Chapter 4

A Dream of Steel and Fire

I skimmed through the underbelly of the gray clouds, Sheraine and Gemiad huddled in between my hands. I'd raised the temperature in my breast, to ward off the chill for both them and myself. We were flying low, and not just because it got freezing cold higher up.

The clouds hung low, so I only had my eyes to navigate by. The Mountains of Mist coming up to my right made it easy, but they promised also to be the main navigation danger. If I ascended deeper into the clouds, there was no chance anybody down below would spot me. But I wouldn't spot the side of the mountain either until I flew into it.

The smell of flowers teased my nose momentarily before Sheraine's voice appeared next to my ear. "Will you tell me now where we are going? Whatever this is about, it's not in Baerlon."

"Don't underestimate the importance of Baerlon," I said. I assumed she'd used some sort of weave of Air to make herself heard given the howling wind. I wasn't a fighter jet, but I was still going about a hundred miles an hour or so. "It's about to drown these lands in steel. But it is only a stop along the way. After that, we're heading for Ebou Dar."

"Ebou Dar?"

I nodded, but I didn't know if she could see that. "Yes. I need information and I believe my best chance to find it is there."

Sheraine didn't speak right away. "And what do you think is at Ebou Dar?"

"I know of four great collections of ter'angreal. The first is of course in The White Tower, the second is in the cellars of the Stone of Tear, and the third is in Ebou Dar."

"Where in Ebou Dar?"

"Ah, it's in the Rahad. Somewhere." I'd wracked my brain to remember what little details I had of that part of book 6. It was located in something like an apartment building, on the top floor. But was it four stories or five? Had it been entirely empty or just partly?

"In the Rahad? You believe there's a collection of ter'angreal just lying around in one of the roughest neighborhoods of a city famed for its duels? Something like that would have been stolen and sold off centuries ago."

I chuckled. "You would think that, but there's a few things you don't know."

"Such as why you need a ter'angreal. You're not a channeler," Sheraine said.

"Strictly speaking, I don't need a ter'angreal. What I need is a book, one written in the Age of Legends. I'm hoping it's on one of those ter'angreal in question." A small statue of a man with a beard, holding a collection of texts both fiction and non-fiction. It was still a gamble that it would hold the information I sought, but my other option held a lot more danger.

"And you just happen to know it's there. In a collection the White Tower doesn't even know exists."

"To be fair, the White Tower believes it already knows about most things. It keeps them from seeing what's actually going on, and a lot of people work hard to keep it that way. It's the only way they get to live their lives unbothered and more power to them."

We flew throughout the day, the mountain range just kept going the entire way. My stomach growled as the light died away. "We may have to set down here and continue tomorrow. I rather not fly through the night and getting into Baerlon would be a hassle."

Then the smell hit me. A hint of hot iron mixed with the ashy spice of burned coal. "On the other hand, I think we're close."

"What makes you say that? I see nothing," Sheraine's disembodied voice enquired.

"I don't either, not yet. But I know a channeler's senses are a little sharper while they embrace the One Power. Perhaps you can smell it?"

I didn't hear her sniff or anything, but a few seconds later I heard her question. "I do. It smells like a blacksmith. But if we're this close to Baerlon we should see its lights."

I chuckled. "That's not a blacksmith you're smelling, those are ironworks. They're making steel measured in tons, not stones. There, see, that glow on the horizon."

"I do," Gemiad said. "Almost like the forest is on fire."

"It's Baerlon," I said with certainty. "We're having a proper dinner and warm beds tonight."

Reinvigorated, I flew south with powerful beats of my wings. It only took about fifteen minutes for the forest to give way to small farming villages. But what little light spilled from their windows was nothing compared to the contained bonfire on the eastern side of the city itself. Several tall chimneys still belched pillars of black smoke into the night, illuminated by the yellow-red glow of molten iron.

I couldn't just land right outside of town so the last couple of miles we had to walk. Which meant the gate was firmly shut by the time we reached it. Undeterred, I pounded on it.

It took a minute before the little shutter set in the massive door slid open. "Sun's down," the guard spat. "This gate ain't opening till dawn." I'd chosen more fancy clothes for this evening, so when the guard's eyes finally adjusted to the dark, he saw two people dressed like nobles and one fairly well-off merchant or the like; but without horses.

