The Strike at Shayol Ghul Read online

  The Strike at Shayol Ghul

  The Strike at Shayol Ghul

  Prequel to The Wheel of Time

  Robert Jordan

  Foreword by Robert Jordan

  Sometimes fans ask me whether I mean to write prequels to The Wheel of Time.

  While some requests are for books about The Trolloc Wars or the rise and fall of

  the High King, Artur Hawking, or the life histories of various characters, the

  most frequent are for books about the AOL and its end in the War of the Power,

  and the most often asked question is, I believe, "Why, when the greatest feats

  of the Age of Legends were done by men and women working together with the One

  Power, was the final attack on Shayol Ghul carried out by men alone?" At present

  I do not intend to write any of those books, but I won't say that a story or two

  might not creep out eventually. I do not normally do short fiction. My editor

  claims that for me, a short story means fifty thousand words. As for the

  question, though . . . I hope that those fans (and the rest of you) will be

  satisfied for the time with what follows, a fictional bit of "non-fiction," a

  piece from an Age called the Third Age by some, an Age yet to come, an Age long

  past . . .

  The Strike at Shayol Ghul

  (A Preliminary Introduction)

  by Jorille Mondevin,

  Royal Historian to the Court of

  Her Most Illuminated Majesty, Ethenielle Kirukon Materasu,

  By the Blessing of the Light,

  Queen of Kandor,

  Protector of the Land,

  Shield of the North,

  High Seat of House Materasu.

  O ne of the most important finds of recent years, perhaps since the Breaking, is

  a partial copy of no less than a history of the world from the drilling of the

  Bore into the Dark One's Prison to the End of the Breaking of the world. The

  original apparently dated from early in the First Century A.B. Despite the

  extreme paucity of material from the entire first millennium after the Breaking,

  we can only be thankful that the art of printing survived the Breaking of the

  World when so much else did not, and was indeed practiced to some extent during

  the Breaking itself, though under severe and restricted conditions. Considering

  the widespread destruction of The Trolloc Wars and the War of the Hundred Years,

  which although far less than the near totality of the Breaking still saw cities,

  nations, and far worse, knowledge, go to the fires, we must marvel at any

  writing that has survived more than three thousand years. What we know is based

  on fragments, copied and recopied a thousand times, but at least we know

  something from them. Even a little knowledge is better than ignorance.

  Discovered in a dusty storage room in Chachin, the pages were in a chest full of

  old bills and receipts, students' copy books and private diaries, some so foxed

  by age and with ink so faded as to be unreadable where the pages themselves had

  not crumbled. The fragmentary manuscript was readable, barely, but presented the

  usual problems, quite aside from the difficulties of translation and dealing

  with centuries of copyists' errors; such a history would no doubt be a vast,

  multi-volume work (please see the author's Note at the end), yet of the two

  hundred and twelve surviving pages, the largest number of consecutive pages

  number six, and nowhere else more than two. Such dates as are given are totally

  incomprehensible, as no calendar dating from the Age of Legends has ever been

  found. Many references to cataclysmic events (dire battles and cities destroyed

  by balefire during the War of the Shadow, whole regions covered by the sea and

  mountain ranges raised overnight during the Breaking) and to such minutiae as

  the appearance of a certain person are but curiosities. The pages which might

  reveal exactly where these things happened, what their special significance was,

  the resolution or end result, are usually missing. Why then is this collection

  so important? First because, sundered as it is, it contains more information of

  the War of the Shadow than any other known single source, perhaps as much as all

  other sources combined in some ways. But even more importantly, it gives a great

  deal of information available nowhere else. And most importantly of all, the six

  consecutive pages and others which must be placed close to them contain the only

  known account of events surrounding what surely must be the most far-reaching

  single event in the history of the world, in any Age: the sealing of the Bore by

  Lews Therin Telamon and the Hundred Companions.

  We still cannot be certain how long passed between the creation of the Bore and

  the actual beginning of what would come to be called the War of the Shadow, yet

  plainly at least fifty years and possibly more than one hundred were marked by a

  rapid decline in the social order and an equally rapid increase in a thousand

  ills that previously had been either rare or entirely unknown. War itself was a

  "new" discovery, it seems, though one quickly learned, some might even say

  perfected. The War of the Shadow tilted one way, then another, in fire and

  blood, over its course. During the first three years, the Shadow made great

  gains, and large parts of the world fell beneath the horror of the Dark One's

  dominion, however indirectly through human representatives. And surely, the

  presence of Myrddraal and Trollocs cannot be called indirect. Under the

  leadership of Lews Therin Telamon, the legendary Dragon of the Prophecies, much

  of what had been lost was retaken over the next four years, though not without

  reverses. At that point, a stalemate developed, and for nearly a year neither

  side was able to effect any gain despite fierce fighting, but when the stalemate

  broke, the Shadow began to advance again, slowly at first but with ever

  increasing speed. According to the writer of that fragmentary history, "It was

  as if every step forward by the Shadow scattered the spores of chaos before it,

  and feeding on what grew, the Shadow gained strength, so that its next stride

  was longer, and the next step would be longer still."

