| Chapter 18: The Corrupt |
|
"Foamfollower!" Covenant cried, and his voice cracked with fear despite his efforts to control it. "What do we do?"
"Listen to me!" Foamfollower said. A fever of urgency was on him. "We must cross now--before we are seen. If you are seen--if Soulcrusher knows that you have crossed--he will hunt for you on the far side. He will capture you." "Cross?" Covenant gaped. "Me?" "If we are not seen, he will not guess what we have done. He will judge that you are elsewhere in the maze--he will hunt you there, not on the promontory of Ridjeck Thome." "Cross that? Are you crazy? What do you think I am?" He could not believe what he was hearing. In the past, he had assumed that he and Foamfollower would somehow get beyond Hotash Slay, but he had made that assumption because he had not visualized this moat of lava around Foul's dwelling place, had not conceived the true immensity of the obstacle. Now he saw his folly. He felt that if he went two steps closer to the lava, his skin would begin to char. "No," replied Foamfollower. His voice was full of fatality. "I have striven to prepare myself. It may be that in doing this I will anneal the long harm of my life before I die. My friend, I will bear you across." At once, he lifted Covenant into the air, placed him sitting upon his broad shoulders. "Put me down!" Covenant protested. "What the hell are you doing?" The Giant swung around to face the fiery liquefaction of the stone. "Do not breathe!" he barked fiercely. "My strength will help you to endure the heat, but it will sear your lungs if you breathe!" "Damnation, Giant! Put me down! You're going to kill us!" "I am the last of the Giants," Foamfollower grated. "I will give my life as I choose." |