"You may send a messenger to Governor Adan with my apologies for the delay in my arrival," I said, utterly ignoring the guard's words. "Also convey my request to be allowed to pay my respects at his earliest convenience. He can send his reply to … is the Stag and Lion rebuilt yet?"

"Didn't you hear me … uh, sir? I'm not allowed to let anybody in after sundown. The gate's stays closed; governor's orders." The guard had a kettle hat on, but the strap hadn't been tied and it had been pushed back so the back of the brim rested on his back. This gave his blunt finger free access to scratch his the corner of his brow.

"I see." I fished into my pocket and let the gold catch the light spilling out from behind the guard's head. "But if it truly was past sundown, how could I have found your coin? The one you dropped earlier today?"

The eyes tracked the money pinched between my fingers, and the guard licked his lips. "Right … been wondering where that was. Still, uh," he stammered glancing to his right. "Opening the gate's a two-man job, sir. A lot of work."

I didn't want to do this. Promoting bribery only served to deteriorate what little professionalism the authorities here had, and it was taking too long, too! I was hungry, sore from flying all day, and I could open this gate in seconds with a simple flex of my Gift.

It would just mean I wouldn't get much more than a single day of rest in Baerlon before the cries of False Dragon would ruin everything I'd been trying to build here. Still couldn't stifle the sigh when I produced a second coin. "Then you should let your friend know I found his coin as well. What are the odds?"

"Right. Don't-don't go anywhere." The guard hurried off, only to come right back to slam the shutter shut before we heard him leave.

"That wouldn't have worked in Caemlyn," Gemiad commented with a frown.

"Probably not, which is why I wouldn't have even tried. But Caemlyn is also a lot bigger, I'd just have flown high over the walls and fallen down. If I was alone, anyway," I said with a shrug.

It wasn't long before we heard people approach, arguing as they came in, until the shutter slid open again. Someone else gave us all a suspicious glare, but froze when I showed him the gold. Something heavy clacked against the gate, and the guards cursed before they cracked the gate open.

"Get in," the first guard hissed. "Right quick before the sergeant comes."

We all squeezed through one after the other, with me bringing up the rear. With a grunt, guard one pulled the gate close again, and then together, they slid the heavy beam across again to lock it.

"Thank you, gentlemen," I said, handing over the money. "I'll find someone over at the inn to bring a message to the governor. There is no need to draw Governor Adan's notice to the timing of my arrival. Have a pleasant evening."

With that, we headed off to the Stag and Lion to settle in for the night. And some dinner. My stomach grumbled again. No, lots of dinner.

VVVV

The inn still smelled faintly of paint and sawdust; I breathed in the smell as I snuggled under the blankets. With a full belly and tired after flying the whole day, I closed my eyes and shivered as my toes defrosted.

It was hard to tell when I fell asleep, no way to tell the time and I usually didn't even remember my dreams beyond vague impressions, but I couldn't ignore the sudden pull that overcame me. One moment I was somewhere that might have been the pink castle at Disneyland, and the next, the ocean crashed against the cliffs below me; I could feel the thunder of it beating against my wings.

"What? Where?" I spun around. I was standing on a stone platform, a design had been carved into it which seemed to be worn away by time as I watched only to spring back to a series of sharp lines and figures enclosed by a circle that had something red at the bottom of the groove. It was so large that even in my draconic shape, it contained me with room to spare.

And outside of that circle stood the unexpected figure of Buad. No helmet this time, so her reddish-gold hair could flow freely. Her shield was strapped to her back, while the head of her spear touched the circle carved into the dark gray stone.

"Our conversation had not finished, Ron Shen. My question still needs an answer."

I folded my wings back. "You drew me to Tel'Aran'Rhiod? How's that possible?"

She nodded to herself before pointing her spear at me. Only now did I notice the fresh blood coating the steel. "When I returned to the Dream World, I found your blood had not disappeared as everything else of the Living World had. And while I have mostly been a warrior and a queen, there were lives where I learned the ways of sorcery."

I didn't know much about magic myself, but I read the Godbound manual's section on Theurgy. "You used my blood as a link to draw my sleeping mind to Tel'Aran'Rhiod. But why only now?" But even as I asked that question, I remembered the answer. "Time runs differently here. To you, only a short time has passed."

She inclined her head. "Only a day or so. I had wanted to ask you about how you knew me, but this conversation has only given me more questions."

