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Suddenly a shi vertical line appeared in the air near her It widened, as if rotating, into a gateway Icy wind rushed through it into the rooet away!" she wailed, and darted through into the blizzard

I, but without thought Rand channeled, blocking it at half its former width He did not knohat he had done or how, but he was sure this was a gateway for Traveling, such as Asmodean had told him of and been unable to teach hione, she had gone naked into the heart of a winter storm Rand tied off the flows he had woven as he ripped all the blankets fro blankets, clothes and rugs all together, he plunged through only ht air filled with swirling white Even wrapped in the Void, he could feel his body shivering Dimly he could ht There was nothing for him to smell but cold Ahead of him, a forht have missed it but for the sharpness of his eyes in the Void Aviendha, running as hard as she could He lu the thick bundle to his chest

"Aviendha! Stop!" He was afraid that the howling ould sweep his shout away, but she heard And if anything, ran faster He forced hi snow tugged at his boots The prints left by her bare feet were filling fast If he lost sight of her in this "Stop, you fool wo to kill yourself?" The sound of his voice see her to run harder

Gri back up, knocked down by the hurtling wind as often as stu into trees He had to keep his eyes on her He was only thankful this forest, or whatever it was, had trees so far apart

Plans skittered across the Void and were discarded He could try quelling the storm -- and maybe the result would turn the air to ice A shelter of Air to keep the falling snoould do nothing for that underfoot He could h mud instead Unless

He channeled, and the snow ahead of him melted in a band a span wide, a band that ran ahead of hi snow vanished a foot above the sandy soil He could feel the heat of it through his boots Down al cold; his feet sweated and flinched away fro up now Another five ue shape he had been following vanished as if she had fallen into a hole

Keeping his eyes fixed on the spot where he had last seen her, he ran as hard as he could Abruptly he was splashing in icy floater to his ankles, halfway to his knees Ahead of hi slowly back No stea for the a flow even a hair She h, but he would not save her by trying to wade into this Filled with saidin, he was barely aware of the cold, but his teeth chattered uncontrollably

Retreating to the bank, gaze locked on where he thought Aviendha had gone down, he channeled flows of Fire into ground still bare, well back frolohite Even in this storm, that would stay hot for a time He set the bundle down in the snow beside it -- her life would depend on finding the blankets and rugs again -- then waded through the deep white to one side of the melted path and lay flat Slowly he crawled out onto the snowcovered ice

The wind shrieked across hiht as well not have existed His hands were nu except for an occasional shudder Coldly cal; there were blizzards in the Two Rivers, perhaps even as bad as this His body was being overwhelmed If he did not find warmth soon, he would be able to calmly watch from the Void as he died But if he died, Aviendha would too If she had not already

He felt rather than heard the ice cracking beneath his weight His probing hands fell into water This was the place, but with snohirling about, he could barely see He flailed, searching, nue of the ice, and he co

Got to pull her out He crawled backward, hauling at her She was a dead weight, sliding slowly out of the water Don’t care if the ice scrapes her Better that than freezing or drowning Back KeepPulling with his legs, pushing with one hand The other locked in Aviendha’s hair; no tirip; she could not feel it anyway You’ve had it easy for too long Lords kneeling, and gai’shain running to fetch your wine, and Moiraine doing as she’s told Back Ti yourself if you still can Move, you fla!

Suddenly his feet hurt; the pain began creeping up his legs It took hi patch of un s for the bundle he had left, he swathed Aviendha fros of her pallet, her clothes Every bit of protection was vital Her eyes were closed, and she did not h to put an ear to her chest Her heart beat so slowly that he was not sure he was really hearing it Even four blankets and half a dozen rugs were not enough, and he could not channel heat into her as he had the ground; even fining the flow as much as possible, he was more likely to kill than warateway, a h the storm If he tried to carry her that far, neither of them would survive They needed shelter, and they needed it here

He channeled flows of Air, and snow began tointo thick square walls three paces on a side with one gap for a door, building higher, co it over high enough to stand Scooping Aviendha into his ar fla to scoop more