Now she wished that she had asked Liand to bring water as well as bread and cheese from her quarters. She had gained Stave’s support and freed Anele. The Staff in her hands reassured her. But the price—Revelstone was threatened by Demondim and the Illearth Stone because she had dared the past. The ur-viles and Waynhim had been decimated in her name, and many Haruchai had died. Her defiance had alienated the Masters. And because he had declared himself, Stave had suffered a hurt far more profound than the beating he had received from Esmer. She wanted water to wash down the taste of what she had accomplished.
Nevertheless she trudged onward, following her guide into the unmapped complications of Revelstone.
At first, she and her companions walked the unfamiliar passages in silence. This part of the Keep had not been prepared for guests: there were no lamps, and the torches were far apart, leaving only a faint tang of smoke in the air. But Stave knew the way and did not hesitate.
However, Liand emitted a growing disquiet, and his need to speak soon became palpable. Clearing his throat, he began awkwardly, “Stave—” Then he admitted, “I know not how to address you. I have considered you a Master, but now that title seems”—he faltered briefly—“false.”
“I am Stave,” the Haruchai replied. “I need no other name.”
“Very well.” Liand tried again. “Stave. I wish to say—” For a moment longer, he struggled. Then he took on the dignity which Linden had first seen in him during their flight from Mithil Stonedown. In a firmer voice, he announced, “I regret that I have thought ill of you. Yes, and spoken ill as well. Your courage shames me.”
Stave may have shrugged. “We are all shamed, you no more than I”—he glanced at Linden—“and neither of us more than the Chosen, who should not have been subjected to the disapproval of the Masters.”
He waited until he had led his companions through the intersection of several corridors. Then he assured the Stonedownor, “Yet you need have no fear of me. I have claimed a place at the side of the Chosen, and will not withdraw from it.”
“I do not doubt you,” Mahrtiir put in gruffly. “You have won my esteem as well, Stave of the Haruchai. The Ramen will never again err by demeaning you.”
Stave nodded, but made no other reply.
I have claimed—Again Linden fought back tears. She feared that she would never be done with weeping. She had only been in the Land for a few days, and already she needed so much forgiveness—
Even Anele had refused to let her heal him.
They walked on; and Linden’s thirst increased; and the passages of Revelstone seemed to have no end. Eventually, however, they reached a broad stair which appeared to curve up indefinitely into the dark rock of the Keep. And at the foot of the stair they found a stout figure waiting for them.
The nearest torch was some distance away. In spite of the gloom, however, Linden soon recognized the Mahdoubt. The comfortable complacency of the older woman’s aura was unmistakable.
Still shadows seemed to trail about the Mahdoubt like wisps of fog. But then she faced Linden with her startling eyes; and at once every scrap and tatter of obscurity dissipated, evaporated by her oblique warmth. Now she became more vivid to Linden’s health-sense than any of her companions; more distinct than the stone of the halls. The Mahdoubt’s presence shone in the dimness, lambent with abundance and implications. She appeared to command a personal dimension which was at once more ordinary and more numinous than any other place in the Keep.
Apparently Mahrtiir had not encountered the Mahdoubt before. He started forward to place himself between Linden and the older woman. But Liand caught his arm and explained quickly, “She is the Mahdoubt. She serves Revelstone. And she has cared for us kindly.”
Mahrtiir peered through the dimness. “She serves?” He sounded surprised. “Yet she is—” He hesitated. “There is that about her which—” Then he shook his head. “Perhaps I am mistaken.” To the Mahdoubt, he added, “I crave your pardon. My concerns have misled me.”
Stave said nothing. However, he bowed to the older woman as he had to Linden, acknowledging her worth in spite of his injuries.
The Mahdoubt ignored all of the men. “The lady is thirsty,” she huffed as if to reprove some fault in Revelstone’s hospitality—or in Linden. “She neglects her own needs. Is the Mahdoubt pleased? She is not. Oh, assuredly. Yet it is her burden and her gift to supply care where it is found lacking.”
From within her miswoven robe she produced a flagon of water which she thrust unceremoniously at Linden.
