Chapter 17 first quarter

The last night of the voyage was calm, warm and starless. The Dolphin swings long and easy over the smooth southbound waves.Sleep comes easily, everyone falls asleep, and enters a dream in sleep. Chi Yang dreamed that a small animal came from the darkness and touched his hand.He couldn't see what it was, and stretched out his hand, it had already left and disappeared, and he felt the touch of a small, fluffy nose again.Half awake, the dream receded from his mind, but a sharp sense of loss remained in his heart. In his berth under the alder trees, Sebor dreamed that he was at home in Ferrow on the Isle of Pahn, reading an ancient book of wisdom from the Dark Ages, absorbed in his work, only to be interrupted.Someone wants to meet him. "It won't be long," he said to himself, before going to talk to the visitor.The visitor was a woman, dark hair with a tinge of red, beautiful, worried, and said, "You must send him to me. You will send him to me, won't you?" Sepo thought, I don't know her. Said who, but I had to pretend to know, so I said, "You know it's not easy." Hearing this, the woman raised her hand back, and he saw that she was holding a stone, a heavy black stone.Startled, he thought she was going to throw a stone at him, or hit him with a stone, and recoiled, waking up in the dark cabin.He lay flat and listened to the sleeping breathing of the others and the whisper of the waves against the side of the boat.

Sleeper at the other end of the small cabin, Obsidian lying on his back, staring into the darkness, thinking his eyes were open, thinking he was awake, but felt that many strings bound arms, legs, hands and head, and the ropes stretched towards the darkness, across land and sea , across the arc of the world; the rope was pulling him, pulling him, and he and the ship and all its passengers were being dragged lightly, lightly, where the ocean dried up, and the ship would be stranded silently on the dark sand stretching blindly.But he couldn't speak or move, and the rope closed his jaw and eyelids.

Lebannen entered the cabin to take a nap, hoping that he would be refreshed when he woke up Roke tomorrow morning.He fell fast and deep in sleep, dreams drifting and changing: a tall green hill above the sea... A smiling woman raised her hand, and let him see that she could make the sun rise... In the court in Havnor, a petition Or he was shocked and ashamed to discover that half the people of the kingdom were dying of starvation in closed rooms below the house... A child shouted to him, "Come to me!" but he could not find the child... As he slept, The right hand is holding the small bag hanging around the neck, holding the stone inside, and holding on tightly.

The man is immersed in a dream, while the woman is dreaming in the top cabin.Setheraki walked up the mountain, the beautiful and dear desert mountain of her hometown, but she was walking on the forbidden dragon road, the road that human feet can never set foot on, or even pass.Under her bare feet, the dust of the dragon path was smooth and warm. Although she knew she couldn't walk on it, she continued to move forward until she raised her head and found that she was not a familiar mountain, but a black, rugged cliff that was absolutely insurmountable.But she has to climb over. Irian gleefully flew in the stormy wind, but the storm bound circles of lightning on her wings and dragged her into the clouds, and as she got closer, she saw that it was not clouds but black stones, a Dark craggy mountains.Lightning ropes bound her wings to her sides, and she fell.

Tehanu crawled through a tunnel deep in the ground. There was not enough air in it. As she crawled, the tunnel narrowed and she could not turn back.The shiny roots deep into the tunnel dirt gave her strength, and she could sometimes pull on them to keep going into the darkness. Tenar climbed the steps of the Throne of the Unknown, the place of the holy tower.She was very petite, and the steps were very high, and she had a hard time climbing them.When she reached the fourth step, she did not stop and turn around as the priestess asked, but continued on.Climbing up one step, one step, another step, the dust is so thick that it completely hides the steps, and one has to feel with one's hands for untouched steps.She crawled fast, and behind the empty throne Ged had forgotten or lost something, something of great importance to countless people, and she must find it, but did not know what it was. "A rock, a rock," she told herself.But when she finally got there, there was just dust, owl droppings, and dust behind the throne.

