Fanfic:A simple Trip, turned into more?

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A simple Trip, turned into more?
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Liri was so excited, for the first time in forever she was allowed out of the Tower. Although her time as a Novice hadn't been the most fun- filled with lessons and chores, she knew she would appreciate the memories. If anything she was thankful to have been given a great mentor. Although their relationship had started off unsure Liri knew she had found someone who could turn into a treasured friend. Liri looked up to Carra and wanted to make her proud.

Walking down a path from the Tower Liri grew most excited that closer she got. If was weird to be out of the Tower but the weirdness quickly melted as a sense of freedom fell over her. Liri took her time getting there, stopping to smell flowers, or listen to birds. Of course flowers and birds were in the Tower but things were always greener on the other side.

As she entered Hama Valon Liri over his with an overwhelming amount of smells, she had no idea where to even start. There were Inns and bakeries, clothing shops and stores with little trinkets. Excited at the prospect of so many stores Liri walked into one of the Inns, the sign outside said Band of Brothers. Walking in she took a seat, she couldn't seem to wipe the smile off her face. A heavy set women bustled her way over, "Hello Deary, what can I help you with?" She said quickly not really looking at Liri.

"I'm Ok. Just enjoying the being in Town." she replied. Moving her head up the women took into Liri. "Freshly raised to Acceptedhood?" She asked even though the answer was obvious. Liri didn't reply just nodded. She hadn't met to be so obvious her excitement has just gotten teh best of her. "Well, let me grab you a treat, on the house." the lady said bustling away.

Liri couldn't sit still in her booth. She wanted to look around and see everything. The women came back and gave her a small plate with some sweets on them. Liri eat them slowly wanting to savor every bite. Liri smiled, she was more grateful then she would have ever thought for her free time. Just as she was about to leave the women (who Liri now guessed was the Innkeepers wife) came over with a glass of tea.

"That there Warder over there asked me to give this too you. He must know how excited you are to be out and about but with no money. Some men really are sweet" she said trailing off as she walked away.

Liri smiled over at the Warder the Innkeeper had pointed too. She raised her glass up and took a drink. It tasted amazing! Liri had not tasted anything quite like it. There was a slight kick at the end but it just added to the drink. Finishing the drink off quickly Liri got up to leave the store. She really wanted to go look at some trinkets.

As she walked out of the Inn Liri felt herself getting tired, the day must had worn on her more then she anticipated. So quickly she walked into the first shop she could find so she could take a look then go back to the Tower. Liri wandered around the end of the shop, she heard the door open and saw the Warder enter, but didn't think anything off it.

Liri had almost finished a round of the shop when tiredness came over her, she would have fallen to the ground, but the Warder caught her. She smiled weakly at him as a thank you. Hearing the bustle the Shop Owner rushed over, she seemed to be a sweet older lady. Liri could feel consciousness slip away but she knew the shop owner asked the warder to get her back to the Tower and asked Liri if she was comfortable with that, feeling confident in the Warder holding her Liri nodded. Within seconds of leaving the shop Liri lost all consciousness.

The Ghost

Locating a Warders Cloak had been easy. Getting the blood of the Warder off it was a little more challenging. He was surprised by the material having not touched it before and so washing it out enough not to give alarm proved to be interesting but worthwhile endeavor. With it he was able to get into pretty much everywhere either without being seen or without question. Although he had to admit the Whitecloak he was gifted from a Child was much harder to clean. Blood stained horribly.

He had followed his quarry for a few years now, more so in passing but over the past few months she had grown in importance to another of his goals and if he was ever going to get her attention then he would need to make a more obvious move. Having made vows to never break a promise, he was quite put out that she broke hers.

Well, not this one. She didn't know who he was which made her even more delectable. Without the promise of a purse, a vow was being bent but his conscience couldn't be more clear. With a slight of hand, a few drops and it was only waiting. His charismatic smile peaking out from the shadows of the Band of Brothers. No one would think to question a Warder. Gaidin, as they were called when unbonded. Silly, this Grey Tower to just hand over the cloak without the bond. Not that the Aes Sedai with the Gaidin of this cloak was much of a challenge. Green, and unskilled in the world. That she was separated and broken from her dead Warder may have made it easer but who was he to not take advantage of such a weakness.

The girl left, to wander the markets and stores, he followed at his own pace like a watchful puppy following a hopeful mistress. Newly raised, if she was studying with Aramisa then for shame that she could not taste the sweetened leaf in her brew. Perhaps that was a secret that she had not shared with her Tower.

When the girl swooned, he moved in gracefully to help her. "Allow me. I will take her to the Tower." All the agreements and the unusual trust in her eyes just brought a smile to his lips. It did not matter that she didn't know him, but she trusted him for this cloak anyway. "Come, little one. Let's go." Like a father to a daughter, he carried her with ease.

Only, He did not take her back to the Tower. The pathways leading up were forked with paths that lead elsewhere, and after some turns, he brought her to his saddled horse. Propping her on the horses back, he climbed up after her and a flick of his wrists was off. Leaving the Grey Tower and Hama Valon behind.

Lirievin Tesiva - Awaken

Liri's consciousness slowly started to return, her vision was fuzzy at first but within minutes it cleared up, but it was soon apparent that there was nothing for her to look at. Liri could tell she was in a small room, but beyond that there were no furnishings or even windows so she could estimate the time of day.

Liri didn't even try to move, although lying on her side with her arms tied behind her back wasn't comfortable. She knew more then to move her feet as well, she could feel something- rope perhaps, tied so tightly around them that she couldn't move them at all. Knowing she could not move Liri tried to assess herself, her head was pounding making any concentration hard, her entire body felt sift and sore, like she'd been riding too long on a far trip, but her back and butt were worse then the rest.She couldn't see her arms, but she could feel a scrap on her arm, beside that soreness that seemed to be the only issue there. She legs felt fine but her right ankle hurt- a lot. She knew something must have been injured. Liri tired to move her head, but she must have been past out for a while and had a large kink in her neck so she had to move slowly to not cause large amounts of pain.

Liri thought about calling out, but she had no idea if anyone was even around to hear her. Without much more thought, Liri fell asleep.

Waking up again, Liri panicked when she didn't recognize where she was, but then she remember assessing her injuries. She still couldn't remember how she got here. She had no memory of travelling, and nothing of being tied up like a hog. She tried to think back but her head was still pounding so it was hard. She had a vague memory of leaving The Grey Tower.. she must have been going to the city. But what happened then? I must remember SOMETHING.. anything... She thoughts trailed off as she fell back asleep.

Waking up the third time she felt less of a shock, she was getting use to the room she was being held in. She had no idea how long she had been here, it couldn't have been long as she didn't feel overly hungry but she could also feel the hungry starting to eat at her stomach. Her thoughts went back to wondering why she was here. She had been good as a Novice, staying out of any sort of trouble. She did spend a lot of time alone and as as she could tell she had not made enemies out of anyone. The only person who she spend a lot of time with was Carra, and she really couldn't see her mentor doing anything like this to her. Sure, she could not be the nicest at times but Liri rarely had to deal with that side of her. Liri had always been proud to be able to say Carra was her mentor. Carra was unapologetic, stood up for what she believed in and when she decided to fight she fought hard. I only hope I can show an ounce of her strength those were Liri's last thoughts before she drifted off to sleep again.

The Ghost

The missive has not been lost. Preparations are being made and information will be gathered by the fortnight. Gather the Daggers. Penning out words, he added in some phrasing mixed with code for his brothers, folded up the parchment and slipped it into his satchel on the desk. Coins resting inside, faced with a design that could not be could in any denomination. They were unique, mailable, and distinct. They rested with the rest of his possessions; charcoal, parchment, a seal and a candle. Clothing were in another satchel, but mostly he stole what he needed and replaced it with gold, silver or copper. His value came from being unseen. He closed the clasp of the satchel and set it aside.

The sounds from the room beyond telltale signs that his prey was now awake. She was little and nothing in this game, but could be something more. He needed to know how much more and how far he could push Aramisa, but he would have to play it carefully. He needed her on his side and she was making it clear that she did not want to side with him. He could still see her clearly in his mind, the way she walked, the way she scowled. Never a smile on her lips. She was perfect.

Standing, he gave himself a bit of a brush off of dust, the room not the cleanest and dust floated in the air as specks caught the rays of sunlight. Opening the door, he walked in to see the pitiful girl. She was pale, with dull sunlit hair and her dress now gray and brown. Only the banded stripes of 8 gave color to the otherwise unremarkable room. He walked over, catching the look in her eyes but ignoring it completely. He didn't care who she was, what she felt or even if she held any value. The water was spiked with forkroot which kept her from channeling precious little and it was all he cared about. That and that she meant something to Aramisa.

"Don't take this personally, dove." He kicked out her legs away so she would sprawl on the floor with her hands still tied. A foot of pressure on her ankle that she had been dropped on when he pulled her off the horse. He had meant to be a little more careful but then the damage was done and he had assessed that it was broken then. May as well use it to his advantage. At least for the screams, and she did scream rather prettily.

"It's not you that I'm after.. just a much bigger one. You just so happen to be a key." Flicking a dagger, he keeled next to her. The smile sweet and kind. "Try not to stay too quiet?"

Dignity Returned

Liri groaned as she woke up. She had no idea how long she had been here but it seemed like it had been a while. A lot of her soreness from the first day had gone away but her ankle still hurt as much as it had the first day. She knew there was a serious injury and guessed it was broken but she tried not to focus on her pain. The more she detached herself from it the less pain she felt.

She hadn't been awake long before the man- she no longer thought he was a Gaidin, came into the room. She had seen him a few times before but always passed out from pain before she ever saw him leave. He called her dove and had he have not been leaving her in excruciating amounts of pain Liri probably would have found it endearing. It wasn't long after he entered the room when he brought out the dagger again. Screams came out of her throat before she could even think about stopping them. Then everything faded to blackness.

