Everyone was nervous about entering the Blight the next day in one of Mat's unreliable constructs. And unreliable flying construct… that was worse. Everyone was also exhausted, and they soon disappeared back into their tents.
Min kept her composure until he tied the door flaps of their tent closed, but once they were alone she started crying. Then she collapsed onto their cot and curled up into a tight ball. Mat had no idea what to say, so he laid down beside her and wrapped her in his arms. Her tears slowly dried up as the night dragged on, and finally she turned around to face him. Their noses were so close they were almost touching.
"I wish things had gone differently today," Mat whispered.
"We did what we had to do," Min whispered back. "With the Last Battle coming, it won't be the last time either. I suppose you want to know what my viewing of Leane Sedai meant. I saw the same one around the Amyrlin Seat and everyone else here in our camp."
"You don't want to tell them that I killed one of the Forsaken and a member of the Black Ajah back at the Blue Cat Inn. What happens if they find out?" Mat asked.
"They die," Min answered.
"Everyone? Even Rand and Egwene? How is that possible?"
"I don't know how it will happen, just that it will happen if anyone finds out who we killed."
"Sage, what do you think about this mess?"
Lying together with Min on the cot was a private moment, and he really didn't want to deal with the ghost. Sage somehow knew this and just spoke to them, rather than appearing in the transparent flesh.
[ According to the myths of your world, the war between the Dark One and the Dragon has happened in the past and will happen again in the future. The presence of a Green Lantern, one who has already destroyed the Waygate portal system and has now killed one of the Forsaken, threatens to disrupt this endless cycle. If the Dark One learns who you are and what you are truly capable of, your death and the death of your friends would become his top priority if he wishes to preserve this cycle for some unknown reason. ]
"That would explain my viewing, for the most part," Min reasoned. "But if the Dark One and the Forsaken can kill the Rand right now, why haven't they done it already?"
Mat let out a long sigh. "I don't think the Dark One wants to kill Rand al'Thor in the middle of the night when nobody is watching. I think he wants to kill the Dragon Reborn in the middle of a grand battle when the whole world is watching."
[ An astute observation. As for the problem of Min's viewing: when dealing with Mesaana you had the element of surprise working in your favor. You should preserve that advantage for as long as possible. It should prevent the Dark One from moving too aggressively before we are prepared to face him. ]
"If I hide what my Power Ring can do, I won't be of much help to Rand before the Last Battle begins."
[ You allowed Mesaana to believe that Rand injured Ishamael in the World of Dreams. I suggest a similar strategy going forward. Give Rand credit for your accomplishments whenever possible. You should also claim that you have recovered several mechanical artifacts from the Age of Legends. ]
"Nobody has found any more mechanical artifacts from the Age of Legends since the end of the Trolloc Wars," Min said. "And nobody understands the ones we do have or how they work."
[ Exactly. ]
"You want me to lie through my teeth?" Mat asked.
[ Verbal misdirection is better than violence, especially if that violence costs you the lives of your friends. ]
"Another question, and I want a straight answer from you with no verbal misdirection. Can a Green Lantern marry?"
"Matrim Cauthon!" Min hissed. "Now is not the time…"
"Yes, it is! When we were dealing with that Forsaken, I was scared senseless. Not for for myself, but for you. And when Suian bloody Sanche threatened you with torture, I wasn't joking when I said would tear down the White Tower if she touched you. Thanks to my Power Ring, I could have done it. Sage, how many people would I've killed?"
[ If you had lashed out in anger after so many people had gone to sleep for the night? At least five hundred. ]
"You see, it's not just about protecting you," Mat said as he gently ran his fingers across her damp cheek. "It's also about protecting everyone else from my foolishness."
"You're not a fool. I know Nynaeve and Moiraine and Lan…"
"... and Rand and Perrin and Egwene…"
"... sometimes call you one, but they're all bloody idiots. Do you know how I know that?"
"Because you're so in love with me that it prevents you from thinking clearly on the subject?"
Min rolled her eyes. "Because Sage is the smartest person I've ever met, and he chose you to be a Green Lantern. Not Rand or Moiraine or Lan. He chose you."
"Sage, why did you do that? I've always wondered."
[ Like all true Green Lanterns, you suffer from pathological bravery. To answer your first question: yes, the Corps does allow you to marry. To answer your next question: no, your new wife would not inherit your Power Ring in the event of your death. ]
"What are you talking about? He's not going to die!"
"Here's hoping that's true," Mat muttered. "Isn't there anything else you could do?"
