“I will not be denied again!” Gelen said. “I have orders from—”
Mat shot the man a glare, and he stopped short. Mat turned northward again. A cool, somehow familiar wind blew across him, rippling his long coat, brushing at his hat. He narrowed his eye. Rand was tugging on him.
The dice still tumbled in his head.
“They’re here,” Mat said.
“What did you say?” Egwene asked.
“They’re here.”
“The scouts—”
“The scouts are wrong,” Mat said. He looked up, and noticed a pair of raken speeding back toward the camp. They had seen it. The Trollocs must have marched through the night.
Sharans will come first, Mat thought, to give the Trollocs a breather. They’ll have arrived through gateways.
&
nbsp; “Send runners,” Mat said, pointing at the Deathwatch Guards, “get the men and women to their posts. And warn Elayne that I’m going to change the battle plan.”
“What?” Egwene said.
“They’re here!” Mat said, turning on the Guards. “Why aren’t you bloody running! Go, go!” Above, the raken screeched. Gelen, to his credit, saluted, then ran—pounding in that massive armor—with his companions.
“This is it, Egwene,” Mat said. “Take a deep breath, a last pull on the brandy, or burn your final pinch of tabac. Have a good look at the ground before you, as it’s soon going to be covered in blood. In an hour, we’ll be in the thick of it. The Light watch over us all.”
Perrin drifted in darkness. He felt so tired.
Slayer still lives, a piece of himself thought. Graendal is corrupting the great captains. The end is near. You can’t slip away now! Hold on.
Hold on to what? He tried to open his eyes, but was so exhausted. He should.… should have gotten out of the wolf dream sooner. His entire body felt numb, except…
Except for his side. Moving fingers that felt like bricks, he touched the warmth. His hammer. It was blazing hot. That warmth seemed to move up his fingers, and Perrin took a deep breath.
He needed to wake up. He hovered at the edges of consciousness, as when he was close to sleep, but still partially aware. In that state, he felt as if he faced a forked pathway before him. One path led deeper into darkness. And one led… He couldn’t see, but he knew that it meant… It meant waking up.
Warmth from the hammer radiated up his arm. His mind gathered sharpness. Awaken.
That was what Slayer had done. He had… awakened… somehow…
Perrin’s life was trickling away. Not much time left. Half within death’s embrace, he gritted his teeth, drew in a deep breath and forced himself to wake.
The silence of the wolf dream shattered.
Perrin hit soft earth, and entered a place of shouts. Something about a battlefront, about preparing the lines…
Nearby, someone cried out. And then someone else. And others. “Perrin?” He knew that voice. “Perrin, lad!”
Master Luhhan? Perrin’s eyelids felt so heavy. He couldn’t open them. Arms grabbed him.
“Hang on. I have you, lad. I have you. Hang on.”
CHAPTER
37
The Last Battle