Book 2, Chapter 8 Summary

It gets colder. Merlin and Cadal continue to lead the horses through the woods. Merlin feels excited like he is being led towards something. The horses start, and Merlin smells other horses. They go forward and find Ulfin, Belasius's servant, waiting in the woods. Ulfin is startled and stutters about. Cadal tells Ulfin to go and tell Belasius that Merlin's needs a horse. Ulfin refuses, because he was told not to move.

Cadal asks Ulfin if Belasius is doing, murder. At that point, they hear a horrible scream in the woods. It is cut off as if by a blow to the throat. Against Cadal's wishes, Merlin follows the sound. He feels intense excitement. He comes upon a clearing in the woods and hears singing. He limps towards the sound

Book 2, Chapter 8 Analysis

Merlin's character shows his tendency to charge headlong...