Saluna Mosavi, Amadician Wilder

Talan Ramarth was a tall man, powerful, just entering his middle ages, his nose hooked and his eyes hawklike.  The blade at his side had no adornments, though his men often said that mere formalities were all that stood between him and a blademaster's heron mark.

His white cloak seemed almost to glow in the morning's fog, the golden sunburst of the Children of the Light stark on the alabaster field.  He had with him only five men - the Darkfriend they hunted would need no more than that, and in Amadicia any resistance they faced would be easily handled... a father or lover of the witchling, rather than the town guard that might rally in Andor or Tarabon.

Some say that some of those who use the One Power have no choice... that it takes them, rather than them trying to use it.  Yet even if that were true, the Power is what Broke the World.  If they cannot avoid touching it, to send them to the Creator's embrace before it can taint their souls is a mercy.  And if they wield it willingly... then they must die to protect others from them.  Perhaps the witchling is not a Darkfriend, but whether she is or not, my duty is clear.  The townsfolk gave the Children wide berth, something else that bothered Talan.  There have been some who have taken the authority of the Children and been allowed to abuse it too long... those who walk in the Light should have no reason to fear us.  Perhaps, once I have a legion of my own, I can set about remedying this illness.

It was the town inn, this time.  That was where the witchling, Saluna Mosavi, would be found.  She would be taken prisoner today, and within three stand trial at the Fortress of the Light.  Two days to travel, one for the Inquisitors to interrogate her.  Talan opened the door to the inn, leading his men inside, scanning the room for the girl he had been told of.

The inn's common room was mostly empty - a man, likely the innkeeper, wiping glasses, three travelers playing dice, another group - a Cairheinin noblewoman and her two retainers, it looked like - sitting to the side discussing matters amongst themselves.  Never take both eyes off a Cairheinin noble.  Talan made his way to the counter, speaking softly.  "Cyrus Mosavi, I presume?"

The innkeeper looked up, startled, as if he had not noticed Talan enter the room.  "I'm Cyrus Mosavi.  The Light favor you."

A well-put greeting, and meant.  There are days when duty is harder than others.  "I am Captain Talan Ramarth... I have an unpleasant duty to perform today."

"Saluna."  The innkeeper's voice was dejected; he would offer no resistance.  Forcing me to take this man's daughter.  Should the Last Battle come during my life, the Shadow shall answer for this.  "I knew it was a matter of time... strange things happening.  She's a good girl, though... we did what we could to raise her right."

Talan sighed inwardly.  "I'll do what I can to help what must happen, happen quickly and without pain.  She'll be treated fairly."

"She's reading... girl loves to read.  Off the village green, near the stream.  Just... one thing."

Talan tilted his head.  "Ask anything."

Cyrus looked down.  "Tell me she'll go with the Light."

Talan smiled, sadly, and nodded.  "She will bask in the glory of the Creator, until the Wheel spins her out again."

I'm going to be executed.  Oddly, the thought didn't bother Saluna as much as she might have expected.  She'd not tried to fight back when the Children of the Light had taken her, and their leader had ordered that she not be mistreated unless she tried to escape or resist - something she had no intention of doing.  Too many of them, all with swords and bows.  Most treat me as though they're terrified of me, though their leader says that all I've ever done is heal others.  Yet they say I use the One Power... that I channel saidar and draw from the True Source.  If that's the case, couldn't I use lightning or fire or something and burn them and escape?  Maybe turn invisible, or distract them with the sounds of invaders, or create Trollocs from thin air to serve me.  But I can't do any of that... so I must not use the One Power and they must be wrong, which the Questioners will tell them... except that I've never actually heard of someone being declared innocent after interrogation.  No, the way to approach this is to simply admit to whatever they accuse me of and opt for a clean beheading.

Talan looked to her, his face showing concern.  He's too kind for the work he does.  "Saluna, you appear thoughtful.  Is anything amiss?"

Saluna shook her head.  "I know for the first time in my life, what tomorrow will bring.  The day after, as well.  There is something soothing to that thought..."  She looked toward the clear sky.  "It will rain tonight."  Where did that come from?

Talan turned to his men.  "We set up camp an hour before nightfall.  Find a suitable place, well-sheltered."

One of the soldiers looked quizzically to his commander.  "Captain Talan, you base our decisions on the words of a witch looking for an opportunity to escape?"

Talan shook his head.  "She has expressed a desire to walk in the Light, and has made no move to run from us.  If she speaks truth, we will be glad to have found shelter; if she does not, it is a small sin to desire one more day in this world before seeing the Creator, and she seeks atonement for much larger ones.  We will indulge her."

