Chapter One

The Wind Begins To Blow

The Wheel of Time turns, and Ages come and pass, leaving memories that become legend. Legend fades to myth, and even myth is long forgotten when the Age that gave it birth comes again. In one Age, called the Third Age by some, an Age yet to come, an Age long past, a wind rose above the city of Saldea. The wind was not the beginning. There are neither beginnings nor endings to the Wheel of Time. But it was a beginning…

The city of Saldea sits in the borderlands and stays vigilant because of trollic attacks. Every man, woman, and child from the time of birth learns to hold a weapon. Their fiery spirit is matched by their red colored hair. They stand ready to oppose the Dark One and his armies. 

A few years ago a team had set out when they heard of a small trollic camp near the city. Only a small number of men were sent to dispatch the beasts that foolishly came with such weak numbers. The captain was a man named Dav’Altor and his hair looked like the flames of a campfire. 

He believed that only the strong matter and weakness must be crushed in order for the world to survive. This made him difficult to work with because any weakness he found among his men he would try to beat it out of them. Though hated by many he had the highest success rate for the missions he was given. Anyone foolish enough to join his garrison soon learned the cost of serving under him. 

He motioned for his team to creep forward and he saw a handful of trollics. A horrifying crossing of human and animal stock with physical characteristics of both. He saw one on sentry duty that had the snout of a bull protruding from the human like mouth on its face. It sniffed the air then began to look around as it smelled the soldiers. 

“Archers ready.” Dav’Altor whisper-shouted to his snipers as they readied their long bows. The trollic stepped forward cautiously as it searched for the source of the scents it smelled. Ir drew a battle axe that was as large as any man but it held it as easily as any man holding a dagger. 

Dav’Altor waited for the trollic to enter range of the bows but he was more interested in what was going on behind the trollic. He needed to be ready should the snipers fail and the trollic alerted his fellow creatures. The trollics behind the sentry seemed busy preparing the captives they had for their cooking pots. 

Large black cast iron kettles bubbled and simmered the dark colored stew inside. One trollic was carving up the corpse of one of the captive and was adding the flesh and bones to the stew. Even from this distance the thought of the smell was nauseating. 

“Now!” Dav’Altor ordered and the archers let loose their arrows. Three consecutive arrows struck the trollic in the temple and it fell forward with a look of panic not realizing it was already dead. 

The army now moved forward and waited until they reached the edge of the trollic encampment before they let loose their battle cry and charged. The trollic were completely caught off guard as the Saldeans rushed in butchering the beasts before they were even ready to defend themselves. The trollic would have done the same had the roles been reversed yet trollics are not as intelligent enough to think of suck plans. At least not in Dav’Altor’s opinion. 

With the last of them howling as they died, Dav’Altor turned his attention to the cage where the captives were kept. A young dark haired boy sat crying having watched them butcher his parents. The  boy had watched and listened to the screams of his mother begging for his life as the trollic cut her into pieces and added her to the cooking pot. His father had tried to resist but without any weapons to defend himself he was easy prey for them. 

It was unclear if the boy was going to be added next or saved for a snack tomorrow when Dav’Altor’s ambush had saved him. Tears blurred the boy’s vision as he looked at the strangers that had saved him. 

“What do we do with him, sir?” One of the Sadldeans asked. Dav’Altor could tell he was not a Saldean with his dark hair and his brown eyes. He must have been stolen on a raid when trollic invaded his village. 

“We’ll take him as a slave.” Dav’Altor said coldly. He felt they had no other choice because the boy would not survive on his own. He had no interest in adopting the boy but maybe he could keep him long enough to enlist him in the army to fight the trollics. He could mold him and train him to get ready to fight for the glory of Saldea. 

Several years later, a dark haired scantily clad boy ran on the darkened streets as he rushed to escape his fate. His dirty light colored was marred by cuts and scrapes freshly made as he ran. He had been in such a rush that no matter how many times he fell or collided with objects in his way. He would just get up and begin to carelessly run again. 

If he was caught he knew the punishment would be death! Not only because he was now officially a runaway slave but because of what he did! He was not sure how it happened but there was no denying what he did.

A runaway slave would merely face an execution once caught and found to be a slave. A male, like him, that could channel would be handed over to the Aes Sedai and face a fate worse than death!

In an age called The Age of Legends by most, it was a time of amazing accomplishments. Men and women with the ability to channel could do things undreamed of today. They built schools and tools, some even made weapons that can never be reproduced in the modern age. 

They became greedy and that led to the downfall called The Breaking of the World. A group of Aes Sedai thought they found a new power that seemed greater than the One Power they use to channel. 

