Chapter 22

Deliberations in Falme

People wandered the streets, many pale with shock or with a distant stare as I made my way back to my shop. The Spray hadn't been in the harbor, as expected, but I didn't know whether any of the women had managed to get onboard before they left. They hadn't in the books, but I'd changed the course of events today.

Evidence of that was everywhere, a building torn apart by the One Power, women in damane gray wandering the streets as if they couldn't believe this was real. There was a dark cloud of smoke hanging over the city, several ships in the harbor were still burning.

But the chaos in the streets of Falme were nothing compared to the turmoil within me. What I'd done today was of a far greater scope than anything I'd done before and my power had grown by the same measure.

In game terms, I'd leveled more than once just now and it left me feeling like an elephant wandering through a world made of glass. Given how much potential I now held, I could bind not one new Word but two. Though I would have nothing left for any actual Gifts.

Maybe I should, but I already relied on miracles a lot and those were not efficient. I would hold off until I had some time to think, or necessity forced me. Binding a new Word or taking new Gifts was instantaneous anyway and I was a Godbound alone, without a pantheon. However powerful I now felt, I wasn't invincible.

A Seanchan army that saw me coming could kill me. And now they knew I existed because I was under no illusion I'd killed every Seanchan that had seen me. I could see some of their square sails dipping down into the western horizon. But that was a problem for another day.

I trudged up the wooden stairs on the outside of the shop, the wound in my shoulder stinging with every step. Where the grolm had gnawed on my ankle was barely a bruise. A lesser wound, for all that it had hurt in the moment.

The bleeding of my shoulder wound had stopped on its own, but it had done little for the pain. It wasn't the worse I'd ever suffered, it had only been a couple of months since Machin Shin had stripped all the skin off my arm, but it still hurt.

I had some hope they'd be here, but the living quarters were empty. So was the manufactory itself downstairs. Sitting down on the steps, I considered my options.

I could stay here or try to find them somewhere in the city. Reacalling the ending of The Great Hunt, some had been drawn to Rand. I roughly knew where he'd fallen down and he should have his sword on him. A Power wrought sword was exactly the kind of thing I could sniff out with a miracle.

"Great," I said with gritted teeth as I stood up, a fresh stab of pain digging itself down from my shoulder into my chest as I got up. "More walking."

It was so tempting to get a healing Gift, there were plenty even if none of them fell under my current Words. But if I paid more in potential I could still get them. Yet to spend that much just to deal with my current discomfort, when my life and that of others could depend on some other Gift tomorrow?

My answer was clear so I took a careful breath and walked back out.

The streets of Falme hadn't calmed down. More people were checking up on family, friends, or just acquaintances. Others were busy looting the dead, I saw a man pushing a wheelbarrow topped with Seanchan gear, more were heading east to where the Children of the Light had met the Seanchan. The sight of the Seanchan fleet burning in the harbor had broken the spell of terror the occupiers had cast upon the locals.

I only had the roughest idea of where Rand had fallen, north-northwest of my manufactory, so I headed in that direction. Drawing on some of the refreshed Effort I enacted a simple miracle, nothing flashy. Just a sensory Gift that would tell me where a magical weapon was, though it only extended a hundred meters around me.

Nothing when it came online, but now I picked up the pace as it wouldn't last that long. Not that I neglected to pay attention to what my eyes and ears picked up, for all that Rand was important to the world right now he was important to me as my best lead to find the women. To find Gemiad.

After five minutes I was still confident, after ten I began to jog. That only made the wound hurt more, but I bore it. The miracle was running out when I finally felt the ping, to my right. I ducked into a cramped alley, ignoring the man rocking back and forth in its darkest alcove, I emerged out into the street and crossed it. I ran into the next alley, I was close now.

The houses here at substantial gardens, I could see a tall oak above the garden wall. It wasn't in the garden immediately next to the alley, but it felt like the sword was right next to it. This close, I could feel that the sword was damaged, not much of it remained. That matched what I remembered happening to Rand's sword at the end of The Great Hunt.

