Rand and the group are in the Ways traveling to a Waygate near Fal Dara. Up ahead, in the direction they are going, they have encountered a break in the path, barring their progress. Inside the Ways it is dark and foreboding and what light they have brought with them does not illumine much. Even the horses are skittish. They are on a path that may as well be a bridge as nothing seems to be holding it up. It is pitch black above and pitch black below. Whether the Ways have a bottom or a ceiling cannot be determined. Even in their blankets the boys talk about the girls in Rand's life.