Against All Things Ending Part 3

Linden heard him, but she did not listen. Gallows Howe held truths unknown to Berek and his descendants. Ire was only one aspect of what she had learned in Caerroil Wildwood's demesne-and in her ordeal under Melenkurion Melenkurion Skyweir. By their stature and potency, the ancient Lords had drawn her beyond herself. Now she felt called to the Law-Breakers. Skyweir. By their stature and potency, the ancient Lords had drawn her beyond herself. Now she felt called to the Law-Breakers.

To Elena, daughter of Lena and Covenant, who had pierced the Law of Death because she had trusted Kevin's pain-and who, like Linden, had failed to heed the warning of the Ranyhyn.

Linden herself had become a Law-Breaker. And she could not lay claim to the redemptive mystery which had impelled Caer-Caveral to breach the Law of Life so that Covenant's spirit would remain to ward the Arch of Time when his body had been slain-and so that Hollian and her unborn son could live again. The Dead Forestal of Andelain would not understand Linden.

Only Elena could comprehend her now that Linden also had ignored the Ranyhyn, and all of her choices had become calamities.

Moving around Covenant's sprawled helplessness and the krill krill's compulsory light-leaving her Staff and Covenant's ring unregarded on the gra.s.s-Linden crossed the hollow to approach the last Forestal and the stricken High Lord.

On some level, she felt Berek's shade watching her. She sensed his efforts to gauge the condition of her soul-or the direction of her thoughts. But she had no attention to spare for him; and after a moment, he seemed to sigh. Unrea.s.sured, he faded as well, following his descendants as if she had dismissed him.

In the absence of those towering spirits-and of the Wraiths, fled from Linden's great wrong-her companions began to emerge from their entrancement and shock. Liand and the Ramen became restive, fretted by alarms. The Humbled and even Stave gazed after Linden as though they disapproved of her refusal to acknowledge or answer Berek Halfhand. The Harrow watched Linden avidly while Infelice shed distress like damaged jewels.

But Linden ignored them as well. A score of paces, or perhaps more, brought her face-to-face with the Law-Breakers, who had escorted Covenant out of Time to meet her uttermost need.

Elena seemed unable to meet her gaze. Regret and grief twisted the High Lord's features as she studied the gra.s.s at Linden's feet, the stains on Linden's jeans. Lit by the krill krill, torn hair framed Elena's galled face, her naked self-abhorrence.

At any other time, Linden might have been moved by empathy to remain silent. Elena was Covenant's daughter. In simple kindness, if for no other reason, Linden might have tried to show the spectre as much consideration as she had given Joan.

But Roger also was Covenant's child. Linden had no patience for Elena. She could not afford to treat Elena's failings more gently than her own. Linden had committed an absolute crime. Only absolute responses would suffice.

Berek was right about her: she had become a kind of Gallows Howe. The sorrow that she had felt for Kevin Landwaster was like Caerroil Wildwood's grief for his trees-and for his future. It remained with her; but its implied vulnerability had already bled away into soil made barren by death. Like the former Forestal of Garroting Deep, she was aghast at the scale of her own inadequacy. But she had none of his fury, and no one to blame. She was too full of dismay to consider Elena's frailty.

Perhaps Elena understood the gift which Berek, Damelon, and Loric had given Kevin. Her spirit as she avoided Linden's gaze seemed to yearn for some forgiving touch. In her, hope was commingled with a raw fear that she would be refused.

But Linden had gone too far beyond hope and despair to comfort Elena. Covenant's daughter needed his his consolation, not Linden's. consolation, not Linden's.

In a low voice, taut and bitter, she demanded, "Stop feeling sorry for yourself." She was speaking to herself as much as to Elena's woe. "It doesn't accomplish anything. You've suffered enough. Tell me what to do now."

Tell me how to bear what I've done.

She needed an answer. But apparently she-like Elena herself-had misjudged the Dead. In a different form, Elena may once have aided Covenant: she had no aid to offer now. Instead an echo of Linden's dismay twisted her features. Raising her face to the doomed stars, she uttered a wail of desolation: the stark cry of a woman whose wracked heart had been denied.

Then she flared briefly in the krill krill's light and vanished, following the distant ancestors of her High Lords.h.i.+p out of the vale; out of the night.

From the bottom of the hollow, Linden's friends gazed at her as if she had smitten their hearts. Infelice's distress matched the outrage of the Humbled.

"Elena!" Linden cried urgently. "Come back! I need you!" But her appeal died, forlorn, among the benighted trees, and found no reply.

