Against All Things Ending Part 10

Dourly the Humbled nodded. "In this circ.u.mstance," Galt said, "we will regret your departure. It is madness compounded with madness. Beyond question, some better use for your lives and efforts might be found. Understand, then, that neither we nor the ur-Lord will join your folly. Here he and the Wraiths of Andelain and High Lord Loric's krill krill may yet provide a bastion against havoc. Mayhap new counsels may now be gained among the Dead. And we do not fear to place our faith in the Unbeliever, though he has been severed from himself, making him less than he was. may yet provide a bastion against havoc. Mayhap new counsels may now be gained among the Dead. And we do not fear to place our faith in the Unbeliever, though he has been severed from himself, making him less than he was.

"While the Earth endures, the Masters stand with Thomas Covenant. But we will do so here here rather than under the thrall of any Insequent." rather than under the thrall of any Insequent."

As Galt spoke, Linden's heart twisted. Surely this was what she wanted? To keep Covenant safe in Andelain? She owed him at least that much after everything that she had done to damage and misuse him. And yet she did not want to part from him. She did not not. Even Jeremiah would not fill Covenant's place in her heart.

Like him, she was caught in a flaw within herself. But hers was an emotional fissure, not a broken memory. She wanted-and did not want-and could not choose.

For his part, the Harrow did not hesitate. In a loud voice, he proclaimed, "Your debates are empty breath, wasted while time crowds against us. You seek to persuade the lady, but I I do not heed you. My oath I have given to her alone. I will not accept the burden of her companions." do not heed you. My oath I have given to her alone. I will not accept the burden of her companions."

"Aye," the Ardent interjected, "if that is her interpretation." Like his a.s.surance, his lisp was fading. "Should she wish to seek her son without accompaniment, her desires will be enforced. But should she find herself loath to proceed both friendless and bereft-" His voice trailed away like the fluttering of his ribbands.

As if by incantation, Linden's indecisions were dispelled. The Harrow's tone enabled her to stand on ground as solid as it was unexpected. In an instant, she discarded her previous resolve. He wished to leave her companions behind-and she did not trust him. His hungers were too extreme: he needed needed her helplessness. Without it, he could not be confident that she would eventually surrender Jeremiah to his designs. her helplessness. Without it, he could not be confident that she would eventually surrender Jeremiah to his designs.

The Giants and the Ramen, Liand and Stave: they might be able to aid her son in ways that she could not yet imagine. She believed that Anele would be granted deep rock deep rock. And while Covenant remained in Andelain with the Humbled and the krill krill, she could feel sure that the Land had not been utterly forsaken.

She could bear to leave Covenant behind if it meant preserving some manner of hope for the Land.

Turning to the Harrow, she surrendered again; but not to him. Not to him.

"In that case," she said distinctly, "I've changed my mind. I want my friends with me."

All who live share the Land's plight.

"And I have said," the Harrow retorted in fury, "that I do not heed heed you. This purpose is you. This purpose is mine mine. The knowledge necessary to accomplish it is mine mine. I will not countenance the corruption of all that I have craved and sought."

The Ardent flinched. His eyes rolled. For a moment, he looked like he might turn his back and flee. But then some form of courage or coercion came to his aid. Thickly he intoned, "Lady, it is both my pleasure and my task by the will of the Insequent to inform you that the Harrow's true name is-"

The Harrow wheeled on his ribboned opponent. "Silence, fool!" he roared. "If you betray me in this fas.h.i.+on, you betray yourself as well. Revealing my name, you will empower the lady to command me. Thus you will destroy my intent-and you will perish, d.a.m.ned by your own deed.

"But I will not permit it. Rather than suffer ruin at your hand, I will forsake my design utterly.

"What then, fat one, fool, meddler? Will you drive me to depart, abandoning the Earth to its end, merely to gratify your gangrel corpulence? Must I leave the lady to grieve for her son while she may? Are you blind to the truth that neither you nor the combined will of the Insequent suffice to alter the world's doom? You cannot discover the prison of the lady's son. Without him, you are lost. All All is lost." is lost."

