Chapter 20 fourth quarter

Five wizards sit under the starlight. "Look," said one, raising his hand to draw a meteor trail. "It's the soul of a dying dragon," Azifor said. "The Karigor say so." "Do dragons die?" Obsidian said thoughtfully, "I think their death is different from ours." "Their lives are different from ours, too. They come and go from world to world, so says Omm Irian. From the winds of this world to the winds of others." "We tried that too," Sepo said, "and failed." Abe looked at him curiously: "For a long time, have you all known the story we heard today in Parn, have you always had this knowledge? It's about the division of dragons and humans, and the creation of the dry land?"

"It's different from what I hear today. I've been taught that Fernadon was the first great example of the magical arts, that the goal of witchcraft was to conquer time, to live forever...and thus to bring about the consequences." "At least you have retained the knowledge of Mother Earth that we despise." Hei Yao said, "Azifor, so do your people." "Well... your people also know how to build the Hongxuan Pavilion here." Master Xingyi said with a smile. "But we didn't build it right," Obsidian said, "everything we built was wrong."

"That's why it has to be demolished," Sepo said. "No," Aga said, "we are not dragons, we want to live in a house. At least there must be some walls." "As long as the wind can come and go through the windows," Azifor said. "Then who will enter through the door?" the gatekeeper asked in a peaceful voice. There was a silence.A cricket sang diligently at the other end of the clearing for a long time, paused for a moment, and started again. "Dragon?" Azifor asked. The gatekeeper shook his head: "Perhaps the division that started before and was betrayed will come to an end. The dragon will be free and leave, leaving us to face the choices we made before."

"Knowledge of good and evil," Obsidian said. "The joy of creating, of shaping," Sepo said, "the craft we master." "There's greed and weakness and fear," Azifor said. Another cricket closer to the stream answered the call of the first, and the two crickets sang together erratically. "I'm afraid," Agai said, "what I dare not say is that...after the dragon leaves, maybe the skills we have mastered will go with him. Our skills, our magic." The silence of the rest showed the same fear, but the gatekeeper finally spoke, his tone soft but sure: "I don't think so. Yes, the dragon is the creator of the world, but we also learned to create the world, and transformed it into our own skills, There is no way to take it away. To lose it, we must first forget and abandon it.”

"Like my people." Azford said. "But your people remember what the earth is, and what eternal life is," Sepo said, "and we forget." The long silence fell again. "I can stretch out my hand towards the wall," Agai said in a very low tone, "They are close, very close." "How do we know, what should we do?" Obsidian asked. Azifor responded to the silence that followed the question: "Once, when the Archmage and I were in the Forest of Hearts, he said to me that he had spent his life learning how to choose to do what he had no choice but to do. matter."

"I wish he was here now," Obsidian said. "He has fulfilled his wish." The gatekeeper murmured, smiling. "But we haven't yet. We are discussing on the edge of the cliff, and we know it well." Hei Yao looked around the faces of everyone under the starlight, "What do the dead want from us?" "What do dragons want of us?" Abe asked. "These are the women of the dragon, the dragons of the woman. Why are they here? Can we trust them?" "Is there a choice?" asked the gatekeeper. "I don't think so." Master Xingyi replied, with a hint of hardness in his tone, like the edge of a sword, "We can only follow."

"Follow the dragon?" Ah Po asked. Azifu shook his head: "Alder." "Xingyi, how can he be considered a guide?" Agai said, "He's just a tinkerer from the village!" Obsidian said, "Alder's wisdom resides in his hands, not his head. He follows his own will, and has no intention of leading us." "But he was chosen." "Who chooses him?" Sepo asked softly. Master Xingyi replied: "The deceased." Everyone sat in silence.The crickets stopped chirping, and two tall figures came through the long grass grayed with starlight. "Can I sit with you for a while, Rod and I?" asked Lebanin. "No one sleeps tonight."

Ged sat on the steps of the High Hill and looked at the stars over the sea.He went into the house to sleep more than an hour ago, but when he closed his eyes, he saw the hillside and heard the sound like a tidal wave.Immediately he got up and went outside, to a place where he could observe the movement of the stars. He was tired, and he stood by the stone wall with his eyes closed, filled with cold fear that he would stay there forever, not knowing the way back.Tired and impatient with this fear at last, he got up again, took out a lantern from the house, lit it, and walked towards Moss' house.Moss was not necessarily afraid, she had lived not far from Stonewall these days, but Heather must have been terrified, and Moss was powerless to appease.Whatever action had to be taken was beyond his power now, but at least he could appease the poor retarded woman.He could tell Shinan that it was just a dream.

It was difficult to move forward in the dark, the lanterns cast long shadows on small things on the path, and walking was slower than expected, sometimes staggering a few steps. Although it was late, the lamps were still burning in the widower's house in the village.There are children crying in the village, mother, mother, why is someone crying?Mom, who is crying?No one sleeps anywhere else, Ged thought, and no one sleeps anywhere on Earth tonight.As he thought, he grinned slightly.He had always loved this moment of silence, the moment of terror, the moment before the world changed color.

