and onto Rand's saddle, throwing her arms around him.
Rand stiffened but soon relaxed as it became apparent the Aiel was not going to kill him. He wished he knew what he had done to make her so angry towards him and looked to Enaila for help, but the redhead's fingers flashed and Aviendha stiffened behind him.
"Alanna, are you well to ride?" Rand asked the slender Aes Sedai.
"I am well," She replied.
"We should make haste; they are far in front of us." Tallanvor said, Enaila sitting behind him.
"They will be slower than us, and they will not know they are being pursued." Rand encouraged. But he dug in his heels, and eight horses bolted from the decimated village.