Against All Things Ending Part 35

The sores on his neck where the creature had fed were raw and open; but they did not bleed, and showed no sign of infection. For the present, at least, Linden lacked the courage to risk treating them.

If the croyel croyel had some concrete reason to hope for rescue, she could not perceive it: not without wielding the fire of her Staff. But soon, she promised herself. Soon she would make the attempt. Earlier she had been appalled by what she had discerned of the had some concrete reason to hope for rescue, she could not perceive it: not without wielding the fire of her Staff. But soon, she promised herself. Soon she would make the attempt. Earlier she had been appalled by what she had discerned of the croyel croyel's mind-and of its intimate bond with Jeremiah's. Now she had other resources.

If her Staff did not suffice, the un.o.bstructed penetration of her health-sense might enable her to wield wild magic with enough precision to threaten the croyel croyel without harming her son. without harming her son.

But not yet. She was not ready. Inanition and helpless screaming had left her frail; too weak for extravagant hazards. She needed time to gather herself before she confronted the challenge of her son's straits.

Apart from Covenant and Anele, all of Linden's companions were on their feet. When she sank down to sit leaning against a rock a few paces from Covenant, however, the Giants also seated themselves, sighing gratefully. Liand and the Ramen did the same. Perhaps deliberately, they formed a wide circle that arced from Linden to Covenant and back without excluding Anele.

Uncertain of what to say, or how to begin, Linden asked awkwardly, "Have you decided anything?"

"Without you?" Covenant snorted; but his scorn was not directed at her. Instead he seemed angry at himself. "You forget who you're talking to. One way or another, we're all yours." Abruptly he grimaced. "Or they are, anyway." With one truncated hand, he indicated the circle. "In any case, none of us is going to make plans without you."

I know this is hard. I know you think you've come to the end of what you can do I know you think you've come to the end of what you can do. But you aren't done But you aren't done.

Earlier he had commanded the Humbled to support her; but she was not confident that they would do so.

And his effort to distinguish between himself and the rest of her companions pained her. She was not ready for this. Oh, she was not not. She needed him to tell her and everyone what to do.

Yet she had to say some something. Shading her eyes from the clarity of the sunlight, she did what she could.

"Then we should probably start with the obvious. Maybe Stave can tell us how to find food." He knew this region. The Haruchai Haruchai as a race forgot nothing. "But what I really want to know-" She swallowed thickly: her throat was already dry again. "Why did the Ardent leave us? And why did he leave us as a race forgot nothing. "But what I really want to know-" She swallowed thickly: her throat was already dry again. "Why did the Ardent leave us? And why did he leave us here here?"

Covenant twitched his shoulders: a shrug like a flinch. "He left because he thinks he's doomed. Interfering with the Harrow is going to destroy him, and he wants to do one more thing for us before he falls apart. I guess he's hoping his people will hold him together a little longer.

"As for here here-He talked about a respite. Distance from our enemies. A chance to recover and maybe even think." A scowl deepened Covenant's gaze. "He hinted at something else, too, but he wasn't clear about it."

While Linden tried to accept the shock of hearing that the Ardent had sacrificed himself for her and Jeremiah-that he had followed the Mahdoubt's example to his own ruin-Rime Coldspray continued Covenant's answer as if she wanted to spare him.

"In addition, the Ardent conceives that the flood which you released under Gravin Threndor has wrought some profound alteration among the hazards of these times. He deems that it has washed away the auguries of his people. Now your fate is 'writ in water.' Therefore he can offer no more guidance."

Writ in water. Involuntarily Linden winced. During her escape from Mithil Stonedown, the Despiser himself had informed her that her fate was written in water written in water.

Nothing made sense to her. Her companions had only begun talking, and already they had said too much. How had what she and the ur-viles had done changed the logic of the Land's plight, or of Lord Foul's manipulations? Surely that was impossible?

The Ardent interrupted her confusion. "And therefore," he announced in the blank air, "I return to fulfill my given word."

Swirling his ribbands, he incarnated himself within the circle of the company.

"The Insequent," he informed the astonished companions, "have elected to honor your need for my aid to this extent." His voice was a wracked shadow of his former plump lisp. "By their powers and knowledge, I am spared to perform my promised service."

