Newfound Friends Or Foes?
"That was so close," Aengus' voice is trembling. The four boys are shaking. They can still hear the howling in the distance. "Let's never, ever split up again," Talieshin says. The irony of his remark escapes him. "Good idea," Rumple mumbles. Aidan feels ashamed. It was his fault after all, for drifting away from the others. "Too bad about the meat, though," Aengus says. "The meat saved you!"
The men in search of the Oracle have been in the tunnel for a long time. It feels like ages. They don't remember how long exactly as it is impossible to tell in the dark. Two of them are seriously discussing going back, but the magical man does not accept that. He will not go alone or with only one companion. They had set out to do this together and so they should.
At a fork in the river, the boys turn to the left, based solely on the fact that the water seems less tumultuous. With the river being increasingly wider and wilder, it had also taken considerably more effort to keep the raft stable and on course. "Perhaps we should have stayed at home," Talieshin shrieks as the raft makes a sudden, unexpected turn. "A bit too late for that, wouldn't you say," Aidan replies. "If this continues, we might be better of staying closer to shore," Rumples says and the others agree. At the nearing nightfall, they end up on a very small beach, pull the raft ashore and go to sleep.
The search party has assembled for the next day in pursuit of the village boys. Some had christened them the "daft dimwits," others preferred the "foolish fellows." Talieshin's father wasn't too happy about his son being described like that but even he had to agree that the boys had been very reckless indeed. "Do you think they have passed Mirabilia yet?" one of the men asks. "Perhaps they are in the forest now," he answers, "my boy has always been fascinated by Mirabilia, especially since his grandfather has told many a story about it." "Let's hope they are still there, because after the forest, the river gets worse. That, and," another man ―the self appointed leader of their small group who has valiantly fought some battles in his time― responds, "one of the river branches leads to a mysterious place. Not many have returned from that corner of our world." He looks appalled by the mere thought of it.
The boys have had a good night's sleep, undisturbed by animals of any kind, but are still a bit shaken up by the events of yesterday. Earlier, the evening before, the four had discussed plans on how to react to attacks. They had divided the weapons they had taken among themselves and established some basic rules on staying together, fending of small animals, or hiding from big ones.
When they are finishing their breakfast and are making preparations to sail again, they hear a rustling sound. "It's coming from the bushes," Aengus whispers. All the boys take up their weapons. Rumple feels a bit silly as his designated weapon is a harpoon and they are currently on a sandy beach. All they boys are focussed on the bushes but who- or whatever is staring at them cannot easily be distinguished.
The magic man is feeling nauseous. The air in the tunnel is thick and almost visible. They have been in the dark so long that they are slowly losing their wit. One of the men is convinced he has gone blind, another thinks they have died already and the third is screaming and shouting like a madman. He himself is the only one still standing, mentally and spiritually, because physically he is stumbling like the others.
Suddenly he raises his head. He heard something or thought he did. "Did you hear that as well?" he asks, but their replies are negative. There it is again, but they do not acknowledge the voice a second time. "You are the only worthy one," the voice tells him. "They cannot enter, leave them behind." The voice is commanding and yet serene and sweet. "Perhaps you should take a rest," he tells his men, "I'll go a bit further, to see what is ahead of us." They mumble their consent, or, more accurately, are either too apathetic or deranged to really care.
The magical practitioner tries to run, hard as that is in the dark, and has soon covered some distance. After a final bend in the tunnel, he sees light. A wondrous mix of light blue, light green and lemon coloured light. He sees rays of light softly enter the end of the tunnel and hears a soft voice singing a strange song.
Aidan approaches the bushes from the left, Aengus from the right and when they are closing in, they see two hands sticking out of the bushes. This universal sign of surrender releases most of the tension. "Show yourself!" Aidan shouts. A boy rises from behind the bushes. He is a bit taller and stronger, probably a bit older as well. "Have you been following us?" Rumple asks him. The others look surprised. "Well, I heard or saw little flashes of something a few times." He answers the unasked question in their eyes. "You didn't say anything," Talieshin sounds as baffled as the other two look. "I thought it was a bird or squirrel," he defends himself.
"Let's go to the matter in hand." Aidan takes the lead. "Who are you and why have you been trailing us?" "My name is Phelan. I've been travelling alone for a while, doing odd jobs at farms and such, and when I saw you plundering the fields I decided to see where you were going." "Why? Did you want to betray us to the farmer?" Aengus is suspicious of this fellow. If he has nothing to hide, why didn't he approach them sooner? "No, of course not, I just wanted to see who you were before I talked to you. I've been wrong about people before," he adds darkly.
"How did you survive the wolf attack, if you were so close by?" Talieshin asks Phelan. "I climbed up a tree," he answers. "So they couldn't catch me." "You were very lucky," Aidan says, after he mentions a case in which a wolf was able to climb a tree. "I hope we'll never see wolves again." Rumple remembers the big snapping teeth only too well. "You're a quick runner at least, Aengus was trailing miles behind!" Aidan slaps Aengus on his shoulder and gets a sour smile in return.
The sight is so peaceful and beautiful after the long exhausting journey. He is standing in the entrance of the tunnel; he has reached the other side. He looks out over a valley, very small, but with marvellous colours, sounds, flowers. It appears heavenly. "Come and drink," he is summoned, and he notices a jar of water next to him. Totally exhausted he sits down and gulps the water like a starving child. He still hasn't seen the Oracle of Nahara but the strength of her voice fills the valley. "This water has been taken from the source of the river. It will give you bodily strength and spiritual insight so that you may be deemed worthy to consult me." The man shivers. What if I'm not worthy, he thinks and starts to tremble. It was after all mainly, though not solely, curiosity that took him here.
"So I can stay and come along?" Phelan sounds relieved. "Of course, the more, the merrier, right Aengus?" Aidan laughs. "You can have the first watch tonight," Aengus replies, happy to share the nasty duties with another person. Aidan had been pulling rank, so to speak, and never took the night watches. Talieshin dodged the watches as often as he could, and since he was small, shy and easily spooked ―on his first, and thus far only, night watch he had managed to wake them three times in a row over nothing― they let him get away with it. This Phelan is a great addition to their little group. Someone who knows how to survive, even on his own.