A Vision (history)

[Aishling]

Aishling Sanguinis-Arocaza walked briskly down the white halls of the Tower, her small frame hardly seeming to make any noise. Her gray eyes scanned the hall before her, always aware of her surroundings as she'd been taught. Down the hall she could see a few Aes Sedai walking the same direction, their heads together, obviously talking. They turned a corner and disappeared from sight just as another Aes Sedai turned the corner and started heading towards her. Aishling stopped long enough to curtsey and murmur polite greetings, then proceeded along her way. She didn't think the Aes Sedai had even noticed her. She had long since learned that if you kept your pace brisk, nobody stopped to question your activities, since obviously you were busy doing something of importance. After all, why else would she be walking so fast?

Not that she used it as an excuse to do nothing. It was merely that she was so busy with her studies, with the chores that she was expected to do, and with the occasional request by an Aes Sedai that she had no time for other things. Aishlingnodded to herself in satisfaction of this explanation. Murmuring softly under her breath, "No time, there is never enough time!" she kept up her pace, heading down the stairs to the library.

By the time she arrived she was panting, her breath coming in short gasps. I really shouldn't run she thought to herself, but it seemed to take an eternity to reach the library from the Novice quarters and she really didn't have all the time in the world. Aishling slowed her pace and curtsied to the Aes Sedai of the Brown Ajah that stood guarding the entrance and continued walking, letting herself imitate the casual glide that all the Aes Sedai seem to have perfected. Her hands fiddled with her skirts, making sure her dress was smooth.

The Tower libraries were said to be the most extensive in the world. Whatever topic you may want to research, you could find it here. The only libraries that could even come close to the covering as many topics would be the one in Cairhien where she was from. A The smell of the parchment wafted through the air and made her feel giddy with excitement. To think that all this knowledge lay at her fingertips! Walking sedately now, she made her way through the stacks to an area that contained the knowledge of shadowspawn. A faint memory rose of a man with golden eyes, whispering to her inside her head, "To defeat your enemy, Aishling, you must know him."

Aishling nodded to herself unconsciously as she reached the section and pulled the book she had been studying late last night off a shelf. As she turned to sit at a table nearby, a faint tickling in the back of her mind made her head swirl, an image almost coalescing. The weave that one of the Aes Sedai had woven and placed on her would act up at the most unusual times, but lately it seemed to do this more and more as she bent fervently studying the texts of the library. This was the first time it had been more than just a faint blur. Aishling nearly scoffed, "Face your fear!? It's been weeks since she said that to me and placed that weave on me, yet I have no idea what I'm supposed to do!" Shaking her head, she immediately forgot her vexation and sat at the table turning to the page she had been on last night when she couldn't keep her eyes open any longer.

Aishling pushed her hair back and let her eyes settle on the page before her, reading a few of the lines on the parchment before shifting to the artist rendered picture on the opposite facing page. "Draghkar", she breathed in a gulp of air and thought how she would most certainly not want to fall victim to one of these creatures. She studied the rendering carefully, as if to memorize the features, then maybe she wouldn't become its next prey. As her eyes took in the details of the image before her, she felt a slight tickle in the back of her head signaling another bout of swirling dizziness, but before she could even reach up to touch her forehead, the image on the page before her seemed to move! "No!” she thought, "It's just the weave playing tricks, I'm just seeing the same blurry image moving over the top of the one on the page." But even as she watched, the image on the page moved again and clearly it was not some blurry image in front of it.

Aishling's hands fell to the edge of the table and she gripped it so tight she could feel the individual grains of the wood digging into her fingers. Try as she might she couldn't tear her eyes away from the moving image on the page. Suddenly, she could hear her heart pounding in her ears. Everything around her seemed to turn to mist. The only thing that remained clear and seemed to get closer and larger was the image of the Draghkar on the page, becoming more real with each pound of her heart. Everything faded away, becoming darker. Then another sound reached her ears. The sound of screaming and dying.

A chill went down Aishling's spine. She was no longer sitting safely in a library stacked with thousands of books. No, now she was on the edge of the largest battlefield she had ever seen in her life. It was the darkest of night and the sounds of screaming and rage roared around her. In front of her stood a Draghkar. He stood head and shoulders taller than her, but then she was a petite woman. His black eyes were fastened on her and his batlike wings were spread wide as opening for an embrace. It was then that she heard the crooning.

Here, where it had room to maneuver, it had stationed itself to catch those who had found themselves on the edge of battle. The crooning grew in volume and pitch, the sweet sound ensnaring Aishling's ears. Her eyes fastened themselves unerring to the creature’s eyes and she found herself approaching it, wanting only to feel its embrace. Somewhere in the back of her mind something screamed. Her legs trembled, fighting every step forward.

“Aishling!” a voice roared from behind her and suddenly she found herself sprawled in a heap as her Warder sprang past her, pushing her down right as she was about to reach the Draghkar. His sword flashed around in a wide arc separating the creature's head from its shoulders. The Draghkar's body stood for a moment, stock still, as if not realizing it was headless, then it crumpled. Aishling's eyes widened slightly at how close she'd come to death. Rising slowly on shaky legs she glanced at Carter who was swiftly wiping his sword on the cloak worn by the body. Her eyes widened as she realized this was her Gaidin. "Of course he's your Warder silly, for years beyond count now! Quit acting like a ninny!” she mumbled to herself.

