White Gold Wielder Part 32

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Linden looked at Covenant, imploring him with her eyes; but he did not meet her gaze. He faced Cail, and conflicting emotions wrestled each other visibly across his mien: recognition of what Cail was saying; grief over Seadreamer; fear for the Haruchai. But after a moment he fought his way through the moil. "Cail*" he began. His throat closed as though he dreaded what he meant to say. When he found his voice, he sounded unexpectedly small and lonely, like a man who could not afford to let even one friend go.

"I heard the same song you did. The merewives are dangerous. Be very careful with them."

Cail did not thank the Unbeliever. He did not smile or nod or speak. But for an instant the glance he gave Covenant was as plain as a paean.

Then he turned on his heel, strode out of the forehall into the sunlight, and was gone.

Covenant watched the Haruchai go as if even now he wanted to call Cail back; but he did not do so. And none of the other Haruchai made any move to challenge Cail's decision.

Slowly, a rustle like a sigh pa.s.sed through the hall, and the tension eased. Hollian blinked the dampness out of her eyes.

Sunder gazed bemus.e.m.e.nt and awe at the implications of Cail's choice. Linden wanted to show Covenant the grat.i.tude Cail had neglected; but it was unnecessary. She saw that he 303 understood now, and his expression had softened. Behind his sorrow over all the people he had lost lurked a wry smile which seemed to suggest that he would have made Cail's choice if she had been a Dancer of the Sea.

The First cleared her throat. "Earthfriend, I am no equal for you. These determinations surpa.s.s me. In your place, my word would have been that our need for the accompaniment of the Haruchai is certain and immediate. But I do not question you. I am a Giant like any other, and such bravado pleases me.

"Only declare swiftly where this Mount Thunder and Kiril Threndor may be found, that Mistweave may bear the knowledge eastward to Seareach. It may be that his path and Call's will lie together*and they will have need of each other."

Covenant nodded at once- "Good idea." Quickly, he described as well as he could Mount Thunder's location astride the center of Landsdrop, where the Soulsease River pa.s.sed through the Wightwarrens and became the main source for Sarangrave Rat and the Great Swamp. "Unfortunately," he added, "I can't tell you how to find Kiril Threndor. I've been there once*it's in the chest of the mountain somewhere*

but the whole b.l.o.o.d.y place is a maze."

"That must suffice," the First said. Then she turned to Mistweave. "Hear you? If skill and courage may achieve it, Sevinhand Anchormaster will bring Starfare's Gem to Seareach and The Grieve. There you must meet him. If we fail, (247 of 399) [1/19/03 11:38:43 PM]

the fate of the Earth falls to you. And if we do not," she continued less grimly, "you will provide for our restoration Homeward." In a softer voice, she asked, "Mistweave, are you content?"

Linden looked at Mistweave closely and was rea.s.sured.

The Giant who had sought to serve her and believed that he had failed was injured and weary, his arm in a sling, bruises on his broad face; but much of his distress had faded. Perhaps he would never entirely forget his self-doubt. But he had redeemed most of it. The spirit within him was capable of peace.

She went to him because she wanted to thank him*and wanted to see him smile. He towered over her; but she was accustomed to that. Taking one of his huge bands in her small grasp, she said up to him. "Sevinhand's going to be the304 Master now. GaIewrath'U be the Anchormaster." Deliberately, she risked this reference to Honnmscrave's end. "Starfare's Gem will need a new Storesmaster. Someone who knows something about healing. Tell them I said you should have the job."

Abruptly, he loomed over her, and she was swept into the embrace of his uninjured arm. For an instant, she feared that he was hurt and weeping; but then his emotions came into better focus, and she returned his clasp as hard as she could.

When he set her down again, he was grinning like a Giant "Begone, Mistweave," the First muttered in a tone of gruff kindness. "Cail Haruchai will outdistance you entirely."

In response, he shouted a laugh. "Outdistance a Giant?

Not while I live!" With a holla to Pitchwife and a salute to Covenant and Linden, he s.n.a.t.c.hed up his sack of supplies and dashed for the tunnel under the watchtower as if he intended to run all the way to Landsdrop rather than let Cail surpa.s.s him.

After that; nothing remained to delay the company. The First and Pitchwife shouldered their packs. Sunder and Hollian lifted the bundles they had prepared for themselves. For a moment. Covenant looked around the stone of the -forehall as though he feared to leave it, dreaded the consequences of the path he had chosen; but then his cert.i.tude returned. After saying a brief farewell to the Haruchai, and accepting their bows with as much grace as his embarra.s.sment allowed, he turned his feet toward the sunlight beyond the broken gates.

Vain and Findail took their familiar positions behind him*

or behind Linden*as the company moved outward.

