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The men of the Two Rivers pushed forward, a thorn to the Dark One’s foot and a bramble to his hand In the chaos that followed, they shouted and cursed, and fought to drive the Trollocs apart

But soon their focus turned to holding their ground The Trollocs surged around the e formation, normally an offensive tactic, worked well here, too Trollocshits from the Two Rivers men with their axes, swords and spears

Tauide thee, calling out encouragement as Dannil now did--but he was one of the feho had any real battle training, and the wedge for a point who could hold steady

So hold steady he did Calm within the void, he let the Trollocs break upon him He moved from Shake Dew from the Branch, to Apple Blossoms in the Wind, to Stones Fall in the Pond--all for multiple opponents

Despite practice over the last fewas he had been in his youth Fortunately, a reed did not need strength He was not as practiced as he once had been, but no reed practiced how to bend in the wind

It siht Ta of the void He understood it now, better than he ever had Years teaching Rand responsibility, years of living without Kari, years of listening to the wind blow and the leaves rustle

Taht it to the Trollocs, showed it to theoat-featured Trolloc, sweeping his sword to the side and slicing the beasts leg at the heel It stu the men behind take it He flashed his sword up--the weapon trailing blood--and sprayed the dark droplets across the eyes of a charging Trolloc with nightmare features It howled, blinded, and Tam flowed forward, arms out, and opened its stomach below the breastplate It stuht an axe doard Tam, but hit its ally instead

Each step was part of a dance, and Taht like this once before, long ago, butthat the void did not allow He did not think of other ti If he knew that he’d done this once before, it was because of the resonance of histhat seemed to permeate his muscles themselves

Tam stabbed the neck of a Trolloc with a face that was nearly human, with only a little too much hair on its cheeks It fell backward and collapsed, and Ta his sword up, feeling a soft wind blow across hi away downriver in a rout, chased by horses Shortly they would hit a wall of troops, the Legion of the Dragon, and be crushed between the Borderlanders

Taravity of the situation hit hiht! His men should be dead If those Borderlanders hadn’t arrived

He placed his sword back into its lacquered sheath The red and gold dragon caught sunlight, sparkling, though Ta to catch with that cloud cover above He searched for the sun, and found it--behind the clouds--nearly at the horizon It was alht!

Fortunately, it looked like the Trollocs here at the battle by the ruins were finally breaking Already weakened severely by the drawn-out river crossing, they now crumbled as Lan’s men hit them from behind