Adar 28, 998 NE (May 10th)

Dawn revealed devastation in the Green Man's garden. The ground was thick with fallen leaves, almost knee-deep in places, and the flowers gone except a few clinging desperately to the edge of the clearing. Little could grow in the soil under an oak, but a thin circle of flowers and grass around the thick trunk above the Green Man's grave. The oak itself kept only half its leaves, and that was far more than any other tree had, as if some remnant of the Green Man still fought to hold there. I wish I could remember him. The cool breezes had died, replaced by a growing sticky heat, the butterflies were gone, the birds silent. It was a silent group who prepared to leave.

I climbed into the bay's saddle with a sense of loss. It shouldn't be this way. Blood and ashes, we won.

"I wish he had found his other place," Egwene said as she mounted Bela. A litter, fashioned by Lan, was slung between the shaggy mare and Aldieb, to carry Moiraine; I would ride beside with the white mare's reins. The Wisdom dropped her eyes whenever she saw Lan glance at her, avoiding his gaze; the Warder looked at her whenever her eyes were averted, but he would not speak to her. No one had to ask who Egwene meant, except for me and I kept silent my ignorance.

"It is not right," Loial said, staring at the oak. The Ogier was the only one still not mounted. "It is not right that Treebrother should fall to the Blight." He handed the reins of his big horse to me. "Not right." Lan opened his mouth as the Ogier walked to the great oak. Moiraine, lying on the litter, weakly raised her hand, and the Warder said nothing. Before the oak, Loial knelt, closing his eyes and stretching out his arms. The tufts on his ears stood straight as he lifted his face to the sky. And he sang.

I could not say if there were words, or if it was pure song. In that rumbling voice it was as if the earth sang, yet I was sure I heard the birds trilling again, and spring breezes sighing softly, and the sound of butterfly wings. Lost in the song, I thought it lasted only minutes, but when Loial lowered his arms and opened his eyes, it surprised me to see the sun stood well above the horizon. It had been touching the trees when the Ogier began. The leaves still on the oak seemed greener, and more firmly attached than before. The flowers encircling it stood straighter, the morningstars white and fresh, the loversknots a strong crimson. That… That must be the Song the Creator Sung, or at least a part of it. Some small, greedy part of me wondered if Loial would teach it to me.

Mopping sweat from his broad face, Loial rose and took his reins from Rand. His long eyebrows drooped, abashed, as if they might think he had been showing off. "I've never sung so hard before. I could not have done it if something of Treebrother was not still there. My Tree Songs do not have his power." When he settled himself in his saddle, there was satisfaction in the look he gave the oak and the flowers. "This little space, at least, will not sink into the Blight. The Blight will not have Treebrother."

"You are a good man, Ogier," Lan said.

Loial grinned. "I will take that as a compliment, but I do not know what Elder Haman would say."

We rode in a single file, with Mat behind the Warder where he could use his bow to effect if needed, and Perrin bringing up the rear with his axe across the pommel of his saddle. They crested a hill, and in an eye-blink the Blight was all around them, twisted and rotted in virulent rainbow hues. Like an awful fetid copy of that flame, the Flame Imperishable. I looked over my shoulder, but the Green Man's garden was nowhere to be seen. Only the Blight stretching behind them as before. Though I thought, for just a moment, that I saw the towering top of the oak tree, green and lush, before it shimmered and was gone. Then there was only the Blight.

I half expected we would have to fight their way out as they fought their way in, but the Blight was as quiet and still as death. Not a single branch trembled as if to lash at them. Nothing screamed or howled, neither nearby nor in the distance. The Blight seemed to crouch, not to pounce, but as if someone had struck it a great blow and waited for the next to fall. Even the sun was less red.

When we passed the necklace of lakes, the sun hung not far past its zenith. Lan kept them well away from the lakes and did not even look at them, but I thought the seven towers were taller than when he first saw them. I was sure the jagged tops were further from the ground, and above them something danced like a vision in the air, seamless towers gleaming in the sun, and banners with Golden Cranes flying on the wind. I blinked and stared, but the towers refused to vanish completely. The fight in the Malkieri was so strong even their buildings still fight the Blight while they can. They were there at the edge of vision until the Blight hid the lakes once more.

Moiraine had slept most of the morning, the quiet mumbling of restless dreams. But when we reached the seven towers, Moiraine spoke to me. "You can see them too, I see. You did this," said Moiraine quietly. "Be proud, Rand."