As Linden accepted it, the Mahdoubt continued, “The lady must not delay. Peril awaits her. Peril and pain, most assuredly. Yet the Mahdoubt will hinder her a moment. A little moment.”
The woman stepped closer. “Heed her, lady,” she urged, whispering. “The Masters know not what they do.” She appeared to believe that Stave and the others could not hear her. “Nor does the lady.” She sighed lugubriously. “Nor does the Mahdoubt, alas.”
Then she breathed with an air of intensity, “This, however, she knows assuredly. Be cautious of love. It misleads. There is a glamour upon it which binds the heart to destruction.”
Linden stared at her. “What do you mean? I don’t understand.”
The Mahdoubt did not answer. Instead she turned and walked away. As she moved, she appeared to wrap herself in shadows so that she slipped from sight almost at once.
Be cautious of love?
“Strange—” Mahrtiir murmured, gazing after the woman. “For a moment—a moment only—I seemed to see another in her place. Yet the seeming was brief. It mystifies me.”
“Stave—?” Linden asked without knowing how to put her question into words.
“She is the Mahdoubt,” he replied stolidly. “She serves Revelstone. Naught else is certain of her.”
With one hand, he gestured toward the stair, urging his companions to ascend.
Linden eyed the heights. She was too tired for this—and understood too little. But the Mahdoubt had given her water, and when she drank deeply she began to feel somewhat stronger. Handing the flagon to Liand, she said with a sigh, “All right. I’m ready. This can’t go on forever.”
With her companions, she followed Stave up the stairs.
They seemed to ascend for a long time; but when the Haruchai at last guided his small company into a side passage, the way became easier. And soon Linden saw more light ahead: not the flickering of torches, or the yellow glow of lamps, but the bright illumination of day.
Stave had brought them to a balcony in the prow of the Keep, a walled projection overlooking the courtyard above the inner gates. From a gap in the ramparts, a narrow bridge of wooden slats hung suspended between the Keep and the watchtower, supported by ropes as thick as hawsers. More ropes served as railings and handholds on either side of the span.
Stave strode out onto the slats without hesitation. After a moment, Linden followed, balancing herself with the Staff, and trusting the ropes to keep her safe.
When she and her companions had crossed the span, Stave led them past tall piles of firewood and clay tubs of oil—the Keep’s first defense against the Demondim—to another walled projection like a coign several levels above the open gates of the tower. From this vantage, they could see a wide arc of Revelstone’s environs: north toward a region of newly planted fields, south and west among the hills that buttressed the Keep’s jutting plateau, and east down the long gradual slope of the bare plain where the previous day Linden and her company had emerged from her caesure, pursued by monsters.
Glancing down, she saw Handir and the Humbled on a similar coign one level below her. Their attention was fixed to the east. As soon as she looked in that direction, she saw what held their eyes.
Some distance away, perhaps half a league, the horde of the Demondim was plainly visible, advancing in an undifferentiated tumult toward the Keep. Even from so far away, the Vile-spawn seemed potent enough to overwhelm the Keep. Their malice howled at Linden’s senses, and a clangor
of opalescence stung the skin of her cheeks. At intervals, rank emerald flashed into the skies, staining her vision with images of violence; and concussions followed after them, hard blows which kicked up spouts and ripples of dust all around the horde. Despite the distance, faint tremors reached the watchtower. The stone seemed to shiver in reply, spreading visceral dread along her nerves.
Briefly the effects of the Illearth Stone consumed Linden’s attention. But then Stave pointed out over the plain; and she saw a small cluster of riders racing ahead of the onslaught.
Four Masters mounted on horses galloped for their lives. She could not guess how long or how far they had fled: the frenzy of the horses suggested that they had been ridden hard. But they had opened a gap between themselves and the Demondim. If they did not fall or falter, they would reach the watchtower ahead of their pursuers; in time for Revelstone’s defenders to close the gates.
Peering fearfully across the distance, Linden counted four horses, four Masters. But two of the mounts bore other riders as well: the beasts were badly overburdened. Although their terror goaded them, they were falling behind their companions. And they looked like they were about to founder. At erratic intervals, they stumbled under the weight of their riders.