Instead Caer-Caveral faced her with severity and indignation in every line of his spectral form.

"You judge harshly, Wildwielder. The Landwaster himself has been granted solace. Does your heart hold no compa.s.sion for Elena daughter of Lena, whose daring and folly compelled her to spend herself in service to the Despiser?"

"d.a.m.nit," Linden retorted without flinching, "that's not the point. Compa.s.sion isn't going to save any of us." There was nothing left to save except Jeremiah. "Somebody has to tell me what to do." has to tell me what to do."

The Dead Forestal folded his arms across his chest, holding his scepter in the crook of his elbow; forbidding her. "Cease your protests." He had set aside every impulse or emotion that might have resembled mercy. "They are bootless. We have no counsel for you."

Linden beat her fists on her temples. She would have clutched at Caer-Caveral if he had been anything more than an eidolon. "Then tell me why you won't help me. When Covenant was here before, you gave him everything," advice and Vain as well as the location of the One Tree. The Forestal and Covenant's Dead had prepared every step of his path to death and triumph. "Why didn't you care about 'the necessity of freedom' then then? He's Thomas Covenant. He would have found a way without you. I'm just lost.

"Why have you forsaken me?"

Caer-Caveral glowered at her, shedding reminders of his slain song. "Much has been altered since the Unbeliever last walked among the living. You are indeed forsaken, by the Dead as by the Earth's Creator. How could it be otherwise, when all of your deeds conduce to ruin?"

Then he said, "In pity, however," although his tone held no pity, "I will observe that the Unbeliever entered Andelain alone, for no companion dared to stand at his side. He had neither health-sense nor the Staff of Law. The Ranyhyn had not cautioned him. He knew only love and compa.s.sion. Thus his need was greater than yours. For that reason, he was given gifts.

"Yet the Dead shaped none of his choices. He did not come seeking guidance. Nor did he request aid. In sooth, he did not tread any path which he did not determine for himself-or which you did not determine on his behalf.

"You have companions, Chosen, who have not faltered in your service. If you must have counsel, require it of them. They have no knowledge which you do not share, but their hearts are not consumed by darkness."

Abruptly Caer-Caveral unclasped his arms; gripped his scepter in one fist. Whirling the gnarled wood about him as though he were invoking music, a melody which had been silent for millennia, he removed himself from the night, leaving Linden alone on the slope of the vale.

Beyond her, Andelain's trees looked chthonic in the light of the krill krill. Behind her stood the charred stump of the Forestal's former life, the krill krill itself, Thomas Covenant's sprawled unconsciousness. The conflicting concerns and pa.s.sions of her companions tugged at her nerves like accusations or pleading. And among them on the gra.s.s lay the Staff of Law and Covenant's wild gold ring as if those instruments of power formed the pivot on which the fate of worlds turned. itself, Thomas Covenant's sprawled unconsciousness. The conflicting concerns and pa.s.sions of her companions tugged at her nerves like accusations or pleading. And among them on the gra.s.s lay the Staff of Law and Covenant's wild gold ring as if those instruments of power formed the pivot on which the fate of worlds turned.

For a moment, Linden yearned to simply walk away. She had done something like that once before in Andelain, when her fears for or of Covenant had raised a wall between them. She could stride into the darkness and try to lose herself among the kindly folds of the Hills. There copses and greenswards and beauty might appease her guilt with their lenitive beneficence; soothe her savaged heart. She could walk and walk until there was nothing left of her, and the burden of the Land's unanswerable needs fell to someone else.

But to do so would be to forsake Jeremiah, as she herself had been forsaken. And her friends deserved more from her. After what she had done to him, Covenant deserved more.

Days ago, Manethrall Mahrtiir had told her, Therein lay Kevin Landwaster's error-aye, and great Therein lay Kevin Landwaster's error-aye, and great Kelenbhraba.n.a.l Kelenbhraba.n.a.l's also. When all hope was gone, they heeded the counsels of despair When all hope was gone, they heeded the counsels of despair. Had they continued to strive, defying their doom, some unforeseen wonder might have occurred Had they continued to strive, defying their doom, some unforeseen wonder might have occurred.

Linden no longer believed in unforeseen wonders. They were Covenant's province-and she had crippled him. Nevertheless she turned her back on the surrounding darkness and walked slowly down to rejoin her friends and the Ranyhyn, the Humbled and Infelice and the Harrow.

