The Eye of the World/Chapter 44

==Summary==
:
Rand, Mat, Perrin, Egwene, Nynaeve, Moiraine, Lan and Loial leave The Queen's Blessing in the pre-dawn darkness and head to the stable led by Basel Gill. Because of the need for secrecy, they do not use any torches or lanterns. Loial stumbles multiple times and grumbles that he is not a cat and cannot see in the dark. Inside the stable are horses for everyone including Loial, even though he would rather walk. The back wall of the stable is a hidden door to an alley. Before they leave, Moiraine tells Master Gill that if he gets any trouble due to their presence, he should write to Sheriam Sedai of the Blue Ajah for assistance. The party exits the stable and Loial leads them to the Waygate beneath a house in Caemlyn. Loial has an innate sense of direction pointing to the Waygate.
Moiraine channels to unlock a basement door. Lanterns are lit and the horses led down a ramp into the basement. Lan closes the door behind them. What appears to be a wall decorated with flowers and vines is really the Waygate. Mat is confused as to why there would be a Waygate placed in a basement, but Loial explains that this spot used to be an Ogier grove. Ogier grew groves with Great Trees in various places so that they would be reminded of the peace of the stedding. Sadly, many of the groves have since been cut down by humans and often replaced with urban infrastructure. Moiraine does not wish to speak of the past and instead lifts a special trefoil leaf off the wall and places it lower down, which opens the gate to The Ways.
Lan leads the way through the Waygate and is followed quickly by Loial and Rand. Time passes faster in the Ways and as Rand looks back out through the Waygate, the remainder of the party in the regular world seems to be moving very slowly. Moiraine is last to come through and closes the Waygate behind them. The Ways is a very different environment where the darkness presses down on them and the lanterns can barely hold back the darkness. Loial leads them through The Ways by reading special Guiding stones on each island. Sometimes they travel over a bridge to the next island and sometimes a curving ramp. The bridges are not held up by anything and are just suspended in the darkness. There is much evidence of decay. Time is precious in the Ways and Moiraine insists that they eat while still moving on horseback. Just as Rand is starting to think that traveling the Ways is almost monotonous, they discover that the bridge they are using is broken and does not connect to the next island.
==Characters==
* Mat Cauthon
* Rand al'Thor
* Perrin Aybara
* Egwene al'Vere
* Nynaeve al'Meara
* Moiraine Damodred
* Lan Mandragoran
* Basel Gill
* Loial
* Coline - as cook
* Ramey
* Mandarb (animal)
* Aldieb (animal)
* Bela (animal)
* Red (animal)
===Referenced===
* Sheriam Bayanar
* Cloud (animal)
* Lamgwin Dorn
* Tam al'Thor
==Groups==
===Referenced===
* Aes Sedai
* Children of the Light
==Places==
* Ways
* Caemlyn
* The Queen's Blessing
===Referenced===
* Tar Valon
==Items==
* Waygate
* Heron-mark sword
==Culture==
* Avendesora
==Concepts==
* Light