The One Power was used by The Creator to make the world and everything in the universe. The One power is divided into Saidin and Saidar, where Saidin is the male half of The True Source that men use to channel and Saidar is the female half. 

The Aes Sedai used The One Power to bore a hole into reality and it freed The Dark One from the prison The Creator had cast him into. Once free his creatures began to flood forth trying to conquer the world. The Dark One used his influence to lure many to join his side by promising them wealth and power. 

Lews Therin Telamon, also called The Dragon, who was the greatest male channeler known came up with a plan to seal The Dark One back in his prison. The female Aes Sedai were against this plan and left him and his 100 companions to carry out the plan alone. 

Lews Therin and the Hundred Companions took it on themselves to seal the Bore with the seven seals without the aid of the female channelers. While this plan succeeded in temporarily closing the Bore, the Dark One tainted Saidin in his counter-stroke.

Any man that channels the One Power will eventually go mad because of the taint on Saidin. Many of the strongest male channelers, including Lews Therin, went mad from the taint and the destruction they unleashed upon the world led to what was called The Breaking of the World.

The female remnants of the Aes Sedai banded together in The White Tower to try and teach the new generations how to control The One Power. In addition, the Aes Sedai now hunt men that can channel and try to remove their ability, called gentling, to prevent another such Breaking. Though that is not all that Aes Sedai are known for. 

Since Dav’Altor had saved him, Ktanos had been his personal slave. Dav’Altor was a cruel master that demanded perfection in everything and failure to appease him meant constant beatings. Dav’Altor would try and soothe him after the beatings by telling him that it was for his own good. That he was being toughened up to prepare him when Dav’Altor enlisted him in the Saldean Army. 

Dav’Altor may have seen himself as a loving father but Ktanos thought otherwise. He only had a ragged pair of small clothes to wear, though the heat of the Waste kept him plenty warm, it was just a humiliating reminder that he was a slave. He was also locked into a small cage at nights  barely big enough for a dog to live in.

He wore manacles on his wrists and ankles chaining them together to limit his movement, should he try to escape, and tell others that he was a slave. Should he be foolish enough to try and escape he could be easily rounded up and returned to Dav’Altor to face execution. 

He was starting to enter puberty when he had first noticed something was different about him. He would often sit locked in his cage when a strange feeling came over him. During the time he was afraid he felt an energy entering into him from somewhere. This power was strange because he would be sitting in his cage sweating from the heat outside while inside of him he was freezing. 

He would see goose flesh on his arms and whatever the energy was, it took away the pain of the beatings. The only other strange thing was that it also had a way of giving him heartburn and his stomach would feel ill. 

It took a bit but he soon discovered that his fear was involved in calling it. He then tried to control his fear to control this power at will. Tonight was the first time that he fully understood that he was channeling the One Power. While he was channeling he looked at the cuffs of his ankles and he found he could direct the flows of Saidin into them and they immediately unlocked! 

He tried the same thing on the ones on his wrists and they opened just as easily. He thought he was dreaming but when the cage opened he knew finally what he had done. He remembered hearing the tales told to other boys about Aes Sedai and how they would hunt down men who could channel. He knew he had to get away before they found him and he was sure they would eventually find him even though he had no idea what he was doing. 

Dav’Altor was asleep in his favorite chair with an empty tankard overturned on the floor next to him. His many years of war had left him with terrible nightmares from what he had witnessed. He found he needed to drink himself into a drunken stupor in order to either forget what his dreams were or to have a dreamless sleep. 

Ktanos crept silently making sure not to wake his master as he edged towards the door of their house and his freedom. He had not even realized that he was escaping until the door closed behind him and he stood outside in the evening air. Trying to escape the Aes Sedai had blinded him to what was really happening. 

He took off running as fast as he could and did not look back because he was afraid there were Aes Sedai chasing him. He had never seen an Aes Sedai but he pictured 10 foot tall women laughing and cackling wildly while great clouds of colored smoke surrounded them and they chased after him. Their long sharp fingernails reached to grab him and to do to him whatever they did to men who could channel. 

This fear pushed him onward and no matter how many times he fell and scraped his body he would jump back up and begin running. He also kept tight control over his fear and channeling because he had no idea if they could sense him doing it or not. 

He was grateful the evening had sent everyone to their homes and he mostly moved about unseen. He just made sure that any of the night watch wouldn’t see him and sound any alarms to alert his presence. He was sure that would call the Aes Sedai if not also summon Dav’Altor. 