Gritting her teeth against the shock of the Sunbane on her bare nerves. Linden went back out into the desert sun.

THIRTEEN: The Eh-Brand

IT was worse than she had expected. It seemed worse (248 of 399) [1/19/03 11:38:43 PM]

than it had been that morning. Glimmermere's cleansing and Revelstone's protection appeared to have sharpened her health-sense, making her more vulnerable than ever to the rife ill of the Sunbane. The sun's heat felt as hard and heavy as stone. She knew it was not literally gnawing the flesh from her bones, not charring her bones to the malign blackness which she had inherited from her father. Yet she felt that she was being eaten away*that the Sunbane had found its likeness in her heart and was feeding on her.

During the long days when she and the quest had been away from the sun's corruption, she had groped toward a new kind of life. She had heard intimations of affirmation and bad followed them urgently, striving to be healed. At one time, with the tale of her mother told for the first time and Covenant's arms about her, she had believed that she could say no forever to her own dark hungers. There is also love in the world. But now the desert sun flamed at her with the force of an execration, and she knew better.

In some ways, she was unable to share Covenant's love for the Land. She had never seen it healthy; she could only guess at the loveliness be ascribed to it. And to that extent he was alone in his dismay. There's only one way to hurt a man who's lost everything. Give him back something broken. Yet she was like the Land herself. The power tormenting it was the same might which demonstrated to her undefended nerves that she was not whole.

And she and her companions were on their way to confront Lord Foul, the source and progenitor of the Sunbane.

305.306 And they were only eight In effect, they were only six: two Giants, two Stonedownors, Covenant and Linden, Vain and Findail could be trusted to serve no purposes but their own. With the sun burning against her face as it started its afternoon decline, she lost what little understanding she had ever had of Covenant's reasons for refusing the aid of the Haruchai. Their intransigent integrity at her side might have helped to keep the Sunbane out of her soul.

Mount Thunder lay to the east; but Covenant was leading the company west and south down through the dead foothills below the intricately wrought face of the Keep. His intent, he explained, was to join the watercourse which had once been the White River and follow it toward Andelain. That was not the most direct path, but it would enable the company to do what Sunder, Linden, and he had done previously*to ride the river during a sun of rain. Recollections of cold and distress made Linden s.h.i.+ver, but she did not demur. She favored any plan which might reduce the amount of time she had to spend exposed to the sun.

Above her rose the sheer, hard face of Revelstone. But some distance ahead. Furl Falls came tumbling down the side of the plateau; and its implications were comforting. Already, much of the potent water springing from the roots of Glim- (249 of 399) [1/19/03 11:38:43 PM]

mennere had been denatured. Furl Falls was only a wisp of what it should have been. Yet it remained. Centuries of the Sunbane had not ruined or harmed the upland tarn. Through the brown heat and light of the sun. Furl Falls struck hints of blue like sparks from the rough rock of the cliff.

To the south, the hills spread away like a frown of pain in the ground, becoming slowly less rugged*or perhaps less able to care what happened to them*as they receded from the promontory of the Westron Mountains. And between them wound the watercourse Covenant sought. Following what might once have been a road, he brought the company to an ancient stone bridge across the broad channel where the White River had stopped running. A trickle of water still stretched thinly down the center of the riverbed; but even that moisture soon vanished into a damp, sandy stain. The sight of it made Linden thirsty with empathy, although she had eaten and drunk well before leaving Mhoram's quarters.

Covenant did not cross the bridge. For a moment, he glared at the small stream as if he were remembering the 307 White River in full spate. Then, controlling his fear of heights with a visible effort, he found a way down into the riverbed.

The last sun of rain had not left the channel smooth or clear, but its bottom offered an easier path than the hills on either side.

Linden, Sunder, and Hollian followed him. Pitchwife carne muttering after them. Vain leaped downward with a lightness which belied his impenetrability; on his woodea wrist and left ankle, the heels of the Staff of Law caught the sun dully.

Findail changed shape and glided gracefully to the riverbottom. But the First did not join the rest of the company.

When Covenant looked back up at her, she said, "I will watch over you." She gestured along the higher ground of the east bank. "Though you have mastered the Clave, some caution is needful. And the exertion will ease me. I am a Giant and eager, and your pace gives me impatience."

Covenant shrugged. He seemed to think that he had become immune to ordinary forms of peril. But he waved his acceptance; and the First strode away at a brisk gait.

Pitchwife shook his head, bemused by his wife's sources of Strength. Linden saw a continuing disquiet in the unwonted tension of his countenance; but most of his unhappiness had sunk beneath the surface, restoring his familiar capacity for humor. "Stone and Sea!" he said to Covenant and Linden.

