In the void between worlds, thinking only of having saved Joan- the only thing that mattered, Thomas Covenant is prepared to let go of his life. But the fire that consumed him on the stoneslab in his own world now rages through him, mapping his nerves, as it says, and takes form of a voice.
Think of it...these words spoken inside your body, loud so you can barely hear them, burning but not killing...what pain, what malice! and contempt...words belonging of course to Lord Foul. They are like a poem of hatred trying to subdue TC, trying to crush him and destroy him and surrender his ring...Or are they spoken to save him, to shake TC out of his journey towards death?...Anyway...TC hears it's arrogance, remembers Linden Avery trying to save him back in his own world and not being afraid of lepers, wants to fight, wants to live...and again, his stubbornness, his feelings and passion and need awakens the white gold and it saves him.Your will is mine
You have no hope of Life without me,
Have no life or hope without me.
All is mine.
Your heart is mine-
There is no love or peace within you,
Is no love or peace within you.
All is mine.
Your soul is mine-
You cannot dream of your salvation.
Cannot plead for your salvation.
You are mine.
TC is alive and back in the Land atop Kevin's Watch where he meets LF again...(for the third time, right?)... a rare occasion, and of course filled with implications. LF's words are magnificent in their hatred and contempt and at the same time filled with lots of information (and desinformation).
Might be true, since LF needs TC and his ring to break out of his prison that is the Land...and further..."Ah, you are stubborn yet. " the voice sneered, so personal in it's contempt that it might have come from within his mind rather from the attar-laden air. "Stubborn beyond my fondest desires. In one stroke you have ensured your own defeat. My will commands you now, and you are lost. Groveller!"
Covenant flinched at the virulence of the sound...
"Never have you been more truly mine. You believe that you have been near unto death. This is false, groveller! I would not permit you to die. I will obtain far better service from your life"
There are truths and lies intertwined here, planted to inflict self-doubt into TC. "Time is changed" though is interesting. Makes me think of the third chrons."You will grovel before me." the despiser went on, "and call it joy. Your victory over me was nothing. It serves me well. Plans which I planted in my anguish have come to fruit. Time is altered. The world is not what it was. You are changed, Unbeliever." The mist made that word, Unbeliever, into a name of sovereign scorn. "You are no longer free. You have sold yourself for that paltry woman who loathes you. When you accepted her life from me, you became my tool. A tool does not choose. Did not my Enemy expound you to the necessity of freedom? Your very presence here empowers me to master you."
Almost feeling sympathy here for LF, lots of information here about the nature of LF and the passage of time in the Land. The feeling of doom that all is already lost is growing and growing...then comes the final chorus"We are foemen you and I," continued Lord Foul, "enemies to the end. But the end will be yours, Unbeliever, not mine. That you will learn to believe. For a score of centuries I lay entombed in the Land which I abhor, capable of naught but revulsion. But in time I was restored to myself. For nearly as many centuries more, I have been preparing retribution. When last come to last, you will be the instrument of my victory."
Then LF sifts apart in the wind and TC lies on his back under a brilliant azure sky and a strange sun...wow, what a speach, what a finale! Truths close to lies, and lies close to truths. No wonder TC gets struck to the stone floor by the immensity of the words, he is starting to doubt himself and his capabilities...and never once did he mention LA. At this moment I'm pretty sure LF knows nothing of her prescence in the Land..."Now hear me , groveller. Hear my prophesy. It is for your ears alone-for behold! There are none left in the Land to whom you can deliver it."
That hurt him. None? What happened to the Lords?
But the Despiser went on remorslessly, mocking Covenant by his very softness. "No, to you alone I say it: the wild magic is no longer potent against me! It cannot serve you now. No power will suffice.
Unbeliever, you cannot oppose me. At last there will be but one choice for you, and you will make it in all despair. Of your own volition you will give the white gold into my hand."
No! Covenant shouted. No! But he could not penetrate Lord Foul's certitude.
"Knowing that I will make use of that power to destroy the Earth, you will place it into my hand, and no hope or chance under the Arch of Time can prevent you!
Yes, tremble, groveller! There is despair laid up for you here beyond anything your petty mortal heart can bear!"
LA wakes up and the healed heartwound is too much for her, she can't believe it. TC also realises that she never heard a word of what LF said and that that would make her free of his influence. She is distressed and TC does what he can to calm her, starts to explain things to her...about Outside and Inside. The outside explanation being basically that they are sharing a dream...with lots of people and that the dreams can hurt you.
Even if you don't believe the "dreamsharing-concept" within the context of the chrons there is truth in these words..."It's dangerous. It can hurt you. The things in us are powerful and violent, and they are going to come out. The darkness in us-the destructive side, the side we lock up all our lives- is alive here. Everybody has some self-hate inside. Here it's personified-externalized, the way things happen in dreams. He calls himself Lord Foul the Despiser, and he wants to destroy us."
Then LA realises where she is...and is totally shocked...and stunned and on her way to lose her mind. TC talks her back with the inside-explanation being that the Land truly exists, and that LF translated them out of their world into the Land to help him escape his prison that is the Land and destroy it. But that being in the Land also gives them power...
While TC speaks of the "rules" that apply to them in the Land , about Law and Freedom, self-doubt inflicts his thinking more and more. He continues with what he wants to do in the Land and why
They prepare to go down...end of chapter..."I believe-" he made no effort to muffle his hardness-"that we'we got to find a way to stop Foul. That's more important than enything. He's trying to destroy the Land. I'm not going to let him get away with that. That's who I am."
Why? What does it have to do with you? If this is a dream, it doesn't matter. And if it's- "She had difficulty saying the words. "If it's real it's not you problem. You can ignore it."
Covenant tasted old rage. "Foul laughs at lepers."
In the first chrons TC was mostly driven by guilt. In this chapter LF assails him with both truths and lies that makes him uncertain of his capabilities. TC's doubts manifests themselves like this..."'We have power here.' He prayed he was speaking the truth."
TC's knowledge about Linden, this time being chosen by the creator, also starts to make him doubt himself. Self-doubt... is this the driving force in the second chrons?...And LA, well most of the time in this chapter, is in a kind of stupor and asks questions of TC and he answers them the best way he can. That way is information given to us, readers. In a way it's SRD's own explanations that was never given in the first chrons...and please tell if I'm too long here and I'll shorten the next chapter which I will post in a few days.
A great chapter, setting the stage(again...yes, a long build-up) for what is to come. The previous chapter where dark and full of foreboding, and now it's getting darker...
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bye for now