She awoke again with a start. She had been having a pleasant dream, she had been somewhere far away from here, where the sunlight shone upon her and she could smell fresh flowers. Shaking the dream away Liri tried not to think too much about pleasant things. She had no idea when she would get out of here- or even IF she would get out and she didn't want to get her hopes up. Again, her captor walked in interrupting her thoughts, with his dagger out. She knew was was going to happen and wasn't at all surprised when her vision faded to black...

The next time Liri woke up she had had no dreams but this non-stop pain was killing her. She always tried to have her spirits high but she couldn't take it anymore. Tears streamed down her face and she was sobbing so loud her entire body shook. She didn't want to be in pain anymore! What had she done to deserve this? Was it revenge for her Arches and all the people she had left behind there? She had been crying so hard she didn't even heat her captor come in until she felt the cold metal on her arm. By now she was just to it and just let the darkness take her.

When she awoke again Liri almost felt ashamed in herself. She had felt so weak crying in front of him, and she knew he felt powerful. She still had no idea how long she had been here but she had guessed a few days by now. But if she just kept crying she knew that would only give more power to him, and she felt she had to keep as much power as she could. She wiped off her face as best as she could, if was time to stop drowning in self pity and handle this with as much dignity as she could.She thought back to her mentor- she was the strongest person Liri had known. Carra wouldn't have moped around and done nothing, she would have stood up for herself and gotten out of the situation. Liri didn't think she was as strong as Carra but she could try. Liri tried to move around so she wasn't lying on her stomach anymore and got into a sitting position. She kept her back straight and held her head high. It wasn't much but always she was feeling less ashamed. She knew she had to do something different when he came in. He did seem to enjoy her screams... maybe that's what she would stop. If she didn't scream would he enjoy it? Liri wasn't sure but it was worth a try.

The next time he stepped into her room, Liri was sitting with proper posture. She didn't even bother looking at him. She flinched when he brought out his dagger, and even though she tried to hold back her screams, some still came. There were stifled, so that was an improvement. Liri continued this the next few times he paid her a visit. She screams became less and less- that didn't stop him from coming but Liri hoped he felt less satisfied about it. Still Liri knew there was only so long she could keep this up, she was slowly loosing blood and the pain was getting to be unbearable. If this continued much longer Liri knew the thought of taking her own life would cross her mind.

Carraidhin Glaisne

Got lost in a promise
Of a love I never know
Shadows chase me far from home
I remember when my heart was filled with gold
And you know
I've been burned

The breath held within her burned through her lungs as the voice she came in became lost to a scream behind walls of stone. The night stars twinkling through the windows on the other side of the room, at least a week of dust settled in the room and she could not help but feel fear to the core of her heart. The image in her dreams of her screaming echoed in her hears, the softness of her steps lost and silent as she stepped out of the room. Click, the door closed as the only audible sounds she could hear, but still the screams raged in her ears. The pitch of pain, the loss of hope, a remembered memory.

Carraidhin was still dressed in her night clothes, the elegant robe over the night gown with it's long sleeves and length. When not dressed in her Amyrlin or Aes Sedai finest it was still easy to see her as a Novice, or even Accepted for all the youth in her face despite the agelessness that had settled in. The halls empty and silent save the whispers and nuances of the night, and an Accepted that snored three doors down. Where was she? The dream, the foretelling, it could not be something already passed!

She went to the next door and gave a firm knock. Loud enough that made no mistake that she was going to be polite this. The girl that opened opened the door, rubbing her eyes. At first the words were incomprehensible but as the girl looked at who actually stood at the door, the curtsey nearly made her fall to the floor. "Mother?"

"Lirievin. Where is she?" The words were harsh, a command that threatened an edge of desparation. Even still the stone held and Carra's voice did not crack.

"I.. I have not seen her, Mother. Not for days now." She said. "Our paths do not..."

But Carra had moved on, knocking on the next door. Again, the girl did not know where she was. the third door yielded the same result. Days. They had not seen her in days. The quiet Accepted that slept in that one room, had not been seen in days. Carra cursed herself, swearing oaths upon herself feeling that it was her own fault. To have taken so much of the girls time that she might not have made friends. But Lirievin was newly raised. Her friends must be all still Novices.

"Children, Daughters. Rouse the others and start searching." She pointed to the first that she had woken. "What is your name, child?"

"Sylvianna, Mother. Sylvianna Tornei." Her curtesy was much better even if Carra made no note of the change.

"Do you remember what Lirievin looks like?" The girl nodded firmly, "Go wake Illyria Sedai, let her know that one of the Accepteds may be gone. And then go run to the gates of the Tower and ask the guards if they have seen a girl of Lirievin's description leave. Be swift child, and run like the Light." The girl gave a firm nod, picked up her night skirts and ran.

Knock after knock on the doors rang and filled the Accepted quarters. Knock. Knock. Voices as they woke up their fellow ranks. And still, the screaming in Carra's head continued and fear crept into her, deeper and more fervent, that maybe, just maybe... that screaming will never go away.

Carraidhin & Jaryd - Friend

Jaryd sat in a chair in his office, his feet propped up on the window ledge. Although his gaze was fixed on the enormous full moon that hung over the Mountains of Mist, his eyes didn't see it- his thoughts were elsewhere, lost in a miasma of past, present and future. What odd twist of fate had led to him being chosen as M'Hael?

Jaryd was distracted by his thoughts by a shout in the corridor. He let the front legs of his chair thump to the ground and stood, his wiry body carrying him across the vast office to the door in the blink of an eye. Outside, he caught a girl wearing novice white by the sleeve as she flew by him. "Tell me what happened," he said.

She froze, staring up at him, then out poured a confused mess of words. Something about a search for an Accepted named Lirievin who had vanished. *Why does that name sound familiar?* The girl babbled a bit more, but then added "Mother went to her study, but she ordered me to-" *What in the Light?*

Jaryd let the novice go, and turned his step towards Carra's office. What could possibly cause Carra to be up at this hour, let alone directing a search? He knocked perfunctorily on her door, and then entered. The zing the doorknob gave him barely registered- what mattered was the woman he caught pacing inside. "What happened?" he asked again.

Carraidhin looked up from her pacing, the ever present screaming in her head, to see the first and the last person she wanted to see. The telltale confusion lost with what may have looked like tears on her cheeks. "I.. Fa..Jaryd." She still struggled with the idea of calling him Father. Tower traditions be damned.

Carraidhin bit a hand to her lips, and closed her eyes. She needed to take a breath, breathe in and out. "He took her. I don't know how, or where. But she is gone and light only knows what.. or why." Her mind raced. He wasn't in Caemlyn. He wasn't in Cairhien. He wasn't at any spot that she could think of.

Jaryd blinked, his normal urge to smile at her fumbled words lost in concern and confusion. She had been crying...Light, *Carra* had been crying! "I assume you mean Lirievin?" He asked, closing the door behind him. "Who took her? How-" he hesitated, hoping he wouldn't seem to be questioning her sincerity, "how do you know?"

Jaryd channeled, Fire to heat the water in her teapot, Air to pour some into one of the cups on the tray she always had nearby. He then pulled it towards him, and delivered it to her by hand, cautiously touching her shoulder as he placed the cup in her hands.

Carraidhin felt shame, realizing just how much her little secrets and how her past had caught up to her. Blinking back the tears that felt so very foreign to her, she could see the scar tissue on his cheek from that first... that first hint. Instead of all the oaths, swears and rage, Carra could feel the cold break through her.

Carraidhin accepted the cup, carefully. "I had a dream. It woke me. If felt like a foretelling, but it wasn't. I do not think it was a dream either. It was like she.. she was trying to find me."

Carraidhin took a sip of the tea, letting its warmth fill that void yet it remained. The cold fear mixed with the realization that she CARED brought its own kind of dread that she was not entirely sure how to handle. "At first I didn't believe it. But when.. she was not in her room."

Jaryd thought about that in silence for a moment. "Amadie once told me that when two people feel strongly about one another, their dreams can....attract in some way," he said. She had been talking about something else entirely, and the rest made no sense to him, but that part stuck out. "I feel like she knew more about it than she was telling me," he added.

Carraidhin could feel herself start to shake. Having used Saidar enough to feel tired, not even the tea could calm her nerves. She needed to sit but felt too restless to rest. "Maybe. She knew many things about this, but I think because she learned on her own it may have translated differently. But.. it is possible."

Jaryd hesitated a moment, then took Carra's hand and led her to a chair. If she remained standing, he feared she might fall. "Regardless, Liri IS missing," he said quietly, "and you seem to know who took her. What...." he paused again, and in the brief silence he knelt in front of her to be on level with her face. "What can I do to help?" He asked finally.

Jaryd had never seen his friend so shaken, so torn open. He desperately wanted to know what or who could possibly want to hurt her so badly they would steal an Accepted, and how she could know that she had been abducted, rather than merely running away, but somehow, he wasn't certain now was the time to ask.

Carraidhin the tea had done nothing, but his hand warmed her and she had not expected that. Was that she was desperate for touch or comfort or was it something else entirely? Pushing the feeling away, Carra collapsed into the chair with less grace then expected of her rank.

She looked up, his face concern, real. Here. Setting the useless tea to the side, she could not help but start to reach for his face and pull back. What could she tell him. How angry would he be with her? Would he hate her too?

Jaryd watched Carra carefully, realizing that she had never before asked for help from anyone....not even Amadie, whom she had held most dear. The likelihood of her breaking that silence now without a push seemed unlikely, but it felt so unkind to question her. But...something terrible was happening, or had happened, to an Accepted...one of their daughters.

When she reached for him, he captured her hands, and looked her in the eyes. "I need to know what's happening," he said. "I need you to let me help you."

Carraidhin's breath froze, her body stiffened as he grasped her hands. She wanted to pull away, needed to pull away, but she couldn't. She couldn't tear herself away and for the first time Carraidhin felt defeat. What walls that were left that had crumbled trying desparately to find Lirievin fell away to him. With her hands still in his, she leaned forward and rested her head on them. Her body shook as she breathed in. Breathed out.

"He was here before. Shadowing me since I left Caemlyn. Not this whole time, but for years he would come in, watch. Leave. I never knew of his time here, but only of his passing. He made sure I knew. A gift, a word, a phrase spoken by someone that passed by."

