The One Tree, Chapter 27: The Long Grief

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Furls Fire
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The One Tree, Chapter 27: The Long Grief

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The One Tree, Chapter 27: The Long Grief


Defeated. Like Covenant, that’s how this makes me feel. The Wounded Land devastated us, the Sunbane ripped out our hearts, but at the end there was triumph, redemption, a glimmer of hope. Here, at the end of the One Tree all there is…is defeat.

So sigh, my Watch brothers and sisters, bare with me as I bring us to the end of our journey. This leg of it anyway.

The cavern shudders, convulses. The company mourns the loss of Seadreamer, Honniscrave cradles him. Covenant sits slumped over in defeat at the base of the Tree, with Linden. The First, Pitchwife, Vain and Cail stand near by.
…There was little time left. Perhaps it would not be enough. Gently, Cail stooped to Covenant. "Ur-Lord, come. This Isle cannot hold. We must hasten for our lives."

Linden understood. The Worm was settling back to its rest; and those small movements might tear the Isle apart at any moment. She had failed at everything else; but this exigency was within her grasp. She rose to her feet, extended her hands to help Covenant.

He refused her offer. For a moment, darkness blotted out his mien. When he spoke, his voice was muffled by defeat.

"I should've broken the link. Before you had time to see. But I didn't have the courage to let you go. I can't bear it."

Yet he moved. In spite of everything, he heeded the company's need. Tortured and leprous, he climbed Cail's support until he was upright.
The First and Pitchwife went to Honninscrave. With firm care, they urged him erect. He would not release his brother. Bearing Seadreamer in his arms, he permitted himself to be nudged toward the ledge after Covenant and Linden.

In silence, the questers trudged up out of the tomb of their dreams.
My heart is so heavy and passages like these only make it heavier. “His voice muffled by defeat”, “In silence, the questers trudged up out of the tomb of their dreams.”

Such utter LOSS! :cry:
When she [Linden] gained the crest, looked out over the Isle and the wide sea, she was wanly surprised to see that the sun had fallen no lower than midafternoon. Surely the ruin of the quest had consumed more time than that? But it had not. Such damage was as sudden as an infarction. As abrupt as the collapse of the old man on the roadway into Haven Farm.
The last throes of the Isle were rising. Though she was hardly able to walk without stumbling, she urged the company faster. It was her responsibility. Covenant was so Desecration-ridden, so despair-blind, that he would have plunged headlong if Cail had not supported him. She needed help herself; but Brinn was gone, the First and Pitchwife were occupied with Honninscrave, and Call's duty was elsewhere. So she carried her own weight and croaked at her companions for haste. As awkwardly as cripples, they raced the Worm's unrest downward.

Vain followed them as if nothing had changed. But his right hand dangled from the dead wood of his transformed forearm. The band of the Staff of Law on his wrist clasped the boundary between flesh and bark.

At last, they reached the longboat. Somehow, it had not been struck by any of the falling boulders. The companions lurched and thudded aboard as if they were in rout.

As the First shoved the craft out into the water, the entire eyot jumped. A large section of the crest crumbled inward. The sea heaved into deep waves, setting the longboat a-dance. But it rode out the spasms unscathed. Then the First and Pitchwife took the oars and rowed through the sunlight toward Starfare's Gem.

The next tremor toppled more of the Isle's crown. Wide pieces of the engirdling reef sank. After that, the convulsions became almost constant, raising immense exhalations of dust like spume from the island's throat. Impelled by heavy seas, the longboat moved swiftly to the side of the Giantship. In a short time, the company gained the decks. Everyone gathered along the port rail to watch the cairn of the One Tree go down.

It sank in a last tremendous upheaval. Chunks of the Isle jumped like flames as its foundations shattered. Then all the rock settled around the Worm's new resting-place; and the sea rushed into the gap. The waters rose like a great geyser, spread outward in deep undulations which made the dromond roll from side to side. But that was the end. Even the reef was gone. Nothing remained to mark the area except bubbles which broke the surface and then faded, leaving azure silence in their wake.
And just like that, The One Tree is gone. Gone like a representation of lost hope. They watch as it sinks from the gunwales of Starfare’s Gem, then turn their backs on it.
…When Linden looked past Vain toward Covenant, she saw Findail standing with him. She wanted to be angry at the Elohim, would have welcomed any emotion which might have sustained her. But the time for such things had passed. No expostulation would bring back Covenant's hope. The lines engraving the Appointed's face were as deep as ever; but now they seemed like scars of pity.

