Against All Things Ending Part 4

He was asking her to take a risk that she had already refused. For his sake, however, and for her other friends, she essayed an answer.

"I can't really explain it. If you haven't been possessed, you don't know what it's like to have someone else messing around inside you," heart and soul. "Just doing that to him would be bad enough. But this is worse. A broken mind isn't as simple as a cut, or a compound fracture, or an infection. Just one mistake-"

In the Verge of Wandering, she had tried to enter Anele in order to ease his madness, or his vulnerability. But she was grateful now that he had repulsed her. Her efforts would almost certainly have damaged him in some insidious fas.h.i.+on. She was neither wise nor unselfish enough to impose her wishes on him without transgressing his integrity.

She had spent years learning that lesson.

"If I interfere now, it won't be any different than resurrecting him. I'll take away his ability to make his own choices." To save or d.a.m.n himself. "After what I've done, I owe him at least a little respect."

"Linden," Liand murmured, not in protest, but in chagrin and concern, "is it truly so wrong wrong that you have restored a man whom you once loved? To some extent, I grasp the peril of-" that you have restored a man whom you once loved? To some extent, I grasp the peril of-"

"You do not," Galt stated severely. "Had Linden Avery not roused the Worm of the World's End, still would her deed be a Desecration as vile as any Fall, and as fatal. In her own name, and for no purpose other than to ease her own heart, she has violated Laws upon which the continuance of life depends. The result is an unraveling of necessity necessity , of act and consequence." His tone was pitiless. Through him, the Humbled pa.s.sed judgment. "In the end, only evil can ensue. , of act and consequence." His tone was pitiless. Through him, the Humbled pa.s.sed judgment. "In the end, only evil can ensue.

"A woman who has committed such crimes will commit others. She must not be permitted to perform further atrocities."

Clearly the Humbled did not intend to let Linden intervene in Covenant's plight.

The Manethrall and his Cords stiffened. Mahrtiir twitched his garrote into his hands. But neither the Haruchai Haruchai nor the Ranyhyn moved. Therefore the Ramen did not. nor the Ranyhyn moved. Therefore the Ramen did not.

"Nevertheless," Stave remarked without inflection, "you will not raise your hand against her. The Unbeliever has instructed your forbearance. The Ranyhyn have declared their devoir against you. And I will not stand aside. No friend of the Chosen will stand aside. Mayhap even the Giants, who have named her Giantfriend, will abide by their allegiance. If you intend to impose your will upon the Chosen, you must oppose all who have gathered here in her name. And you must defy the given command of the ur-Lord, Thomas Covenant."

Linden ignored the denunciation of the Humbled. She did not listen to Stave's affirmation. She meant to confront the Harrow. She had nowhere else to turn. She had already done everything else wrong. Lord Foul's release had become inevitable. Nevertheless one task remained to her.

Did the Harrow covet her Staff and Covenant's ring? Let him. If he accepted her instruments of power, the result would not be what he appeared to expect.

Before she could speak, however, Liand's murmur and a s.h.i.+ft in the attention of the Ramen caught her. Following their gaze, she saw the Giants emerge from the enfolding night. Spectral in the brightness of the krill krill, Rime Coldspray and her comrades strode into the vale, bringing Anele with them.

Anele, at least, seemed to be at peace. Linden saw at a glance that his protective madness remained. He was swaddled in incoherence. But he had found-or had been led to-a place of rest amid his private turmoil. She could almost believe that he had been given a sense of purpose by his parents; an insight into the needs which compelled his fractured striving.

When your deeds have come to doom, as they must, remember that he is the hope of the Land. Apparently Sunder and Hollian imagined that their son still had a vital role to play, despite the awakening of the Worm.

In contrast, the emanations of the Giants spoke of gritted teeth and grim resolve. The manner in which they advanced upon Linden and her companions, and the darkness of their scowling, announced that they knew what had transpired here. Drawing them away, the shade of Grimmand Honninscrave must have explained what their absence had permitted or prevented. Perhaps Honninscrave had told the Swordmainnir why the Dead had sought to ensure that the living did not partic.i.p.ate in or disrupt Linden's choices.

Apparently, however, the former Master of Starfare's Gem had revealed other things as well. The Giants spared a moment of sorrow for Covenant's unconsciousness. They acknowledged Linden with ambivalent nods and grimaces, as if they had not made up their minds about her: they glowered ominously at the Harrow and the Humbled. But they did not pause for Stave or the Ramen or Liand. Instead they strode toward Infelice with demands in their eyes and anger in their stalwart arms.

Hardly aware of what she did, Linden turned to learn what impelled the Giants.

