The Serpent.
Zaide Rialdrin's eyes shot open as
the coach came to sudden a halt. She looked around the interior for a
moment, Giranda Zedane's serene Aes Sedai gaze met hers with a small
smile.
"Sleepy, are we?" She said in her smooth Cairhienin
accent, and went on before she could reply "It's time,
Accepted."
"Time for what, Sister Giranda?" Zaide replied
sleepily, still rubbing her eyes, stifling a yawn with the back of
her hand, .
"You'll see soon enough, child." she said with a
smirk. Zaide's face darkened visibly. She still calls me child,
even though I'm almost a full
Aes Sedai just like her, she thought. She heaved a sigh as she
pushed open the coach door.
The coach had stopped in front of a
large wooden cabin surrounded by dense forest, when Zaide looked
around, she realized there was no other houses in sight. Just the
wilderness. Two mysterious figures stood at the entrance, wrapped in
dark cloaks and their faces shrouded in hoods, they stood still as
statues with long black swords at their waists. Zaide felt a shiver
run down her spine, something was wrong. She closed her eyes, and
surrendered to Saidar. But she couldn't reach the source, something
was blocking her. She snapped her eyes open in realization.
"Oh,
Light no," she whispered, a tad too close to a whimper for her own
liking. "Giranda, I can't reach-" as Zaide turned around she
noticed the Green was engulfed in the light of Saidar, a sneer on her
face as she looked down on Zaide, her lips curving into a malicious
grin.
"I'm going to enjoy this, child," Zaide tried to
scream as the gag of air was pushed into her mouth...
As Dulain closed in on the source of
the white smog, the dense vegetation suddenly revealed a large cabin.
He stopped a moment, his eyes falling on the black draped shape that
looked at him from the back door of the house. A shiver ran down his
spine as he drew his sword, there was something unsettling about this
man. The shape stood still a moment, too still for a man, then drew
it's sword and started walking towards him. It had a flowing walk,
like a serpent. The biggest shock came to Dulain when the thing took
it's hood off.
"A Fade!" He gritted his teeth, ignoring the
fear in his voice. He immediately reached for Saidin, fighting those
powerful torrents of the One Power, the life of Saidin filling him,
along with the filthy taint. The Myrddraal merely smirked, still
making no sound as it approached him. As their swords clashed, again
and again, Dulain could see every last detail of the Myrddraals pasty
face. Those empty eye-sockets that see everything and nothing .
Dulain tore his gaze away from it's face as he deflected a hit that
would have taken his head off, had he been a foot taller. Suddenly
the Myrddraal pounced at him, and Dulain raised his hand, engulfing
the Myrddraal in flame. He sidestepped casually, letting the
shrieking Myrddraal fall to the ground in a ball of flames, still
swinging it's sword at him. Dulain raised the sword over his head,
taking a deep breath before letting it fall, taking the Myrddraal's
head off, the flailing still continuing.
Dulain glanced at his
sword a moment, even the heron on it's hilt was covered in dark
blood. Suddenly he saw something reflect in the blade, someone was
behind him. He spun around in time to weave a small shield of air
stopping the dark blade only inches from his face. Not giving the
second Myrddraal time to respond, he wove air around it's arm and
raised his hand in front of it's face, weaving fire into it's head,
and air around it. If the Myrddraal had eyes, they would have been
popping out of their sockets at that moment. Dulain held the weaves
until the Myrddraal's twitching subsided, the remains of it's head
nothing but slush...
When Zaide came to in the damp
cellar, the first thing to hit her was a sharp pain across her face,
and the taste of blood in her mouth. She was still tied and gagged
with the one power, as she lowered her gaze, she noticed her white
dress was spotted in deep crimson. Some of the blood had dried, some
of it was still damp, sticking the cloth to her body. With Zaide's
somewhat delayed reaction, due to the blood loss, she had not noticed
Giranda standing infront of her, holding Zaide's hand in both of
hers, tugging at her fingers.
"Such pretty little fingers you
have, Child," She mumbled as she planted a kiss on Zaide's hand.
"It would be a shame if such pretty little fingers broke!"
as Giranda spoke the last word, she bent Zaide's fingers back until a
sharp crack was heard. Zaide wanted to scream, but the gag of air
still suppressed any sound she made. She wished she would faint, just
to numb out some of the pain, but she didn't. Zaide wasn't sure how
much time had passed, but after what felt like an eternity, suddenly,
something stirred in the shadows behind Giranda. Zaide had tried to
keep the tears back, she had tried to distance herself, but she
couldn't. Not that it mattered, she would probably die here. Feel a
lot more pain and die. Tears welled up in her eyes again, she did not
want to die. Zaide saw something move around in the shadows again,
and she also heard the distinct sound of metal against metal. Giranda
was too busy torturing her to notice the dark clad man sneak up on
her.
"So child, are you having fun? Because I -" Giranda
blinked in suprise at the sword sticking out of her chest, as blood
trickled from her lip. As soon as the blade was drawn out, Giranda
collapsed on the floor, the sword the only thing that was still
holding her up. Blood gushed from the wound in her chest, and slowly
her twitching subsided. The last thing Zaide saw before she fainted
was the dark clad man kneel beside Giranda and lift her head up and
twist it around until a loud crack was heard.