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

Plainly it was going to be impossible to hold the huge sa'angreal long enough for the access ter'angreal
to be smuggled out. In Lews Therin's view, there was no longer any choice.
A group of powerful young male Aes Sedai, vocal in their arguements (apparently to the point of several
times disrupting meetings of the Hall), had formed in support of Lews Therin during the struggle with
Latra Posae, a group popularly called the Hundred Companions, though in actuality they numbered one
hundred and thirteen at this point. As the highest military leader for the Light, Lews Therin was able to
assemble a force of some ten thousand soldiers unbeknownst to the Hall. With that force and the
Hundred Companions, he launched his planned attack at Shayol Ghul.
Exactly what occured that day can never be known, only the results. Of the soldiers, not a single man or
woman returned to give any account. The seals were placed safely, without ripping open the Dark One's
prison as many opponents had feared. By chance, all thirteen of the Forsaken were at Shayol Ghul
(perhaps summonded for a conference with the Dark One?), and they were trapped in the sealing, thus
decapitating at one stroke the Shadow's leadership. Though most of the world was held for the Shadow,
if that had been the whole result it is certain that over the next few years the Shadow would have been
extinguished all across the face of the earth. Civilization had retained a large degree of cohesion in the
areas held by the Light, far more so than in those held by the Shadow. Deprived of their highest levels
(and also perhaps because of the loss of the Dark One's infuence) the Shadowsworn fell into struggles
among themselves for power, dividing into warring, vulnerable well before the Breaking progressed to a
point that made the war the least of anyone's concerns. In any case, the War of the Shadow must be said
to have ended that day at Shayol Ghul. So it is generally recorded.
But that was not the only result, of course. Instead, there was the counterstroke from the Dark One at the
moment of sealing, and saidin itself was tainted. Lews Therin and the sixty-eight survivors of the
Hundred Companions went insane on the instant. Within days they were leaving trails of death and
destruction in their paths. By the time the taint on saidin was discovered, hundreds more male Aes Sedai
had been driven mad, and what remained of civilization after the war itself had fallen into chaos. Even
informing all the remaining sane male Aes Sedai of the danger was now impossible. That fateful day at
Shayol Ghul ended the war, and began the Breaking of the World.
The most suitable comment surely comes from what appears to be the introduction of the fragmentary
manuscript. "Whoever read this, if any remain to read it, weep for us who have no more tears. Pray for us
who are damned alive."




Copyright 1996 by Robert Jordan. All rights reserved.
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