Wreathed in bands of color like anxiety, the Ardent replied, "This outcome some among the Insequent have foreseen. Others disagree. One matter on which all concur, however, is that of the lady's import. To an extent which you fear to acknowledge, the fate of life rests with her as much as with her son.

"Yet that is not the substance of our contention. Its crux is this. Do my p.r.o.nouncements, or the lady's desires, suffice to daunt you? Is your purpose, or your pride, so fragile that you cannot suffer obstruction? If not, you must concede that your avarice forbids you to turn from your chosen path."

"My avarice?" barked the Harrow scornfully. His fingers twitched, eager for the magic of his beads and fringes. " avarice?" barked the Harrow scornfully. His fingers twitched, eager for the magic of his beads and fringes. "I am not a living embodiment of gluttony. There can be no comparison between us. Where I have hazarded my life a.s.siduously for centuries, you have merely feasted. You cannot out-face me. You prize your gross flesh too highly." am not a living embodiment of gluttony. There can be no comparison between us. Where I have hazarded my life a.s.siduously for centuries, you have merely feasted. You cannot out-face me. You prize your gross flesh too highly."

Feigning confidence, the Ardent answered, "Thus you display ignorance rather than knowledge. Truly I prize my flesh, as I do all sustenance. But I do not fear death when I am able to spend the last of my days feasting. I will happily perish in surfeit and satiation while the Worm devours the Earth."

Then his manner changed. Between one word and the next, sharpness emerged like a knife from the concealment of his garb.

"However, I also do not scruple to betray you. I fear, but I do not scruple. If I must, I will ensure that you cannot abandon your purpose. Depart if you wish. Forsake your intent. You will gain naught. I need only speak your true name, and the lady will receive from you all that she requires."

"And when you have uttered my true name," countered the Harrow viciously, "I will reveal yours." He seemed barely able to contain his rage: it congested his voice like alluvial mud.

But his antagonist did not falter. "Thus the lady will be empowered to compel us both equally. For me, nothing will be lost. As you have observed, I will be d.a.m.ned by my own deed. For you, however, all that you have ever craved will fray and fade."

The Ardent may have been bluffing: Linden could not tell. Beneath his flamboyant magicks, he was as mundane as she was; as legible as Liand or the Ramen. But the acquired power of his ribbands obscured aspects of his aura, distracted her senses.

Nevertheless she was already sure of the outcome. The Harrow would acquiesce. His hungers were as bottomless as his eyes. They ruled him.

Turning her back on both of the Insequent, she forced herself to face Covenant again. She wanted to find some way to say goodbye, if not to him then to the love that they had once shared.

Long ago, she had heard Pitchwife singing,

I know not how to say Farewell, When Farewell is the word That stays alone for me to say Or will be heard.

She hoped that she would return to Andelain with Jeremiah. But she no longer had any power to impose her will on events: no power apart from the Ardent's support. Anything might happen after the Harrow fulfilled his part of their bargain.

Covenant's attention still wandered the maze of his memories, dissociated and lost. He might not hear her. Nevertheless she had to try. She could too easily imagine that this would be her last chance- Hoa.r.s.e with strain, she began, "Covenant"-oh, Covenant!-"I'm sorry. I've done everything wrong," ever since the Mahdoubt had returned her to her proper time. "I should have trusted you." She should have at least tried tried to understand the silence of the Dead. "Now it's come to this." to understand the silence of the Dead. "Now it's come to this."

Her friends hovered around her. Behind them, the Harrow and the Ardent had fallen silent. Bitterly the Harrow chafed at this new delay. In his own fas.h.i.+on, he, too, had surrendered-But Linden had no attention to spare for anyone except Covenant.

"The only thing that doesn't scare me is leaving you here. You're struggling now, but you'll find your way out of it." She made a ragged effort to smile. "By the time I get back, you'll probably know how to save the Land." The Harrow's plans she distrusted: intuitively she suspected that he would not be allowed to carry them out. The Land had too many powerful foes. "That wouldn't surprise me. If you can't do it, no one can."

