6 The Westwood

Rand and Tam reach their Westwood farm by afternoon, complete chores, and try to settle in for Winternight. Tam, unsettled by recent signs, locks the doors and reveals a heron-mark blade from an old chest, hinting at a past beyond the Two Rivers.

A brutal attack erupts as Trollocs smash through the front door. Tam kills several and orders Rand to flee out the back. Rand escapes through a window, diverts pursuers, and watches Tam leap from a window to draw the Trollocs away. Determined not to abandon his father, Rand stalks into the forest after him.

In the woods, Tam quietly finds Rand. He confirms the attackers are Trollocs and warns that some track well in the dark but tire of pursuit. Tam is wounded and feverish. Realizing they need help, Rand decides to retrieve blankets, water, and a cart from the farm.

Returning to the wrecked house, Rand discovers slain Trollocs and then confronts Narg, a surviving Trolloc who speaks and says a Myrddraal wants to talk. When Narg lunges, Rand instinctively braces Tam’s sword, killing it. He gathers coats, blankets, a waterbag, and other necessities, but finds the cart destroyed and livestock gone.

Improvising, Rand hacks free a sound cart shaft with the remarkably sharp heron-mark blade, then carries the shafts and supplies back to Tam. With Tam’s fever worsening and a Fade possibly near, Rand resolves to get his father to Nynaeve in Emond’s Field by any means.