[ If you die, I have standing orders to return to the Green Lantern Corps headquarters on the planet of Oa. There will be a brief ceremony to record your service record in the Great Book of Oa, and by tradition your closest relatives are allowed to attend this ceremony. Nothing is preventing me from taking a passenger when I leave this planet. Or five passengers. It is the best option I have available for you at this time. ]
"My little sisters?" Mat asked with a quiver in his voice. "My parents?"
[ They are your closest relations. Min is not. ]
"She will be. Marry me."
"Mat…"
"If I know you and my family are safe no matter what happens to me, maybe I'll be able to focus more. To be a better Green Lantern when it counts during the Last Battle. Please, you know that I love you."
"I love you too," Min said as she started crying again. "Fine, I suppose Min Cauthon doesn't sound too bad. Better than Elmindreda Farshaw, at least."
"You sure know how to make a husband feel appreciated," Mat complained. Then they shared a soft and gentle kiss.
[ That is all I need. Congratulations, your marriage is now officially noted in my permanent database. I suggest you keep this a secret from everyone else for security reasons. ]
"With all the Darkfriends we've met so far, that's probably for the best," Min said. "We've already consummated this marriage a hundred times over, so for tonight just hold me."
"Of course, Min Cauthon," a smiling Mat said. For years he had dreaded the prospect of getting married, but now that he was... it wasn't that bad.
His new wife soon fell asleep in his arms. Thanks to his Power Ring, Mat's exhaustion was washed away in a flash of green light. He spent the rest of the night silently plotting with Sage on how to prank the Dark One and the rest of the Forsaken.
O-O-O
If everyone was nervous last night, they were even more nervous breaking camp in the cold and feeble light of the early morning. Mat was having none of it. "Nynaeve, I have something for you. Did Moiraine teach you exactly what a sa'angreal does?"
"Yes, it increases the amount of the One Power a woman can channel without killing herself," she replied while glancing over at the white wand in Egwene's hand. "But I refuse to take anything you stole, even if you stole it from the Aes Sedai."
"I didn't steal it."
Nynaeve's eyes narrowed. "Boy, don't play word games with me. I don't care if you are a fancy Green Lantern. I still switch your arse if I need to and don't you think otherwise."
"Who is the oldest Aes Sedai in the world?" Mat asked.
"How should I know? I've never stepped foot in the White Tower."
"It's not a trick question. Here's a hint: take a look up at that big smoking volcano behind us."
Nynaeve—for all her many faults—was an intelligent woman, and she had no trouble with the hint. "Rand al'Thor is only 20 years old, the same age as you, you goose-brained buffoon. And men can't be Aes Sedai."
"Sorry, but you're wrong," Mat said. "During the Age of Legends, both men and women did become Aes Sedai. And while Rand might look 20, in truth he's much older. He's the Dragon Reborn, and the Dragon—please remember that they're actually the same person—was born 4162 years ago."
Perrin burst out laughing. "You just made that number up."
"Nope, I got it from Sage. It's true, and that makes Rand the oldest Aes Sedai in the world. He also wore the Ring of Tamyrlin, a name which should sound familiar to you."
Moiraine had been a bundle of tension since she marched out of her tent, and now she snapped. "Lews Therin Telamon is dead. Any political or military rank he once held died with him."
Mat lifted up his right arm, and a massive green construct appeared. It was held off the ground by three wheels, each one taller than a Trolloc. The sleek machine looked metallic, and it stretched out and back for over a hundred feet in both directions like an oversized arrowhead. There was a large curved window at its narrow tip, and more windows spaced out along the edges. A boarding ramp leading from the ground and up into the interior could be seen back toward the middle of the construct.
"Does anyone know what this beauty is?"
Moiraine, Lan, Nynaeve, and Perrin were all mystified by what his Power Ring had created. Min was shaking her head with an adorable grin on her face. But Egwene and Rand had much different reactions. Egwene—sensing her new Warder's raw emotions—looked afraid, and she was right to be. Rand had fallen to his knees and was staring at the construct with wide eyes.
"It is a sho-wing," Rand said in a distant voice. "Before the War of Power, thousands of them filled the sky each day, flying people and goods across the oceans and to every corner of the world. When Ishamael publicly declared himself for the Shadow, one of his first crimes was to destroy a sho-wing carrying nearly a thousand people. They say he couldn't stop laughing as it fell to the ground in a fiery arc. I never thought I would see one again."
