Free Thomas Covenant - 02b - Gilden Fire by Stephen Donaldson Page A

the Bloodguard is somewhat obscure in the published version of my books; too much of their background was sacrificed when I cut GILDENFIRE. In fact, too much development of the people who would eventually have to face the destruction of the Unhomed was sacrificed. (How, for instance, can Lord Hyrim’s achievements be fully understood when so little is known about him?) By publishing GILDENFIRE, I”m trying to fill a subtle but real gap in THE ILLEARTH WAR.
     
    Finally, I should say that I think the logic which originally required me to cut out this material no longer applies. Since it cannot stand on its own as an independent story, GILDENFIRE will surely not be read by anyone unfamiliar with “The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant the Unbeliever”. And those readers know that the question of whether or not the Land is ultimately real” (whether or not a character like Korik is sufficiently “actual” to serve as a narrative viewpoint) no longer matters. In reality as in dreams, what matters is the answer we find in our hearts to the test of Despite. By publishing GILDENFIRE, I hope to give more substance to the answers Korik, Hyrim, and Shetra found.
     
     

Gildenfire
     
    AS 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.
    With the new sun in his eyes, Korik could not see clearly. Yet he moved comfortably to the rhythm of Brabha’s strides, faced the prospect ahead without a qualm. He had been riding Brabha for nearly fifty years now; but his experience of Ranyhyn was far longer than that: the great horses of Ra by the score had borne him in turn, one after another as their individual lives ended and their fidelity passed from generation to generation. He knew that the Ranyhyn would not miss their footing. Theterrain near Revelstone was muchtravelled and reliable; yet even in the cluttered rigour of the Northron Climbs, or in the subtle deceptions of Sarangrave Flat, the Ranyhyn would remain surefooted. Their instincts were founded on something more constant than the superficial details of hills and plains. They bore Korik’s mission down through the foothills of Revelstone as confidently as if the great horses were part of the ground itself   a part made   mobile and distinct by their quicker lifepulse, but still sharing the same bone, the same ancestry, so that no orphaning misstep or betrayal could occur between hoof and earth.
     
    And around Korik rode his companions, those who shared his mission to the Giants of Seareach: fourteen more Bloodguard and two Lords, Hyrim son of Hoole, and Shetra Verementmate. The memory of their parting from the people of Revelstone   Shetra’s grief over her separation from her unRanyhynchosen and self doubting husband, Hyrim’s argute attempts to probe the difference between what the Bloodguard remembered and what they knew, Thomas Covenant’s refusal to share this mission   was vivid to Korik. But more vivid still was the urgent need which gave cause to this journey. Summon or succour. A need so compulsory that it had been given into his hands, to the Bloodguard themselves, rather than to the Lords, so that if Hyrim or Shetra fell their defenders would go on.
     
    For there had been a special timbre of exigency in Terrel’s silent voice earlier that night as he had sent out his call to First Mark Morin.
     
    Summon the High Lord, Terrel had said,. following a grimeyed and haggard Lord Mhoram toward the Close. There is a peril upon the Giants of Seareach. He has seen it.
     
    Lord Mhoram had seen it. Seer and oracle to the Council, he had described the death of the Unhomed stalking them across all the leagues between Revelstone and Coercri   a death no more distant than a score of days. When the High Lord and all the Council had gathered with him in the Close, he