I tried to keep this short but was not able to. So bare with me as this is a chapter with alot going on. Put your seatbacks and tray tables in their full and upright position, grab a bite to eat, get something to drink and be comfortable.
Covenant has tasted the dregs of failure. He finds it unpalatable and as such he has now headed back to Revelstone (at Lindens request) to put out the banefire. But now that they are at the gates of Revelstone and having dispatched the first person to come out, I expect TC to say something like "I’m here to kick butt and chew gum and I’m all out of gum." But instead Covenant does something even more unexpected.
Holy Crap, NOM!!! I have to wonder about Covenants sanity. He just called for a force of nature that is halfway around the world. How could it possibly get here in time to help and if it does how will he control it in his current condition?"Nom."
Inanition = Exhaustion, as from lack of nourishment or vitality.His balance seemed to spin out of him into the flat brown sky. He had not eaten or slept since the previous day. Perhaps it was inanition which made the horizons cant to one side as if they were about to sail away. Inanition or despair.
Covenant has called on Nom and then he falls down from exhaustion. Lucky for him that the Giants and Haruchai are there to catch him. As expected Linden runs to him but when she looks to see what is wrong she flinches and cant help but gasp.
Then Linden tells them the news and it’s not good. This must be like telling your family that someone they love is dying. What I don’t understand is why she didn’t see it before. Maybe she was distracted with the thoughts of having to confront Gibbon Raver again. The last time she met Gibbon she had to fight just to hold on to her own sanity. Will she be strong enough this time?"You---!" she began. But the words would not come. "Oh. Covenant!"
The first's voice cut through the wild reel of the hills. "What harms him!
(snip)
"Chosen you must speak!"
And then what? Will the Wild magic unrestrained kill everyone and destroy the arch or will Covenant just die and the flame go out, ready for Linden (or Findail for that matter) to take it. How will he be able to fight the clave without destroying the earth? So many questions..Let’s get some answers!He's on fire." Lindens tone was wet with tears. "The venom's on fire. We'd already be dead but he's holding it inside. As long as he can. Until it eats its way out."
They bring Diamondraught but Covenant has enough sense to know that was the wrong thing to do and Linden quickly agrees. They instead give him Metheglin which is not quite as potent and perhaps can bring him around without him losing control of himself. Once this crisis has passed they remember (as if they could ever forget) that Covenant has called Nom.
As they are waiting, and trying to get Covenant on his feet, the Clave has had time to muster some resistance. Gibbon (raver) is still trying to get Covenant to lose control and break the Arch of time."Will it come?" the First asked no one in particular. "The wide seas intervene, and they are no slight barrier."
"Kasreyn said it would." Linden bit her lips to control her apprehension, then continued. "He said 'distance has no meaning to such power'"
And again the Giants show why they were such a blessing to the land and now to the company. They take matters into their own hands and start hurling rocks at the building and the Riders, even as the Haruchai charge forward to release their kinsman.But then he saw the riders at the base of the tower. Four of them: Two holding up their Rukhs to master a Haruchai they had brought with them: Two equipped with knives and buckets. They intended to shed their mind bound prisoner in full view of Covenant and the company.
So TC has finally decided to do what must be done and has put aside any doubts that he might have had. I would not want Covenant to be hunting me at this point in the story.Their casts were so accurate that one of the Riders had a leg smashed, another was ripped by a hail of rebounding fragments. Their companions were compelled to release the Haruchai so they could use their Rukhs to defend themselves. While the four riders retreated into the tunnel, their captive turned on them. Suddenly free of their coercion, he slew the injured men. Then he pivoted disdainfully on his heel and strode down the slope to meet his people. (snip)
Covenant hated killing. He had chosen his path in an effort to spare as many lives as possible. But as he watched the released Haruchai walking toward him like pure and utter dispassion, a dire grin twisted the corners of his mouth. In that moment he became more dangerous to Gibbon and the Clave than any host of warriors or powers
Findail weighs in with an opinion and SUPRISE!!! Although he doesn’t approve of what TC is doing, he almost approves of how Covenant has decided to do it. This is alot different from the Elohim that confronted Covenant and Linden and basically ignored Covenant as if he didn’t count. In many ways we can see the Elohim is learning and evolving from the being he was when he was compelled to join the company those long weeks ago.
