The Dragon Reborn - Chapter 53 [#115]

He Is The Brute Squad

    Moiraine, Perrin, Lan, Faile and Loial plot their next move against the Forsaken, Be'lal, leading Tear.  Liandrin and her cohorts strike first, leaving a tiny ter-angreal trap with the innkeeper.  Intending to snare Moiraine into the World of Dreams, Faile was first to trigger it.  Moiraine and Lan depart to surprise Be'lal, leaving Perrin and Loial with the unconscious Faile.

    [Perrin] was surprised when Loial growled.

    "No! Perrin, it is not right!  Faile was so free.  It is not right to trap her!"

    Perrin peered up at Loial's face, and suddenly remembered the old stories that claimed Ogier were implacable enemies.  Loial's ears had laid back along the sides of his head, and his broad face was as hard as an anvil.

    "Loial, I am going to try to help Faile.  But I will be helpless myself while I do.  Will you guard my back?"

    Loial raised those huge hands that held books so carefully, and his thick fingers curled as if to crush stone.  "None will pass me while I live, Perrin.  Not Myrddraal or the Dark One himself."  He said it like a simple statement of fact.

Perrin and Loial, The Dragon Reborn, p. 535

    Loial's statement at the end is one of my favorites in this book (and probably in all three thus far).  Before Perrin's very eyes, Loial transforms from a bookish scholar to a one man army.  Perrin may be helpless, but he's definitely not alone here.  Loial fully supports Perrin's rescue attempt, even if he's unsure of the full details.  His task is to protect Perrin and Faile, and he will execute it, flawlessly, for as long as he stands.