The audit ended in eighteen hours.
Spencer had eighteen hours to identify five Black Ajah sisters before Liandrin's flight window opened. Five faces among hundreds. Five threads among the Tower's silver storm. Five names that would complete the most comprehensive Black Ajah mapping in three thousand years.
He started at dawn.
Thread Sight blazed active as Spencer moved through the Tower's morning routines. Breakfast in the main hall — scanning every Aes Sedai who entered. A "research session" in the library — positioned near the Brown Ajah sections where Verin said Eldrith Jhondar often worked. A walk through the Yellow Ajah infirmary — ostensibly seeking headache remedies, actually hunting Chesmal Emry.
---
Chesmal appeared at midmorning.
The Yellow sister entered the infirmary with the confident stride of someone who owned the space. Her thread blazed silver with Aes Sedai power, touched with the characteristic healing-focus of her Ajah.
And beneath it, corruption so deep and old it might have been woven into her original binding to the Source.
[THREAT IDENTIFIED: Shadow corruption confirmed. Entity: Chesmal Emry, Yellow Ajah. Status: Black Ajah (ancient infection). Note: Corruption pattern indicates recruitment during early training — subject has served the Shadow for nearly her entire channeling career. Access to Yellow Ajah poison records makes her extremely dangerous.]
Spencer accepted the headache remedy a novice offered and retreated to the corridor. His hands shook slightly — not from the identification, but from the sustained Thread Sight use. The Tower's density was manageable now, but maintaining active scanning for hours was pushing his limits.
Twelve down. Four to go.
Seventeen hours left.
---
Eldrith Jhondar was different.
Spencer found her in the library's deepest stacks, surrounded by books on Tower history and the ethics of Aes Sedai conduct. Her thread was wrong — the familiar oily-black corruption present — but the pattern was strange. Guilt-streaked. Wavering.
[THREAT IDENTIFIED: Shadow corruption confirmed. Entity: Eldrith Jhondar, Brown Ajah. Status: Black Ajah (unstable infection). Note: Corruption pattern shows internal conflict. Subject may have been coerced or may be experiencing regret. Potential vulnerability for future turning.]
Eldrith looked up from her books and met Spencer's eyes. For a moment, something passed between them — recognition of wrongness, maybe, or the particular awareness of predator and prey. Then she returned to her reading, and Spencer moved on.
Thirteen down. Three to go.
Sixteen hours left.
---
Temaile Kinderode's corruption was vicious.
Spencer encountered her in the Tower's practice yards, watching novices drill in basic exercises. Her thread pulsed with the kind of darkness that enjoyed suffering — not just accepting it as necessary, but actively seeking it out.
[THREAT IDENTIFIED: Shadow corruption confirmed. Entity: Temaile Kinderode, Gray Ajah. Status: Black Ajah (sadistic variant). Note: Corruption pattern indicates active enjoyment of cruelty. Subject is dangerous to anyone in her proximity. Strongly recommend avoidance.]
Spencer's stomach turned. The other Black Ajah he'd identified were traitors — women who'd chosen darkness for power or fear or twisted ideology. Temaile was something worse. A predator wearing an Aes Sedai's face.
Fourteen down. Two to go.
Fourteen hours left.
---
Asne Zeramene appeared at dinner.
The Green Ajah sister entered the dining hall late, moving with the aggressive confidence that characterized her Ajah. Her thread was corrupted in the cold, certain way of someone who'd made their choice and never looked back.
[THREAT IDENTIFIED: Shadow corruption confirmed. Entity: Asne Zeramene, Green Ajah. Status: Black Ajah (committed operative). Note: Corruption pattern indicates long-term ideological alignment with Shadow. No guilt, no wavering. Subject believes in what she serves.]
Spencer forced himself to eat. His headache was building — the familiar pressure behind his eyes that signaled Thread Sight overuse. He'd been scanning for nearly twelve hours straight. His Codex Stamina was dropping toward dangerous levels.
Fifteen down. One to go.
Twelve hours left.
Where is Falion Bhoda?
---
Verin found him in his quarters that evening.
"She's not in the Tower," Verin said without preamble. "Falion received permission for external research three days ago. She won't return before the audit ends."
Spencer sat heavily on his bed. The disappointment was a physical weight in his chest.
"Twelve of thirteen. I had twelve hours and I couldn't find the last one."
"You found twelve." Verin's voice was gentle but firm. "Twelve confirmed Black Ajah in a single cell. More than anyone has achieved in three thousand years of trying."
"It's not enough."
"It's extraordinary." Verin sat beside him — closer than she'd ever been, the scholarly distance she usually maintained deliberately collapsed. "You're exhausted. When did you last sleep?"
Spencer tried to remember. The answer wouldn't come.
"That long." Verin stood and retrieved something from his desk — a blanket, folded neatly. "The audit ends tomorrow morning. Liandrin will receive the results, confirm her departure window, and signal her cell tomorrow evening. We have time. You need rest."
"I need to plan the trap. The three we catch — they need to be the right three."
"The trap is already set. I've been preparing since you identified the eighth sister." Verin draped the blanket over his shoulders with the particular gentleness of someone who'd spent seventy years caring for things in secret. "Sleep now. Tomorrow we change history."
---
Spencer woke with his head on his journal and Verin's blanket around his shoulders.
The room was dark except for a single candle she'd left burning. His neck ached from the awkward position, and his mouth tasted like exhaustion and failure.
Twelve of thirteen. I got so close.
But the blanket smelled faintly of Verin's tea, and the candle cast warm shadows, and somewhere in the acknowledgment of imperfection, Spencer found something that might have been acceptance.
[LEVEL UP: Level 11 achieved. Stat increases: PER +1 (now 21), ACU +1 (now 19), RES +1 (now 18), WIL +1 (now 18). VIT +1 (now 15, Stamina max now 45). Note: Level 11 provides no new module unlocks. Approaching Level 12 (Skill Archive expansion).]
The notification glowed in his consciousness. Level 11. The accumulated EXP from mapping twelve Black Ajah sisters in a single cell had pushed him past the threshold.
Small victories. Even when the big ones slip away.
Spencer pulled the blanket tighter and let himself drift back to sleep.
Tomorrow, three traitors would be caught. Ten would escape.
And the Tower would never be the same.
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