Ahira's Hangar

I do not have time to fully cover what happens in this chapter before I have to go to work. So it is probably going to be one of those that takes a couple of posts. If anyone wants to jump in and add or finish up in the meantime, I will not be upset at all.

And here we go:

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Martiir and Stave attempt to save Linden from the

murderous Giant (I still cannot wrap my mind around that ).

Stave manages to knock him away, and the skurj attacks the Giant rather than Linden. Luckily for the Giant, he is wearing stone armor, which can protect him for at least a little while, even though the skurj eats stone.

And this Giant is so nutso or in such a battle rage that he is not even in pain - he is just madder than a wet cat.

And suddenly a whole bunch more Giants come running, and they all attack the skurj.

GIANTS!!! GIANTS!!!! A WHOLE BIG BUNCH OF GIANTS!!!!!!!

Since the Giants are somewhat immune to the heat, they are able to fight the monster much better than puny humans can.

When the skurj drops the original Giant, it becomes clear that he is more than a few sandwiches short of a picnic, that he is the survivor of some sort of closed head injury, and that he wants nothing in the world more than to kill Linden. Stave has to try to fight him to keep Linden safe - all while the battle between the other Giants and the skurj goes on.

The other Giants intervene with the crazy one. They gag him with a rock, and restrain him.

Another of the Giants kills the skurj by pulling out one of its internal organs!

There are ten women Giants, and the crazy male one.

The leader is a bit shorter, less muscular, and older than the others. She reminds Linden of the First of the Search in her air of command and obvious competence.

The Giants tell them that the dead skurj will draw others, for these less than charming beasts reproduce by eating their own dead.

These Giants know who Linden is - and they are not happy with the Humbled. They can feel all of the power Liand is giving off in using his orcrest , and warn him that he will pull every skurj around to himself, like a beacon or a lighthouse with his power and light.

So the two parties combine - and run! The Cords act as scouts, the hauchai as guards, and the Giants pick up the rest and carry them at a dead run! A few Giants will travel behind, to guard the crazy one, whose name is Longwrath. The leader's name is Rime Coldspray.

As they travel as quickly as they can through the unruly forest, Coldspray talks with Stave, who stays near Linden. She finds out that he has been outcast by his people for believing in Linden, and that he does not think she will commit desecration, as they do. And that he welcomes the Giants to the Land, and their friendhsip. We then learn that the Giants have been grieved by the Masters not being fully welcoming to them.

That night the two parties exchange their stories.

And once again, Linden thinks of the krill, thinks of using it in some way to get Thomas Covenant... This is something that has been eating at her mind...gettign the krill...Thomas Covenant...not telling the others...

And the Giants tell their tale...and heartbreakingly, the mad Giant is the grandson of the First and Pitchwife. He is the third son of their third son.

Are there not echos there of the three brothers of Seareach, who became lost to Corruption, and harrowed the Land?

Anyway, this particular Giant was once named Exalt Widenedworld. He wanted to follow his grandmother into the study of warfare and swordsmanship. Then he had a horrible training accident, and he was...changed.

At first the Giants remembered Cable Seadreamer, who had received a similar head injury, and developed Earth-site. But this Giant showed no signs of Earthsight, and became obsessed with "killing her". And nothing could stop him from trying to find "her". Like Joan, he could mysteriously escape any restraint. He even atatcked his parents, and killed his mother, trying to get away to go kill "her".

And the Giantclave went from trying to find ways to heal him, to trying to find ways to prevent him from commiting more harm and death.

The quest to find something to restrain him took a group of Giants to Bhrathair to get iron shackles (shackles keeps coming up in this book - there are the ultra-mysterious ur-vile manacles, now Giants in search of shackles). The city had just been partially trashed by the Sandgorgons - who had damaged the walls just passing through as an army, which had headed east over or under the sea (I am not clear on this part but it sounds like they traveled under the sea???? How is that possible?? How could they breathe???).

Longwrath causes enough trouble in the city, that the Bhrathair make the shackles as fast as they can - but he could even get out of those. And then he vanishes. Finally, when the Giants decide to leave, they find him standing by the mast of their ship, in an echo of Vain. After long discussion, they decide to follow his vision as if he had Earth-Site. Even though the Earth-site has never brought on murderous rage before...

In that way, they came to the Land. He wanted to go to the great swamp, Lifeswallower, but they went to Coercri instead. And he lead them across the land to Linden, getting more excited about killing her with very step he took. It was when they got close to the forest that they first encountered the skurj and gave battle to them, and then discovered their rather disgusting reproductive habits.

