The Great Hunt

Rand wakes with Loial and Hurin beside him, but the rest of the company is nowhere in sight. A tall, stone pillar inscribed with intricate markings rises out of the ground. The world appears dim and faded, even in the bright light of morning, and the treetops across the hollow are scorched. Loial thinks the stone may have been used once by the most powerful Aes Sedai to travel to other worlds, but no Aes Sedai are present. Rand fears he may have subconsciously channeled the One Power in his sleep and brought them to this place. Determined to bring them back, he places his hands on the stone pillar and seeks the Void in his mind. The Void is a psychic construct into which he feeds his fears and through which he seeks to channel the power. Try as he might, however, the Void shatters, leaving only a rancid feeling inside him. Afraid to try again, the group decides to pursue Fain; even in this place, Hurin still has the scent. They mount up and head south.

In Ingtar’s camp, the group searches for the missing Rand, Hurin, and Loial. With Hurin gone and no visible signs to track, Perrin reluctantly uses his power, telepathically connecting with his wolf brothers and his animal nature. He gives his wolf brothers the scent of the missing men, asking if they have sensed them. They have not—at least not since the entire company bivouacked in the low hollow; but they do scent the Trollocs, and it fills them with rage and bloodlust. Perrin knows the Darkfriends are still moving south, and he passes the information to Ingtar. The company mounts up and rides out.

Perrin’s contact with the wolves is tenuous; he can barely hold his brothers back from slaughtering the Trollocs and losing the Horn and the dagger in the chaos. Through the wolves’ eyes, he sees a scene of carnage: the slaughter of the villagers at the hands of the Trollocs, now carrion picked over by vultures. Even the wolves are disgusted. As Perrin directs the company to the bloody scene, Ingtar notices a rider pursuing them. It is Verin, sent by Moiraine to assist Ingtar. She rides up front with Ingtar, questioning him about the missing men while Mat and Perrin hope fervently that the Aes Sedai do not find Rand.

Rand, Hurin, and Loial traverse a charred, desolate land void of all life. At midmorning, Loial dismounts and approaches a stand of “giantsbroom” trees. Laying his hands on one, he sings in a low voice; the Ogier’s “treesong” subtly smooths and reshapes the tree. From the trunk, he forms a staff, despite the Ogier’s distaste for weapons. Rand tries to reassure the others they will find a way out, but he scoffs at his own feigned confidence. Hurin, meanwhile, is uncertain. He can scent the trail, but they have not encountered any physical evidence of the violence, and that unsettles him.

As they make camp for the night, Rand feels just as disconcerted by this strange place as Loial and Hurin do. Rand, keeping the first watch, notices a rising fog. Suddenly, he hears a voice addressing him as “Lews Therin.” A shadowy, cloaked figure approaches through the mist: Ba’alzamon. He taunts Rand, telling him that he can never hide from him and that they are forever bound together, reiterating Rand’s fear that Moiraine is using him. He vows that if Rand—the latest incarnation of the Dragon—dies, the Wheel will be broken, and the world will be remade in the Dark One’s image. He tempts Rand with the knowledge of how to control the power and to prevent it from consuming him. As a show of his own power, Ba’alzamon lights the very fog aflame. Feeling his flesh burning, Rand reaches for the power. In an instant, the flames are gone, and Rand is unscathed except for the mark of a heron burned into his palm.

Rand, Hurin, and Loial continue their pursuit despite the complete lack of a visible trail. Nevertheless, Hurin insists he can still smell their quarry. Within the hour, Rand spots a tall spire directly in their path, and Hurin wonders if it is the monument to Artur Hawkwing that Ingtar mentioned. Awestruck by the spire, Rand and Hurin ride up the hill to check it out despite Loial’s warning. Once they reach it, they realize that the bird atop the spire is not a hawk but a raven—meaning it is a Trolloc monument. Loial speculates that this world is simply another version of theirs, except that in this world the Trollocs defeated Hawkwing. The shifting landscape plays havoc with their sense of distance, and a nearby mountain—Kinslayer’s Dagger, according to Loial—is much closer than it should be.