When she saw them clearly, Linden’s heart seemed to fail her, and she sank to her knees. The Staff clattered, forgotten, to the stone beside her.
The Masters had not rescued strangers. She knew both of them intimately.
One was Jeremiah; her son beyond question. As the Master’s mount pounded the dirt, the boy waved his arms, urging the horse to run faster, and shouted encouragement to the other riders.
Even from so far away, Linden could see that his eyes were afire with excitement.
The other stranger was unmistakably Thomas Covenant.
Here ends
The Runes of the Earth
Book One of
“The Last Chronicles of Thomas Covenant.”
The story continues in Book Two
Fatal Revenant.
Glossary
Acence: a Stonedownor, sister of Atiaran
Ahamkara: Hoerkin, “the Door”
Ahanna: painter, daughter of Hanna
Aimil: daughter of Anest, wife of Sunder
a-Jeroth of the Seven Hells: Lord of wickedness; Clave-name for Lord Foul the Despiser
ak-Haru: a supreme Haruchai honorific
Akkasri na-Mhoram-cro: a member of the Clave
aliantha: treasure-berries
Alif, the Lady: a woman Favored of the gaddhi
amanibhavam: horse-healing grass, dangerous to humans
Amatin: a Lord, daughter of Matin
Amith: a woman of Crystal Stonedown
Amok: mysterious guide to ancient Lore
Amorine: First Haft, later Hiltmark
Anchormaster: second in command aboard a Giantship
Andelain, the Hills of Andelain, the Andelainian Hills: a region of the Land which embodies health and beauty
Andelainscion: a region in the Center Plains
Anele: a deranged old man; son of Sunder and Hollian
Anest: a woman of Mithil Stonedown, sister of Kalina
Annoy: a Courser
anundivian yajña: “lost” Ramen craft of bone-sculpting
Appointed, the: an Elohim chosen to bear a particular burden; Findail
Arch of Time, the: symbol of the existence and structure of time; conditions which make the existence of time possible
arghule/arghuleh: ferocious ice-beasts
Asuraka: Staff-Elder of the Loresraat
Atiaran Trell-mate: a Stonedownor, daughter of Tiaran; mother of Lena
Aumbrie of the Clave, the: storeroom for former Lore
Auspice, the: throne of the gaddhi
aussat Befylam: child-form of the jheherrin
Bahgoon the Unbearable: character in a Giantish tale
Banas Nimoram: the Celebration of Spring
Bandsoil Bounds: region north of Soulsease River
Banefire, the: fire by which the Clave affects the Sunbane
Bann: a Bloodguard, assigned to Lord Trevor
Bannor: a Bloodguard, assigned to Thomas Covenant
Baradakas: a Hirebrand of Soaring Woodhelven
Bareisle: an island off the coast of Elemesnedene
Benj, the Lady: a woman favored by the gaddhi
Berek Halfhand: Heartthew, Lord-Fatherer, first of the Old Lords
Bern:Haruchai lost to the Clave
Bhapa: a Cord of the Ramen, Sahah’s half-brother; companion of Linden Avery
Bhrathair: a people met by the wandering Giants, residents of Bhrathairealm on the verge of the Great Desert
Bhrathairain: the town of the Bhrathair
Bhrathairain Harbor: the port of the Bhrathair
Bhrathairealm: the land of the Bhrathair
Birinair: a Hirebrand, Hearthrall of Lord’s Keep
Bloodguard, the:Haruchai, a people living in the Westron Mountains; the defenders of the Lords
bone-sculpting: ancient Ramen craft; marrowmeld
Borillar: a Hirebrand, Hearthrall of Lord’s Keep
Bornin: a Haruchai, a Master of the Land
Brabha: a Ranyhyn, Korik’s mount
Branl: a Haruchai, a Master of the Land; one of the Humbled
Brannil: man of Stonemight Woodhelven
Brinn: a leader of the Haruchai, protector of Thomas Covenant; later Guardian of the One Tree
Brow Gnarlfist: a Giant; father of the First of the Search
caamora: Giantish ordeal of grief by fire
Cable Seadreamer: a Giant, brother of Grimmand Honninscrave; member of the Search; possessed of the Earth-Sight
