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"Prayers for the dead must wait," Varek said bluntly What he was about to do would end with him in the hands of the Seekers, if he failed, but there was not a Seanchan left standing here except the sul’dae and turn south"

"Disengage!" the heavyshouldered Taraboner barked "It will take us days to disengage! The Illianers, they fight like badgers backed into a corner, the Cairhienin like ferrets in a box The Tairens, they are not so hard as I have heard, but there are maybe a dozen of these Asha’man, yes? I do not even knohere threequarters of !" E protest, too

Varek ignored the at the tangled forest all around, listening to the clash of battle, the booather your h their chatter "Not too fast; you will act in unison" Miraj’s orders to Chianmai said "with all possible speed" -- he hadhappened to the copy in his saddlebags -- "all possible speed," but too much speed in this, and half the men would be left behind, chopped to flinders at the eneht for the Empress,you told fresh recruits, but for soquickly and deeply, hands on knees, they all but flew to their horses Strange Noas up to him to find the Seanchan units One of those would be commanded by someone above him, and he could pass his responsibility

The sul’da da softly "Get her soothed down," he told her With all possible speed And he thought he had seen a touch of anxiety in Miraj’s eyes What couldon you sul’dam to the south" Noould that make the blood drain froe of the trees, frowning through his helmet’s facebars at what he saw His bay nuzzled his shoulder He held his cloak close against the wind More to avoid any h that chilled his flesh It would have been a spring breeze back in Saldaea, but ht between gray clouds that sailed along quickly, the sun still lay a little short of an a battle facing west did not mean you ended it that way Before hioats cropped at the brown grass in desultory fashion just as if there was no battle raging all around then of it here For thethat roves or thickets, you did not always see the enemy before you were on top of hi to cross," Gueya a wide hand over his bald head, "we should cross Light’s truth, we’re wasting time" Amondrid snapped his mouth shut; likely, theHe would agree with a Tairen when horses clirown a beard to hide that narro It e "I do say go around," he htcursed dalance toward Rochaid

The young Asha’on pin on his collar Maybe wondering whether it orth it, by the look of hi worry

Leading Quick by the reins, Bashere strode to the Asha’man and drew him farther aside in the trees Pushed hi reluctantly The h to loo none of it

"Can I count on your people next ti a mustache in irritation "No delays?" Rochaid and his fellows see when they found themselves opposite damane

"I knohat I’h of them for you? As far as I can see, we’re about done!"

Bashere nodded slowly Not in agreement with the last There were plenty of eneh But a good many were dead He had patterned his movements on what he had studied of the Trolloc Wars, when the forces of the Light seldom came anywhere near the numbers they had to face Slash at the flanks, and run Slash at the rear, and run Slash, and run, and when the eneround you had chosen beforehand, where the legion with their crossbows, turn and cut at hiain Or until he broke Already today he had broken Taraboners, Ae arht since the Blood Snow But if he had Asha’ood third of his Saldaeans lay dead along the miles behind Nearly half his force was dead, all told, and there were still more Seanchan out there with their cursed women, and Taraboners, and A as soon as he finished the last And the Asha’ into Quick’s saddle, he rode back to Jeordwyn and the others "We go around," he ordered, ignoring Jeordwyn’s nods as much as he did Gueyam and Amondrid’s scowls "Triple scouts out I mean to push hard, but I don’t want to trip over a daathered the other five Asha’man around him, one with a silver sword pinned to his collar, the others without There had been two , but if Asha’rily, Rochaid appeared to be arguing with them His face was red, theirs blank and stubborn Bashere just hoped Rochaid could keep all of the that sort of ht rain fell Rand scowled at the thick black clouds gathering the sky, already beginning to obscure a pale sun halfway down to the far horizon Light rain now, but it would thicken like those clouds! Irritably he returned to studying the land ahead of him The Crown of Swords pricked his temples With the Power in him, the land was clear as aaway, sorass or just stone and weeds He thought he sawthe rows of an olive orchard on another hill a h Dead men lay across the miles behind, dead enemies Dead women, too, he knew, but he had stayed away from anywhere sul’daht it was hatred for those who killed