The Gathering Storm - Robert Jordan

"We . . . we're being attacked!" the man whispered. "Channelers!"

"No," Aviendha said, "this is something far more evil. Run for help!"

He seemed too shocked to move, but she shoved him into motion and he began to move. The tar itself didn't seem to be spreading, which was a blessing, but it had already ignited the doorframe of the manor. It could have the entire building in flames before anyone inside was aware of the danger.

Aviendha wove Air and Water, intending to extinguish the flame. However, her weaves frazzled and wavered when they got near the fire. They didn't unweave, but this fire somehow resisted them.

She took another step back from the awesome, burning intensity. Her brow prickled with sweat, and she had to raise her arm to shade her face from the heat. She could barely make out the black char at the center as it began to glow with the deep red and white of extremely hot coals. Soon, only hints of the black remained. The fire spread across the front wall of the building. Aviendha heard screams from inside.

Aviendha shook herself, then growled and wove Earth and Air, pulling chunks of the ground up around her. She hurled these at the fire, seeking to smother it. Her weave could not draw the heat out, but that did not stop her from using weaves to cast items into the fire. Chunks of grass-covered earth sizzled and hissed, wan blades flashing to ash before the incredible heat. Aviendha continued to work, sweating from both the exertion and the temperature.

In the distance, she heard people—perhaps the guard among them— calling for buckets.

Buckets? Of course! In the Three-fold Land, water was far too valuable to use in fighting fires. Dirt or sand was used. But here, they would use water. Aviendha took several steps backward, searching out the curling river that ran beside the manor. She could just barely make out its surface, reflecting the dancing reds and oranges of the flames. Already, the entire front of the manor was aflame! She felt channeling from inside— Aes Sedai or Wise Ones. Hopefully, they would escape out of the back of the building. The fire had engulfed the inner hallway, and the rooms off of it had no doors out.

Aviendha wove a massive column of Air and Water, pulling a spout of crystalline liquid from the river and drawing it toward her. The column of water undulated in the air like the creature on Rand's banner, a glassy serpentine dragon that slammed against the flames. Steam hissed outward in an explosion, washing over her.

The heat was powerful and the wave of steam scalded her skin, but she did not back down. She pulled more water, hurling a thick column of it at the darkened mound, which she could only just make out through the steam.

That heat was so intense! Aviendha stumbled backward a few steps, gritting her teeth, continuing to work. Then there was a sudden explosion as another column of water burst from the river and slammed into the fire. This, along with her own, diverted nearly the entire flow of the river. Aviendha blinked. The other column was being directed by weaves she could not see, but she did notice a figure standing in a window up on the second floor, hand forward, face concentrating intensely. Naeff, one of Rand's Asha'man. It was said he was particularly strong with Air.

The fires had retreated; only the tarry mound remained, radiating a powerful heat. The wall near it and the entryway inside had become a gaping, blackened hole. Aviendha continued to pull water and dump it on the charred black mass, though she was beginning to feel extremely tired. Handling so much water required her to channel almost to her capacity.

Soon the water stopped hissing. Aviendha slacked her flow, then let it dribble to a stop. The ground around her was a wet, blackened disarray that smelled heavily of soggy ash. Bits of wood and char floated in the muddy water, and the holes where she had ripped up earth were filled, making pools. She walked forward hesitantly, inspecting the lump that was the remains of the unfortunate soldier. It was glassy and black, like obsidian, and it sparkled wetly. She picked up a length of singed wood— broken from the wall by the force of her water column—and poked at the mass. It was hard and firm.

"Burn you!" a voice bellowed. Aviendha looked up. Rand al'Thor strode through the broken hole that now formed the front of the mansion. He stared at the sky, shaking his fist. "I am the one you want! You will have your war soon enough!"

"Rand," Aviendha said hesitantly. Soldiers were milling about the green, looking concerned, as if expecting a battle. Bewildered servants peeked out of rooms inside the manor. The entire episode with the flames had taken less than five minutes.

"I will stop you!" Rand roared, causing calls of fright from both servants and soldiers. "Do you hear me! I am coming for you! Don't waste your power! You will need it against me!"

"Rand!" Aviendha called.

He froze, then looked down at her, dazed. She met his eyes, and she could feel his anger, almost as she'd felt the intense flames just a short time before. He turned and stalked away, walking back into the building and up the blackened wooden steps.

"Light!" an anxious voice asked. "Does this sort of thing happen often when he is near?"

Aviendha turned to see a young man in an unfamiliar uniform standing and watching. He was lanky, with light brown hair and coppery skin—she didn't remember his name, but she was fairly certain he was one of the officers Rand had brought back after meeting with Rodel Ituralde.

She turned back to the mess, listening to soldiers call orders in the distance. Bashere had arrived and was taking command, telling men to watch the perimeter, though he was likely just giving them something to do. This was not the beginning of an attack. It was just another of the Dark One's touches on the world, like meat spoiling, beetles and rats appearing from nothing, and men dropping dead of strange diseases.

