![]() ![]() Ahead of him he could see three openings in the high wall of thorns, then the way curved out of slight. This was a dangerous place he knew that, too. It tickled his nose, no breathe through his mouth, dust clogged his throat until he choked. Smooth stones, pale and rounded, made a sketchy pavement, half buried in the done-dry dust that rose in puffs at even his lightest step. For a moment he thought it had been different, but the thought evaporated in the heat. Overhead-and hot too far overheard, at that-boiled furious, steely clouds streaked with black, but not a breath of air stirred in the maze. How long had it been now? His sweat evaporated before it had a chance to bead, and his eyes burned. ![]() The gritty heat prickled his skin, and his throat had long since gone dry as he trotted down the thorn-hedge maze. As it had before, every time he allowed himself to think of what surrounded him as a dream, the air shimmered, clouding his eyes. Was this like Baerlon, or was it only a nightmare, only a dream like other men's dreams?įor an instant, then-just for the length of time it took to take a breath-he knew why it was dangerous to think, what it was dangerous to think about. There had been two or three close brushes, though he could not remember them clearly, but for a long, long time-how long?-he had run while Ba'alzamon vainly pursued. Comfort? Blood and ashes, where's the comfort in it? Is this like Baerlon? Then why can't he fund me? That was a little better. Was Mat somewhere in this maze? Or are there two mazes, two Ba'alzamons? His mind skittered away from that it was too dreadful to dewll on. Yet, as he turned away from Ba'azlamon's distant from, he could not help wondering about Mat. The only thing to do, as it had been from the beginning, was to keep moving. What seemed far away might be reached by turning a corner what appeared close could be out of reach altogether. Distances were deceiving here, another lesson he had learned. He tried tracing the maze with his eyes, to see how many connections Ba'alzamon needed before reaching him, then gave it up as useless. The distance was too far for Rand to see more than the shape in the murk, but he did not need to be closer to know the cloak was the red of fresh blood, that the searching eyes blazed like two furnaces. The man's cloak rippled with his stately haste, and his head turned, searching, searching. A man striding up a distant ramp, careless of the lack of railings and the drop to nothing below. The movement came again, and now it was clear. Enough by which to see, after a fashion enough by which to be seen. The light did not come from lamps, or lanterns, or torches it was simply there, such as it was, as if it seeped out of the air. Shadow filled the air, but there were no deeper shadows in which to hide. From a thousand places a watcher could have seen him. It clung to his skin like oil.Ī flicker of motion caught his eye, and he froze where he was, half crouched against the polished guardwall around one of the spire tops. He tried not to breathe, but the smell filled his nostrils. The smell of a grave opened out of its time. Stone, but the dankness of deep, fresh-turned earth permeated the air, and the sickly sweetness of decay. However far he went, up or down or in any direction, there was only the shiny stone. He knew the illusion he had followed it to many times not to know. He pressed, seeking freedom, knowing it was an illusion. He could not see the base of any of them. Some of those ramps led to platforms that had to be directly above the ones below. Whatever direction Rand looked, as far as his eye could make out in the dimness it light to see clearly, and he was almost glad of it. Every bridge led to a spire, every ramp to another spire, other bridges. There were stone bridges and railless ramps everywhere, all sprouting off from broad, flat-topped stone spires, all level, the maze stretched up and down through the murk, without any apparent beginning or end. Water dripped in the distance, hollow splashes echoing and reechoing, losing their source forever.
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