"I cannot ease your sorrow," he said, speaking so softly that Linden barely heard him. "That attempt was made, and it failed. But one fear I will spare you. The One Tree is not destroyed. It is a mystery of the Earth. While the Earth endures, it too will endure in its way. Perhaps your guilts are indeed as many as you deem them-but that is one you need not bear."

Findail's unexpected gentleness made Linden's eyes blur. But the pained slump of Covenant's shoulders, the darkness of

his gaze, showed that he had passed beyond the reach of solace. In a voice like the last drops of blood, he replied, "You could've warned me. I almost -- " The vision of what he had nearly done clogged his throat. He swallowed as if he wanted to curse and no longer had the strength. "I'm sick of guilt."
Not lost forever. And yet Covenant can take no comfort in such revelations.
Honninscrave remained huddled over Seadreamer. Sevinhand and Gale wrath looked to him for instructions; but he did not respond, did not notice them at all. After a brief pause of respect, the First told the Anchormaster what to do.

Wrapping his old melancholy about him, Sevinhand rallied the crew. The anchors were raised, the sails set. In a short time, Starfare's Gem swung away from the grave of the lost Isle and headed northward into the open sea.

But Covenant did not stay to watch. Bereft beyond redemption, he left his companions, shambled in the direction of his cabin. He was dying with a knife in his chest and no longer had any way to fight the Despiser. Linden understood. When he turned his back on her, she did not protest.
OH Linden! Covenant! Ah, my heart. Seadreamer! :cry: :cry:
This was her life after all-as true to herself, to what she was and what she wanted to become, as the existence she had left behind on Haven Farm. The old man whose life she had saved there had said to her, You will not fail, however he may assail you. The choices she had made could not be taken from her.

And that was not all. She remembered what Covenant had told her about his Dead in Andelain. His friend, High Lord Mhoram, had said to him, Do not be deceived by the Land's need. The thing you seek is not what it appears to be. The same prophecy was true for her as well. Like Brinn, she had found something she had not come seeking. With Covenant after their escape from Bhrathairealm, she had let some light into the darkness of her heart. And in the cavern of the One Tree she had found a use for that part of herself-a use which was not evil.

Since Covenant could not bear it now, she accepted from him the burden of hope. You will not fail- Not while she still believed in him-and knew how to reach him.

Yet she did not try to keep the tears from her eyes. Too much had been lost. As she went to stand beside Honninscrave, she folded her arms over her heart and let the long grief of the quest settle in her bones.
The long grief…Linden, you are well chosen! Hope? After such loss, you can still carry the “burden of hope”? Well chosen indeed…

Here ends The One Tree, Book Two of The Second Chronicles of Thomas Covenant…

:cry:
And I believe in you
altho you never asked me too
I will remember you
and what life put you thru.


~fly fly little wing, fly where only angels sing~

~this world was never meant for one as beautiful as you~

...for then I could fly away and be at rest. Sweet rest, Mom. We all love and miss you.

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Seafoam Understone
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Post by Seafoam Understone »

This ... is ... a ... great ... book! Tragedy something that Shakespeare showed us is something that we can look at and contemplate to search within ourselves that such lives can be bourne. Yet even in the midst of such defeat there is still triumph! Personal, small but still there. As Pitchwife and any other Giant would say: Joy is in the ears that hear. Such a tale the Giants of the search will bear when they finally return home.
Spoiler
And such wonders the Giants of their home will have when they gaze upon Pitchwife, no longer deformed but hale and whole.
As he mentioned lovingly to his wife: This will be a tale to delight any child.
The triumph my Watch brothers and sisters is that Linden was able to find something she didn't think possible. And Brinn who pleaded with Covenant
"Do not prevent me from the meaning of our lives."

And with Linden:
Like Brinn, she had found something she had not come seeking. With Covenant after their escape from Bhrathairealm, she had let some light into the darkness of her heart. And in the cavern of the One Tree she had found a use for that part of herself-a use which was not evil.
A use which was not evil. She found her own answer to despite. Against Gibbon's raving
"Are you not evil?"
If this had not happened then perhaps indeed the quest would've been in vain.
But there is hope! And that my dear Watch brothers and sisters we can cling to as we enter
Spoiler
White Gold Wielder.
|R
remember the Oath Of Peace!