"I don't know how proud I can be. I almost killed myself," I muttered.

"And that was a foolish and dangerous thing to do, yes. Does not change the good you did, though. Even the dead kingdom of Malkieri acknowledges your blow."

We rode in silence for a minute, before I asked in a low voice. "What is your plan for me? You must have one. All Aes Sedai do."

Her eyes watched me, though I kept mine forward. "I have many plans for you, but there are two that apply right now. I plan to become your advisor and teacher in politics and nobility and the Westlands, having been raised the niece of a King, in a palace, and your advisor in the One Power, for a woman cannot teach a man but I can certainly give you advice and instruct you on the One Power's nature."

I thought about it. It made sense for her to teach me politics and nobility, and of the world, with my memories filled with gaping chasms and the remaining dwelt on farming. Politics were something I would eventually have to deal with, like it or not. Some people, somewhere, were bound to actually follow me and I will have to know how to lead. But I had hoped she could teach me something about channeling more than the basics, to help me while I wrestled with the One Power, the thing I feared and desired.

"What is the other plan," I asked, after thinking for a while.

"Illian. You bring the Horn to Illian, and the entire city will crown you king, a Forsaken could present the Horn and wind up crowned. With Illian under your control, you will have a nation, a people, and an army to back you. A foundation for whatever form of new government, whether the Covenant or the Empire or something completely different. And I will be there to advise you every step of the way."

I did not know what the Compact was, or the Empire, nor did I have any idea about government but the Village Council and the Women's Circle. Would they even work on that large of a scale? I shook away the thoughts; It did not matter now, it was something for Future Rand to deal with. "I see. That gives me a lot to think about, Moiraine Sedai. I don't have any issues, per se, I just wonder if I will be ready, Illian is sooner than I thought."

We spoke more, as I explained I did not know of this Covenant or Empire she spoke of and she told me of the years after the Breaking, of the grand nations that still remembered the Age of Legends formed a Covenant of Ten Nations, that they would keep the peace between them, and if ever one of them suffered the depredations of the Shadow, the armies of the others would go forth to defend them. It fell apart when the Trolloc Wars happened and armies of shadowspawn and Dreadlords flooded the Westlands, but for eight hundred years peace held. The Empire of Artur Hawkwing sounded like the dream of a genius, to unite the Westlands once more, this time as a single Empire. To then flounder for decades against the walls of Tar Valon while sending his heir across the Aryth Ocean to their eventual death, that was madness. I knew which one I would emulate.

Before sunset the Warder chose a campsite, and Moiraine had Nynaeve and Egwene helping her up to set wards. The Aes Sedai whispered in the other women's ears before she began. Nynaeve hesitated, but when Moiraine closed her eyes, all three women did so together.

Rand saw Mat and Perrin staring, and wondered how they could even be surprised. Every woman is an Aes Sedai, I thought mirthlessly. The Light help me, so am I. I'm worse. Bleakness held his tongue.

"Why is it so different?" Perrin asked as Egwene and the Wisdom helped Moiraine to her bed. "It feels..." His thick shoulders shrugged as if he could not find the word.

"We struck a mighty blow at the Dark One," Moiraine replied, settling herself with a sigh. "The Shadow will be a long time recovering."

"How?" Mat demanded. "What did we do?"

"Sleep, we are not out of the Blight yet." She focused on me. "Rand, I wish to speak with you alone. We have important matters to speak of."

I gulped, a sudden nervousness flooding me. She means Dragon Reborn business. Is this when…? No. She has shown no sign of trying to stop me. I need to stop being paranoid. I walked over to her bed, on the far side of the camp, away from others besides Lan. Egwene stayed, caught in a staring match before Moiraine sighed. "I don't think you'll be happy about this, child, but you can stay. Let us wait till the others are abed."

We sat in silence on the edge of the firelight, waiting for snores and restful breathing to sound for nearly ten minutes, while I fiddled with the strange wooden rod I found in my right hand. It was a foot long dark wooden rod about two-thirds the width of my wrist, carved with six simple dragons with their front legs and claws splayed, the number 6 adorning the side closest to me.

