The Wheel of Time turns, and Ages come and pass, leaving memories that become legend. Legend fades to myth, and even myth is long forgotten when the Age that gave it birth comes again. In one Age, called the Third Age by some, an Age yet to come, an Age long past, a wind rose in the Mountains of Dhoom. The wind was not the beginning. There are neither beginnings nor endings to the turning of the Wheel of Time. But it was a beginning.

When I first saw that girl, she was riding through a forest in Eastern Saldaea. It was clear that she had business there, what it was remained the only question. She was a Southlander -- though she could have passed for Arafellin or Aiel with those light eyes of hers and red hair -- there was no mistaking that. She simply acted like one. Of course, I saw her before she did me and I gave her quite a fright. She kept calling out. How was I to answer?

Finally I jumped out of the vegetation and she calmed down a bit -- no doubt because I appeared to be human and friendly. Of course, she was so quick in coming to a conclusion as to what my intentions were that I was dumbfounded.

"What's your name? Is there anything dangerous in this place?" she asked me.

"My name doesn't matter, Southlander. There are lots of trollocs around, it's the Borderlands, you idiot!" I answered. I've always had little patience, perhaps because Amalinda Sedai always had so much of it.

The girl, Della, wasn't phased for a moment "I meant in this general area!"

"Nothing too dangerous," I said. Of course, that was to the best of my knowledge. I'm a Woodsman...I'm wise, but not omnipotent!

"Would you like to have lunch?" she queried.

"Do you actually have food?" I replied. Wondering if perhaps she might expect me to go and hunt for it.

"Yes" Well, that much assured me that at worst she was trying to poison me but I could see no reason why. So I decided to agree to eat with her.

"Alright" We began to eat and talk. "So, what brings you here?" I asked her at last.

"I'm on a mission from the Tower"

"Which Tower?" I asked warily. I might not be a genius, but I know better than most what is going on with those towers. That is, better than most who have never set foot within a few miles of Tar Valon.

"The Rightful one, of course" she said. Was she trying to be tricky? Anyone would have said that much. I tried again.

"Which Ajah are you?"

"I'm just an Accepted, but I am considering Blue" she said matter-of-factly. That much assured me of much. For one thing, it told me that her Amyrlin was probably younger than her.

"What sort of mission?" I pushed.

"Gathering information in Saldaea" she said, probably hiding something of much more consequence. She wasn't an Aes Sedai yet, but she would have been proud to know that she sure spoke like one.

"Do you need help? I think you will need a guide" At least until you leave the Blightborder, I added mentally. Otherwise, you're liable to get yourself killed even if you can channel!

"That would be lovely. Tell me about yourself" she replied.

I told her a little about myself. That my name is Ryah and I'm a wandering Kandori woodswoman, skilled at foraging, weapon smithy and working with animals. That I narrowly survived a Trolloc attack on my town when I was younger. I didn't tell her that the woman who saved me from death or blindness was a retired Aes Sedai of the Yellow Ajah, who meant for me to become a spy for her ajah. I didn't tell her how I knew so much about the White Tower, she probably suspected enough.

So we began to travel through the forest. "Isn't this lovely?" exclaimed Della, not used to the verdant growth of the forest. I simply glared at her, disgusted. If only she truly knew the danger of the forest.

I heard a rustling in the bushes just then, and and tensed up. Noticing it, Della whispered, "Have you any idea what that is?" I shook my head grimly. "No, but I intend to find out."

Della pulled out her dagger, and I brandished my trident and poked into the bushes, but to no avail.

A large Trolloc jumped out. "Oh dear!" exclaimed Della, confronted for the first time by the Shadowspawn.

She had always considered them fairy tales, and she had really only learned about them in Tar Valon...but to actually see one for once was frightening! He snarled fiercely. I just glared at the Southlander chit again.

Della looked to her "You said there was nothing dangerous!"

I shrugged. "It's just one Trolloc," knowing full well that telling her that there were possibly more at a distance would put her in hysterics if she found one to be threatening. We wouldn't need to deal with the whole group of them in all likelihood if there were more, no need to worry her pretty Southlander head.

I shot my short bow and narrowly missed the Trolloc's head. The Trolloc, in the meantime, moved in towards Della and swung his scythe-sword, badly wounding her arm and nearly rendering her unconscious. I grazed it with an arrow from my short bow, but it didn't do much damage.

