New God(wheel of time)

Chapter 5: The Path Unfolds

Moiraine had never been one to allow uncertainty to cloud her judgment, but the boy—if he could even be called that—was an enigma beyond anything she had encountered. The One Power did not touch him, not as it did others. The very air around him felt... wrong, as though it bent to his presence rather than the other way around.

Lan had not taken his eyes off the boy since they left Emond's Field, his warrior instincts refusing to trust what could not be understood.

The journey had been uneventful thus far, but tension rode beneath the surface. Rand, Mat, Perrin, and Egwene still whispered amongst themselves about their strange new companion. Thom Merrilin, ever watchful, had taken a particular interest in the boy, eyes sharp beneath the wide brim of his hat.

"I don't like it," Lan murmured beside Moiraine as they rode. His voice was quiet, meant only for her ears.

"You rarely do," she replied, keeping her tone light.

"This is different." Lan's gaze flicked toward their silent companion, who walked beside the horses rather than riding one. He moved effortlessly, as if the journey caused him no strain at all. "He doesn't sleep. He doesn't eat. He should be exhausted, but he looks as if we have only just left."

Moiraine did not reply. She had noticed the same. She had even attempted to Heal him under the guise of testing his health, but the Weave had unraveled before it could touch him. That should not have been possible.

The boy was a mystery wrapped in an even deeper mystery.

"What are you?" she had asked him the night before, as they sat around the fire.

His silver eyes had met hers, unblinking. "I don't know."

That was the troubling part. He was not lying. Whatever he was, he truly did not know.

Now, as the sun dipped lower toward the horizon, Moiraine knew they could not afford to travel much longer. Shadowspawn would not be far behind. The boy had appeared only moments before the Trolloc attack on Emond's Field. That alone made her wary.

"Here," she called, reining in her horse near a small clearing shielded by trees. "We make camp for the night."

Lan dismounted without hesitation, already scouting the perimeter. The others followed, though the tension in the group remained thick.

As the fire crackled to life, Egwene hesitated before approaching the boy. He sat on the ground, staring at the flames as if lost in thought.

"You don't get tired?" she asked, voice uncertain.

He blinked at her, as if the thought had not occurred to him before. "No."

Mat leaned in from the other side. "Not even a little?"

"No."

Perrin let out a slow breath. "That's not natural."

The boy tilted his head, considering. "Perhaps not."

Moiraine watched closely. He spoke like a child learning the world for the first time, but there was something deeper beneath his words. Something old.

As the others settled, she stepped closer, lowering her voice so only he could hear. "You are not like them."

A flicker of something passed through his expression. "I know."

"You do not know what you are, yet you are aware of what you are not."

He was silent for a moment. Then, in a voice barely above a whisper, he said, "I know that I am different. I do not understand why."

Moiraine studied him, then made a decision.

"We will find out."

For the first time, a shadow of emotion crossed his face. Hope.

And in that moment, Moiraine Sedai knew that whatever this boy was, he would change everything.