A man who will not die to save a woman is no man.
— Shieneran saying
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In the Shadow
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| <<< In the Mirror of Darkness >>> |
| Setting: Mirror World |
Summary[]
- Point of view: Rand al'Thor
Rand, Hurin and Loial travel through the Mirror World. Rand has wrapped his injured hand with a kerchief. In the distance they see a spire and decide to investigate. In the real world it would have been the monument to Artur Hawkwing's victory over the Trollocs, but in this world the monument indicates a Trolloc victory. Loial realizes the nature of this world; it is a world that deviated from their own due to different events happening. They have not seen anyone here and Loial posits that the Trollocs killed each other after killing all the humans. Hurin thinks he spots a woman in the trees to the north, but Rand sees nothing.
Further south they come upon a woman who is trying to fend off a bear-like creature with a tree branch. Following the woman's instructions, Rand takes his bow and shoots the creature in the eye to kill it. She tells him it is a grolm. The woman's extraordinary beauty strikes the men and even Loial, and they stammer to speak to her. The black-haired woman is wearing white and introduces herself as Selene, a Cairhienin noblewoman. She says that she went to sleep and then awoke in this weird place. She kneels before Rand in thanks. She asks Rand to get her home, but Rand says they have to find the men they are following first. Before Rand can stop him, Hurin blurts out that they are hunting Darkfriends and Trollocs to recover the Horn of Valere. Rand agrees to let her come with them on their journey, so he can help protect her.
Selene talks to Rand as they ride, telling him that he will do great things. Rand thinks she sounds like Moiraine and asks if she is Aes Sedai; she denies it and implies contempt of the Aes Sedai. She notices his injured hand but does not comment on the heron mark. She rubs ointment on it which removes the redness and swelling. Later she talks to Loial and Loial reveals that she told him many things about history and the Age of Legends. The Ways were created from study of these alternative worlds, where time and distance may be different from their world. Rand is skeptical that Selene can know all these things, but Loial assumes she learned about them in the Royal Library of Cairhien.
Selene returns to speak with Rand and Rand tells her about the Void. She encourages him to use it all the time. They spot another Portal Stone further south, and Selene says it is the one she woke up next to. She asks him to go there and use it to take her back home; Rand is afraid to channel again and decides to find the Horn and dagger first. He tells Selene that she must have used the Stone to bring herself here, so she can use it again herself. Selene denies knowing anything about using Portal Stones and grumbles about his stubbornness. Suddenly a pack of grolm appear behind them.
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