  Huge areas had been devastated to varying degrees by this time as the war surged

  back and forth around the world, and it was obvious that while the Shadow was

  willing to starve or murder a great percentage of the population in the

  conquered territories, the forces of the Light could no longer sustain a

  protracted war. They were losing, being pushed toward inevitable defeat with

  increasing speed, and if they were to win at all, it must be done quickly.

  One of the plans for ending the war quickly, proposed by Lews Therin, centered

  around a direct attack on the Bore itself. Seven "focus points" (there seems no

  better translation from the old tongue, although they are obviously the Seals of

  Legend) were constructed of cuendillar. A raiding force — so they called it,

  though even in the light of recent past events it must still seem a large army

  to most people of this day —
a raiding force consisting of some twenty thousand

  soldiers to provide security and a circle of seven female Aes Sedai and six male

  (the minimum number believed necessary, and all the strongest who could be

  found) would Travel to Shayol Ghul , the one place on earth where what has been

  called "a thinness in the Pattern" makes the Bore detectable, and there to

  implant seals held by the focus points which would close up the Bore and shut

  the Dark One from the world once more.

  This plan was considered risky for a number of reasons. Even today it is known

  that the Dark One has a certain degree of effect on the world close around

  Shayol Ghul, and it was probable that any attempt to channel there would be

  instantly detected and the raiding party destroyed. Lews Therin himself, who

  intended to personally lead this huge raid, admitted that even with sucess, he

  expected few of the attackers to survive, perhaps none. Worse, several experts

  claimed that if the seals were not placed with exact precision, the resulting

  strain would, instead of sealing up the Bore, rip it open, freeing the Dark One

  completely.

  Another plan at the time centered around two huge sa'angreal, one attuned to

  saidin and one to saidar, both so powerful that using them required special

  ter'angreal, like miniature versions of the great sa'angreal, constructed

  especially for the purpose of accessing the sa'angreal. This project had its

  detractors, too, for the sa'angreal were planned to be so powerful that either

  one might well provide enough of the One Power to destroy the world, while both

  together certainly would. Some doubted that so much of the One Power could be

  handled safely under the circumstances. Against that was the certainty,

  according to the plan's supporters, that used together they would provide

  sufficient Power to drive the Shadow's forces back, to defeat them completely

  and erect a barrier around Shayol Ghul until a safe method of dealing with the

  Bore was assured.

  Detractors pointed out that the Bore had enlarged since it was first drilled,

  and behind the barricade erected by the sa'angreal it would continue to grow, so

  that eventually the Dark One might free himself within the barrier. The barrier

  might well contain the Dark One when all he could do was reach through the

  relatively small Bore, but could it hold back the Dark One let loose?

  The hall of the Servants quickly divided into two camps, and those who favored

  one plan derided the other.

  Support for the use of the great sa'angreal and opposition to attempting to

  implant the seals centered around a woman named Latra Posae Decume. Apparently a

  speaker of considerable force and persuasion, she gathered a large bloc around

  her, but what assured her victory was an agreement she reached with every female

  Aes Sedai of significant strength on the side of the Light. (In the manuscript,

  this agreement is called "the Fateful Concord," though it was doubtful that this

  was the name it was generally known.) Lews Therin's plan was too rash, too

  dangerous, and no woman who agreed to the Concord would take part in it. As

  precise placement of the seals was widely thought to require a circle, that

  apparently killed the plan, since men cannot create a circle, but can only be

  brought into one created by women. Work on the sa'angreal, in the form of two

  huge statues, was rushed forward. (1)

  Just as the paired sa'angreal were completed, disaster struck. The access

  ter'angreal were being made at a place far removed from the sa'angreal

  (apparently because of a danger of "uncontrolled resonances during the final

  stages," whatever that means), and that region was overrun by forces under

  Sammael. The only good point in it was that the ter'angreal themselves had been

  hidden and the place where they were made destroyed (its very existence had been

  a secret at the highest levels all along) so that neither Sammael nor anyone

  else for the Shadow knew that any of these things were now within their grasp.

  The side of the Light still had the sa'angreal, but no safe way to access them;

  without the ter'angreal it was certain that even the strongest Aes Sedai would

  be burned out instantly by the huge flow of the One Power.

