Chapter 38: Rescue

Perrin and Egwene are still captives of the Whitecloaks, marched on foot toward Caemlyn and meant for the Questioners in Amador. Byar visits Perrin in the night and lays a sharp rock within reach, hinting that an escape would conveniently solve the Lord Captain's problem. Perrin sees the trap: the guards are waiting to cut them down the moment they move.

Before Byar can decide to kill them outright, Lan drops the guards and Byar in seconds. Moiraine cracks lightning over the camp as cover, and Nynaeve meets them outside with horses. Wearing stolen white cloaks, they slip through the panicked camp and ride south.

At a hidden camp, Nynaeve treats Perrin's bruises and notices his irises have turned yellow. Moiraine confirms it is not an illness and Healing will not touch it, calling it either a thread of the Pattern or, possibly, the Dark One's hand.

Privately, Lan tells Perrin that Elyas was once a Warder before a break with the Red Ajah, and that speaking with wolves is old, not of the Shadow. But with Rand and Mat unprotected and the Pattern bending around them all, they must reach Caemlyn quickly.