With a suddenness that startled her, nearly made her flinch, Covenant's eyes sprang into focus. His chin came up, emphasizing the severity of his features, the exigency of his grey gaze. Before she could react, he answered like a growl, "Oh, h.e.l.l h.e.l.l, no."

She seemed to hear gruff affection in his voice.

"After all the trouble of resurrecting me," he announced, "the least you can do is take me with you. I may not look like much, but you need me. And G.o.d knows I need you. Right now, I'm not coherent enough to do anything on my own. You're about the only power there is that can actually hold me together. For a few minutes, anyway. And we've got time-"

The response of the Masters was swift. Galt stepped between Linden and Covenant as if to deny her claim on the Unbeliever. One on each side, Branl and Clyme gripped Covenant's arms.

"Ur-Lord, no." An almost subliminal tremor of vehemence marred Galt's inflexibility. "This we will not permit. We cannot. The Land's plight precludes it."

Tension ran through the Ramen. Protests crowded Liand's heart. Several of the Swordmainnir clenched their fists. But none of them moved or spoke. Stave did not interfere, although he must have known what the Humbled would do. The rest of Linden's companions may have been waiting for some sign from him, or from Linden-or from Covenant.

-you need me. Linden's pulse thudded in her throat.-I need you. Covenant's words released a cascade of emotions that threatened to sweep aside her defenses. With equal fervor, she wanted him to accompany her and to remain behind. Please, she tried to say. You don't have to do this. But her old ache for his presence and his irrefusable courage stopped her.

"You're wrong," Covenant informed Galt. "Weren't you listening? I told you. If you have to choose, choose her." He did not struggle; but now his tone held no hint of affection. He sounded raw, rubbed sore by the difficulty of controlling his frangible thoughts. "I know you don't trust the Insequent. You shouldn't. But you think you can avoid compromising any more of your commitments if the four of us stay here. Well, I'm sorry. That isn't possible. Everything is just going to get messier from now on. If you want to have any say in what happens anywhere, you'll have to get your hands dirty.

"Can't you see that I'm broken?" he asked: a sigh of exasperation. "We're all broken, one way or another. Broken or maimed. Bereft to the marrow of our bones. We can't heal anything, or stop anything, if we stay here."

Galt did not step aside. Clyme and Branl did not release Covenant. But when Galt began to say, "The Masters-" an uncharacteristic hitch in his voice forced him to pause and swallow. "The Masters," he repeated, "elected to withhold judgment concerning Linden Avery. While they remained uncertain, it became the task of the Humbled to forestall Desecration. In this we have failed. When our kinsmen are apprised of what has transpired here, they will surely judge us as we judge ourselves. Now we will bear the cost of our failure, as we must.

"If that cost includes opposition to your will, Unbeliever-" Again his voice seemed to catch in his chest. "If it requires us to act upon our certainty that Linden Avery now serves Corruption, we will do what we must to prevent further Desecration."

Uncounted days ago, Lord Foul had a.s.sured Linden that the the Haruchai Haruchai serve me, albeit unwittingly serve me, albeit unwittingly.

"h.e.l.lfire, Galt!" Covenant retorted without hesitation. "You should have gone with Cail. You should have let him talk to you.

"Have you never bothered to wonder why why Lord Foul and Kastenessen and the d.a.m.n Harrow and even my lost son want Jeremiah so badly? Have you never considered the idea that he must be crucial? Hasn't it occurred to you yet that if he can be hidden from the actual Lord Foul and Kastenessen and the d.a.m.n Harrow and even my lost son want Jeremiah so badly? Have you never considered the idea that he must be crucial? Hasn't it occurred to you yet that if he can be hidden from the actual Elohim Elohim, there must be powers at work here you don't understand? Powers you weren't aware of when you took on the job of being Masters?

"h.e.l.l and blood! You make your commitments, and you stand by them. I respect that. But even the bedrock of the world s.h.i.+fts when it has to. If ordinary stone didn't have enough wisdom to change, there wouldn't be anything here for you to stand on on."