Carraidhin sat up, look up but not at Jaryd. Not at anything. "Sean was always the jealous type. I had hoped in my arch that it would be the last time I saw him. But he has hunted me, believing I am someone that..." might have been. Her voice broke away.

Jaryd froze, shocked beyond words as Carra folded forward, composure gone. He tightened his fingers around her hands as she spoke, her voice wavering from attempts at regaining control. The Void slammed into place against the anger her description evoked; when he spoke his voice was cold, though his hands remained gentle. "He sounds like a monster."

The words rolled off her, but a part of it stuck. Monster. "I once made a promise to him. I broke that promise, and now he's coming to collect. Who is the monster then?"

Jaryd arched a thick eyebrow. "I suppose it would depend on the nature of the promise," he said, a tinge of his normal flippancy returning to his tone.

"I do not recall Carraidhin Glaisne being listed as the queen of the world prior to joining the Grey Tower, and therefore I find it difficult ot believe you broke a promise so large that you deserve to be harassed and tortured for it."

Carraidhin would have broken in a smirk, but she was so deeply raked in guilt for her own actions that it only made her sigh.

His next words, however, nearly did. Carraidhin Glaisne. Sean would break that open, and if she told someone.. anyone...

"No." She said carefully. "Carraidhin Glaisne was not."

Jaryd heard the shields going back up in her voice, and sighed. *Someday, you have to learn to keep your tongue in your mouth,* he told himself. "What kind of promise did you make, then?" He asked. "And why would you make it to someone who would kidnap an Accepted to make you suffer for breaking it?"

Carraidhin spoke again, "It doesn't matter. It was a childish promise. Now Livierin is gone. He took her because I threatened him. I approached him perhaps last summer, and told him to leave me be. He had been obsessed and now... He isn't what he was. Like me, he changed. Sean never could channel, but he is trained in the martial arts. He must be at least very skilled in daggers."

Jaryd extracted his hands, then pushed back on her shoulders until she sat upright again. "It does matter," he said quietly, "because you made a promise to someone who is apparently very dangerous, not entirely sane, and willing to do whatever it takes to get back at you." He paused for a second, a thought occurring to him.

Carraidhin leveled a look at him. "You will think it's silly. It really was a stupid promise."

Jaryd lifted his fingers to his face. "I got this scar from a....shadow." he said slowly, ignoring what she last said. "A shadow that came out of nowhere in the night, and bested me at my own weapon."

Carraidhin visibily winced.

Jaryd sighed. "Silly promise or not, he's taking it seriously. If that was him in the Gardens that night, I count myself lucky. But he has Liri, now..."

Carraidhin struggled, surprised a little that he didn't just jump up and yell at her. "Yes. And I don't know where he took her. He could not be far, but he isn't in Hama Valon. He would have left a better hint. Or any hint." She said miserably.

A thought occurred to her, and she reached and grasped his arm. "What do you know of the.. renegades? Or assassins. You used to be part of the underground, did you hear of any undercurrents of some kind of group of assassins that might pull from... people like us?"

Jaryd let the silence go on for a moment too long as he struggled to find a response to the realization that she did not know where this Sean person was. Her next question caught him off guard; it was his turn to wince.

Jaryd sat back on his heels, one hand still wrapped around hers, the other touching his lips thoughtfully. The version of his life that he told the Grey Tower and its people had been significantly cleaned up- that she had caught that there might be be more to his story of carefree gang life told him she knew more about his lifestyle than she let on.

"The Rahad was a warren of rival gangs and groups," he said slowly. "I created my own, but there were many that already existed, and many that came into being long after mine was established. Some did make killing people a...special art....and those types frequently terrorized the rest of us, and then would abruptly vanish."

He pursed his lips. "I thought I was so grown up, but I was so young. It never occurred to me to question where they went. I always assumed they were caught by the Guard, or died, or left to find a more....entertaining...location."

Carraidhin gave a small nod. "The same in Caemlyn. It was always the.. feircest of us that would vanish." She was just trying to survive.

He gave her a curious look. "'Us?'" he inquired. She looked away, and he shook his head. She would answer someday- he knew that now, somehow. "It is entirely possible that some or all of the ones I knew may have joined others of their ilk elsewhere. Together, they would be...quite formidable."

Abruptly, he realized something rather curious. "Neither of us are assuming any of them are Darkfriends," he said.

"At least, I am not...."

Carraidhin gave a nod. "They aren't. Or, at least I was lead to believe that they weren't. He might be, but it was a different kind of... power?" No, that wasn't right.

Carraidhin gave his hand a squeeze. "I would know if you were." The smile, gentle and tired.

Jaryd laughed. "I meant I am not assuming they are Darkfriends," he clarified...and before he thought or could stop himself, he touched her face, gently brushing tendrils of hair damp from hidden tears away from her eyes. "I am YOUR friend, Carra," he said quietly. "I always will be. Even if this Sean person burns the world down."

Carraidhin felt his hand on her face, and her eyes closed as if a lone blink, and that look. Carra felt completely drained, but his eyes spoke something more than just his words and it ignited a fire. "Thank... you." The words a whisper, hesitant and foriegn, but no less sincere for it. "We have to find her. To find her we need to find him. And when we do..." The we unintentional, "I will kill him."

Jaryd tucked Carra's reaction to his touch away for examination at a later time -hopefully a happier later time- and nodded. The "we" did not escape his notice, but for once, he did not comment. Instead, he stood, pulling her with him. "Death sounds like an appropriate fate for that one," he said. "But we have to find her, first. Do you suppose that...if she found you in a dream, you could perhaps find her?"

Carraidhin paused, thoughtful of his suggestion. "I.." He didn't know. The ter'angreal hidden away from when she was a Novice... one that she never felt necessary to return. Carra was not a dreamwalking, but she had learned how. It was the easiest way to talk to a few of her informants, in an obscure sort of way. A system of teltale signs found in specific places.

A system of telltale signs found in specific places. But could she find Liri that way? Was it.. could it be that easy. "I don't know. I think.. maybe."

Jaryd smiled. "We both know someone who might know," he pointed out, "all she really needs to know is that an Accepted is missing and might be in danger."

Carraidhin looked thoughtful, as her habitual mask floated over her body, not even realizing then that she let go of his hands. "Yes, we do."

Jaryd looked toward the door, trying to ignore the flash of disappointment he had felt when she let go. "That's our first stop, then."

Carraidhin not even recognizing the lack of warmth for what it was, rubbed her hands over her night clothes and robe. A quick rub of her face, "Let me wash up and then we will go." Standing, she walked to another room, wondering if she has missed something but the hope of finding Liri weighed heavier and the need to find her took over completely.

Lirievin Tesiva - Wandering, Dreaming

Liri woke up with another start. She didn't know what had happened in her sleep but she swore she could still smell fresh flowers, and feel grass around her ankles. It wasn't long before pain brought her back to reality. Nothing in her room had changed, well nothing but the marks on her skin. It seemed every time Liri woke he came to pay her a visit so Liri did her best to adjust her position so she could sit with her back straight. Even though she was spending more time sleeping Liri felt drained, she had no energy and even moving her arm took a lot out of her.

Liri sat and waited for him to enter her room, but he never came. Liri had a glimmer of hope thinking that he had left, but after he had spend all this time kidnapping and dealing with her Liri knew better then to expect him to just up and leave unless she had died. Sighing Liri let herself slump a little. She just felt so tired, all she wanted to do was curl up with a blanket and sleep for days.

She did get half her wish as she drifted off to sleep. Liri thought she had awaken when she saw her room again, the marks on her arms were still there, but her hands and feet were not tied together. Liri cautiously moved around the room, it seemed different. Probably because you're in a Dream she thought. Closing her eyes Liri thought of the Tower Gardens, oh how she would love to have a dream there instead of the room in which she was trapped.

When Liri opened her eyes again Liri found herself exactly where she was imagining- the Tower Gardens. She blinked in surprise a few times. Maybe by sleeping so often she was getting use to controlling her Dreams. Either way Liri was happy to have a moment of release from her prison. Liri didn't know what exactly to do first. She knew she wouldn't be there very long, and she wanted to make use of it. Lying down in the grass at first Liri couldn't believe how comfortable the grass was. It was so soft on her skin. She got up quickly and went over to smell the flowers, the scent wasn't strong but she could still smell it.

Feeling like she was being watched Liri looked over her shoulder to see a women standing there. She was of average height with curly brown hair. Liri had never seen anyone in her dreams before so curiosity got the better of her as she walked towards the women. As Liri got closer she noticed that the women even looked like an Aes Sedai. "Weird" she said aloud. "I've never had a dream like this.." She trailed off not really sure what to think.

Amadie Laine - Lies and Nightmares

Amadie set her teacup down with a soft sigh, her brown eyes meeting Jaryd and Carra's by turn. They were all the same age, and yet...she felt so much older. Carra's face had finally been touched by agelessness, but Jaryd still looked like the boy who had thrown her in a pond. She loved them....and they were not being honest with her. They were not lying -the Oaths prevented that- but the truth they told was incomplete. She could see it in the way they moved, hear it in the words they chose. "You aren't telling me everything," she said quietly.

"Many of the details are sealed to the Fang and Flame," Jaryd replied, his eyes shifting to look at Carra. Amadie's eyebrows furrowed for a moment. There was something about that glance that she had never seen before. Concerned. Caring. Protective? What in the Light have I missed while I was away? "Please forgive me, we cannot risk breaking that seal yet...not even for you." Carra jerked her chin- a gesture of agreement or annoyance, the Domani woman wasn't sure.