  Lews Therin argued again for his plan, acknowledging the risks but saying that

  was now the only chance, yet Posae maintained her opposition. Belief in the

  danger of misplacing the seals had spread, and many more female Aes Sedai had

  pledged to the "Fateful Concord," including a great number who were nowhere near

  strong enough to qualify for the raiding party circle. Tempers and passions

  rose, and an apparently unprecedented division along male-female lines began to

  develop among the Aes Sedai in general, if not within the Hall itself. Finally

  the Hall decided to continue with Latra Posae's plan, and her people began

  working to smuggle the access ter'angreal out of Shadow-controlled territory.

  (2)

  Almost immediately on the heels of Sammael's advance, armies commanded by

  Demandred and Bel'al struck heavily. At this point in the war, halting an

  advance by the Shadow was the best that could be hoped for; no conquered

  territory had been regained in the past two years. In intense and bloody

  fighting, these two drives were barely contained, but Demandred and Bel'al kept

  the pressure on. Sammael began a new offensive, also scarcely held, and there is

  mention of heavy military activity elsewhere. Apparently both of the great

  sa'angreal were threatened by these offensives; in fact, it was possible that

  they were the target. Massive riots swept a number of cities still held by the

  Light and the "re-emergence of the peace faction" is mentioned, apparently a

  group demanding negotiations with the Forsaken. (3) The final defeat was at

  hand; the will of the people to resist was fading, and should any one of the

  three major offensives commanded by Forsaken break through the end would be only

  a matter of time, perhaps as little as months. With Latra Posae's opposition

  continuing in the face of these events (4), and the female Aes Sedai holding to

  their pledge and thus making use of a circle impossible (the lines of division

  had hardened to a point where many female Aes Sedai refused to speak to male Aes

  Sedai, and the reverse as well), Lews Therin resolved to carry out his plan

  without the approval of, or even approaching, the Hall. Plainly it was going to

  be impossible to hold the huge sa'angreal long enough for the access ter'angreal

  to be smuggled out. In Lews Therin's view, there was no longer any choice.

  A group of powerful young male Aes Sedai, vocal in their arguements (apparently

  to the point of several times disrupting meetings of the Hall), had formed in

  support of Lews Therin during the struggle with Latra Posae, a group popularly

  called the Hundred Companions, though in actuality they numbered one hundred and

  thirteen at this point. As the highest military leader for the Light, Lews

  Therin was able to assemble a force of some ten thousand soldiers unbeknownst to

  the Hall. With that force and the Hundred Companions, he launched his planned

  attack at Shayol Ghul.

  Exactly what occured that day can never be known, o
nly the results. Of the

  soldiers, not a single man or woman returned to give any account. The seals were

  placed safely, without ripping open the Dark One's prison as many opponents had

  feared. By chance, all thirteen of the Forsaken were at Shayol Ghul (perhaps

  summonded for a conference with the Dark One?), and they were trapped in the

  sealing, thus decapitating at one stroke the Shadow's leadership. Though most of

  the world was held for the Shadow, if that had been the whole result it is

  certain that over the next few years the Shadow would have been extinguished all

  across the face of the earth. Civilization had retained a large degree of

  cohesion in the areas held by the Light, far more so than in those held by the

  Shadow. Deprived of their highest levels (and also perhaps because of the loss

  of the Dark One's infuence) the Shadowsworn fell into struggles among themselves

  for power, dividing into warring, vulnerable well before the Breaking progressed

  to a point that made the war the least of anyone's concerns. In any case, the

  War of the Shadow must be said to have ended that day at Shayol Ghul. So it is

  generally recorded.

  But that was not the only result, of course. Instead, there was the

  counterstroke from the Dark One at the moment of sealing, and saidin itself was

  tainted. Lews Therin and the sixty-eight survivors of the Hundred Companions

  went insane on the instant. Within days they were leaving trails of death and

  destruction in their paths. By the time the taint on saidin was discovered,

  hundreds more male Aes Sedai had been driven mad, and what remained of

  civilization after the war itself had fallen into chaos. Even informing all the

  remaining sane male Aes Sedai of the danger was now impossible. That fateful day

  at Shayol Ghul ended the war, and began the Breaking of the World.

  The most suitable comment surely comes from what appears to be the introduction

  of the fragmentary manuscript. "Whoever read this, if any remain to read it,

  weep for us who have no more tears. Pray for us who are damned alive."

  Author's Note

  All volumes of "The Complete History of the War of the Shadow" and "The Breaking

  of the World" will be available by subscription upon application to Mistress