38 Rescue

Nynaeve waits with the horses while Moiraine and Lan scout, recalling how they left the Caemlyn Road to follow Moiraine’s sense of a boy marked by her coin—lost briefly, then regained. Her unease grows after Whitebridge, yet she follows into the forest when Lan summons her.

From a low rise, Lan reveals a large Whitecloak camp and confirms their quarry is inside under guard. He outlines a plan: Nynaeve will partly cut the picket-ropes to scatter the Whitecloaks’ mounts when Moiraine creates a diversion, giving Lan a chance to extract the prisoner. Despite fear, Nynaeve agrees.

Nynaeve infiltrates the horse-lines, timing the guards’ rigid patrol. She saws through multiple picket-ropes, narrowly avoiding spooking the horses. At the last line she finds Bela, deducing that Egwene must also be captive, and decides to free more lines to ensure a clean escape.

As Nynaeve finishes, Moiraine’s lightning rips the sky and hammers the ground, shattering the camp’s order. Horses panic; the weakened ropes snap. Nynaeve clings to Bela and another horse as they lunge in opposite directions, then mounts Bela while still tethered to the second rein.

Wolves streak through the chaos, snapping at fleeing horses and adding to the pandemonium. With thunder crashing and the camp in turmoil, Nynaeve rides away with two horses, clearing the way for Lan’s rescue attempt amid the confusion, and affirming Egwene’s likely presence.