Chapter 16

At dawn after Ba’alzamon’s attack, Rand hides his heron brand, presses the group south after Fain, and struggles with the trackless, washed-out terrain while Hurin insists he still scents the trail. They spot a great spire ahead and ride to it, only to find a raven-topped Trolloc monument, not Artur Hawkwing’s. Loial concludes they are in a mirror world—an “if” where Trollocs won—and warns the place may compress distance like the Ways.

A woman’s screams pull Rand to a stream where a massive, three-eyed grolm attacks. Using the void, Rand kills it with an arrow through the central eye. The woman, Selene of Cairhien, claims she somehow awoke here and pledges herself to him for saving her. She quickly learns of the Horn and asks to touch it when found; Rand insists on secrecy and continuing the pursuit.

Riding on, Selene applies a salve that rapidly eases Rand’s burn and urges him to choose greatness rather than have it forced upon him. She derides Aes Sedai, names the void the Oneness, and suggests dwelling in it continuously to master new uses. She speaks of “Mirrors of the Wheel” and Portal Stones, saying a Stone lies in the nearby mountains that could return her home.

Rand refuses to abandon the Horn’s trail despite the lure of an immediate escape, suspecting Selene might know more than she admits. He promises to seek a way home after recovering the Horn and Mat’s dagger. As they press toward Kinslayer’s Dagger, barking calls reveal a small pack of grolm bounding toward them, closing the chapter on a looming threat.