None of them attended Covenant's unconsciousness, although the Humbled stood guard over him. They were chary of him; restrained by awe, or by the fear that they might harm him inadvertently. Nevertheless everyone watching Linden understood too much: she could see that. For those who cared about her, what she had done was an ictus in their hearts. Liand and the Ramen lacked the Harrow's provocative knowledge, Infelice's Earth-spanning consciousness, the shared memories of the Haruchai Haruchai. None of her friends-or her antagonists-could match the strange and singular insight of the Ranyhyn. But they all were gifted with health-sense; percipience. The Elohim Elohim's announcement that Linden had invoked the destruction of the Earth may have sounded abstract to Liand and the Ramen; even to the Humbled and Stave. Still they knew that they had witnessed an irreversible catastrophe; that she had vindicated every warning, fulfilled every dire prophecy- When your deeds have come to doom, as they must- You have it within you to perform horrors.

How had the Harrow and even the Viles known how badly she would fail her loves?

But Linden did not allow herself to hide her head as she approached the krill krill and Covenant's limp form. She did not intend to conceal her fatal heart behind a veil of shame. If she had indeed and Covenant's limp form. She did not intend to conceal her fatal heart behind a veil of shame. If she had indeed roused the Worm of the World's End roused the Worm of the World's End, she meant to bear as much of the cost as her flesh could endure.

Bhapa and Pahni did not meet her eyes. Apparently they could not. Pahni clung to Liand, hiding her shock and terror against his shoulder. Bhapa studied the gra.s.s at his feet as though he feared that Linden's gaze would make him weep. But the bandage over Mahrtiir's face was too mundane to conceal the ferocity of his glower.

Stave had regained his impa.s.sivity. Perhaps he had never lost it. His stance was a query, not a repudiation. But the Humbled were not so restrained. Behind their familiar ready poise, they seemed to tremble with the force of their eagerness to strike her down.

Covenant had told them to choose her. They did not appear inclined to heed him.

Around the Humbled, the Ranyhyn remained watchful, wary; prepared to defend Linden again. As Linden drew near, Hyn nickered softly. The mare's call sounded sorrowful and resigned, as if she blamed herself. In spite of what Linden had done, the horses held fast to their fidelity. Perhaps they still trusted her. If they considered Infelice or the Harrow relevant to the fate of the Land-or to their own imperatives-they did not show it.

Of them all, however, all of Linden's friends, only Liand looked at her and spoke.

Every hint of the young dignity which he had displayed upon other occasions was gone. The stature of his Stonedownor heritage had deserted him. He had replaced his Sunstone in its pouch: he did not reach for it now. Linden had never seen him look so small, or so lorn. The raven wings of his eyebrows articulated his uncertainty.

She expected him to plead for an explanation; a justification. h.e.l.l, she half expected him to castigate her. He and everyone else had earned that right. But he did not.

Instead he asked, hoa.r.s.e with empathy, "Will you not heal him?" Helplessly he indicated Covenant. "Linden, the pain of his incarnation wracks him. He cannot contain the greatness of his spirit. There is also an illness which I do not comprehend, though it appears paltry by the measure of his rent mind.

"The Staff of Law lies there." Liand pointed at the shaft of wood, iron-shod and ebony and runed. "Will you not grant him the benison of its flame? He has suffered beyond my power to imagine it." His tone held no accusation. "Will you not ease his plight?"

Linden shook her head. She was too full of dismay to falter. And the first shock of horror had pa.s.sed. She was beginning to regain her ability to consider what she did.

"Don't you think," she asked Liand precisely, "that I've done enough harm already?"

Covenant was not warded by any power which might repulse her touch. But she could not affect the state of his mind-his spirit-without entering into him with her health-sense. Without possessing possessing him. Long ago, she had done such things: she knew now that they were violations as profound as any rape. In addition, she could not foresee the effects of any change that she might make in Covenant's truncated transcendence. Years of experience had taught her that any sentience which did not heal itself might be forever flawed. And on this subject, the Ranyhyn had warned her clearly enough. They had shown her the likely outcome if she imposed her will on Covenant. Or on Jeremiah. him. Long ago, she had done such things: she knew now that they were violations as profound as any rape. In addition, she could not foresee the effects of any change that she might make in Covenant's truncated transcendence. Years of experience had taught her that any sentience which did not heal itself might be forever flawed. And on this subject, the Ranyhyn had warned her clearly enough. They had shown her the likely outcome if she imposed her will on Covenant. Or on Jeremiah.