Della panicked. "Let's get out of here!"

I agreed, no sense in tempting fate. "I'll guide you! I won't leave you" Della got out her crossbow and offered a parting shot to the Trolloc but missed.

Della's horse spooked about that time and kicked the Trolloc, stunning him for a moment. He ran away after that.

Della lay on the ground bleeding, obviously in great pain. "I need help. Do you have any healing skills?" She asked. I shook my head. "Not many. I don't even have any bandages with me. But I can still help." I ripped a strip of fabric off of my cloak and used it as a tourniquet and staunched the wound. Della suggested that we head towards a village at that point and I admit to seeing the sense in that. We ran into two people in the village. It was small, of course -- probably quite a bit smaller than any place Della was used to. We only saw about 13 people outside at any point. Small houses, with simple wood doors and painted shutters. This was no Ogier built city or fortress town. Della asked a villager if there was a healer in the village. He directed us to the center of town. "Our village healer's house is here. Hopefully she'll be able to help you". That's when we met Linnea.

"Please help me...Trolloc...in the woods" Della spit out, sounding more obviously the typical weak Southlander by the moment.

She struggled in, and Linnea laid her down (knowing all the while she was a Southlander) and washed her wound. Trolloc weapons are always dirty and she was really bleeding.

I went off to get my horse from the smithy while Linnea was tending to Della. I never really found out what happened during that time, but Della certainly convinced Linnea to come with us at any rate.

Della was eating when I came back and tied Swift up outside. We rested for a while once I was there.

"We can help you refine your powers to become even more skills, you have tremendous talent already" Della was saying to Linnea, the Healer, when I got there. I suppose that's when she convinced her to come back to the rebel White Tower with her. Linnea told her head apprentice that she was now the healer and that was that.

Somewhere in the middle of all of this, we all felt the ground shake with a tremendous force. I admit, I was frightened for a moment that the Dark One himself had broken loose. We all ran out of the house and noticed a tall, brown haired, tan skinned man who was standing outside the house with a large hole off to one side of him.

"What is going on over here" Linnea yelled loudly. "Where are you doing? You could have hurt somebody"

Perhaps I was the first to notice the assortment of Trolloc entrails near the crater, but Linnea noticed this soon enough. "

I'm so grateful to you for destroying it! It was following us," Della exclaimed.

The blue-eyed man just smiled and waved cheerfully. I wondered to myself what village was missing its idiot.

" Is anybody hurt?" Linnea asked.

Grinning insanely, he pointed at the steaming bits of trolloc scattered around and in the crater that was Linnea's yard.

"Hey can you heal him?" asked Della jokingly.

"No, and if I could, I wouldn't." Linnea countered sourly.

I went to inspect the scene and found a parchment. Not in common speech so of course I couldn't read it. I had my suspicions as to what it was written in even if I couldn't read it though, I'd certainly seen these crude angular figures before.

"Does anybody recognize this?" I inquired once they were close enough to inspect the parchment.

"It's Trolloc...I can read it" piped up Linnea.

"What does it say?" Della and I asked at once.

Linnea read it aloud to us: "In the hills, in the lands of the living, exists a power we want."

"Hmm, cryptic" said Della.

Della's first thought was that it might be the same thing that she was searching for -- a turquoise rod a little over half a foot long -- so she suggested out loud that they should all stay in the village for the night, and then go search for the thing, whatever it was. Linnea offered the blue-eyed man shelter under her roof for the night though. Why, I will never be certain.

Blue Eyes threw a rock down the well just then and it exploded, destroying the well. Linnea got as pissed off as I've ever seen a woman and yelled for the authorities, but no one came. She then ordered him to leave and not come into her house -- firmly revoking her former invitation. So he left.

The next day we had all slept well. When we opened the door Blue Eyes was just sitting and staring at the house. "

Don't you dare" Linnea grumbled under his breath.

We went on our way, Blue Eyes following. We figured whatever the Trolloc was looking for was in the mountains to south of the Blight so we decided to go to the Black Hills. Almost nothing is definitely known about that place, though Kandori children have been sneaking off to play near the strange ruins there for centuries....there is a big spire that people think is evil and may cause the living to fall dead before it and the ancient dead to walk at night all that is truly known of it is that it dates back to the Age of Legends -- 3000 years ago at least. We took the road from Maradon to Tar Valon. Before we got to the road though, we saw to our north a fist of Trollocs. They didn't see us though.

