A Memory of Light

swung his blade once more.
    All went black.

    Androl felt as if he’d forgotten what it was like to breathe fresh air. The land around him smoldered and quaked, smoke churning in the wind, bringing with it the stench of burning bodies.
    He and the others had moved up across the top of the Heights to the western side, searching for Taim. Much of the Sharan army fought here, contending with the White Tower army.
    Groups of channelers drew fire from one side or the other, so Androl crossed the horrid landscape alone. He stepped over broken patches of smoking earth, crouching low, trying to give off the air of a solitary wounded man trying to creep to safety. He still wore Nensen’s face, but with his head down and his posture low, that mattered very little.
    He sensed a spike of alarm from Pevara, who moved alone nearby.
    What is it? he sent. Are you all right?
    After a tense moment, her thoughts came. I'm fine. A scare with some Sharans. I convinced them I was on their side before they attacked.
    It’s a wonder anyone can tell friend from foe here, Androl sent back. He hoped Emarin and Jonneth were safe. The two had gone together, but if they—
    Androl froze. Up ahead, through the shifting smoke, he saw a ring of Trollocs protecting something. They stood on an outcropping of rock that jutted out of the hillside like the seat of a chair.
    Androl crept forward, hoping to steal a peek.
    Androl! Pevara’s voice in his mind made him jump nearly out of his skin.
    What?
    You were alarmed at something, she said. I was reacting to you.
    He took a few calming breaths. I've found something. Just a moment.
    He drew close enough, indeed, to sense channeling inside the ring. He didn’t know if—
    The Trollocs parted as someone inside barked a command. Mishraile peered out, then scowled. “Its only Nensen!”
    Androl’s heart thumped inside his chest.
    A man wearing black turned from his contemplation of the battle. Taim. In his hands, he carried a thin disc of black and white. He rubbed his thumb across it as he overlooked the battlefield, sneering, as if disdainful of the lesser channelers struggling all about him.
    “Well?” he barked at Androl, turning and dropping the disc into a pouch at his waist.
    “I saw Androl,” Androl said, thinking quickly. Light, the others expected him to approach. He did so, walking past the Trollocs, putting himself right in the belly of the beast. If he could draw close enough ... “I followed him for a while.” Nensen always spoke in a rough, gravelly voice, and Androl did his best to imitate it. Pevara could have worked the voice into the weave, but hadn’t known it well enough.
    “I don’t care about that one! Fool. What is Demandred doing?”
    “He saw me,” Androl said. “He didn’t like me being over there. He sent me back to you and said that if he saw any of us away from this position, he’d kill us.”
    Androl. . . Pevara sent, worried. He couldn’t spare the concentration to reply. It took all he had to keep from shaking as he stepped up close to Taim.
    Taim rubbed his forehead with two fingers, closing his eyes. “And I thought you could do this simple thing.” Taim created a complex weave of Spirit and Fire. It struck like a viper at Androl.
    Pain suddenly moved up Androl’s body, starting in his feet, surging through his limbs. He screamed, collapsing to the ground.
    “Do you like that?” Taim asked. “I learned it from Moridin. I do think he’s trying to turn me against Demandred.”
    Androl screamed in his own voice. That horrified him, but the others did not seem to notice. When Taim finally released the weave, the pain faded. Androl found himself groveling on the dirty ground, his limbs still spasming from the memory of the pain.
    “Get up,” Taim growled.
    Androl began to lurch to his feet.
    I'm coming, Pevara sent.
    Stay back, he replied. Light, he felt powerless. As he stood up, he stumbled into Taim, his legs refusing to work as they should.
    “Fool,” Taim said, shoving Androl back. Mishraile caught him. “Stand still.” Taim began another weave. Androl tried to pay attention, but he was too nervous to catch the details of the weave. It hovered in front of him, then wrapped around him.
    “What are you doing?” Androl asked. He didn’t have to fake the tremor in his voice. That pain.
    “You said you saw Androl?” Taim said. “I’m placing a Mask of Mirrors on you and inverting the weave, making you look like him. I want you to pretend