Summon the High Lord...there is a peril on the Giants of Seareach. He has seen it.
The news of the impending doom of the Seareach Giants horrifies all who hear it. When Saltheart Foamfollower brought news of the fulfillment of Damelon's prophecy to Revelstone, the Lord's were saddened at the thought that the Rockbrothers would soon depart the Land, but at the same time joyful that the Unhomed might soon be unhomed no longer.
No one except Foamfollower himself gave any thought to another possible interpretation of the prophecy.
For forty years the Lillianrill have worked to fulfill the promise of Loric, Damelon's son. The Gildenlode keels and rudders are almost complete. But for three years, there has been no word from Seareach. And Mhoram has a vision which turns the hearts of the Lords cold.
And so the mission is given to fifteen Bloodguard and two Ranyhyn chosen Lords. Hyrim, son of Hoole, an ebullient, instantly lovable man, who would rather hear songs than live them, but who loves the Giants passionately, and is aquainted with Giantish lore. And Shetra Verement-mate, the Lord most familiar with the perils of Sarangrave Flat, she is torn by her un-Ranyhyn-chosen husband's sense of unworth. The mission, "Summon or succor," isLord Mhoram saw the death of the Giants marching toward them. He could not make out the face of that death. But he saw that if they are not aided soon - perhaps in a score of days! - they will surely be destroyed...because of brother Mhoram's vision, the Council has decided that it must send a mission to Seareach at once - now.
a need so compulsory that it had been given into his (Korik's) hands, to the Bloodguard themselves, rather than to the Lords, so that if Hyrim or Shetra fell their defenders would go on.
Thus begins theAs sunrise echoed the fire of farewell which High Lord Elena had launched into the heavens from the watchtower of Revelstone, Korik Bloodguard and his mission to Seareach wheeled their Ranyhyn, tightened their resolve about them, and went running into the east.
Spoiler
doomed
By the end of the first day, Hyrim is already physically battered and exhausted. And the mission may be riding into the teeth of Foul's army. An encounter with a scouting patrol on the western borders of Grimmerdhore seems to indicate that there is no army in their road at least, but the mission must still pass through the forest. And Grimmerdhore is angry.
Other than the presence of ordinary wolves, the young Warhaft had no unusual activity to report - but something is definately amiss with the forest.
But the need of the Seareach Giants is compulsory, the quest must brave the Forest. And so, after determining thatThe riders dismounted. Lord Hyrim stared at Grimmerdhore as if it's mood confounded him; and Lord Shetra dropped to the grass, felt it with her hands, staring all the while at the trees - trying to read the Forest through the sensations in the ground. When Hyrim said, "Never have I seen Grimmerdhore so angry," she nodded slowly and replied, "Something has been done to it - something it does not like.
, and giving the ritual appeal for the forbearance of the Forest, the company ventures into the ominous dark of Grimmerdhore.there was not enough wakefulness in the timbre of the Wood to account for Grimmerdhore's mood. Something else caused it
Despite the palpable danger of Grimmerdhore's atmosphere, however, the first day in the Forest passes without a hitch, until at last Korik is forced to call a halt. He is reluctant to do so; the Bloodguard are not comfortable with their charges so exposed. The enchanted light of a million fireflies only distracts the Bloodguard, until at last they are forced to keep watch with their eyes closed, relying on other senses to warn them of danger.
The next day Grimmerdhore's mood continues to darken. Hyrim's attempts to lift the mood of the company grow more and more feeble, until at last, even he becomes subdued, and increasingly nervous. By noon, the woods around them have fallen silent, and the smell of wolves hangs thick in the air. Not a bird-call or a scolding squirrel disturbs the inarticulate rage of the Forest. When next the riders stop for the night, there are no more distracting fireflies.
Lords Hyrim and Shetra attempt to sleep, but the rage in the atmosphere will not allow them. The mood of the Forest seems to grow darker by the moment, rising until it howls against the minds and flesh of Korik's mission. Until at last -
Instantly the mission dissolves into chaos. Hyrim and Shetra leap to their Ranyhyn and tear off through the Forest toward the source of the trees peril, ignoring Korik's shouts. Shetra finally hears, and wheels her Ranyhyn back toward Korik, who snaps "The mission is in our hands. We must flee this peril."Both Lords had given up rest and were on their feet staring into the dark with the Bloodguard when the first glimmer of light appeared north of them.
As they watched it, transfixed, the light became stronger and sharper, spread a hot orange glow through the trees. And with every brighter surge of the glow, the Forest increased it's silent cry of horror, outrage.
"Fire!" Lord Shetra gritted fiercely. "By the seven! A fire has been set. In Grimmerdhore!"
To which Shetra pauses long enough to shriek, "And let Grimmerdhore burn? We would cease to be Lords!" before flying in pursuit of Hyrim. Korik and the other Bloodguard have no choice but to plunge after them.
As Lord Hyrim leaps to the defense of the tree, Shetra and the Bloodguard throw themselves at the ur-viles. Korik launches himself into the midst of the ur-vile wedge, rendering their power effectively useless, and enabling Shetra to dispatch the loremaster single-handedly. As the Bloodguard pursue the remaining ur-viles, Hyrim struggles desparately to save the Gilden, and Korik hears a warning shout from Sill.Moments later, Korik topped the hill with Shetra, Cerrin, and the other Bloodguard galloping beside him. Before them was a wide, almost treeless valley shaped like a bowl. The fire raged in it's bottom. And around the conflagration capered a score of black forms.