"Is she not a wonder? Should ever we encounter that which can daunt her, then will I truly credit that the Earth is lost.

But then only. For the while, I will study the beauty of her and be glad." Turning, he started down the watercourse as if he wished his friends to think he had left his crisis behind.

Hollian smiled after them. Softly, Sunder said, "We are fortunate in these Giants. Had Na.s.sic my father spoken to me of such beings, mayhap I would have laughed*or mayhap wept. But I would not have believed."

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"Me neither," Covenant murmured. Doubt and fear cast their shadows across the background of his gaze; but he appeared to take no hurt from them. "Mhoram was my friend. Banner saved my life. Lena loved me. But Foamfollower made the difference."

Linden reached out to him, touched her palm briefly to his clean cheek to tell him that she understood. The ache of the Sunbane was so strong in her that she could not speak.

Together, they started after Pitchwife.308 The riverbed was a jumble of small stones and large boulders, flat swaths of sand, jutting banks, long pits. But it was a relatively easy road-And by midafternoon the west rim began casting deep shade into the channel.

That shade was a balm to Linden's abraded nerves*but for some reason it did not make her any better able to put one foot in front of another. The alternation of shadow and acid heat seemed to numb her mind, and the consequences of two days without rest or sleep came to her as if they had been waiting in the bends and hollows of the watercourse. Eventually, she found herself thinking that of all the phases of the Sunbane the desert sun was the most gentle.

Which was absurd: this sun was inherently murderous. Perhaps it was killing her now. Yet it gave less affront to her health-sense than did the other suns. She insisted on this as if someone had tried to contradict her. The desert was simply dead. The dead could inspire grief, but they felt no pain.

The sun of rain had the force of incarnate violence; the malign creatures of the sun of pestilence were a pang of revulsion; the fertile sun seemed to wring screams from the whole world. But the desert only made her want to weep.

Then she was weeping. Her face was pressed into the sand, and her hands scrubbed at the ground on either side of her head because they did not have the strength to lift her. But at the same time she was far away from her fallen body, detached and separate from Covenant and Hollian as they called her name, rushed to help her. She was thinking with the precision of a necessary belief. This can't go on. It has got to be stopped. Every time the sun comes up, the Land dies a little deeper. It has got to be stopped.

Covenant's hands took hold of her, rolled her onto her back, s.h.i.+fted her fully into the shadows. She knew they were his hands because they were urgent and numb. When he propped her into a sitting position, she tried to blink her eyes clear. But her tears would not stop.

"Linden," he breathed. "Are you all right? d.a.m.n it to h.e.l.l! I should've given you a chance to rest."

She wanted to say. This has got to be stopped. Give me your ring. But that was wrong. She knew it was wrong because the darkness in her leaped up at the idea, avid for power.

She could not hold back her grief.

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Hugging her hard, he rocked her in his arms and murmured words which meant nothing except that he loved her.

Gradually, the helplessness faded from her muscles, and she was able to raise her head. Around her stood Sunder, Hollian. the First, and Pitchwife. Even Findail was there; and his yellow eyes yearned with conflicts, as if he knew how close she had come*but did not know whether he was relieved or saddened by it. Only Vain ignored her.

She tried to say, I'm sorry. Don't worry. But the desert was in her throat, and no sound came.

Pitchwife knelt beside her, lifted a bowl to her Ups. She smelled diamondraught, took a small swallow. The potent liquor gave her back her voice.

"Sorry I scared you. I'm not hurt. Just tired. I didn't realize I was this tired." The shadow of the west bank enabled her to say such things.

Covenant was not looking at her. To the watercourse and the wide sky, he muttered, T ought to have my head examined. We should've stayed in Revelstone. One day wouldn't have killed me." Then he addressed his companions. "We'll camp here. Maybe tomorrow she'll feel better." T ought to have my head examined. We should've stayed in Revelstone. One day wouldn't have killed me." Then he addressed his companions. "We'll camp here. Maybe tomorrow she'll feel better."

Linden started to smile rea.s.surance at him. But she was already asleep.

That night, she dreamed repeatedly of power. Over and over again, she possessed Covenant, took his ring, and used it to rip the Sunbane out of the Earth. The sheer violence of what she did was astounding; it filled her with glee and horror. Her father laughed blackness at her. It killed Covenant, left him as betrayed as her mother. She thought she would go mad.

You have committed murder. Are you not evil?

No. Yes. Not unless I choose to be. I can't help it.

This has got to be stopped. Got to be stopped. You are being forged as iron is forged. Got to be stopped.

But sometime during the middle of the night she awoke and found herself enfolded by Covenant's sleeping arms.

For a while, she clung to him; but he was too weary to waken.

When she went back to sleep, the dreams were gone.

