Lord of Chaos: Chapter 22

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Author: Sirena Taliba

Dice Chapter Icon.png


Heading South


Chapter Icon: Five dice, arranged in a ring

Point of View: Mat

Location: Somewhere on the east bank of the River Erinin

Characters: Mat, Nalesean, Daerid, Talmanes, Chel Vanin, Nerim, Olver

Outline

Vanin shows Mat some slaughtered Tuatha'an. His camp is attacked.

Summary

Mat, juggling some stones and riding at the head of his army, thinks of Thom Merrilin and wonders if he is still alive. His musing is interrupted when Nalesean asks him if he ever wondered what it would be like to be a Warder. Mat replies that he avoids thinking about Aes Sedai, and advises them to do the same. The rumor of Dragonsworn is then brought up, which Mat declares is Rand's problem.

Mat's best scout, Chel Vanin, rides up and says that he has found something that Mat has to see. They ride a short ways off and come to what had been a Tinker caravan. There are dead everywhere. "Whoever did this had not wanted any survivors." On the bottom of an overturned wagon, one man had written in his own blood, "TELL THE DRAGON REBORN" before he died. Mat tells Vanin to burn the wagon and tell no one about the message. Mat returns to the army and tells them to make camp, even though there are a few hours of daylight left.

Disturbed by what he had seen, Mat is unable to sleep, and so takes his spear and blankets outside so he can count constellations. While doing this, he hears a soft noise and, looking around, sees several Aiel surround his tent, enter, then come out again. As he wondered if he could slip away, Talmanes approaches his tent, offering brandy. Seeing that he wasn't going to leave, Mat leaps up and shouts that there are Aiel in the camp. The Aiel attack him, but he manages to keep them off until his men start arriving, at which point he gets out of the way.

After it is over, Mat investigates the sound he had heard and finds some ropes and a nearby bush that had been cut by a gateway. He realizes that the Aiel were sent by one of the Forsaken. He hears a sound behind him, and just barely manages to avoid killing Olver with his spear. He is surprised to find Olver there, as he believed that they had left him in Maerone. Nerim then arrives, sent by Talmanes, to sew up the wounds Mat had received from the Aiel. To distract himself from the needle, he has Olver show him what is in his cloth scrip. As an excuse for giving Olver two gold crowns, Mat makes him a messenger and hopes that he isn't putting the boy in the line of fire by keeping him near.

Notes

This section contains Notes on this Chapter which may contain spoilers. Please expand to view.

Mysteries

Who killed the Tinkers?
Tell the Dragon Reborn what?


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