They are quite the pair, Amadie thought, bemused. She remained silent for long moments, stirring her tea with a tiny silver spoon while she thought. when she spoke, her voice was calm and cool- Aes Sedai to the core. "Tel'aran'rhiod is dangerous," she said, giving Carra a knowing look. "The manner in which I will find Lirievin must be done blind. There is no possible way for me to prepare for any dangers that may be there when I find her." Jaryd opened his mouth, but she cut him off with a sharp hand gesture. "I will look for the Accepted," she said quietly. "I cannot knowingly abandon her to danger now that I know she may be in it, no matter what that danger may be. "

She stood, and turned away from the table. She took a breath, mentally distancing herself from her friends...and then cementing that distance with the formality of her tone when she spoke. "Father, you may make yourself comfortable anywhere you like. Try not to break my china," she smiled at him. "Mother, I think it would be best if you came with me. It may be that time will be of the essence." With a nod, the Amyrlin followed her into her bed chamber.


The half-light of Tel'aran'rhiod entranced Amadie every time she came there. She appeared, as she usually did, in the Blue Ajah halls. She wore a blue silk dress in Domani style, with her hair piled high on her head. She had come a long way from her first chaotic trips into the World of Dreams; her costume did not change, her surroundings did not shift. She moved forward, and they blurred; when she stopped, she stood in the courtyard. She paused, the hair on the back of her neck standing on end. Something is not right.

She looked around curiously. Everything seemed as it should. The constant shifting of transitory objects around the courtyard could not be more normal, and the sky, which reflected the darkness of the waking world despite the fact that the light remained omnipresent, was clear and calm. "I'm imagining things that aren't there," she said out loud. And if I don't stop, I'm going to drop myself into a nightmare, she chided herself silently.

With that, she closed her eyes and focused on Lirievin. She had met the Accepted only briefly as a novice, but she had always had a good memory for faces. I need to find this girl, she thought, projecting her will onto Tel'aran'rhiod with all her strength. I NEED to find her.

Shift

She opened her eyes. She stood atop a hill overlooking an utterly unfamiliar forest. Leaves shifted around her feet, and she thought she heard the distant sound of wolf's song. That no longer disturbed her as it once had, but even here, in this peaceful place, the feeling that something was wrong hung over her like a shroud.

After a moment spent trying to find something -anything- to identify where she stood, she closed her eyes again. Lirievin. Where was she?

Shift

The Tower Gardens were not at all the place Amadie expected to be when she opened her eyes. She blinked, disoriented, and when she opened her eyes she realized she wasn't alone. A battered girl in a dirty Accepted's gown stood before her, looking as confused as Amadie felt.

"Weird, I've never had a dream like this," the girl said, meeting the Aes Sedai's eyes. Amadie's lips twitched upward, and then froze. The girl in front of her was Lirievin. Not a figment of her imagination. Not a nightmare. And...she wasn't disappearing, either. The girl can Dreamwalk? Curious.

"You aren't...dreaming...in the traditional sense, child," Amadie said, trying to make her voice as soothing as possible. The wounds the girl bore were shocking in their number, severity, and variety. In the waking world Amadie would have been unable to do anything to help her, but here....she focused her thoughts on Lirievin's body clean, whole, and painfree. The Accepted straightened, and gave her a confused, but relieved, look. She would be comfortable for a little while, at least. "This place is called Tel'aran'rhiod. Be wary- if you die here, you will never wake. I will explain the rest once you have returned to the Tower," the Domani woman added.

Before she could continue the air around her turned to liquid fire. As the heat pressed around her, she heard a man's maniacal laughter, as if from a long distance away. For a single moment the excruciating pain of burning consumed her, and then she forced her will on the nightmare, bidding it be gone. It vanished, and she shook herself. Her hair would be ruined, but she lived.

"Carra needs to know where you are." Again something changed. This time she watched the water in the fountain rise before her, shatter into a million tiny shards, and hover. She had only a moment to think one horrified word: No! before they flew towards her, shredding her dress and skin alike. She screamed, concentration lost as the shards flew around her in a maelstrom of bloody destruction. She glanced up and saw the Accepted staring at her in horror, and abruptly remembered where she was. Cold resolve returned, and she banished the nightmare with two firm flicks of her hands.

The pain of the cuts was almost unbearable, and she could feel blood trickling down her back and legs. Desperate, she reached for the Accepted. "Show me where you are- take my hand and think of the place!" As her fingers touched Lirievin's, the world turned upside down and they were both falling...falling...falling...into an endless deep blue sky. For an endless moment they fell, and then the world shifted again.

Something is so very bloody wrong.

Lirievin Tesiva - Finding Home

Liri was startled when the Aes Sedai actually spoke. So she wasn't in a dream. THe Aes Sedai continued speaking, telling her she was in Tel'aran'rhiod. Liri had heard of it, but she hadn't done a lot of research. All she knew was that Tel'aran'rhiod was the world of Dreams. She must be a DreamWalker if that's where she was. I wish I'd know about this before, I could have escaped that room long ago for relief she thought to herself.

Liri Straightened in shock then relax when the Aes Sedai seemingly took away her pain. She had grown use to the constant feeling of pain so she hadn't realized just how much pain she was in until it had all disappeared. She looked up to the Aes Sedai grateful for the relief she had provided.

It was then when things started started to shift. Fire and Pain were around, Liri didn't have much time to think before she saw the fountain shatter and shards flew towards the Aes Sedai in front of her cutting her back and legs The Aes Sedai mentioned Carra and Liri perked up. Carra Sedai was looking for her? She still had no idea how long she had been gone. The Aes Sedai took a few steps towards Liri, touching her hand. Liri had to take them to the place where she had been captured. But she didn't even know where that was. How was she to get there?

The world seemed to be falling and Liri closed her eyes thinking of home, where her parents had kept her safe. When she opened her eyes she saw that she was standing in their kitchen. Strange she thought. But they weren't there long before, out of the corner of her eye Liri saw something falling again. Grabbing the Aes Sedai's hand Liri thought of her room back in the Tower. Again, upon opening her eyes Liri saw that she was back in the Tower, in her room. Everything appeared to be ok so Liri felt she had a moment to rest. It seemed whenever she thought of a place she would be there. So Liri pictured the room in which she was stuck in. She found it quite easy to do so, it wasn't as if they room had changed. The same bland yellow tinged walls, and a hard floor. Her eyes opened and there they were Liri looked over to the Aes Sedai.

"This is where the man has been keeping me." She said, her voice dead of emotion. "I'm sorry I don't really know where it is. I fell asleep or something and when I awoke this is where I was. I'm sure just the room doesn't help much."

Amadie Laine - A Shadow of Doubt

Amadie kept her grip on Liri's hand as they tumbled through a confusing collection of unfamiliar locations and nightmares. The girl's ability to dodge the nightmares was impressive; she would certainly need training in her ability if -when- they got her back to the Tower.

Finally they stopped in a featureless room, with dirty walls and a wood floor. There were no windows, and only one door. Every bit of Amadie's being screamed for her to leave. NOW. The walls were shifting constantly, splatters of blood appearing and fading from moment to moment. A wooden chair appeared in a corner, then shifted to the center of the room, then fell on its side. The door opened, then closed again. Good; whoever uses this room goes there via the door, not Traveling. The next time it opened, Amadie threw herself at it, pulling Liri with her.

They stood in a dark hallway. She glanced around, then picked a direction and walked, Liri behind her. They climbed some stairs, went along another hall, and up more stairs. A door barred the top. Amadie hesitated a moment, then opened it.

For a brief moment she saw trees and sky, and then abruptly she stood in a small room, naked and shivering. Carra stood in front of her, face cold and hard. "You don't deserve to live," the other woman said. "You are a worm, a useless maggot, nothing more than a toy to play with." The other Aes Sedai pulled a knife from her belt, pulled Amadie's hand out, and slipped the point beneath her thumb nail. Amadie shrieked as that blade dug in, coherent thought lost as pure pain exploded in her mind.

She was pushed backward, and as she fell, she remembered Carra's face as she scolded Jaryd. Carra would never do this. Memory returned. Where was Liri? She fixed that door with the trees beyond in her mind, Liri behind her. That was real. This was not. She would NOT stay here. Carra vanished and the door reappeared. The pain in her hand remained, but Liri still stood with her, white faced with shock. She had not been present in that nightmare; it was all too likely that the Accepted had seen what happened and been unable to stop it. She took a long breath, then another, and stepped through the door.

Outside, nothing but trees. I need to know where I am. NEED.

Shift.

She and Liri stood atop a hill. Below them she could see a small structure. To her right marched the foothills of the Mountains of Mist. She twisted, and there, barely visible, she could see the roof tops of a town. A town she knew, had visited many times since becoming Aes Sedai. "We are south of Baerlon," she murmured.

Again the world changed. This time she stood in absolute darkness, but she knew without seeing that she had company. Cold hands brushed her body, and she shuddered. "That oathbreaking bitch didn't tell you what you are up against, did she?" A male voice murmured, the tone of his voice matching the seductive gestures of his hands. Amadie froze. "Amarisa just sent you in here to play her game like a good pawn, didn't she?" He laughed, and abruptly something sharp pressed hard against her neck just below her jawline. "You don't know the meaning of pain, little Aes Sedai. When I'm done with that silly girl out there, I will find you. Now- go tell Amarisa where I am. I am so looking forward to our next meeting."

She stood on the hillside again, shaken. She had not removed herself form that nightmare...if nightmare it was. Whoever...or whatever....was out there, knew how to manipulate Tel'aran'rhiod very well indeed. "Liri," she said, unable to keep her voice from shaking. The Accepted looked at her. "I must leave you for a moment," she said, her voice sad. "I don't know what he will do with you while I am gone. I must tell Carra so she can come get you...soon." The last word was said after a moment of hesitation. The man's words still echoed in her head. Who was Amarisa? What had Carra and Jaryd kept from her?

She imagined herself back in her bed, and a moment later opened her eyes. The cuts stung, and the smell of burnt hair was strong in the air. Carra leaned over her, her expressionless face distorted into something close to frantic fear. She straightened and backed away as Amadie woke.

"Your "possible danger" can Dreamwalk," she said, her voice cracking on the last word as the horror of what she had experienced came back in a rush. "Liri is in a small house in the forest just south of Baerlon. There is a hill crowned with oak trees. If you go there, you can see the place." She shuddered, wiping her bleeding thumb on her shift. "I can't leave Liri with him, Carra. He will kill her, and then come for me." Carra tensed, but Amadie ignored it.