Clasped or cradled in his raiment, he bore burdens of all sizes, at least a score of them: bedrolls, heavy sacks, bulging waterskins. Wearing his bundles like a penumbra that almost filled the circle, he was as laden as a caravan. Swift as intuition, Linden recognized that the sacks were packed with food and flasks of wine.

A moment later, she noticed that he was even more besmirched and ragged than he had been when she had last seen him. In fact, he looked like he had been dragged through mud and beaten. The hues of his raiment were stained with mire: most of his peculiar apparel hung in tatters. Seen by sunlight, his once-complacent features appeared haggard, diminished, as if he had lost an unconscionable amount of weight.

Nevertheless he stood erect, feigning strength he did not possess. His strained smile may have been meant as rea.s.surance.

"Here," he said hoa.r.s.ely, "is a feast to sate even Giants." One at a time, he set down his burdens. "Among the Insequent, the Ardent is not the only acolyte of the Mahdoubt. Your plight has been heeded. Unsparingly consumed, such viands will provide for two or perhaps three days. If you enforce a wise restraint, you need not fear hunger while you confront the last crisis of the Earth."

Covenant stared, almost gaping. For a moment, the Swordmainnir seemed too amazed to react. Then, all together, they surged to their feet and reached for the Ardent's sacks. With a jerk, Anele sat up, s.n.a.t.c.hed alert by the prospect of food.

"Heaven and Earth!" Liand crowed. Springing upright, he rushed to embrace the Insequent.

Just for an instant, the Ardent looked entirely startled; taken aback as though Liand had attacked him. Then, however, he wrapped his strips of fabric around the Stonedownor. His round face beamed with surprise and delight.

In moments, the Giants had unpacked enough food to nourish a mult.i.tude: roasted legs of lamb and whole fowl, slabs of cured beef, a bounty of fruits both fresh and dried, wheels of cheese, rich breads still fragrant from the ovens. Smells and appet.i.te rushed over Linden until she was scarcely aware of anything except her own emptiness.

"You must have told them," Covenant rasped. He, too, was on his feet. "You must have told them how much we need you."

"Oh, a.s.suredly, Timewarden." The Ardent tried and failed to sound airy; unconcerned. "You behold the outcome." He indicated his bundles. "For your sake, I am preserved yet awhile."

"Then tell them again. h.e.l.lfire! You're dying right in front of us. Tell them we're useless useless without you." without you."

"Timewarden, desist." The Ardent's eyes were sunken. He regarded Covenant like a man consigned to starvation. "Do you wish us self-condemned? Be content as you are. While I can, I will linger among you. Then I must depart. The alternative-" He shuddered. "The alternative is the loss of use and name and life for our race. If we defy who we are, we must become naught."

Quickly Coldspray and her comrades set out supplies in their wrappings: squares of an unfamiliar fabric treated to ward off spoilage. As the Giants readied a meal for their companions, they helped themselves to lamb and cheese, fruits, large flasks like urns. The scent of the wine reminded Linden of springwine's crisp tang without its distinctive suggestion of aliantha aliantha.

In spite of her hunger, Stormpast Galesend remembered to place food near Anele so that the old man would not be tempted to leave the protection of stone.

While Bhapa and Pahni joined the Giants, gathering viands for their Manethrall as well as themselves, Covenant glared at the Ardent. "Content, is it? We're supposed to be content? And you think that's likely likely? d.a.m.n it, I'm not asking them to give up who they are. I just want them to make an exception.

"G.o.d in Heaven!" Covenant's eyes glistened as if he were on the verge of tears. "You're dying, and we don't even know your name."

Around the sand, everyone listened while they ate. Even the croyel croyel appeared to be listening. Linden fixed her attention on every word-and tried to remember the physician's detachment that shielded her from grief. Covenant was right: the cruel necessity which had drained the Mahdoubt's mind and life had already begun for the Ardent. She could see it. She ached for him as she had for the Mahdoubt. But she did not stop eating. Her own needs compelled her. appeared to be listening. Linden fixed her attention on every word-and tried to remember the physician's detachment that shielded her from grief. Covenant was right: the cruel necessity which had drained the Mahdoubt's mind and life had already begun for the Ardent. She could see it. She ached for him as she had for the Mahdoubt. But she did not stop eating. Her own needs compelled her.