Covenant ignores Findail (good for him, about time Findail sees what its like to be discounted) and NOM comes blasting up at Mach 10 or better and slams on the brakes right in front of TC trembling with almost uncontrolled power and anticipation. I can’t imagine a more dangerous group. The Haruchai, Giants, Findail, Nom, and Covenant. If the people of the Clave only knew what they were facing they would be afraid.. very afraid."Ringweilder, your purpose here is abominable and should be set aside. Those who hold the Earth in their hands have no justification for vengeance. Yet you have found a wise way to the accomplishment of your ends. I implore you to trust them to this beast. You little comprehend what you have summoned."
So now with all this power TC tells them all to stay behind. All he needs is Nom and Linden. He gives a flimsy excuse of needing them for backup in case he fails. TC turns his back on everyone and then starts walking towards Revelstone. Obviously he has forgotten the fidelity of the Giants and Haruchai as well as the people of the Land. I can’t help but remember a phrase spoken by Pitchwife from "The Wounded Land".
He is immediately reminded when he finds that not a single one of his companions has obeyed his command to stay behind. This loyalty touches him deeply and I can’t help but be touched as well. How many people have this many true friends in their life?“It appears as though Thomas Covenants knowledge of Giants is not so great as he believes.”
Then for a moment he came so close to tears that his courage nearly broke
They move into Revelstone and the Giants finally see firsthand the handi-work of the unhomed. I can just imagine the wonder on the Giants faces. I can just see then walking around touching the stonework of their lost people.
Yes.. almost too well as we find out when Nom attacks the gate. Keep in mind that this is a creature that is used to attacking walls of this nature.. has done so for centuries. Nom rushes at the gate and slams into it with all his might.. WHAM!!!! Stones fly everywhere and a vibration and shockwave is felt by the company."I have said it," the first breathed behind Covenant. "the Unhomed wrought surpassingly well in this place."
The extravagance of the price that Foul is exacting from Covenant at this time is appalling! These gates were built by the Unhomed. Foamfollower himself probably spent sweat and blood and bone into these gates. This is where TC's friends lived and worked and played. Where they showed him the true value of beauty. And now Covenant is being forced to destroy them. I can almost see the Giants (as well as Covenant) flinching...tears in their eyes, as Nom attacks these gates that were built by their people. I know it broke my heart just to read it. The gates that have stood for eons are hammered by Nom to set up a harmonic vibration and then finally.....finally they are broken.But the gates stood. The beast stepped back as if it were astonished.
The companions move inside only to find that they were expected and it was a trap. The door shuts behind them and then...
The company scrambles to stay alive. They grab wood and stone and anything they can find to extinguish the Grim. The Haruchai are throwing TC and Linden around to keep them from harm and Sunder is using the Krill and the Orcrest to extinguish as many flakes as they can. Finally, with his friends being torn apart Covenant gets Cail to take him close enough to Sunder to grab the Krill of Loric. He lets a blast through the Krill and it wipes away the rest of the Grim.... and Covenant is still in control.. barely. And for a second time in a day.. he gets a chance to do some good with the White Gold and show that it is still his to wield. Then all of the sudden Coursers appear by the score and they attack the company. With some difficulty they defeat the Coursers."The na-Mhoram's Grim!"
Sometime during the fight Honniscrave slips away unseen and has gone into Revelstone. After giving some instructions to the group to do what they can for the people there. TC and Linden also move into Revelstone to go after Gibbon. Gibbon is not easy to find and Revelstone is large. Without Linden Covenant could have looked for hours but she leads him with her sight. While looking for Gibbon they run into Cail who tells them what is happening above them.
This shows how deeply Foul and the Ravers have corrupted the people of the Land. They think they are battling for their right to live. That they will finally be able to oppose those who work for A-Jeroth and perhaps get out from under the punishment of the sunbane. Or perhaps they are just battling to preserve their homes and their way of life.... even one as abominable as it is. Regardless they fight to the death."The battle is one to wring the heart" he spoke as if he had no heart " for it is fought in large part by those who should not give battle. Among the few riders are many others who merely serve the clave and Revelstone. They are cooks and herders, artisans and scullions, tenders of hearth and Courser. They have no skill for this work and it is a shameful thing to slay them. Yet they will not be halted or daunted. A possession is upon them. Pitchwife weeps as no Haruchai has ever wept." Cail spoke flatly but Lindens Grasp on Covenants arm conveyed a visceral tremor of the emotion Cail projected.