"I have seen one like it, in the White Tower. Every Aes Sedai has seen it, for it is a white foot-long rod the width of a woman's wrist with a number three carved on one end and intricate foreign writing on the other. It is called the Oath Rod, and every Aes Sedai must swear the Three Oaths on it, to bind them to our soul. I would bet my shawl that it is a ter'angreal gifted to you by this Iridescent Flame to…" Moiraine paused, choosing her words carefully, "bond with your fated women. A… Bonder, if you like. I believe I know of three of the women, and suspect a fourth."

I was confused. "How do you know that? Did you have some Foretelling you did not tell us about?"

"I'm one, of course." Egwene edges in, trying for the confidence and calm of an Aes Sedai and failing miserably.

Moiraine gave her a look of sadness. "I did not have a Foretelling, but someone else did. Min, the young woman in the Stag and Lion in Baerlon who wore men's clothing, she can see things about people's future in their auras. What she sees comes true, eventually, even if she does not know what it means." I froze, remembering what she said about Egwene. I did not know they always came true.

Min was wrong. She has to be wrong. They looked at me, Egwene strangely, and Moiraine with a semblance of pity. Realizing I must have spoken aloud, I explained my reasoning. "I'm not the same Rand anymore. I have part of someone else stitched into me, which must mean I've changed and what she saw does not apply anymore. It must!"

"Rand, what is Min supposed to be wrong about?" Egwene asked in a trembling voice.

"It does not matter." I replied.

"It does matter," replied Moiriaine. "She predicted three lovers for you, Rand, and none Egwene. The prophecy says three lovers, two teachers, and one enemy, Rand. Min saw herself, a young woman with the red-gold hair of Andoran Royalty, and a woman that looked kin to you, Rand. An Aiel woman. She knew all three would be your loves." Moiraine offered her pity to Egwene. "None of them were you, child. I am sorry."

I was desperate. I could see Egwene distraught, but accepting what the Aes Sedai said, crumbling under her confidence and authority and the weight of everything she learned about me in the past two days, so I said the first thing that came to mind. "The Aiel! She could very well teach me to be an Aiel, rather than my lover, since I am one, supposedly. Egwene is one of my lovers, she HAS to be. I made a promise, Moiraine Sedai, in that horrible place," I pleaded, tears beginning to puddle in my eyes. I wiped them clean with the back of my hand. The Pattern took my father from me, it would not take Egwene from me as well!.

I could see sympathy in her eyes as her cool voice whispered. "You must be quieter, Rand. I know this is not what you wish, but even ta'veren can not bend every fate."

"Can we not try, Moiraine? Just once? I give my oath I will obey whatever you tell me afterwards, even if it is separating us and sequestering Egwene into the White Tower for years, or… or even that." I both dreaded and delighted in the idea of channeling, of wielding the forces of Creation against the Dark One. It seemed to light a fire inside me. Then the thought comes of slowly going mad, my body rotting around me as I risk my friends and family every day with my existence… It may be better to gentled.

Moiraine's eyes were calculating in the waxing moonlight. "I will ask nothing too arduous on you, and I believe the child will become an Aes Sedai sooner than everyone will think. I do not believe too many years will separate you, if she does bond with you." She paused, seeming to weigh options in her head. "Very well, let us try. You are ta'veren, maybe you will escape what Min viewed, if anyone can. Hold out the Bonder and wait while Egwene attempts to channel a thread of spirit, before she vows to be bound to the heart of the Dragon Reborn. That was all the Oath Rod needed, a thread of spirit and an oath."

I held out the Bonder and Egwene held the end with the dragon heads eagerly. She closed her eyes and sat there; I assumed trying to channel, but after a few moments, both of our bodies went rigid and our mouths snapped shut tight. I felt an ember of the Flame Imperishable that I had not realized dwelt within my heart detach itself from the whole and travel painfully down my right arm, burning something into my skin until it reached my hand and leapt into the Bonder and the pain dissipated.

As the flame traveled, it seared one of the dragon carvings and burnt into a strange animal akin to a dragon, though stouter and almost turtle-like, though lacking a shell, before entering Egwene's hand. Somehow, I knew the creature was female. She had bright green eyes, with no mane or antlers but horns of wood-like bone instead crowned her head. They adorned her back as well amongst scales of dark brown like good earth, and the light tan of sand, and her tail that ended in a flanged wood-like bone mace that looked dangerous. Lichen and small plants covered her, flowers in beautiful blooming rainbow patterns giving this strange—something within me spoke Earth Dragon—dragon a beautiful, almost painted feel.