Squatting beside trays of waxen fabric, she filled her mouth with cheese and fruit, chunks of beef; swallowed gulps of wine as heady as liquor; took more food and tried to force herself to chew slowly. In its own way, eating was also a defense against grief.

It contradicted despair.

Answering Covenant, the Ardent mused, "In itself, my life is of little consequence. Though I grieve for it, my pa.s.sing will deprive you of neither power nor purpose. And it is condign that the fate of the Earth is borne by those whose lives began beyond the bounds of our knowledge. The Worm of the World's End also lives and moves beyond those bounds. Doubtless the service of the Earth's peoples is needful. In that service, I have played the part of the Insequent. Yet the last task is yours, a.s.suredly so."

He might have said more, but the croyel croyel spoke first. "Somebody feed me," the succubus snarled plaintively. "I can't live on air and wishful thinking. None of you can stop the Worm." spoke first. "Somebody feed me," the succubus snarled plaintively. "I can't live on air and wishful thinking. None of you can stop the Worm."

Instinctively Linden jumped to her feet; s.n.a.t.c.hed up her Staff. At once, the creature fell silent. Jeremiah's gaze remained stilted and vacant, as though he had not made a sound.

Trembling, Linden faced Galt's captives. G.o.d, she wanted the croyel croyel dead! Clinging to her son's back, it seemed to falsify everything that she had ever done for him. Its bitter malice-Only the fact that she did not know how to hurt it without harming him prevented her from striking. dead! Clinging to her son's back, it seemed to falsify everything that she had ever done for him. Its bitter malice-Only the fact that she did not know how to hurt it without harming him prevented her from striking.

But soon, she promised the monster. As soon as I'm ready. I'll find a way to cut your heart out.

Almost involuntarily, however, she saw that Jeremiah indeed needed food. Avoiding looking at him, she had failed to recognize his inarticulate hunger. Now she discerned it clearly.

Nevertheless she shied away from feeding him herself. The croyel croyel's eyes and fangs held too many threats. And she could not estimate the scale of its desperation, or the extent of its powers and lore. It might cause Jeremiah to grab for her Staff or Covenant's ring. It might believe that it could raise theurgy and free itself before the krill krill severed its neck. severed its neck.

She did not want to take the chance.

Over her shoulder, she asked reluctantly, "Liand, will you help me?"

He responded without hesitation. But before he could approach, the croyel croyel snapped viciously, "Keep that whelp away from me." Fury and fear sawed against each other in Jeremiah's tone. "If you don't, I'll teach you what snapped viciously, "Keep that whelp away from me." Fury and fear sawed against each other in Jeremiah's tone. "If you don't, I'll teach you what real real pain feels like." pain feels like."

In the Lost Deep, the monster had attacked Liand rather than Linden. She did not know why-but she heeded the warning.

She stopped the Stonedownor with a gesture. "I forgot. Apparently you scare that thing more than I do."

"That is strange," Liand replied tensely. "I pose no threat to a being of such might. Yet the creature's actions proclaim its fear. I must consider-I do not aspire to a second injury. Yet mayhap-"

Linden shook her head. "Not right now." She had no intention of risking him. She understood Pahni's dread too well. "Right now, Jeremiah just needs food."

"Bhapa? Do you mind?"

The older Cord promptly collected a handful of fresh fruit, a wedge of cheese, and a waterskin, and joined Linden in front of Jeremiah. "I am willing, Ringthane," he told her. "Have I not said that my life is yours, subject only to the commands of the Manethrall and the will of the Ranyhyn? Ask, and it is done."

Linden took a deep breath to steady herself, held it for a moment. "In that case," she said, "I hope you can feed him. I'm afraid to get too close." Afraid to get too close to her own son. "I don't know what that thing can do if it gets its hands on my Staff. Or Covenant's ring."

Bhapa nodded. "As you say, Ringthane." His nerves were strung taut, but he did not delay. A step took him to Jeremiah's side. Carefully he placed a bit of melon in Jeremiah's mouth.

