Reading Response #4

Upon reading into the last chapters of WolfMoon by Charles De Lint, I started to become more awake as too what was going on. Kern faces his greatest fear, as he has been set-up by the harper. “There was a smell in the air, familiar, sharp, and acrid. And then his eyes adjusted to the glare and he need ask his question no more. He saw what was left of Tolly. The boy had been ravaged by some beast. Half his face was gone. Blood soaked his nightshirt and splattered the snow, dark and red against the white.” [154-155] The harper struck first, and turned all of Kern’s friends against him. Luckily before being killed in front of everyone, kern mustered up the strength to escape. “One moment he crouched, muscles bunched to spring, the next he was off, around the barn, the crisp snow under his paws, the shirt flapping about him. He took the time to roll against a bush and tear it from him before running on, unencumbered. And unpursued. From then on, after Kern had left, his followers would feel the harper’s wrath. The inn-keepers now had no protection against such a person who terrorized them into thinking Kern was guilty. Through the chapters, Charles goes into detail about the harpers actions. “He directed Tomtim and Wat to the window to nail up boards to shut out the storm. You draw the wolf, he said to Ainsy.” The inn-keepers were under the harpers control, except for the one individual who stood out, Fion. She was the only one who was not affected by the harper and his advances. Charles takes WolfMoon to the point where Fion sneaks out to consult Kern and tell him how she feels. “Kern please, she said. Hear me out. I’ve come here on my own. Stram led me. I know what Tuiloch’s done to us, to you.”[205] Together as a team, did Kern have the strength to confront the harper, but such a thing would not be easy, they needed a solid plan. As I continued reading, every page was full of intense imagery and details. I thought to myself, what if Kern fails? What will happen to all of the innocent people then? Charles’ paints the scene where Kern finally makes his appearance, to face the harper. “he came in at a run, snow spraying underfoot. He saw the bulky shape of the feragh come quicksilvering toward him, trying to cut him off, but he had too great a lead. Choosing a window, he leaped at it, curling himself into a ball as he struck it. His thick shoulder hair prevented the glass from penetrating deep enough to pierce his skin. He could sense the feragh at the window.” [226] The imagery Charles creates continues as Kern defeats the harper, with Fions help. “he fell back, nursing his hand, trying to concentrate on Tuiloch, on the harper’s next move. But that move never came. The blade thrust up from Tuiloch’s chest and his face was so contorted that it seemed a stranger’s. WolfMoon, through the writing of Charles De Lint brings something special out in all readers. The archetypal pattern he illustrates is very notable, but with a series of conflicts resulting in the Hero facing his worst fear, to protect those that he loves.