Jeremiah stood in the center of a crude square of ash. His entire edifice had been rendered to powder around his feet. Even his racecar—If any scrap of the red metal remained, it lay buried in the residue of ancient bone.

His legacy of Earthpower had receded into the background. But he was looking at Linden.

At Linden.

His eyes were clear as untainted skies. When she met his gaze, his face broke into a broad grin of excitement and affection.

“I did it, Mom.” He sounded like he wanted to crow. “I did it. I made a door for my mind, and it opened.

“I couldn’t have done it without Anele.” Gradually his grin fell away, unmade by remembered sorrows. “Or without Galt. And Liand. And the Ranyhyn. Stave was amazing.” Nonetheless his eyes shone on Linden, luminous with gratitude. “And I could never have done anything without you.

“But I did it.”

Then he hurried forward to fling his love around her.

In that moment, Linden Avery began to believe that her rent heart might heal.

Lord Foul always told the truth. In time you will behold the fruit of my endeavors. If your son serves me, he will do so in your presence. If I slaughter him, I will do so before you. If you discover him, you will only hasten his doom. But the Despiser’s craving for his foes’ self-desecration was so great that he never told the whole truth.

Perhaps he did not know it.

Do you see him? He’s my son.

Hugging Jeremiah hard, Linden thought that maybe this time Lord Foul’s machinations had gone wrong. Like Infelice, perhaps, the Despiser had misled himself.

Chapter 10. - The Pure One and the High God

10.

The Pure One and the High God

From the ravine where he had left Linden and her companions, Thomas Covenant rode the Harrow’s destrier south and east into a region of denuded hills interspersed with shallow vales of gravel and dirt.

Clyme and Branl guarded him, Mhornym on his left, Naybahn on his right. And the Ranyhyn set a hard pace, apparently disregarding the limitations of Covenant’s mount. The destrier was a heavy warhorse, but it had been bred for endurance as well as power and fury. Covenant sensed that it would strive to emulate its Earthpowerful companions until its heart burst. And by some means, Mhornym and Naybahn seemed to impose their will on the beast, stifling its instinctive loathing for an unfamiliar rider; transforming its trained battle-frenzy into speed. While it could, the horse matched the fluid gallop of the Ranyhyn.