Dawn and Reincarnation Part 20 (Patreon)

“Don’t you have minions for that?” Darla asked as she walked over to the workbench where Dawn was polishing a silver bracelet with rag.

Dawn turned to look at Darla, noting the fact that she was wearing a color shifting dress and a pair of leather boots. “Bethany showed up to give them lessons.”

“Hmm, spending time with a hot redhead or doing chores, I know which I’d pick,” Darla replied with amusement. “Any luck with the bracelets?”

“More than I was expecting and less than I’d like but I managed to get the link to work, mostly.”

“Mostly?” Darla asked with a raised eyebrow.

“The amount of Power you can draw through the link is probably half what it should be and I skipped the ghostly chains which will make Apple sad.” Dawn reached over and grabbed one of the bracelets that she’d already turned into a ter’angreal and tossed it to Darla. “Take a look.”

Darla caught the bracelet and ‘looked’ at it with her talent. “On the upside, it should keep people from hurting themselves and let the users share talents which makes it useful for training.”

“Which should let us push everyone’s training without the usual risks.” Dawn wanted everyone trained and ready to fight in a year if she could manage it rather than the normal eight to ten that the Tower usually managed.

“Speaking of risks, can I borrow your sa’angreal?” Darla asked hopefully. “I’m going to grab some girls and sweep Tremalking for channelers and I’d rather not get tainted.”

Dawn took her bracer off and handed it to Darla. “Do you have a plan for making sure they don’t kill their children if something goes wrong while we’re cleansing the source?”

Darla handed the bracelet to Dawn then slipped the bracer on. “We should be able to block the light coming off the statue during the cleansing with an illusion and a tent. I’m also planning on replacing the poison they’d use on the children with something that would just give them a decent night’s sleep. With any luck we’ll be able to contain the worst of their stupidity.”

“Hopefully,” Dawn muttered as she set the finished bracelet back on the bench and glanced over at the two of Willow’s friends making more bracelets out of silver coins on the other workbench. ‘At least the Two Rivers girls generally have decent talent in Earth and Fire.’

“Before I go, have you had any luck duplicating the stealth gear?” Darla asked hopefully.

Dawn reached over and grabbed a ‘cat’ belt buckle off the bench and tossed it to Darla. “Here.”

Darla snorted as she examined the ugly creature her aunt was calling a cat. “That’s a cat?”

“Shoot me, I’m not an artist,” Dawn grumbled. “Creating a simple mold out of air then pouring in liquid metal is easy, making a decent cat design is a lot harder.”

“I’ll take your word for it,” Darla teased, knowing she couldn’t have done any better without a pattern to copy.

Dawn snorted. “If you’re going to be a bitch, you can make the cat buckles.”

“Or you could use your key to look for a jeweler that can channel,” Darla suggested, knowing that Dawn had her beat in artistic skill.

“If I find any jewelers when I’m wandering around, I’ll be sure to recruit them,” Dawn agreed as she set the polished bracelet on the bench.

“Speaking of portal stones, do you need a gateway to the stone next to the Jehannah Road?”

Dawn glanced at the stack of finished ter’angreal bracelets then over at the much larger stack of unfinished bracelets that she should be working on. She didn’t like leaving projects unfinished but she couldn’t shake the feeling that she was supposed to be somewhere else. “I wouldn’t mind taking a break.”

“Good, it would give the girls a chance to move everything to one of the tents.” Darla glanced at the group of disgruntled Red sisters on the edge of the courtyard standing in front of wooden frames that were covered with woolen blankets or thick sheets to keep the various students from picking up any of the stupid hand gestures the Aes Sedai had picked up over the last three thousand years. “Besides, we have Aes Sedai wandering around, I’d rather not make it easy for them to walk off with something important like the dagger.”

“That would be a pain in the ass,” Dawn agreed as she thought about the dull dagger that cloaked the wearer’s presence from the Dark One and all of his minions. “I’d rather not have to track it down.”

“On that note, I’ll talk to Willow about moving the ter’angreal and workbenches to a tent while you grab some food for your trip and recruit some help.”

“Sounds like a plan,” Dawn agreed as she headed toward the supply tent they’d set up on the edge of the courtyard. ‘I should probably grab a bag of gold for the girls working on Taren Ferry in case it takes me longer to get back than I’d like.’

