Towers of Midnight: Chapter 20
Author: Bryce al'Mara
Chapter Icon: Six Pointed Aes Sedai Testing Star
Point of View: Nynaeve
Setting: The White Tower, and outside the black Tower
Characters: Nynaeve, Rosil, Saerin, Yukiri, Barasine, Romanda, Egwene, Rubinde, Lelaine, Seaine, Myrelle
Outline
Nynaeve takes her test to become Aes Sedai.
Summary
Nynaeve is led by Rosil to where she will take the Aes Sedai test. There is one member from each Ajah there to administer the test as well as Egwene. Rosil shows her a six pointed star that she is supposed to go to when she sees it. She tells her she is supposed to go to the sign and can not use the power before and must complete all the weaves before she leaves. When she has completed her task she will see the sign again directing her to where she must go.
Nynaeve steps in and finds herself on a beach next to a mountain with ash and smoke coming out. She hear people scream but she sees the sign and knows she must walk there. As she made it there a large shower of stones fell towards her and she made the first weave a wall of air. She then turns to go help the people in the village but sees the sign on a hut. She walks trough the hut doorway and finds herself in a cavern. She walks out of the cavern and finds herself in the Waste. The heat was overwhelming but she walked over to some ruins and saw a rock in the formation of the sign. As she walked towards it she heard sounds and looked up to see Trollocs rushing towards her. She walks faster towards the rocks but does not run. She reached the rocks and sent off a weave of fire and completed the weave and set it in place. She then sees an archway of stone with the six star sign on it and walks over and steps through.
Nynaeve finishes her forty-seventh weave which causes the sound of bells in the air. She is on top of a very narrow tower with wind blowing strongly. She sees an archway appear below her with the sign and jumps down through it. She found herself naked and with cuts on her arms from being whipped. Her determinations kicks in and she gets up finds clothes and puts them on. She walked until she found a six pointed star in the mud. Flies started to and on her and she starts to form a weave of air when she hears a scream. She starts to walk towards the sound but when she opens her mouth flies fly in. She remembers that she has to finish her weave and does forming a weave of air to push the flies back. She sees the sign above a door carved into a tree. Nynaeve walks down the hallway she finds herself in. She finds a door and opens it to discover 4 children who are very sick. She decides to heal them but then remembers she can't. She then notices a room across the hall with a rug with the sign on it. She walked over leaving the children behind and completes the weave she is supposed to. She can hear the crying children but has to go on. She sees a door with the sign and walks to it.
Nynaeve's challenges get harder as she left people to drown, be beheaded, be buried alive, and she has to form a weave while giant spiders consume villagers. She stumbles through a doorway after completing her eightieth weave. She finds herself in the Two Rivers where people she knows are being attacked by shadowspawn bigger than Trollocs. Perrin calls for her to help but she sees the sign on a hillside and walks towards it but then then thinks that its stupid and runs to the sign so she can channel, she decides she doesn't need to get to the star she needs to help her friends so she reaches for Saidar but finds something trying to block her but forces her way past it and uses Saidar to fling fire at the monsters. Attacking the monsters as she ran she reached the star and formed the eighty-first weave which creates big fire rings she sends at the creatures. She then sees the sign on the roof of the inn and heads for it. She runs there feeling like a coward and goes through the door.
Nynaeve is on the last of the weaves she finds herself in a room. She finds an Accepted dress but leaves it thinking shes not Accepeted. She then finds a yellow dress and puts it on. She looks down upon broken rubble and lakes and realizes she is in Malkier. She sees the star below her feet and starts to form the last weave when she sees Lan being attacked by Darkhounds. She finishes the weave and sees a sign above the door of a shack. She starts to walk towards it but looks back at Lan who is fighting the Darkhounds. She decides to help him and starts throwing weaves of fire at them but the fire does nothing to them. She then drew a bunch of Saidar and made a weave of Balefire. She balefires a bunch of the Darkhounds and then balefires the ground in front of them causing the Darkhounds to fall in. She heads to the doorway with Lan and steps through and lands on the floor back in the Tower surrounded by the Aes Sedai. Rosil heals her. Saerin asks what happened saying shehas never seen anyone put through what Nynaeve was put through. Barasine replies that it doesn't matter, that she failed. lelaine agrees saying she did not show the calm of an Aes Sedai. Nynaeve told them what she thought about it and walked over to Egwene. Egwene tells her she shouldn't have been able to channel but her time in the world of dreams and that the ter'angreal functions in the same way causing whats in your mind to be real. Egwene admits to being the one bhind the Two Rivers scene and the Lan scene but Nynaeve says she is glad it showed her she would chose Lan over Aes Sedai and that without Lan she would never be herself. Saerin asks Nynaeve to swear to not use Balefire but she refuses saying she may need it when she fights at Shayol Ghul. Egwene points out to the rest that Nynaeve helped cleanse Saidin, defeated Moghedien, and is married to the king of Malkier. Yukiri, Seaine, Romanda, and Saerin vote that she passes and Rubinde, Barasine, and Lelaine vote no. With 4 yes' Nynaeve has passes the test. Rosil tells her she must pray and contemplate the burdens she will take upon receiving the shawl the next day. Nynaeve tells her she has something to do first.
Nynaeve makes a gateway and travels to the ouside of the Black Tower where she meets Myrelle. She tells Myrelle she passed the test and asks for Lan's bond saying she is free of the oaths for one more day. Myrells passes the bond.
Notes
Character Development
- Nynaeve
- She realizes that she will always choose Lan over being Aes Sedai
- She tells everyone what she thinks an Aes Sedai should do.
Characters
- First Mention