Caer-Caveral: Forestal of Andelain; formerly Hile Troy
Caerroil Wildwood: Forestal of Garroting Deep
caesure: a Fall; a rent in the fabric of time
Cail: one of the Haruchai, protector of Linden Avery
Caitiffin: a captain of the armed forces of Bhrathairealm
Callindrill Faer-mate: a Lord
Callowwail, the river: stream arising from Elemesnedene
Cavewights: evil creatures existing under Mount Thunder
Ceer: one of the Haruchai
Celebration of Spring, the: the Dance of the Wraiths of Andelain on the dark of the moon in the middle of spring
Centerpith Barrens: a region in the Center Plains
Cerrin: a Bloodguard, assigned to Lord Shetra
Chant: one of the Elohim
Char: a Cord of the Ramen, Sahah’s brother
Chatelaine, the: courtiers of the gaddhi
Chosen, the: title given to Linden Avery
Circle of Elders: Stonedown leaders
clachan, the: demesne of the Elohim
Clang: a Courser
Clangor: a Courser
Clash: a Courser
Clave, the: group which wields the Sunbane and rules the Land
clingor: adhesive leather
Close, the: the Council chamber of Lord’s Keep
Clyme: a Haruchai, a Master of the Land; one of the Humbled
Coercri: The Grieve; former home of the Giants in Seareach
Colossus of the Fall, the: ancient stone figure guarding the Upper Land
Consecear Redoin: a region north of the Soulsease River
Cord: Ramen second rank
Cording: Ramen ceremony of becoming a Cord
Corimini: Eldest of the Loresraat
Corruption: Bloodguard/Haruchai name for Lord Foul
Council of Lords, the: protectors of the Land
Courser: a beast made by the Clave using the Sunbane
Creator, the: maker of the Earth Croft: Graveler of Crystal Stonedown
Crowl: a Bloodguard croyel, the: mysterious creatures which grant power through bargains, living off their hosts
Crystal Stonedown: home of Hollian Currier: a Ramen rank
Damelon Giantfriend: son of Berek Halfhand, second High Lord of the Old Lor
ds
Dance of the Wraiths, the: Celebration of Spring
Dancers of the Sea, the:merewives; suspected to be the offspring of the Elohim Kastenessen and his mortal lover
Daphine: one of the Elohim
Dawngreeter: highest sail on the foremast of a Giantship
Dead, the: specters of those who have died
Defiles Course, the: river in the Lower Land
Demondim, the: creatures created by Viles; creators of ur-viles and Waynhim
Demondim-spawn: another name for ur-viles and Waynhim; Vain
Desolation, the: era of ruin in the Land, after the Ritual of Desecration
Despiser, the: Lord Foul
Despite: evil; name given to the Despiser’s nature and effects
dharmakshetra: “to brave the enemy,” a Waynhim
dhraga: a Waynhim
dhubha: a Waynhim
dhurng: a Waynhim
diamondraught: Giantish liquor
Din: a Courser
Doar: a Bloodguard
Dohn: a Manethrall of the Ramen
Dolewind, the: wind blowing to the Soulbiter
drhami: a Waynhim
Drinishok: Sword-Elder of the Loresraat
Drinny: a Ranyhyn, Lord Mhoram’s mount; foal of Hynaril
dromond: a Giantship
Drool Rockworm: a Cavewight; leader of the Cavewights, finder of the Illearth Stone
dukkha: “victim”; a Waynhim
Dura Fairflank: a mustang, Covenant’s mount
Durance: a cryptic barrier, apparently broken
durhisitar: a Waynhim
During Stonedown: village destroyed by the Grim; home of Hamako
Duroc: one of the Seven Words
Durris: a Haruchai
EarthBlood: concentrated fluid Earthpower; only known to exist under Melenkurion
Skyweir; source of the Power of Command
Earthfriend: title first given to Berek Halfhand
Earthpower: natural power of all life; the source of all power in the Land
Earthroot: lake under Melenkurion Skyweir
Earth-Sight: Giantish power to perceive distant dangers and needs
eftmound: gathering-place for the Elohim
eh-Brand: one who can use wood to read the Sunbane
Elemesnedene: home of the Elohim