|
|
| View previous topic :: View next topic |
| Author |
Message |
variol son
Seer and Oracle
Joined: 05 Apr 2002
Posts: 5630
Thanks: 5
Thanked 3 Times in 3 Posts
Location: New Zealand
2076 White Gold Dollars
Tokens
HP
User Items:
|
 Posted: Tue Sep 02, 2003 12:02 am Post subject: The Power That Preserves, Chapter 10: Pariah |
 |
|
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!  this is so late! im so sorry, family emergency stuff. anyway, on with the show. im gonna stick 2 the main things here, TC & lena, pietten, & then resolution of the bargain TC made with the ranyhyn. lets go........
| Quote: | | She sat slack against the wall as if she has decided to freeze to death rather than acknowledge the fact that the man she loved was a murderer. |
| Quote: | | 'I do not want your comfort, Unbeliever. You have not been her father. It is a father's place to love his daughter, and you did not love her. Do not mistake my frail grief - I will not forget what you have done.' |
| Quote: | | ...'I don't want you to forget.'...'I don't want anyone to forget.' |
TC and Lena are alone in Foul's winter after the last Ramen covert has been betrayed. Sent fleeing by Bannor, they are lost and alone, and Lena has learned that TC had a hand in Elena's death. The exchanges between the two near the beginning of the chapter are short, but heartbreaking. It is as if Lena's illusions are finally breaking up, and the cold, harsh light of reality is beginning to invade. Then, when it looks like the two are going to do nothing more productive than freeze to death, Pietten shows up.
| Quote: | | 'You would be dead five times if I had not chosen to watch over you.' |
Pietten leads them through the winter, throwing taunts and insults the whole way, then when he finally stops, he reveals that it is he who has betrayed the Ranyhyn, although he believes he is saving them.
| Quote: | | 'They were murdered by Ramen!'...'You feast on Ranyhyn flesh like jackals.' |
| Quote: | | For a moment, Pietten's eyes lost their focus. Dimly, he murmered, 'I must take it to him. He will use it to save the Ranyhyn.' |
And we get to see a hint of the madness that the ur-viles inflicted on him at Soaring Woodhelven.
Poetten then tells TC that Foamfollower is the last of the giants, and that the Ranyhyn cannot flee because of their promise to him.
| Quote: | | 'I remember that the Ranyhyn reared to you. I remember that I strove to stop you. But you had already chosen to betray them. You bound them with promises - promises which you knew they could not break. Therefore the Ranyhyn cannot seek the safety of the mountains. They are shackled by commitments which you forced from them, you! You are the true butcher, Ringthane, I have lived my life for the chance to slay you.' |
| Quote: | | 'Are they dying because you made them promise to visit me each year?' |
| Quote: | | 'That's only part - Even if they went to the mountains, they could still reach you. I - I - ' his voice ached thickly - 'I made them promise to save me - if I ever called them. I did it for myself.' |
This proves to be more than Lena can handle. She bolts, there is lots of general confusion, and eventually she falls to pietten.
| Quote: | | With one savage blow he stabbed her in the stomach, spiked her to the frozen earth. |
As Pietten is about to kill TC, he summons a Ranyhyn, which Pietten accidently stabs. Frozen with the horror of what he has done, Pietten doesn't even react as TC puts to death the last member of Soaring Woodhelven. He then has his final moments with Lena...
| Quote: | 'Lena,' he panted. 'Lena.'
'I love you,' she replied in a voice wet with blood. 'I have not changed.'
'Lena.' He struggled to return her smile, but the attempt convulsed his face as if he were about to shriek.
Her hand reached towards him, touched his forehead as if to smooth away his scowl. 'Free the Ranyhyn,' she whispered.
The plea took her last strength. She died with blood streaming between her lips. |
...and, remembering how he had just broken his promise not to kill anymore, a promise he happened to make after the battle of Soaring Woodhelven, TC fulfils his queen's dying wish.
| Quote: | | 'Go on,' he insisted thickly. 'You're free. You've got to tell them. In the - in the name of Kelenbhrabanal, Father of Horses. Go.' |
| Quote: | | For an instant, he thought he could see it silhouetted against the night, rearing. Then it was gone. |
The first time, the Ranyhyn reared out of fear. Every other time was out of obligation. I always thought that this one last time, it might just be out of respect.
its a bit short i know, but i didnt have long & i discovered the chapter was a bit 2 emotional 2 do quickly. sorry again 4 the delay.
sum sui generis
vs
_________________
All your words are but to say: you are a woman, and your part is in the house. But when the men have died in battle and honour, you have leave to be burned in the house, for the men will need it no more.
Not a candle left to light, then.
I survived being a General Discussion Moderator! |
|
| Back to top |
|
 |
Furls Fire
Oh that I had wings like a dove...
Joined: 04 Aug 2003
Posts: 4854
Thanks: 4
Thanked 11 Times in 11 Posts
Location: Heaven
6801 White Gold Dollars
Tokens
HP
User Items:
 