Linden held her breath, hoping or praying or simply wis.h.i.+ng that Covenant would be able to persuade the Humbled. Oh, she could have determined the outcome for him. If she told the Ardent that her interpretation of the Harrow's bargain included Covenant, the two Insequent would have no difficulty separating him from the Masters. Nevertheless she said nothing. She had already imposed her desires on him in ways that now seemed unjustifiable. She still believed that the Land needed the rigid loyalty of the Haruchai Haruchai. And her years among the mentally and emotionally crippled in her former life had taught her that Covenant's insistence on what he wanted now might conduce to the healing of his mind; his memories. The longer he remained engaged with his actual circ.u.mstances and companions, the stronger his grip on himself might become.

That was a form of hope which she had not expected; and she clung to it.

Still she saw nothing that resembled compromise or acceptance in the lines of Galt's back. Lit by the Sunstone, Clyme and Branl looked as blank as ancient carvings, their expressions worn away by ages of intransigence.

"Yet we remain Haruchai Haruchai rather than stone," replied Galt. To the extent that his nature permitted supplication, he may have been pleading with Covenant. "Stone does not choose, ur-Lord. It merely submits to forces which it cannot withstand. Choice and battle are our birthright. We are the Masters of the Land because we elected to honor the promise of our ancestors to its fullest extent. And we"-he indicated Branl, Clyme, and himself-"are the Humbled because we earned our place by long combat. We are the avatars of the ancient failure of the Bloodguard, and must not continue to fail. You cannot ask it of us to countenance your departure in the Harrow's company, and in Linden Avery's. To do so is to ask that we become other than we are." rather than stone," replied Galt. To the extent that his nature permitted supplication, he may have been pleading with Covenant. "Stone does not choose, ur-Lord. It merely submits to forces which it cannot withstand. Choice and battle are our birthright. We are the Masters of the Land because we elected to honor the promise of our ancestors to its fullest extent. And we"-he indicated Branl, Clyme, and himself-"are the Humbled because we earned our place by long combat. We are the avatars of the ancient failure of the Bloodguard, and must not continue to fail. You cannot ask it of us to countenance your departure in the Harrow's company, and in Linden Avery's. To do so is to ask that we become other than we are."

Covenant shook his head. "That's exactly why you're going to let me go. And why you're going to come with us. In your whole history, no Haruchai Haruchai has ever been given a chance to undo a Desecration. Or to help transform it. A chance to find out what's on the other side of failure. And you have has ever been given a chance to undo a Desecration. Or to help transform it. A chance to find out what's on the other side of failure. And you have never never had a chance to recover from what the Vizard did to you. Cail would have told you that, if you were willing to listen." had a chance to recover from what the Vizard did to you. Cail would have told you that, if you were willing to listen."

Perhaps it was only adrenaline that held the shards of his mind together. Or perhaps he truly did not want to be separated from Linden. He may even have cared about Jeremiah's straits; cared deeply. He was capable of such compa.s.sion.

Beyond question he cared about the fate of the Humbled.

"Besides," he added like a shrug, "what's the alternative? Staying behind won't accomplish anything. The Worm isn't here. Neither is Lord Foul. If we want to stop them, we'll have to go where they are. That means we'll have to face Kastenessen and the skurj skurj and Roger and and Roger and caesures caesures and Ravers and even Joan. If you think we can do all that alone-if you think we don't need as many friends and allies as we can get-you're out of your minds." and Ravers and even Joan. If you think we can do all that alone-if you think we don't need as many friends and allies as we can get-you're out of your minds."

Hardly aware of what she did, Linden raised her hand to touch Covenant's ring through the plucked flannel of her s.h.i.+rt; to anchor herself on its cold comfort as she had done for years. But it was gone. And her hands were empty without the Staff.

Liand gripped his orcrest orcrest so tightly that its light shook, casting ambiguous shadows over the figures grouped around Covenant. so tightly that its light shook, casting ambiguous shadows over the figures grouped around Covenant.

Finally Stave intervened. From his place at Linden's side, he said, "The Unbeliever has spoken. You will acquiesce. How otherwise will the Humbled redeem themselves in my sight?"