Some evils could not be twisted to serve any purpose but their own. Manipulating Covenant's condition for her own benefit would make her no better than the vile succubus that feasted on Jeremiah's neck. Perhaps some obdurate instinct for salvation would enable Covenant to find his way through the maze of his fissured consciousness. Linden would not.

Liand winced at her answer: at the words themselves, or at their acrid sound in the lush night. Pahni stifled a whimper against his shoulder. Mahrtiir's fierce silence conveyed the impression that he was mustering arguments to persuade her.

But Linden moved past them as though she had been indurated to any simple or direct form of compa.s.sion. She made no effort to retrieve her Staff or Covenant's ring. Jeremiah's ruined toy in her pocket was enough for her: the bullet hole and the small tears in her s.h.i.+rt were enough. Ignoring the grim enmity of the Humbled, she went to confront Infelice.

Now that the crisis of Linden's powers had pa.s.sed, the echo of wild magic from Loric's krill krill did not outs.h.i.+ne the did not outs.h.i.+ne the Elohim Elohim's refulgence. Infelice stood before Linden like a cynosure of loveliness and aghast hauteur. Wreathed about her limbs, her bedizened garment resembled weeping woven of gemstones and recrimination.

The Mahdoubt had told Linden that There is hope in contradiction There is hope in contradiction. Long ago, Covenant had said the same thing. Before that, High Lord Mhoram had said it.

But the Mahdoubt had fallen into madness and death for Linden's sake; and Covenant lay shattered on the gra.s.s. Linden had never known Mhoram.

Without preamble, she said, "The Dead are gone." She did not doubt that Sunder and Hollian had already bid farewell to their immeasurably bereft son; that Grimmand Honninscrave had left the Swordmainnir to consider all that they had lost. "And Covenant can't help me. I've hurt him too badly." Nor could the Harrow's knowledge, the fruit of his long diligence and greed, be compared to the immortal awareness of the Elohim Elohim. "That only leaves you.

"Tell me how to find my son."

The Harrow had averred that Infelice would not or could not do so.

"Wildwielder," the Elohim Elohim retorted sharply: a reprimand. "You yourself have asked if the harm which you have wrought does not suffice. Will you compound ruin with delirancy? Your son is an abomination. His uses are abominable. Did not the first Halfhand say that you must exceed yourself yet again? He wished to convey that you must set aside this mad craving for your son." retorted sharply: a reprimand. "You yourself have asked if the harm which you have wrought does not suffice. Will you compound ruin with delirancy? Your son is an abomination. His uses are abominable. Did not the first Halfhand say that you must exceed yourself yet again? He wished to convey that you must set aside this mad craving for your son."

Linden shook her head again. Infelice's words slipped past her like shadows, wasted and empty of affect. No objurgation could touch her while she remained deaf to despair.

And she did not choose to credit the Elohim Elohim's interpretation of High Lord Berek's insistence- "Then tell me," she said as though Infelice had not spoken, "how to stop the Worm."

"Stop the Worm?" The woman's voice nearly cracked. "Do you imagine that such a being may be hindered or halted in any manner? Your ignorance is as extreme as your transgressions."

Behind Linden, the Harrow chuckled softly; but she heard no humor in the sound.

"So explain it to me," she demanded. "Cure my ignorance. Why does such a being even exist? What's it for for? What made the Creator think that the Worm of the World's End was a good idea? Did he want to kill his own creation? Was all of this," all of life and time, "just some cruel experiment to see how long it would take us to do everything wrong?"

"Fool!" retorted Infelice. Impatiently she dismissed the worth of Linden's question. "How otherwise might the Creator have devised a living world? You have named yourself a healer. How do you fail to grasp that life cannot exist without death?"

Her voice wove a skein of sorrow and repugnance among the trees. "From the smallest blade of gra.s.s to the most feral Sandgorgon or skurj skurj, all that lives is able to do so only because it contains within itself the seeds of its own end. If living things did not decline and perish, they would soon crowd out all other life and time and hope. For this reason, every living thing ages and dies. And if its life is long, then its capacity for procreation is foreshortened."

While the Elohim Elohim spoke, Linden's friends came to stand at her back, leaving only Bhapa to watch over Covenant with the Humbled; but neither she nor Infelice regarded them. spoke, Linden's friends came to stand at her back, leaving only Bhapa to watch over Covenant with the Humbled; but neither she nor Infelice regarded them.

"Without difficulty, the Creator could doubtless have placed as many earths and heavens as he desired within the Arch of Time. But he could not conceive a living living world that did not contain the means of its own death." world that did not contain the means of its own death."