Lomgwrath has been mad and seeking Linden's life for more a year and thousands and thousands of miles.

It is time for work now, so more later.


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edited: you can tell I was in a hurry - the typos were even worse than usual

continuation:


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Linden and Liand immediately think there might be some sort of unholy alliance amongst their many enemies...

The skurj has attacked the Giants because Kastenessen wished it. So that Longwrath could elude his guardians. Now the creatures held back so that the mad Swordmain could get close to Linden again. Kastenessen meant to help him carry out his geas.

Liand shook himself as though he were rousing from a trance. "Aye," he whispered. "It must be so. The skurj would not otherwise act as they have done. They are appetite incarnate. Hunger rules them, as Longwrath is also ruled."

Like Joan, Linden thought. Joan's despair was a kind of hunger. And turiya Raver tormented her, urging destruction.

Kastenessen and Longwrath, Joan and Roger and Lord Foul: they all sought the same thing.

"Apart from the claiming of your vacant son, I have merely whispered a word of counsel here and there, and awaited results."

Understanding too much, Linden knew that her need for the aid of the Swordmainnir was absolute, if only so that she might reach Andelain and Loric's krill alive.

And she could not tell them the truth. Not all of it: not the one thing which she had never revealed to anyone. If she did, they might turn their backs on her. Even Stave, Liand, and Martiir might prefer a doom of their own making. The Humbled would oppose her with all of their great strength.

"He did not know of your intent."

Linden is still determined to go to Andelain and get Loric's krill - and do something very dangerous with it. My heart says the dangerous thing will have something to do with Thomas Covenant, but I still have no clue what she has in mind - other than it being so dangerous even her most trusted friends will not like it...

Stave points out that only Giants, with their resistance to fire can fight the skurj - unless Linden can somehow use the white gold to fight them.

Linden tells much of story of the events she has experienced in the Land this time around - but she leaves quite a bit out - such as her personal experiences with the Mahdoubt (which is a shame, as that woman's great kindness deserves to be recognized) - and the eerie similarities between Longwrath and Joan Covenant.

And the Giants recognize that she has been making evasions. They know she has not told them her true underlying purpose in traveling to Andelain and in wanting Loric's krill. And Stave points out that she burns for revenge for what has been done to her poor son. The Giants know Linden has some sort of secret plan for the krill - one that might devastate the Earth. They keep pushing her to reveal her plans, but she refuses them. She tells them to have faith in her or to leave.

The Giants laugh, and all of her companions join in except for Stave (who still manages to look relieved) and for Linden herself. poor Linden is incapable of laughter.

The Giants will join Linden's party and continue to travel with her in the morning.

GIANTS!!! GIANTS!!!! GIANTS!!!!!


Wow, there is so much packed into these latter chapters of this book! I feel as if I am barely touching on a lot of really important stuff...

What do you guys think about Longwrath? Might he really have the Earth-sight? Did he see Linden endangering the Earth and so seek her death? Or has someone or something given him this madness and obsession following his closed head injury? And which one of Linden's many many enemies might have done that?

And what is with this three brothers thing? the three brothers of one birth at Coercri which signaled an end to the time of the Unhomed in the Land...now a third son of a third son...

I know there are all sorts of folktales and legends about humans - where the seventh son of a seventh son has special magical powers - Orson Scott Card has an entire fantasy series writtten around just such a person (the Alvin Maker series).

Maybe with Giants then, it is something with three sons?

And what in the heck is Linden up to - what does she want to do with that krill? Why does she need more power than what she can have with both white gold and the Staff of Law?????



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Dammit, SRD still manages to surprise me - I wasn't expecting Giants at all at this point in the story!

Although this encounter didn't pack the same emotional punch as when the Search appeared out of nowhere in TWL, I'm still very very glad to see Giants again! And wow, all Swordmains too! (Minus the deranged Longwrath.)

As to Longwrath...if he is blessed/cursed with the Earth-Sight, it's an even less understandable, less communicative version than Cable Seadreamer's was. All we've got to work with is his incessant mantra to "kill her!" I mean, what the heck??

What if Longwrath's "vision" is actually Lord Foul's doing? He had said to Linden that he whispered bits of counsel here and there. Did that include planting a seed in Longwrath's mind? But then, it doesn't make sense that Foul would want Linden dead, since he needs her to break the Arch of Time somehow.


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