Chapter 44

Perrin hastily dresses as Moiraine confirms Sammael rules Illian and orders an immediate departure. Zarine refuses Moiraine’s last chance to turn aside, declaring she will follow for the sake of the story. In the stables, Moiraine warns Nieda to flee Illian at once. She explains the Gray Men were not Sammael’s, but the Darkhound that tracked them was, and cautions Perrin that other dark threads may seek him.

The group rides out into storm-thinned streets and onto the Maredo Causeway. Far behind, Darkhounds howl and close the distance. Moiraine selects a treeless mound for open ground. Lan sets Zarine and Loial to steady the horses. Perrin strings his bow and, as the pack charges, manages to drop one hound with arrows.

At Moiraine’s cue, a searing bar of light obliterates the Darkhounds. She calls it a forbidden weave unused for nearly two thousand years, hinting she could be stilled for knowing it. Moiraine believes they were only an annoyance to Sammael, whose true quarry may be Rand or Mat, and urges them onward toward Tear.

Elsewhere, near Caemlyn, Mat experiments with a firework, alarming Thom. Four riders arrive, a woman posing as a lady with three men, who abruptly attack. Mat tosses a firework into the fire, stunning them; Thom’s knives kill two men and the woman as she advances with a dagger, while Mat disables the last.

Preparing to ride, Mat recognizes the slain crossbowman as the same who swam ashore to hunt him earlier. Convinced someone is pursuing him for Elayne’s letter, Mat presses Thom to ride through the night to deliver it in Caemlyn.