Contents
Chapter 15
Overview
Rand, Hurin, and Loial traverse a dead, distorted world, where Loial sings a quarterstaff from living wood and Hurin senses jumbled echoes of violence. That night, Ba’alzamon confronts Rand, naming him Lews Therin and promising power and safety from madness.
Rand refuses, inadvertently touches saidin, and awakens marked with a heron branded on his palm, deepening the stakes of his identity and peril.
Summary
Rand, Hurin, and Loial ride through a faded, lifeless landscape scarred by vast burned swathes tapering to points. The emptiness unsettles them; streams run clear yet hold no life, and strange straight cloud-lines occasionally mark the sky. Loial, disturbed by the land’s feel, sings a giantsbroom trunk into a massive quarterstaff, sensing the land was “glad” for a weapon, which deepens everyone’s unease.
Determined to project confidence, Rand urges them onward. Hurin still follows Fain’s trail but says it feels like “remembering” amid countless overlapping scents of violence without any physical sign, adding to the place’s wrongness. They make a hidden camp, ration food and water, and Rand practices Lan’s sword forms to keep fear at bay.
As fog rises, Ba’alzamon appears, shadow swallowing the night. He calls Rand “Lews Therin,” claims intimate knowledge across Ages, and says the Aes Sedai mean to use him. Ba’alzamon demands Rand serve the Shadow, promising power and freedom from madness, and threatens utter destruction at the Last Battle.
Rand denies him. Ba’alzamon removes his mask, revealing a horribly burned face, and unleashes searing fire that sets fog and Rand’s sword ablaze. In agony, Rand instinctively reaches for saidin; the fire vanishes, Ba’alzamon is gone, and the camp is unchanged. Pain then lances his hand: the heron from his sword hilt is branded into his palm. Rand binds it and resolves not to channel, even as the mark confirms ominous portents.
Who Appears
- Rand al'ThorLeads the trio through a dead world; confronted by Ba’alzamon, resists temptation, touches saidin, and awakens with a heron brand.
- Ba’alzamonAppears in the fog, calls Rand Lews Therin, promises power and safety from madness, threatens annihilation, and triggers the branding.
- HurinSniffer struggling with a distorted trail that feels like memories amid overlapping scents of violence; follows despite fear.
- LoialOgier who sings a giantsbroom into a quarterstaff; senses the land’s disturbing gladness for a weapon; remains wary.