"Yes," Aviendha said in response to the man's question, "it happens often. More often around the Car'a'carn than in other places, at least. You have had similar events among your own men?"

"I have heard stories," he said. "Only I dismissed them."

"Not all stories are exaggerations," she said, looking at the blackened remains of the soldier. "The Dark One's prison is weak."

"Bloody ashes," the young man said, turning away. "What have you gotten us into, Rodel?" The man shook his head and stalked off.

Bashere's officers began calling orders, organizing the men to clean up. Would Rand move out of the manor, now? When pockets of evil appeared, people often wanted to leave. And yet, through her bond with Rand, she felt no urgency. In fact ... it seemed that he had gone back to rest! That man's moods were becoming as erratic as Elayne's during her pregnancy.

Aviendha shook her head and started gathering burned chunks of wood to help clean. As she worked, several Aes Sedai came out of the building and began inspecting the damage. The entire front of the manor was scored with black marks, and the hole where the entry way had been was at least fifteen feet across. One of the women, Merise, eyed Aviendha appreciatively. "A shame," she said.

Aviendha straightened up, lifting a piece of charred wood, her clothing still soaked. With those clouds covering the sun, it would be long before she was dry. "A shame?" she asked. "About the manor?" The portly Lord Tellaen, owner of the place, moaned to himself as he sat on a stool inside the entryway, wiping his brow and shaking his head.

"No," Merise said. "A shame about you, child. Your skill with weaves, it is impressive. If we had you in the White Tower, you'd have been an Aes Sedai by now. Your weaving, it has some roughness to it, but you'd learn to fix that quickly if taught by sisters."

There was an audible sniff, and Aviendha spun. Melaine stood behind her. The golden-haired Wise One had her arms folded beneath her breasts, and her stomach was starting to bulge with child. Her face was not amused. How had Aviendha let the woman walk up behind her without hearing? She was letting her fatigue make her careless.

Melaine and Merise stared at each other for a long moment; then the tall Aes Sedai spun in a flurry of green skirts and moved off to speak with the servants who had been trapped by the flames, asking if any of them needed Healing. Melaine watched her go, then shook her head. "Insufferable woman," she muttered. "To think, how we once regarded them!"

"Wise One?" Aviendha asked.

"I'm stronger than most Aes Sedai, Aviendha, and you're far stronger than I am. You have a control and understanding of weaves that puts most of us to shame. Others have to struggle to learn what comes naturally to you. 'Roughness to your weaves,' she says! I doubt any of the Aes Sedai, save perhaps Cadsuane Sedai, could have managed what you did with that column of water. Moving water that far required you to use the river's own flow and pressure."

"Is that what I did?" Aviendha asked, blinking.

Melaine eyed her, then snorted again, softly to herself. "Yes, that is what you did. You have such great talent, child."

Aviendha swelled with the praise; from Wise Ones, it was rare, but always sincere.

"But you refuse to learn," Melaine continued. "There isn't much time! Here, I have another question for you. What do you think of Rand al'Thor's plan to kidnap these Domani merchant chiefs?"

Aviendha blinked again, so tired it was hard to think. It defied reason that the Domani used merchants as leaders in the first place. How could a merchant lead people? Did not merchants have to focus on their wares? It was ridiculous. Would the wetlanders ever stop shocking her with their strange ways?

And why was Melaine asking her about this now of all times?

"His plan seems a good one, Wise One," Aviendha said. "Yet the spears do not like being used for kidnapping. I think the Car'a'carn should have spoken in terms of offering protection—forced protection— for the merchants. The chiefs would have responded better to being told they were protecting rather than kidnapping."

"They would be doing the very same thing, no matter what you call it."

"But what you call a thing is important," Aviendha said. "It is not dishonest if both definitions are true."

Melaine's eyes twinkled, and Aviendha caught a hint of a smile on her lips. "What else do you think of the meeting?"

"Rand al'Thor still seems to think that the Car'a'carn can make demands like a wetlander king. This is my shame. I failed to explain the right way."

Melaine waved a hand. "You have no shame there. We all know how bullheaded the Car'a'carn is. The Wise Ones have tried as well, and none have been able to train him correctly."

So. That wasn't the reason for her dishonor before the Wise Ones. What was it then? Aviendha ground her teeth in frustration, then forced herself to continue. "Regardless, he needs to be reminded. Again and again. Rhuarc is a wise and patient man, but not all clan chiefs are so. I know that some of the others wonder if their decision to follow Rand al'Thor was an error."

"True," Melaine said. "But look at what happened to the Shaido."

"I did not say they were right, Wise One," Aviendha said. A group of soldiers were hesitantly trying to pry up the glassy black mound. It appeared to have fused to the ground. Aviendha lowered her voice. "They are wrong to question the Car'a'carn, but they are speaking to one another. Rand al'Thor needs to realize that they will not accept offense after offense from him without end. They may not turn against him like the Shaido, but I would not put it past Timolan—for instance—to simply return to the Three-fold Land and leave the Car'a'carn to his arrogance."