And when dawn came she felt stronger. Stronger and calmer, as if during the night she had somehow made up 310 her mind. She kissed Covenant, nodded soberly in response to the questioning looks of her friends. Then, while the Stonedownors and Giants defended themselves against the sun's first touch by standing on rock, she climbed a slope in the west bank to get an early view of the Sunbane. She wanted to understand it.

It was red and baleful, the color of pestilence. Its light felt (252 of 399) [1/19/03 11:38:43 PM]

like disease crawling across her nerves.

But she knew its ill did not in fact arise from the sun.

Sunlight acted as a catalyst for it, a source of energy, but did not cause the Sunbane, Rather, it was an emanation from the ground, corrupted Earthpower radiating into the heavens.

And that corruption sank deeper every day, working its way into the marrow of the Earth's bones.

She bore it without flinching. She intended to do something about it.

Her companions continued to study her as she descended the slope to rejoin them. But when she met their scrutiny, they were rea.s.sured. Pitchwife relaxed visibly. Some of the tension flowed out of the muscles of Covenant's shoulders, though he clearly did not trust his superficial vision. And Sunder, who remembered Marid, gazed at her as if she had come back from the brink of something as fatal as venom.

"Chosen, you are well restored," said the First with gruff pleasure. "The sight gladdens me."

Together, Hollian and Pitchwife prepared a meal which Linden ate ravenously. Then the company set itself to go on down the watercourse.

For the first part of the morning, the walking was almost easy. This sun was considerably cooler than the previous one; and while the east bank shaded the riverbottom, it remained free of vermin. The ragged edges and arid lines of the landscape took on a tinge of the crimson light which made them appear acute and wild, etched with desiccation. Pitchwife joined the First as she ascended the hillside again to keep watch over the company. Although Hollian shared Sunder's visceral abhorrence of the sun of pestilence, they were comfortable with each other. In the shade's protection, they walked and talked, arguing companionably about a name for their son. Initially, Sunder claimed that the child would grow up to be an eh-Brand and should therefore be given an en-Brand's name; but Hollian insisted that the boy would take 311 after his father. Then for no apparent reason they switched positions and continued contradicting each other.

By unspoken agreement. Linden and Covenant left the Stonedownors to themselves as much as possible. She listened to them in a mood of detached affection for a time; but gradually their argument sent her musing on matters that had nothing to do with the Sunbane*or with what Covenant hoped to accomplish by confronting the Despiser. In the middle of her reverie, she surprised herself by asking without preamble, "What was Joan like? When you were married?"

He looked at her sharply; and she caught a glimpse of the unanswerable pain which lay at the roots of his certainty. Once before, when she had appealed to him, he had said of Joan, She's my ex-wife, as if that simple fact were an affirmation.

Yet some kind of guilt or commitment toward Joan had (253 of 399) [1/19/03 11:38:43 PM]

endured in him for years after their divorce, compelling him to accept responsibility for her when she had come to him in madness and possession, seeking his blood.

Now he hesitated momentarily as if he were searching for a reply which would give Linden what she wanted without weakening his grasp on himself. Then he indicated Sunder and Hollian with a twitch of his head. "When Roger was bom," he said, overriding a catch^in his throat, "she didn't ask me what I thought She just named him after her father.

And her grandfather. A whole series of Rogers on her side of the family. When he grows up, he probably won't even know who I am."

His bitterness was plain. But other, more important feelings lay behind it. He had smiled for Joan when he had exchanged his life for hers.

And he was smiling now*the same terrible smile that Linden remembered with such dismay. While it lasted, she was on the verge of whispering at him in stark anguish. Is that what you're going to do? Again? Again?

But almost at once his expression softened; and the thing die feared seemed suddenly impossible. Her protest faded. He appeared unnaturally sure of what he meant to do; but, whatever it was, it did not reek of suicide. Inwardly shaken, she said, "Don't worry. He won't forget you." Her attempt to console him sounded inane, but she had nothing else to offer.

"It's not that easy for kids to forget their parents."312 In response, he slipped an arm around her waist, hugged her. They walked on together in silence.

But by midmorning sunlight covered most of the riverbed, and the channel became increasingly hazardous. The rock- gnarled and twisted course, with its secret shadows and occasionally overhanging banks, was an apt breeding place for pestilential creatures which lurked and struck. From Revelstone Hollian had brought an ample store of voure; but some of the crawling, scuttling life that now teemed in the riverbottom seemed to be angered by the scent or immune to it altogether. Warped and feral sensations sc.r.a.ped across Linden's nerves. Everytime she saw something move, a pang of alarm went through her. Sunder and Hollian had to be more and more careful where they put their bare feet.

Covenant began to study the slopes where the Giants walked.

He was considering the advantages of leaving the channel.