Something was not right in her head. It felt fuzzy and odd, and she could not stop herself from asking "Why didn't you tell me?" Hurt and guilt blossomed in her friend's eyes, but Amadie was already drifting. "Find Liri," she murmured, and then she was back in Tel'aran'rhiod. Take me to her.

Lirievin Tesiva- Facing Death

Liri followed the Aes Sedai as she first left the room and walked up the stairs. She was confused when she saw Carra in the dream saying such things, she had never known Carra to take that tone. But when the knife from Carra hit the Aes Sedai Liri had no idea what to think. She was just shocked and she had no idea how to help. Without staying anything, they suddenly moved. Liri looked around cautiously. They were on a hill with mountains off to their right. The Aes Sedai said something about being about Baerlon, but she was so quite Liri couldn't quite make out what she had said.

They were there long before darkness took over. She couldn't see anything but Liri heard his voice. She had grown all to use to it in her room. Liri stayed still, conflicted. She knew he was dangerous and she wanted to help the Aes Sedai, but at the same time she had finally found a spot away from him and she didn't really want to draw his attention. As quickly as the darkness had arrived it vanished and they were back on the hill again, he was know where in sight.

The Aes Sedai spoke to her, her voice shaking. She was leaving her. Liri did her best not to look panicked, it would after-all only make things harder. Liri nodded saying she understood and within seconds the Aes Sedai had disappeared. The moment she left, Liri's cuts came back along with the pain. The sudden shock of it brought her to her knees. Holding back any further tears Liri got up. She looked around, she wanted to wait for the Aes Sedai here, so she knew where to find her so she might as well do some sightseeing. Nothing really changed here, it wasn't like the room where she was being kept that was in a constant state of motion.

It wasn't long before Liri felt like there were eyes on her. She glanced around not seeing anyone but she couldn't shake the feeling. I need to get out of here she thought The Aes Sedai found me once, hopefully she can find me again. Closing her eyes, Liri pictured the stables at the Grey Tower, maybe the comfort of those would calm her. She wandered through that Stable, stopping once she got to Eclipse's stall, even thinking of him made her smile. As she entered the stall Liri once again felt eyes on her. She spun around only to see him.

Closing her eyes Liri tried to think of another place, the only place she knew well enough was the Tower. So in her mind she pictures the Gardens again. In moments she was there and she started running, well running as best as she could with a limp. She tried to find a place to hide in the bushes. Her safety only lasted a few moment before she felt the eyes on her back again. Before she could get away Liri felt something hit her skin, she looked down and saw blood trickling down her leg. Shaking her head to clear it Liri closed her eyes, pictured the Kitchens and attempted to move there. From there she went back to the Stables, then the Novice Quarters, and even the Inn in Hama Valon. No matter where she went him and his knifes followed. She couldn't stand it anymore, she was tired of running. Liri turned around to face him. At this point she had no idea when, or even if the Aes Sedai was coming back and she had to take matters into her own hands. She would either die here or die in that room, and she would rather do it where she was free.

Amadie Laine

Amadie's mind cleared as she stepped into the Blue Ajah quarters in Tel'aran'rhiod. A moment later her body cleared of wounds, her hair grew long and luxurious, a delicately wrought net of gold chain and pearls gathering it a the nape of her neck. She wore her finest brocade riding gown, split for ease of movement and, if need be, to run. The hem was picked out with blue flames, a subtle reminder that she, Amadie Laine, was and always would be an Aes Sedai of the Blue Ajah.

She stood for a moment, her mind flowed through novice exercises, bringing with them absolute serenity, inner strength, and poise. A rose blossomed and turned into a stream, which became a gentle wind, which became the insistent pulse of the tide on the sands of home. Saidar bloomed within her, and she held it with the same gentle strength she always had. It embraced and protected her, and for a moment, she remembered the very first time she had ever touched that sweetness. How young she had been, then, how naive. How certain she would become a legend.

~~

We were once young and blessed with wings
No heights could keep us from their reach
No sacred place we did not soar
Still greater things burned within us

~~

Carra. Her friend had always been an enigma, and yet Amadie had thought they were close, that she knew the Red's secrets as well as Carra knew her own. They had studied together, mourned Amora's loss together, plotted revenge for Jaryd's misdeeds together. Carra had trusted her with her intent to recreate the Red Ajah, and Amadie had trusted her with her secret ability to Dreamwalk. They had planned their future together, too, until Carra had been summarily raised to Amyrlin. Until now, she had trusted Carra implicitly.

Until now. "Who is Aramisa?" She asked out loud. She heard a familiar laugh; she turned to face the sound, but there was nothing to see. "Who are you?" She asked, her voice louder.

"Your worst nightmare, little Aes Sedai," a voice said- and then the sense of wrongness faded, as if whoever spoke had moved away.   ~~

I don't regret the choices that I've made
I know you feel the same

~~

Amadie felt her back straighten as self-discipline and steel resolve filled her heart. Whatever Carra's secrets were, this man -creature!- was tormenting an Accepted for no reason other than to get Carra's attention. The Aes Sedai could not imagine a more reprehensible act. As her need to eradicate the menace that had so abruptly interrupted her life overtook her, she realized something terribly important. Something she abruptly realized she would never be able to speak aloud. It doesn't matter what you did. I will always love you.

Her resolve grounded by an unexpected inner peace, she closed her eyes and imagined Liri's face. "Where are you, Lirievin?" She asked aloud. Take me to her.

Shift

She stood in the Tower Gardens. No Liri. Shift. The stables. The kitchens. Novice quarters. An inn. The wrong feeling returned, and Amadie pulled saidar in, in preparation for whatever might come.

Shift.

She stepped into a corridor in the novice halls. Liri stood there, new wounds marking her fair skin, hands raised in a defensive position and her face set. She was terrified, yet fierce; in her state of detached calm, Amadie took note of her courage and her respect for the girl abruptly increased tenfold.

She realized then that the Accepted faced...a man in a fancloth cloak. This monster is a Warder? No. It could not be. He had killed a Warder, or stolen the cloak. No Warder, not even a Darkfriend, would do this. Would he?

Amadie channeled, flows of Fire and Air lashing out to wrap around the man's arms. For one exultant moment she bound him with the Power, and took a step towards him. In the next breath, her flows vanished as if they had never existed, and she stumbled, surprise breaking her calm. "Did you think you could catch me so easily, mouse?" The world around them started to shift, and she clamped down, hard, on what she knew reality to be.

"You won't catch me so easily this time," she said coldly. She concentrated, imagining a wall surrounding her assailant. The wall appeared, but she felt him touch it with a finger and it shattered. "Light," She breathed, "where did you learn? How have I not seen you before?"

"I had no need for you to see me before, mouse," the man said, eyes glittering. "What purpose would it have served? Since you are here now, shall we play a game?" Reality melted, replaced only by blinding pain. She screamed, arching her back, calm lost, saidar lost, the only thing in her mind the realization that somehow, some way, she had met her match.

A few excruciating moments later, he brought her back to the hall. She fell on her knees before him, gasping, and he arched an eyebrow. "You are not doing a good job at protecting your charge, mouse," he said. Fighting convulsions, Amadie turned her head, looking for Liri. The Accepted crouched some distance away, a new shallow gash across her shoulder.

"She is a child!" Amadie snapped, fury giving her strength. "Why do you torment her when she has done nothing to harm you?" She scrambled to her feet and embraced saidar. She needed to keep him busy for a little while. Just a little while. She gestured, and a fireball the size of a large dog erupted before her, speeding towards her companion.

If it hit, she never saw it. The pain returned, twisting her limbs until she fell to the floor, her shrieks echoing on the corridors. "You cannot...have her..." she gasped between cries, pushing herself off the floor. "You can NOT. You WILL not."

~~

Moments lost, though time remains
I am so proud of what we were

~~

It felt like hours passed as she struggled with him. She imagined him in a cage. She imagined a knife and tried to stab him. She tried to drown him, to burn him, to drop him off the highest peak she could think of. He countered every attempt as if toying with a child, and every move brought a new wound, a new source of pain, a new distraction for Amadie.

Finally, desperately, she channeled until she could channel no more. As she drew on saidar she remembered the lectures she had gotten as a novice- never draw too much, they had told her. The consequences are...terrible. She remembered testing her limits as an Accepted, and again as an Aes Sedai. That ache paled in comparison to the burn she felt now as she pulled in more and more of the Power. She had to defeat him, whatever the cost....but Light, oh Light it hurt. She released the flows- and they vanished, taking with them her last hope for victory. Laughing eyes stared at her as she fell into darkness and horror.

I was so young and naive.

~~

No pain remains, no feeling
Eternity awaits

~~

Something nagged at her, and pulled her back from oblivion. Something she still needed to do. She had a purpose? A girl. There was a girl she needed to protect. Someone was hurting a girl. Which girl? Who was hurting her?

She stirred, coughed. Red drops splattered the floor and she stared at them hazily, wondering where they came from.

A man's laughter rang in her ears, then his boot connected with her belly, replacing her grief with the physical agony of snapping ribs. [i]Get up,[/i] she ordered herself. Somehow she staggered to her feet, bracing herself with hands on knees. A quick glance told her Liri lived, though she could not tell if this stranger had hurt her any more.

"Are you tired of playing yet, mouse?"

"Are you...tired...of hurting a child for petty revenge?" She panted. She scrambled for saidar and found only a whisper of light that faded faster than it had arrived. Tears burned her face.

"I almost like you, mouse," he said in a cordial tone, walking over to put a hand on her shoulder. His weight pressed down, grinding against bone; she bit her lip, tasting copper as her teeth punctured flesh. The pressure increased until she cried out, pushing at him ineffectually. "You don't look strong, but you just keep going. I could admire that, if only you weren't so close to Aramisa."

"Who in the bloody Creator's name is Aramisa?" Amadie gasped, contorting beneath him.

"A liar," the man said, his voice abruptly savage, "a killer, a thief...and a dead woman, when I'm done with her." He grinned. "I hear she decided to call herself Carraighdin when she started her new life. How is that working out for her?"

