Chapter 49 - The Dark One Stirs

Summary

The group departs their hidden camp in the Blight, with Moiraine dispelling her illusion before they ride toward the Mountains of Dhoom. As they enter the deeper corruption of the Blight, they are attacked by sentient, thrashing trees and monstrous creatures; Lan engages a beast in combat while Moiraine uses fire to repel the flora and fauna. The party is soon pursued by a pack of Worms, forcing them into a desperate gallop up the mountain foothills. Just as Rand fears they cannot escape, they enter a sudden sanctuary of green and light where they encounter the Green Man, who confirms their arrival at the Eye of the World and reveals that the place finds those who need it, warning that the Dark One stirs.

Characters

• Rand (Child of the Dragon) — Rand wakes in the Blight, washes, and saddles his horse, Red. He rides with the group through the corrupting forest, striking at attacking trees with his heron-mark sword and shouting Manetheren war cries. He feels intense fear as the Worms pursue them, nearly turning back before reaching the sanctuary, where he is bewildered by the sudden change in landscape and the appearance of the Green Man.
• Moiraine (the Aes Sedai, Moiraine Sedai) — Moiraine stands in the hilltop camp, then removes the illusion she wove the previous night. She leads the group north, urging them to stay close as she protects them from the Blight's influence. She hurls fireballs at attacking creatures and heals Lan's wounds, declaring that she is lighting signal fires for the Halfmen as they press on to the high passes.
• Lan (the Warder) — Lan leads the group out of the camp and into the Blight, wearing steel-backed gauntlets. A massive creature leaps at the group, but Mat’s arrow pierces its eye, causing it to fall short. He repeatedly charges into the trees to cut down attackers, sustaining wounds that Moiraine heals, and urges the group to ride furiously to escape the pursuing Worms.
• Egwene — Egwene stays with Nynaeve in the morning, then mounts her horse Bela. She rides with the group through the Blight, looking at the ruined towers and lakes. She expresses concern about reaching the Eye and asks if the Worms will follow them into the mountains, eventually staring in astonishment at the Green Man.
• Perrin (Wolfbrother) — Perrin rides with the group, his golden eyes glowing fiercely. He takes the lead on horseback, using his axe to hew a path through the attacking forest and creatures. He avoids the Green Man's gaze initially, turning his horse away, before the Green Man acknowledges him as a Wolfbrother.
• Mat — Mat rides with a bow nocked, shouting Manetheren phrases as he shoots arrows at the attacking trees and creatures. He is bounced in his saddle while fleeing the Worms and later incredulously asks if worms scared off the attackers. He is startled when the Blight ends and watches the Green Man.
• Nynaeve (the Wisdom, Wisdom) — Nynaeve has not slept, her eyes red-rimmed. She talks quietly with Egwene in the morning camp. She rides with the group, shivering in the Blight's heat and rubbing her arms. She calls out to Lan as the Worms pursue them and stares with her jaw dropped at the Green Man.
• Loial (the Ogier) — Loial travels with the group, moaning about the dangers ahead and the Worms. He explains that Worms can kill Fades. Upon reaching the sanctuary, he scrambles down from his horse to formally bow to the Green Man, greeting him as Treebrother.
• The Green Man — A massive figure of woven vines and leaves emerges from the foliage, identified as the Green Man. He has hazelnut eyes, acorn fingernails, and a fissure of brown, withered vines on his head. He greets Loial, recognizes Perrin as a Wolfbrother, addresses Rand as the Child of the Dragon, and explains that the Eye of the World finds those who need it.
• Aldieb — Moiraine's white mare, ridden by Moiraine through the camp and into the Blight. She is led through the fighting and up the mountain, moving quickly under her rider's command.
• Bela — Egwene's shaggy brown mare, ridden by Egwene through the camp and the Blight. She gallops with the group through the corrupted forest and up the foothills.
• Red — Rand's bay horse, referred to as Red in this chapter. He carries Rand through the Blight, his eyes rolling in fear at the attacking trees, and gallops up the mountain to the sanctuary.
• Mandarb — His black stallion stumbles and bleeds from the fight, then gallops furiously with the group to escape the Worms.
• Pack horse (the pack horse) — The pack horse laden with wicker panniers. It travels with the group through the Blight toward the mountains.