Perrin POV#

Perrin, Faile, Marin al'Vere, Daise Congar, Tam, Abell, Bran and Cenn Buie are planning in the common room of the Winespring Inn. Perrin wishes it could be Jon Thane's, Haral Luhhan's or Samel Crawe's turn to represent the Village Council instead of Cenn Buie. There have been several more Trolloc attacks since the first one seven days ago and supplies are running low. Dannil Lewin barges in and announces that the Whitecloaks brought in a dying man who demands to see Perrin. Perrin and Faile go with Dannil. Aram also follows. Raen and Ila will not speak to him, so he follows Perrin whenever he is not practicing the sword.

They go to the Old Road where the man is lying. Dain Bornhald, Jaret Byar and several other Whitecloaks are there. They found the man a few miles south. The man tells Perrin that he was sent with the message, "We are coming."[1] The he dies. Before they can return, a boy[2] comes up with a message that there is movement in the Westwood. They go to that edge of the village and watch anxiously. Tomas, Bain and Chiad are there. It turns out to be Loial and Gaul who successfully sealed the Waygate. They were chased by Trollocs most of the way. Loial outran them even though he was carrying Gaul who received a serious wound in the leg. Bain and Chiad begin tending Gaul. Loial tells Perrin there are several thousand Trollocs and maybe fifty Fades in the Two Rivers. Luc rides up and tells them they are wrong. There are less than a thousand. Gaul agrees with Loial whereupon Luc says he has spent time in the Blight and knows what he is talking about. They all go back to the inn and Faile forces Perrin to go to bed. He goes to sleep and enters the wolf dream. He has several dreams:

• Egwene stood among a crowd of women, fear in her eyes; slowly the women knelt around her. Nynaeve was one of them, and he believed he saw Elayne's red-gold hair.[3]
• Mat stood naked and bound, snarling; an odd spear with a black shaft had been thrust across his back behind his elbows, and a silver medallion, a foxhead, hung on his chest.
• Perrin thought it was Rand. He wore rags and a rough cloak, and a bandage covered his eyes.[4]

In the wolf dream he searches the Two Rivers for signs of Trollocs. He finds hundreds of fires meaning several thousand Trollocs. At Deven Ride he notes the inn, the Goose and Pipe. There are only enough camps nearby to keep the people penned in. At Watch Hill he finds the same. There is now a Manetheren banner in front of the White Boar. Taren Ferry is destroyed, but the ferry is still intact and he sees signs that many people fled north. Word might spread to Baerlon or even Caemlyn so help can come. As Perrin bends over an arrow passes over his head. This time Perrin makes one big jump then holds still. Slayer approaches, but Perrin sees him and hits him in the chest with an arrow. Slayer screams and disappears. Perrin steps out of the dream.

As he wakes, Perrin hears shouts downstairs. When he opens the window and calls down, Ban al'Seen tells him that Luc just rode away looking hurt. He almost rode down Wil al'Seen and Tell Lewin. Perrin wonders about Luc and Slayer. They smell different, but both smell cold, not human. Downstairs, Faile confirms that Luc ran by clutching his chest. Perrin asks her to ride to Caemlyn for help. She agrees to leave, but her price is a wedding. Perrin agrees. Shortly, they are kneeling in front of the Women's Circle, Daise Congar, Marin al'Vere, Alsbet Luhhan, Neysa Ayellin and the rest. Loial and Aram stand for Perrin. Bain and Chiad stand for Faile. They are married.
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