Galt glanced at Clyme; at Branl. "Is there no other recourse?" he asked aloud when he could have addressed them mind to mind.

They shook their heads slightly: so slightly that Linden almost missed the glint of resignation or remorse in their eyes.

"Then," Galt p.r.o.nounced, "we redeem ourselves thus."

Wheeling so swiftly that Linden did not see him move, he flung a killing blow at her face.

Her death would cancel her bargain with the Harrow. He would take Covenant's ring and her Staff, and retrieve Jeremiah for his own use. By the inhumane standards of the Masters, that would put an end to her many Desecrations.

Yet Galt's blow did not touch her. Stave reached out and caught Galt's fist easily, as if he had seen or heard the attack coming before Galt moved. The smack of knuckles against flesh made Linden flinch, but did not harm her.

Liand yelped. Too late, the Ramen s.n.a.t.c.hed at their garrotes. Coldspray and two other Giants surged forward with their heavy fists c.o.c.ked.

But Galt did not strike again, or resist Stave's grasp. Instead he nodded once and stepped back. At the same time, Clyme and Branl released Covenant and held out their hands, open and empty, as if to show that they, too, had surrendered.

"It appears," the Ardent remarked to the Harrow, "that the scale of your entourage has been increased yet again." He sounded smug once more. "Doubtless you will welcome these added witnesses to the grand culmination of your designs."

The Harrow muttered a curse under his breath; but Linden could not hear what it was.

She did not move. She hardly dared to breathe. She was afraid that anything she might say or do would shatter the spell, the mystery, of what had just occurred.

Somehow Stave the outcast and Thomas Covenant the Unbeliever had swayed the Humbled.

Preparations

Linden hardly knew how to feel. She was awash in so many conflicting emotions that she could not steer her way through them. Dismay still filled the bottom of her heart like shoals. But over those unanswerable rocks, strong currents and eddies seemed to run in every direction.

She had resurrected Covenant at a terrible cost. She had purchased the means to reach her son by making herself powerless to aid him. Yet Covenant had reaffirmed his belief in her, his unmerited support. Indeed, he had backed her with such certainty that even the Humbled-the Humbled Humbled-had been moved.

She was desperately grateful for everything that he had said and done; for anything that hinted that his love might be great enough to cover even her vast crime. Nevertheless his att.i.tude weakened her. Like Liands overt compa.s.sion in Revelstone days ago, Covenant's reasoning eroded her grip on herself. According to the contradictory logic of her emotions, he diminished her by denying that her every deed was wrong. If everything that she had done deserved repudiation, at least she knew where she stood. Blame told her who she was. It gave her meaning. Without it, she was less than powerless: she was insignificant.

In that way, her grat.i.tude implied both hope and despair.

Perhaps this was what it meant to have friends and the possibility of love: to become smaller, too inadequate and fallible for words-and thereby to find herself no longer alone. No longer either solely culpable or solely necessary.

If so, her position now was the opposite of Stave's. Being cast out had given him the strength to stand alone, entirely isolated from his people. And that in turn had made it possible for him to be her friend in ways that no other Haruchai Haruchai could comprehend, by solitary choice rather than by communal necessity. could comprehend, by solitary choice rather than by communal necessity.

Long ago, Covenant's circ.u.mstances had resembled Stave's. Being a pariah on Haven Farm had taught him the courage and fort.i.tude to care for Joan unaided.

Linden, too, had once been alone. Alone and strong. Now the poles of her dilemma had been reversed. She had been weakened by acceptance and affirmation and trust. Together the Giants and the Ramen, Liand and Stave, Covenant and even the Humbled: they had brought her to the end of her choices.

She was not sure that she could bear it.

She was sitting on the gra.s.s again with her knees gripped to her chest; hiding her face. She needed time to recover from the joy and terror of Covenant's declarations.

Have you never bothered to wonder why why Lord Foul and Kastenessen and the d.a.m.n Harrow and even my lost son want Jeremiah so badly? Lord Foul and Kastenessen and the d.a.m.n Harrow and even my lost son want Jeremiah so badly?