Ur-viles.
They were burning a huge Gilden.
As the company charged down the hillside, Korik could hear the surrounding Forest's choked effort to scream.
The mission has been ambushed....the process was hard, slow. Hyrim sounded exhausted, and he had not subdued a quarter of the blaze.
But that was not the meaning of Sill's shout. After one brief glance at Hyrim, Korik saw the other peril.
There were wolves standing shoulder to shoulder around the entire rim of the valley.
Hyrim refuses to leave the Gilden to burn despite Korik's insistence that the mission must flee. As Korik reaches out to forcibly drag the Lord to safety, Shetra leaps to Hyrim's aid, and with the strength of two Lords the fire is quickly defeated. Plunged suddenly into darkness, the company leaps into flight. Straight at the solid wall of wolves.
But an heroic attack from Shetra confuses and terrifies the pack, breaking their charge long enough for the company to gain a little ground. It's all the opportunity the Ranyhyn need. Now it's a race, pure and simple. But the Forest continues to hamper the riders. Crashing with breakneck speed through trees and underbrush, the riders must cling to their Ranyhyn with all their strength. And Hyrim is a poor rider, and exhausted. He holds though. They all do, until at last the company breaks into an open glade with a wide deep ravine running through it. Korik hesitates - the ravine appears too wide for the Ranyhyn as well as the wolves. And if the Ranyhyn cannot make the jump, they are all doomed.The Ranyhyn surged through the pack, shedding wolves like water, striving to gain speed. At first their head-on charge threw the pack into confusion. But then the wolves chasing them came close enough to leap onto their backs. Pren and four other Bloodguard in the rear of the company were about to be engulfed.
Korik has no choice but to have faith in the Ranyhyn. "-Let the Ranyhyn choose! They will not err! But ward Lord Hyrim!" he shouts in the mindspeech of the Haruchai.
Runnik is the first to reach the ravine. For a heart-stopping moment he and his Ranyhyn seem to hang suspended against the stars, while korik mentally consigns the Lords to their own fates (it is already too late for the rest of the riders to stop) - and then Runnik lands safely on the other side, followed closely by Cerrin, Shetra, Korik, Hyrim, and Sill, and everyone else. The wolves plunge rabidly into the ravine - those who survived the fall are already scrambling up the near side.
The company's escape is almost certain when Lord Hyrim's exhaustion finally overcomes him, and he tumbles to the ground like a sack of grain.
The Bloodguard immediately peel back to make a last stand in defense of the fallen Lord, but Shetra has other ideas. Grabbing up Hyrim's staff, as well as her own, she wields them both in a massive Word of Warning that incinerates any wolf who touches it. The wolves are maddened with frustration and whatever power drives them to attack. The ones who are not roasted by shetra's blazing wall eventually turn on each other.
Pausing only to ascertain that Hyrim is not injured, only unconscious, and to lash him to the back of his Ranyhyn with clingor, the company mounts again and continues to flee, eager to put as much distance as possible between themselves and any new threats. Hyrim regains consciousness, and is able to cling grimly to his Ranyhyn while the company plunges on into the darkness, toward whatever new dangers might await them. The Lords are ehxausted, drained, but alive for the present.
The fatigue, the lack of rest, the unrelieved haste of their journey showed in both Lords: Hyrim's eyes, formerly so gay, had a grey angle of pain; and Shetra's lean face was lined and sharpened, as if some erosion had cut away the last softness of her features. But they endured. As time passed, they found deeper springs of strength to sustain them.
Korik should have been reassured. But he was not. The Lords had proven themselves equal to wolves and Grimmerdhore. But he had reason to know that what lay ahead would be worse.
Thus ends Gilden-Fire, the recounting of the first part of the desparate mission to Seareach. This is such a wonderful, action packed part of IEW. There's so much good stuff here - it's a shame it had to be cut from the published book. All the History of the Haruchai and the Bloodguard; these two brave Lords who are absent from the rest of the story.
Things I found particularly interesting:
Why does Korik have reason to know that what waits ahead will be worse?
The idea that rescuing burning trees is what Lords do. Shetra's vehement support of Hyrim's efforts to save the burning Gilden.
We know this is what the Lords are for, but rarely do we see it put into words."And let Grimmerdhore burn?" she almost shrieked. "We would cease to be Lords!"
Because of the fact that the Bloodguard have been given the mission to Seareach themselves, they face a dilemma between their mission and their Vow. "For the first time since he had assumed his Vow, he left the Lords to their own fortunes. He expected Hyrim to fall." This is a direct violation of the Bloodguard Vow. I wonder if any Bloodguard had been placed in this position since Kevin.
Spoiler
I also wonder if the conflicting loyalties involved may have in it's own way contributed to the corruption of the Vow.
And this: the Bloodguard actaully do eat!
And, in part because of their Vow, they needed little food: as long as the hardy aliantha grew and ripened throughout the Land in all seasons, the Bloodguard required no other sustenance.
My typing fingers are tired.
OMG b&b! Truly remarkable...I don't even kno if anything else needs b added...u have truly captured the very essence of the Grimmerdhore plight! As u say,