As they confronted Infelice, her expression became imperious. Bitterly she drifted into the air until her face was level with the combative glaring of the Swordmainnir. Her lambent form demanded an obeisance which the Giants did not deign to grant.

"In a distant age," Rime Coldspray said at once, "our ancestors were misled to accept a false bargain with the Elohim Elohim. That the bargain was false in all sooth has been made plain to us. And it has now been betrayed through no deed of ours. We require rest.i.tution."

A bargain? Linden wondered. What bargain?

Infelice lifted her chin haughtily. "And do you conceive that rest.i.tution is mine to grant?"

"How could it be otherwise?" retorted the Ironhand. "The bargain was made at your behest. The falseness is yours. With oblique misstatement and bland prevarication, you offered a true benefit to obtain a vile payment which no Giant who has ever lived would have proffered knowingly. Now you have claimed payment for that gift purchased with lies-and the guerdon has been withdrawn. Therefore our payment must be returned to us."

Dimly Linden remembered hearing the Giants of the Search mention a bargain. Ten years ago in her life. But something had reminded her of it recently.

The eyes of the Elohim Elohim flared like faceted fires. "You reason falsely, Giant. I concede that our bargain has been betrayed through no deed of yours. Indeed, I concede that your witless ancestors concealed from themselves the truth of their own profligate unwisdom. But we did not impose their misapprehension. We merely permitted it. Nor have we condoned the betrayal of our bargain. That the flared like faceted fires. "You reason falsely, Giant. I concede that our bargain has been betrayed through no deed of yours. Indeed, I concede that your witless ancestors concealed from themselves the truth of their own profligate unwisdom. But we did not impose their misapprehension. We merely permitted it. Nor have we condoned the betrayal of our bargain. That the mere mere-son sees fit to serve mad Kastenessen does not occur by our choice, or with our consent. For both Kastenessen's malice and Esmer's treachery, we are blameless."

Yes. Linden nodded to herself. Esmer. That was it.

"Nevertheless," Coldspray insisted, "you have dealt falsely with Giants. The burden of rest.i.tution is yours."

"That is illusion," countered Infelice. "Of a certainty, I am able to restore your gift of tongues-a gift which the mere mere-son will revoke once more when I have fled, as I must. But I cannot release the geas geas which grips the kinsman whom you name Longwrath." which grips the kinsman whom you name Longwrath."

Linden winced when she heard that name; and Liand caught his breath. But Infelice did not pause.

"Such rest.i.tution"-she sneered the word-"is not mine to grant. The bargain which you name false was freely made, without coercion or constraint. In return for your gift of tongues, we sought the life of one then-unborn Giant at a time and in a circ.u.mstance of our choosing. If we did not say as much in language unmistakable to Giants, the fault lies in you. Whether by misapprehension or by self-delusion, the word of your kind was given. That deed is done. The geas geas which we required was set in motion then to seek its fulfillment now. It cannot be released, other than by the unmaking of its origin. which we required was set in motion then to seek its fulfillment now. It cannot be released, other than by the unmaking of its origin.

"We will not alter our past. Doing so will hasten the destruction of the Arch-and while we live we will cling to life."

"Yet it was a dishonest bargain, Elohim Elohim," protested Frostheart Grueburn. "Do you equate the granting of a tale with the surrender of a life?"

"A tale is is a life," Infelice stated. a life," Infelice stated.

"Nonetheless," Grueburn continued, "you concealed from our ancestors that you craved a weapon potent to procure Linden Giantfriend's death. Had they known that you wished to claim the life of any Giant for any purpose, they would have turned their backs and departed in repugnance."

Infelice snorted her disdain. "There was no dishonesty. Our purposes are our own. We do not choose to reveal them. I acknowledge that your ancestors altogether misunderstood us. Still they accepted our bargain. If you find wrong in this, find it in your own kind, whose desire to comprehend the many tongues of the Earth outweighed their desire to comprehend the Elohim Elohim. We cannot be held accountable for their willingness to bind their descendants to a bargain which you now execrate."

G.o.d, Linden thought in wan surprise. The Elohim Elohim had planned for this. All those millennia ago. Longwrath's madness was not Earth-Sight: it was manipulation. had planned for this. All those millennia ago. Longwrath's madness was not Earth-Sight: it was manipulation. It was for It was for this! this! To avert this present moment To avert this present moment. By misleading his ancestors, the Elohim Elohim had acquired the power to compel him against her, hoping that he would slay her before she entered Andelain with her Staff and Covenant's ring. had acquired the power to compel him against her, hoping that he would slay her before she entered Andelain with her Staff and Covenant's ring.