He ran into an ally and paused to catch his breath as he looked around the corner to see if he was being followed. He let out a sigh of relief that he had not seen anyone. A quick meow as a cat caught a mouse next to a refuse bin. made him instantly forget everything as panic enveloped him again. 

His thoughts drifted back to Dav’Altor and how he would react when he woke the next morning and saw that his slave was gone. Ktanos was sure he’d call his soldiers to search the city until they found him. Dav’Altor might not execute him right away but he would conduct an investigation to find out how he had escaped. Once they learned he could channel he would be handed over to the nearest Aes Sedai and that would be the end of him. At least in his opinion but as a slave he knew little of how the world worked. 

He saw a house that still had laundry drying on the rope line outside. He guessed the owners must have forgotten it was out there and he searched to see if there was anything in his size to wear. He would need to cover himself to hide he was a slave.

Tomorrow the gates would be open and he could leave Saldea but not dressed as a slave! Dav’Altor would also hand out descriptions of him and he would need to disguise himself to hopefully fool the guards. 

“May I help you? boy.” A loud masculine voice boomed and Ktanos froze instantly. Ktanos turned and saw a middle aged man sitting on a bench watching him. His hand was gripping a large bow staff and he pulled on it to help him quickly stand. He seemed to be acting elderly but Ktanbos was not sure if it was just an act or not. 

“Sorry, are these your?’ Ktanos asked weakly. The Man took a few steps and was at Ktanos’s side before he could blink. He held an iron grip of the man as he grabbed his shoulder. He felt all his hopes of escape dash to pieces. 

Ktanos felt himself getting led over to the bench and with a firm push he was made to sit. The man never released his shoulder and Ktanos knew that struggling was useless. He had the same strength that Dav’Altor had from his experience from numerous military campaigns. 

“What are you wearing?” He asked firmly as he examined the boy. He took careful note of the cuts and bruises on him. 

“Just an old pair of small clothes. I’m not allowed to wear anything else.” Ktanos answered truthfully. He had given up any hopes now of escape and only hoped the Aes Sedai that came would be somewhat merciful. 

“A runaway I take it.” 

“Yes sir.” Ktanos replied. The man grabbed his face and forced the boy to look at him. 

“Do you know what they do to runaways?” The man asked. His voice was slightly softer now as if he had some compassion towards him. 

“Yes sir,” Ktanos replied weakly as he looked towards the ground. He was too embarrassed to look the gentleman in the eye. 

“So why are you running away? Was your master really mean to you?” He asked.

“Not exactly. He was tough but fair at times. I’m just afraid the Aes Sedai will catch me and I don’t want that.” Ktanos replied and the man flinched at the name.

“Why are the Aes Sedai after you? Can you channel?” The man asked and he quickly removed his hands away from the lad as if he had some kind of disease. 

“I guess I mean I was in my cage and the door opened by itself and then my master was asleep in his chair from too much wine and…” Ktanos rambled on. The stranger listened then began to laugh hysterically. 

“Sounds like your master was too drunk to properly lock you in. Has he ever threatened you with tales of Aes Sedai before?” 

“Not him but some of the guys I know talk about them.” Ktanos replied. Now that he thought about it he wondered if what he had thought was just wishful thinking. Perhaps he was jumping to conclusions and getting himself in trouble for jumping at shadows. 

“You mentioned that your master had too much to drink but are you sure that you were not the one drinking too much?” 

“When you say it like that… I dunno.” Ktanos said meekly.

“Let me warn you boy that while I’m a nice enough guy, talking about Aes Sedai is very dangerous. Especially if you’re telling tales about being able to channel. You have a Gleeman’s tongue but even a Gleeman has enough sense to watch what he is saying. Granted you are a slave and it seems your master hasn’t taught you a lick of sense but you need to watch your words before you get in serious trouble.” The stranger explained. Ktanos felt even more foolish for telling stories that made him seem like a Gleeman.

Gleemen were traveling bards that would travel from place to place and entertain the crowds for money. Some would sing and dance, others told tales of long ago. The best ones were known to juggle multiple balls they seemed to make appear out of thin air. 

Ktanos had never seen a Gleeman but the boys in the neighborhood had told each other stories about the ones they saw. He liked to listen in when he got a chance and they were not looking. Most would have nothing to do with a slave like him so he had to try sneaking around. 

“You’re right, I’m a fool.” Ktanos replied glumly. He was tempted to try channeling to see if he could really do it. A part of him wanted to but that fear that he would get caught stopped him. He knew what he felt and he was sure he had been properly locked in his cage. 

