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Mist joined Jeade’en before he was fifty paces down the overgrown slope, and another fifty brought Sulin and a strea to position themselves ahead More than he had hoped for, but it should notvery close to the fighting They could stay back in safety with hi saidin was an effort in and of itself, even through the angreal, and the sheer weight of it seeer At least the Void shielded him from his own pain Soain

He quickened Jeade’en’s pace Whatever Sammael did, he still had his own job to do

Rain dripped from the brim of Mat’s hat, and periodically he had to lower his looking glass and wipe off the end of the tube The downpour had slackened in the last hour, but the sparse branches overhead gave no shelter at all His coat was long since soaked, and Pips’ ears were down; the horse stood as if not intending to move however Mat thumped his heels

He did not know for sure what time of day it was Soht, but the dark clouds had not thinned along with the rain, and they hid the sun where he was On the other hand, it felt very much like three or four days since he had ridden down to warn the Tairens He was still not sure why he had done that

It was southward that he peered, and a way out that he looked for A way out for three thousand h they had no idea what he was up to They believed he was hunting another fight for theht he could have escaped on his own, now, so long as he kept his eyes open and his wits about him Three thousand men, however, drew eyes whenever they moved, and they did not move quickly, ith more than half their nuhtforsaken hilltop, and why the Tairens and Cairhienin were all ja, narrow holloeen this hill and the next If he silass back to his eye, he glared south at sparsely wooded hills Here and there were thickets, sorass even here He had worked back to the east, using every fold in the ground that would hide athe column with him out of the treeless terrain and into so strikes and fireballs; he was not sure whether it orse when they came, or when the earth simply erupted in a roar for no apparent reason All that effort to find that the battle was shifting with hi

Where’s my bloody luck now that I really need it? He was a peabrained fool for staying Just because he haddid not mean he could keep it up Soon or late, the dice would co soldiers I should leave the the wooded peaks and ridges They gave cover for Couladin’s Aiel as well as for him, but here and there he could make them out Not all were involved in pitched battles, but every last group was larger than his, every one was between him and safety to the south, and he had no way to tell ho until it lance, but that did hiood

Some mile or ht abreast and heading east topped a rise where halfadozen leatherleaf made a poor excuse for a copse Before the lead runners could start down the other side, a lightning bolt flashed down into theirmen and earth like a stone thrown into a pond Pips did not even quiver as the clap reached Mat; the gelding had grown accustomed to closer strikes than that

So, and immediately joined those who had kept their feet in a hasty check of the un No more than a dozen were hauled across shoulders before they all dashed down froht, back the way they had come None paused to look at the crater Mat had watched the only invited a second silvery lance froht Except for the dead

He swung the looking glass east There was a look of sunlight a fewabove the trees, but he had not been able to find it in so places It did nothad to be Rand’s work, and all the rest of it as well If I can get far enough that way

He would be right back where he started Even if it was not the pull of ta’veren drawing hiain once Moiraine found out And there was Melindhra to consider He had never heard of a woman ould not take it askance when aher know

As he panned the looking glass slowly, hunting the tower, a slope covered in spaced leatherleaf and paperbark abruptly went up in flames, every tree become a torch at the same instant

Slowly he lowered the brassbound tube; he hardly required it to see the fire, and the thick gray s a thick plu when he saw it, not like that Had Rand finally tipped over the edge offorced to stay around him Never upset a woed to follow, but he did try

Save the sht sourly He was just trying not to think about the third alternative If Rand had not finally gone wene or one of the Wise Ones had not decided to be rid of hi a hand in the day’s business He could add tithout getting five Sa that way out; it was no way out of anything Blood and bloody ashes! What has happened to my --?

A fallen branch cracked under so, knees ht circle, swordbladed spear whipping across from the pommel of his saddle

Estean al wide, as the short blade stopped a breath short of splitting his head for him The rain had slicked his hair down into his face Also afoot, Nalesean grinned, partly startled and partly a Tairen’s discomfort Squarefaced and blocky, Nalesean was the second since Melanril to lead the Tairen cavalry Talmanes and Daerid were there as well, a pace behind as usual, and blankfaced beneath their bellshaped helmets, also as usual The four had left their horses