"How could something so large fly while carrying that many people?" Egwene asked as she knelt down beside him.
"It was the Age of Legends. And to be honest, I was never much of an engineer. I couldn't explain how a sho-wing worked beyond the most basic of principles."
Moiraine also knelt down to face Rand, and for once she was neither angry nor afraid. "Is this some game Mat and Sage have talked you into playing, or do you truly remember your former life as Lews Therin Telamon?"
"Not all of it," Rand admitted. "Far from it, but what I do remember is so detailed… especially when I'm channeling a new weave with the One Power. And the weaves work, which means my memories are real, not the dreams of a madman."
"That's what a madman would say," Moiraine replied softly.
Rand looked up, and above them tiny white lights began to appear in the dim morning sky. A handful at first, then dozens, and then hundreds. The lights danced about in fanciful shapes for a minute before vanishing from sight. "Could a madman remember how to do that, little sister? Admit it, Mat has a valid point about my true age."
Moiraine said nothing, so Mat turned back to Nynaeve and held out a leather pouch with a strap long enough to hang from her neck. Inside was a brass disc engraved with trees on one side and smooth on the other. Last night when Mat "borrowed" it from the White Tower, the engraving had shown the shoreline of a large lake. He had no doubt that tomorrow the engraving would change again.
"According to the White Tower's records, this sa'angreal is not as strong as the one I gave to Egwene last night. But we're going to the Blight, so it's better than nothing."
Nynaeve's hair was still very short, so when she reached for her old braid it wasn't there. That just made her temper worse, and Mat could tell he was in for another lecture from the former Wisdom of Emond's Field. Instead, she froze like a deer when Lan placed his huge hand on her shoulder.
"My wife, the tales you have heard of the Blight pale in comparison to the horrors we will be facing. He is offering you a weapon you will need. Trust my experience on this matter."
"He has no right to offer that sa'angreal to me at all. Or do you believe his nonsense about Rand's so-called age granting him seniority over all of the Aes Sedai?"
Lan smiled, which was a disturbing sight. "My family ruled over the nation of Malkier as Kings and Queens for centuries. According to your reasoning, their legal justification for doing so was nothing but nonsense."
"That's not the same thing, and you know it."
"I know the Dark One is rising and the Last Battle will soon take place. I also know the rulers of the Borderlands will listen to the advice of the White Tower, but they would only accept the Dragon Reborn as their general. And as a general, he has the right to assign weapons to those who can best use them. You don't realize your strength with the One Power, but Moiraine does. According to what she has told me, you should be the one yielding that sa'angreal when we enter the Blight."
Reluctantly Nynaeve reached out and took a pouch, which she placed around her neck. The disk now hung just a short distance from her right hand. "Anything else?" she asked sarcastically.
"Yes," Mat said as he began pulling various ter'angreal out of his pocket dimension, and handing them over to Nynaeve and Egwene with short explanations—provided by Sage—on how they worked in tandem with the One Power.
Moiraine was staring at him in shock the whole time. "The White Tower has stood proud and unconquered for over three thousand years, but you managed to steal its greatest treasures in a single night," she finally said.
"Just the stuff in the basement," Mat said defensively. "Rand, all I could find for you was this ring made of purple glass. It's an angreal for men channelers, but Sage says it's not very strong. I guess that means it's not the famous Ring of Tamyrlin."
"I don't think so either," Rand said as he placed the ring on his left index finger. "But it will certainly help in a fight."
"Alright everyone, before we start our trip I have one final request. The nine of us knew that I'm a Green Lantern, but for now that knowledge shouldn't be shared with anyone else."
"The Amyrlin Seat knows that you used the ring to collapse the Waygates," Moiraine pointed out. "And Perrin told me you used it again last night to escape from the White Tower."
[ She will assume that it is a ter'angreal or some other tool from the Age of Legends since you did not inform her of my true origin, ] Sage said. His voice seemed to be coming from the sho-wing.
"Wait a second, Moiraine's note was nothing but gibberish," Min said. "How did you crack her personal code?"
[There is no code a Power Ring can not crack. ]
"Then you knew we were walking into another blasted trap," Mat complained. "That was three in just one day."
"Three traps?" Rand asked. "What exactly happened during your visit to the White Tower?"
"We can't tell you, so please don't ask," Min said. "One of my viewings made that very clear."
"Sage," Moiraine called out. "You made a mistake yesterday. A costly one, if it has inspired such a dire viewing from Min."
