The Last Dark: The climax of the entire Thomas Covenant Chronicles (Last Chronicles of Thomas Cove)

concealed.” She stared hard under her heavy brows. “If distance and darkness do not mislead me, the stone stands somewhat apart. A cleft or flaw has detached it from the ridge.
    “Stave Rockbrother will endeavor to dislodge it.”
    Jeremiah did not believe that Stave could do it.
    As if to herself, Coldspray added, “When it falls, he will also. Then he must perish. Though he is
Haruchai
, his flesh is not iron. His bones are not. They will not withstand an impact from that height.”
    While pressure mounted in Jeremiah’s chest, Stave’s unyielding shape crossed into the gouge. There he rose to his feet and paused, secure against the battering of the wind. For a few moments, he appeared to study the challenge ahead of him. Then Jeremiah saw the former Master wave one arm: a gesture of reassurance so unconvincing that it made Jeremiah wince.
    This was impossible. It was all impossible. What Stave had done was already insane—and there was worse ahead of him. When it falls, he will also. Jeremiah had not thought that far ahead.
    Then he must perish.
    Abruptly Jeremiah wheeled on Rime Coldspray, clutched at her arm. “Do something,” he panted. “He’s
Stave
. Mom will never forgive me if he dies.” Because he was pleading with a Giant, the Ironhand of the Swordmainnir, he tried to tell the truth. “I’ll never forgive myself.”
    Without turning her head, Coldspray answered, “This choice was not yours to make, young Jeremiah. It belonged to Stave Rockbrother. It remains his. He will suffer the cost because he chooses to do so.
    “At present, his peril is diminished. Later it will become extreme. Should he fall within the hollow, we can do naught to aid him. We must trust his skill and agility to preserve him.
    “The achievement of his purpose is another matter.”
    Still watching Stave’s wary ascent, she called, “Ho, Swordmainnir! Bestir yourselves! You will wish to witness Stave Rockbrother’s valor. And he will have need of you!”
    At first, there was no response.
    “Frostheart Grueburn!” shouted the Ironhand. “Latebirth!” She sounded more relaxed than Jeremiah felt; far more confident. “Cabledarm! Onyx Stonemage! Hear me! Hear and come!”
    After a moment, a bleary voice answered, “We hear you.” Grueburn. “The very stars hear you.”
    If she said more, gusts carried the words away.
    For a while, Stave moved more easily. But soon he reached the steeper recesses of the wound, where the stone had more cracks. He was forced to resume his earlier care, testing each handhold, each support for his feet, each small ledge and crack and bulge, before he committed his weight to it.
    Yawning, Giants approached Jeremiah and Coldspray. He recognized them without glancing at them. Only Stormpast Galesend and Halewhole Bluntfist lagged behind—or they were still asleep.
    While Stave crawled up the back of the hollow and began to creep toward the granite jut which supported the monolith, often hanging by his hands alone until he found places to anchor his feet, Coldspray explained his intentions to her comrades. Then she said, “He is Stave Rockbrother, able and stalwart as the
Haruchai
of old. He will not fail.”
    “When he succeeds,” muttered Grueburn, “he will fall. He must.”
    “And he will perish,” Stonemage added grimly.
    “Therefore,” concluded the Ironhand, “we must intervene.”
    Considering the problem, her comrades nodded.
    Jeremiah wanted to ask, Intervene
how
? But Grueburn, Latebirth, Stonemage, and Cabledarm were already moving away. Apparently they did not need Coldspray’s instructions. As they started up the rockfall, they separated. Grueburn and Latebirth on one side, Cabledarm and Stonemage on the other, they labored toward the ridgefront.
    At first, Jeremiah could not imagine what they had in mind. Then he understood. They aimed to bracket the slab’s likely path when it toppled. Clearly they meant to position themselves on either side of that path. If they could avoid being struck, they might have some chance of catching Stave.
    If he did not fall first. If he managed to shift the monolith. If loosened rocks did not hit anybody. If just one of the Giants was quick enough to intercept his plunge. If his impact in her arms did not kill him as surely as the jagged rubble. If it did not break or kill her—
    Jeremiah was holding his breath again. He thought that he saw Stave’s arms flailing. Dislodged debris spattered like rain into the hollow.
    But