What he really needed to focus on was what to do now. Would this stranger let him go free or send him back to Dav’Altor? There was still the matter of Ktanos trying to steal his clothing too. 

“What’s your name, boy?” 

“Ktanos.” 

“Ktanos? Is that all?” The stranger asked.

“It’s what my master calls me. My parents were butchered by trollics and I don’t remember their names. Most of what happened I blocked out and can’t remember anything other than my master capturing me.” 

“Who is your master?” 

“Dav’Altor.” Ktanos replied and he saw the look on the stranger's face as he was thinking things over. He saw the stranger frown and this made him panic more. The cruelty of Dav’Altor was known throughout the city. 

“Well Ktanos Al’Dav, I am Gill Dova’Col. You best return before your master finds you missing. I’m willing to forgive you for trying to rob me because I see that it was a mistake brought on by fear and… too much drink. You had best be wiser in the future, you hear me?” Gill said and though the moon had hid behind some clouds he was sure Gill had smiled at him. 

A loud bell began to ring that was heard throughout the city. It was known as an alarm to warn that trollics were attacking the city and the women and children were to take cover while the men marched out with the military to fight the hordes. 

It was not the first time Ktanos had heard it but he knew it was enough to wake his master as candles were lit all over the city as the men ran out with swords in their hands. 

“What’s going on?” was heard among the shouting as men ran out, some as scantily clad as Ktanos was.

“Where’s the rally point?” Was another question Ktanos heard among the shouting. The streets soon filled as the men began to organize themselves and waited for the city guard to give the initial instructions so they could take up arms. 

“By the Light, what is that bloody racket?” Dav’Altor shouted as he woke up with his head pounding. His body was starting to succumb to the usual morning hangover he faced because of drinking himself to sleep. His head felt like it was ready to split open with each gong of the ringing bell he heard. 

He tried to look around but his eyes refused to cooperate. The most he was able to see were the shadows of people running around as they rallied themselves to specific points where they could defend the city. 

“Boy! Where’s my sword?” Dav’Altor shouted. He waited but when Ktanos did not appear he suddenly realized that he was probably still locked in his cage. His head hurt much to care at the moment. The pain and the thought of trollics attacking was all he cared about.

He grabbed his sword and left shouting to Ktanos that he would return soon. He did not wait to hear if the slave answered him because he had other things to worry about. The torches that some of the men were holding hurt his eyes as they tried to adjust to night vision. 

He started tossing people out of the way to prevent the crowd from blocking him. They had their tasks to do and he had his duty. He made his way to the nearest guard station to see what had been reported.

“What’s with this bloody ruckus?” He swore as he entered and the captain quickly jumped up and saluted him. 

“I beg your pardon sir, one of our night watch claims he saw five fists of trollics. He panicked and sounded the alarm.” 

“Five? Five fists of trollics? Are they preparing for war?” Dav’Altor asked incredulously. A fist is considered an army of trollics of an uncertain number. Rarely has a single fist been seen but the thought of five fists was unimaginable. 

“We have no information at the moment, only that they are on the move. it’s unclear if they are coming here or passing by.” 

“How soon can you get some light cavalry ready?” Dav’Altor asked and he whispered to a guard to fetch his armor from his house. Even though he was in no condition to be riding he could not let the soldiers go out without someone that had some idea what they were doing. 

“They are ready now! just awaiting orders.” The captain explained.

“Then someone fetch me my armor, you light blasted fools, I can’t sit here all night!” Dav’Altor shouted. 

“Right away sir!” The captain said and he sent another guard running to get the armor quicker. He may be a bear to work with but the calvary headed up by Dav’Altor was guaranteed success. 

“If your men have any trouble ask my slave because he’ll know exactly where it is!” Dav’Altor shouted after the guard as he ran out. He listened as a hushed silence fell over the city. The alarm had finally stopped and everyone had taken up their positions waiting to see what would happen. 

Dav’Altor looked at a map that had been set up on a table and the whole thing looked blurry as he tried looking at it. The captain was pointing to where the original guard had confirmed he saw the trollics. 

Dav’Altor swore wishing he had his reading glasses and let the captain try and explain the situation as more information was delivered. Several servants ran in with messages from Lords and Ladies asking for updates on the situation.

This made him want to laugh because what good was telling them when they made no plans to do anything but hide when the fighting began. The guards helped him dress when his armor was finally delivered. 

One of the guards muttered some nonsense about his slave being missing from his cage but his head hurt too much to care right now. He was too busy getting dressed to lead the charge to get a closer look at those filthy beasts. 

What is the Shadow up to that they would send out such an army???

To Be Continued…