Lord of Chaos (The Wheel of Time 6)

Where the Elder stood had been a spacious square once, though a weathered mound of rubble filled one end now. In the middle of the square, where a fountain might have been, was instead an ornate filigree fence of some shiny metal, Ogier-high and untouched by rust. That enclosed what appeared to be a tall length of stone carved with vines and leaves so delicately done that you expected to feel the breeze that was riffling them, that you were surprised to realize they were gray not green. The Waygate, though it certainly looked like no kind of gate.

“They cut down the grove as soon as the Ogier departed for the stedding,” Haman muttered angrily, long brows drawn down, “no more than twenty or thirty years, and extended the city.”

Rand touched the fence with a flow of Air, wondering how to get through, and blinked as the whole thing collapsed into twenty or more pieces, which fell with loud shivering clangs that made the Ogier jump. Rand shook his head. Of course. Metal that had survived so long without a spot of rust must be Power-wrought, maybe even remnants from the Age of Legends, but the joins that had held them together had long since corroded, awaiting one good shove.

Covril laid a hand on his shoulder. “I would ask you not to open it. No doubt Loial told you how — he always did show too much interest in that sort of thing — but the Ways are dangerous.”

“I can lock it,” Haman said, “so it cannot be opened again without the Talisman of Growing. Um. Um. A simple matter; simply done.” He did not seem eager, though. He certainly did not move any closer.

“It might have to be used without time for fetching anything,” Rand told him. All the Ways might have to be used, whatever the dangers. If he could cleanse them somehow . . . That was almost as grandiose as his boast to Taim that he would cleanse saidin.

He began weaving saidin around the Waygate, using all Five Powers, even lifting the segments of fence back into place. From the first flow he channeled, the taint seemed to pulse inside him, a slowly building vibration. It must have been the evil in Shadar Logoth itself, a resonance of evil to evil. Even in the Void he felt dizzy from those reverberations, as though the world swung beneath his feet in time to them; they made him want to vomit up everything he had ever eaten. Still, he persevered. He could not send men to stand guard here any more than he could have had them search.

What he wove and then inverted was a vicious sort of trap to suit a vicious place. A ward of

surpassing nastiness. Humans could cross it unharmed, perhaps even the Forsaken — he could ward against humans or Shadowspawn, not both — and even a male Forsaken could not detect it. Should any sort of Shadowspawn pass through . . . That was the viciousness. They would not die right away; they might even live to make it beyond the city walls. Long enough for the dead to be far off, not here to frighten the next Myrddraal that came. Long enough for a Trolloc army to exit perhaps, picking up their own deaths as they did. Cruel enough for a Trolloc. Making the thing sickened him as much as the taint on saidin.

Tying off the weave and loosing saidin brought only some relief. The residue of filth that always seemed to remain behind still throbbed; it almost felt as though the ground were throbbing beneath his boots. His teeth and ears ached. He could not wait to get away from here.

Taking a deep breath, he prepared to channel again, to open a gateway — and stopped, frowning. Quickly he counted everyone, then did it again, more slowly. “Somebody’s missing. Who?”

The Aiel took only a moment to confer.

“Liah,” Sulin said through her veil.

“She was right behind me.” There was no mistaking Jalani’s voice.

“Maybe she saw something.” He thought that was Desora.

“I told everybody to stay together!” Rage washed across the Void, waves breaking to froth on a boulder. One of them missing, here, and they took it with that Light-blasted Aiel coolness. A Maiden missing. A woman missing, in Shadar Logoth. “When I find her . . .!” Inch by inch he fought down the fury that threatened to engulf the emptiness around him. What he wanted to do to Liah was shout at her till she fainted, send her to Sorilea for the rest of her life. That rage wanted white-hot murder. “Split up in pairs. Shout, look everywhere, but don’t go inside, not for any reason. And stay out of shadows. You can die here before you know it. You can all die before any of you know it. If you see her in a building, even if she looks just fine, find me unless she comes out to you.”

“We can search faster if we each search alone,” Urien said, and Sulin nodded agreement. There were far too many nods.

“Pairs!” Rand fought the fury down again. The Light burn Aiel stubbornness! “At least that way you have somebody to watch your back. For once do what I say when I say it. I’ve been here; I know a little about this place.”

A few minutes later, most spent in argument over how many should stay with Rand, twenty pairs of Aiel scattered. The one remaining was Jalani, Rand thought, though it was hard to tell with the veil. For once she did not appear to be happy guarding him; the green eyes held a decided touch of sullenness.

“I suppose we could make another pair,” Haman said, looking at Covril.

She nodded. “And Erith can remain here.”

“No!” Rand and Erith said at almost the same instant. The older Ogier turned with faces of grave disapproval. Erith’s ears sagged until they looked ready to fall off.

Rand grabbed hold of his temper firmly. Once it had seemed that in the Void, any anger was off in the far distance somewhere, attached to him by no more than a thread. More and more it threatened to overwhelm him, to overwhelm the Void. Which might be disastrous. Aside from that, though . . . “I’m sorry. I had no business shouting at you, Elder Haman, or you, Speaker Covril.” Was that the right way to say it? Was it even a title of that sort? Nothing in their expressions said either way. “I would appreciate it if you would all stay with me. Then we can all search together.”

“Of course,” Haman said. “I really don’t see how I can offer you more protection than you can offer yourself, but it is yours.” Covril and Erith both nodded approvingly. Rand had no idea what Haman was talking about, but it did not seem the time to ask, with the three of them apparently bucked up to protect him. He had no doubt he could safeguard all three as long as they kept close.

“So long as you follow your own rules, Rand al’Thor.” The green-eyed Maiden was indeed Jalani, and sounding heartened that she would not have to stand and wait. Rand hoped he had given the others a better idea of what this place was like.

From the beginning the search was frustrating. They walked up and down the streets watched by invisible eyes, sometimes climbing over strewn rubble, taking turns calling, “Liah! Liah!” Covril’s shouts made leaning walls creak; Hainan’s made them groan ominously. Nothing answered. The only other sounds were the shouts of the search parties and mocking echoes along the streets. Liah! Liah!

The sun had climbed nearly overhead when Jalani said, “I do not think she would have gone this far, Rand al’Thor. Not unless she was trying to get away from us, and she would not do that.”

Rand turned from peering through shadowed columns at the head of wide stone steps, trying to see into a great chamber beyond. As far as he could make out, there was nothing in there but dust. No footprints. The unseen watchers had faded; they were not gone even now, but almost. “We have to search as much as we can. Maybe she . . . ” He did not know how to finish. “I won’t leave her here, Jalani.”

The sun swung higher and began to descend, and he was standing atop what had been a palace once, or maybe a whole block of buildings. It was a hill now, weathered enough over the years that only the number of broken bricks and pieces of worked stone sticking out of the dry soil said it had been anything else. “Liah!” he shouted through cupped hands. “Liah!”

“Rand al’Thor,” a Maiden called from the street below, lowering her veil so he could see it was Sulin. She and another Maiden, still veiled, stood with Jalani and the Ogier. “Come down.”