Not bothering to check for witnesses I jumped up, kicked off the opposite wall, and went over. A dog barked as it charged me, only to come to a jarring stop when its chain went taut. "I'll be out of your fur right away," I told him as I ran across the garden and jumped again.

This garden was dominated by an oak tree, leafs and broken twigs lay scattered where something had fallen through its branches. And not too far from that debris lay a hilt decorated with a heron spreading its wings. Not much more than that hilt remained, the blade itself ended after about 10 centimeters as if the rest had melted away.

I picked up the hilt, considered it for a moment, then slipped it into a coat pocket before making my way into the house. The door was already open and I could hear a heated argument.

"You're not getting anywhere near him," Nynaeve shouted.

"Are you mad, girl? You saw what he is!" And that was Sheraine.

"Glad to see everybody's concerned about me," I said loudly as I approached the steps leading up to the backdoor. Nynaeve was blocking the way to a room on my right. Sheraine stood further into the hall with Ryma hovering at her back and was the first to catch sight of me.

"Ron!"

Nynaeve spun around at that, her eyes round. "You!"

"Me!" I spread my arms wide and immediately regretted it as the pain spiked. I dropped my left while covering the wound with my right hand. "Is everybody here?"

"Uh, yes," the former Wisdom said. "Though Egwene, Elayne … and your friend are keeping Bela company. Which is better than standing here and shouting," she said, turning her attention back to Sheraine.

I felt a tension go that I hadn't even realized had been there. Gemiad had survived the chaos, she was alright.

The Aes Sedai drew herself up, though she couldn't match Nynaeve's height. One hand never left the handle of her belt knife. "Don't be a fool, girl. He's a channeler. Even worse, he's‒" She faltered there and shuddered. But after a shake of her head Sheraine resumed, though at a whisper. "He's the Dragon Reborn. We all saw it."

"We sure did," I broke in. "So what exactly are we arguing about?"

"They want to kill Rand," Nynaeve spat, pointing at the Aes Sedai.

"I‒I don't want to kill him," Ryma said.

"Neither do I. But the law of the Tower is clear," Sheraine said. "He needs to be secured now, while he's unconscious. We should be able to maintain the shield if we're all linked."

I preempted Nynaeve's response by stepping into the house. "And then what?"

"Transport him to the Tower of course. The Hall will have to decide how to proceed given that we probably can't Still the … him right away."

"Would be bad if you took away his ability to channel before his prophesied confrontation with the Dark One," I agreed with a nod. "He's probably going to need it. But why don't we step aside and let Ryma take a look at him, make sure he doesn't die today."

That startled the mentioned Aes Sedai. "Me? Go near … him?"

I stopped a sigh, then thought better and went ahead and sighed. "Yes. Whatever else, he just got injured opposing Ba'alzamon. That should earn him some consideration from you." Then I turned to Sheraine. "And while she does that, you and I can step outside where you can explain to me why bringing the Dragon Reborn to the unstained tower is a good idea."

Sheraine frowned. "What do you mean?"

"It's in the Karaethon Cycle? The unstained tower, broken, bends the knee to the forgotten sign. Given all the signs associated with the Dragon Reborn would you like to bet on that forgotten sign belonging to him?"

Now Sheraine looked like she swallowed a lemon, but she let me guide her out of the house and onto the street. Behind us Ryma went into the bedroom, though not without some goading from Nynaeve.

Sheraine shook her head. "I haven't read the Prophecies, it truly says that?"

"Well, it's one translation of it." I shrugged and regretted it a moment after. "But given everything I would counsel caution. Especially given that he's ta'veren; strongest since Arthur Hawkwing himself. Even without channeling he can cause all kinds of chaos and it would only get worse the longer he's in one place. Especially if the Pattern means him to be somewhere else," I said, looking Sheraine in the eyes.

Egwene, Elayne, and Gemiad now came down the street leading a shaggy brown horse. That had to be Bela.

Sheraine shook her head. "Light, a channeler and a ta'veren. But just letting him go would be even worse." Then she gave me a look. "And you are taking this all very calmly, you already knew what he was. And you turned into that great beast. Just who, no, what are you, Ron Shen?"

