Nightmares

[Phelix]

OOC: This should take place 10’ish years before the current timeline. Elin is slowly learning the basics of the Dream on her own... but has some glaring gaps in her knowledge.

 

IC:

After a few years of nightly visits to the World of Dreams, Elin was beginning to feel quite comfortable. She could ignore the sensation of being watched, and she had figured out how to concentrate a part of her mind on keeping her appearance the way she wanted it. The books she read said that the World of Dreams could be used to get glimpses of the future, that it connected to every sleeping mind... but Elin hadn’t been able to replicate those feats.

 

It was enough that she had access to this world, and was able to use it for her goals.

 

She spent most of her time in the Dream checking on the information she received from her reports. She had a rather extensive network of Eyes and Ears, for a Red, and it had always galled that she couldn’t confirm their reports without actually traveling out of the Tower. Over the years, that had meant several false leads. She always managed to turn the trip into a useful venture, but they still frustrated her.

 

This night, she was back in the White Tower, sitting in her comfortable rooms, stroking the silvery caul that had lead her into tel’arah’rhiod. It was her most treasured possession, even if it truly belonged to the Tower. A small part of her thought that there had been cases of ter’angreal disappearing from the public record, becoming private possessions of certain sisters... no one would miss a hair caul that served no known purpose.

 

She shook her head, banishing the thought. She was an Aes Sedai. She fought for justice throughout the world. How could she seek to subvert it at home?

 

On her desk was a small pile of reports from the Ajah’s Eyes and Ears network. It was just as broad as Elin’s personal network, though a bit more focused. Elin sought information about any injustice, any attacks on women or men who could use the Power, while the Ajah kept tabs on the rulers of the nations and potential male channelers. Men who would have been Aes Sedai, but for the Taint on saidin.

 

The sister who headed the network for the Ajah, serving at the command of the Highest, had asked Elin to review these reports to see if her network could corroborate them. Within the Ajah, it was well known that Elin eventually heard every rumor about channelers in every nation. Elin laughed to herself, quietly, imagining the shock her sisters would get if they found out she used the World of Dreams to verify everything these days.

 

Truly, she had an edge, and she used it well.

 

The reports were about incidents in Shienar, Kandor, and Arafel, all staggered in timing as if the man responsible were moving away from the Spine toward the Aryth. The timing suggested he was moving on foot, though his pace suggested he was healthy still... not starving from being in the Wild and not suffering from madness.

 

Each incident involved a lone man walking into a Town and working to earn a bed in a barn for the night. Then, that night, the whole village suffered from horrible nightmares. Rather, they all suffered the same horrible nightmare.

 

With a sigh, Elin slipped into her bed, extinguishing the lights with a small thread of Water. As she slowly sank into sleep, she felt her mind slip into the World of Dreams... that familiar sensation made her smile.

 

Her eyes opened to find herself still in her room, though wearing a well made burgundy dress of thick silk and satin. It was cold in the Borderlands, so she imagined her shawl with its thick wool, thorned vines and the white Flame of Tar Valon centered on the back. Her hair was neatly coiled into the silver caul, so she pulled the shawl up to give her neck some cover.

 

Then she stepped out of her room. In her years exploring this world, she had discovered that if she was in a hurry, a single step could cover yards, if not more. Once she was outside the Tower, she thought of how far she had to go, and took a step.

 

A single step took her outside the city.

 

Her next step had her to the Border of what used to be Hardan and Shienar.

 

Her final step had her at the first village to report an incident.

 

As she walked around, exploring and examining everything, there was nothing to note. It looked like any other Shienaran village. Lots of fortifications, lots of weapons, it stood ready to defend should a trolloc raid push this far south.

 

She stepped to the next village, and found the same... over and over again, each village looked none the worse for wear after their nightmare. When she reached the final village to report anything, and found nothing, she was left with a hard choice. Go back to the Tower and report that she was unable to confirm anything, or press on and assume the man had kept traveling along his current route and pace.

 

Elin refused to fail, even if only by implication, so she kept on.

 

She kept her steps smaller, making sure she did not skip over a village. The first three were the same as the others. The fourth, however, was radically different.

 

As she stepped into the village, walls of fire sprang up around the village penning everyone within its boundaries. At the center of the village was a lone man, laughing and weeping.

