“Therefore High Lord Damelon Giantfriend deemed it too perilous for any use. Such absolute might exceeds mortal conception. Any Command outruns both foresight and control. It may prove ruinous to the one who utters it.”

“In sum,” growled the Ironhand, “you deem that we must not seek out this EarthBlood and Command the Worm to resume its slumber.”

Stave shrugged. “If Earthpower is the Worm’s food, then the Worm is itself Earthpower. Can Earthpower suppress Earthpower? Will you Command the cessation of all life and death?”

For a long moment, the company was silent. Linden felt distress skirling among her companions, sensed their thwarted desire for comprehension. They needed to know what to do. None of them were people who could remain passive in the face of calamity. But they had no outlet for their passion and resolve.

And Linden could not guide them. She could speak only for herself—and she had already chosen her immediate path.

When no one else responded to Stave’s challenge, Liand ventured hesitantly, “Mayhap the insight we require lies elsewhere in Anele’s utterance. Did he not state that the Worm will bring destruction ‘If it is not opposed by the forgotten truth of stone and wood—’? What is this truth?”

Covenant’s reply was a grimace. “Beats the hell out of me. If I ever knew, it’s gone now. There’s just too much. I’ve lost most of it. And every time I come back, I lose more.”

Sternly Mahrtiir said, “Yet other aspects of Anele’s pronouncement invite consideration as well. He did not speak only of ‘forgotten truth’ and EarthBlood. He also urged ‘forbidding.’ ”

“The Forestals knew how to do that,” Covenant admitted. “They made the Colossus of the Fall. The Interdict against the Ravers. But it failed eventually.” His frown kept his eyes hidden from the krill. Only his transubstantiated hair held the light. Over the centuries, the Colossus itself had crumbled. “Too many trees were slaughtered. Every one that fell made the Forestals weaker.

“And that brings us back to power. Even Berek wasn’t strong enough to do what they did. Before Kevin’s Lore was lost, the Lords used what they called a Word of Warning. But their version of forbidding was trivial compared to the Colossus.”

All vastness is forgotten.

“If the knowledge endures among the Insequent,” Stave stated with a hint of grimness, “the Ardent did not speak of it.”

Frostheart Grueburn lifted her head. “Doubtless the Elohim possess that which we lack.”

“And you expect them to answer?” countered Covenant. “If you can think of a way to ask them?” He shook his head. “They’re too busy running for their lives. They probably won’t even notice us unless we do something that scares them worse than the Worm—”