Combat Weaves 4

[Quibby]

Tar Valon was a distant spot of white light when Janine brought the class to a stop. Ahead of the group was a familiar set-up of hay bales, stones, and logs. “For those of you trying to calculate, we are about ten miles away from the city. There are no farms nearby, and it is highly unlikely that anybody will venture in this direction.” Gesturing to the props, Janine added, “As you can see, several of the Tower staff and I have already been here.”

 

Dismounting, Janine took her place in front of the gathered women. “I do not know who here will be able to form these weaves; I know that you Accepted will be unable. However, it is important that everybody here know these weaves. Several of them are, in every instance, lethal. Therefore, you need to know what you see so that you can counter it.”

 

As the other women dismounted, Janine began by weaving a shield of Earth and Fire, strain showing on her face as she did so. The weave barely managed to form, but when it did, it covered the entire group except for her. “This is a grounded shield. Learn it well, as it is your best defense against lightning, which will be the main focus of today's lessons.

 

“Now, before we begin, I need to warn you that these weaves are incredibly dangerous, and as such, are not to be used lightly. There is no taking back what you do with lightning; it will always be lethal if you strike your opponent with it. It takes incredible amounts of skill, and the power required to weave it is high enough that even a weak blast will kill somebody. Only use lightning if you are attacked by Shadowspawn or in the absolute last defense of your life.”

 

With that said, Janine turned her attention to the sky. Opening herself to saidar, Janine wove a complex weave of all five Powers and touched it to the sky. The effect was immediate. The light clouds in the sky billowed and soared high into the heavens, blotting out the sun and growing dark and heavy. Within minutes, the first rumbles of thunder were heard. Behind her, Janine could feel the Aes Sedai weaving another shield, this time of Air, underneath the grounded shield that Janine had created. Shortly after, Janine felt the first drops of rain on her shoulders.

 

“Our second weave of the day is yet another weave that will allow you to control the battlefield. Rain is the ultimate demoralizer. Soldiers in heavy armor will chafe, and bowstrings will lose their tightness, which in turn makes them less powerful and less accurate.” As Janine spoke, the rain grew heavier, soaking into her hair and into her dress, bringing a smile to her face. Janine loved the rain. “Do not expect a storm to form as quickly as this one did; my Talent is in weather manipulation. Make sure that, if you use this weave, you allow it time to work.” Rubbing her hands together, Janine said, “Now, to the lesson.”

 

Janine prepared a weave of Air and Fire, then addressed the women behind her. “There are several weaves relating to lightning. Each has its place, and each is harder than the one before it. The first one requires a preexisting storm.” Touching the weave to a distant pile of stones, Janine touched the other end of the weave to the angry clouds above them. The resulting bolt of lightning blasted the pile of stones apart. Reaching out with Earth, Janine created another pile of stone and said, “As you can see, this weave will cause damage to a relatively large area. Again, be careful with these weaves, as they are deadly.” With that, Janine stepped inside the grounded shield and said, “Now, Aes Sedai only, try the weave. Accepted, I expect you to study the weave as the Aes Sedai create it. Learn it well.”

 

When the last Aes Sedai completed the weave, Janine said, “Now, this next weave requires a great skill in Air, but it is absolutely devastating. Use it against large groups of Shadowspawn or against armies dedicated to your destruction.” Janine wove again, forming a large cylinder of Air, then forced it into the clouds. A funnel formed almost immediately, reaching down to the ground as debris from the ground reached up to the funnel. Above the roar, Janine shouted, “This is a weave that you must maintain in order to control the tornado! Otherwise, it will continue to work on its own, and there is no telling where it will go!” Letting the weave go, Janine watched as the tornado slowly dissipated. “Again, Aes Sedai who wish to try this weave may do so. Accepted, watch and learn.”

 

After the final tornado faded into nothing, Janine stepped out from underneath the shields and back into the rain. “This next weave is another lightning weave. Unlike the first weave, though, we do not need a storm from which to work.” Channeling saidar into the clouds, Janine forced the storm to subside. The rain went from a downpour to a drizzle, then faded away entirely. Turning saidar onto herself, Janine forced the rainwater from her hair and clothes. The dress would be stained and her short hair frizzled, but Janine would deal with that as soon as she returned to the Tower. “In this weave, you become the source of the lightning. A charge will build up around you when you form the weave, and touching your target with the weave will discharge part of the charge, sending lightning arcing at your target.”

 

Channeling saidar again, Janine wove all five Powers around herself. Immediately, she could feel the power around her, could smell the charged air. Her hair began to stand up around her head. “You will feel the charge around you. Others will be able to see it. Notice my hair. If they know what they are seeing, then a channeler will be able to defend against it. Never hold the charge as long as I am now. It is not dangerous, but it is possible to block.” That said, Janine turned and pointed at another rock. The weave discharged, sending a blindly bright blue bolt of lightning streaking to the rock, where it blasted it apart. “I believe everybody knows how this works now. Aes Sedai, weave. Accepted, watch.”