Amadie scowled. She had thought so, yet the confirmation of Carra's lie still burned. "Everyone deserves a second chance," she said coldly, ignoring the hurt. Light, how could she go on? She had to, somehow, until Carra could find Lirievin and take her to safey.

She saw his eyes shift, heard the Accepted cry out. She concentrated, imagining her fingernails growing to sharp points, the most change she could muster. Then she leapt at him, savaging his face and neck with her fingers, wrapping her legs around his and pulling him down, kicking, hitting, biting. He yelped –the first expression of surprise she had heard out of him, and fought to get her off him. She felt the burn of a blade , and ignored it.

"Oh!" The exclamation of surprise stopped both of them; as Amadie's gaze shifted upward, Liri abruptly faded, and disappeared.

The strange man cursed, and threw Amadie away from him. She landed on her back on the floor, her head smashing on something sharp and hard as she fell. She stared up at him from where she lay, brows slightly furrowed in confusion. Everything was blurry, and she could hear the ocean in her ears as if she lay on its shores at that very moment.

He squatted next to her, ran his left fingers along her jaw line, his right hand running up the left side of her body in an almost loving gesture. "You put up a good fight, little mouse," he said calmly, "but it's time for the game to end." Abruptly something cold, so cold, colder than anything she had ever felt in her life, slipped between her ribs. He stood then and strode away without another word, his fancloth cloak melting into the world around him until suddenly he vanished.

~~

Grant me wings that I might fly
My restless soul is longing
No pain remains, no feeling
Eternity awaits

Amadie lay in silence after his departure, tears sliding unheeded down her cheeks. Her life played behind her eyelids even as it flowed from between her ribs. Slowly her vision faded, and she floated in gray, the agony she had endured for so long finally fading into the distance. A light glowed warmly above her, beckoning to her through the shifting mist. She looked behind her, and saw a line stretching into eternity. That thread ached and burned, but attached to it were memories of her friends faces, her family, the daughter she had known only inside a ter'angreal test, her hopes for the future.

The light beckoned again. With a sigh, Amadie turned away from the line. They would find her again, some day.

She flew.

Carraidhin Glaisne - We made a pact and said forever

For so long a fire had burned in her, touching her finger tips and daring to run over. Like embers of a cold fire or the riven earth below the calm earth, threatening to erupt and destroy all that lay in its path if unheeded. Carraidhin, sat beside her friend, the first she dared believe to be a true friend, as she fought to find yet another she had come to care deeply about. Cared, but kept at a distance. She did not know how to let anyone in. Not Amadie. Not Lirievin. Always at a distance, but that fire to burn smoldered in her, daring her to act. Begging her to pull out her blades and set aside her humanity.

"Your "possible danger" can Dreamwalk,"

Cold dread filled her, fanning away the heat and leaving away the raw core within her. Carra couldn't speak, there were no words to even say that could change things. The markings that were now coming with her from the dream world were a haunting reply that she wanted to fix but did not know how. These were not ordinary wounds.

"Why didn't you tell me?"

The pain Carra felt, and the words that almost slurred told her something more, something deeper and darker that only brought her shame. A past, a history that Carra had wanted to leave behind. Flickers of dark deeds and an unnatural desire to fill the holes in a damaged heart, Carra had hoped she had left it behind... Before she could even speak Amadie slipped away and only her body remained. Shallow breath the only sign of life.

"No..." Carra grabbed Amadie's hand, squeezing it, shaking it, "Wake up!" He... Carra pushed at Amadie's body, gave her face a hard slap. "Wake! Ama-" But the harder she fought to wake her the more damage seemed to show on her both, and Carra fell back to her knees with her hands to her mouth, stifling the cry caught deep in her throat. The very real feeling of cold died in her as she knew.. Carra knew...

On her knees, Carra crawled back to her friends bedside and took her hand carefully, reverently, in her own. Kissing it gently as a tear streaked down her face. "Come back to me, Amadie. ...." As futile as it was, Carra wished. Dared one last moment of hope that had forsaken her so viciously this night, "Please.. don't leave me!" And that rare moment of ache for her friend became a moment of grief, that even if she returned something was lost to her, knowing that she these years they could have been together.. were but a wasted wish of some child Carra had no right to remember. Secrets and lies..

And it made her angry.

Standing from her watch, Carraidhin knew there was nothing she could do for Amadie sitting here. She could not wake her and now she dared not run for her Ter'angreal no matter the temptation. She would be but a biteme in a spiders net to a trained dreamwalker. She could not dare take the risk if she would ever get either Amadie or Lirievin back. A glance at a side desk mirror, Carra brushed away her tear, the cold resolve began anew as she started to hatch a plan.

If he wanted her that badly he will regret hunting for her. Carra never made for very good prey.

When you want me I am here
Then you change your mind again and disappear
So do me damage or do me right
We could be the ones who see the other side
We could be the only lovers left alive

Carraidhin & Jaryd

Slipping out the door to Amadie's private quarters, she looked up at Jaryd who stood quickly from his seat. Carraidhin's face was pale and a light in her sea green eyes diminished, but her features calm and of stone, what emotion she had raged through in private no more showed in her eyes then had she just stubbed a toe or brushed her hair. The only real tell tale sign of her inner turmoil was the purse of her lips that were tight to keep away words that turned in her mind. She looked up, not sure what to catch in Jaryd's eyes but her own green eyes felt lost while shame and pain seemed to reflect in hers. She didn't want to search his face or find comfort in him, so she turned away. If her earlier displays of emotion had undone her, she dared not express more. There was no longer any affordance to anything less than action.

"We can do no more here. Let us return." Her voice calm and strong.

Jaryd tilted his head, frowning slightly. "Amadie is sleeping, then?"

She gave a soft quick sigh, moving away from the door in serene calm. Each step took her away from Amadie even if she would rather run. "Yes. We don't have much time. Lirievin's life is on the line now."

The Asha'man nodded sharply, his hands feeling over his body as if checking for something. Or perhaps many things. He seemed anxious, but it was impossible to tell whether his concern was for Amadie or for something else. Finally he gave another sharp nod. "I have everything I need," he said. "Where you lead, I will follow."

"I need to get dressed." She replied, tugging her robe a little tighter before heading towards the door out of the Blue Sister's quarters.

Jaryd flushed, nodding acknowledgment. "Of course." He had been so lost in what was happening around them that he hadn't even realized Carra wore only a robe. Now his face burned as he followed her away, and he tried to keep his eyes anywhere but on her.

Her steps quiet, they took the quickest route through the Blue Ajah Quarters, up various stairs and to the top of the Grey Tower that housed the officers of the Tower. She turned to the door that lead to her quarters and opened the door, allowing Jaryd to follow at his own pace. "Stay here. Don't get too comfortable." She said without waiting for him to even close the doors before she walked into her private rooms to change.

Shortly the Cairhien returned, dressed in what looked like black leather over a suit of chainmail. Her red hair braided pinned neatly at the nap of her neck. It was a custom piece that she had commissions through her private contacts when she was raised to Keeper and had a great deal of access to the Tower Contacts and connections, the suit fit well under her usual overdress which made it ideal, although not entirely standard wear. No sign of color on her aside the red tassels of her Jian on her hips, and untold thin daggers hidden away. Walking up to Jaryd, she noticed him shift under her gaze, but with a purpose in her mind she stayed her course.

"Give me your hand."

Jaryd arched an eyebrow, but extended his hand, palm up, without hesitation.

Reaching out she dropped a coin into his hand, warm to the touch it held no special markings aside the Hama Valon flame and the face of the former Amyrlin. "This will help you find me when I need you to find me. I don't know what will happen but just in case..." Her voice faltered a moment, a flicker of surprise as her heart skipped a beat with the idea of not coming back. Strange as she had spend years just wanting to leave. "So long as my heart beats, it will hum warm. With a small thread of spirit it will help point you in a direction I am in. But it won't tell you distance. I could be in seanchan or the next room, so just be aware." The coin was but a simple weave that she had modified in her spare time while she was alone. It took a few hundred coins to make the weave work properly even if it was temporary.

The Altaran took the coin, turned it in his fingers, then flipped it in the air high over his head and caught it as it came down. He grinned at her and started to put it in his pocket, then paused, thoughtful. "Do I have to be holding it in my hand?"

She had to think about it for a moment, "Where else would you hold it?"

He grinned again, pulled up his breeches leg, and made to slip it in his boot. She nodded, and he let it drop, tucking his breeches back in. "That way I can touch it even if I am otherwise incapacitated, my lady Amyrlin." His eyes said he knew she had expected a joke, but otherwise he simply waited.

There was indecision in her thoughts and a hesitation before she gave a nod. "That will do." She cleared her thoughts and throat lightly before continuing. "There is a small house in the forest just south of Baerlon. There is a hill crowned with oak trees. Amadie said that there was a little house there that Lirievin was being held. Are you familiar with that area?"

"Yes. I spent some time there before coming to the Grey Tower...and then some of the Greys thought I would benefit from....mercantile education. I don't recall that specific hill as I spent most of my time in the town, but there aren't many around Baerlon until the Mountains of Mist begin, so it shouldn't be difficult to locate." He was restless and eager to go, even with -or perhaps particularly because of- danger in the air.

"That is helpful and will save us time." She made a quick movement to check her weapons and gave a nod. "I need you to make the gateway. I don't know the area well enough and I will need my strength." This time what humor or hesitation that addled her left as the seriousness in her tone came from the authority she had learned, become, is. "Once Sean has me, he won't bother with Lirievin. I will make him chase me and that way you can come in and get Lirievin out. Wait a while and reopen your gateway and get her out. No heroics, no chasing me. Your priority will be Lirievin. Understand?"

That gave him pause; he hesitated for a very long moment, clearly lost in a personal struggle. "The Accepted must be returned to safety, and I can see that we may not be able to do it together," he said finally, his voice strained, "But if you do not return, I will find you, if for no other reason than because you are the Amyrlin and I don't want to run this place by myself." Always the touch of humor, it was his shield when something hurt that he could not acknowledge.