"Blast the evil Trollocs," muttered Della. They were camping outside of Linnea's village.

We couldn't attack. Linnea seemed to be torn between warning her village and going on. I thought of anything I could do to help her and scanned the area for dogs and cats. If I could have found one, I could have tied a message to it and sent it back. Of course, even that might not have worked. As it was, there were no domesticated animals in that area.

Blue Eyes, however obviously wanted to blow the Trollocs up. "He's going to be the death of us! He's insane!" We all thought that, whether or not we wanted to admit it.

Della cast False Trail on Blue Eyes so he made a false trail and we got to the Tar Valon road without confronting them. By this time, we'd gone 50 miles. It had already been a day and a half since we started out. We passed quite a few normal travelers, mostly merchants and rogues from the looks of them. They are all talking about how they had heard rumors that the Dragon was making an alliance with those shadow-spawn riding Seanchan. Of course, none of us had much idea what that was about and we continued on as before. Blue Eyes found it important, however, obviously being an Ashaman. Della and rumors were enough to make the implications of what those were clear to us.

We traveled south, and left the road about 200 miles from the Black Hills. We stopped in a village two miles into this part of the journey. Linnea wanted to stop and buy food because she didn't know what was in the hills. We stopped at an inn and Della tried to buy us room and board with her singing, but to no avail -- she got dinner. I foraged for the rest of us. In the meantime, Blue Eyes stockpiled fist-sized rocks. We all (except Blue Eyes who ran all that way after us on his own two feet) bought some horse feed. No knowing when we'd come to another town and no sense in letting the horses get sluggish from feeding on the poor weedy grasses.

Della tried to get another night's room and board but the innkeeper was already ill disposed towards us. Linnea and I found masters in our lines of work to work under for the day. So I worked with a weaponsmith and Linnea with a healer while Della sang on the street for copper pennies.

All the while, Blue Eyes was off wandering and apparently foraging for himself. Linnea apparently did well for herself selling strange herbs to the healer while I forged a thrown weapon. I did well the first day and made three marks since the buyer was so pleased with the work. However, the next day I was given a much harder task -- making a warder's sword -- and I failed miserably.

So we traveled on . Blue Eyes came up to us and we stared at him as he waved and walked off. We all followed him, but I dropped back behind the rest, wary of the apparent madman and whatever he might lead us into. We followed him onward for around 15 miles, getting annoyed with him as there seemed to be no goal to this journey. Coming over the horizon though, we saw a large black structure, a broken tower. It was round and about 35 feet in diameter, standing three floors tall and apparently made of stone. Blue Eyes waited just long enough for us to catch up and then went inside. "

I'm pretty sure his motive is good, let's follow" said Della...all the same, Linnea and I followed warily.

It was dark, dark in a way that nothing, not even midnight on the longest new mooned night is dark. Dark like I'd been told the Ways were dark. Della made a globe of light, but it only showed a small area of light, just enough to illuminate the four of us standing together. I tried my knowledge at it and realized that this was a palace built by the male Aes Sedai during the Breaking. It is dangerous and several things can lurk in its corners and never be seen. I realized too, that there were probably several powerful things hidden in it.

I felt my skin crawl, could the taint be strong here? So strong that the darkness would sense us? Blue Eyes went around the first room and Della provided light. We found a solid gold belt buckle more durable than gold. Very light, very beautiful, large enough for a broad belt, but could fit small belts. I recognized it as a ter'angreal. I knew that it was legendary, that a man named Penera had used this buckle. So I told them all what I knew. Of course, I didn't know what it did. Blue Eyes took it and put it on his belt before we could get a look at it. Della was indignant, claiming it was property of the Tower. He simply ignored her.

We saw light in the doorway. Somehow, though, that light didn't enter. We could see the sun, but no light filtered inside the palace. Blue Eyes just smiled and waved cheerfully at the sun. I found myself doubting that we did the right thing in following him.

We heard a very loud roar coming from both in front and behind but giving off only one roar. We all began to panic except for Blue Eyes who only laughed. We saw more light inside tower and he went into that light. I turned to run out the way I had come but turned back to follow when the others went after him. There was a loud crashing noise in the hallway we had just been in. We couldn't see any more light from the entrance. The corridor we entered was truly sunlit, but the darkness still clings to the walls. It is a courtyard. filled with rotting vegetation.