[ I did make a mistake. I thought we were fighting a war, but as my Green Lantern pointed out to me last night, we are more like unwilling actors in a play written thousands of years ago. ]
"That's what Ishamael always believed," Rand muttered.
"Enough of this gloomy philosophical nonsense. From now on I'm no longer a Green Lantern. I'm Captain Cauthon, and it's time for us to board my marvelous flying sho-wing. We don't have much time before sunrise, so don't dawdle."
"I will not be joining you," Elyas Machera said as he walked over to Perrin. "My wolfbrother, I have started you on the path. Now you must learn to run on your own."
"We could use your experience when we enter the Blight."
"Lan knows more of the Blight than any man alive, and my blade would make little difference, given the type of dangers you will be facing. No, I must seek out the other packs and tell them of Shadowkiller. The Last Hunt will soon be upon us."
The two men embraced, which surprised Mat. He had never seen his big friend show that much affection, not even towards his family back home. Being wolfbrothers was a stronger bond than he had realized.
Elyas silently walked away into the nearby woods, and Perrin mounted his horse. Then they began leading their small herd towards the boarding ramp.
O-O-O
The interior of the sho-wing was lit with that green glow all constructs seemed to have, so it was easy to find the stable where they could secure the horses for the trip. From there they walked along a wide corridor until they reached what Sage called the cockpit. This cockpit had ten chairs in three rows facing the large window at the tip of the sho-wing's arrowhead shape.
Sage had spent hours showing Mat pictures and plans of the ancient flying ships, and the construct was a close match. The interior was greatly simplified—except for the addition of a stable for the horses—but the exterior shape was nearly identical to what you would have seen in the Age of Legends.
[ Are you ready? ] Sage asked him silently while everyone was sitting down and belting themselves in.
Mat closed his eyes and could mentally feel every detail of the construct all around him. { I am ready. }
[ Then retract the wheels. And open your eyes. ]
Without a sound or any sense of movement, the sho-wing turned around to face Dragonmount. Then it started to move straight at the volcano. That produced several screams, both female and male. Mat was sitting with Min in the two-seat front row, and he was tempted to turn around. Making fun of Rand or Perrin would've been fun. Instead, he pointed the tip of the sho-wing up so it could climb the slope of Dragonmount.
When they reached the top of the volcano, he stopped and leveled out so they could see the cauldron of hot lava from the front window. "Rand, according to Sage this whole thing should have collapsed in on itself thousands of years ago. Do you have any idea why it's still stable after all this time?"
"Sorry," Rand said quietly. "I don't remember much of that last day. Only vague and violent images."
"He was just curious. Alright, we're just going to wait here for a few minutes. We want good light for the show."
Egwene leaned forward and pointed out the window. "That must be Tar Valon. The city looks so beautiful from up here."
Min turned around to face the younger woman. "It might look beautiful on the surface, but underneath it's a cesspool of evil."
The sun soon appeared on the horizon, and the sho-wing began to slowly descend Dragonmount's other side. When they were back above flat ground Mat gently pointed the construct away from Tar Valon until they reached the River Erinin, where he took a sharp turn north. Once above the river, he made for the circular stone harbor that dominated the southern end of the island. Even this early in the day it was packed with dock workers, who were all staring at the sho-wing now. In the morning's light, its massive green size was impossible to miss.
"Mat," Rand whispered. "I know I shouldn't be distracting you right now, but I thought we were going to the Blight."
"We can't leave without saying goodbye."
The sho-wing banked to the right and headed under the first of the three bridges connecting the east side of the island to the mainland. That earned him more screams from his passengers, a sound he was starting to like. It's not like they were in any real danger at the moment.
After flying under the next two bridges, he turned around at the north harbor. No one screamed when he flew under the three bridges on the west side of the island. Rather than repeat himself, Mat then set a course for the White Tower itself. As they flew over the rooftops and streets of Tar Valon, he could see thousands of people down there. Some were pointing out the sho-wing to their friends, while others were fleeing from the strange sight.
"Mat!" Rand shouted.
It was an understandable reaction, since they were still flying straight at the White Tower. At the last second Mat turned to the left. The sho-wing didn't completely miss the building, but that was his plan. Instead, the far edge of the huge arrowhead dug into the thick stone wall of the White Tower at about four hundred feet above the ground, leaving a long and deep gash for all the world to see.
Min reached over and punched him in the shoulder, but Mat couldn't stop grinning. "Now we can go to the Blight."
They passed over the rest of the city without incident and then headed north on a course above the River Erinin.
O-O-O