Contents
Chapter 9
Overview
Perrin seeks Moiraine’s guidance about becoming a wolfbrother and learns that wolves exist partly in a dangerous world of dreams. That night, Perrin enters that realm, witnesses lethal forces, and awakens with blood from the dream. A final vision shows Rand destroying hunting hounds with the One Power and pressing toward Tear.
Summary
Shaken by Noam’s fate, Perrin ignores his meal and goes to Moiraine for answers. She reveals rare lore that some who speak with wolves may lose their humanity, and that wolves live partly in a world of dreams linked to such communication. She cannot shield Perrin’s dreams, warning that his danger lies within. Moiraine also notes Perrin’s ta’veren nature may carry a larger purpose than he believed.
Returning to his room, Perrin forces himself to sleep. He dreams of endless stone corridors streaked with unnatural shadows, senses danger from a distant wolf thought, and encounters a strangely dressed man who is instantly flayed by a descending strip of darkness. Forcing the dream to change, Perrin steps into an ornate hall and glimpses a black-haired woman in white and silver who recognizes him and angrily dismisses him; the space collapses into blackness.
Hopper, the dead wolf, appears and urgently commands Perrin to flee. Hopper leaps for his throat, and Perrin wakes—unharmed but with real blood on his face and clothes from the dream’s victim. Terrified yet resolute, he discards the stained garments and dozes fitfully, determined not to yield to the wolves.
In a final sequence, Rand hides in the night, hunted by heavy-shouldered black dogs. Channeling the One Power, he obliterates one but reels from the taint’s sickness. Committed to reaching Tear to end the uncertainty of who he is, Rand cuts himself off from saidin and, hearing multiple hounds howling behind him, sets off eastward, vowing he is no easy prey.
Who Appears
- Perrin AybaraSeeks Moiraine’s counsel about wolfbrother risks; enters a deadly dream-realm; awakens with blood from the dream.
- Moiraine DamodredExplains wolves’ tie to a dream world and warns Perrin of inner dream danger; cannot shield his dreams.
- HopperDead wolf who appears in the dream, urgently warning Perrin and forcing him awake.
- Rand al’ThorIn a closing vision, destroys hunting black hounds with the One Power and continues east toward Tear.
- SimionBrings Perrin food; otherwise minor presence this chapter.
- Black-haired woman in white and silverSeen in the dream; recognizes Perrin, reacts with anger, and vanishes as the scene collapses.
- Strangely dressed yellow-clad manEncountered in the dream; instantly flayed by a descending shadow, showing the realm’s lethality.