For a heartbeat or two, the boy appeared unaware of the food on this tongue. Then, abruptly, he closed his mouth. When he had chewed and swallowed, his jaw dropped open again.

He accepted a piece of cheese; and a moment later, a few sections of a tangerine. He let Bhapa tilt his head for water. Soon he was eating as quickly as Bhapa could feed him.

Hating her own weakness, Linden turned her back on her son and went to confront the Ardent.

He still stood in the center of the circle, holding himself erect with difficulty. She had the impression that he was dwindling-that he had already lost more weight-and her heart twisted. In the Lost Deep, he had striven prodigiously to keep her and her companions alive. He had s.n.a.t.c.hed her back from the jaws of She Who Must Not Be Named. This was the result.

Like the Mahdoubt- But Linden's needs outweighed her concern for him. She did not know where else to turn for answers. Biting her lip, she compelled herself to ignore his plight.

"Can you explain it?"

The Ardent regarded her anxiously. "Lady?"

"Why is the croyel croyel afraid of Liand? Why not me?" afraid of Liand? Why not me?"

"Sadly, I have no insight." By slow degrees, his voice was fading. "In their auguries, the Insequent did not concern themselves with the Stonedownor. And now their prescience has become water, as I endeavored to explain to your companions. I have no more to give, lady. There is no more of me."

"Then tell me while you still can," Linden demanded, hating her own selfishness. He was her only chance. "You said that flood changed everything. Now my fate is 'writ in water.' But that doesn't make sense. Breaking open the ceiling wasn't my idea. I didn't even know it could could break. I sure as h.e.l.l didn't know where to break it. I just did what the ur-viles wanted," her last effort before she succ.u.mbed to the bane. "That flood wasn't really my doing. How did it change break. I sure as h.e.l.l didn't know where to break it. I just did what the ur-viles wanted," her last effort before she succ.u.mbed to the bane. "That flood wasn't really my doing. How did it change any anything?"

"Ah, lady," sighed the Ardent. "My end crowds close about me, and I have no true answer. The Insequent have none. Perhaps the flood was in sooth the ur-viles' deed rather than yours. They are a mystery in all things, and their strange lore has no equal.

"But if you will accept mere speculation-" He sighed again. "Lady, I have observed that your true strength lies in neither the Staff of Law nor in white gold. Rather it lies in the force of self which attracts aid and allies wherever you are, even from among a-Jeroth's former servants. You inspired the Mahdoubt's devoir as you did mine, and that of the Demondim-sp.a.w.n as well. You do not have such friends"-he gestured around him-"because you wield magicks, but rather because you are Linden Avery the Chosen.

"This power defies both augury and foresight. a.s.suredly it surpa.s.ses the cunning of a-Jeroth, who knows no fealty which is not derived from possession or other mastery."

Such friends-Appealing to her, the Ardent almost succeeded at making Linden weep. But her heart was too desolate for tears.

Before she could summon a response, he turned away. "Fare you well," he breathed thinly. "I must depart."

With a visible effort, he dragged the sc.r.a.ps of his apparel from the sand, unfurled them around him. Briefly his ribbands seemed to drift aimlessly in all directions, as if they had forgotten their purpose. But then he made a small sound like a sob, and they rallied.

Fluttering, they erased him from sight.

After a long moment like an open wound, Covenant looked at Linden. "He's right, you know," he said roughly. "Lord Foul is cunning as all h.e.l.l, but he's never been able to guess what we'll do when he has us trapped. No matter how carefully he plots and manipulates, he's never ready for us."

But his a.s.sertion did not comfort her. It could not: it came from a man who would not let her touch him.

Eventually Linden resumed her meal. Her companions did the same. None of them seemed inclined to talk: she certainly was not. If she had the ability to attract aid and allies, the price was too high. The Land and everyone around her would be better served by despair.

To that extent, at least, she was learning to understand High Lord Kevin.

Seeking numbness, she drank too much wine; and soon she began to drift on a current as slow and necessary as the stream. G.o.d, she was tired-Every price was too high. While the Giants were still eating, she stretched out on the sand and fell asleep.

During the heat of the afternoon, she awakened briefly, sweating in direct sunlight. For a few moments, she studied the sky, watching for some indication that the weather might change. Then she moved to a patch of shade and settled herself for more sleep.