Drusilla walked out of the supply tent and headed toward Dawn. “I need to go on your mission or we’ll lose The Kitten and the Beast of the Emerald City.”

“Why do I have a feeling the kitten is going to turn out more dangerous than the beast?” Dawn asked sarcastically as she glanced at the large pack slung over Drusilla’s shoulder that looked like it could feed a small army.

“I just know that we have to leave soon and that we’ll need the green haired witch, the crimson historian and the Blacksmith or all will be lost.”

“I hate prophecy!” Dawn snapped as she turned and headed toward the forge to pick up Perrin.

Drusilla smiled as she skipped after Dawn. “If it makes you feel better, we should be able to get rid of Javindhra on the trip without any problems.”

“That helps,” Dawn agreed.

0o0o0

“Best of luck,” Dawn whispered as Darla’s gateway closed leaving her group alone on an empty stretch of the Jehannah Road. She frowned slightly as she glanced between Javindhra and Narla, she was reasonably sure the red haired Brown was the crimson historian or at least Drusilla hadn’t said she wasn’t and she was the only historian they had. She glanced down at the silver bracelet on her wrist then at the silver collar around Javindhra. “With any luck we’ll be back by lunch.”

Perrin pulled his cloak tighter against the cold as he looked at the space there the gateway used to be. “I’m not sure I’ll ever get used to that.”

“I wouldn’t mind trying,” Moira said excitedly as she studied the large grey cylinder. “We’re probably the first Aes Sedai to use the portal stones in two thousand years.”

“You don’t have to sound so excited about risking our lives,” Javindhra complained as she glared at the portal stone.

Dawn turned and looked at the nightmarishly complicated threads floating over the portal stones. ‘Yeah, I don’t think I’m going to be duplicating that any time soon.’

Narla smiled as she turned her attention to the Portal Stone. “I’m still amazed that someone rediscovered the weave to travel.”

‘Less discovered and more stole from the Forsaken,’ Dawn thought, thinking about Mat’s story about her brother fighting the Forsaken. It was hard to imagine her brother being a threat to people out of legend. “I don’t suppose you have any idea which symbol we’re supposed to try?”

Drusilla walked over to the large fifteen foot tall grey cylinder and set her index finger on one of the symbols. “This one.”

“What makes you so sure?” Narla asked as she glanced between the strange teenage girl bundled up in wool and furs and stone pillar that was covered with thousands of strange symbols.

“The voices whisper, this is where we’ll find the Beast!” Drusilla said excitedly as she embraced the source and channeled a cable thick thread of Power into the symbol, transporting the small group to a snow covered road.

Dawn blinked as she realized that most of the symbols on the stone pillar had changed or at least shifted position. “Any idea where we’re supposed to go?”

“Back to Taren Ferry,” Drusilla said as she wove an inverted gateway to Taren Ferry, unwilling to show Javindhra how to create gateways.

Perrin stared in horror as he saw an army of trollocs and other monsters on the other side of the gateway. “What in the light?”

“Talk about timing,” Dawn mused as she drew as much power as she could safely channel through her bracelet chain angreal and stepped through the gate. She wove cable thick threads so that her voice would be heard and felt by every shadowspawn on the battlefield then shouted, “Carai an Caldazar!” in a voice that shook the heavens and rattled every shadowspawn in the massive army.

Ishamael ignored his ruptured eardrums as best he could as he stared at the gateway that by all rights shouldn’t exist. He lashed out with the True Power, sending a wave of white hot fire toward the girl that dared defy him. He blinked in shock as the Great Lord’s fire washed over the girl without burning her to ash or even burning her clothes. “That’s impossible.”

Dawn lashed out with a shield and cut the man in black off from whatever the hell he was using to power the flames, happy that she had the angreal because he was using enough of whatever skin crawling magic he had that she doubted she would have been able to shield him without it. “Carai an Caldazar!” she shouted as she used a thread of air to toss the shocked man in black into the air. “Die!”

Javindhra started in horror as Dawn used what she was guessing was balefire to kill the enemy commander. “What the bloody ashes are you doing?!”

Dawn’s laughter carried over the battlefield as she turned the beam of balefire on the shadowspawn, sweeping it across the army of monsters. She let the weave drop then started tossing balls of fire toward the fades she could see that had escaped her balefire. “Carai an Caldazar!”

