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He had nearly killed his father He hadn’t been forced to by See, or by Lews Therin’s influence No excuses No argument He, Rand al’Thor, had tried to kill his own father He’d drawn in the Power, e was gone, replaced by loathing He’d wanted to make himself hard He’d needed to be hard But this here hardness had brought him Lews Therin had been able to clai, no place to hide, no refuge fro city, split in half by its large river Rand walked the west side, through squares edged with beautiful statues and streets lined with row upon rohite houses,with fists or knives, and nobodyany effort to break them apart Even the wo above low-cut dresses worn over colorful petticoats

He ignored theht on the Tinkers Tinkers were safe here, but Rand’s own father wasn’t safe in his empire Rand’s friends feared him; he had seen it in Nynaeve’s eyes

The people here weren’t afraid Seanchan officersthose insectlike helms The people made way for the, they were glad for the stability They actually praised the Seanchan for conquering thee Ss to one another There didn’t seem to be any sense of order to the city layout; where he expected houses, he found shops, and instead of siether--as was common in most cities--here they were scattered, haphazard On the other side of the bridge, he passed a tall, white ht next to it

A man in a colorful silk vest jostled Rand on the street, then offered a lengthy, overly polite apology Rand hurried on, lest the man want to start a duel

This did not seem like an oppressed people There was no undercurrent of resentment The Seanchan had a much better hold on Ebou Dar than Rand had on Bandar Eban, and the people here were happy--even prosperous! Of course, Altara--as a kingdo Rand knew from his tutors that the Crown’s authority hadn’t extended much beyond the borders of the city It was much the same for the other places the Seanchan had conquered Tarabon, Amadicia, Almoth Plain Some were more stable than Altara, others less, but all would welcoainst another white building, this one a farrier’s shop He raised his stu to clear his mind

He didn’t want to confront what he had nearly done back in the Stone He didn’t want to confront what he bad done: weaving Air and shoving Ta

Rand couldn’t focus on that He had not coawk like a farmboy He had come to destroy his eneood of all nations

But if he drew that e would he cause? How ht a beacon for the Forsaken, as he had in cleansing saidirii

Let thehtened up He could defeat them

It was time to attack Time to burn the Seanchan off the land He set aside his staff and took the key off its strap at his belt, but could not force himself to unwrap it from its linen shroud He stared at it in his hand for a ti the staff behind It felt so odd to be just another foreigner The Dragon Reborn walked a this people, and they did not know him To them, Rand al’Thor was far off The Last Battle was secondary to whether or not they could get their chickens to h, or whether they would be able to afford that new silk vest they had been wanting

They would not know Rand until he destroyed them

It will be a mercy, Lews Therin whispered Death is always a mercy The madman didn’t sound as crazy as he once had In fact, his voice had started to sound an awful lot like Rand’s own voice

Rand stopped atop another bridge, looking over at the city’s massive white-walled palace, hos of gold at the base of its four dohter of the Nine Moons would be found in there He could give those walls a purity they had never known, a perfection That wouldconess

He unwrapped the access key, just another foreigner, standing on thethe palace, he would have to be quick He’d send off bursts of balefire to destroy the ships in the harbor, then use so more mundane to rain fire on the city itself, throw it into a panic The chaos would delay his enearrisons at the city gates and destroy theuely remembered scout reports of supply camps to the north, well stocked with both soldiers and foodstuffs He would destroy them next

From there, he’d need to move on to Amador, then to Tanchico and others He’d Travel quickly, never reht by the Forsaken A flickering light of death, like a burning e to life here, then there Many would die, but most would be Seanchan Invaders

He stared down at the access key Then he seized saidinThe sickness washed across him more powerfully than it ever had before The force of it knocked hiround like a physical blow He cried out, barely noticing when he hit the stones He groaned, gripping the access key, curling around it His insides see onto his shoulder and voe

But he held on to saidin He needed the power The succulent, beautiful power Even the stench of his own vomit seemed more real to him, more sweet, for the poithin hiathered around hi Noas the time He had to strike

But he could not The people looked so concerned So worried They cared

Screa the people to jump back in shock He stu on all fours, as the Seanchan soldiers dreords and yelled unfae stone disc of black and white, the air around hi Ebou Dar away, and the disc began to e a the access key, breathing deeply

Why can’t I be strong enough? He didn’t know if the thought was his or if it was Lews Therin’s The tere the same Why can’t I do what I must?

The disc traveled for a short ti The disc looked like one of the seals to the Dark One’s prison, split with a sinuous line dividing the black from the white Rand lay directly atop it They called the black half the Dragon’s Fang To the people, it symbolized evil Destruction

But Rand was necessary destruction Why had the Pattern pushed hiinally, he had tried to avoid killing--but there had been little chance of that working Then he’dwomen That had proven impossible

He was destruction He just had to accept that Soh to do as necessary, didn’t they?

A gateway opened, and he stu the access key He stepped fro platforht the Seanchan once with Callandor And failed

He stared at this place for a long tiateway This one opened onto a field of snow, and icy wind blasted at hi into the snow, and let the gateway close

Here, the world spread before hiht