“He’s trying to find the way in.” Covenant was hardly aware of his own voice. The Ardent’s alarm was contagious. It bred vertigo. “Past that blank place is the Lost Deep. The home of the Viles, back when the Viles still existed. That’s where they did their breeding—and the Demondim did—and the ur-viles. But it’s protected. If the Harrow can’t open it, we won’t get in.

“That’s why we’re here. Why we aren’t already with Jeremiah. No one can get in if that portal isn’t opened first.”

The Masters and Stave regarded him as though nothing that he might say could surprise them. The Giants only frowned in concentration, absorbing new information. But Linden stared at Covenant with darkness in her eyes. Her cheeks were pale, drained of blood. And the Ramen and Liand appeared to take their cue from her—or from the Ardent’s labored breathing. Innominate uncertainties and dreads marked their faces like fretwork. Cowed by the mass of immeasurable stone above him, even the Manethrall gave the impression that he could be intimidated.

While he was still able to hold them, Covenant scrambled to articulate his memories. “This chasm. It’s how the Viles guarded themselves. Isolated themselves. It isn’t just a chasm. A terrible power lives here.

“Hell and blood,” he panted through his teeth. “This is hard. I can’t think—” Every word was as dangerous as falling. He spoke in puffs of vapor that became nothing. He could not help Linden. “When the Viles formed that bridge, they called it the Hazard. But translation doesn’t do it justice. When they said ‘Hazard,’ they didn’t just mean that terrible power. And they didn’t just mean they covered the bridge with wards so it would shatter if someone tried to enter the Lost Deep without knowing how. It was their hazard, too.

“Making it, they risked everything. Who they were. What they meant to themselves. It was their only link to the rest of the Land. The rest of the Earth. When they crossed out of the Lost Deep, everything they’d ever done or cared about might be destroyed. While they kept themselves isolated, they could imagine they were perfect. But they were smart enough to know the world is a big place. Even the Land is a big place. They might meet beings and forces that would make them look paltry.

“They created the Hazard because they were too intelligent to be content with ideas of perfection that hadn’t been tested. Compared. Measured.”

The Haruchai would understand that better than anyone.