Not long after we entered out of the bushes jumped a very large bobcat. I wield my trident. It bit Blue Eye's leg but only grazed it. Blue Eyes then jumped out of the way. He made the earth below the bobcat explode and just missed us but we were showered with the debris. The bobcat was stunned, it flew up and fell straight back down into the center of the newly made crater. I aimed for him but missed, Della moved back and shot a fireball at the bobcat. We were now standing in an obviously evil courtyard sans horses and supplies and plus one incinerated bobcat.

"Is anybody hurt?" Linnea asked, for what seemed the millionth time in the last few days.

Blue Eyes only smiled and pointed at the bobcat so Linnea went up to Blue Eyes and reminded him that he was hurt and bandaged him. I took care of my bumps and bruises myself, as did Della and Linnea.

The door we came through was, by now, completely black. There was also an ornate knot carving in the stonework on top of the door we just came in. Blue Eyes shot himself in the foot just then so Linnea used a healing balm to heal him. We looked around and saw identical knots placed every 20 feet along the walls of our round courtyard, eighteen of them all together. Blue Eyes raised his bow just then and Linnea put out her hand out to stop him from firing a shot at one of the knots.

Blue Eyes then, for no apparent reason, ran full speed into a wall and knocked himself out. L:nnea checked him for a concussion, but left him to come to on his own. "Well, his ter'angereal, obviously does not give you the ability to walk through walls" she remarked.

Della then took the ter'angreal belt buckle. "I feel less fatigued, hungry and thirsty" she remarked before giving it back to him. We searched under the knots for doors, taking his lead and found eight more doors, each one knot apart from another. We all laughed at his incredible bad luck. They all look just like what we found before, with darkness emanating from them.

We didn't feel secure and we couldn't go out the way we came. We felt the wind go up too...strange. Linnea decided to heal Blue Eyes since we couldn't go anywhere without him. So she got out some smelling salts. He smiled when he came around and gave her a big hug.

Blue Eyes then went into the first door to the left of the one we all came in (left, that is, if we faced out). We followed him, and felt the darkness surround us like it did at the entrance. We felt the same presence that we felt at the entrance and in the courtyard. It was still there, whatever it was. We wound up in a large circular room, closed off from the light. Light was sucked away as before. There were no other doors in this room.

"Did you find anything interesting?" One of them asked Blue Eyes.

He showed us what he'd found...a small statue in the shape of a fish made of either glass or porcelain.

Della piped up, "Do you know anything about this?"

He nodded.

Linnea asked if it was Power related, and he nodded to that too.

We found a dent in the wall that turned out to be another door. Blue Eyes fiddled with it while we stood back. Linnea asked if there was anything else he knew of in this room, and he just shrugged. The dent in the wall opened up and a staircase was revealed going downwards. None of us wanted to go down there because even he didn't seem to know what was there. So we all headed back towards the courtyard.

We next tried the tunnel to the left of where he ran into the wall. We found another corridor, completely bare. We continued down the corridor and found a cabinet. The girls found a porcelain dog that they sensed the power in. Neither they nor I had any idea what it was though.

We found another staircase in this room but, none of us wanted to go down it. Least of all myself.

So we went back into the courtyard, then in the door to the left of where we just went in. We saw a staircase that went upwards. We followed Blue Eyes upstairs, keeping behind warily, myself at the very rear and none too pleased with our lot. We heard the roar again coming from both sides. Della stumbled back in fear, but Blue Eyes clapped and went on up. We followed. We saw a very long open room. Sixty feet across and as long as we could see (which wasn't much at this point). We saw nothing on the walls with our light but discovered that the room was donut shaped. There was nothing on the internal wall. Blue Eyes, however, saw a glass column of several rings bound together by glass wires. None of the party could sense anything from it but I knew just from looking at it that it was a ter'angreal which could by used by either sex but not by non channelers like myself...just my luck.

Blue Eyes gave me the buckle, grinning. It worked for me, making me less fatigued and less hungry. He pointed the rod toward the inner wall and shot down...a huge ball of fire shot down through the wall and floor and incinerated the bobcat once more. We then checked the outer wall and went back downstairs.