I snorted. "You're not the only one with questions. I thought you heroes were not allowed to communicate with the living while you waited to be born again."

"True, but you are no mere mortal." She drew her spear back and rested the butt of the weapon on the stone platform. "What dragon could be described as such? Which is what we need to know. How did you come to arrive in this world? How do you know of Boudica?"

We? I glanced around but saw no one else. It looked like we were on an island, we were on the highest part of it and it sloped down from there. The flora I saw didn't look anything like I'd seen anywhere in the Westlands. Where were we if this had been the waking world?

"I'm displaced in time and space," I said. If there was one group that wouldn't have any Darkfriends, it would be the Heroes of the Horn. "When I learned of you, the Roman Empire had fallen only 550 years ago." Constantinople fell in 1453 and they were all that was left of the Roman Empire. This also brought home how much history could happen in just a few centuries. "Your own death had been less than 2,000 years ago."

"I see." Her hand tightened on her spear, before she exhaled slowly. "None of us were spun out much in that Age. But my daughters were remembered, then?"

I couldn't stop the grimace, but I nodded. "Not much, I'm afraid. But now I have a question of my own. Where did you learn to do this? I thought the only magical tradition known to this world was channeling the One Power."

Buad nodded. "That is the only one that returns again and again. But sometimes, we do get visitors from elsewhere, and their knowledge lingers for a while. It was one group of such visitors that built this place."

I froze in shock. And before I could ask my question, the Hero of the Horn looked sharply to my right, and in the blink of an eye, she was gone.

"Shenron," a woman said behind me. I spun around to find an Aiel Wise One looking up at me. A familiar one.

"Seana, how unexpected."

"Yes, I did not expect to find you here in Tel'Aran'Rhiod." She looked around with a frown. "This place feels strange. Where are we?"

"I don't know. When I went to sleep, I … didn't intend to visit the Dreaming World." While yanking my dreaming mind to this place wasn't exactly nice, it wasn't like Buad had many options to speak to me. And given that I didn't know the exact rules regarding the heroes or how they were enforced, it would be safer to keep their secret. "Where you looking for me?"

"For some time, yes." Seana studied me. "We tried to find you again, but could not find your sleeping mind. If I didn't happen to be here when you arrived in Tel'Aran'Rhiod we would still be searching."

"How odd. Hiding is not one of my strengths." However, the Gift that allowed me to transform also allowed me to blend in; to an extent. And I had been sleeping while wearing the form and clothes of an Aiel. "It might be that when you found me back in Shende Hold, I slept as an Aiel. That's not an identity I have taken on again since I departed the Three-Fold Land."

Seana shook her head. "That should not matter. No matter what happens to the body, the soul does not change."

"True, but my ability doesn't just change my appearance but also gives me an understanding of that society. The way they speak, their customs. That understanding gives a different color to my thoughts. How could it not?"

"Must you bring up revelations every time we meet?" She adjusted her shawl and clapped her hands. "But enough of that, we must speak on the information you gave us last time. On the tain'da'tsang."

"Da'tsang, those without honor," I said, trying to puzzle that one out. "Apologies, but I only know a few words of the Old Tongue. What does tain mean?"

"It means true, Shenron. We found the people you spoke of." Seana's lips drew back in a snarl at the word 'people'. "We sent many beyond the Blight. Only a few returned. But they confirmed what you said. Thank you for telling us the truth," she said and inclined her head.

"I know it can't be easy to face with what the Aiel might have become after you gave up on the Way of the Leaf." I shrugged my shoulders, which flared my wings. "If not for the Peace of Rhuidean the Jenn Aiel offered…"

"You hinted at it before," Seana said. "You do know of our history then. Did this ability give you that knowledge? The one that made you look and speak as an Aiel?"

I shook my head. "No. After all, only Wise Ones and Chiefs know your true history. I just get an instinct for custom and speech; a sense of what not to say. I knew your history even before I crossed the Dragonwall. But what will you do now? Regarding the male channelers, I mean."

"Adapt, of course. However, there is no agreement yet on what to do with them now that facing Grassburner is no longer an option. The Aes Sedai cut such men off from the Source, but that only delays the spear thrusting home. Yet to kill one of your own sept or society, not for something they have done but something that will happen to them…" Seana looked openly troubled, and for the first time, her appearance in the Dream flickered, her hair turning fully black as the decades slipped off her face.

