Chapter 28: A New Thread in the Pattern

Perrin rides with Ingtar's column through Kinslayer's Dagger toward Cairhien. He relays to Ingtar what the wolves have told him: a being the wolves call 'Shadowkiller' attacked Fain's Darkfriends in the night, slew the Trollocs among them, and now leads the survivors — the wolves regard this Shadowkiller with awe rather than the fear they feel for Fades.

Mat rides looking increasingly pale and hollow, and Verin examines him two or three times a day. Nothing she has done — including what Perrin believes was an attempt at Healing — has made any visible difference. Verin seems preoccupied with something deeper, and Perrin suspects she has pieced together something about Rand.

Uno spots an Aiel in the rocks. The man steps deliberately into the road — Urien, a Red Shield of the Two Spires sept of the Reyn Aiel — who reveals he is searching for 'He Who Comes With the Dawn.' This prophesied figure will be of Aiel blood, come from west of the Spine of the World, go to Rhuidean, and conquer under a great sign. Masema charges him with a lance before Ingtar calls a halt.

To show the sign, Urien draws the ancient symbol of the Aes Sedai in the dirt. Both Perrin and Mat recognize it. Verin erases it with her foot, tells Urien she has no news of the signs he seeks, and he departs into the rocks. Ingtar orders the column to remove their armor — they have crossed into Cairhien. Verin is left shaken, murmuring about whether the Wheel of Time is weaving threads into the Pattern that even Aes Sedai do not know.