In the old mage's house on Gont's high hill, Ged dreamed that he was still the archmage in the inner room, walking with his friend Thorion in the rune corridor leading to the master's meeting hall of the academy. "For many years," he told Thorian earnestly, "I had no power." The Summoner smiled and said, "It was only a dream, you know." But Ged was disturbed by the long black wings trailing behind him and on the corridor floor. .He shrugged and tried to raise his wings, but they just spread out on the ground like an empty bag. "Have you wings?" he asked Thorion, who answered, "Oh, yes," in a calm tone, and showed Ged that his wings were fastened on his back and behind his legs with many tiny cords. "I'm bound tight," said Thorian.

The heart of Roke Island was a forest, and Azifor, the master of form and meaning, slept in an open grass field on the east edge of the forest in summer nights, and when he raised his head, he could see the stars through the leaves.Here, sleep is light and transparent, and the mind is guided by the dancing steps of stars and leaves, going back and forth between thoughts and dreams.But tonight there are no stars, and the leaves do not move.He looked up into the lightless sky, seeing through the clouds.High in the dark sky there are stars: small, bright, still, not moving.He knew there would be no sunrise... At last he sat up, lucid, gazing at the dim, soft light that was always suspended among the rows of trees, his heart beating slowly but strongly.

In the Hongxuan Pavilion, the sleeping young man tossed and turned, shouting loudly, dreaming that he had to fight on a dusty plain, but the enemy fighters were old people, old women, weak and sick ordinary people, and crying children. Master Roke dreamed that there was a ship sailing across the ocean, carrying heavy loads, and the sea was under low pressure.One dreamed that the cargo on the ship was black rock, another dreamed that the load was burning with flames, and still another dreamed that the cargo was a dream. The seven mages sleeping in the Hongxuan Pavilion woke up one after another in the stone room, and stood up with a little fake light.They found the Master Gatekeeper up and waiting by the gate. "The king is coming soon," he said with a smile, "arriving at dawn."

"Roke Knoll." Tothra stared forward at the distant, indistinct, motionless waves on the twilight waves to the south-west, and Lebanon beside him said nothing.The clouds dispersed, and the sky covered the arc of the sea with a pure and colorless arch. The captain joined, whispering in the silence: "Beautiful morning." The east slowly turns golden.Lebannin glanced at the stern, where two women had already risen and stood by the railing outside the cabin: a tall woman, barefoot, silent, gazing towards the east. The circular green hill catches the first rays of sunlight.When sailing into the fjord of Suier Bay, the sky was bright.Everyone on the ship watched from the deck, but still kept their voices low.

The wind died down in the harbor, the sea was calm, and the waves reflected the small town by the bay and the walls of the Hongxuan Pavilion above the small town.The boat slid forward, slowing down and slowing down. Lebannin glanced at the captain and Obsidian.The captain nodded, and the wizard began to cast a spell, raised his hands, pushed them slowly, and whispered a word. The boat glided forward gently, without slowing down, until it reached the longest pier.The captain spoke, the sail was furled, and the crew broke the silence by throwing ropes ashore. There were people waiting to be greeted at the docks: the assembled townspeople and a group of young men from the academy, one of whom was a burly, dark-skinned man, holding a heavy wizard's staff the length of his body.When the deck was out and set in place, the man took a few steps forward: "King of the Westlands, welcome to Roke. We welcome your companions, too."