"I'm afraid my knowledge of Aiel customs faded with the end of my disguise." I lowered my head. "Are there any circumstances in which it was proper for an Aiel to take their own life?"

The Wise One drew back a step. "That is not our way. If ji'e'toh requires it, any Aiel is, of course, prepared to lay down his or her life. Death is but a dream we must all wake from one day. But these men have not broken ji'e'toh. And to simply give up, to surrender to despair, to Grassburner." She shook her head.

"Then perhaps your only recourse is to gentle them." Seana stared at the stone beneath our feet. I should leave it there, but there was hope. "At least until the Car'a'carn has come and led you into the Wetlands, when saidin is cleansed, and Aes Sedai learn to heal even gentling." Her appearance snapped back to what it had been before, gray-blue eyes wide with shock. I grimaced. I shouldn't have said that much. But she had looked so lost.

My sigh ruffled her gray-streaked hair. "Yes, yes, I know. I know things I shouldn't, like how you have sent people over the mountains to search for him." I didn't need to specify who that person was.

Her eyes searched for something in me. "And you will not tell me how you know any of that. But I can hear the certainty in your voice. I can see it in your gaze. Are you a Dreamer, then?"

I cleared my throat. "Yes, well, a dragon must maintain some mystique, or we look like nothing but a big lizard with wings. But no, I'm not a Dreamer. I read quite a lot, and … I can't say anything more than that at this point. Could we talk about something else? How mad is Sorilea with me for leaving as I did?"

"Mad? Ah, you mean angry?" A light smile tugged at the Wise One's lips before it evaporated. "She was more angry at herself for underestimating you. I admit, I thought you somehow knew how to use some of what we can do in the Dream in the waking world. But you say you are not a Dreamer."

I shrugged. "I won't say imagination isn't a factor in my abilities." I looked around and started to walk out of the circle. "But it's more that I have a deep connect‒" I gasped as I looked at my left arm, the one that had passed the outer line of the diagram carved into the stone first; I could see through it.

"Well, drat," I said, and even my voice sounded hollow as if it was draining away. I had become aware of my presence here only because I could now feel myself falling away. Like a tree toppling, a floor tilting from horizontal to fully vertical.

"The Fors-" But I wasn't granted even the few seconds I needed to say my goodbyes as Tel'Aran'Rhiod disappeared, and I awoke with a gasp. "Damn," I whispered before sleep claimed me again.

VVVV

Being sore in limbs that your current form didn't actually possess was a strange sensation. My feet were warming up in the slippers my host had provided for me. Outside, the hail pelted the window. It wasn't cold enough to remain, instead, it turned into half-frozen sludge that had sent more than a few people slipping and sliding on my way here.

It had also left my boots muddy, so rather than letting me track a mess throughout the manor, I had been provided with an alternative.

"I must admit," Governor Adan said, "that I had begun to fear you had suffered a mischief. I certainly wasn't expecting you to arrive here in the middle of winter."

I breathed in the hot tea cradled in my hands, the heat slowly thawing my bones. The cold just hit differently in my human form. "I apologize for the delay. Events in Almoth turned out to be more complicated than expected."

"Oh, can you tell me about it, or will I have to wait for my copy of the Times to come back west?" He added some honey to his own cup.

I tapped my finger against my cup in thought. "It turned out that neither Tarabon nor Arad Doman was involved in the rumors you heard. Instead, we found a legion of Whitecloaks disguised as raiders. Pedron Niall was trying to instigate a war between the two nations."

Governor Adan stilled, his eyes flicked to the door. His chair creaked as he leaned back. "That's a very serious allegation to make. Not one Queen Morgase would want you to make in public."

I took a sip of my tea. "I have the legion's banner as well Geofram Bornhald's own coat of arms tucked away in my bag." It had only taken a couple of hours to track down the person who had looted those. Some of the gold thread had already been taken out by then, and the coat of arms had been too close to an explosion, but there was enough of it left to identify them easily. I also had one of the Questioner's diaries, which had far more details then he should have ever entrusted to paper concerning a covert operation.

"Surely you jest?" He blinked, then shook his head. "Why would they even have those if they were pretending to be … bandits. And how did you acquire them?"

