And we have seen again that High Lord Prothall was right when he said
Linden unknowingly walked into a trap set by the Lurker and the Feorce. Somehow they had found a break in her mind in such a way as to make her think she was back in Haven Farm fighting for her life.And power is at all times a dreadful thing.
Using that the Feorce had been able to make her think her staff was nothing more than her medical bag and she had used the staff to repel her friends. But not in a friendly way. She had burned them, even some of the giants showed blisters on their hands.Somehow the fact that she had cut herself the previous night had left her vulnerable
She has questions::
Im not sure if we get answers or not so lets read on……Who or what were the Feorce?
What manner of magic did they wield?
Why did they serve the lurker?
Why did the lurker crave her staff?
Why had the Ranyhyn abandoned them? (They were scared that they would all be killed like Kelenbhrabanal was.)
A Ranyhyn finally shows up and its Hynyn. The Menethrall throws himself prostrate and he is summarily ignored and Stave leaps to the Ranyhyns back and they ride off!
Then Mahrtiir told a story of Kelenbhrabanal and he has some questions. First and foremost:
How was of Kelenbhrabanal slain? They think that somehow the lurker was involved because they believe that of Kelenbhrabanal could not have been killed by LF.
What crime do the Ranyhyn grieve, apart from betrayal?
He then wants to know why she attacked them and she tells them of the coercion that compelled her:
I bet she expected them to yell at her or something but instead she gets this;When I thought that I was beating at the flames, I must have been fighting you. Keeping you away while I tried to escape. But when I threw the staff the Feorce dropped their glamour. I wasn’t what they wanted. (snip)All at once, I stopped believing that I was trapped. The house and the fire disappeared and I was here again.
From Mahrtiir
From the giants:“Ringthane I am content”
Too cool… I just cant get enough of the giants!!!! And then this:” Therefore I salute you, Chosen Ringthane. Once again you have wrestled life from the teeth of death, as by your own account you have done from the first”.
Just cracks me up….“By your leave, Frostheart Grueburn will assume guardianship of your staff in the event that the Feroce essay another approach. We cannot be assured that her mind will not also fall into glamour, as yours did, However---“
“It will not, put in Onyx Stonemage. “You speak of Grueburn, whose natural bewilderment excludes other confusion”
Stave shows up and the Ranyhyn want them to move and move fast but he doesn’t know why only that they seem to indicate haste. So they all climb on the Ranyhyn and off they go. Mostly hoping for a bath at their destination, the tributary of the Ruinwash.
On the way she has a conversation with Stave about Kevin.
Now that’s an intense question to ask someone. But she isn’t finished.”Ever since the Ritual of Desecration, he’s been called the Landwaster. I guess that makes me the Earthwaster. Compared to waking up the Worm, his Ritual looks like a petty offense. I want to know what he and I have in common.”
She tells Stave that she was angry in Andelain but she had hope. She loves TC and wanted him alive but also and more importantly, she though he was the best person to save the Land.
An important distinction don’t you think?So now, I want to know what Kevin and I have in common. He destroyed pretty much everything. I thought that I was saving everything.
Stave of course answers:
He goes through quite a few ‘ifs’ but then he comes to the crux of the matter…. A comparison of Kevin with the Masters of the Land.IF, chosen. That you share with High Lord Kevin Landwaster, who is now forgiven by his sires. IF.
Stave had really grown since the first of this book and I find myself thinking of him as I would Bannor in the later part of the First Chronicles. But he isn’t done yet. Just when I think he is going to let Linden off the hook, he instead drives home what he was getting after.”Chosen, you have rightly charged the Masters with arrogance. They have deemed themselves wise enough, and worthy, to prejudge the use which the folk of the Land would make of their knowledge. After his own fashion Kevin was similarly arrogant.” (snip)”Arrogating himself responsibility for the fate of those who fell, he demeaned them---and failed to perceive Corruption clearly. Faulting himself for error rather than Corruption for treachery, he was self-misled to the Ritual of Desecration, and could not turn aside”
Whoa!!! No… not Bannor… he surpasses Bannor in this moment, in my estimation… Kevin was arrogant, the Masters are arrogant and she.. yes Linden.. was arrogant.”Now however matters stand otherwise. Now you do not consider that Liand acted according to his own desires, or that Anele did not plainly or loudly demand the orcrest, or that you had companions who might have been better able to heed the old man at that moment. Nor do you consider that the deed of Liands death was Kastenessen’s. Rather you demean all who stand with you by believing that there can be no other fault than yours, and no fault of yours can be condoned. Doing so you tread paths prepared for you by Fangthane’s Malice, as Manthrall Mahrtiir has said. Thus you emulate High Lord Kevin.
After that.. they could see their destination and the Ranyhyn pick up speed. As they do Linden has more questions:
Why had they risked proximity to the Sarangrave?
Where were they taking her?
Why were they in a hurry now when they had been plodding along for two days?
They all have decided to trust the Ranyhyn and Linden is ready to not make all the decisions herself. So leaving those that are walking behind, they ride at a full gallop toward their destination.
Thus ends this chapter… did the Ranyhyn make amends? Not yet or at least not that we can tell. Did all those questions get answered… not in this chapter.Leaning low over Hyn’s neck, and clutching the Staff of Law across her thighs, Linden prayed that she was not making a fatal mistake.