Well, straight-off, Sunder asks how the quest went. He must be so excited to hear the tale, eh? The First answers: “The quest has failed! Cable Seadreamer is slain! We have come seeking another hope!” Well, this must be sad news to Sunder, but, or course, we readers know all that. So we’ll get to hear the good news of Sunder & Hollian’s mission. That’ll be a huge boost to Covenant & Co., that’s for sure!
But what’s this? What does Sunder mean by “You will find none here!”?? That doesn’t sound good… And when they finally get to a cave, out of the pouring rain, Covenant sees Sunder this way:
Sheesh! What the heck’s going on here?? Well, at least Hollian looks better:His eyes gleamed like daggers in the firelight. And all his movements were tense with coiled anger – a savage and baffled rage that he could not utter.
And she’s making doe-eyes at Sunder. Odd how different these two Stonedownors seem.She was luminous rather than angry – as warm of welcome as he was rigid.
BTW, in what seems to be an aside, we see that Cail - who, in the last several chapters, blew Mistweave away in the strength of will and endurance departments - is noticeably stronger, now that he is again in the presence of other Haruchai. If nothing else, their telepathy at least gives him great moral support. He supported Covenant like a figure of granite. Cail is da bomb!!
OK, back in the cave, we get some BIG news – Hollian is pregnant!!! Linden percipience easily picks up on this, even though there is no outward physical sign.
And now, Sunder gives what is, for me, the most difficult, conflicted speech in the entire 1st and 2nd Chrons. He is torn like nobody’s business! On the one hand, he feels grief and pain, and a feeling of having been betrayed when Covenant left the Clave intact. On the other, Covenant is the one who showed him what the Land had been, what it was supposed to be, what it could be again. He has hope in Covenant. Perhaps this hope is borne as much of desperation as anything else, but it’s all Sunder has. “Covenant, hear me. No words suffice. I am glad that you have come.” It’s a wonder Sunder doesn’t have a stroke from the conflicting emotions as he speaks!That was why Hollian glowed and Sunder raged. She was glad of it because she loved him. And because he loved her, he was appalled. The quest for the One Tree had failed. The purpose for which Covenant had sent the Stonedownors back to the Upper Land had failed. And Sunder had already been compelled to kill one wife and child. He had nowhere left to turn.
But let’s get back to Sunder and Hollian’s mission. What about the recruits they went out to find at the end of TWL? What went wrong? Sunder tells a tale so sad it couldn’t have been written by anyone but SRD. When Covenant freed the Haruchai, the Clave found itself very short of blood. That Haruchai blood is potent stuff, and it takes a LOT of regular blood to make up for it. Sunder and Hollian went from village to village, almost always convincing the people of their story by performing miracles with the krill and orcrest – without shedding blood!!! They could even raise water and ussusimiel under a desert sun! But it didn’t matter. Wherever they went, they found no strong adults. As it felt Covenant leaving the Land in TWL, the Clave had no need of caution, and took all the people it needed, leaving only the weak - the old and the very young. In the village closest to Revelstone, Landsverge Stonedown, the Clave had taken everyone. “It was altogether empty of life.” There was nobody to join Sunder and Hollian against the Clave.
What’s more, the Haruchai couldn’t help. More came from the Westron Mountains, but, as they got close to Revelstone, their minds were taken over by the Clave.
As all of this news was sinking in, all hell breaks loose among the Haruchai. (In case anyone wondered why I was dissecting this particular chapter. ) Harn knocks Cail out into the torrential rain, and, with Durris and Fole preventing interference, they fight like madmen in the mud and rain. We’re all stunned as Durris explains.
Sheesh, aren’t these people ever satisfied? Brinn just proved their worth quite convincingly. Couldn’t they maybe take a day off before they start proving it among themselves yet again?? Anyway, the fight is going on throughout Durris’ explanations, with Cail not doing too well. He’s ok, but always on the defensive.“You miscomprehend. This must be done. It is the way of our people.”
“In this fashion, we test each other and resolve doubt.”
“Cail has spoken to us concerning ak-Haru Kenaustin Ardenol. He was companion to the victor, and we desire to measure our worth against his.”
Hey spud, if Brinn and Cail were seduced, you’d have been too!!“Also it has been said that Brinn and Cail betrayed their chosen fidelity to the seduction of the merewives. Cail seeks to demonstrate that the lure of their seduction would have surpassed any Haruchai in his place.”
The Haruchai version of the caamora. No wonder they loved the Giants so much right from the start; they understood each other. Both races use pain to grieve.“Also we desire to grieve for Hergrom and Ceer – and for those whose blood has gone to the Banefire.”
I also see a similarity to the way Covenant used to shave to calm himself. If you don’t banish the distractions, you’re in deep trouble, whether you’re a leper with a stone knife at your throat, or one Haruchai being attacked by another.
Durris and Fold join Cail and Harn, and it’s a four-way fight. Everybody against everybody. But Cail, having learned self-doubt from the merewives and the death of Cable Seadreamer, was perhaps not able to fight as fiercely as the rest. He has been judged, by his people and himself.
They can all bite me. Cail has been through a lot, so I'll excuse his having judged himself badly. But the rest of them can kma!“It is agreed that I am unworthy. My place at your side is not taken from me, for it was accorded by ak-Haru Kenaustin Ardenol. But I am required to acknowledge that the honor of such a place does not become me. Fole will ward the Chosen.” After a fraction of hesitation, he added, “Other matters have not been resolved.”
OK, a while later, Honninscrave goes out for a walk. He's such a tragic character. Breaks my heart every time. Here, Covenant tries to teach him what Foamfollower told Covenant waaaaaaaaaaaay back in LFB.
This is the lesson Mhoram also tried to teach us in TPTP:"I talked to Foamfollower about hope once." That memory was as vivid as healthy sunshine. "He said it doesn't come from us. It doesn't depend on us. It comes from the worth and power of what we serve."
"Aye, verily? And where now under all the Sunbane lies the 'worth and power' that you serve?"
"In you. In Sunder and Hollian. In the Haruchai."
And it's what I feel Brinn taught us when he fought ak-Haru Kenaustin Ardenol. And it's what SRD told us, at Elohimfest, Kevin did NOT know. The question of the worth of the one who serves is irrelevant. What matters is the worth of the thing being served, and keeping your faith. Kevin fell into despair because he thought nothing mattered if he did not win. That's a sure road to despair. Foamfollower and Mhoram knew better. I hope Honninscrave is as lucky.As he grasped the utterness of his plight, he turned inward, retreated into himself as if he were fleeing. There he looked the end of all his hopes and all his Landservice in the face, and found that its scarred, terrible visage no longer appalled him. He was a fighter, a man born to fight for the Land. As long as something for which he could fight remained, he was impervious to terror. And something did remain; while he lived, at least one flame of love for the Land still burned. He could fight for that.
And the chapter ends with Linden finding Covenant after that conversation. They do not have a happy conversation. (How could they possibly, in this chapter??) But I always get a kick out of her saying
Maybe nothing about her father should ever be considered funny, but the way she said that always makes me grin."I need you to at least stop looking so much like my goddam father."