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Oct. 25th, 2006 07:48 pm"Everything is tangled."
She murmurs it, bracing her hand against the wall of the (Tower of Ghenjei) castle for support-- and then flinching violently away from it again as her fingers sink into phantom (shining steel) stone. Shivering, Moiraine wraps her arms around herself and staggers a few steps further down the hallway before she stops, staring blankly into space.
"I cannot find my way. Where am I? I cannot see... I cannot hold, I must hold, I am lost in my own mind, sa souvraya niende misain ye..."
Days it has been, or perhaps weeks, but how many she no longer knows. Every minute has turned into a horror of uncertainty, and each careful step brings a flare of agony bursting like flame behind half-blinded eyes as she walks two places at once (tower tall or castle wall or dreaming hall) and sometimes more. Now she takes only a few at a time, groping her way toward somewhere quiet and away from others before her strength runs out.
All men dream. But I know dreams for dreams. This is reality. The words are spoken quietly from a short distance ahead of her, and her head jerks up.
"Lan? No -- you cannot be here, not if this is real-- your path lies elsewhere--" The shadow-shape of the figure before her fades and is gone, and Moiraine closes her eyes, fighting back exhausted tears. "I saw it, once. I know it, I knew it, I remember -- don't I? But I was never supposed to be here..."
You're towerpent. The rough, smoke-hardened voice is almost a whisper, coming from behind her. Moiraine does not turn around. "And you are dead, Joe Manco, and even before that you were never here."
Doesn't matter, the ghost answers, inexorably I dreamed you, remember? And mebbe now you're dreaming me. One of us isn't real, I s'pose. Anyway, if it ain't the Tower, then this must be the Castle of Madness.
"No. No." She shakes her head wildly, and runs forward around a corner before she gets control of herself. "It is not -- I am not, must not--"
"I have had enough of this nonsense." From behind her, a hand grabs her arm and jerks her around. Melfane glares at her, then pulls her into a side room and lets go, placing both hands on her hips. "You were supposed to attend the Lady Elayne two hours ago, and so I come looking for you, and what do I find? Light, Syrenne, you're delirious! Now, you will stay right here until I bring one of the Aes Sedai, or one of those Kinswomen. I don't care how stubborn you are, if I can't help you, someone else will." She stalks from the room, slamming the wooden door behind her and dropping a heavy bar into place as she goes.
"No!" It would be a scream if she had the strength for it, but instead it is a whisper. In horror, Moiraine staggers to the door, pounding on it. "No-- I cannot-- they will find out-- I am not supposed to be here--"
As she speaks, the world whirls around her, fading into a dreaming reality that shimmers with the cold cruel steel of a once-destroyed tower, and she jerks back, chanting in a high thin voice,
"Courage to strengthen, fire to blind, music to daze, iron to bind." As the vision fades, she shakes her head, then closes her eyes and forces herself to stillness with the last ounce of will.
"If a sister examines me, she will know, and all is lost. None of them can be trusted with this-- I must go back--"
Saidar rushes through her and explodes outward into a shining silver portal.
"--I was never supposed to be here--"
With a soft despairing cry, Moiraine falls forward into the gateway as it dissolves in fire.
She murmurs it, bracing her hand against the wall of the (Tower of Ghenjei) castle for support-- and then flinching violently away from it again as her fingers sink into phantom (shining steel) stone. Shivering, Moiraine wraps her arms around herself and staggers a few steps further down the hallway before she stops, staring blankly into space.
"I cannot find my way. Where am I? I cannot see... I cannot hold, I must hold, I am lost in my own mind, sa souvraya niende misain ye..."
Days it has been, or perhaps weeks, but how many she no longer knows. Every minute has turned into a horror of uncertainty, and each careful step brings a flare of agony bursting like flame behind half-blinded eyes as she walks two places at once (tower tall or castle wall or dreaming hall) and sometimes more. Now she takes only a few at a time, groping her way toward somewhere quiet and away from others before her strength runs out.
All men dream. But I know dreams for dreams. This is reality. The words are spoken quietly from a short distance ahead of her, and her head jerks up.
"Lan? No -- you cannot be here, not if this is real-- your path lies elsewhere--" The shadow-shape of the figure before her fades and is gone, and Moiraine closes her eyes, fighting back exhausted tears. "I saw it, once. I know it, I knew it, I remember -- don't I? But I was never supposed to be here..."
You're towerpent. The rough, smoke-hardened voice is almost a whisper, coming from behind her. Moiraine does not turn around. "And you are dead, Joe Manco, and even before that you were never here."
Doesn't matter, the ghost answers, inexorably I dreamed you, remember? And mebbe now you're dreaming me. One of us isn't real, I s'pose. Anyway, if it ain't the Tower, then this must be the Castle of Madness.
"No. No." She shakes her head wildly, and runs forward around a corner before she gets control of herself. "It is not -- I am not, must not--"
"I have had enough of this nonsense." From behind her, a hand grabs her arm and jerks her around. Melfane glares at her, then pulls her into a side room and lets go, placing both hands on her hips. "You were supposed to attend the Lady Elayne two hours ago, and so I come looking for you, and what do I find? Light, Syrenne, you're delirious! Now, you will stay right here until I bring one of the Aes Sedai, or one of those Kinswomen. I don't care how stubborn you are, if I can't help you, someone else will." She stalks from the room, slamming the wooden door behind her and dropping a heavy bar into place as she goes.
"No!" It would be a scream if she had the strength for it, but instead it is a whisper. In horror, Moiraine staggers to the door, pounding on it. "No-- I cannot-- they will find out-- I am not supposed to be here--"
As she speaks, the world whirls around her, fading into a dreaming reality that shimmers with the cold cruel steel of a once-destroyed tower, and she jerks back, chanting in a high thin voice,
"Courage to strengthen, fire to blind, music to daze, iron to bind." As the vision fades, she shakes her head, then closes her eyes and forces herself to stillness with the last ounce of will.
"If a sister examines me, she will know, and all is lost. None of them can be trusted with this-- I must go back--"
Saidar rushes through her and explodes outward into a shining silver portal.
"--I was never supposed to be here--"
With a soft despairing cry, Moiraine falls forward into the gateway as it dissolves in fire.