"... Rand in my mind, just like this little bundle that tells me he's feeling fascinated right now, and oh he's focusing on us now. Hello Rand." Egwene gave me a sweet smile that turned into a frown. "You did not prepare me for how much that hurt, Rand. That fire, traveling through my arm and into my heart." She shivered. "And look, you even gave me a tattoo! Whatever am I to do? Wear gloves on my hands forever?" On her right hand lay the flame of Tar Valon, its white teardrop contained inside a heraldic shield. I glanced at my arm and started. On it, etched into my skin as if part of it, wrapped round twice my right arm, marched the same gold-and-scarlet form as lay on the banner in the Eye of the World. The Dragon. Right behind its head lay a heraldic shield in an exact copy of Egwene's, except it had begun to fill in with color, just barely on the edges.

I frowned, frustrated that she would blame me. "I did not know it would do this either. And you have no right to complain about the pain. I had to feel it everywhere, for hours." I breathed deeply, calming. "Personally, I don't feel any different, maybe a little itchy, but this is still a good thing. It worked, Moiraine! I knew it would." I glared at her before turning to Egwene. "So you can feel me, like in your head?"

Egwene nodded, looking abashed in the fire's light. "Yes, if my eyes were closed, I could still tell where you are like you pull on me. And there's this little knot in the back of my head, where I can feel that you are healthy, and feeling no particular powerful emotion. I uh.. I felt your frustration. I'm sorry, Rand, I just did not expect the pain."

I nodded, moving on by accepting the apology. "It's okay. It's been a long couple of days for everyone." Then I got excited, showing off the Earth Dragon. "But look, see how the Bonder changed? Something in my mind tells me it is an Earth Dragon and I think you will be able to shapechange into one. Feels right, somehow."

Moiraine interrupted me. "While interesting, it matters more if you can shapechange, Rand. Do you feel anything new?"

I felt an itchiness beneath my skin, a kind of energy I had never felt before. It felt wild, powerful and free, so I pulled on it with my will and that energy leapt to my command like an eager dog. It rose from beneath my skin like a rushing river to cover me from head to toe, changing me in a moment that stretched like molten glass as my body changed around me, my skin squirming like worms. I did not sit any taller, but I could hear and see much better. Almost instantly, I noticed Perrin was not asleep. His gold eyes were wide and shined in the half dark, and he flinched when he noticed me watching him back and rolled over. I could feel a weight on my head, from the antlers I supposed, and the long mane of curly red and gold hair that now stretch to my shoulder blades. My finger claws clicked on each other as I tried not to drum my now-dangerous fingers on my legs, before I realized I could retract them, leaving merely scaled reptilian fingers. I felt a burning sensation in my gut then, a horrid nausea overwhelming me until I simply had to vomit.

A sickly black oil spattered the grass near me, turning the plantlife sickly and trapping some sort of beetle, like sap on a tree, until the black oil seeped inside it. In moments it turned the bug into a chittering mass of half-formed legs and snapping mandibles on a putrid, pustulent body. I stared, unable to even comprehend what I saw before I felt a sudden chill in the air, and then a white-hot flame lit up the night atop the nightmarish bug, burning the oil into an acrid smoke that drifted due north on the breeze. I wiped the back of my hand across my mouth, feeling the sting of the black oil as it evaporated on the back of my head. Egwene's eyes were wide and staring and her face blanched.

"What… what… What was that!" She whispered fiercely, with some shakiness.

Panicking, I spoke in a rush. "I just had to vomit when I changed. I didn't mean to make… that."

Moiraine's own face was pale as well, staring at the spot when the oil had fallen with the eyes that showed genuine fear as I had never seen before. "I… I believe that was the Taint, child." She spoke slowly, carefully. "The Taint on Saidin, being expelled from Rand's so'shan.—Moiraine grimaced—However, the only way to make the proof conclusive would be to have him channel."

I felt her fear then, when she told me what that horrible stuff was. That was all inside me… and it kills plants and changes animals into monsters. What was it doing to me? Light, if only I never had to channel. "We will NOT be doing that tonight. I think we all need some sleep, Moiraine Sedai, or time to think, after what we just saw."