"That's unconscionable," she found herself saying, although she had not intended to speak. "Lord Foul would be proud of you. If you wanted me dead, you could have killed me yourselves. You've had plenty of chances. Tricking other people into doing your dirty work isn't just shortsighted. It's suicidal. You could have had allies. Now all you've got are people who won't be sorry to see you die first."

-are we not equal to all things?

We are the Elohim, Elohim, the heart of the Earth the heart of the Earth. We stand at the center of all that lives and moves and is We stand at the center of all that lives and moves and is. No other being or need may judge us No other being or need may judge us- That, Esmer himself had proclaimed, that arrogance, that self-absorption, is shadow enough to darken the heart of any being is shadow enough to darken the heart of any being.

"Well said, my lady!" The Harrow clapped his hands loudly. "I begin to believe that there is hope for the Earth, when every stratagem but mine has failed."

The entire company ignored him.

"You denounce yourself, Linden Avery," Galt a.s.serted flatly. "The false dealings of the Elohim Elohim are yours as well." are yours as well."

Linden accepted the charge. She, too, was guilty of self-absorption. Yes, and perhaps even of arrogance. I need you to doubt me I need you to doubt me. She had no other excuse for her actions.

No excuse except her yearning for Thomas Covenant and her compulsory love for Jeremiah.

But Rime Coldspray and then the rest of the Giants turned away from Infelice. Perhaps they had not truly expected to win any form of concession. Moving to stand among the Ranyhyn and the Humbled, they towered against the night sky; the lost stars and the fathomless dark.

"It may be, Haruchai Haruchai," the Ironhand replied to Galt, "that your certainty is apt. Yet Grimmand Honninscrave, whose valor and sacrifice were known to your ancestors, has a.s.sured us that the Dead do not p.r.o.nounce judgment so readily. Mayhap Cail and others of your forefathers would have endeavored to sway you, had you consented to heed them.

"With honored Honninscrave, we have spoken of many things"-her tone was as hard as the stone of her glaive-"not neglecting the Worm of the World's End. He described the necessity of freedom in terms too eloquent to be ignored. He did not call us away from Linden Giantfriend's side so that we would be deprived of our own freedom of response, but rather so that we would not be provoked by events to determine our response in haste. And he said much concerning all that the Giants of the Search learned of Thomas Covenant and Linden Avery."

Linden listened almost involuntarily. She meant to turn her attention to the Harrow. But her new understanding of Longwrath's plight clung to her like Honninscrave's death in possession and defiance.

At Linden's side, Liand's eyes shone as though he had already guessed what the Ironhand would reveal.

"That they are mortal," the leader of the Swordmainnir went on, "and thus driven to error, cannot be denied. But the same must be said of Giants and Haruchai Haruchai-and now also of Elohim Elohim. And Honninscrave reminded us of the First's deep love, and of Pitchwife's, and of his own, which both Thomas Covenant and Linden Avery earned by their courage and resolve, by their given friends.h.i.+p, and by their final refusal to honor the dictates of despair. If we doubt Linden Giantfriend, he acknowledged, we have just cause. But he also avowed that we have just cause to rely upon the lessons of past millennia, lessons of lealty and trust. Indeed, he a.s.sured us that his own dreads are preeminently for for her rather than her rather than of of her. Remain uncertain, as do the Dead, he urged us, and abide by the leanings of your hearts. her. Remain uncertain, as do the Dead, he urged us, and abide by the leanings of your hearts.

"Haruchai, our hearts incline to Linden Avery, and also to Thomas Covenant. The peril of his incarnation is plain, as is that of her obduracy and might. He has suffered great harm, and the darkness within her is vivid to all who gaze upon her. Yet he remains a man who has risen to the salvation of the Land. And she has repeatedly demonstrated her capacity for unforeseen healings.

"If you are compelled to pa.s.s judgment," the Ironhand concluded as if she were closing her fist, "do so among yourselves. We will not hear you. In spite of our uncertainty, we have elected to keep faith with our own past-and with hers."

Short days ago, Coldspray had declared, After our children, tales are our greatest treasures After our children, tales are our greatest treasures. But there can be no story without hazard and daring, fort.i.tude and uncertainty But there can be no story without hazard and daring, fort.i.tude and uncertainty. And joy is in the ears that hear, not in the mouth that speaks And joy is in the ears that hear, not in the mouth that speaks.

Galt held the Ironhand's gaze without blinking. Clyme and Branl did the same. However, they shared their thoughts in silence rather than aloud. To that extent, at least, they respected the att.i.tude of the Giants. Only Stave heard his kindred; and he said nothing.