Back in courtyard it stunk miserably of burned bobcat. We went in a door two doors to the right of the entrance. Blue Eyes traipsed and Della frolicked (after having looked at everyone strangely). I stalked and Linnea just sauntered after us. This now led us to the second floor (we had already been on the third). We heard the roar very loudly, from directly in front and behind now. By now my skin was crawling. Blue Eyes stopped mid-step, looked at us and then kept going. We found an old bookcase full of books. L:nnea found The Disassembly of Reason. The Kinslayer, another one was deciphered as. The Prophecies of the Dragon was also there. There were at least 50 other books there with Old Tongue titles so of course I couldn't read them. Della deciphered the titles of two more books: "The Wheel" and "The Pattern" There is nothing else in the room with the books but decay so the girls announced that there must have been a keeping woven on the books. Whatever it was, it certainly didn't keep me from putting all the books whose names we puzzled out into my cloak pockets.

We left, going back to the courtyard since it was now nighttime. They were all hungry and tired. I wasn't and it worried me. They all ate from their trail rations while I tried to forage. I managed to find some decent berries in the blasted pit for myself. Blue Eyes beckoned to us and led us outside to sleep the night. We took the door two to the left of the entrance. By now, dusk was falling. We heard the horrible omnipresent roar again, and then we heard footpads coming from the way we were heading. Della lost her orb of light and then made it again...we saw all of the party and five feet around. We saw a single shining silver claw attached to a paw. Blue Eyes made a false wall with the power and we all headed back towards the courtyard. We heard a pounce and a loud yelp as the beast on the other side hit the wall.

We went into the corridor that was three more doorways to the right from where we came out. We saw huge infestations of spiders and of various insects. The tunnel here had been caved in. The spiders and insects in this passage were really really large for their sort so we headed out and went into the doorway directly to the right of the entrance. Blue Eyes made a false wall across the entrance so we'd have a safe place to sleep. The hall itself was an unfinished dead end. We all tried to sleep, but woke up intermittently due to the loud roars once more surrounding us.

We woke up, myself the only one who felt truly rested, but then, I had never been tired that night to begin with and had merely slept out of habit. Blue eyes held his fireball rod as he untied the weave that made up the wall, everyone held their weapons brandished. I set my trident in the with both hands, prepared for a charge. We saw a very large black cat, the same creature we had tried to trap in the other corridor, apparently the other false wall had not held through the night. Blue Eyes quickly shot a fireball through his ter'angreal. We were all injured because we fell within the blast radius. The cat was simply stunned and hurled to the other side of the courtyard.. Della cast a fireball at it and incinerated the beast. Lowering my trident, I sighed in relief.

Linnea healed all of us with the power and then healed herself with her healing kit.

Heading toward a corridor two doorways to the right of where we were, we went back to corridor where we had originally found the cat. The wall was gone, having unraveled some time in the night....we saw residual traces of grayness where the wall had been.

We went outside and found that our horses were scarred and had been attacked by something while we were gone. I patted Swift on the nose and told him that now he matched me. The others spent the day resting while I foraged.

We went back into the tower courtyard and looked into the corridor we went into and had turned back from. Blue Eyes searched around for a small rock in the courtyard and then he launched it, charged as a grenade, down the corridor. We all heard the roar, but it sounded pained this time. Blue Eyes threw more rock grenades with both hands until the wall broke and we all heard a shrieking cry. By this time, I knew that it had to be the building itself making all the noise. I shuddered to think of the implications of that. Another rock hit the wall and we heard the roar again. Blue Eyes motioned for us to move back then ran ahead thirty feet, reached inside the corridor and touched the wall and charged a large amount of wall as a grenade. The blackness held his hand and he couldn't get away at first. He only got five feet away before the wall exploded. He was thrown ten feet in the explosion and, from the look of it, badly injured.

Linnea healed him with the power and then we noticed that the explosion had opened a secret chamber between the two doors. We deducted that "the thing" couldn't come out. We had heard a monstrous roar when he charged the wall. The light was pulled away even further than before. We could no longer see the knots on the walls that marked the doorways. Blue Eyes threw a last grenade into the secret corridor as a parting gesture. We saw a very large white blast in the darkness, then heard a hideous roar through all the doors that slowly died, and the building shook threateningly. The darkness was now receding, and we could see the knots again. The tower was coming down on top of us so we ran into the courtyard and Blue Eyes wove a false wall above his head, I ran to hide under his false wall while Della hardened the air in a dome over herself and Linnea. We were practically surrounded by rocks once it was through. Della released the air, we climbed out and then Blue Eyes released his false wall and all the rubble falls down. We were bruised but all right. Our horses had run away though.