Carter looked at her, "What was that?" he asked.

She blushed slightly and cleared her throat, "I was just talking to myself. Thank you for the rescue." She looked out at the battlefield and felt dizzy. Ever since Tarmon Gai'don had finally struck, the world seemed to tilt in her head as if something were askew. She gave a start and whispered, "Tarmon Gai'don??" Then just as quickly she thought, of course, that is what this battle was about. The Dragon was reborn and he was out there somewhere fighting the Dark One. "How did I get here?” she whispered to herself.

"Come", said Carter, not appearing to hear her. He led her horse up to her, "We have many more like this one to take care of. Just watch yourself next time. I am doing my best to protect you, but you can't go waltzing into the arms of a Draghkar every time I turn my back for one second." He said it as if he fully expected her to do just that the next time he did turn his back. And as if he knew he would rescue her again and gladly give his life doing so. She looked up at his face and the corners of his eyes crinkled as he smiled at her in that way he only had for her and she knew he was just trying to lighten the mood. She reached for the saddle horn and he held the reins with one hand and her arm with another, then handed her the reins once she was settled in the saddle.

He mounted then turned his horse towards the battle and looking at her, he ordered, "Follow me and stay close! Don't lose sight of me." She turned her horse to follow him and froze.

Her eyes swept the battlefield, the sounds of the dying reaching her ears, but that was not what was bothering her. Everywhere she looked, soldiers were fighting, Aes Sedai where weaving balls of fire, streaks of lightning were striking down trollocs left and right, and their Gaidin were hacking at trollocs and myrddraal. Her mind took all this in and she just froze. She thought, "I’m not ready for this. I can't possibly go out there, I don't know what to do!" Her hands trembled on the reins and she suddenly realized her entire body was shaking. Her warder stopped and turned to face her, stating flatly, "Well?"

Off in the distance she could see Dhela Eldros fighting back a trolloc, her Gaidin, Atlan Ruhier, at her side. From this distance it was hard to see faces clearly, but just the movements of the two were reminiscent of determination. The determination of two people used to working smoothly together from years of practice and years of knowing exactly what to do. Aishling had fought her share of battles before this day, so what was wrong with her??

Tarmon Gai'don. Aishling's heart was pounding so loudly she felt like Carter must hear it too from five feet away. She panicked. Her mind was a blank. Everyone here knew what to do and what his or her place was and she stood here with a completely blank mind. Her horse seemed to sense her mood and started shifting around. She tried to maintain some sense of control over the animal, but her mind was a solid rush of fear and the horse was ready to bolt. She had years upon years of training and she should know what to do by now she thought frantically.

Turning her eyes back to Dhela and Atlan, she watched them for a second, willing her heart to quit pounding so hard, willing herself to just think. The last word echoed loudly in her head. Just think, she thought. Her hands shook as she held onto the pommel of the saddle. She gave a start. Carter had moved in and taken the reins from her hands and was soothing the horse with his other hand on its head. He watched her anxiously.

A quiet voice rose from her memories, "Face your fears". She shook her head and thought, “Where had that come from?”

She looked out at Dhela and Atlan again, they were much closer now as they moved through the tide of the battle. She could see the look on Dhela's face now, the look of strain from hours of weaving on end without stop, without rest. There was no real thought in those eyes. It was all action, automatic action, from the years of training and battling. Aishling watched Dhela weaving and embraced the source herself. The sweet rush of saidar filled her as she surrendered to it.

Carter seemed to sense the change in her and handed her the reins again and moved off toward the battle. Aishling heeled her mount after him, keeping her eyes on Dhela and what she was doing. Without thought she imitated what she saw, weaving the threads of fire necessary to throw streaks of flames, just as she had done thousands upon thousands of times. Finding the nearest trolloc, she threw the flames at it, her hands gesturing toward it. The Trolloc screamed as it fell and no sooner than it fell than she brought her mind to bear on weaving another ball of fire. The moment of crisis had passed.

With a gasp, Aishling found herself sitting in her chair in the library, her eyes wide and staring at a stack of books on a shelf five feet away. Her hands were still gripping the edge of the table so hard she could feel splinters digging in. Her jaw was clenched and sweat poured off her face. She could feel her entire body trembling as she gasped for air. It wasn't real! It hadn't been real at all! It was merely a vision and for all she knew not even a true vision. A true vision would have meant that the events she saw would transpire. With a sudden lurch, her head spun wildly for a brief second and when she looked again a brief glow surrounded her as the weave that had been spun on her lifted out of her, hovered, then vanished.

Aishling staggered to her feet, picked up the book in front of her and closed it. Still reeling from her experience she replaced it on the library shelf and walked shakily towards the doors that led out of the library. It seemed as though all eyes were on her as she moved. At the doors she paused and looked back. She smiled then turned and walked on down the white halls towards the gardens. "I have plenty of time." She murmured to herself.