For a moment her voice softened, a fraction of the care that had been there when she had talked to him as a dedicated, a remembered time of caring that she so quickly pushed away. "If I need you, the coin will grow hot for a fraction and the weave will disappear. You will know you need to find me, but what weave that is on there will be gone." It was almost a whisper, gentle. If her life was in that great of a need then he may as well hunt for a body. Not that she would tell him that straight out. She needed him here, the Tower could not lose another Amyrlin, but even more it could not lose both a Father and a Mother.

"And Jaryd..." The hesitation back, knowing that there was no way she could avoid not telling him this, "He is a dreamwalker. If Amadie does not wake... Be sure to shield your dreams. Impress upon the others to do the same. I can not know how long it will take for me to return and that he is dead."

Jaryd's face grew dark as she spoke, putting the pieces together. "Light, you left her there," he said. He ran his fingers through his short hair, unable to meet her eyes for a moment.

"I am not a dreamwalker. I can walk in dreams but I.. I would only be fodder for whatever games he wanted to play."

He met her eyes then. "There is a saying in the Borderlands, Carra. Death is lighter than a feather, duty heavier than a mountain." He turned towards an empty space in the room. "Let's go show this jerk how heavy a feather can be." He seized saidin, all five Powers flowing through his fingers to form a Gateway. It was lucky indeed that he had spent an afternoon discussing politics with his fellow leaders in this very room; the knowledge his hidden boredom had given him had given him the ability to Travel in this moment of need.

The door rotated open, into the twilight landscape surrounding Baerlon, and he stepped through, his face suddenly cold and hard from the Void.

Carra did not hesitate as she stepped through, following him through, the door leading them into underbrush and a night sky of diamonds and ebony dust.

Carraidhin Glaisne - You can't outrun the wicked

"There is a saying in the Borderlands, Carra. Death is lighter than a feather, duty heavier than a mountain."

Jaryd's words haunted her as the night sky bore witness to yet another change within her. A return to the dark heart that had felt nothing yet now bled with a cut far deeper than her skin. Looking to the unrelenting face of the moon, she knew that there was no time. What time there was wasted away like sands in a broken hourglass. Her only direction, the smoke that rose from the treetops not far from where Jaryd had left her. A silent prayer of thanks to Jenna who had taken such care in training her while she was still a novice. Carraidhin had learned much from the woman, even though there was much still that Carra had kept hidden.

The soles of her feet were padded, and carefully she stepped where the underbrush was soft with moss or brush. The light in the woods was a blessing with the moon so high, it fed her fire as she moved as quickly as she dared. He had to be expecting her, but Carra knew that Amadie could only buy her so much time. There was no knowing how time moved in Ter'aran'rhoid seconds could be hours could be days. A thought drifted in her mind, ‘you better survive this, Amadie... ‘ she thought, but Carra was no fool when it came to death. As she had left Amadie behind, reminders of the wounds bared witness that Sean would not play nice. Whatever his game was, Carra could only guess. Perhaps in the way she had gained what bit of humanity she had, was what he had lost.

A cabin was tucked away, light from a flickering candle teased through one of the windows, the rest dark. There was no movement outside the touch of the candlelight, but it told Carra very little. Asleep or away, the movement would not be so obvious. Taking care, Carra kept to the shadows, her dark leather suit blending with the shadows in the woods. The leather protecting her and keeping the chain underneath silent and still. Careful of traps, thread, or sticks randomly scattered on rise to the cottage, Carra approached.

Step. . .

. . . Step.

An ear to the door, and Carra heard no noise. Knowing Sean had no talent in saidin, Carraidhin reached for that sun, the light and warmth of saidar and deftly pulled on a few threads and opened the door. Slowly it creaked open, the hinges protesting at such a rude late night awakening. Carefully, Carra inched forward glanced in seeing a desk, the candle upon it flickering by the window and a closed satchel carefully set aside. Looking in further, a table and chair and a bed. The bed was empty.

"I did not think it would take you long after you sent your little pawn to find me." The voice warm and full of amusement. Smooth with a deep alto tune that promised musical lilts and broken promises. Reminding her again that she was not the only one that lied.

Standing, Carra walked out of the shadows to stand in the doorway. There was a look of appreciation in his eyes as he took his time looking her up and down. "My my. No formal gowns this time?"

A smile to lips, one of promises that didn't quite seem to ring with truth. "I thought we could play a little game." Her eyes could no more show him the fire as it could the cold. Stone and darkness, Carra was the hunter and that reflection only made Sean smile brighter. "It is what you wanted, isn't it?"

"That little Aes Sedai you sent, she was quite fun. A good sport over all."

Carra didn't even flinch, Amadie now pocketed away to another memory, another part of her that could not be touched by him. "Enjoyed the hunt?" The hint of her smile and the tease in her voice. Carraidhin no longer there.

"Amisa. I have missed you." He started to stride through the room towards her. Stopping barely a foot from her. He wasn't too tall for an Andoran and Aramisa guessed that he never was a true blood like her, but still he towered over her small cairhien frame. "What sort of game did you have in mind?"

She gave a small shrug as a finger toyed on the hilt of her jian, there was a cruel warmth in her voice that she had not used in a very very long time. "Oh, you know. The one where we play tag." He raised an eyebrow. Faking a step forward, Aramisa whispered, "And where you die."

Blowing him a kiss and before he could grab her, Aramisa took off into the woods, the moonlight kissing her path. A laughter followed as it would only be moments before he followed. The slam of the hinge on the door echoed behind her as the tree's beckoned her to climb, and she knew that he was behind her. Running with weapons of his own.

You won't hear the footsteps
But I'll be following
You won't feel the shadows
But they'll be closing in
You won't see me coming
But I'll rip you at the seams
You won't touch the silence
But you can hear the screams

Lirievin Tesiva - Spellbound

Liri was almost relieved when the Aes Sedai showed up again. The Aes Sedais' clothing was beautiful and made her seem even more serene. She must be from the Blue Liri though taking notice of the blue flames around the hem. Liri looked up at her face, the Aes Sedai seemed cool, and collected, which almost made Liri jealous, she tried to put on a face but she was absolutely terrified. It wasn't long before her captor spoke to the Aes Sedai and they started their fight.

The Aes Sedai started first trying to box him in, Liri could do nothing but sit and stare, entranced by what they were doing. She had no idea what could actually be done, but there they were making blow after blow. Liri knew she couldn't stand for it although the Aes Sedai was holding her own now, Liri knew the battle would be fought better if it was two against one. She took a step forward, determination all but written on her face. This Aes Sedai could have left her own her own to fight this man, but she came back to save her so Liri knew she had to help. Liri was just about to draw saidar and take her next step when she hit an invisible wall. He must have put it there to stop her from doing anything, anger flashed through her. From what she could see, it looked like he was soon going to overpower the Aes Sedai and now he had stopped her from even attempting to help. Maybe my weaves can make it through the barrier she thought. Drawing one saidar Liri warmed as it flowed through her. She didn't know any really weaves to hurt him, but she knew how to make balls of fire. Completely the weave Liri threw it at him, only to have to hit the barrier and denigrate, with a rebound tossing her back. Liri felt something cut her shoulder but at this point she was too tired and weak to even care.

Liri had no idea how long they had been fighting but she brought herself back to reality and stood up, she didn't really want to watch but maybe if she studied him she could figure out how to harm him if it came to that. Liri had stopped listening to their commentary but she heard them mention Carra which got her attention. She must know Carra but how did he know her?

At that moment they must have remembered her, or realized she was not dead. They both took a quick glance her way, then he sent shards of glass at her. She cried out in pain as they added dozens of more cuts on her body and dropped to her knees. How could she continue? The pain was unbearable, she almost wished she would just die here. She felt something strange then, like she was slipping away.

"Oh!" She said louder then she though she could muster. Something strange was happening. Her view of them faded, it went dark a moment and was replaced by a mans face. "Am I dead?" she asked him, she hoped not as her pain was still unbearable.

Jaryd Kosari - Ghosts in the night

Jaryd stepped through the gateway into the depths of country twilight. It had been far too long since he left the confines of the Grey Tower; even though he knew danger lurked in that murky stillness, he felt the muscles in his shoulders relax. He released saidin and the door snapped shut, leaving them in shadow. He stretched, then looked at Carra, who was standing poised as if in thought. Or perhaps more akin to a hound on the trail. He looked where she did, and saw below them the house Amadie had described. How in the Light did I manage that?

Carra didn't hesitate, seeming to forget his existence as she disappeared into the darkness ahead. The coin the former Red had given him rested against his ankle, an uncomfortable reminder that she expected them to be separated, expected there to be considerable danger. He accepted the reminder silently, then took another route toward their quarry, maintaining his grasp on saidin as he picked his way at a dangerously reckless speed through a labyrinth of trees, brush, and stones, relinquishing absolute silence in favor of absolute haste.

His mind roamed as he moved. Carra had left Amadie to fight a dangerous Dreamwalker on her own. Jaryd understood the necessity –how else were they to retrieve Lirievin, who was an innocent bystander drawn into something far beyond her means? – but the serenity with which Carra had done it troubled him. She had been genuinely distressed about Liri's disappearance; perhaps Amadie's involvement had simply been too much for her? The idea of anything being too much for Carra made him smile, but he knew even his stone-faced companion had a heart. He had seen it earlier that night, after all. Perhaps she simply regretted sharing so much with him?

As he drew closer to the house, he pulled the curved dueling knife from his belt and increased his pace until he emerged from the trees into a clearing. The construct that stared at him from across a few paces of emptiness seemed little more than a glorified shed; he moved to the door and tried the handle. It was locked; he channeled Fire into the metal, heating it until it moved easily, then flows of Air pushed the deadbolt aside. He glanced around for Carra, but saw no sign. Either she had already been there, or had not yet arrived.

He hesitated a moment, then opened the door and went in, pulling it shut behind him. Utter darkness pressed around him. He channeled a slender flow of Spirit, and the air around him began to glow. The dim light showed him a hall that led to a set of stairs leading downward. He went down the stairs, and followed the long underground hall at their foot until he saw a light beneath a door to his left.

