1st Slate
Claws in my head, he’s in my head! That voice like an avalanche of ice and stone, it’s talking to me, whispering to me…I tremble, strength wavering. The other Forumites in the Dining Hall glance at the shaking Forumite to see if he is okay and, seeing it is me, their eyes slide off. None want to be seen talking to the monster they believe me to be, and I wouldn’t be able to hear them anyway. My entire world is consumed by that voice…I sink to the floor, clutching my head and babbling. The dining hall slowly drains of people until I am alone. All alone with Armok prying his way through my skull.
I shout out, a plea for help, begging for the strength to resist. I feel my will slipping, the want to obey getting so strong while I get so weak. I cry out once more as my will crumbles, and suddenly he is there, sword strapped at his side. I lay curled on the floor, cheek pressed against the cold stone, as highmax hovers above me. He seems to shine, to emit a light. He starts to mutter to himself, and amongst his words I catch “Mind must be broken…This is going to be difficult” A hand blazing with cool light rests on my forehead, and I gasp. Every fibre in my being shudders and Armok’s touch slowly recedes before the tide of light. I sit up, gasping. Red fingers of blood drip down my face from where I dug my nails in, red crescents in my skin standing out in the light.
I look at highmax in awe, his face now in front of mine. He looks gaunt, and seems to have trouble standing. Blood shot eyes look into my own and the light which shrouded him is no longer visible. “Blood and bloody ashes, but that was hard. Now why did you have to go insane like that? You nearly got me killed! It felt like I was pushing against a wall of icy fire, if that even makes sense…Come on, get up. The overseer can’t look like a beggar in the mud” He reaches out a hand and I grasp it, pulling myself up to my unsteady feet.
“How…how did you know to find me?” I gasp as I stagger alongside him out of the Dining Hall. The Forumites walk past in an uninterrupted flow. We are just two more drunken idiots who can barely walk to them.
"Came to give you a message" He grunts, strain making his voice sound strange and gravelly. "More migrants have arrived, they're stuck outside with the undead. They fear for their lives and do not dare approach the gates." He grunts again "The commanders wanted to leave them there, but I have a different idea, if Apiks can be spared from his work on the path?" He trips on a small rock and we both nearly go down. I am so weak, so very weak. My tiredness is almost a physical thing which stops me moving, stops me thinking straight...But I cannot let those migrants die to Fain. I will not admit defeat on this.
Gathering myself I press highmax for details. Once he explains what is needed I nod my head with supreme weariness and clasp his shoulder. I try to show my gratitude as I look at him. "Let it be done" He nods sagely, and I walk away with my back straight and head high. If I kept my head high in my search for Perrin, I can do it now.The moment I get into my chambers I collapse onto bed and sink into a deep sleep, dreams haunted with the rotten faces of the dead and their grasping hands. At one point I waken to find myself on the floor, rolling on the rug. I stagger to my feet and fall back to bed. I don't wake up until noon the next day.
7th Felsite
Highmax’s plan worked. We now have six more Forumites, thank the light! Even now they are working in jobs which had needed more workers. Apiks worked through the night to carve out a new path to the outer edges of the map, and the forces of Fain devoured two valiant Forumites, but the rest survived. They survived, and that brings me hope that I can survive the minions of Fain too. The mood in the fortress seems light tonight as we greet our new brothers. Even the more resentful don't seem to be glaring as fiercely at me...Maybe I can earn their trust. It is a big maybe, but I live in hope.
8th Felsite
The gate of the arena closes shut with a hollow thud behind me. The blood spattered walls of this hole of death seem to loom much higher than they actually are. I steel my heart for what is to come and arrange the men in a line near the hatches. That's where they will come from, the beasts of death and doom. That's where we will teach Armok who the master of Blood is!
We wait for a while, and then the grunts of the haulers reaches us...Soon now, soon. My blood heats up in preparation of the fight, my hand tightening on its sword. No more spears, not for me...I was reborn as a wetlander, and to their traditions I will hold. The spear holding Aiel seem to relax, to get more casual instead of more anxious. I feel like a spring wound tight, wound to the point of breaking. Suddenly, I am released from the strain as a hulking figure is tossed amongst us. The Aiel move as one, stabbing, slashing. Another beast is released among us, and I find myself face to face with it, its tusks hanging low below its slavering mouth. Its beady eyes watch dumbly as I strike first
in its torso, blade like a serpent which spins in the air and bites. I twirl and my sword hacks through its neck and cuts its spine. Its head flies off in an arc to land in a pool of blue blood. Trolls. I grin with a mad glee. They don't stand a chance. We wait for the next volley.
A Forumite is dropped into the pit. The Aiel raise their spears and then lower them, confused. He stands up slowly and twists towards us to show his bony front. Bones...Are they sticking out? "Attack, attack! It is one of the undead!" I scream, desperate. I am too late. As the creature of Fain leaps at me, ignoring the blades ripping through its fetid flesh, it gives a blood curdling scream. I raise my sword...and hit a wall in my mind. I. Can't. Move. With supreme effort, I break through the barrier and my weapon is raised in front of me slowly. Too slowly. Rotten flesh and lank hair slams into me. I feel it gnawing...gnawing at my legs, getting higher. As I sink into darkness, I see a face wreathed in flame waiting for me in that midnight coloured void.
Pain...My legs are made of pain. I throw back my head and scream, tears streaming down my face. Armok is in my head again, twisting, turning in the depths of my thoughts. I will never be rid of him! "You shhhhhouldn't have enjoyed the blood so much, monkey. You opened the way for me to get into your head again...." My mind feels like a smith is using it for an anvil...Letting go, I give into the pain. The other Forumites in the hospital look at me strangely, but I don't care. Armok is in my head again!
13th Felsite
I wrestled with the madness in my head for five days, an exhausted highmax coming in and out of the hospital to work his healing magic. Eventually we pushed him back again...for now. Even now I feel like someone is sitting on my shoulder watching me. Waiting for the chance to strike. Always waiting...This is going to be the death of me-I can feel madness creeping up on me, a dark blanket which threatens to consume me. I can no longer control myself, I feel anger at the smallest things. Timeless Bob came in with a message, and I nearly ordered him executed. Light, what is happening to me? The good will towards me after the migrants were saved is steadily vanishing and many look at me with hatred again. But I can't stop; it's like I'm not in control anymore.
As I muse this over, a tentative knock on the door disturbs me and I fight not to throw my sword at it. Light, it is so hard! "Come in" I say through clenched teeth. Timeless Bob peeks his head around the frame and, seeing I'm in bed and not standing up, comes in. He has learned that if I am on my feet I am more likely to turn violent. What a harsh lessen to learn for one so young.
"Elves, sir. They've brought a caravan. Apiks wants to know if we should let them in, or what...." He hands me a message
"No! I don't want to take the bloody risk. And for what?" I sneer " A pile of cloth and thread? Let them stay out there, they'll go away sooner or later. Well, what are you waiting for? Go tell him!" He ducks out of the room and leaves me to my internal struggle for sanity. I'm so hungry that my stomach feels like a hole, and so thirsty my throat is like sandpaper. I haven't been fed in so long...The nurses have it in for me, I know it! I must tell Timeless Bob to take a message to Apiks. They must be executed! No...no. They shouldn't, but they should be made to feed me. They must be! Light, I'm so hungry. I lay back in bed and ponder on what I saw, what I think I saw, when Armok let down his guard. Could it have been? But I need more time to think it through. If I am right...well, time will tell.
