Things have changed for the Quest, now that Sunder and Hollian have joined them. Their unquestioning trust in Covenant places him firmly in command again; and Sunder’s ability to use the krill of Loric and his piece of orcrest to clear their path through the hazards of the Sunbane will allow them to travel more quickly. The catch is that any use of power will be perceptible to the Clave. Covenant decides Gibbon-raver must already be aware of them, and opts for speed.
During their travel through the Sun of Rain, pairs of Haruchai begin to join them. In spite of what Sunder has told them about the Clave taking control of the Haruchai who went too close to Revelstone, Covenant accepts them without question.
Around the campfire, after a day of traveling within Sunder’s shelter through the flooding rain, Covenant asks Hollian what Sun the next day will bring. Hollian’s wand tells them it will be a fertile sun. The horrors of the Fertile Sun were described by SRD in Chapter 7 this way:
and...Everything the sun touched grew so rapidly that it seemed animate – a form of helpless flesh tortured mercilessly toward the sky.
Yet, here in contrast is Hollian’s magic:every added degree of the sun’s arc made each frond and leaf and stem yearn more desperately upward, as frantic as the damned.
I love the way the purity that SRD gives to the eh-Brand’s power, and the clear glow of Sunder’s krill, remind us of what the Land can become again in their hands.And flame grew like a plant from the wood. Delicate shoots waved into the air; buds of filligree fire bloomed; leaves curled and opened. Without harming her or the wood, flame spread around her like a growth of mystery.
It was as green and tangy as springtime and new apples.
They are drawing near Revelstone. The Banefire is visible, lancing toward the sun, and pairs of unnamed Haruchai continue to join the questors. Remembering that Bannor has told him to “Redeem my people,” Covenant continues to accept them:
He saluted them strictly; but their presence only made him more afraid. He did not know how to defend them from Gibbon.
Suddenly Sunder collapses. Black light burns in the krill. When Covenant grasps the krill to fight Gibbon back,
Covenant has regained supremacy over his own power. The battle to take back the krill from Gibbon is won, but it is only a distraction. Covenant’s fears are realized when all the Haruchai suddenly attack the company, puppets on Gibbon’s strings. With Linden’s help, Cail is the one who discovers how to throw off Gibbon’s control, teaching the others and winning back the respect he has lost among his people.Midnight conflagration as hungry as hate burst among the company, tore through the trees. A rage of darkness raved out of him as if at last the venom had triumphed, had become the whole truth of his power.
For an instant, he quailed. Then Linden’s wild cry reached him.
Savage with extremity, he ripped his fire out of the air, flung it down like a tapestry from the walls of his mind..
Everyone is left terrified of the black venom that took over Covenant’s ring. But the measure of Sunder and Hollian’s new lives is their trust in Covenant, and the First declares she will trust Covenant Giantfriend or nothing. Covenant is the only one who continues to fear himself.
The party camps down the hill from Revelstone. To Linden, Sunder, and Hollian, Revelstone is the place where they were once imprisoned and their minds assailed by evil. To the giants, Revelstone is the wonderwork of their lost brethren, speaking to them beyond words. To Covenant, Revelstone is the loved home of the old Lords, which he must destroy, if necessary, to end the Clave and the Banefire.
We have a loose end here, as the company prepares to attack Revelstone. Vain has disappeared. The mystery of Vain is dismissed with a shrug, in this chapter, because Linden’s analysis simply comes down to the speculation that those who control the Banefire could possibly destroy Vain.He intended to tear that place down if necessary to root out the Clave – and the bare thought that he might be forced to damage Revelstone made him savage.
They return to discussing the attack. Basically, the plan consists of Covenant challenging Gibbon. And if Gibbon won’t come out? What can possibly be done?
As though he was choking, he rasped out, ”I’ll think of something.” Then he fled the camp, went blundering through the brush until he reached its verge on the foothills.
The next morning Covenant goes up the hill to Revelstone.He spent the night staring up at the city as if it were the last barrier between his hot grief and Lord Foul’s triumph.
So here we are, the readers, in despair. Covenant will have to use his wild magic, which has been taking on more and more of evil. He will have to attack Revelstone with it, because why on earth should Gibbon-raver come out to meet his challenge?All the anger had gone out of him during the night; and he ascended toward the gaping mouth of Revelstone like a husk for burning.
I love this section, it is so dramatic. The Rider who comes out in Gibbon’s place is a trap.
But Covenant knows:Great yellow wasps, as big as Covenant’s thumb.
When the light touched them, they began to snarl.
For one hideous moment, they writhed where they were; ... Then the swarm launched itself at Covenant.
In that instant, the world went black. Venom crashed against his heart like the blow of a sledgehammer.
Black fire; black poison; black ruin. The flame raging from his ring should have been as pure and argent as the metal from which it sprang, but it was not, was not. It was an abyss that yawned around him, a gulf striding through the air and the ground and the Keep to consume them, swallow the world and leave no trace. ... Swiftly it became as huge as the hillside, hungry for ruin.
If he let his conflagration swell, they would all die, she and the others he loved and the Land he treasured, all of them ripped out of life and meaning by blackness.
Covenant has done it! He has reined in his power with his own will. Now he can use his ring!Abruptly his vision cleared – and he had not been stung. Thousands of small, charred bodies still smoked on the bare ground...
The Rider remained standing with his mouth open and his eyes white, miraculously unscathed and astonished.
Now it’s time for Covenant to fulfill his promise. With almost the heart-stopping impact of the first time he used this weapon, he calls up the power that will tear Revelstone open for him.To the Rider he said, “Tell Gibbon he had his chance.” His voice held neither doubt nor mercy. “Now I’m coming in after him.”
“Nom.”
Never thought of that...
