The Courts of Chaos, chapter 8

Spoiler alert: This post is part of an in-depth discussion of The Courts of Chaos by Roger Zelazny, which will inevitably reveal key plot points. You may well have a lot of reading ahead of you.

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On his hellride to the Courts of Chaos, Corwin has been hindered multiple times: by Brand, who attempted to trap him in Shadow and shot his horse in an attempt to take the Jewel of Judgment; by Lady, a woman who tried to seduce him away from his mission; by a party of little people who stole his horse, tried to get him drunk and set upon him; by a giant trapped in a swamp who told him his quest was pointless; and, finally, by a phiosophical crow named Hugi who tried to convince him that it was just his ego striving against illusion and hindering his oneness with the Absolute. He finally stumped Hugi, and he flew away. As Corwin approached Chaos, the terrain became more difficult and misty. Out of the fog emerged the form of a large animal.

The animal is a talking jackal who claims to be a fan of the Amberites. Corwin asks him directions to the Courts of Chaos from the valley they are in. The jackal leads him to the entrance to a tunnel leading out of the valley. But Corwin realizes, too late, that the "tunnel" is actually just a cave, and the floor is strewn with bones. He and the jackal fight, and Corwin kills it with Greyswandir.

Corwin chooses a direction and climbs out of the valley, and he finds himself under the wild two-tone sky from his first visit to the Courts of Chaos. Another animal emerges from the fog, but this time it's just Hugi again.

The terrain Corwin has climbed to is a vast wasteland at least 40 miles across. Behind him, the storm of unravelling Shadow still advances. To the left is the black road, indicating that Brand was right, and Oberon has indeed failed in his task of repairing the primal Pattern in Amber. Corwin cannot go forward and he cannot retreat. He decides that his only option is to attempt to create a new Pattern himself, right where he is. When Hugi tries again to convince him that his plan is merely his ego striving after illusion, Corwin tears his head off.

"I'll see you eat crow first," are Hugi's last words. Corwin's answer to his Hindu philosophy is concise, albeit in a "thus I refute Berkeley" kind of way. I wonder if Corwin was hungry?

This is a short and relatively eventless chapter, albeit one that sets up major events later in the novel. Corwin argued with Brand about what might happen if a new Pattern was created, and I guess we're about to find out.