As a reader I feel the need to take my revenge on Gibbon for all that has been done. For the Land that has been corrupted, the Colossus, for Nassic, for Marid, for Revelstone, for Landverge Stonedown that was totally bereft of life to feed the banefire, for the Sunbane that has destroyed much good, for the shedding of Haruchai, SeaDreamers death, for forcing TC to break the gates of Revelstone that had stood for centuries...!!! Yes Gibbon must pay!
But as TC, Cail and Linden move further in, TC realizes where he is being led to. The Hall of Gifts.
The hall of gifts must be a wonder to behold. The way SRD describes it brings me into the room with TC and company. He has us looking through TC's eyes as he surveys the room.After all these centuries it was still intact. The air was tanged with smoke because the torches that Gibbon had set for himself created light by destruction. And that kind of light could not do justice to the high cavern.
Describing this room in detail was not gratuitous. It is important to note all the things in the room. SRD shows us again the price that is being paid by showing us this room that was honored by the old Lords as a place to rest and to set aside their burdens. The art of the Land before it was corrupted by Foul. Thousands of years of art. It must have been incredibly beautiful to see as if merely "seeing" it would do it justice.The rude surfaces everywhere displayed the best work of the finest artists and craftspeople of the ancient land. Tapestries and paintings he hung the walls, defying the decay of centuries, (snip) Stands between the columns held large sculptures and carvings. Small pieces rested on wooden shelves cunningly attached to the stone. Many different fabrics were displayed. (snip) Covenant had not forgotten this place, never forgotten it; but he thought now that he had forgotten its pricelessness. It seemed to bring back to him in a rush, every treasured or abhorred memory: Land and Atiaran, love and rape: Mhoram's hazardous and indefeasible compassion; the unscrupulous lore of the urviles; Kevin in his despair;Ranyhyn as proud as the wind; Ramen as stubborn as the earth. And Giants, Giants on all sides, Giants wondrously depicted with their featly and grief and grandeur wreathed about them as if the tapestries and stonework and carvings were numinous with eternity. here the people if the Land had shown what they could do when they were given peace.
At the back of the room is Gibbon and next to him we find Honniscrave sealed into the floor. Again SRD paints a picture that would make an incredible movie scene. I will not try to describe it myself as it would be a pittance compared to SRD's description.
Now the painting is complete. Here in this place of beauty we find Gibbon. Stark evil painted against the beauty of the hall of gifts. We also find that even this area has been defiled by putting in a mosaic depicting a picture of the Landwaster at the last moment when he realized that Foul had fooled him. Showing Kevin's pain of realization that Foul would live even as he was destroying the Land for naught. "FOUL YOU BASTARD!!!"Stark in his black robe and scarlet chasuble, with his iron crozier held ready and his red eyes bright, Gibbon stood on a mosaic which swirled through the center of the floor. (snip) It was formed of small stone chips the color of aliantha and agony; and it portrayed Kevin Landwaster at the ritual of desecration. unlike most works around it, it conveyed no sense of underlying affirmation. Instead it expressed Kevin's lurid and extreme pain as if that were a source of satisfaction. Gibbon had taken his position over the landwasters heart. At the edge of the mosaic. Honniscrave knelt in stone (snip) By some cunning of Gibbon ravers power, Honniscrave had been fused into the floor. Kneeling he had sunk into it to the middle of his thighs and forearms....
This is the moment we have waited for. Finally the clave and especially Gibbon will pay for what has been done. But before Covenant can so much as think about attacking, Cail rushes past him right for the raver. But of course that would have been too easy and Gibbon does something with the Crozier that makes Honniscrave scream in pain as the floor crushes him. Cail slams on the brakes as Gibbon continues to taunt them... He directs his ire towards the Haruchai but I think he is really trying to get TC to lose his temper and thus his fragile control." See you Unbeliever?" His voice was crimson and eager. "No unbelief will save you now. I will spare you only if you grovel.
Whether it was directed at him or not it does get to the Haruchai and almost painfully he turns and takes his place at Covenants side again. It also affects Linden who tries to curse at Gibbon but finds that she really isn’t ready yet and has instinctively put herself behind Covenant. Gibbon continues to taunt them."I know you Haruchai. The groveler you serve will not assail me. He values the relics of his dead past and fears to harm them. He values the lost Earth. But you have not the folly of that scruple. Yet you remain a fool. You will not require me to crush the life of this mad Giant whom sought to confront me, deeming me as paltry as himself.