“She’s lost her bloody mind!” Javindhra shouted as Moira and Narla stepped through the gateway and started tossing much smaller balls of fire at groups of trollocs that were still attacking the locals.

Perrin raised his axe and waited, wanting to make made sure none of the trollocs got close to the women.

“Break!” Dawn shouted as she started calling down lightning on the fleeing trollocs. “I’m coming for you!” She scowled as a trolloc arrow bounced off her shoulder causing her to take a step backwards from the force of the blow. “Burn!”

Moira shivered as Dawn gestured and a massive pillar of wind and fire erupted from the ground and started chasing the fleeing trollocs. “Yeah, she would have been Green.”

Drusilla walked through the gateway then let it close behind her. “We should help the army.”

Perrin turned and started making his way through the retreating trollocs as best he could, rather glad that he was wearing his ter’angreal armor.

Dawn let the weave on her throat fade as she turned her attention toward the trollocs that were still fighting the humans. Thankfully it wasn’t hard with her vision to pick out the myrddraal commanders which meant it was easy to hit them with lightning.

Javindhra shivered as the remaining trollocs died screaming as Dawn started walking toward the human army. “She’s insane.”

“I’m fairly sure she’s just a little unhinged,” Moira mused as she followed Dawn, happy that she’d had a chance to kill some trollocs even if Dawn got most of them.

Narla smiled coldly at Javindhra. “If you run, they’ll track you down. If you cause trouble, I’ll break your legs and leave you in a ditch to die.”

“You wouldn’t dare,” Javindhra snapped.

“You’re a murderer, if it was left up to me, you’d hang. That said, this world obviously needs all the help it can get so make yourself useful and you might get your freedom.” Narla glanced at the smoking trolloc corpses scattered around the field of slaughter then turned and followed Dawn toward the human line.

Dawn did her best not to wince as she noticed the strange mix of weapons and old armor that half the ‘soldiers’ were wearing as she walked toward the line of soldiers. Her gaze jumped between the various soldiers, both male and female that glowed with magical potential. She knew the Tower would have scoured the entire region if they’d even suspected that they could find two channelers let along the three dozen she could see standing in the line of troops. She turned her attention toward the ‘soldier’ walking toward her. “Do you need healing?”

“You can heal?” the young man asked hopefully as he stared at Dawn.

“We have four healers with us,” Dawn replied, knowing that Drusilla, Narla and Moira could heal.”

“Praise the Light, this way!” the young man said as he quickly led the group through the lines toward the tent they’d set up to deal with the injured.

“I can heal,” Javindhra admitted, knowing that Dawn would likely kill her if she found out later that she could have helped. Besides, anyone that was willing to fight an army of shadowspawn had her respect.

“Make that five,” Dawn replied as they followed the young man to the tents for the wounded. ‘Next time, I’m bringing Katrina or Nynaeve.’ She glanced at Perrin. “Figure out what’s going on while we take care of the wounded.”

“I’ll do my best,” Perrin replied as he headed toward the man in armor walking toward him. ‘I wish Mat had come with us, he’d know who to talk to.’

Dawn scowled as she walked into the tent and noticed the rows of badly injured young men and women, several of them glowing with potential. She glanced at the strikingly beautiful brightly glowing young woman with rusty brown hair that washing out a large gash on a man’s arm with hot water. “Joyce?” she blurted, not sure why that name was on the tip of her tongue other than a flash of memory of an older brown haired woman and star shaped blueberry pancakes.

“Joiya,” the young woman said as she pointed toward one of the men that had was bleeding from a leg wound. “I need more bandages.”

Dawn shook off the strange memory, knowing there would be time later to figure out why the girl was familiar. “We can heal.” She pulled the turtle brooch angreal out of her belt pouch and tossed it to Moira then moved over to the feverish man with a gash in his leg. “Get to work!”

Moira ignored Dawn’s tone as she took the angreal and got to work healing the worst of the bunch, trusting the rest to take care of the rest of the wounded.

Joiya finished washing out the man’s gash then moved to the next patient, trusting the healers to help.

0o0o0

The captain in charge of the army shifted uncomfortably. “I appreciate the help but your friends need to leave as soon as possible. The Seanchan aren’t going to stop until they leash the Aes Sedai responsible for destroying the shadowspawn army.”