Roger and the croyel croyel dreamed of becoming dreamed of becoming G.o.ds G.o.ds.

Apparently Covenant believed that Jeremiah's plight and the Land's could not be distinguished from each other.

Around her, Linden's friends also seemed to need time. Stave and the Masters regarded each other impa.s.sively; but Pahni and Bhapa stared openly at Clyme, Galt, and Branl as though they had never seen such men before. Through his bandage, Mahrtiir appeared to study the Humbled with a comparable surprise. He may have been wondering to what extent this unforeseen alteration in the posture of the Masters could be trusted.

Liand's features displayed mingled awe and vindication. He had known the intransigence of the Masters all his life: clearly he considered Covenant's accomplishment a great feat. And Covenant had validated Liand's instinctive commitments. The Stonedownor held up the light of his orcrest orcrest as if he were proud to offer illumination to the Unbeliever. as if he were proud to offer illumination to the Unbeliever.

The Swordmainnir conferred cautiously with each other. The tension of their impulse to defend Linden was slow to dissipate. Cirrus Kindwind and Cabledarm muttered together, sharing their uncertainty about the Humbled. Bluntfist, Latebirth, and Onyx Stonemage reminded each other-no doubt unnecessarily-of various Giantish tales concerning Thomas Covenant. With Frostheart Grueburn and Stormpast Galesend, Rime Coldspray discussed the innominate contingencies of a journey with the Harrow and the Ardent. They did not know where they were going, or what they would encounter when they arrived. Nevertheless they envisioned potential dangers as best they could, and considered possible responses. At the same time, the Ironhand apportioned simpler tasks. As before, she asked Grueburn to watch over Linden and Galesend to care for Anele. Stonemage and Latebirth would guard Liand and the Manethrall respectively: Cabledarm and Halewhole Bluntfist, Pahni and Bhapa. Covenant she left to the Humbled.

Meanwhile Anele fretted inchoately, as if he alone felt any need for haste.

But Covenant had slipped again. In a weary murmur, as if his tenuous clarity had drained him, he talked about the birth of Sandgorgons in the Great Desert, describing to himself the mindless confluence of Earthpower and storms and barren sand which had manifested itself in those feral monsters. His knotted frown and the hunch of his shoulders gave the impression that he feared his memories-or feared his inability to identify their importance. His wrapped hands made gestures that went nowhere.

Standing on the slope behind Linden, the Harrow ground his teeth in palpable frustration while the Ardent played restlessly with his ribbands.

Liand-of course-was the first to step aside from his own concerns. Still holding his Sunstone so that everyone could see, he crossed the greensward to kneel in front of Linden. With her face covered, she did not look at him. Nonetheless her health-sense was as precise as vision. His concern added itself to the emotional tides and eddies that swirled through her as if she had been reduced to flotsam.

"Linden," he breathed, addressing himself only to her. "Linden Avery. I see the distress which feeds upon your heart. None here do not. Even Anele is disturbed by it, and I do not doubt that the Unbeliever would seek to console you, were he able to escape his wounded mind.

"Will you not take comfort from the desire of your friends to accompany you in all things?

"I do not speak of the Haruchai Haruchai. They do as they must. Even Stave does so. Nor do I speak of the Giants, who delight in extremity and hazard. No, Linden. I speak of your lesser companions, we who have stood at your side from the first.

"Manethrall Mahrtiir, Bhapa, Pahni, and I lack the heritage of Earthpower which exalts of the Haruchai Haruchai and the Giants. Even Anele is a being of power where we are not. Yet we have confronted monsters and mysteries in your name. We have dared Demondim and and the Giants. Even Anele is a being of power where we are not. Yet we have confronted monsters and mysteries in your name. We have dared Demondim and skurj skurj, kresh kresh and Cavewights. And we have twice endured and Cavewights. And we have twice endured caesures caesures. Within the second, I have partic.i.p.ated in your thoughts, sharing the pain and force and darkness and yearning of your spirit.