Chapter 37: The Long Chase

After Whitebridge, Nynaeve rides north with Moiraine and Lan, following the coin Moiraine slipped to one of the boys. The token goes dark for a night, then returns; the boy lost it and found it again. Moiraine turns off the Caemlyn Road and tracks him into the forest.

They find a Whitecloak camp of two hundred men with the boy held prisoner at its center. Lan plans to bring him out, but the party will be riding double and visible. He sends Nynaeve to half-cut the picket-ropes so the horses break loose when Moiraine creates a diversion.

Nynaeve slips past two indifferent guards and works her way down the lines. On the last picket she finds Bela, and knows with sudden, frightening certainty that Egwene is in the camp too. She cuts the rope and unties the shaggy mare.

Moiraine's lightning rakes the camp. The picket-ropes snap, the horses panic, and wolves drive through them snapping at the maddened animals. Nynaeve drags herself onto Bela and rides into the dark.