"Because once Tarabon and Arad Doman were fighting, Pedron Niall would need his forces in position to act when he swooped in to broker a peace. So they had all the gear of a regular legion of Whitecloaks, which they took out of storage when they confirmed that the descendants of Artur Hawkwing's army had invaded Falme. The Whitecloaks got destroyed though, so it was easy to get the evidence."

"Hawkwing's army returned? Now I know you are lying. They left a thousand years ago. Why would they come back now?"

"Because they were finally ready to do so after having spent several centuries slowly conquering a continent. I won't go into the details with you here. The White Tower has its own concerns about the invaders, but I will tell you they are a serious threat. They consider themselves the rightful rulers of these lands and have the military might to enforce that claim."

Governor Adan looked troubled. "If they defeat an entire legion of Whitecloaks, perhaps. If they truly were led by Bornhald then it would have been a serious fighting force. But they'll have to fight their way through the armies of Arad Doman and Tarabon and cross the Mountains of Mist before they become my problem."

"Yes, about that." I hesitated, but the news was going to filter in soon anyway. Maybe only after the snow had melted, but what was it I had thought last year? People around here kept too many secrets even if it harmed their goals. "I won't be printing the following until the White Tower has made an official announcement, but I'll give you a preview of what the Amyrlin will say."

"And how do you know what the Amyrlin Seat will announce?" Governor Adan interrupted.

"Because I spoke to several Aes Sedai at Falme, and they were so shocked by events that they just spoke the straight truth to me."

"I'm not sure there's anything that could move an Aes Sedai to such a state." He gave me a look when I didn't speak any further. "What did they say?"

"That it was the Dragon Reborn who drove the invaders into the sea while fighting in the skies above Falme with a Forsaken."

Governor Adan gaped like a fish for a moment, but then his cheeks grew red. "Now I know you've gone mad! Why speak such a lie!" He got out of his chair. "How dare you abuse the trust-"

I stopped his tirade cold by unfolding the drawing I'd taken with me out of Falme. Rand was easy to recognize, and Ishamael truly looked like an avatar of the Dark One itself with his flaming eyes and black, billowing cloak. All of it rendered in charcoal by a street artist who had some real talent.

"I got this made for a few coppers in Falme. Everyone that knew how to draw was selling them as fast as they could. This is probably the first one that's managed to make it this far east, but I don't think even winter's snow will stop its spread. There's an Aes Sedai with this man even now, a channeler, and she's advising him." I hadn't actually seen Moiraine, but she should have reached Falme shortly after we left.

The governor slumped back into his chair, his gaze riveted to the drawing. "It's only a drawing. People make all sorts," he said, though the fury had left his voice, and it was a feeble thing now. "Doesn't make it true."

"There's a False Dragon up in Saldea called Mazrim Taim," I said. "He's defeated a couple of armies already, but the Aes Sedai predict that now that the Pattern has found the true Dragon Reborn, there won't be any more false ones. They expect Mazrim Taim will now suddenly be easy to capture or even suffer an accident. I'm sorry, but it looks like the Last Battle will be fought in our lifetimes."

"Is that why you're traveling at this time of year? Are you heading to Tar Valon?"

I shook my head. "No, I will warn my people about all of this, but given what's coming, I want to do my part to prepare. And speaking of, I saw the spectacle on my way in. How many furnaces are you operating now?"

That roused Governor Adan. "Since last week, we're up to six, though the first full-scale one we built has to be rebuilt due to a slag buildup." He reached out and folded the paper shut. "But even then, we're going through our supply of iron ore at an incredible pace. I've actually ordered a study into if it's possible to keep some of the mines up in the mountains running through the winter. And how we'll get all that steel to the river for transportation is another worry. But in the meantime, the price of steel here in Baerlon has crashed."

"There will be plenty of need for that steel," I said.

Governor Adan blew out a breath. "There always is. I expected it to get better once we're into Spring and we can move more of the steel to Caemlyn. Now, I wonder if we even have that much time," he said, looking at me. "If you're not lying about this."

I shook my head. "Still a lot of prophecies in the Karaethon Cycle that need fulfilling. I think we have another year, two even. Which means we need to make more steel. I don't know how much help I can be on the mining side."

Since while the Guild of Illuminators in Cairhien would be gone by now, the one in Tanchico wasn't. The Governor would not risk angering their guild since they were known to use murder to keep their secrets. "But I do have something that can help with transportation as well as with draining mines. Tell me, have you ever considered the force with which steam comes out of a kettle of boiling water?"