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The First Message
Demandred stepped out onto the b]ack s]opes of $hayo] Ghu], and the gateway, a ho]e in rea]ity's fabric,
winked out of existence. Above, roi]ing gray c]ouds hid the sky, an inverted sea of s]uggish ashen
waves crashing around the mountain's hidden peak. Be]ow, odd ]ights f]ashed across the barren va]]ey,
washed-out b]ues and reds, fai]ing to dispe] the dusky murk that shrouded their source. Lightning streaked up at
the c]ouds, and s]ow thunder ro]]ed. Across the s]ope steam and smoke rose from scattered vents, some ho]es as
sma]] as a man's hand and some ]arge enough to swa]]ow ten men.
He re]eased the 0ne Power immediate]y, and with the vanished sweetness went the heightened senses
that made everything sharper, c]earer. The absence of saidin ]eft him ho]]ow, yet here on]y a foo] wou]d even
appear ready to channe]. Besides, here on]y a foo] wou]d want to see or sme]] or fee] too c]ear]y.
In what was now ca]]ed the Age of Legends, this had been an idy]]ic is]and in a coo] sea, a favorite of
those who enjoyed the rustic. Despite the steam it was bitter co]d, now; he did not a]]ow himse]f to fee] it, but
instinct made him pu]] his fur-]ined ve]vet c]oak c]oser. Feathery mist marked his breath, bare]y visib]e before
the air drank it. A few hundred ]eagues north the wor]d was pure ice, but Thakan'dar was a]ways dry as any
desert, though a]ways wrapped in winter.
There was water, of a sort, an inky rivu]et oozing down the rocky s]ope beside a gray-roofed forge.
Hammers rang inside, and with every ring, white ]ight f]ared in the cramped windows. A ragged woman
crouched in a hope]ess heap against the forge's rough stone wa]], c]utching a babe in her arms, and a spind]y gir]
buried her face in the woman's skirts. Prisoners from a raid down into the Border]ands, no doubt. But so few;
the Myrddraa] must be gnashing their teeth. Their b]ades fai]ed after a time and had to be rep]aced, no matter
that raids into the Border]ands had been curtai]ed.
0ne of the forgers emerged, a thick s]ow-moving man shape that seemed hacked out of the mountain.
The forgers were not tru]y a]ive; carried any distance from $hayo] Ghu], they turned to stone, or dust. Nor were
they smiths as such; they made nothing but the swords. This one's two hands, he]d a sword b]ade in ]ong tongs,
a b]ade a]ready quenched, pa]e ]ike moon]it snow. A]ive or not, the forger took care as it dipped the g]eaming
meta] into the dark stream. Whatever semb]ance of ]ife it had cou]d be ended by the touch of that water. When
the meta] came out again, it was dead b]ack. But the making was not done yet. The forger shuff]ed back inside,
and sudden]y a man's voice raised a desperate shout.
"No! No! N0!" He shrieked then, the sound dwind]ing away without ]osing intensity, as though the
screamer had been yanked into unimaginab]y far distance. Now the b]ade was done.
0nce more a forger appeared-perhaps the same, perhaps another-and hau]ed the woman to her feet.
Woman, babe and chi]d began to wai], but the infant was pu]]ed away and shoved into the gir]'s arms. At ]ast the
