Chapter 5 - Winternight

Summary

Tam and Rand arrive at their farmhouse late in the day, where Tam secures the home by locking the doors and retrieving a hidden sword he bought years ago. As evening falls, the pair is attacked by a horde of Trollocs; Tam fights them off while ordering Rand to flee into the woods. Rand hides in the forest while Tam leads the creatures away, eventually reuniting with his father who is wounded and feverish. Rand returns to the farmhouse to find the Trollocs dead or deadened, but is confronted by a surviving Trolloc named Narg who attempts to trick him. Rand kills Narg in the ensuing struggle, then loots the house for supplies and repairs the cart shaft to carry Tam to safety in Emond's Field.

Characters

• Tam — Tam inspects the farmyard for tracks, locks the house doors, and retrieves a sword he purchased long ago from a hidden chest. He defends the farmhouse against a horde of Trollocs, shouting orders for Rand to hide, and later leads the remaining creatures away from Rand to protect him, sustaining a wound in the process.
• Rand — Rand tends to the farm chores and prepares for the night before fleeing the Trolloc attack into the woods as instructed by his father. He hides in the forest, re-unites with a wounded Tam, and later returns to the farmhouse to kill a surviving Trolloc named Narg before gathering supplies and preparing the cart to carry his father away.
• Bela — The mare is unharnessed and stabled in the barn alongside the cow at the start of the evening, only to be found missing when Rand returns to the barn after killing the Trolloc.
• Narg (Trolloc) — A large Trolloc with a wolf's muzzle that survives the initial slaughter and attacks Rand inside the farmhouse, speaking to him in a distorted tongue before being killed by Rand with Tam's sword.