 

When the final Aes Sedai stepped back into the shielded area, Janine said, “Now, this last weave is probably beyond even the Aes Sedai who are here. It takes tremendous amounts of power and skill. It is the most dangerous weave that I know. The books where I found it called it Chain Lightning. I'm showing it to you so you know what the weave looks like. It might buy you time to defend yourself, if you see it.” Gesturing to the bales of hay strewn across the field, Janine continued. “This weave channels a powerful bolt of lightning to a target, where it then leaps to whoever is around the target, and so on. This weave can kill or incapacitate an entire platoon, and is only to be used in extreme circumstances, as it cannot be controlled beyond the original strike.”

 

Janine wove, throwing both of her hands towards the closest hay bale. A ball of lightning flew from her hands, blasting the hay bale apart. The blast arced from the first bale to the five next to it, and from there it hit the nine around those five. Each target destroyed arced to the nearest remaining bales. When the smoke from the burning bales cleared, there were none remaining. With a nod, Janine said, “Any who wish to try this weave may do so, but it is incredibly difficult. Be warned.”

 

After several minutes, Janine concluded, “That is the end of this course. I hope you have learned from this, and I hope that you never need these weaves, though I suspect that you will at some time in your life. Let's return to the Tower.”

 

Weaves covered:

 

Summon Storm (incidental)

Grounded Shield (incidental)

Lightning (Storm)

Flame Arrow

Tornado

Lightning (Channel)

Chain Lightning

 

You can find a weave table and descriptions here.

[Guest]

Another week had passed. This was supposed to be the last basic "Combat Weaves" lesson for Myrrhi. Indeed, more classes were available to the Accepted who wanted to improve their combat skills but those were specialized according to the technique the channeler had to use to fight and / or to defend herself. Myrrhi had signed in in all of them, even the classes that would lead her to channel threads of Fire threads. The Accepted knew that she'd have to train a lot for those, but she didn't care. She wanted to be one of the best student in that area, if the not THE best.

 

She had woken up early that day. She had barely taken the time to freshen up her face and to comb her hair. She really wanted to be the first one to join Janine this time hoping that it would earn her some extra points. Just like she had done as a Novice, Myrrhi rushed through the stairs and corridors. She was less clumsy now, she didn't stumble on anyone and even managed to jump over a couple of fences when no one was around. She would not have dared doing so when watched. To make a nice jump, she had to pull up her skirts and that was surely not something an Accepted was supposed to do.

 

Her efforts paid up. She was the first student to arrive on the meeting spot.

"Good morning, Janine Sedai", Myrrhi smiled, trying to catch her breath. It was hard to know whether or not Janine appreciated to see her students hurrying that much to come to her classes.  The Aes Sedai nodded then looked away, probably to check where were her other students.

 

***

 

The Accepted had thought that the group would have reached another city for the day's class. It was silly, she understood now. Why would one go in a city to practice combat weaves? Janine and her students had left Tar Valon like announced but they hadn't gone far. From the field they had reached, the White Tower could still be seen. It was only a white spot of light in the distance, true, but it was still there. Myrrhi felt that she had been conned.

 

A training area had been prepared like for the first lessons. Hay bales, stones and logs had been carefully arranged. Nothing knew..., Myrrhi sighed, disappointed. She tried not to react further to the familiar set up. This was the last lesson of this series of classes and she didn't want to have it spoiled.

 

Janine started by explaining how far they were from Tar Valon and how safe people were from the students as she dismounted. No one was around. They were not likely to hurt nor kill anybody. The Aes Sedai left their horses in the cares of the Tower servants who had accompanied the group before joining the teacher. Myrrhi didn't have to do the same. As the other Accepted, she had walked from the meeting spot to the training area. She hadn't mind. She didn't like horses.

The Sister of the Green Ajah channeled threads of Earth and Fire to build a Grounded Shield. It was supposed to be a defense against lightening. Myrrhi focused on the weave hoping to be able to reproduce it later. She had to smile when she heard that Janine would present lightning weaves that day. Since she had learned about the Stasis Shield, Myrrhi had felt less useless when it came to fighting large groups of enemies. She hoped that she'd learn more weaves like that one in the coming hours.

Janine's next words were warnings of course. Lightning weaves were dangerous. Myrrhi nodded and tried to hide her smile. She liked to learn about dangerous things.