 

“I can’t hurt them anymore! I can’t!” His eyes were wild, but more than a bit tragic. Where he looked, though, fire blossomed.

 

Striding directly toward him, Elin wove the only Element that was strong in the Dream, Spirit, and tried to shield the man. It wasn’t likely to succeed, but she had to do something. Her shield bounced off his connection to saidin, and drew his attention directly to her. He howled, seeing her red fringe. The wave of fire that came with his gaze battered at Elin, but she raised a shield of Air to block it.

 

The man was clearly mad... either from the taint or fear of hurting others. Somehow, he found himself dreaming into the World of Dreams. He recognized her for what she was, though,and that only made him worse as he panicked.

 

Throughout the village, people ran and ducked, trying to hide from the flames and the madman who brought them. Realizing she wasn’t strong enough to stop him directly, Elin, began flitting about the village, speaking to every villager she could find.

 

She pulled aside one woman, clutching a child. “It’s only a dream, mistress. Wake yourself, and go back to your own bed.”

 

“It can’t be a dream! Why would I dream of such a madman?” Apparently, terror could erode the famous Borderland respect for Aes Sedai.

 

“I am Aes Sedai. I cannot lie, and I tell you this is a dream.” Elin spoke firmly, looking directly into the other woman’s eyes, and suddenly belief and peace spread across the woman’s face... and just like that, she popped out of existence, most likely waking in her own bed.

 

For what felt like hours, Elin went around the village waking up the people, sending them back to the waking world. Some came back, and had to be woken again... but most were probably too scared to sleep again so soon.

 

Finally, the village was empty, save herself and the crazed male channeler. Though, with no people running and screaming from him, he was much more calm.

 

Walking out from behind a corner, Elin stood directly in his line of sight, hoping he wouldn’t be startled into sending more fire at her.

 

“How did you find me, sister?” He wore his hair in the shaggy mop of a Shienaran peasant, though it was rough from weeks on the road.

 

“Your path hasn’t been very discreet, boy. You do know, this is a dream for you too. There is no fire. You are not killing everyone around you.”

 

“You say that now! But my home! I burnt it to the ground! My family! They all died.”

 

“They did, but you haven’t burnt a single house down in any of the villages you’ve traveled through so far. They are all fine... except for living through a horrible dream.” She smiled her most soothing smile. “Go, rest... and try not to dream like this again.”

 

A small part of her mind registered that it was well after dawn where her body slept, and she would soon have to wake herself.

 

“Wake up boy. My sisters will come find you and help you make sure you never hurt anyone again.”

 

His eyes widened, and he disappeared. Likely the shock of that thought had woken him. No one wanted to lose the Power forever... even if they were terrified of hurting everyone around them.

 

Three long steps took her back to her bedroom, where she laid down and closed her eyes....

 

and then opened them again, to see sunlight pouring in through the windows.

 

Elin stretched as she climbed to her feet. Spending the whole night in the World of Dreams could often be as much work as spending a full day actually working. Perhaps tomorrow she would sleep without the caul, let herself actually rest.

 

At her desk, she took out a creamy piece of paper, and wrote:

 

I have confirmed that there is indeed a male channeler moving West through the Borderlands. He does not appear to be doing much harm, though a source claims he burnt down one farm, which may have been his home in Shienar. He appears to be following a direct path to the Ocean. I suspect he has great strength in Spirit. Old texts say that individuals who are both strong in the Power and strong in Spirit can affect the dreams of those around them. This is likely what is causing the villagers to have nightmares in the villages he visits.

 

That would be sufficient confirmation for the Red Eyes and Ears head. Every word of it was true, though Elin couldn’t help that the woman would assume Elin had confirmed the other reports with her own network’s reports. Her assumptions were none of Elin’s business.

 

After her morning rituals, and dressing for the day, Elin returned the packet of reports along with her note to the Head. She excused herself without staying to chat, knowing the woman would have to prepare a report for the Highest to begin the process of outfitting a mission to capture that poor man. Alternatively, they could always contact sisters known to be in the region, but most were not Reds.

 

Women in the other Ajahs knew the basics of capturing male channelers, but they were not experts like Reds were taught to be. A single Red would be worth any three other Aes Sedai in a battle with a male channeler. A delegation of Reds would have no problems with one man.

