The Grey Tower

Herarn stepped through the Gateway and scouted the area with an intensity born of paranoia. The last thing he needed was someone from the Grey Tower following him, or even worse, getting here before the meeting was supposed to start. He was getting tired of being in the Grey Tower. It was hard being disconnected. It was even worse constantly lying and breaking the rules. He was tired of trying to ignore the toh that were he in any other situation would have required him to take the White for a year and a day to wipe clean the slate.

He stood in a pool of shadows next to a tree. He held onto saidin by the thinnest of margins, knowing that it was easier to open yourself up to more than it was to seize saidin. He waited patiently until another Gateway opened and out poured not one, but three Dedicated. It was then that he knew things were about to go horribly, horribly wrong. He waited until they generated light before he appeared at the edge of the light.

“Greetings, Brothers.” said Herarn calmly as they turned to him.

“Brother.” said one of them, the other two remained silent. “What do you have to report?”

Herarn shook his head. “The same as the last eight reports. I’ve found no evidence of the Grey Tower actively arming for any manner of military campaign. The Soldier’s are trained at such a slow pace it’s a wonder any of them are Raised before they turn into grey beards. The Quartermaster is complaining about how the larders are understocked and the Stable master has given to letting the horses graze instead of feeding them grain or hay.”

The two Dedicated who had yet to speak looked at each other and nodded. This did not go unnoticed by the ever attentive Herarn. He opened himself up to saidin filling himself to nearly capacity. He knew all three of these Dedicated. Not the brightest, but each was skilled with Battleweaves.

The leader sighed and said, “Then I must give you my sincerest regrets. The M’Hael has declared you compromised. Your usefulness to the Black Tower is over.”

Herarn’s heart fell. So it really would come to this. Addric had been right. “So I take by your wording, that I’m not going to be welcomed back to the fold.”

The Dedicated shook his head as he seized saidin. “You’re to be executed for Treason and your head, what’s left of it anyhow, is to be brought back….”

He never finished the sentence as Herarn snapped his right arm out and ripped the man’s throat out. He made sure that he severed both arteries in the process. Throwing the severed chunk of wet flesh into the face of another Dedicated, he channeled Air and Earth. Dust flew up shrouding him in a thick shroud of dirt. He dodged out of the way as a blast of fire torched his right side. A spike of Earth piercing his right shoulder but failed to penetrate the shoulderblade. Herarn knew he was going to have to keep on his toes and act fast.

The M’Hael wouldn’t have sent any ordinary Dedicated. These men were probably being groomed to be members of the rumored eighth track. Assassins of the Black Tower answering only to the M’Hael himself. He was going to have to act fast and think faster or they really would hang his head from the Traitor’s Tree. And he’d be Seared before he let that happen because he was doing his job and reporting only fact and truth.

He felt more than saw anything before he erected a powerful barrier of all Five Elements just in time to block out a gout of lava that surged open from the very earth itself as a spike of earth large enough to spit a horse from one end to the other buffeted against his barrier.

Erecting a ward against the One Power around which he erected a nearly impenetrable wall of Air, then he generated an illusion of himself inside those Wards before he shrouded himself with an inverted camouflage weave. He moved as quickly as he dared to under the effects of the weave then stopped and waited. He needed one of the men to make their presence known. Sure enough one of them appeared and hammered at the ward, testing its strength and looking for any weaknesses.

He moved carefully before stopping about two arm lengths from his target. A flash of light saved him from falling into the trap. The man was good, but he’d forgotten to weave in flows of Earth into his Illusion so it would automatically cast a shadow when needed. He didn’t have time to react as he felt a surge of saidin to his right as he felt something pass through his chest below his heart, through his right lung, and one through his left side.

Without thinking he wove deftly the most instinctive weave he could causing bolts of lightning to hammer that area into oblivion, he did his best to run over to double check his work. He was pleased to find another body. This one was a smoking and charred ruin but the melted silver at the neck marked him as one of the Dedicated who was trying to kill him.

Coughing, he spat blood into his hand and knew that he was in a bad way. He had to kill the other Dedicated before he couldn’t channel anymore. He needn’t look far as a gout of flame caught him before he had time to erect proper defenses. The flame, thankfully, hadn’t been lethal but it was enough to scorch and blister skin. His back from the ribs to the top of his head was a charred mess and the pain was almost mind-numbing in its intensity.

Collapsing to his hands and knees, he held onto the raging fury of saidin as if he were a drowning man holding onto a life preserving device.

“Bloody damned pitiful.” Said the last Dedicated as he came around to Herarn’s side. “The M’Hael said you were dangerous but in the end, you’re just a weak Aiel savage. I don’t need the One Power to finish you. You’re probably in so much pain right now that it’s taking all you have to just hold the Power.”