Egwene and Elayne had kept their distance from me, though Gemiad stood closer. I looked at her, inviting her to speak but she only grasped her upper right arm with her left hand and looked at my feet.

Fresh worry wanted to worm its way into my heart, but I shook it off and gave everyone a grin. "I didn't turn into that, that was me dropping my disguise. That 'beast' as you called it, that's how I actually look."

Sheraine frowned, glancing at the hallway I'd just walked through. It clearly wasn't anywhere near big enough for me to walk through it in my draconic form.

But it was Egwene that spoke, perhaps a little too loudly. "You're a dragon!"

Elayne started and took a step back as I pointed at Egwene. "Got it in one. I suppose I wasn't all that subtle in all the hints I dropped back at the Eye of the World. But that would be dragon with a small d. You know, like human, ogier, ant, cat. My species name is dragon."

"You're a dragon?" Sheraine repeated.

"Yes," Gemaid said. "He explained it to me." She took a deep breath, still not looking at me. "It's like a lion's courage, or a fox's cunning. They compared Lews Therin's power with a dragon, so they gave him the title."

"Of course, I'm not a channeler. That's a human thing," I added. "But much like the ogier have their treesingers, I have my own tricks."

Sheraine studied me. "And the Amyrlin knows about you?"

I very carefully didn't look at Egwene. "She sure does."

VVVV

The manufactory was very busy as all of my employees had gathered on the main floor of the business. Most looked tense even a day after the Seanchan had been thrown out of Falme. Though that could also be because I'd called them all together for this meeting without telling them what this was about.

I glanced at Gemiad who sat on the stairs leading up to the living quarters. She no longer wore damane grey and had opted for Andoran dress rather than something more local. It earned her some looks, but most of the attention was on me.

And none of them looked comfortable. Seran was fiddling with his eyepatch while Kelua had clasped her hands together so tightly her knuckles were turning white.

I gave them a reassuring smile. "I'm glad to see everybody got through yesterday's events safe & sound. But with the Seanchan gone I need to make a confession to you all. I came to Falme because they'd abducted a friend of mine." Most of them froze at that news. They knew the Seanchan had really only taken people for one reason. "But she's safe now and we need to head home. Which leaves the question of what will happen with Parthun Threadery."

Kelua dropped her hands. "How long do we have?"

"Huh? I expect to be leaving in a couple of days," I said, distracted from what I was going to say.

My reply appeared to be a near physical blow, a few staggered while Mistress Fys shook her head. "Please, the Seanchan are gone but finding a job is still hard. And other people will lose their work as well when the Threadery closes."

I held up my hand, I still needed to be careful with my left arm.. "Please, calm down. That's not what this is about." I really should have started this differently. "What I wanted to propose is hand over my ownership of the business to all of you."

The older Seran looked at the rest of the group. "All of us?"

"Yes, anybody here that wants to can become a part-owner. You all know the business the best, you've helped me build Parthun Threadery into what it is today." I gave them a smile. "So I think you can all decide together how to run it. Probably better than me even, I'm really only an amateur at this. That is, if you want to."

"How much would a part of the business cost?" Kelua asked. "Or does it depend on how many of us say yes? And where are Vyela and Abrys? Shouldn't they be here for this as well?"

"I already know they're not staying," I said. "This offer is only for those of you who want to stay with the Threadery and as to the costs, I'm not asking for any money from you. I'm quite wealthy and the Threadery wasn't started to make me more money. It was to help people, it's done that, now it can do more good in your hands than mine."

They looked at me like I was an alien, which, to be fair, I technically was. "You're just giving it all to us?" Seran sputtered.

"With the sole stipulation that you want to keep working here for at least the coming year. After that, you will have to figure it out yourselves if someone wants to quit." I gave them a crooked smile. "So, any other questions?"

There were, of course, and nobody signed the contract I'd had made up then and there. But I figured that just about all of them would tomorrow. But it was done and at least I won't have to worry about them.

Gemiad joined me as I went upstairs to start packing. "You're really giving away all of this? Just like that?"