 

The rest of Elin’s day went peacefully. She chatted with sisters she knew, observed a pair of Accepted practicing with weaves of Spirit, and even had a quiet cup of tea with the Tower’s Head Cook. It helped to stay on the cook’s good side.

 

As she laid down to sleep, Elin remembered her plan to sleep normally tonight, so she removed the caul, letting her hair spread freely on her pillows. As she sank into sleep, she felt that familiar sensation, knowing she was crossing into the World of Dreams, but she didn’t wake herself immediately. Here was something new!

 

All this time, she had thought she needed the ter’angreal to enter the Dream, perhaps it was still too close and she was getting the effect anyway... but that was neither here nor there. She was back in the Dream.

 

With no set task for the night, Elin went to the basements on a whim. There were always things to learn in places most people forgot existed.

 

Some rooms were filled with dusty furniture, one such was arranged into a comfortable setting... probably for a lover’s tryst. Others were locked, but that was of little significance in the Dream. Those held store rooms with the belongings of long dead Aes Sedai, further unknown ter’angreal, one even held what looked to be a private library of rather foolish novels filled with girlish dreams of wealthy lords and seafolk ships.

 

After a time, Elin found herself near the doors that lead to the chamber where Novices were tested to become Accepted. She let out a small gasp when they banged open, and from within came a horrible scream. Stepping closer, she peered around into the room, and saw a young woman in the tatters of a Novice dress, lying on a table, her arms and legs chained down. All around her were women in Accepted dresses and others in Shawls.

 

The women circling the poor girl were lashing her with weaves of Air, demanding that she answer questions... the questions didn’t seem that difficult, they were mostly history oriented, relating to the post-Hawkwing era... but apparently they were quite difficult for the poor novice.

 

After watching for a few moments, Elin decided to put an end to it, and she stepped through the doors...

 

Suddenly, she was grinning a malicious, toothy smile, weaving a flow of air. “Child, tell me how Ishara convinced her husband to break his siege of Tar Valon.”

 

“She was his wife, Aes Sedai, he should have obeyed her without need of convincing!” The girl cried.

 

“Foolish child! The world is far different outside of your precious Far Madding!” Elin let the whip of air strike the girl.

 

In the back of her mind, Elin was repulsed by what she was doing... but the part that was speaking asked another question, demanding another answer, and punished the girl again when she got it wrong. How could she stop herself? This girl didn’t deserve this treatment! This was perhaps the worst method of sharing knowledge ever. All it would do was scar and scare the poor girl!

 

As she asked another question, Elin’s mind raced... why had she lost control of herself? What was happening? She lashed the girl again. how could she stop this?

 

It’s a dream.

 

The part of Elin that was still rational recognized the girl. She was a Novice from Far Madding who was having trouble adjusting to points of view different than her own. History was especially difficult for her because well to do ladies in Far Madding did not think it proper for their daughters to study the Tower too closely. In the Tower, this Novice couldn’t avoid its presence in History.

 

Even as she thought it through, the other part of her beat the girl for another wrong answer.

 

Then she spoke. “This isn’t real. It’s just another dream.”

 

Everything around them shook a little bit, and she stopped weaving the whips of air. The pause stretched for a moment, then the whips began to fall again.

 

“No. I am not doing this. I refuse. This is not real.”

 

Somehow, just like that poor man in the Borderlands, this girl had found her way into the Dream, and her nightmare had come true. By believing in it... trying to stop it, Elin had given it power over her too. It was just like her dress. If she believed it would look a certain way, it would. If she believed the nightmare was real, it was.

 

Now, she believed it was not.

 

All around her, the nightmare crumpled. The Novice’s tormentors faded away, and the poor girl came loose off the table. Elin gathered her up, and imagined a whole dress for the girl, replacing her tattered rags from the nightmare. “Now, let’s put you back to bed, little one.”

 

With a soft nudge, Elin sent the girl walking back to the Novice Gallery, and watched until the girl popped out of the Dream.

 

Seeing that the girl was gone, Elin woke herself. It was the early hours of the morning still, just before dawn, but she didn’t feel like sleeping anymore.

 

“Apparently, my will matters more in the Dream than anything else. I wonder what all that applies to?” She mused to herself. It would be a long day spent in the Library, re-reading old journals of Aes Sedai long past who had hinted at the World of Dreams. Perhaps they had some insight into how the will applies to the Dream.