"Do you know-?" Linden tried to ask. But her throat closed as if she were still capable of weeping. Dismay filled her mouth like ashes or sand, and she had to swallow hard before she could find her voice. "Do you know what happened to Anele? Did Honninscrave," oh, G.o.d, Honninscrave, who had deliberately accepted a Raver so that Lord Foul's servant could be torn apart, "say anything about him?"

Coldspray shook her head, and her manner softened. "Of the old man, we know only what your eyes have beheld. We see that he has found solance among his Dead. But his state does not affect the heading of our choices. For that reason, I deem, Honninscrave did not speak of him."

"I suppose you're right," Linden murmured as if to herself. "His freedom is as necessary as anyone else's. If we knew what was going on inside him, we might interfere somehow."

Struggling against the Giants' effect on her, she prepared herself to turn toward the Harrow again. You have companions, Chosen You have companions, Chosen-She had an abundance of friends: the Swordmainnir had made that obvious.-who have not faltered in your service. Only the Humbled and Infelice wished to oppose her. But that changed nothing. She had set in motion the end of the world. She could not alter it. There was only one thing left for her to do.

Surely she should retrieve her Staff and Covenant's ring? They remained on the gra.s.s, discarded as if they had betrayed her. They would have no value to her unless she claimed them again.

Perhaps, she thought, she should try to claim Loric's krill krill as well. Its brightness defended Andelain; but now Andelain was doomed. Loric's dagger may have been the highest achievement of the Old Lords-and it could not save the Hills. Nevertheless it might continue to draw power from Joan's wedding band when Covenant's was gone. as well. Its brightness defended Andelain; but now Andelain was doomed. Loric's dagger may have been the highest achievement of the Old Lords-and it could not save the Hills. Nevertheless it might continue to draw power from Joan's wedding band when Covenant's was gone.

It might save Linden herself.

Or Jeremiah.

Briefly.

That was all she asked. She had gone too far, and done too much harm, to expect anything more.

Yet she hesitated without knowing why. The Staff of Law belonged to her. In some sense, Covenant had left his ring to her. But she had no claim on the krill krill. No right to it.

She wanted to ask the Harrow, Do you still believe that Infelice will stop you from taking me to Jeremiah? Even now?

But this decision was hers to make. It did not belong to either the Elohim Elohim or the Insequent. or the Insequent.

Before she could make her last remaining choice, however, Manethrall Mahrtiir abruptly jerked up his head.

"Aliantha!" he barked as if he were astonished or ashamed that he had not thought of this earlier. "Cords, find aliantha aliantha."

Bhapa and Pahni exchanged a baffled glance. In confusion, Pahni looked quickly at Liand. But they were Ramen: they obeyed their Manethrall at once. Dodging between the Ranyhyn, they sprinted up the slopes of the hollow until they pa.s.sed beyond the reach of the krill krill's argence.

"Manethrall?" asked Stave.

Perplexed, Coldspray, Grueburn, and their comrades frowned at Mahrtiir.

"The first Ringthane must have healing," he replied harshly. "There is much here that lies beyond my comprehension-aye, beyond even my desire for comprehension. Yet it is plain to me, though I have no sight, that some portion of his suffering is mere human frailty. He has been given flesh which is too weak and flawed to contain his spirit.

"No balm known to the Ramen will ease the ardor and constriction of his reborn pain. But aliantha aliantha will supply the most urgent needs of his flesh. Mayhap it will grant him the strength to awaken-and perhaps to speak." will supply the most urgent needs of his flesh. Mayhap it will grant him the strength to awaken-and perhaps to speak."

Stave nodded; and some of the grimness lifted from the faces of the Giants. "Manethrall!" Liand exclaimed gladly. "The sight which you do not possess surpa.s.ses mine, which is whole. Aliantha Aliantha, indeed! Why was this not our first thought rather than our last?"

Because, Linden answered to herself mordantly, you were distracted. As she had been. Like her companions, she had concentrated on other forms of healing.

Now she felt that she would never be able to meet Covenant's gaze again. She could hardly bear to look into the faces of her friends, whom she had misled and misused.

She meant to leave them all behind. She did not want to expose them to the hazards of the Harrow's dark intentions.

Covenant had professed his faith in her. She's the only one who can do this She's the only one who can do this. Linden would have found his sick and shattered condition easier to endure if he had spurned her utterly.

The idea that he still trusted her felt like a cruel joke.