"No, you aren't dead," a woman's voice said as the Altaran approached. The M'Hael stopped in his tracks, staring at the door, willing his feet to move forward and yet unable to budge. That is impossible. That voice did not belong to Lirievin...it belonged to someone else entirely, someone he knew. Light, how? His reverie was broken by a cry of pain; he lunged forward and opened the door.

A fair-haired woman in the remnants of an Accepted dress sat on a makeshift bed opposite the door, her bruised face illuminated by a lamp set on a chair near the wall. Facing her were two figures in black, one male, one female. They were of average height, and their skin had been darkened with soot, so they were barely visible in the dim light. They turned as one to look at him, freezing him where he stood. Dark eyes met dark eyes, and all three pairs registered the same shock as the silence stretched. Jaryd fumbled for words, his dignity and nerve lost as he struggled for words. It could not be them. It could not be her.

Before he could open his mouth, the two drew knives from their belts and took a step forward in lockstep, their eyes going cold with purpose. Jaryd stumbled backward, coordination lost for long moments as he fought to regain control of his thoughts and avoid his assailants' blades. Abruptly he felt a line of fire blossom on his back where the tip of a knife had pierced his coat, and the pain brought him back into the present with a jolt. The Void slammed into place, and Jaryd dodged to the side a moment before a curved blade sliced through where his face had been.

He danced, then, his slender form and touch on saidin giving him some advantage in the dark and narrow hall. He felt the woman moving behind him, and twisted, catching the blade on his own, then ducking away, slipping under the man's arm and behind. He cannot be Sean. That was truly impossible. So then what was he doing there? And what about...?[/i]

He cut off that line of thought as he turned and threw his weight on the woman. She cursed, thrown off balance, and he shoved again, intent on knocking her over. She resisted and he broke away lest he be trapped between them. As he turned, her knife hooked through his coat and cut into his left arm. The pain felt distant, buffered by the Void.

He shook his hand as if to dispel the feeling, but in truth the motion released one of the knives he kept strapped to his wrists beneath his cloths. The hilt felt into his hand, and he flipped it out even as he raised his right arm to meet the man's overhead attack. He pivoted, his knife holding the man's in the air, his left hand swinging towards the man's belly. The woman kicked him, and he stumbled, but he made it purposeful and fell, rolling back to his feet behind his male opponent.

Thus Jaryd Kosari faced two ghosts in the dark, fighting a battle he could not win. . Hampered by the hall, he felt the sting of their blades repeatedly as the long minutes of struggle dragged on. As he recovered from an unsuccessful attempt to disarm the woman, the man's knife jab into his thigh; a few minutes later, as he blocked a thrust from the woman's belt knife, she slide in with a hidden blade like his own, slashing across his belly. He threw himself backward to avoid being disemboweled, and stumbled, falling to one knee as the two rushed towards him.

He surged back to his feet, slamming his head into the bottom of the man's jaw with all his strength. The man yelped and fell back, his knife catching on Jaryd's sleeve and leaving a grazing cut from shoulder to wrist. The Void kept the pain of his wounds distant, but Jaryd knew his time was running out. If he did not end it soon, either they would kill him or Sean would discover them. Jaryd might have continued to fight anyway, but Carra, Lirievin, and Amadie all filled his mind, their faces sober and disapproving. Someday I will die, he thought, but not this day.

Saidin roared through him, flows of Air lashing out to catch the two by the wrists and fling them down the hall. They flew for a short time then fell, their curses ending abruptly in a crash and a thump as they hit the wall at the end of the corridor. He flinched, the familiar sick feeling in his stomach lessened by the knowledge that he had done what he must to save another's life. Bemused, he turned and ducked back into the small room.

"We have not officially met," he said, extending his hand to the Accepted. She had risen, and he suspected had intended –or attempted- to assist with his fight.. "I am Jaryd Kosari, the M'Hael." He glanced behind him. "I cannot Travel from here; we must get to a safe place to rest while we have the chance. Are you able to walk?"

Lirievin Tesiva - A Savior?

When the person answered that she was not dead Liri sighed, not even realizing she didn't recognize the vocice. She knew that death would not come as easy as that. She didn't quiet yet have the energy to get up and no one seemed in a rush to move, so she closed her eyes. She was ready for this nightmare to be over. Suddenly Liri heard motion, she attempt to sit up fast but the sudden, quick motion made her feeling lightheaded. She heard movement moving away from her she she knew she didn't have to panic yet. She sat on her makeshift bed, waiting until she felt more stable. By the time she looked up no one was left in the small room. Liri knew she should be grateful that she didn't have to fight, but curiosity got the better of her.

She stood up, ungracefully her body was riddled with more cuts from her adventures in Ter'aran'rhiod and they made her stiff. Before Liri took a step she knew something was wrong. Her ankle could barely support any weight. Looking down, Liri raised her dress to take a look, it was swollen and she could tell there was a more serious injury, the space of the ankle seemed very off compared to her other ankle. Liri shook her head, it was just one more thing to add to the plethora of other injuries she had.

Liri was just about to attempt to cross the room when a man entered, she tried to reach of saidar but she couldn't reach it, she felt like it was being blocked off from her. She glanced around quickly to see if there was something else she could use as a weapon, finding nothing Liri sighed inwardly. She just had to hope them man was a friend instead of a foe.

Liri looked suspiciously at the man, but his dark eyes gave away nothing.

"We have not officially met, I am Jaryd Kosari, the M'Hael. I cannot Travel from here; we must get to a safe place to rest while we have the chance. Are you able to walk?"

Liri wasn't sure weather or not to trust him, he had extended a hand towards her but she didn't take it, not yet. "You are the M'Hael of the Grey Tower? The one located by Hama Valon?" She questioned. She needed to hear him say the words. Asha'man swore Oaths that they could not say a word that wasn't true, and Liri was counting on him NOT being from the Black Ajah, so that she knew he could trust his word.

Jaryd Kosari

Jaryd tilted his head sideways, giving the Accepted a quizzical look. After a moment, it dawned on him that had he been in her position, he would have had similar doubts regarding her identity.

He sighed, put away his knives, then reached into his pocket. Whn he pulled his hand out, he held the ring that had been passed to him when he became M'Hael, the black Dragon's Fang mounted on a band of gold in the shape of a dragon. It was a rough approximation of the ring that had vanished when Jasrin vanished, although this one unfortunately did not possess the same potential for destruction. He hated wearing it, but any initiate of the Tower would instantly recognize it for what it was. "I swear by the Light and my hope of salvation and rebirth, I am Jaryd Kosari, formerly of the Red Ajah, M'Hael of the Grey Tower," he said, presenting the ring to her.

Her cheeks flared red and her eyes dropped to the floor, stark humiliation evident in her posture. "I apologize, Father," she stammered, "I just had to be sure, I don't want to end up in another Nightmare."

He put his fingers under her chin, lifting her face to meet his eyes again. "Your caution is understandable, Lirievin," he said gently. "I am very young, you are in pain, and we are both in a strange place where nightmares lurk the halls." He pulled his hand away, glancing behind him as he dropped the ring back "Speaking of which, it's beyond time to be away."

She nodded, taking a step forward; as she placed weight on the extended foot she cried out, toppling forward. He caught her by the wrists as she fell, holding her up by sheer force of will. "My ankle," she said as she regained her balance. She tried to take another step, and Jaryd realized the young woman would not be able to walk unaided.

He held her up, thinking furiously. He didn't know if anyone who knew of the house could channel, and he had no desire to risk giving them the weave for Skimming. If he carried her, he would be hopelessly impeded if they encountered any further assailants. He placed one of her hands on his right forearm, then smiled reassuringly at her.

"I need my hands...in case," he said apologetically. "I will assist you as I may, but I'm afraid you will have to walk."

"I was planning on it anyway," she said, a certain bite to her voice that reminded him a bit of Carra. He actually found himself chuckling as he carefully led her out of the room.

Once outside, he enveloped himself in the Void, once more becoming a pillar of cold, emotionless stone. He could see two dark figures on the ground some distance away from the stairs. He stared at them for a long moment, thoughts barraging the outer limits of the Void; they were breathing, but not moving otherwise. After a long moment, he turned away and helped Liri up the stairs.

I'll think about this later.

Lirievine Tesiva

Liri felt awful when Jaryd proclaimed that he was the M'Hael in words that would have to be true, and as added proof he has shown her the M'Hael's ring. She was incredibly embarrassed but when he lifted her head and told her that he understood why she was so cautious she felt a little better. They didn't linger in the room long, but He first step turned into a tumble, which could have ended badly had Jaryd not caught her.

Readjusting Jaryd had Liri place one of her hands on his forearm to use as support, she was glad that he couldn't carry her. After everything she had gone through in this room she was glad that she could finally leave it all behind. Walking forward Liri tried to take the her steps putting as must weight on her injured foot as possible and lean on Jaryd as little as she could, but the further they got the more her resolve was fading. I have to make it out of this house on my own. she thought. If nothing else it could be symbolic. The stairs were the worst, but Liri refused to utter a sound, her face may have been contorted in pain but at least she didn't make a sound.

After what seemed like years of pain, they finally got up the stairs and out of the house, and even longer before they were an acceptable distance away so Jaryd could make a Gateway for them to travel back to the Tower. With her mind so focused on getting home to where she could be healed and through with the pain Liri didn't even think of asking where Carra was.

The gateway was created and together the stepped through it, Liri felt relieved. If she could be safe anywhere she figured the Tower would be the place. The pain continued to get worse and Liri knew she was gripping Jaryd's arm tighter and tighter but she felt if she let go that she would crumble to the ground and not get up for fear of more pain. They were safe and either one of them could have channeled but Liri refused to be carted into the infirmary, she had to stand tall and not let this injury get the best of her. So she walked in, supported by Jaryd, and walked over to sit cautiously on a bed. In an instant the Yellows were all over her, starting the process of delving her and healing her. Liri was forced to lie back and she lost sight of Jaryd, for an instance she almost panicked thinking she would be gone again, but she was forced to drink some concoction and soon fell asleep.