It had been a long day for Rajis, Defender of the Stone. The war with Illian had him pushing his body to its limits every day. He turned in for the night, expecting to sleep so deeply he wouldn't even dream.
He awoke the next morning a little groggy. Under-Lieutenant Melat was reporting to Captain Tihera on the status of the war. So Rajis went to patrol the city. He was making his rounds when he noticed all the soldiers in the city running towards the central square. Thinking there must be an attack from Illian, he rushed after them. What he found was far worse. He was immediately engaged with eight trollocs! He fought as much as he could, and called Melat for aid. He came as soon as he could. They were just starting to get a handle on the trollocs when a patrol of fades turned the corner. Ganal the lurk looked into Rajis' eyes, and he could barely move. He faintly could hear the guards at the gate saying that Fermin the assassin had entered the city gates. A trolloc bit his arm as he tried to retreat to safety. It seemed death was inevitable.
Then Rajis awoke from his terrible nightmare in cold sweat. He shivered uncomfortably. As he put his armor on, he noticed a scar the shape of a bite mark on his arm. Only a trolloc could have given a bite mark that size. Rajis couldn't figure out how that would have happened. That was just a dream wasn't it? But why did he have a scar the same place the trolloc bit him in the dream? He looked at the cup of Retashen Dazer he took from Surtain's bar the night before. Maybe Surtain spiked it with something.... That must be it. He got up to patrol the city and found Lieutenant Joreer doing the same. Under-Lieutenant Melat was there too. Rajis took comfort that it wasn't just Melat anymore. That nightmare had truly been awful, but at least the real day was turning out differently so far. No trollocs to be seen. There was still the war with Illian, but the scoutmaster hadn't reported any Companions nearby.
Suddenly, one of the Lords of Tear screamed. That was the only warning they received before six trollocs charged into the square. Rajis couldn't believe his eyes! This was just like the dream he had during the night! Joreer and Melat drew their weapons and ran to save the citizens of Tear. Rajis snapped out of his trance and ran after them. They tried to lure the trollocs towards the north gate, where the archers there could assist. Fortunately trollocs aren't very smart, and followed unaware of the trap being set for them. Just as the archers were starting to finish the trollocs off a group of myrddraal appeared from nowhere. Even with the support of the archers, Rajis and the others were being overwhelmed. "Fall back!" shouted Joreer. "Regroup at the square!" It was a difficult task to accomplish. More trollocs had come in with the fades, and they had to fight their way through. Rajis noticed a woman who was not running away from the fighting like the others. Rajis recognized her, it was Gretchen. Rajis couldn't remember much of what happened after that. He just knew he was bashing away left and right. Sometimes at trollocs, other times at fades. When it seemed like hope was lost, Lieutenant Delion charged in to drive the fades back to the gate where the archers had more effect. Somehow, the battle was won. They all started to head back to the square to recover from the battle.
However their rest did not last for very long. Out of no where, Dougan Revarnan appeared and started channeling against them. One moment Rajis was at the north gate, then he was at the stables on the other side of the city. He started heading back to the north gate and Dougan was on him again, then he appeared by the armorer's shop. He was being teleported around the city every few seconds. Eventually he turned a direction Dougan didn't expect, or he found someone else to attack. Rajis had to get his bearings straight, and found he was by the central square again. He could hear sounds coming from the east. Dougan was surrounded by the other Defenders. Joreer was bashing him to the ground over and over again, making it difficult for Dougan to channel. Soon he stopped getting back up. The horror was over.
It seemed all was well. Ganal the Lurk didn't come after all. That stayed in Rajis's nightmare. He sighed with relief. The city was in disarray; armor, weapons, and corpses thrown everywhere. Not all of it was from trollocs. There was a strange buzz in the background. It almost sounded like lots of bees. Then they heard the first scream, and the buzzing grew louder. A swarm of killer bees was among them in seconds, stinging anything they could. It was surprisingly harder to kill bees with a club than trollocs. The stings were taking their toll on everyone. One of the bees looked like the queen. Rajis tried to bash her as hard as he could. Every third try or so he would connect. Things were almost finished when a smirking myrddraal showed up. Would this never end? After several minutes, no one was without several wounds, but those defending the city were all alive at the end. Surely, the presence of bees and myrddraal at the same time showed that Illian was using the shadow in their war with Tear. Fortunately, the Defenders were up to the task.
Then a deep voice echoed through the city. "The Dark One's hand is strengthening!" Rajis's nightmare came into view. Ganal the Lurk was leading yet another band of trollocs and fades! Calling on all the strength they had left, the Defenders and Gretchen fought for their lives. Another woman dressed in brown entered the fight as well. Rajis remembered her. She was Darlana Sedai of the Brown Ajah. He didn't think anyone was channeling. He would have hated to have to enforce the Laws of Tear with them if they survived this. But he was grateful for their help. Trolloc corpses were falling to the ground, and fades as well, but Ganal still taunted them. He would disappear and reappear wherever he wanted. Suddenly there were cries from the tailor that Defenders were attacking him. That didn't seem right, the Defenders surely knew the difference between the tailor and a trolloc. Ganal was there with the tailor. The Defenders regrouped outside the door, preparing for a final charge. They burst in the door and found nothing. They heard the voice of Ganal again, saying "The work of the Dark One is finished, for now..." The tailor must have been a darkfriend. That was the only explanation. The Defenders scoured the city, but there was no sign of Ganal or other shadow spawn. It seemed that against all odds, the Defenders survived the day.
Squad Leader Micheal walked around the corner and looked at everyone, battered and beat from the trial they had been put through. He casually asked, "What happened?"