Among Andelain's wealth of gifts, the Cords did not have to search far for treasure-berries. Pahni had already re-entered the vale with a handful of the viridian fruit. And as she hastened fluidly down the slope, Bhapa caught the light at the rim of the hollow. At the same time, Mahrtiir walked around the Ranyhyn and the Giants and the krill krill to approach Covenant. Kneeling, the Manethrall gently, kindly, eased the Unbeliever around onto his back. Then Mahrtiir seated himself cross-legged at Covenant's head and lifted it onto the support of his s.h.i.+ns. to approach Covenant. Kneeling, the Manethrall gently, kindly, eased the Unbeliever around onto his back. Then Mahrtiir seated himself cross-legged at Covenant's head and lifted it onto the support of his s.h.i.+ns.

Linden could not watch. Deliberately she turned away from the group around Covenant as she stooped to grasp the carved black wood of her Staff. For an instant, she feared that she had burned away its readiness for Earthpower and Law. At once, however, she found that the Staff was whole, unharmed. Its strict warmth steadied her hand as she picked up Covenant's ring, looped its chain over her head, and let the white gold dangle against her sternum.

Now, she commanded herself. Do it now.

Nevertheless she hesitated, gripped by a pang like a premonition of loss. Her own intentions frightened her. Even more than her Staff, Covenant's wedding band symbolized the meaning of her life. When she surrendered such things, she would have nothing left.

Nothing apart from Jeremiah.

His need compelled her. If she kept nothing for herself except her son, she would find a way to be content.

Clutching the Staff until her knuckles ached, she crossed lush gra.s.s to bargain with the Harrow.

As ornately clad as a courtier, the Insequent sat his huge destrier a dozen or more paces away from everyone else. As Linden approached, the beast rolled its eyes in terror or fury: the muscles of its flanks quivered. Yet it stood stiffly under the Harrow's steady hand. The bottomless gulfs of his eyes regarded her hungrily, but did not attempt to draw her into their depths. A smile like a smug obscenity twisted his mouth. In order to face him, she had to remind herself grimly that his power was like his apparel, acquired rather than innate. Behind his condescension and his greed and his complex magicks, he was a more ordinary man than Liand of Mithil Stonedown, who had inherited the ancient birthright of his people.

If Linden could have closed her senses to the company behind her, she would have done so. But her nerves were still too raw; too exposed. Involuntarily she felt the Ranyhyn move until they formed a wide circle around Covenant and Mahrtiir and the Cords, Liand and the Humbled. There the star-browed horses stood as if to bear witness. And among the Ranyhyn, the Giants a.s.sembled. Even the attention of the Elohim Elohim was fixed on Covenant rather than on Linden and the Harrow. was fixed on Covenant rather than on Linden and the Harrow.

Only Stave walked away from the Manethrall's efforts to care for the first Ringthane. Alone the outcast Haruchai Haruchai came to stand with Linden. came to stand with Linden.

She did not want to follow what Mahrtiir was doing, she did not not. In spite of her efforts to seal her senses, however, she felt his tension and concern as he accepted a treasure-berry from Pahni and broke it open with his teeth to remove the seed. He could not know what would happen when he fed aliantha aliantha to Covenant. He could only remain true to himself-and put his trust in the Land's largesse. to Covenant. He could only remain true to himself-and put his trust in the Land's largesse.

Carefully he parted Covenant's lips to accept the fruit. Then he began to stroke Covenant's throat, encouraging the unconscious man to swallow.

Linden glared into the Harrow's eyes as if she were impervious to his a.s.sumed superiority. Hoa.r.s.ely she rasped, "You said that you can take me to my son."

There is a service which I am able to perform for you, and which you will not obtain from any other living being.

"Indeed." The Insequent's voice was deep and fertile; ripe with avarice. He met her gaze like a man who yearned to devour her. "My knowledge encompa.s.ses both his hiding place and the means by which he has remained hidden. And I am able to move at will from one place to another in this time, as the foolish Mahdoubt has informed you."

For moments that felt long to Linden's unwilling nerves, Covenant did not respond to the aliantha aliantha on his tongue. But Mahrtiir was patient. And even if Covenant did not swallow, his mouth itself would absorb some of the berry's virtue. on his tongue. But Mahrtiir was patient. And even if Covenant did not swallow, his mouth itself would absorb some of the berry's virtue.

"The Worm of the World's End is coming," she replied to the Harrow, speaking as distinctly as the quaver in her heart allowed. "There's nothing you can do about it. Does that make you re-think anything? Anything at all? Do you still want what I have?"

Did he still covet the responsibility implied by the Staff of Law and Covenant's ring?

Suspense gathered around Covenant and the Manethrall. The Giants and the Humbled, the Cords and Liand and even the Ranyhyn studied the fallen Timewarden for some sign that the fruit's rich juice or Mahrtiir's ministrations might unclose his throat.