|
| Posted: Tue Sep 02, 2003 3:13 am Post subject: |
|
|
Oh sigh, such sadness and pain. I remember thinking..."she was just left there, Lena was just left there." Her life was such a tragedy.  So was Pietten's. And for that matter, Covenant's. But, what a tragic end for Lena.
And what a way for Covenant to finally find out about the Giants...
| Quote: | "Do you think the Giant is here out of love? You are anile--sick with trust. Foamfollower is here because he betrayed his people. Every last Giant, every man, woman, and child of his kindred, lies dead and moldered in Seareach because he abandoned them! He fled rather then defend them! His very bones are made of treachery, and he is here because he can find no one else to betray. All his other companions are dead."
Foamfollower! Covenant cried in stricken silence. All dead? Foamfollower? |
And he leaves Lena and Pietten behind in despair...
| Quote: | He did not wait, did not rest. He was past taking any account of the cost of his actions. He caught up Pietten's spear and used it as a staff to hold himself erect. His ankle screamed at him as it dragged the ground, but he set his teeth and struggled away from the fire. As soon as he left the range of it's warmth, his wet clothing began to freeze.
He had no idea where he was headed, but he knew he had to go. On each breath that panted through his locked teeth, he whispered hate as if it were a question. |
Your right VS...this chapter is full of grief
_________________
And I believe in you
altho you never asked me too
I will remember you
and what life put you thru.
~fly fly little wing, fly where only angels sing~
~this world was never meant for one as beautiful as you~
...for then I could fly away and be at rest. Sweet rest, Mom. We all love and miss you. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Fist and Faith
Magister Vitae
Joined: 01 Dec 2002
Posts: 12200
Thanks: 21
Thanked 26 Times in 22 Posts
4199 White Gold Dollars
Tokens
HP
User Items:
  
|
| Posted: Tue Sep 02, 2003 4:17 pm Post subject: |
|
|
That's certainly among my most hated deaths ever!! The first time I read it, I was in shock. I read it a few times, thinking, "What?!?!? I must have read that wrong!! Did he just stab her in the stomach????" What a horrifying moment!!!
Thanks vs.
_________________
We are not required to save the world. We are required to stand up as truly as we can for what we love. -SRD
Mi alasharia la shantih, Darling Silezia.
Isaiah ShadowLurker, mi alasharia la shantih, shantih. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Foamfollower1013
Logical Poet
Joined: 06 Mar 2002
Posts: 215
Thanks: 0
Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts
142 White Gold Dollars
Tokens
HP
User Items:
|
| Posted: Tue Sep 02, 2003 4:58 pm Post subject: |
|
|
| Quote: | Covenant tried to interrupt, protest, but Pietten rushed on: "Do you think the Giant is here out of love? You are anile - sick with trust. Foamfollower is here because he has betrayed his people. Every last Giant, every man, woman, and child of his kindred, lies dead and moldered in Seareach because he abandoned them! He fled rather than defend them. His very bones are made of treachery, and he is here because he can find no one else to betray. All his other companions are dead."
Foamfollower! Covenant cried in stricken silence. All dead? Foamfollower!
<snip>
Bannor? he moaned. Foamfollower? A livid orange mist filled his sight like the radiance of brimstone. How could he have done so much harm? He had only wanted to survive - had only wanted to extract survival from the raw stuff of suicide and madness. The Giants! - lost like Elena. And now the Ranyhyn were being driven down the same bloody road. Foamfollower? Did I do this to you? He knew that he was defenseless, that he could have done nothing to ward off a spear thrust. But he was staring into the abyss of his own actions and could not look away.
"We're the same," he breathed withough knowing what he was saying. "Foul and I are the same." |
| Quote: | "All right," he muttered, speaking half to himself. "Go back. Go - tell all the others. Our bargain is over. No more bargains. No more -" The fire was falling into embers, and his voice faded as if he were losing strength along with it. Dark fog blew into him along the wind. But a moment later, he rallied. "No more bargains. Tell them."
The Ranyhyn stood as if it were unwilling to leave him.
"Go on," he insisted thickly. "You're free. You've got to tell them. In the - in the name of Kelenbhrabanal, Father of Horses. Go."
At the sound of that name, the Ranyhyn turned painfully and started to limp out of the hollow. When it reached the crest of the hill, it stopped and faced him once more. For an instant, he thought he could see it silhouetted against the night, rearing. Then it was gone. |
------------------
What a way to find out about the Giants. Ouch.
~Foamy~ |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
aTOMiC
Radioactive Hot Air
Joined: 10 Sep 2003
Posts: 15606
Thanks: 35
Thanked 10 Times in 8 Posts
Location: Valrico, Florida
3520 White Gold Dollars
Tokens
HP
User Items:
 
|
| Posted: Thu Sep 11, 2003 2:02 am Post subject: |
|
|
Couldn't you all just see this coming? Covenant until he finally confronted Lord Foul seemed to have the anti-Midas touch. Nearly everything he had a hand in managed to blow up in his face and wreck the lives of the people around him. Lena and Pietten's fate were tragic but not suprising.
_________________
"If you can't tell the difference, what difference does it make?"
"There are no tasks that I must perform in a furious rush that I can also complete without error."
GLURPWORLD
Kevin's Watch Anthology |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Furls Fire
Oh that I had wings like a dove...
Joined: 04 Aug 2003
Posts: 4854
Thanks: 4
Thanked 11 Times in 11 Posts
Location: Heaven
6801 White Gold Dollars
Tokens
HP
User Items:
|
| Posted: Thu Sep 11, 2003 2:39 am Post subject: |
|
|
No, not surprising clearfrontier. But, ah..sigh, it still hits you like a brick when you read it.
_________________
And I believe in you
altho you never asked me too
I will remember you
and what life put you thru.
~fly fly little wing, fly where only angels sing~
~this world was never meant for one as beautiful as you~
...for then I could fly away and be at rest. Sweet rest, Mom. We all love and miss you. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
|
|
You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot vote in polls in this forum
|
|
Home
Memberlist
Register
Search
Profile
FAQ
Statistics
Sudoku
Phoogle Map
Album
Stores
Log in
