Contents
Chapter 7
Overview
Una rides alone to face the last dragon while Owen remains behind and writes the heroic version of events. Una returns with the grail, victorious but spiritually shaken. Owen glimpses both her myth and her mortality. They set out for the Keep, believing their long story is nearing its end.
Summary
At Cloven Hill, Owen compares legend to reality as the barren, unscorched landscape contradicts the tales. He helps Sir Una don her perfectly fitted armor, braids her hair, and nervously assures her she will win, revealing his awe and fear. Una insists on going alone, leaving Owen with the horse and supplies.
Left behind, Owen begins composing a hagiographic account of the coming battle, borrowing Montmer’s famous opening. A piercing, beautiful cry from the mountain follows, then silence. Owen runs uphill and collides with Una, who appears largely unharmed but hollow-eyed, carrying a quiet unsettlement that the cry seems to have etched into her.
Una wordlessly hands Owen the grail, proof of victory. In a sunlit clearing, Owen is overwhelmed by the mythic vision of Una before the illusion fades, revealing her mortal weariness and scars. They ride down together, the grail bundled in Owen’s coat.
On the descent, Owen gently asks about the dragon. Una admits it was ancient and beautiful, not terrible; grief threads her voice despite duty fulfilled. With the grail secured, Una says they now ride to the Keep, where the story ends. Owen agrees, feeling the assent as a wound, yet persuading himself the cost was worth it.
Who Appears
- Owen MalloryNarrator-translator; assists armoring Una, stays behind, writes a heroic account, receives the grail, senses Una’s grief.
- Sir Una EverlastingKnight-protagonist; rides alone, slays the last dragon, retrieves the grail, returns outwardly whole but inwardly hollowed.
- The Last DragonAncient, beautiful creature slain by Una; its eerie death-cry and implied majesty haunt her.
- HenUna’s horse; left with Owen, revealing Una’s intent for him to stay behind.