The rubble was unstable and oddly warm underneath our feet. Blue Eyes stood by where the secret corridor had been and delved the earth. He sensed something below in the rubble so he began "sculpting" the rocks below to get at it. Linnea tried to sense shadowspawn but found none. I then went to go look for our horses, being the most likely one to find them. Swift is trained to follow commands and come when I call so I didn't even really need to search for him. I found the others with little more trouble. Domestic animals are usually not much of a problem.

I came back with the horses and didn't know a thing about the strange sword they'd apparently unearthed in my absence, but I could use it...being the only one in the party who could wield such a strange blade. Blue eyes pantomimed hitting a boulder with the sword. I tried it and the sword sliced through the boulder as though it were no more than warm butter. I wondered about the writing on the blade, but even Della couldn't decipher it and I couldn't figure out exactly what the sword was, aside from an incredible weapon that could cut boulders in half.

They all slept outside the pile of rubble to regain their strength. While they were sleeping, three Trollocs snuck up on us....I heard them because I wasn't asleep.

I took up my bow and called out to wake the others up. I shot myself in the foot right after that and screamed louder than I care to recall. One of the trollocs also shot himself in the foot right then.

Another trolloc ran forward to attack me with his sword. He swung wildly and missed.

Della moved to the side and cast a fireball in the middle of all three trollocs. The trolloc nearest me died. The other two were severely burned. Yet another trolloc moved forward to try and shoot Linnea with his arrow...he instead shot himself in the foot and died miserably.

Linnea cast rend on the remaining trolloc and it died as well, leaving our party with dead, smelly trolloc corpses all over our campsite and myself with an arrow sticking out of my foot.

Della jumped up and down overjoyed that she'd learned how to Rend while Linnea healed my foot. It was of little consolation that I got to keep the arrow I shot myself with and put it back in the quiver.

By this time, Blue Eyes was obviously enamored with the Healer...perhaps because she keeps saving his life when any sane human being would let him learn the hard way that he's not indestructible!

We looked to the north and saw the same fist of Trollocs that we saw before. I foraged for the group and told them that at least it was edible, even if it wasn't exactly the most appetizing meal. Just to spite me, Blue Eyes picked up a handful of dirt and ate it.

Blue Eyes then started to walk around and act out trailing the Trollocs. Of course, none of us had any idea what he was doing. I personally thought that he was just trying to be clever or something. "Why don't you just talk??" Della asked in frustration. But she figured out what he was saying in spite of her annoyance. Linnea said "He led us this far, we might as well follow."

We circumvented the camp by about a mile and wound up directly behind them. After a while, they packed up and they went off to the south, deeper and deeper into the hills. By now I was beginning to doubt that we'd ever find that strange rod of Della's, but it seemed logical enough that the trollocs might lead us to it at the time. We kept on following them for three days without event or mishap. Blue Eyes and I foraged enough to feed the lot of us during this time, in spite of us having reversed day and night to become nocturnal like the trollocs by this time.

We saw some trollocs and their Fade enter a cave in the hills. Whatever they were getting in there, we'd have had to fight them for it now. Blue Eyes was eager to blow up trollocs, we even hatched a plan that involved me cutting off the Fade's head when he came out -- needless to say, I wasn't very fond of this plan.

Three more days passed before they emerged in the night. One of the trollocs was missing now and the Myrddral was carrying a large leaden box. Blue Eyes pointed his fireball wand at the Fade but Linnea stopped him from blasting the thing with it.

They sent out scouts to the north, east and west to ready for departure. We decided to ambush some of the scouts but not use the One Power this time, only weapons.

So we set up an ambush. Linnea shot him with her crossbow. Blue Eyes got him with his shortbow. Della missed the trolloc scout, but I hit him. Linnea ran away into the woods to hide around this time...Della missed him again after reloading. Blue Eyes hit him again. The trolloc finally shot at us, but couldn't see us in our hiding places so he missed. I finally shot him through the chest and put an end to him. We went through the trolloc's belongings and equipment but found absolutely nothing of use to us.

We decide to move west after that and try to catch another scout. Blue Eyes crept silently. I was too loud though...and slower. Blue Eyes came upon the trolloc and laid hands on it, charging it as a grenade despite our plan to NOT use the One Power and alert the Fade to our presence. Slightly damaged, he came back to us, leaving another divet in the ground with steaming bits of trolloc all over. The entire fist was alerted by his actions. The Fade now knew that we were there and that two of his trollocs were dead.

