"Robert Jordan - The Wheel of Time 00 - The Strike at Shayol " - читать интересную книгу автора (Jordan Robert)

so much of the One Power could be handled safely under the circumstances. Against that was the
certainty, according to the plan's supporters, that used together they would provide sufficient Power to
drive the Shadow's forces back, to defeat them completely and erect a barrier around Shayol Ghul until a
safe method of dealing with the Bore was assured.
Detractors pointed out that the Bore had enlarged since it was first drilled, and behind the barricade
erected by the sa'angreal it would continue to grow, so that eventually the Dark One might free himself
within the barrier. The barrier might well contain the Dark One when all he could do was reach through
the relatively small Bore, but could it hold back the Dark One let loose?
The hall of the Servants quickly divided into two camps, and those who favored one plan derided the
other.
Support for the use of the great sa'angreal and opposition to attempting to implant the seals centered
around a woman named Latra Posae Decume. Apparently a speaker of considerable force and persuasion,
she gathered a large bloc around her, but what assured her victory was an agreement she reached with
every female Aes Sedai of significant strength on the side of the Light. (In the manuscript, this agreement
is called "the Fateful Concord," though it was doubtful that this was the name it was generally known.)
Lews Therin's plan was too rash, too dangerous, and no woman who agreed to the Concord would take
part in it. As precise placement of the seals was widely thought to require a circle, that apparently killed
the plan, since men cannot create a circle, but can only be brought into one created by women. Work on
the sa'angreal, in the form of two huge statues, was rushed forward.

Just as the paired sa'angreal were completed, disaster struck. The access ter'angreal were being made at
a place far removed from the sa'angreal (apparently because of a danger of "uncontrolled resonances
during the final stages," whatever that means), and that region was overrun by forces under Sammael.
The only good point in it was that the ter'angreal themselves had been hidden and the place where they
were made destroyed (its very existence had been a secret at the highest levels all along) so that neither
Sammael nor anyone else for the Shadow knew that any of these things were now within their grasp. The
side of the Light still had the sa'angreal, but no safe way to access them; without the ter'angreal it was
certain that even the strongest Aes Sedai would be burned out instantly by the huge flow of the One
Power.
Lews Therin argued again for his plan, acknowledging the risks but saying that was now the only chance,
yet Posae maintained her opposition. Belief in the danger of misplacing the seals had spread, and many
more female Aes Sedai had pledged to the "Fateful Concord," including a great number who were
nowhere near strong enough to qualify for the raiding party circle. Tempers and passions rose, and an
apparently unprecedented division along male-female lines began to develop among the Aes Sedai in
general, if not within the Hall itself. Finally the Hall decided to continue with Latra Posae's plan, and her
people began working to smuggle the access ter'angreal out of Shadow-controlled territory.
Almost immediately on the heels of Sammael's advance, armies commanded by Demandred and Bel'al
struck heavily. At this point in the war, halting an advance by the Shadow was the best that could be
hoped for; no conquered territory had been regained in the past two years. In intense and bloody fighting,
these two drives were barely contained, but Demandred and Bel'al kept the pressure on. Sammael began
a new offensive, also scarcely held, and there is mention of heavy military activity elsewhere. Apparently
both of the great sa'angreal were threatened by these offensives; in fact, it was possible that they were
the target. Massive riots swept a number of cities still held by the Light and the "re-emergence of the
peace faction" is mentioned, apparently a group demanding negotiations with the Forsaken. The final
defeat was at hand; the will of the people to resist was fading, and should any one of the three major
offensives commanded by Forsaken break through the end would be only a matter of time, perhaps as
little as months. With Latra Posae's opposition continuing in the face of these events , and the female
Aes Sedai holding to their pledge and thus making use of a circle impossible (the lines of division had
hardened to a point where many female Aes Sedai refused to speak to male Aes Sedai, and the reverse as
well), Lews Therin resolved to carry out his plan without the approval of, or even approaching, the Hall.