Chapter Two

By the Light

Jack didn't sleep much that night. Dreams of black clad Trollocs continually woke him through the night. The dreams... no nightmares, portrayed Jack walking through the woods and immediately being ambushed by a group of the Trollocs. Of course they fought him well, three to one and he woke every time one of their swords began penetrating his thin armor and piercing his skin. It was the work of the Dark One, dreams such as those, it had to be. By morning though, Jack hoped that merely sleeping on the idea of an alliance with Trollocs would sound better than it did, but of course it didn't. As he woke for the final time, he still felt dread at the very thought of such an alliance. Moreover, Jack didn't even know how he was going to explain this to the governor of Baerlon.

No matter though, he would not be meeting the man until the evening at a dinner conference. Until then, Jack had to debrief his men on the situation. The good thing about soldiers was that they had to, by law, accept what their general said. Hopefully they would abide by law. So, Jack sat up in his bed, light glaring through the flap of the tent, and began dressing in his casual uniform. As he dressed, the tent flap opened to let in even more sunlight. Then a man's voice commanded "I do hope what I hear is just a rumor... a wild rumor."

Half dressed, Jack turned to see who had invaded the privacy of his tent and almost fell over at the sight of the man. "Sir Ashaman! What brings you to my camp?"

The man was dressed in black and had a silver sword pin on his collar. And he said with a piercing gaze, "The lord Dragon requests an audience immediately!"

Jack frowned, "Now? But... is he here now?"

"No time for questions man, hurry and dress, we will depart when you are finished."

Jack looked around frantically when the man left. The bloody Dragon Reborn wanted an audience with his? Jack Tobin? It was unheard of, unless of course the Dragon managed to hear about the truce he had just made a day earlier. Surely even the Dragon Reborn could not learn of such news so quickly.

The Ashaman was waiting for Jack when he stepped out into the light of the clear sky. As soon as he let the tent flap fall, the man did what he did best and a diagonal white light cut through the air, expanding into a two-dimensional blazing square. Jack had only heard of such gateways, but to see one… it was absolutely amazing, and frightening at the same time. The Ashaman commanded, "Step through."

Jack gingerly stepped forward and was only inches from the gateway. It was now more terrifying than ever; what if something went wrong… or what if this man was not really an Ashaman…. Before Jack could decide whether or not to trust the man, a hand push at his back, and Jack fell through the blazing gateway.

Jack opened his eyes and the gateway was gone. And now, instead of being in the brilliant sunshine of Baerlon and in the open fields, Jack found himself in a darkly decorated room. The walls were covered in old, black and grey wall hangings. Instead of the bright green grassy ground, the floor was hard, grey stone. Jack suddenly realized he was on his knees, and stood up, looking around some more for signs of life in this dark place. He also noticed that not only were his surroundings dark, but the sky outside the arrow slit window was dark with thunderclouds. Lightning occasionally flashed and lit up the window. Then a voice came from behind Jack; a calming and strong voice. "Welcome Jack Tobin. I am Rand Al'thor, Dragon Reborn."

Jack turned to see a tall red-haired man. He couldn't have been twenty-five yet, and wore the same black clothing as his Ashaman, though instead of a silver sword at his collar, there was a golden Dragon. The man also wore no sword and most likely didn't need one. So, Jack looked into the man's sad grey eyes and said, "Greetings my lord Dragon."

Suddenly disgust showed on the man's face, but was gone as soon as it had come. "I have been hearing some disturbing reports about you Commander Tobin."

Surely he hadn't heard of the treaty. "Really? What did they say?"

The man's expression was as a stone. "I hear you ally with darkfriends and Trollocs. I have also heard that you have openly denounced me and my Ashaman; and that you have declared yourself for the Dark One himself." He paused and Tobin almost shouted out at the suggestions, but the Dragon went on, "Of course I do not believe every rumor I hear, but I must know that I can trust you, which is why I have brought you here. So tell me how these rumors started."

The man amazed Jack. He could give a command and mean it, yet not be harsh. He could say a great deal and only mean a little. "I must denounce the rumors. However, there is one truth to those; I have made a treaty with a clan of Trollocs." Sadness showed in the Dragon's eyes. "You must know, however, that I only made the treaty to save my men that they took prisoner. You must also know that these Trollocs are very odd in their ways. They are more fearsome and powerful. They are intelligent enough to speak our language and even a bit of Old Tongue. These Trollocs are very odd and dangerous, but they wanted peace and that is what I gave them; that is until I find out why they are so odd. So, I still pledge my allegiance to the Queen and to you Lord Dragon, but I hope you will give me a chance to learn about these oddities. Besides, just one of these nearly killed me and three of my best men and I don't think my regiment could take out their entire encampment."

The Dragon's expression remained grim. There was no telling what was going through the head of a man sure near insanity. But a moment later, the man said, "Will they meet with an emissary?"

Surely he didn't mean to send someone to a Trolloc camp, "To tell you the truth, I am not sure. They only let us go because we signed the treaty. But if they were willing to do that, then… well I am not sure."

Then the man's tone changed, becoming a bit brighter… but only a bit. "Well then Commander, I must think on this new information, but in the meantime, would you join me for lunch?"

Lunch? With the Dragon Reborn? It was madness. "I would like that."

---Sal sat in his tent, the day's heat making his mind drift from topic to topic. The thing that continually occupied his thoughts though was the expressions of the Trollocs he and the group had encountered the day before. They were expressions foreign to Trollocs and even animals. These Trollocs were much different than those he and everyone else had known. They seemed to have emotions other than hatred, which was boggling to Sal, a man who grew up in the border lands and eventually came to be in the Queen's army. He had known the faces of Trollocs and the cruelties they imbued upon their victims. He had also known the faces of the dying Trollocs and the suffering Trollocs. They were animals and only used the logic of animals, not man. It was all confusing.

Sal was brought out from his dreams by the shouts of men all around the camp. By their shouts, Sal could tell that there was something approaching the camp. So, Sal grabbed his bow and quiver and dashed out of his tent, strapping his quiver to his back and knocking and arrow. When he reached the edge of camp, men had their swords drawn and their spears ready and were all looking at the same object. It was a large dark clad Trolloc walking casually up the slop of the valley. He wore no sword or weapon of any kind, but only held in his hand a book, black leather bound book. Sal shouted out above the other's saying, "Calm down! As you were told by Corbin this morning, we have a treaty with this clan. Do not attack him or the treaty will be annulled. That is something none of can want."

A shout came from in the midst of the swarm of men, "There is no treaty with any darkfriend! There is none and will never be one!"

Approving shout rang out all around and Sal was becoming desperate as the men were becoming restless. He had to find Corbin. Being the Second commander, Corbin could give a direct order to these men not to attack the beast. Sal had no such power.

After only a few minute, the Trolloc drew nearer, and some of the men knocked arrows and began to draw their bows back. It was then when Corbin finally showed up, "Hold your fire! You fools; the Trolloc is not to be fire upon by orders of Commander Tobin. If any of you do this, you will bring hell upon our camp."

The men began to ease, and then another of the men shouted out, "Jack Tobin is a darkfriend! He allies us with Trollocs and then leaves us to be eaten by them! By the Light! We must defend ourselves!"

Sal saw the worried expression flash on Corbin's face. By the Light is right, the army has turned into a mob. By the Light indeed!