She'd waited until we were out of earshot and inside my bedroom. "Of course. Gemiad, if being rich is your ability to pay for whatever you want or need than I'm the richest person in the world. Not counting certain rulers like the Amyrlin or Morgase. If I wanted to I could create a literal mountain of gold. Compared to that, why would I need to keep running this company when those people can take much better care of it?"

"Really? How big of a pile are we talking about?"

I blinked and shut the drawer. "No, I'm talking about a literal mountain. It would make gold worthless, of course. It's value is mostly derived from how scarce it is, it doesn't have any practical uses. And I'd have to set up defenses, create guardians, or everybody would try to take a piece of it before they realized gold wasn't that valuable anymore." I shook my head. "Just not worth the effort."

Gemiad gave me a side-eyed look. "For something that's not worth the effort you seemed to have given it some thought."

I shrugged, my attention focused on packing my bag. "I may have spent an afternoon studying a map, trying to pick the perfect mountain. Figure out the logistics. I mean, people would certainly pay money for the chance to see a mountain of pure gold." I grinned. "Admission would have been a silver mark."

Gemiad let out a chortle, appearing to be shocked by the sound. She looked around the room. "So, you were here a while then."

I pressed my lips together and faced her. "Yes. I spent several weeks just building this up, figuring out an escape route for us, and preparing to liberate every channeler in Falme. But it meant you spent all that time in their clutches and I knew that," I confessed.

I gave her no excuses for that choice. Even now I didn't know if I'd made the right choice.

She huddled in her shawl, though it was a fairly warm autumn day. "Do you know what they did? To me?"

I took a deep breath. "I can imagine. I knew they torture their captives, both physically and emotionally." I wanted to look away, but she deserved more than that. So I faced her, met her gaze. "I didn't witness it, but I knew. I know."

Gemiad's eyes glittered. "You could have gotten me out when you arrived. Weeks ago."

I nodded, once. "Yes. No," I had to add in honesty. "I wasn't sure you were in there for the longest time. I could have still gone in, tore through the place until I found you and left. But I would have to kill a lot of people. Including a lot of damane."

"I know that!" She spun around and walked away, only stopping for a moment in the hallway. "But part of me still wishes you'd done that."

"Gemiad-" But she quickly walked away. I wanted to give her space, but the streets weren't safe and I wasn't risking her safety again. Slinging my pack on my back I hastened after her.

VVVV

A wind hurried east over the Aryth Ocean, diving as it reached the islands of Aile Somera. It toyed with a flag depicting a golden hawk that crowned the lighthouse, making it look like it wanted to take off. Onwards the wind went, past ships with ribbed, ripped sails fighting the wind and despair as they fled west.

It flew over a city still showing the damage of its liberation, its people already getting back to their daily chores as life went on. Life had to. The wind descended, racing past a pair of arguing women, one a young Cairhienin, the other ageless, and nearly plucked the golden ring out of the Cairhienin's grasp.

The wind raced over worn, ancient roads and through tiny villages as a thousand rumors flew in its wake. A False Dragon had appeared in Falme, no, the real one! He fought a legion of Whitecloaks, the invaders from across the sea, the Dark One himself, a monster of scales and flame! No, that monster had fought with him, that monster was the Dragon!

It crossed the Almoth Plain and brought conflict with it. One argument ended while another started. Wherever it went the wind found anger, simmering, waiting for a spark. The Almoth Plain, Caemlyn, Cairhien.

The wind plucked at a gleeman's cloak, but the wind had little life left. Much like the gleeman himself who had found that after vengeance only regret remained.

The wind continued, barely a gust after thousands of miles. It climbed up a hidden path that crossed the Dragonwall, fit only for mountain goats and the people now descending it. The wind tugged at a veil, but it had no strength left and the tall man simply settled the veil back in place as he beheld a place he had only heard stories of.

This was not the end of their journey, there are neither endings nor beginnings to the turning of the Wheel. But it was an ending in this Age, called the Third Age by some. An Age yet to come, an Age long past.

Continues in The Dragon Rising