Alder wakes up.He lay on the ground, feeling the depth of the earth beneath him, bright stars burning before his eyes, summer stars moving with the wind from blade to blade, from east to west as the world turned.He stared at it for a moment, letting it escape. Tehanu was waiting for him on the mountain. "Ha Rui, what must we do?" Tehanu asked. "We have to fix the world," Harry smiled, finally feeling relieved, "We have to break the wall." "Can they help?" Tehanu asked, for now the Wordless Dead were swarming in the darkness below the mountain, like countless blades of grass, grains of sand, or stars, like vast dark sandy beaches formed by souls.

"No," Harry said, "but maybe someone else could." He walked down the hill to the wall, which was a little higher than his waist, and touched one of the capstones, trying to push.The stone was immovable, maybe heavier than ordinary stones, he couldn't lift it, couldn't shake it half an inch. Tehanu came to him. "Help me," Harry said.She put her hand on the stone, her hand and her burnt claws, grasping it as hard as she could, lifting and pulling the stone like he had just done.The stone moved, and moved again. "Push!" The two moved slowly together, the stone rubbed vigorously against the rock below until it fell to the other side of the wall with a dull sound. The next stone is slightly smaller, and the two of them can pick it up together and let it fall in the near side dust. A shudder ran through the ground beneath his feet.The small broken stones blocking the gap in the stone wall trembled, and with a long sigh, countless dead people approached the wall. Master Xingyi suddenly stood up and listened.Around the clearing there was a tumult of leaves, and the trees in the forest bowed and trembled as if blown by a strong wind, but there was no wind in the forest. "The change has begun." He left the crowd and walked into the darkness under the tree. Master Summoner, Master Gatekeeper and Sebo stood up together, and followed quickly and quietly, while Agai and Hei Yao followed behind a little slower. Lebannen stood up, followed the others and walked a few steps, hesitated for a moment, and hurried across the open space to the low house built of stones and grass mud. "Iruian!" He leaned forward in front of the dark door, "Iruian, can you take me with you?" Irian walked out of the house, smiling, and the surroundings were surrounded by flame-like light. "Then come on. Quick!" She took his hand.She lifted him into his wind, her hands hot as burning coals. In a few moments, Setheraki walked out of the house into the starlight, followed by Tenar.The two stood still and looked around.There was no movement, and the trees returned to stillness. "They're all gone." Saiseraki whispered, "Enter the Dragon Road." She took a step forward, staring into the darkness. "Tenar, what shall we do?" "Housekeeping." "Oh!" Cesareki knelt down suddenly, and saw Lebanon lying on the door, face down on the grass. "He's not dead... I thought... Oh, my dear King, don't go, don't die!" "He is with others. Be with him, keep him warm, Cersaraki, and watch the house." Tenar walked to where the alder lay, his glassy eyes turned to the stars.She sat beside him and touched his hand.wait. Alder couldn't move the stone in his hand, but the Summoner came to him, bent down and put his shoulders against the stone, and said, "Come!" The two pushed together until the stone shook and landed on the opposite side of the wall with the same heavy sound. side. Now someone else accompanied him and Tehanu to twist the stones and throw them against the wall.Alder saw his hand suddenly cast a shadow in a flash of red light.Omuirian turned into the dragon shape he had seen for the first time, struggling to push a deep-buried boulder in the lowest row, spitting flames, sharp claws scraping sparks, arching back covered with long thorns, the stone rolled heavily Open, completely knock down that section of the wall. There was a great soft cry from the shadow on the other side of the wall, like waves breaking on the hollow shore, and the dark figure rushed against the wall.Alder raised his head and found that the opposite side was no longer dark, the stars moved light in the unmoving sky, and the distant dark west quickly flashed sparks. "Kerasin!" It was Tehanu's voice.Alder looked at her, and she was looking up, to the west.She didn't care to look at the ground. She raised her arms, and the flames burned into her hair, face, and body along her hands and arms, and exploded into huge wings, lifting her into the air, becoming a flaming, incomparably beautiful figure covered in fire. With a loud cry, loud and wordless, she rose high and flew straight and fast towards the gradually brightening sky, where a white wind appeared to wipe away the meaningless stars. Among the hordes of dead, there were sporadic figures, like her, flickering and ascending, taking the shape of a dragon, and flying on the wind. Most of the rest walked forward on foot, without pushing or shouting, and walked steadily towards the collapsed wall without rushing or slowing down: countless men and women crossed the broken stone wall without hesitation, disappeared without a trace as soon as they stepped on it, and turned into A wisp of dust, a breath that glows for a moment in the growing light. Chi Yang looked at it, almost forgetting that he was still holding a plug hole stone that had been pulled from the wall and used to loosen a large rock.He watched the dead free and finally saw her.He threw away the stone, took a step forward, and called out: "Lily!" Seeing him, she smiled and stretched out her hand.He took Lily's hand and crossed together into the sun.