 

***

Janine looked at the clouds above her then opened herself to Saidar. Quickly, she wove one of the most complex weave Myrrhi had seen so far and sent it toward the sky. After a fraction of a second, the clouds billowed and soared high above until they hid the sun. The Accepted shivered at the darkness not knowing what to expect. Then, she heard the first rumbles of thunder. They made goosebumps appear all over her skin. As much as she didn't like rain, she loved thunder. It made Nature appear strong and mysterious. Looking around, she saw that some of the other Aes Sedai had woven shields of Air. Myrrhi wondered why. It is only an instant later when she felt icy drops of rain on her head that she got her answer...

 

Janine had not woven such a shield for herself, though. It seemed that the woman appreciated the rain or at least didn't mind it. Myrrhi hesitated. She wanted to weave a shield for herself but she was not a fully raised Sister. Channeling in a class without having the teacher's permission was forbidden and it didn't seem to her that Janine would allow the Accepted to protect themselves. She believed that Aes Sedai and Accepted needed to be strong, like many Sisters of the Green Ajah. Still, Myrrhi looked around to see if one of the other Accepted would dare to ask for some cover. None did. Let's not be brave today!  Myrrhi thought as she decided to stay the way she was, hoping that she would not get sick the next day.

“Our second weave of the day is yet another weave that will allow you to control the battlefield. Rain is the ultimate demoralizer." said Janine, water running down her hair. Myrrhi nodded to her teacher's words, not feeling very cheery herself. Janine went on. "Soldiers in heavy armor will chafe, and bowstrings will lose their tightness, which in turn makes them less powerful and less accurate. Do not expect a storm to form as quickly as this one did; my Talent is in weather manipulation. Make sure that, if you use this weave, you allow it time to work.”

 

The Accepted bit her lower lip when she heard Janine speaking about her Talent. She didn't have one herself, well not yet, and felt a bit jealous. She shouldn't have any resentment. Many Sisters didn't have any Talent. For some, discovering their Talent had taken years. Myrrhi knew about it. She knew that she was only a young woman who still had to discover many things, including things about herself, but she didn't like to feel less powerful than others.

 

***

 

Janine prepared a weave of Air and Fire, and channeled the Lightning weave. With it, she made a pile of stone explode. Myrrhi was ready to reproduce the weaving when the Green Sister announced that only the Aes Sedai would recreate the weaves. The Accepted were only allowed to study the threads. Nothing more.

 

***

The next weave required skill with Air. It started with a large cylinder of that element, that had to be forced it into the clouds to create a funnel. The Accepted watched Janine forming a tornado with awe. Forgetting about the rain, Myrrhi repeated the weaving in her head. This would be devastating, and she was getting better and better with Air lately. Myrrhi smiled thinking of her future self mastering a battlefield thanks to attacks just like these.

 

Again, only the Aes Sedai were allowed to channel. Myrrhi tried not to show her disappointment on her face.

 

The next weaves were about lightning again. The first one was a lightning weave that didn't require an existing storm to be channeled, so Janine dissipated the one she had summoned. Myrrhi was thankful. She was still wet and cold but the rays of the sun she now felt would help improve her situation.
“In this weave, you become the source of the lightning" said the teacher. "A charge will build up around you when you form the weave, and touching your target with the weave will discharge part of the charge, sending lightning arcing at your target.” The weave was more complicated than it had appeared to be. It needed the weaving of the five powers and a complete self control. For once, Myrrhi was happy that she didn't have to channel. Some of the Aes Sedai managed to recreate the weaving quite fast, others failed more that once. Myrrhi tried not to meet the eyes of those ones. Aes Sedai didn't like to fail in front of Accepted.

 

***
“Now, this last weave is probably beyond even the Aes Sedai who are here. It takes tremendous amounts of power and skill. It is the most dangerous weave that I know. The books where I found it called it Chain Lightning. I'm showing it to you so you know what the weave looks like. It might buy you time to defend yourself, if you see it.” Janine gestured to the hay bales and went on with her teaching. She explained that the weave could severely damage if not kill an entire platoon. She also warned her students that the weave could not be controlled beyond the original strike. Myrrhi raised an eyebrow at that, thinking that ground shields could probably be used to prevent unwanted damages. I will try to put that to the test, she told herself before concentrating on Janine.

The woman channeled a ball of lightning towards one of the hay bale. It was blasted apart. The lightning bold arced from the first bale to the ones around it making them explode. From there other bolts were sent to the other bales and so on. In a couple of seconds, nothing was left of the targets. Some of the bravest Aes Sedai tried to repeat the weaves. The others joined the Accepted to study and watch.

 

***

Janine concluded, “That is the end of this course. I hope you have learned from this, and I hope that you never need these weaves, though I suspect that you will at some time in your life. Let's return to the Tower.”

 

Myrrhi didn't know what to think of what she had learned that day. She had seen a lot of things but had not practice much. I have to find a way to train those lightning weaves and my skills with Fire. During the best part of the journey she tried to repeat in her mind the threads and the weaves she had seen, hoping she'd be able to reproduce them.