"Hear you? You are all fools and you will not lift finger or flame against me. You will do naught but grovel at my whim or die. You are beaten, Un-believer. You fear to destroy that which you love. Your love is cowardice and you are beaten"
Like hell. The taunting might not work against TC or anyone else but I want to reach into the book and attack Gibbon myself. The way it has reached these base emotions inside the reader is a testament to SRD's writing.
Then he turns his attention to Linden. I guess since he couldn’t get TC to lose his temper by insulting him and the rest, he thinks maybe Linden is the weak link.
It worked against me the reader and it works against Linden. She wants so badly to grab the power of the ring and wipe Gibbon from the face of the earth. This is a turning point for Linden. All the other times she has used the power, it has been to heal. To do good. But as Mhoram said those many centuries ago. "it is a power that has two edges, as apt for carnage as for preservation.” If Linden took the power now it would be to do harm and it would be a step, once taken, that could not be recalled or recanted. Covenant sees what is happening to her. Sees the battle raging inside and he understands the danger here. Perhaps more than anyone he understands and he decides to spare her this. But Covenant is waging a battle on two fronts. A battle within himself against the venom, an internal battle. And the battle that he is bringing to Gibbon.. the external battle.And you Linden Avery. Knowing my touch you have yet dared me again. And this you name victory to yourself thinking that such folly expiates your rooted evil. You conceive that we have misesteemed you, that you have put aside Despite. But your belief is anile. You have not yet tasted the depths of your Desecration."
Hear you all? You are damned beyond description and I will feast upon your souls."
Gibbon, like all bullies, is of course is a coward. When he sees TC coming for him he becomes almost frantic and makes a last effort to get Covenant to give up.He was caught in the throes of a rupture so fundamental AND Puissant that it might tear time asunder. If he did not act now his control would be gone. Deliberately, desperately, he started forward as if he did not realize he had gone past the brink
He looks down to see the Krill cuts across the inside of his fingers and they are oozing venom. This doesn’t bother Covenant."Bethink you Unbeliever! You know not what you do! Consider your hands."
Foretold by dreams. The unfettered one told him 3000 years ago that he dreamt the truth. It seems as though this might be the case even though time and time again he has tried to deny this to Linden when she tells him about her dreams.His chosen path had brought him here. It was foretold by dreams And he had already caused the shattering of Revelstone gates, already brought immeasurable damage to the Keep. More harm would not alter his doom.
Now the fight begins in earnest. Covenant strides forward and Gibbon makes a threat to possess Linden. Then seeing that TC is not stopping.... Gibbon sends a blast at Honniscrave. Covenant sends a blast to intercept it and scatter it. But the flame doesn’t die down.. it continues to increase in power and intensity. Then we have another one of those images that would make some great movie watching.
When I first read this I didn’t think this was a literal interpretation of how Covenant looked during the battle but as I re-read "the stark circle of his ring", it struck me that Covenant was literally black…..from head to toe and the power that came from his hands and the ring were also black. His ring was the only part that was not black. But even as I contemplate this, the battle is continuing with Gibbon raising the stakes higher and higher as he taps into the banefire to ward off the white gold and to try to destroy Covenant. SRD creates yet more imagery to bring the reader into the room. Describing what is happening around Covenant as the battle wages.His hands lifted in front of him with the palms outward like an appeal for peace; but from his sliced fingers wild magic streamed, venomous and fatal. All his flesh had turned black; his bones were ebon and diseased. The only pure things about him were the stark circle of his ring and the quality of his passion.
This describes the battle well. But again the scene changes and we see the battle through Covenants eyes again.Blast and counter-blast. Honniscrave struggling uselessly again. Cail hauling Linden out of the terrible concussion of powers and screams in her eyes too acute for paralysis and precious artifacts falling like fagots
FAILED! How could he fail. I’ve been waiting for two and a half books for Covenant to come here and kick Gibbons butt and he fails. How is this possible?Gibbons crozier channeled so much might from the Banefire, so much force and rage, that Covenant nearly wept at the ruin it wrought, the price it exacted from him. Under his boots the colored pieces of the mosaic caught fire, and became as brilliant and incandescent as prophecy. He trod an image of the Landwasters heart as if it were where his own path led. Erect and benighted in the core of his infernal power, he tried to advance on the na-Mhoram.
