The Riddle BlogPost #4

The Riddle
Alison Croggon
Fantasy
Pages read: 71 pages 342/492

Report Section

Summary

Maerad and her cousin have planned to travel to Labaroks Isles, where they hope to find the ancient people who know about The Tree Song. Since they are really far north and it began snowing unusually early this year they are forced to take Mansard's cousin's sled with dogs. Though Maerad is scared of dog she is even more scared of these dogs because they are half wolf. They pack food or four weeks and put on so much clothes that it is hard to move, all because of the dangerous cold. They travel for many days out in the vast snow plains and Maerad wonders how her cousin can fins his way since everything looks the same. After five days of traveling they reach Tlon which is a village similar to Ursk; it is also a giant snow covered hill with a village hidden inside it. Though Maerad and her cousin do not enter, since they packed food for four weeks and because they want to get the the Labaroks Isles as soon as possible. Yet Maerad's cousin know the gate keeper of Tlon and they exchange gossip and rumors for a while before they continue the journey. After some days they finally reach the sea which they are gong to cross to the Labaroks Isles, though at first Maerad though her cousin was joking when he said they were going to cross they sea by sled, but hen they arrive she realizes that the sea between the land and the islands are frozen with thick ice making it easy to cross. They travel past two strange islands that have hot springs and gazers which Maerad had never seen before and would never have believed existed if someone just told her. Finally they reach the island they were searching for, at first they see no sing of life, only after a while do they see a small settlement of small huts inside a stone wall. As they reach it dogs aggressively bark at them, Maerad's cousin said that the hospitality of these people vary with the season and year and that if they accept them soon two elders would approach and if not they have to leave fast. Soon enough two elders approach, one woman and won man who leads them into the bigger hut, to Maerad's surprise the huts were much bigger than she though and this was due to the fact tat they continued into the mountain behind. As Maerad asks them about the Tree Song they say they do not know about but remember the sad days of the Elementals War. They tell her that there is an ancient singer that lives with the wolves that might now about it. But that he rarely speak to people, they giver the directions to the cave. Maerad sets out alone along the path and after while he reaches a cave with a huge white wolf sitting outside. The wolf lets her in and shows her the way through the dark passages of the cave. Soon she sees light in the end of and the passage opens up into a big cave full of wolves, and a huge man who is just be twice the size of Maerad. She tells him that she is the One, the Fire Lily and that she has come to seek the Tree Song, though the singer thinks she is a liar, then waves his hand signalling to the wolves, clearly meaning that they could eat her. This makes Maerad furious since she had traveled really far and her best fired (Cadvan) had even died because of this journey. She screams this out at him, and in a moment he stops the wolves. He says that since this question seems more important that her life he will answer it, he goes into another path leading out of the cave, then comes back again carrying and old stone tablet with signs carved in it. Maerad gets to see it but she can not read it but recognizes the symbols. The singer says that this is half of The Tree Song and that not even he can read it. Maerad is simply dismissed from the cave, and with disappointment she returns to the village where her cousin is waiting. As they travel back in disappointment suddenly they get attacked by the Jussacks. They try to escape but the Jussacks have our sleds, easily catching Maerad and her cousin. One of the Jussacks was a sources killing Maerad's cousin in one shot to make the sled stop. Maerad and the leader dog Claw tries to fight them but Claw gets a hid on the head so that she falls to the ground and did not rise again  Maerad manages to kill one of them before the one that is the source puts a sleeping spell on her and everything goes black. 
 
What is happening at this point in your reading?

Maerad just got captured by the Jussacks and her cousin was killed.

What have you learned or discovered in this section of your reading?

That the Tree Song that Maerad is trying to find was torn into two pieces, and written in a strange language that no one seems to be able to read. 

How have these developments affected the characters, relationships, situation OR your understanding of the issues presented withing your reading?
Maerad just lost another of her family members and it seems like it was all in vain because she did not find out much about The Tree Song. This is causing Maerad to feel a lot of guilt and disappointment and she blames herself for her cousins death. 

Response Section
What do you think about what you have read?

I really like how they have explained the different cultures and the beautiful nature around the north yet that it is dangerous. Though I am not so happy that Maerad's cousin dies, though I knew something bad was going to happen and that it was probably going to involve Jussacks since there has been various mentions of them through out the last two chapters. 

Has your recent reading fulfilled your expectations?

Well yes, I suspected that something bad was going to happen under the trip and that something bad was going to happen to Maerad's cousin. 

What do you expect for your continued reading?

I expect that the Jussacks have taken Maerad prisoner and that she is going to find some kind of escape and that further on in the story Cadvan is going to somehow come back.  

How satisfied are you with what you have read?

Not too satisfied, I did not read much yet I have come further in the book then I expected and I am almost done now. 

 Passage Section

"He raised his hands, speaking words she did not recognize, and suddenly Maerad's mind became vague, tipping over into darkness like sleep." (p338)

I took this quote out of the book because it was the end of one of the chapters and it just left in the middle of the action and it really made me want to read more to see what happens to Maerad.