The whole fist traveled to where he had been and apparently found his trail because they followed us for a while. We were running our mounts (or, in Blue Eyes's case, ourselves) at breakneck speed. We ran East, towards the waste, towards the White Towers and towards a river. We came to the river after a few days, I'd been subsisting off of trail rations for these few days as were the rest of us. I was the only one who seemed to mind eating meat dried to the texture of leather and bread that tasted like nothing instead of fresh meat and berries.

By this time, Blue Eyes just wanted to blow things up...you could see the longing for great gory exploding trollocs in his eyes. That is, if you knew what was meant by the strange gesturing and crazed looks. We crossed the river but he was hesitant to follow. We kept on going though and he followed us in the end. Blue Eyes listened to the ground to see if the Trollocs were still following and he indicated to us that they were not, they were going to the north now, to the Blight. He obviously wanted to follow them and blow them all up if he could...we didn't exactly agree with him.

Linnea was set in her mind on not following "Please, Ryah, back me up on this!" She said angrily to Della. "Don't you know what a Fade can do? (insert some scary stuff from a book). I know that you're my only link to the Tower, but if I stay with you I won't live long enough to see it!".

When he saw that none of us were going to follow him, he gave up and crossed the river, taking care to ford it so he wouldn't get wet...crazy Aiel. We decided, once he was on the other bank with us, to head towards the White Tower. I foraged, Blue Eyes left destruction in his wake, and Linnea begged him to stop. He just stuck his tongue out at her and blew up a tree. I took care not to tick him off after this...namely, by avoiding him and spending as much time with the horses as I could while we were camped.

We came across a village after a few days. Blue Eyes amused himself by blowing stuff up because he was mad that we wouldn't go with him to kill the trollocs. Della tried to get some free nights for us at the inn. She succeeded and we stayed for two days before our welcome was beginning to wear thin. So Della seduced the innkeeper, moved her quarters to his quarters and he said that we could stay as long as we wanted...provided, of course, that Della was there and fulfilling her purpose.

In the meantime, Linnea and Blue Eyes were at odds with one another"We healed you! You should be indebted to us!" she told him. "I helped you find the artifacts, and you don't want to contribute to the entropy of the universe!" he replied mentally (or at least that was what he seemed to be trying to say).

He got up on the roof and threw pebble grenades at people in the street below. "You don't have to be following us!" Linnea called to him. He just handed her a rock and she threw it at him -- she was certainly gaining some sense and becoming a bit annoyed with the man at last. Linnea worked with the local healer while we stayed in town. I, however, didn't hit it off so well with the weaponsmith. Ah well...at least I was staying in an inn for free...even if people kept trying to push bars of soap on me, thinking I didn't know what they were about. It's not like the animals think you smell better with herbs rubbed into your hide!

We all decided at last that something must be done about Blue Eyes so we tried to climb up to him on the roof to persuade him to come down or at least stop him from throwing more pebbles at people. Only Della made it at first...then I did. Linnea fell and hurt herself trying to climb up so she never did make it to the roof. So Della and I flirted and kissed and basically tried to make him lose his mind further. All he did, however, was give us some rocks. I just looked at the rock funny but didn't question it. At least he gave us those rocks instead of throwing them. He came down on the second day and finally noticed Della's great serpent ring and tried to eat a snake.

Linnea and Della tried unsuccessfully to get the ter'angreal that made fireballs from him so they gave up for the moment (but certainly not forever...) and we all headed for the Tower. Of course, neither Della, Blue Eyes, nor myself were surprised at the sight of the tower in exile nor its thousand novices scurrying about but Linnea seemed puzzled by it.

"Is someone trying to siege the White Tower" Linnea asked .

"Yes, the rightful White Tower" Della returned, matter-of-factly.

I was never sure of exactly what happened once we got into camp -- only that Blue Eyes left us and Linnea was written into the Novice book. Linnea...who looked older than some of the Aes Sedai I saw in the streets almost daily on my way to the smithy. Of course, I myself found work as a weaponsmith. There was always room for more of my work in this camp with the impending battle and all. I made a silver mark a day, but that wasn't at all bad, considering that most of the soldiers made due with less.