And failed
SRD explains
Just when we think Covenant has no more to learn about himself. That he has accepted himself fully, we find that he is pushed further still. I find some similarity in the next paragraph between Covenant fighting Gibbon and Brinn as he fought the Guardian of the one tree. Both had to accept the fact that they couldn’t win through sheer power alone. To accept themselves, both the power and the weakness. To accept their limitations.Lord Foul had planned well. prepared well. Gibbon-Raver was cornered and could not flee, and so he did not falter. And the Banefire was too strong. Centuries of bloodshed had produced their intended fruit; and Gibbon fed it to Covenant, thrust it morsel by bitter morsel between his unwilling teeth. The banefire was not stronger than he was; it was simply stronger than he dared to be. Strong enough to withstand any assault that did not also crumble the arch of Time
Wow..... Almost anti-climatic. We have been building this moment for months. Ever since their arrival in the Land. Ever since the discovery of the Clave and the Banefire. And Covenant turns his back on Gibbon and walks off the mosaic. This is perhaps why Covenant and not Linden had to fight this battle. She would not have been able to turn back from this precipice of doom. Her hatred of Gibbon (and perhaps the dark side of herself) would have prevented her. She still has things to learn about herself, about sacrifice and the limitations of power and the accepting of who you are.. the good and the bad... the light and the dark. Earlier Covenant was able to take a burden from Linden... and now another friend is going to take this burden from him.At the taste of this knowledge, Covenant felt his death closing about him and his despair grew wild. (snip) But before the weaving of the world could tear, he found he knew that answer also. to bear what must be borne. After all, it was endurable if he chose to go that far, and the choice was not taken from him. Certainly it would be expensive. It would cost him everything. But was that not preferable to a Ritual of Desecration which would make Kevin's look like an act of petty spite? Was it not? After a time he said softly, yes. And again, yes. Accepting it fully for the first time. You are the wild magic With the last fragments of his will, he pulled himself back from the brink of cataclysm. (snip) Turning away from Gibbon he walked off the mosaic.
Honniscrave charges forward while Gibbon is distracted and he hits Gibbon so hard that it kills him on the spot. We all know the danger here. He will surely possess Linden. But instead, as Honniscrave turns around, we find that something entirely different has happened.As he looked toward Linden and Cail to beg their forgiveness, Nom burst into the Hall of Gifts with the First in fierce pursuit. (snip) The Sandgorgon shot toward the na-Mhoram as if the beast at last has located its perfect prey. Flashing past Covenant, pounding across the mosaic, Nom crashed into the red heart of Gibbons power.... And was catapulted away over Honniscraves head like a flung child.(snip) But Nom understood frustration and fury, effort and destruction. It did not understand fear or defeat.(snip) With both arms it hit the floor so hard that the entire center of the Hall bucked and spattered like a sheet of water. (snip) The blow sent a fracture from wall to wall, a split which passed directly through the place where Honniscrave knelt in the stone.
Ravers have never been able to possess Giants in the past except through some outside power. i.e. the illearth stone. But you can see here that it is a choice that they can make. Honniscrave was able to lower his defenses enough for the Raver to attempt a possession and somehow he is able to hold the raver inside him. But this is no easy task. Honniscrave is doing everything he can to hold onto the Raver... but it is a fragile grip.He stood as if he were still himself.. His fists clenched as if he knew what he was doing. But his face was flowing like an hallucination, melting back and forth between savage glee and settled grim resolve. He was Grimmond Honniscrave, the Master of Starfires Gem. And he was Samadhi Sheol, the raver that had led the Clave in Gibbons body. At war with each other. the entire battle was internal
Helpless with power. Again and again throughout the books we find that Covenant was absolutely correct. Power is not the answer to all things. I remember him saying back in the First Chronicles that "It’s never enough or the wrong kind" and did we not hear High Lord Prothall say "Yours is the wild magic that destroys peace. And power at all times is a dreadful thing." Here we find that Covenant has the power to level the keep, destroy the land, and destroy the entire world.. perhaps even with the breaking of the Arch of Time.. many worlds. And yet he can’t stop Gibbon and he can’t help his friend Honniscrave.When he spoke, his voice was seized under the strain. "Thomas Covenant." At once his voice scaled upward out of control crying "Madman! Madman!" He forced it down again. "Earthfriend hear me." (snip) Helpless with power, Covenant watched in fever as Honniscrave wrestled for possession of his soul. Through his teeth, the Giant articulated like a death-gasp. "Heed the bidding of your despair. It must be done.