This time, she did not awaken until she was roused by the stirring of her companions. With her eyes closed, she felt the Staff of Law propped against a rock nearby. Shadows covered her, easing the pressure of the sun: they covered the watercourse and the swath of sand and the lower hillsides. Among the movements of the company, she smelled food again; heard the Giants murmuring to each other. And when she extended her attention, she sensed Covenant's absence. Claimed by memories and mortality, he wandered among the broken places of his mind; and his features knotted and released as though he were remembering horrors.

If Linden had dreamed, she did not remember it. But she had not forgotten terror and shrieking, or the scurry of centipedes.

After a few moments, she raised her head and sat up to look around. Jeremiah still stood in Galt's uncompromising grip. The blade of the krill krill still kept the still kept the croyel croyel's fangs away from her son's neck. The Cords had gone somewhere, no doubt at Mahrtiir's command. But the Manethrall stood with Stave, watching Covenant blindly. Mahrtiir seemed impatient, as if he were waiting for a chance to talk to the first Ringthane.

Covenant's white hair looked stark in the dim shade; so distinct that it almost seemed to glow.

Anele sat in the curve of Galesend's breastplate, gnawing with apparent contentment on a chunk of cured beef. In contrast, Liand leaned restively on the same rock that supported the Staff, studying Linden sidelong. His black brows arched above his eyes, ominous as the wings of a raven. As she blinked the blur of sleep from her sight, she considered the tension moiling within him, and realized that she recognized it.

When he had determined to offer health-sense to the dest.i.tute villagers of First Woodhelven, and again when he had conceived the idea of summoning rain against the skurj skurj, his aura had revealed the same growing apprehension and resolve, the same impulse for self-expenditure.

Linden could guess what he had in mind. But it would be dangerous for him in ways that she did not know how to predict. And she had her own arguments to make first; her own gambits to attempt. She hoped to forestall his intentions until they were no longer needed.

Fortunately he was not ready to announce a decision. Trying to sound casual, he remarked, "Pahni and Bhapa have been sent to seek out firewood, for the night will grow chill when these hills surrender their heat. Yet I do not foresee success. In this severe landscape"-he gestured around him-"they will search far and find little."

She cleared her throat. "Along the stream?" Surely runoff brought wood as well as water?

"It is possible," he conceded. "I would welcome the solace of a fire. We have known too much darkness." Then he shrugged. "But I will not rely upon the prospect."

Privately relieved, Linden nodded. Reclaiming her Staff, she climbed to her feet.

Her friends had reached the watercourse in a low canyon too wide to be called a ravine. Much of the ground was sand worn down from the hillsides; but boulders of various sizes jutted from the grit. She had slept behind one such thrust of stone: Covenant sat against another. However, the stretch of sand where the company had sat earlier was comparatively clear.

Without haste, several of the Ironhand's comrades were setting out a second meal. Clearly they had eaten and rested well. Remembering their exhaustion under Mount Thunder, Linden was glad to see that they had regained much of their vitality.

Rime Coldspray gave her a sharp grin. Frostheart Grueburn greeted Linden with a Giantish bow; and Latebirth grinned as well, loosening her longsword in its sheath: a gesture like a promise. The other Swordmainnir concentrated on the Ardent's bundles.

When Linden turned her gaze to the west, she saw the high cliff of Landsdrop above its foothills. The sun lay behind the precipice, leaving a blaze of late afternoon glory along its age-etched rim. From that angle, it cast its shadow across the whole company, leaving only Branl and Clyme on the hilltops lit.

Soon, she reminded herself, thinking of Jeremiah. She could not delay much longer.

Tightening her grip on herself, she tried to think of a way to unpuzzle the dilemma of Covenant's absence: a way that did not involve holding him under water, or hitting him, or threatening to heal him. Or possessing him. She had learned to view such deeds with dismay. Like the croyel croyel's hold over Jeremiah, if with very different intentions, they would violate his essential freedom.

In addition, he had made it abundantly clear that he wanted to remain a leper, broken and numb and floundering. For reasons that surpa.s.sed her, he clung to his plight as if it defined him-or protected him.