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Post by Durris »

SRD wrote:Like Brinn, she had found something she had not come seeking. With Covenant after their escape from Bhrathairealm, she had let some light into the darkness of her heart. And in the cavern of the One Tree she had found a use for that part of herself-a use which was not evil.
Linden, too, has battled ak-Haru Kenaustin Ardenol in her (flatlander's/foreigner's) way and has transcended the either/or that previously defined her life: powerlessness vs. evil.
Since Covenant could not bear it now, she accepted from him the burden of hope.
(Tan-Haruchail.)
Seafoam Understone wrote:
Spoiler
And such wonders the Giants of their home will have when they gaze upon Pitchwife, no longer deformed but hale and whole.
Spoiler
Ah, Seafoam, I forgot that part entirely after my first reading of the series, until I got ambushed by it on one of the Giant threads here. Then and now, it did and does strange things to my insides, not to mention my Achilles tendons.
Shared pain is lessened; shared joy is increased.
--Spider Robinson
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Post by Seafoam Understone »

Well Durris it, I think, was the least that Linden could do for him seeing how he had been so supportive of her and Covenant. As a doctor and as a human being that knows pity since the ability (and correct anatomical knowledge) to do so was in her reach she went ahead. Glad TC didn't try it. :lol:
Spoiler
Betcha the First was awfully appreciative of the gesture... heh heh heh
But even if I hadn't read the WGW I think I would've still felt the hope that was there in those last few passages of the One Tree. Afterall, SRD didn't let us down at the end of TIW he left some hope there as well. And previous experience with TPTP shows that SRD isn't the type of author to slap you in the face and leave. hehe
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matrixman
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Post by matrixman »

Furls Fire wrote:And just like that, The One Tree is gone. Gone like a representation of lost hope. They watch as it sinks from the gunwales of Starfare’s Gem, then turn their backs on it.
So at the end of it all, what do we make of the One Tree? I see the Tree as a symbol of the illusory nature of power and how it can mesmerize the mind. It's a phantasm of false hope that blinds clear thinking. In that sense I draw an analogy with something such as the Earthblood. Like Kevin's Seventh Ward, the Tree is another form of seduction, because of the awesome power it represents. It can blind its seekers to all other alternatives. Elena placed all her hopes of the Land's salvation in the the Seventh Ward, to the exclusion of everything else. It became her obssession. Covenant likewise pinned all his hopes on the One Tree, so it became his obssession. Elena paid the cost of her blind faith with her life. Covenant nearly did the same, though the cost would have been not just his life, but all life under the Arch of Time.

Pushing this little analogy to its conclusion, both the Earthblood and the One Tree are now, in their respective ways, sealed off and beyond the reach of inquisitive mortals. The Blood of the Earth still flows, I would imagine, somewhere beneath all the weight of Melenkurion Skyweir. The One Tree is now supposedly somewhere beneath the oceans of that world, and still guarded by the Worm of the World's End. But impressive as they are, these two great bastions of Earthpower--the Tree, the Earthblood--ultimately remain a futile hope, their potential never fulfilled.

It's also interesting how each has made itself inaccessible...after Covenant shows up. Cataclysm in Melenkurion Skyweir. Upheaval at the Isle of the One Tree. Thomas Covenant, white gold wielder and demolition man. Poor guy. More guilt for him to work over.
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Post by tonyz »

And furthering the contrast between Covenant/Elena/the Earthblood on the one hand, and Linden/Covenant/the One Tree on the other,
Covenant listens to Linden -- perhaps because he has some other outlet for his passion -- when Elena did not listen to him -- perhaps because she had no other, only hate for Foul, where Covenant was pulled back from the brink by his love for Linden.

One wonders... might the Quest for the Earthblood have had a different ending if Covenant had not rejected Elena?
Choiceless, you were given the power of choice. I elected you for the Land but did not compel you to serve my purpose in the Land... Only thus could I preserve the integrity of my creation.
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Post by Cord Hurn »

"I cannot ease your sorrow," he said, speaking so softly that Linden barely heard him. "That attempt was made, and it failed. But one fear I will spare you. The One Tree is not destroyed. It is a mystery of the Earth. While the Earth endures, it too will endure in its way. Perhaps your guilts are indeed as many as you deem them-but that is one you need not bear."
This attempt at comfort and compassion from Findail totally surprised me, but it made this chapter much more bearable to read. :read:
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