A stream he could not see gave an undertone to the rain, then faded. For a time, the beasts slapped through shallow water between knurled old cypresses. The drizzle fell like chrism, anointing the company for sacrifice. He did not want to die like this, un-shriven and without meaning. His half-hand clenched and loosened around his ring like an unconscious prophecy.
Linden continued instructing Brinn, barking what she saw into his ear as if that were her only defence against the mad night; but Covenant no longer heard her. He twisted in his seat, trying to gauge the pursuit. The rain sounded like the sizzling of water against hot gems. If he fell from Clash's back, the creatures would be on him in moments.
Out of the darkness, Sunder croaked, “Heaven and Earth!” A noise like a whimper broke from Hollian.
Covenant turned and saw that the south, too, was lined with green fires. They pent the company on all sides.
The terrain had opened; nothing obscured the encirclement. To one side, streaks of green reflected off a small pond. The water seemed to be leering. The creatures advanced like leprosy. The night held no sound except the sighing of the rain.
Clang danced like a nervous colt. Annoy snorted heavily, winced from side to side. But Sunder kept the Coursers under control. He urged them forward until they stood in the centre of the green circle. There he stopped.
In a flat voice, Brinn said, “Withhold your power. The lurker must not be made to notice us.”
Linden panted as if she could hardly breathe.
The creatures came seething noiselessly through the dark. The ones beyond the water stopped at its edge; the others continued to approach. They were featureless and telic, like lambent gangrene. They looked horribly like children.
Hergrom dismounted, became a shadow moving to meet the line. For a moment, he was limned by slime fire. Rain stippled his silhouette.
Then Linden coughed, “No! Don't touch them!”
“Chosen.” Brinn's voice was stone. “We must breach this snare. Hergrom will make trial, that we may learn how to fight.”
“No” Her urgency suffocated her. “They're acid. They're made out of acid.”
Hergrom stopped.
Pieces of darkness whirled at him from Ceer's direction. He caught them, two brands from the quest's store of firewood.
Hefting them by their ends, he confronted the creatures.
Stark against the green, he swung one of the faggots like a club, striking the nearest child-form.
It burst like a wineskin, spilling emerald vitriol over the ground. His brand broke into flame.
The creatures on either side appeared not to care that one of them had fallen. But they promptly shifted to close the gap.
He struck with the other brand, ruptured another shape. Then he returned, bearing the faggots like torches.
In the firelight, Covenant saw that the company stood in an incongruously open stretch of grass. Beyond the advancing children, black trees crouched like craven ghouls. The pool on his left was larger than he had guessed it to be. Scant inches below its surface lay thick, dark mud. A quagmire.
The green creatures sought to herd the quest into it.
As if he could read Covenant's thoughts, Brinn said warningly, “Ur-Lord. Withhold.”
Covenant tried to reply, could not. His lungs were full of moisture. His chest tugged at the air. He seemed to be asphyxiating on rain. Water ran down his face like blood sweat.
No, it was not the rain. It was the air itself, strangling him.
Gradually, the drizzle changed pitch. It began to sound like a cry. From deep in the night, a wail rose toward the sky.
It was in Covenant's lungs. The very air was howling. He could hear Sunder gasp, feel Linden's muscles jerking to breathe, taste his own acrid fear.
The lurker.
Damnation!
The cry scaled upward in pitch and passion, became a throttling scream. It clawed the depths of his chest, sucked at his courage like quicksand.
Panic.
The company stood like sacrificial cattle, trembling and dumb, while the acid-creatures advanced.
An instant later, Clash's distress became a convulsion. Bucking savagely, the Courser scattered Linden and Covenant to the grass, then sprang insanely against Clang. With Brinn clinging to its neck, Clash knocked Sunder and Stell from Clang's back. At once, the rampaging Courser tried to leap over Clang.
Covenant regained his feet in time to see Clangor go mad. Ignoring Hollian's cries and Ham's commands, the beast plunged against Clash and Clang and drove them to their knees.
Suddenly, all four mounts were possessed by a mad frenzy to attack Sunder and Stell. Annoy crashed squealing into the roil of Coursers. Ceer and Cail dove free. Stell and Harn snatched Hollian out from under Clangor's hooves.
Vain stood near the edge of the pool, watching the confusion as if it pleased him.
Covenant could not understand why the acid-creatures did not charge. They continued to approach incrementally, but did not take this opportunity to attack.
Brinn still clung to Clash's neck, fending off the teeth of the other Coursers with his free hand. The Haruchai appeared insignificant, helpless, amid the madness of the beasts.
Darkness gathered in Covenant like venom. It leaped instinctively toward his ring. White gold. Power.
He wanted to shout, but could not get enough air. The howl of the lurker made the rain ring, choked his chest, covered his skin with formication.
He cocked his arm. But Linden, catching his half-hand in both her fists, gasped at him like hysteria, “No!”
The force of her desperation struck him still and cold. A gelid wind blew in his mind. Use it! Pressure threatened to burst him. His ring. Don't! But the lurker-
The lurker was already aware. It was-
Why was it aware? What had alerted it?
Diving forward, Ceer joined Brinn among the Coursers. Together, the two of them began casting down sacks of supplies and bundles of firewood.
Before they could finish, the tangle abruptly clarified itself. Clangor surged to its feet, followed by Annoy. Clash and Clang heaved upright.
Driven mad by the rain and the piercing shriek of the lurker, they assailed Sunder.
The Graveller ducked under Clangor, dodged Annoy, so that the beasts collided with each other. But the grass was slick under his feet. As he tried to spin out of the way, he went down. A chaos of hooves exploded around him.
Linden clinched Covenant's arm as if he had tried to break free. But he had not, could not have moved to save his life. The acid-children- The howl-Coursers whirling. Rain swarming against his skin.
What had alerted-?
Stell appeared somehow among the beasts, stood over Sunder, and fought to protect him; he heaved legs aside, punched at heads, forced animals against each other.
Brinn and Ceer sought to distract the Coursers. But their insane fury at Sunder consumed them. He rolled from side to side, avoiding blows. But their savagery was too great.
The Coursers! Covenant gagged. His eyes bulged under the pressure of asphyxiation, vertigo. Creatures of the Sunbane. Corrupted Earthpower. The lurker was alert to such power.
Then this attack was directed against the Coursers. And they knew it. They were mad with fear.
Why didn't they flee?
Because they were held!
Hellfire!
Covenant sprang into motion with a wrench that knocked Linden to the ground. His eyes locked onto Sunder. He could not breathe, had to breathe. The howl filled his lungs, strangling him. But he could not let Sunder die. With a convulsion of will, he ripped words out of himself.
“The rukh! Throw it away!”