The whole party stands there, knowing they can do nothing. Covenant cannot bring himself to do this. The First also cannot. Even Cail folds his arms across his chest and refuses. Only Linden seems to have the ability to make this decision and take his life but she cant bring herself to move towards the raver and Covenant determines to stop her if she trys so that the Raver doesn’t somehow get control of her, and through her, the white gold."You must slay me. I will contain this Raver while you slay me. In that way, it will also be slain and I will be at peace. I beg of you"
OH FOAMFOLLOWER!Yet Honniscrave was answered. By Nom, the Sandgorgon of the Great Desert. (snip) Slowly, almost gently, Nom placed his arms around his waist. For an instant, his eyes gazed toward his companions and yearned as if he wished to say farewell, wished poignantly at the last that he had found some way to go on living. Then with a wrench as un expect as an act of kindness, the Sandgorgon crumpled him to the floor.
OH SEADREAMER!!
OH HONNISCRAVE!!!
Then just as they move forward towards the body of their friend, Cail says
The Sandgorgon Speaks
Somehow by killing the raver, he has gained the capacity for speech. and the first thing he does is thank Covenant. But Covenant feels that he deserves nothing. His friends have been paying a price that he was unwilling to pay. This is a capacity that Covenant has not had. He has been so focused, since finding he had leprosy, in surviving his disease. His entire reason for being has been to make sure that he he lives and doesn’t lose his sense of self and end up like that old man in the hospital. But now he makes a decision and turns away from the company. But Linden instinctively knows what is going on and she steps in.
Covenant recognizes Lindens grasp on him.. on the white gold. She clenched her will to his with a white grip and would not let him go She is trying to save him from himself. She knows what he is up to and has taken it upon herself to take this choice from him. I was surprised that she would do this. She has learned so much over the last few months but so has Covenant.But when he put his feet to the stairs, a hand closed around his mind, and he stopped. Another will imposed itself on his, taking his choices from him. please. Please don’t.
Perhaps the half that loves her and wishes to stay with her as long as possible?To shut her out was hard. He had to seal off half of himself as well as all of her
With the closing of that door Linden must have been frantic. They have been through alot together and find that they are mates not only physically but mentally and spiritually. They are the other part of the same person. They share a soul, so to speak, and now he has closed himself off from her.. in every way. She tries once more to appeal to him and it almost works.At last he was able to close the door, to leave her behind as he started up the stairs again
"I love you!"
Findail? where the heck has he been all this time? Probably cringing in fear thinking that the arch was coming down and that life as he knew it was over. You would think that he would have learned more of Covenant in the time he has spent with him. But this also is necessary. As much as Linden needs to learn about the capacity of sacrifice for a greater good…..so does Findail and finally Findail has learned that Covenant is worthy of everything his friends have done for him. Worthy of the names. Giantfriend, Earthfriend, Illender, Prover of Life. These names he has earned. Covenant has done more in his few mortal years than Findail has done in centuries and it’s about time that he sees the worth of TC.It made him waver a moment. But then he steadied himself and went on. (snip) Instinct and memory guided him to the base of the huge cavity in the heart of Revelstone where the Banefire burned. (snip) At the nearest doorway he stopped. Findail stood there waiting for him.
DEATH?!! Did he say death? But what about Foul? What about the Sunbane? What about his friends? Is he going to die and leave Andelain to finally be destroyed by the Sunbane?But the anger with which he had denounced Covenant was gone. In its place, the Elohim emitted simple rue. Softly he said, "You are going to your death, ring-wielder. I comprehend you now. It is a valiant hazard. I cannot answer for its outcome and I know not how I will prove worthy of you. But I will not leave you."
What an incredible chapter. Thank you so much for allowing me to share my thoughts on this chapter. I look forward to your responsesThere the Banefire met him, Howling like the furnace of the Sun. (snip) Its heat seemed to char his face instantly, sear his lungs, cinder the frail life of his flesh and rave through him into the last foundation of his will. The fang marks on his forearm burned like glee. yet he did not halt or hesitate. He had set his feet to this path of his own volition: he accepted it completely. Pausing only to bring down the master-rukh in molten rain so that the surviving riders would be cut off from their strength, he moved into the inferno.
That is the grace which has been given you.
A small clear space like hope opened in his heart as he followed his dreams into the banefire.
to bear what must be bourne.
After a time the blackness in him burned white.
Yes, a grand, powerful chapter culminating in Covenant's caamora. But this:
How could one say more than you have?