The young people who came with him and the townspeople cheered the king unanimously. Lebainan walked down the bridge and responded happily. He called Daoan, the master, and the two talked for a while. Those who watched could see that although Master Summoner gave a welcome speech, his frowning eyes drifted to the hull of the ship again and again, looking at the woman standing by the railing, but his answer did not satisfy the king. Lebannen stepped away and returned to the boat. Irian stepped forward and said to him: "Your Majesty, you can tell the master that I don't want to enter their house... This time, even if they invite me, I will not go." Li Bainan said extremely seriously: "It is Master Xingyi who invited you to meet in Xinchenglin." Yi Rui'an laughed out loud, "I knew he would. Tehanu will go with me." "And mother," Tehanu whispered. Lebannen looked at Tenar, who nodded. "So be it. The rest of us live in the Hongxuan Pavilion, unless someone else prefers somewhere else." "My lord, please allow me," Saipo said, "I also want to ask Master Xingyi to take him in." "Seppo, there's no need for that," Obsidian said harshly, "Come with me to my house." Wizard Parn made a soothing gesture and said, "My friend, it has nothing to do with your friend. All my life I have longed to walk in the Forest of Hearts, and I feel more at ease there." "Maybe the door of the Hongxuan Pavilion will refuse to open to me like before." Chi Yang said hesitantly, while Obsidian's sallow complexion turned red from shame. The princess covered her head with tulle, looked at the faces, listened eagerly, and tried to understand what others were saying.Now she said, "Please, my lord, shall I go with my friend Tenar? My friend Tehanu? And Irian? And talk to the Karg?" Lebanon looked at the crowd, glanced at the burly Summoner standing at the bottom of the ship, laughed, and spoke from the railing in a clear and friendly voice: "Summoner, my subordinates have been trapped in the cabin for too long, they seem Longing to be able to step on the grass and hold leaves on our heads. If we all beg Master Xingyi to take him in, and he agrees, will you forgive us for temporarily declining the invitation of the Hongxuan Pavilion?" After a moment of silence, Master Summoner bowed stiffly. A short, chubby man came to the pier, stood beside the summoner, looked up at Lebanon with a smile, and held up the silver wizard staff. "Your Majesty," the man said, "a long time ago, I took you around the Hongxuan Pavilion and told a lot of big lies." "A bet!" Lebannin called out, and the two met in the center of the bridge, embraced each other, chatted and went down to the pier. Hei Yao followed first, greeted the summoner solemnly and courteously, and then turned to the man named A Gai. "You are now the master of the wind key?" Hei Yao asked, A'Ban admitted with a big smile, he hugged A'Ban, said: "Well done!" He pulled A'Ban aside, and began to frown and talk eagerly. Lebannin looked at the boat and beckoned the rest to come ashore.After everyone got off the boat one after another, he introduced two masters of Roke: Rod, the master of summoning, and Agai, the master of wind keys. Most of the islands in the archipelago do not follow the custom of Yinglad's palm-to-palm gesture. They only bow their heads, or spread their hands in front of their hearts, making a gesture of dedication.When Yi Rui'an met Master Summoner, he neither bowed nor made gestures, but just hung his hands by his sides, confronting him stiffly. The princess straightened her back and bowed her knees. Tenar made the gestures of politeness common to people when they meet, and summoned the Master to respond in kind. "This is Tehanu, the daughter of Gont, the daughter of the Archmage," said Lebanon.Tehanu lowered his head and made a general polite gesture, but the Summoner stared in shock, gasped, and took a step back as if he had been hit hard. "Ms. Tehanu!" Agai said quickly, stepping forward to block between the two, "Welcome to Roke, your father, Lingtang, and your honorable status, let us flourish. The journey is going well, right? ?” Tehanu looked at Ah Be in bewilderment, instead of bowing, he lowered his head to hide his face, and responded quietly. Lebannen's face was like a mask of gold and brass at peace, and he replied: "Yes, Bet, the journey is well, but the end of the journey is still uncertain. Let us enter the town. Tenar, Tehanu, Princess, Om Irian ?” he read, looking at everyone’s faces, emphasizing the last name. Lebannin and Tenar were in the lead, and the others followed.Setheraki resolutely pushed the red gauze away from her face as she stepped off the bridge. Agai and Hei Yao, Alder and Sebo, walked side by side; Tosla stayed in the boat to guard.Summoner Rodd left the pier at last, walking alone and heavy on his feet.