Perrin took a breath then let it out as he studied the captain’s weather worn face. “I’ll let them know that we’re not welcome.”

“That’s not what I mean,” the captain sputtered. “Soldiers died when they tried to capture the old wisdom. I can’t say I blame her but the Seanchan sent a thousand soldiers and a dozen chained witches and publicly burned everyone on the village council and the women’s circle to discourage rebellion.”

Perrin felt a sense of creeping unease as he tried to picture what Dawn was likely to do when she found out about the attack. “Tam al’Thor?”

The captain shivered as he remembered that horrible day five years ago. “They burned his farm to the ground after nailing the doors shut, thankfully Joiya and Egwene were down in Devon Ride helping the wisdom with an outbreak of fever.”

Perrin shivered as he realized that he wasn’t going to be able to stop Dawn from killing everyone involved and worse, he wasn’t sure that he should bother. “I’ll let my friends know after they’re finished healing everyone then we’ll get out of your hair.”

“For what it’s worth, I’m sorry,” the captain assured him, feeling guilty that he couldn’t do more for the people that had saved them from the shadowspawn but knowing that the Seanchan wouldn’t stop until they leashed the Aes Sedai.

“Where is the nearest Seanchan outpost?” Perrin asked, knowing Dawn was going to want revenge.

“Baerlon, they wanted someone watching the miners to make sure they paid their taxes.”

“Thanks for the information.” Perrin sighed as he turned and headed toward the healing tents to wait for Dawn.

0o0o0

“Let me get this straight, if your children could channel, you’d poison them because they don’t yet understand the Water Way well enough to kill themselves?” Darla demanded. The only thing keeping her from hitting the lunatic she’d tied to the tree with threads of air was the desire to look like a calm and rational person in front of the children she’d tied to the various other trees around the edge of the small clearing.

“Life is an illusion and channeling violates the Water Way,” the man replied calmly. “Better to move onto the next life peacefully than struggle against fate.”

“I’ll let you in on a secret, you’re the only one that can save your child and the rest of the children we kidnapped from the village,” Darla lied as she gestured toward the glowing children scattered around the clearing. “All you have to do is channel and I’ll let them go.”

“You’re saying I can channel?” the man asked calmly.

“Yes,” Darla lied as she handed him a knife. “Which means you can kill yourself as tradition demands or channel and save…” she trailed off as the lunatic brought her knife to his throat.

“Life is an illusion,” the man said then cut his throat.

Nela ignored the crying and or terrified children as she stared at the idiot that was quickly bleeding to death. “He didn’t even hesitate, they’re insane.” She’d known they were nuts because of the mass suicide but she’d expected him to at least try to save the children before killing himself, not that they were planning on doing anything to the children other than finding a safe place for them while they cleansed the source.

“Much like the Children of the Light,” Darla agreed, a bit shaken that he hadn’t tried to bluff or had the good sense to accuse her of lying. She knew expecting him to knife her like a reasonable person had been asking too much but she’d expected some attempt to save the children.

“You killed him!” a twelve year old accused as she thrashed against the hardened air binding her to the tree.

Darla snorted. “I handed him a knife and he killed himself because of a stupid set of beliefs.”

“He wouldn’t be dead if you hadn’t given him a knife,” a boy called out angrily..

“He would have found a way to kill himself eventually even if I hadn’t given him a knife.”

“Why did you come to our village?” another boy demanded.

Darla sighed. “Because I thought there was something in your culture that might be worth saving.”

“What are you going to do with us?” one of the girls asked.

“We’re going to send you somewhere safe, in two days your parents and fellow townsfolk are going to murder your siblings and friends then themselves because of a prophecy and because they’re stupid as shit.”

“You’re lying!” one of the boys cried. “The Water Way teaches nonviolence!”

Nela gestured toward the dead idiot bound to the tree. “That didn’t stop the idiot from killing himself, did it? So, you need to make a choice, do you want your friends to die or do you want to help save them?”

“What do we have to do?” asked a nine year old girl fearfully, fairly sure the stranger was lying but she couldn’t shake the uneasy feeling that the stranger was telling the truth because she’d known the shopkeep her whole life and he hadn’t seemed like the type to kill himself and yet he had.

“I’m glad that you asked,” Nela replied, happy that there might be some hope for the next generation.