Fare Gladly

The People Of The Wind, VIII.

Hell Rock fights on automatically, covering the retreat of the last of her crew who are Ferune, his staff and:

"...a few ratings from Mistwood who had been promised the right to abide by their Wyvan." (p. 534)

Ferune looks back at Hell Rock, ragged, crumpled, cratered, molten metal congealed or glowing, and whispers:

"'Fare gladly into the winds...'" (ibid.)

We had been told of Ferune that:

"He had scant patience to spare for tradition, religion, any conservatism. He endured a minimum of formalities because he must, but never claimed to like them.'" (II, p. 455)

Now, however:

"In this moment he put aside his new ways, his alien ways, and was of Ythri, Mistwood, Wharr, the ancestors and the children." (pp. 534-535)

In such a moment, I would not recite the prayers that I was taught in childhood but would certainly repeat their words for anyone who asked me to. Djana surprises Flandry:

"'Hail Mary, full of grace -'

"Her? And he thought he'd gotten to know her!"

-Poul Anderson, A Circus Of Hells IN Anderson, Young Flandry (Riverdale, NY, 2010), pp. 193-365 AT CHAPTER FIVE, p. 225.

 

His thought at the same time is:

 

"...it had been fun living." (ibid.)

 

Back to Ferune and his crew, they are indeed near death. They take what turns out to be a lethal dose of radiation when Avalon strikes.