Herarn nodded mutely. He had enough focus for about two or three more weaves before he’d succumb to the pain.

“You don’t deserve a clean death, Traitor. So I’m going to make it long and painful.” The Dedicated cracked his knuckles as he advanced on Herarn’s kneeling position.

Once he was in position, Herarn struck hard and swift. He brought his right hand up rolled into a point, he hit the man just under the rib cage, the force was such that he shattered ribs and collapsed the man’s lungs. As the air was knocked out of him, Herarn said, “Rule One of Warfare, never assume any opponent is helpless until their dead. Rule Two, if they look helpless make sure they’re helpless. Rule Three, when in doubt refer to Rule One.”

Without hesitation, he crushed the man’s throat before snapping his neck. Standing on weak, tired, legs, he felt the blood pumping from his wounds, blisters popping along his back, neck, and on his head. Blood oozed from the charred flesh of his back.

Taking a deep breath, he coughed up more blood as he focused. He needed only enough strength to channel one more weave. Then if the Creator willed it, he would die somewhere in peace without having to worry about someone collecting his head later. Opening the Gateway, he stumbled through before allowing it to snap shut behind him. As he released his hold on saidin, the pain washed over him and he collapsed forward, darkness claiming him.

For the first day in a long time Liri had a morning off. She had just been raised to Acceptedhood the night before so she knew there would be a lot of changes but she was excited to face them. Liri had taken her time waking up lying in bed a few minutes longer, which seemed like such a luxury. She knew if she wanted to make breakfast she would have to get up soon, so she swung her legs over the side of her bed. She shook her head trying to get her dream out of her head, she had seen a girl stuck in a room with cuts and scrapes all over. She never saw the face of the girl but it didn't matter dreams where just that dreams.

Moving over to her truck Liri took out one of her new Accepted dresses. She smiled when she saw it, she was proud that she had made it this far. She pulled it over head head and smoothed her skirts double checking in a mirror that everything was lying correctly on her. Nodding to herself she left her room and hurried off to get breakfast.

With breakfast in her stomach Liri felt satisfied, she was well fed, had just made progress here and still had some time to herself. Liri had planned to go visit Eclipse. It had been a few days and she missed spending time with him. But she wanted to use some of her time to wander the Tower as she rarely got time too. Deciding to equalize them Liri took a more scenic route to the Stables.

It was nice weather to be out and about, and although Liri had not wandered a lot, she did love visiting the gardens. There was always a nice flower scent in the air, and the birds chirping it was just so peaceful. Deciding to spend a bit more time here Liri wandered down a few paths, retracing her steps a few times when paths crossed, but she didn't mind.

Just as she felt it was time to head to the stables, Liri saw something -or someone out of the corner of her eye. She had already been down this path before so she thought it was odd. She walked off to the side of the path to investigate and saw what was in fact a body under the shrubs. Dropping to her knees Liri went to the mans head, he was breathing but it was ragged and hard. No one was around so Liri didn't even bother to call for help, no point in wasting her breath.

For her brief training at home Liri knew a little of wounds but she didn't have any supplied on her. She noticed blood oozing from him chest, so being careful not to move him Liri ripped part of his clothes and put slight pressure on the wounds. She could feel panic slowly start to build inside her. What would she do if this man died? If you she could channel... with a start Liri realized she WAS an Accepted and she could channel. Doing her best to keep pressure on the wounds Liri formed the weave for delving. She learned it from her veterinary weaves class and was quite confident. Placing the weave on the man, she found countless injuries, and none she could heal. She wasn't sure quite what to do, so she tried talking to him. When the failed to work she grabbed the clothing around his shoulders and starting dragging him towards the Halls where she could find an Aes Sedai that could help him.

Addric had been up for the better part of the night. He knew his friend was supposed to report his findings tonight and he knew that Herarn had nothing to report, because there was nothing to report. They Grey Tower had too many problems to even begin to entertain the idea of making any militaristic ideas let alone get started.

The Soldiers here were coddled like newborn babes, even in comparison to the new training standards of the Black Tower. Most Soldiers here thought he and Herarn were top of the class because they channeled with an ease seen more often in Dedicated. And truth was they probably channeled better than some Dedicated he knew. The fact that they were both trained for war and had seen a number of battles had more than a few Green Ajah potentiates eyeballing him.

Herarn was the enigma. Nobody knew what to make of him. Like the Black Tower the number of Aiel among the Tower ranks was horrendously low. He knew of only one other Aiel in the ranks, and she was a Novice the last he’d heard. Herarn acted a lot like a wetlander, but periodically he reverted to his native Aiel culture. So it was hard for many to connect with him.