Saluna was given a tent of her own, near the middle of the camp to allow her privacy while still preventing her from escaping.  The rain had started mere minutes after camp was set, leading two of the Children to regard her with more suspicion but the rest to appreciate having found cover.  The tents were set in the shade of large, thickly-branched oaks.

As Saluna closed her eyes to try to sleep, she saw a flash from outside her tent.  Not lightning.  What could that be?  She sat up, reaching for the glow through the cloth of the tent, then the alarm came.

One of the Children called out, "Raid!"  Saluna pulled herself from her bedroll as the ground shook, and stepped from the tent, pulling her blanket around herself.

----

The One Power.  Is it the girl?  Did I misjudge her?  So far as Talan had seen, none of his men had been hurt thus far - just confused, frightened.  The ground shook, and bolts of lightning showered from the sky, yet the attack seemed to go out of its way not to touch anyone.  Yet... there.

The air around Talan shimmered... three shapes, people, yet virtually invisible.  Fancloth.  It wasn't the girl... it was an Aes Sedai, likely here to take the girl and indoctrinate her into their Darkfriend ways.  The color-shifting fancloth cloaks were worn only by the Warders who protected the witches.

One of the Warders threw his cloak aside, rising to stand to his full height before Talan.  "Most of your men will die tonight, but Alanah Sedai wants you to live... she has something for me to tell you."

Talan drew his blade, advancing on the Warder.  "I've little desire to hear the words of a Darkfriend, or her servant."

The Warder's sword also slid from its scabbard, seeming as much a part of the man as his arm.  The moonlight shone off the heron-mark near its pommel.  "I will speak them anyway.  'We are on the same side.  The White Tower opposes the Shadow as strongly as you, and so long as we oppose one another, the Shadow wins.'"

Talan stepped forward, blade meeting that of the Warder.  Cat Dances on the Wall met River Undercuts the Bank.  Whirlwind on the Mountain met Hummingbird Kisses the Honeyrose.  Ribbon in the Air met Swallow Takes Flight.

----

Stepping past the corpse of a Child of the Light - killed by a sword, not by the lightning that still rained down around the camp - Saluna sought someone still living.  She heard a clash of arms, one that seemed to have been going on for some minutes.  She began to make her way toward it, but a hand on her shoulder stopped her.

"We must go.  If Richark has to fight the Children officer long, one of them will die, and, tonight, I want the child to live."

Saluna turned, blinking, gazing at the woman who had stopped her.  The noblewoman from the inn.  Yet she had never truly looked at the woman before.  The woman was small - tiny, really - and slender, yet she carried herself with a self-assurance that made her seem taller.  Her hair and eyes were dark, and her face ageless - her eyes were those of a woman much older than the one to whom her nose belonged, her cheeks those of a teenager.  She wore a dress far too fine for this weather, yet seemed untouched by the elements.  Saluna spoke, softly.  "Aes Sedai."

The woman nodded.  "I am Alanah, of the Green Ajah.  I came here to find you, but the Children took you before I had the chance.  You will be powerful, Saluna... probably among the five most powerful in a century.  Come with me, Saluna... learn.  And live."

Two Years Later

Saluna held her roommate, Nieda Maeldan, as the younger girl sobbed.  Today had been Nieda's testing for Accepted... the entry into ceremonial adolescence for an Aes Sedai.  The testing always took its toll; Alanah had told her that even the Amyrlin Seat had cried when it was done.

The window was covered in smoke from the battle outside the city.  The Aiel would never breech the walls of Tar Valon - no army ever had.  The walls had held off the Trollocs during the Trolloc War, and the Ever-Victorious Army for a five-year siege during the War of the High King, outlasting even the Hammer himself.  Yet the smell of the battle sometimes seeped into the White Tower, and even when it did not, windows closed against the smoke made the air stale.

Saluna kissed her friend's forehead lightly.  "I can't believe it was real.  Mine wasn't.  Yours wasn't either.  Those things you saw... whatever you saw... it was a possibility, drawn from the threads of the Wheel and your own hopes and fears.  It wasn't real.  You abandoned no one, I can't imagine you abandoning anyone..."

Nieda whispered something Saluna couldn't make out properly, so Saluna whispered back, "What was that?"

A moment later, Saluna found herself on the floor - a combination of Nieda's hands pushing her and her friend weaving Air flinging her away.  "What was that..."

Nieda's eyes were blank, no thought behind them.  Her Foretelling... why now?  Then Saluna's roommate spoke.  "He comes!  The Mountain shudders with his birth!  The valleys tremble with his cries!  The sky shatters with his laughter!  Rejoice, oh people of the world, for your destroyer!  Despair, oh people of the world, for your savior!  He is reborn!"  Then Nieda collapsed, nearly falling off the bed before Saluna could catch her.  Saluna laid her friend back, considering what to do next.  That Foretelling... it could only mean one thing.  Why now?  Why me?