Suddenly, they hear a scream, and Rand charges in that direction. He comes to a creek and sees a woman fend off a large, bear-like creature—a grolm—with a stick. Using the void, Rand fires an arrow directly in the beast’s eye, killing it. The woman—she identifies herself as Selene from Cairhein—swears service to Rand, hoping he can transport her back to the “real” world along with them. When Hurin confesses their true quest, Selene begs to be allowed to touch the Horn once it is found.

Heading south again in pursuit of Fain, Selene entices Rand with flattery about the great deeds he could do with the Horn. Then, she notices his burnt hand and applies a cooling salve to it. When Rand asks if she is Aes Sedai, she angrily denies it. Selene drops back to speak with Loial, and Rand scans the landscape for danger. Soon, Loial rides up to Rand’s side and relates Selene’s knowledge of these worlds: They are all infinite variations of the Pattern of the one, true world.

When Rand tells Selene about using the Void to kill the creature, she suggests he “’[w]ear this void of yours all the time’” (260). She also directs him toward a “Portal Stone,” a gateway back to their own world, and asks him to take her there, but Rand insists on pursuing Fain. Just then, a pack of grolm attacks.

Selene insists the best choice would be to find the Portal Stone and escape, but Rand resolves to fight the grolm and continue his pursuit of Fain. Taking position on a low hill, Rand readies his bow and seeks the Void. He kills all five grolm quickly and efficiently but coming out of the Void—away from the light of the One Power—is becoming more difficult. Just then, they hear the cries of more grolm, and Loial agrees that the Portal Stone is the best course of action. Rand concedes, and Selene leads them into the mountains, the cries of a hundred grolm closing in fast. They come to a hollow carved out of the granite with the Portal Stone rising out of it. They climb down into the hollow, and Selene points out a symbol carved into the pillar: “This stands for the true world, our world” (266), she explains. Placing his hand on the symbol, Rand seeks the Void, but the flickering light of saidin, the male component of the Power, is too tempting. He embraces it, drinking it in like a man dying of thirst. The world flickers, and his hand burns; he is both ecstatic and nauseated with the Power when Selene pulls him away from the pillar. Rand looks around in a daze. He has returned them to their own world.

Eager to resume the hunt, Rand asks Hurin to find the trail. Selene explains that the multitude of worlds function as mirrors, reflecting events which occur, or have occurred, in the real world. The faint scent Hurin followed in the other world merely foreshadowed violence yet to come. They decide to wait near Kinslayer’s Dagger, thinking they may now be ahead of Fain. As Hurin looks for a suitable campsite, Rand watches Selene, unsure of the beguiling stranger.

The River Queen sails downriver toward Tar Valon, and Egwene’s dreams of Rand in danger persist. The Amyrlin enters Egwene and Nynaeve’s cabin for their daily lesson. She warns them about the addictive nature of the Power, and about how overuse can lead to burnout. When Nynaeve complains that her training thus far is not useful, the Amyrlin demonstrates what the Power can do by wrapping both young women in a straitjacket of compressed air. Nynaeve’s temper flares, and the Amyrlin is thrown back against the wall. Just as quickly, she cuts Nynaeve off from the Power, warning her, “You don’t know everything yet, do you, child” (277). Chastened, Nynaeve agrees to resume the lesson.

Egwene excels at training, but for Nynaeve it is a struggle. Only anger can trigger the Power in her, and she worries about her time in the White Tower. Activity on deck brings Egwene and Nynaeve topside: They have arrived at Tar Valon. In the bustle of activity, the two women are left alone on the dock. Gazing in wonder at the beauty of the city, they are greeted by Sheriam, Mistress of Novices, who tells Egwene plainly that the difficult training may “break” them.