Tired of waiting, Addric got dressed and hurried down to the Gardens where the older man chose to use as his gateway start and end point. He moved with a purpose so as not to attract unneeded attention from Aes Sedai or Asha’man or Light help him some pompous arrogant Dedicated or Accepted with a power complex. He got to the Gardens in relative speed even though he wanted to do nothing more than sprint the whole way.

Once he arrived, he started along all the paths he knew and stumbled upon his worst fear. Herarn a charred and bloody mess being unsuccessfully dragged by an Accepted. “Light woman! Don’t they teach anything about managing the injured here!”

Taking Herarn’s arm from her grip, he lowered the injured man to the ground and Delved him. It was a miracle the man was even alive with all the injuries he had sustained. “Alright, I’m going to need your help. Do you know how to Link? If not, I’ll give you a crash course in it now. We haven’t time to play by the usual Tower Rules of finding an Aes Sedai or an Asha’man. Not this early in the morning.”

Addric walked her through the process of Linking with him, feeling unnaturally old at that time. “Alright, just hold the One Power. Don’t direct it, I’ll take Lead.”

The sensation of controlling so much of the Power was always a heady experience and with a little control, he bent flows of Saidar to create a platform of Air beside Herarn before using more flows of Air to lift the injured man and lower him face down onto the platform. Realizing that he wasn’t as familiar with the Tower Grounds as he’d like, he knew that he couldn’t Travel to the Tower Hospital.

“We’re in for a workout, Accepted. We have to maintain our hold on the One Power until we get to the Hospital. I know how to get there, but I haven’t grounded myself enough to Travel there. So we’re going to have to do it the long way. Do you think you can handle that kind of strain? If not let me know, because we can take him to one of the main thoroughfares of the Tower and find someone who can. I’m not judging, mind you. But we need to move him quickly or he’s going to either bleed out or drown on his own blood.”

Leaning down, he growled at Herarn, “Don’t you dare die on me, buddy. I’ll drag you out of the Pit just so I can kick your Light seared backside all over creation if you do.”

If Liri hadn't been in shock at the state of the man who had appeared in the Gardens she would have given the younger man a glare. Glad he was here to take the lead Liri listened and did as he asked. She opened herself the the One Power and felt it flow through her. She listened as he walked her through on how to Link, following his instructions exactly, the last thing she needed was for him to yell at her again.

Liri watched with slight interested as he worked with the Power, she couldn't see what he was doing, but she knew something was happening and he seemed very focused on his work. The next thing she knew the injured man was floating in the air. When he told her there were going to have to move him, Liri knew that today would be a long day. Liri hurriedly walked beside the younger man as they made their way to the Hospital.

Liri was more then happy to let him take the lead. He didn't seem in a good mood and Liri wasn't in a mood to deal with negative emotions. As they rushed through the Halls Liri suddenly thought of a short cut she had taken once or twice. "Quick this way" She said turning left instead of right. "This will get us there quicker.". She finished not even waiting to see if he would follow. He seemed to a least some what care for him so she just assumed he would follow.

They wove through a few halls before finally arrived at the hospital. Liri was surprised at how fast they had been, but when you had someone with as many injuries as they man did, you had to speed in order to save his life.

Addric followed the Accepted as they barreled through the halls at a near breakneck pace. He bowed to the Accepted’s knowledge of the Tower grounds. They only encountered one hinderance and that was an uppity Soldier who seemed to think that his prior position in life meant something. Addric solved that situation with a brutal jumping crescent kick that connected with the side of his head and knocked him unconscious.

As several others stopped to watch, he barked out, “MOVE BLAST YOU!!”

Addric was in a foul temper because he was tired and because his best friend laying dying on a platform of Air and people wanted to gawk. Which delayed his friend’s Healing, which made him crankier.

The way parted for them as they walked through the hall until they arrived at the Hospital. As they crashed through the doors, he bellowed out, “MEDIC!”

Soon enough Herarn was moved from his platform of Air to an actual bed and Healers were scrambling around. It was obvious that the large Aielish man was going to need a Circle of at least 13 to properly Heal him. He’d lost a lot of blood. He’d been burnt heavily over a quarter of his body. And he had a couple holes punched through him.

Releasing Liri from the Link, he released saidin and nearly collapsed. He’d channeled for protracted periods of time before, but usually it was in spikes of power. Holding only the barest amount of saidin until he needed to open himself up to channel potent weaves. But today had been an exercise in stamina in a way he’d never experienced before. Holding a weave and a link at the same time while already exhausted had been a trial unto itself.

Turning to Liri he bowed briskly, “I thank you for your help today. Without you, I’d have had to carry him physically and that would have probably killed him. My talents with Air tend to be rather weak.”

He moved out of the way of the Yellows and their Accepted and Dedicated Aspirants and sat on a stool in a corner. If he wasn’t needed or interacted with soon, he would pass out from a combination of exhaustion and exertion.