Key points:
* Linden Avery is wiped out from ordeals and confession
* Thomas Covenant begins to recover
* TC burns off his beard with the ring in attempt to control at least some of it's power
* LA has told him everything excepting her mother-she feels unworthy of TC-due to that omission
*Four days of confusing winds after squalls and after a week, or so, Starfare's Gem is hit by a mounting SW wind called Roveheartswind, or the Questimoon
*LA's spirits brighten, the Giants are very happy-TC becomes increasingly impatient
*Galewrath tells TC the Questimoon should hold till they reach Bare Island
*TC talks with LA about freedom of choice and Foul's manipulation of his actions via Joan's attempted sacrifice
*TC and LA ponder Vain's role in things and why the Clave's rukh could hurt him (personally) but the Grim had no effect--TC remains suspicious of Vain's past actionsDuring one of their colloquires, he abruptly said, "Maybe I did sell myself for Joan." He had spoken about such things before. "Freedom doesn't mean you get to chose what happens to you. But you do get to choose how you react to it. And that's what the whole struggle against Foul hinges on. In order to be effective against him--or for him--we have to make our own decisions. That's why he doesn't just possess us. Take the ring by force. He has to take the risk we might choose against him. And so does the Creator. That's the paradox of the Arch of Time. And white gold. Power depends on choice. The necessity of freedom. If Foul just conquers us, if we're under his control, the ring won't give him the power to break out. But if the Creator tries to control us through the Arch, he'll break it." He was not looking at her; his eyes searched the rumpled waves like a VSE. "Maybe when I took Joan's place I gave up my freedom."
*They discuss Foul's knowledge of LA
*The dromond continually increases speed during a five day blow and Bare Isle is finally spottedShe still remembered that pronouncement exactly as Covenant had relayed it to her: There is despair laid up for you here beyond anything your mortal heart can bear. But Lord Foul had said nothing to her. On Kevin's Watch he had let her pass untouched.
"He didn't need to," she replied bitterly. "He already knew everything he needed to about me." Gibbon-Raver had revealed the precision of the Despiser's knowledge.
He regarded her with a troubled aspect; and she saw that he had already considered that possibility. "Maybe not." he returned in denial. "Maybe he didn't talk to you because he hadn't planned for you to be there. Maybe when you tried to rescue me you took him by surprise and just got swept along. If that's true, then you weren't part of his original plan. And everything Gibbon said to you is a lie. A way to defuse the danger you represent. Make you think you don't have a chance. When the truth is that you're the biggest threat to him there is."
*Bare Isle is a small barren place that resembles a cairn or "warning" marker (reminisient of the Collosus) shaped like the fist of a drowning man
At the same time, Honninscrave lifted his voice over the Giantship. "Hear me!" he cried--a shout of yearning and trepidation, as lorn and resonant as the wind. "Here we pass from the safe Sea into the demense and ken of the Elohim. Be warned! They are lovely and perilous, and none can foretell them. If they so desire, the very Sea will rise against us."
*As the ship passes the island the Questimoon fades to lesser crosswinds, but they still make good progress
*The next morning is landfall. LA awakes to see a coast of large jagged mountians stretching north and south "as far as the eye could see" and Starfare's Gem is at rest facing a foreboding channel -an inlet to a fiord that Honninscrave calls the Raw
*Honniscrave has been here before and explains that the channel is fed by the River Callowwail that emmenates from a spring called the clachan by the mysterious Elohim and that it's fountian marks the very heart of their realm, Elemesnedene
*A discussion ensues re: the true natue of the Elohim
*Honniscrave is very wary and paints a dire picture of their power
*TC is perturbed saying Foamfollower described them as a laughing faerie people. And that some of the Unhomed elected to stay with them as others lived in Braithairain, after that, to help the people there fight the destructive Sandgorgons of the Great Desert
*Honninscrave tells of the "gifts" of the Elohim and the strange, and possibly disapointing, "barter system" of achieving such gifts
*Honninscrave feels optimistic as he doesn't anticipate harm in the name of the white ring and the Earth-Sight
* the dromond moves cautiously through the fiord toward the river
*The First confides to LA that Honniscrave has a great need with the Elohim and fears he may barter himself in the process
*The Search travels in longboats up the mouth of the river as TC tells LA about Hile Troy. He notes the "bargain" HT was forced to strike with Caer Wildwood
*The party enters Woodenwold nearing the clachan and the wild maze of the interdimensonal maidan that exists within the fountianhead
*LA hears bells, but no one else seems to notice, the bells seem to hold hints of language in themAs they neared the trees, Hergrom and Ceer found a natural way along the riverbank. Soon the quest was among the woods, moving towards sunlight. Woodenwold was dense with oak and sycamore, ash and maple punctuated by willow, old cottonwood, and young mimosa. In the shadow of the Rim, they shared the mood of the dour stone: their browns and greens were underscored by gray and ire, But when the sun touched them, they sprang instantly into vibrant autumn blazonry. Crossing the shadowline, the companions passed from gray into glory. Woodenwold was an instant ignition of color--flaming red and orange, sparkling yellow, russet and warm brown. And the leaves danced about their feet as they walked, wreathing their legs in gay anadems so that they seemed to trail fire and loveliness at every step. Among them Linden walked as if each stride carried her further from her own mortality.
*Eventually they must stand still and await the Elohim
*Daphin appears
Then the company was no longer alone. With an eldritch concatenation like the slow magic of dreams, the belling swirled around the trunk of a nearby ash; and a figure flowed out of the wood. It did not detach iitself from the tree, was not hidden against the bark: from within the ash, it stepped forward as if it were modulating into a new form. Features emerged as the figure shaped itself: eyes like chrysoprase, delicate brows, a fine nose and soft mouth, Wattle-slim and straight, deft and proud, with a grave smile on her lips and a luminous welcome in her gaze, the woman came forward like an incarnation of the soul of the ash in which she had been contained; and here departure left no mark of presence or absence in the wood. A cymar draped her limbs like the finest sendaline.
Linden stared. Her companions started in surprise. The Haruchai were poised on the balls of their feet. Covenant's mouth opened and closed involuntarily.
But Honninscrave faced the approaching woman and bowed as if she were worthy of worship.
She stopped before them. Her smile radiated power of such depth and purity that Linden could hardly bear to look at it. The woman was a being who transcended any health-sense. Softly, she said, "I am pleased that you so desire our goodwill." Her voice also was music; but it did not explicate the ringing in Linden's mind. "I am Daphin." Then she nodded to Honninscrave's bow. "You are Giants. We have known Giants."
Still the bells confused Linden, so that she was not sure of what she was hearing.
Daphin turned to Brinn. "You we do not know. Perhaps the tale of your people will interest us."
The chiming grew louder. Daphin was gazing directly at Linden. Linden had no control over the sound in her head. But she almost gasped in shock when Daphin said, "You are the Sun-Sage."