Chapter 24

Parched and exhausted, Mat and Rand reach the towering fog concealing Rhuidean. They step inside to find a dome-lit, silent, unfinished city of grand palaces and dry fountains. Rand channels to awaken a fountain, slaking their thirst. Pressing inward, they arrive at a vast plaza crowded with strange objects Mat takes for ter'angreal, encircling rings of glittering glass columns and a great tree.

Recognizing the trefoil leaves, they identify the tree as Avendesora, whose presence brings a sense of calm. Remembering the Wise Ones’ charge to reach the city’s heart, Rand concludes he must enter the columns alone to become a clan chief or die. Mat flips a Tar Valon mark to decide; it lands on edge, then falls to keep him outside. Rand warns Mat not to follow and disappears among the columns’ refracted light.

Restless, Mat wanders the plaza and discovers a twisted redstone doorway like the one in Tear. Reasoning that one more brush with the Power makes no difference, he steps through and emerges in a star-shaped chamber of black, glassy columns. A tall, pale, foxlike man questions him by ancient treaty and leads him through endless pentagonal corridors where every side chamber mirrors the first.

Delivered into a smaller star-chamber with eight pedestals, Mat finds himself enclosed. Pale men and women with crests and straps appear atop the pedestals. Demanding answers, Mat asks about the Daughter of the Nine Moons, how he will die and live again, and what it means to give up half the light of the world; they only stare, then say “Done.” Frustrated, Mat demands freedom from Aes Sedai and the Power, and immediate return to Rhuidean; again they reply “Done.”

Only then do they declare him a fool for setting no terms. They claim the right to set the price. Darkness slams down, something tightens around Mat’s throat, and he is left choking as the unseen bargain takes hold.