Abruptly Infelice looked toward the Harrow; and her wrath mounted. "There this flagrant Insequent reveals the folly of his greed. With Earthpower and wild magic, he imagines that he will be empowered to unmake the Worm, thereby ensuring the continuance of the Earth. But the unmaking of the Worm will unmake all life. Such power cannot be countered without unleas.h.i.+ng absolute havoc. While the Earth endures, the Worm is needful needful. The Harrow dreams of glory, but he will accomplish only extinction."

Now the Harrow laughed outright, rich and deep, and entirely devoid of mirth. "You mistake me, Elohim Elohim," he replied. "Such has been your custom toward the Insequent for many an age. I am not your Wildwielder, steeped in ignorance and mislove. I have other desires, intentions which will transcend your self-regard."

Linden had no interest in the hostility between the Insequent and the Elohim Elohim: it was of no use to her. Before she could intervene, however, Stave raised his voice to ask Infelice, "How, then, does it chance that the Elohim Elohim do not know death? Why have you been spared the hope and doom of all other life? I discern no merit in you to sanction your freedom from mortality." do not know death? Why have you been spared the hope and doom of all other life? I discern no merit in you to sanction your freedom from mortality."

"Puerile wight!" Infelice snapped at once. "Do you dare? The Elohim Elohim do not suffer affront from such as you." do not suffer affront from such as you."

Yet a glance at Linden caused Infelice to quell the chiming swirl of her wrath. Apparently Linden held a kind of sway over the suzerain Elohim Elohim; an influence or import which Linden did not understand.

With elaborate restraint, Infelice explained, "The Elohim Elohim do not partic.i.p.ate in death because our purpose is deathless. We neither multiply nor change nor die because we were created to be the stewards of the Worm. do not partic.i.p.ate in death because our purpose is deathless. We neither multiply nor change nor die because we were created to be the stewards of the Worm.

"Betimes we have intervened in perils which endanger life upon or within the Earth, but that is not our chief end. Rather our Wurd requires of us that we preserve the Worm's slumber. Understand, Wildwielder, that we have no virtu to impose sleep. Instead it is our task to pacify and soothe. Thus by our very nature we serve all lesser manifestations of life.

"When we have countered wrongs such as the skurj skurj, or the decimation of the One Forest, we have done so that the Worm may not be made restive by harm. And when we have permitted powers such as Forestals, or the Colossus of the Fall, to be fas.h.i.+oned from our essence, we have done so to refresh the corresponding vitality of the One Tree, that we may be left in peace." More and more as she spoke, her words seemed to weave the arching trees and the deep night and the light of the krill krill into an elegy, delicate as silver bells, and rich with grief. "Our into an elegy, delicate as silver bells, and rich with grief. "Our purpose purpose is peace, the means and outcome of our self-contemplation. The Forestals-and others-are our surrogates, just as we are the Creator's surrogates. They serve as the Creator's hold and bastion in our stead, preserving life which strives and dies while we preserve the Earth." is peace, the means and outcome of our self-contemplation. The Forestals-and others-are our surrogates, just as we are the Creator's surrogates. They serve as the Creator's hold and bastion in our stead, preserving life which strives and dies while we preserve the Earth."

Then the elegy became a dirge throbbing with bitterness.

"Yet even such sacrifices are not the full tale of our worth to the Earth. I have named the One Tree. Setting aside the irenic reverie of ourselves, we have sought to deflect every threat which endangers the Tree, for it nurtures life just as the Worm enacts death. Thus the Earth began its true decline toward woe when an Insequent became the Guardian of the One Tree. The Theomach's cunning was great, but his vaunted knowledge did not suffice for such a burden. Still less has Brinn of the Haruchai Haruchai's prowess sufficed, though he achieved the Theomach's demise. By such deeds was the sanct.i.ty of the One Tree diminished, and the depth of the Worm's slumber was made less.

"Our tragedy is this, that the shadow upon our hearts has become an utter darkness. The harm has grown beyond our power to intervene. The Worm is roused and ravenous, and we cannot renew its slumber. By what this Insequent has rightly named mislove, Wildwielder, you have doomed us. Because of you, we will be the first to feed the hunger which you have called forth."

While Infelice answered Stave's challenge, Linden fretted. On some level, she recognized the pertinence of the Elohim Elohim's revelations. But they did not shape or soften the extremity of her circ.u.mstances. Your remorse will surpa.s.s your strength to bear it Your remorse will surpa.s.s your strength to bear it. She needed facts, details; a concrete understanding of what she had released.

