Page 248 (1/2)

Tam scratched at his head To the battle? Any man--and many women--who could hold a sword had already been drawn into the arateere mostly children and the elderly, and so

"Pardon", Ta field!"

"So I tried to explain", Berelain said, a hint of exasperation in her voice "They clai out the Last Battle huddled together on the road to Whitebridge, so they say"

Ta, as children scattered onto the field His storueso through the fallen, looking for signs of those people ere still alive and could be Healed A few aged soldiers who had been set to guard the refugees went a for Trollocs that weren’t quite dead

Wo the fallen That would be helpful Very helpful With surprise, Taateway They went searching for the wounded under the direction of several Yellow sisters

Ta the children to see such sights Well, he thought, they’ll see a worse sight if we fail here If they wanted to be of use, they should be allowed

"Tell me, Tam al’Thor", Berelain asked, "isGalad Damodred well?"

"I see his men here, but not his banner"

"He was called to other duties, my Lady First", Tam said "Downriver I haven’t heard from him in hours, I’m afraid"

"Ah Well, let’s Heal and feed your "

Elayne touched Gareth Bryne’s cheek softly She closed his eyes, one, then the other, before nodding to the soldiers who had found his body They carried Bryne away, legs dangling over the edge of his shield, head hanging down on the other side

"He just went riding off, screaht into the ene hi an al sense of loss SiuanSiuan had always been so strong With effort, Elayne stilled her emotions She had to keep her attention on the battle "Is there word from the command post?"

"The caitte said "I don’t knohere Cauthon is The Seanchan have forsaken us"

"Raise h", Elayne said "Until we hear fro forward ive the orders Elayne’s Guardswoainst the Andorans at the river They’d totally filled the corridor between Heights and bogs, and threatened to spill out on to Shienaran soil Part of Egwene’s army had hit the Trollocs from the other side of the corridor, which had taken some pressure off her own troops for a time; but wene’sthe worst of it

Elayne had had solid lessons in battlefield tactics, though little experience on the field, and she could see how badly things were going Yes, she had received news that the Trollocs’ position upriver had been destroyed by the arrival of Lan and the Borderlanders But that brought scant relief with the situation here at the ford

The sun began to slip beneath the horizon The Trollocs an to light bonfires and torches Organizing her men into square for up any hope of pushing forward The Aiel fought here as well, as did the Cairhienin But those pike squares were the core of their battle plan