"Just a few more things, Rand. You promised you would do everything I asked you tonight." Something tinged her voice I could not read, but made me worried. I nodded reluctantly. "To be perfectly honest, I believe I am to be one of the two teachers for you. The Bonder still lies within your hand, waiting, as proof, and if I am to teach you, it would be best to start as soon as possible. As an Aes Sedai Teacher to the Dragon Reborn, may I, Moiraine Damodred of the Blue Ajah, bond with you Rand?"

I did not know what to think. Egwene looked aghast. "You're the fourth woman!" She accused Moiraine with a harsh whisper. "This is some Aes Sedai trick, that's why you wanted him alone to ensnare him further into your net." Moiraine gave her a frigid glare that gave me shivers just seeing it. Egwene withstood it for nearly seven seconds before she sat straight, apologizing to the Aes Sedai.

Moiraine nodded once Egwene's contriteness satisfied her and then looked at me, her tone softer and her eyes seeming to draw me in, giving me goosebumps. "You must understand something, Rand. I was in the room when your birth was Foretold. For nineteen years, since I became an Aes Sedai, I have been on a quest to find the Dragon Reborn. From the current Amyrlin Seat, the only other Aes Sedai who now knows of your birth, I have been told to guide and protect you, and to tie you as close to the White Tower as I can, and I will certainly try with some amount of effort."

She spoke more stridently. "But those first three instructions, to find, guide, and protect—Moiraine's eyes lit with pride—are the ones that truly matter, as you will be the Dragon Reborn with or without the help of the White Tower or their leashes."

She adopted the cool, calm once again, but a coyness lingered in her eyes. My skin prickled in a cool night breeze. "Why have Amyrlin Seat try to leash you once she knows you're found, when you could simply have my help and my heart bound as proof I will not betray you to any, even to the Mother of Aes Sedai. I believe this will benefit both of us, as I do not have to worry about you sending me away or ignoring me, and you will not have to worry about me betraying you for gentling or working against your interests."

I was… I did not know what to think. She had been looking for me for as long as I lived, found me and tried to guide and protect me from the Shadow, in her own twisting Aes Sedai way. Moiraine Sedai doesn't even want to gentle me, as heretical as that is. It is strange though; I am the focus for her entire Aes Sedai life, and now she's practically begging, as far as Aes Sedai are concerned, to bond me. One would find it romantic if it wasn't such an abrupt turn for her. Some part of me couldn't help thinking it was some kind of ploy, but she seemed genuine, and I was not stupid enough to deny an Aes Sedai who dropped the facade to show her authentic emotions, or at least more authentic. I held out the Rod. If she wants to bond me, so be it, I would rather have an Aes Sedai on my side. Her smile reached her eyes and if she was not an Aes Sedai, I would have said she grabbed for the Bonder.

For Moiraine the flame traveled through another one of the dragon carvings, searing it into a strange animal that also seemed similar but different from my dragon, just like Egwene. She was opalescent somehow, white scales like mother-of-pearl with pure blue eyes, ram's horns of pure white, with tiny horns dusting her jaw. The patagia of her large batlike wings was a soft blue, and her claws a brilliant sapphire. She only had two legs as her wings acted as forelimbs with vestigial paws. Icy mist that glittered with little rainbows in the night drifted from her maw filled with brilliant blue fangs. Ice Wyvern is what that voice called her. She was a beautiful creature, delicate where the earth dragon was solid. Moiraine laughed, now a soft tinkle in the air, no hint of raspiness. Near Egwene's shield lay another, already tinging blue on the edges, with a flower hanging in the center.

I started as she stood up out of her bedroll and twirled, laughing once more. "Rand, I could kiss you if it wouldn't make your first wife so upset." I blushed, looking away. "You healed me! I don't have to lie bedridden. Thank you, I always hated being stuck in bed sick ever so much." She quieted down when someone stirred behind us. Suddenly, the Aes Sedai calm slammed down on her face and tone. She was really quite beautiful, small and delicate, like the fine Tarien doll Egwene had gotten from someone on Sunday. I watched as Moiraine and Egwene, in a daze, as they spoke a little more, until Egwene grabbed my hand and dragged me off, having arranged our bedrolls together. As I held her in my arms, I dreamt of music that night, a song I would not remember played by half a dozen instruments, drums and bitterns with clean clear tones and strange instruments I had never heard before that warbled an awe-inspiring tune.

Authors Note: Rand is listening to Your Hand In Mine by Explosion In The Sky