Earlier Berek Halfhand had said, The making of worlds is not accomplished in an instant The making of worlds is not accomplished in an instant. It cannot be instantly undone It cannot be instantly undone. Much must transpire before the deeds of the Chosen find their last outcome Much must transpire before the deeds of the Chosen find their last outcome. Linden clung to that-and demanded more from Infelice.

"All right," she muttered grimly. "I get it.

"So what happens now? The Worm is awake. Somewhere. What will it do? How is it going to destroy the Earth? How much time have we got?"

The world's remaining days were her only concern. The Worm itself was Covenant's problem, not hers. He or no one would rise to that crisis. In either case, she had her own task to perform before the end.

-you aren't done. Covenant had recognized the truth. And he had professed that she might succeed. She's the only one who can do this She's the only one who can do this. She chose to believe that he had referred to her one remaining responsibility.

"The Worm's slumbers have been long and long." Infelice spoke softly, but acid and bile twisted her mien. "Rousing, it is galled by hunger. As any living thing, it must feed. And as we are its stewards, so are we also its sustenance. Such is our Wurd. The Worm must feed upon us. Only when it is sated with Elohim Elohim will it turn to the accomplishment of its greater purpose. If any of our kind remain unconsumed, we will endure solely to witness the end of all things, and so pa.s.s into the last dark." will it turn to the accomplishment of its greater purpose. If any of our kind remain unconsumed, we will endure solely to witness the end of all things, and so pa.s.s into the last dark."

-feed upon us. Perhaps Linden should have been shaken. Earlier Infelice had said that every every Elohim Elohim will be devoured will be devoured, but Linden had hardly heard her. Now Linden might have stopped to consider the cost of what she had done.

But Infelice had not given her what she needed. Linden tried again. "How long will it take? Hours? Days? Weeks?"

Like angry weeping, the Elohim Elohim replied, "We will seek to delay our pa.s.sing because we must. We will flee and conceal ourselves at such distances as we are able to attain, requiring the Worm to scent us out singly, for we do not wish to perish. With sustenance, however, the Worm's might will grow. Ere a handful of days have pa.s.sed, its puissance will discover and consume us. Then there will be no force in all the Earth great enough to delay the Worm." replied, "We will seek to delay our pa.s.sing because we must. We will flee and conceal ourselves at such distances as we are able to attain, requiring the Worm to scent us out singly, for we do not wish to perish. With sustenance, however, the Worm's might will grow. Ere a handful of days have pa.s.sed, its puissance will discover and consume us. Then there will be no force in all the Earth great enough to delay the Worm."

Again the Harrow gave his humorless laugh; but no one heeded him.

"All right," Linden repeated. "A handful of days." But she was no longer looking at Infelice. Her attention had veered away. "That isn't much." Stave or the Humbled may have had further questions for the Elohim Elohim. Like Linden herself, the Haruchai Haruchai did not forgive. There were many things of which they could have accused Infelice. And Mahrtiir may have wished to protest the implied fate of the Ranyhyn. Linden would have let them say whatever they wanted. She was not speaking to them as she muttered, "I need to face this. I can't put it off any longer." did not forgive. There were many things of which they could have accused Infelice. And Mahrtiir may have wished to protest the implied fate of the Ranyhyn. Linden would have let them say whatever they wanted. She was not speaking to them as she muttered, "I need to face this. I can't put it off any longer."

She expected the Harrow to offer her a bargain. An exchange. Paralysis or urgency was the only choice left to her; and Jeremiah needed her.

Do it, she told herself. While you still can.

But when Linden turned away from Infelice, the Ramen and Liand joined her. A moment later, the Manethrall stepped in front of her, compelling her to consider his blinded visage.

"Ringthane," he began gruffly. "Chosen. There is much here which transcends us. We are Ramen, servants of the great Ranyhyn. For millennia, we have been content to be who we are. We do not partic.i.p.ate in the outcome of worlds.

"But there is one matter of which I must speak."

Linden stared at him. Her face felt too stiff with emotion to hold any expression. She may have looked as ungiving as Stave's kindred. But Mahrtiir was her friend. He had lost his eyes, and with them some measure of his self-worth, in her aid. With an effort, she said, "I'm listening."

Carefully the Manethrall said, "Since we are a.s.sured that it must be so, I grant that the harm of the first Ringthane's resurrection is vast and terrible. But it is done. It cannot be undone. And his need remains. It is present and immediate. To heal him now will not redeem that which is past, but may do much to relieve that which is to come."