white gold and utterly routs Roger and his Cavewights. In the battle's aftermath, it is revealed that Jeremiah remains locked in his isolated mental state, and that Galt was actually Stave's son, though the two had become estranged by Stave's repudiation of the Masters. As for Esmer, the tormented half-Haruchai begs Linden for the release of death, but she cannot bring herself to do it, even though the required weapon, the krill, is at hand. Stave sees this and kills Esmer as an act of mercy – upon both Esmer and Linden, so that she would not have to. Finally, with help from the Giants, whose gift of tongues is restored upon Esmer's death, Linden is finally able to communicate with the ur‑vile loremaster, whom she thanks and promises to give assistance to at some later time. The Demondim-spawn then depart. Abruptly, Covenant leaves with the two remaining Humbled to confront Joan. Linden and her companions follow the Ranyhyn, trusting the wise horses to know best what they must do next to confront the Land's doom. They lead Linden to a quarry of bones named Muirwin Delenoth. The bones belonged to quellvisks, an extinct race of monsters that Lord Foul created in an attempt to rouse the Worm by attacking the Elohim (this plot failed, and the quellvisks were eradicated by the Elohim). Unprompted, Jeremiah begins building a construct with the quellvisk bones, somehow using the ancient lost craft of anundivian yajna. The group are promptly targets of more than one foe: Joan, who begins assailing them with caesures; and Infelice, who appears and attempts to stop Jeremiah. She hints that Jeremiah's construct will capture the Elohim, which she cannot permit. She describes his actions as "ruin incarnate". She also warns that Lord Foul's "deeper purpose" (which he hinted at when Linden was summoned in The Runes of the Earth) is to use Jeremiah's power, after the fall of the Arch of Time, to create a prison for the Creator, allowing Foul to rule all universes. This, at last, is what has long been hinted at in references to "the shadow on the heart" of the Elohim: Infelice insists that Jeremiah's building must not be completed. In exchange for Linden stopping Jeremiah, Infelice offers a promise of the Elohim's protection for the boy, to ensure he does not fall back into the Despiser's hands. Linden refuses the bargain, and as