The journey back to the Majestic Mountains was uneventful and they sat in silence as the sea, and then the land, passed by below them. Shaun and Diana watched the scenery as they passed it by, occasionally pointing something out to each other, but Thomas just stared straight ahead, deep in thought. Shaun could be right, he thought. Emerald Oracle, Ruby Keep. Maybe it is more than a coincidence. Maybe there is some kind of connection between them. The Oracle had refused to answer a question. It had known the answer but had refused to give it to them. Had been forbidden to give it to them. Could it be a coincidence that the subject of the question had been connected with another place named after a gemstone? A sense of excitement gripped him, the sense that they were on the verge of an immensely important discovery.

     The carpet had the ability to ‘remember’ any place it had once been, although Thomas was willing to bet that its ‘memory’ of the location of the Emerald Oracle had been wiped out, so all they had to do was tell it to return to the place they’d left from that morning. The carpet homed unerringly on the Kingsview, therefore, and soon they saw the familiar rock formations coming into view ahead of them. They landed on the same level grassy area they’d landed on before and stood up, stretching their legs and bending joints that had grown stiff after so long spent sitting down.

     “Where’ve they gone?” asked Shaun, looking around for the other carpet.

     “Maybe they got bored waiting and went exploring,” suggested Diana, although her tone of voice said she didn’t think it very likely.

     “Maybe something happened to them,” said Thomas, sounding a little worried. “Maybe someone else came along and there was some kind of trouble between them.”

     They searched around, looking for any clue as to what might have happened, but found nothing. No scraps of torn clothing, no drops of blood, nothing. Thomas scratched his head in puzzlement. “It's as though they just packed up and left of their own accord.”

     “But where could they have gone?” said Shaun impatiently. “They could be anywhere!”

     “You don’t suppose...” said Diana hesitantly, but then fell silent.

     “What?” demanded Shaun. “Have you got an idea?”

     “Well,” the cleric said doubtfully, “I was just remembering how annoyed Naomi was at not being told where we were going and I thought maybe she...”

     “Followed us!” exclaimed Thomas. “Yes, I bet that’s exactly what they did! The idiots followed us to the Emerald Oracle!”

     Shaun was horrified. “But the Oracle only wants people coming to it who’ve proved their worthiness by finding it themselves. How’s it going to react to a bunch of people who found it by deception and trickery?”

     “And how’s it going to react to us for leading them there?” added Diana.

     “But we weren’t to blame!” protested the wizard. “We didn’t know they were following us!”

     “The Oracle may not see it that way.”

     “We’ve got to get back there,” said Thomas fearfully. “Find them and explain to the Oracle. Explain that, that we, I mean...”

     “We’re not going anywhere tonight,” said Diana, indicating the yellow sun sinking slowly behind the mountains west of them. “It’ll be dark soon, and we’ll never find the Island of the Oracle in the dark. We won’t even be able to find Greenwing Island. We might as well get a good night’s sleep and make an early start tomorrow morning.”

     “But anything might have happened to them by then!”

     “There’s nothing we can do,” repeated the cleric. “We’ll be no good to anyone flying around in the dark, getting hopelessly lost. We’ll find them tomorrow. Tomorrow!”

     Thomas knew she was right, but he couldn’t help fretting and worrying about what might be happening to their companions at that very moment, and about what the Oracle might be doing. And of course they didn’t know for certain that the Oracle was where they’d gone. Maybe Diana’s first idea had been right and they’d just gone off exploring, in which case they could return at any moment. He searched the valleys and mountain passes all around them, straining his eyes for any hint of movement that might be their companions returning to camp, but there was nothing but a small herd of wild goats nibbling absent mindedly at the short cropped grass about half a mile away.

     “There is something you can be doing,” said Shaun suddenly. “Use the Farspeaking spell to tell Resalintas where the Scrolls are. It should be safe enough here.”

     “Yes,” agreed the wizard, glad to have something to do. He took the sheet of paper out of its carrying case, unrolled it and stared at it in fascination. “There’s some incredibly powerful spells here,” he said in wonder. “Spells that Resalintas himself might have used to get himself out of a tight spot. Most of them I’ve never even heard of. Listen to this. The Shield of Truth. Dallaro’s Spiritual Lancet. The Halo of Shap Tarrow. I couldn’t begin to tell you what they do. Wizard scrolls usually have a few words of explanation above each spell, so that non-wizards know what they do. Resalintas apparently didn't think it necessary, though.”

     “I could try praying to Samnos," suggested Diana. "He might be willing to shed some light on them. If we're ever in such dire straits that we're driven to use them, we'll need to know what they do."

     "Only if Caroli doesn't mind," replied Thomas. "I wouldn't want you to get in trouble with Her, praying to another God."

     "Of course She won't mind," said Diana, smiling. "I've prayed to other Gods lots of times. They don't mind their worshippers occasionally praying to other Gods, so long as we remain faithful to our patron deities. I mean, Samnos doesn't mind His priests being healed by clerics of Caroli, does he?"

     "No, I suppose not. Okay, in that case, please give it a go." Thomas returned his eyes to the scroll. "In the meantime, the Farspeaking incantation at least is pretty obvious. Here goes,"

     He cleared his throat, then began speaking, intoning the words clearly and carefully as though he were casting a magic spell and adding the name of the old priest in the space left blank for it. "Mighty Lord Samnos, I humbly beseech Thee, carry my words to Thy faithful priest, Captain Resalintas, for he is far away and yet we are in desperate need to speak with him. I beseech Thee in the names of Thy most glorious yet sadly departed followers. Preemus the Pious. Ardentus the Unforgiving. Fraggilan the Undefeated. Darwen the Farsighted. I beseech Thee by these most sacred names. Adonay, Eloim, Tagla, Mathom, Almouzin, Arios, Pithona, Tabots, Terrae, Coelis, Godens, Aqua. By these names, Mighty Lord Samnos, I beg of Thee to grant me this boon. Praise Thy name, for as long as Thy glorious realm shall endure."

     The words of the incantation flared on the sheet of paper as the holy power the unknown priest had impressed upon it was released, and Thomas felt the divine link beginning to form, connecting him with the old priest over a thousand miles to the north. Suddenly, though, the scroll burst into flames in his hands and he dropped it with a yelp of alarm as the power contained in all the scroll’s other incantations was released. The three of them ran for cover as ribbons and streamers of light flashed out in all directions, some of them soaring hundreds of feet into the air like skyrockets, and a shrill whistling sound reverberated around the valley like an orchestra of banshees, so loud it threatened to burst their eardrums. Deafening bangs and blinding flashes followed in rapid succession, each of them echoing from the surrounding mountains and sending the goats running in wild panic, and the darkening sky was lit up an angry purplish red as the spectacle was reflected from a low layer of cloud. It must have been visible for miles in all directions, and anyone happening to be in the area must have thought that some great battle was going on between dragons and wizards, so great was the energy being released by the burning scroll.

     Eventually there was a final calamitous clap of thunder and a rush of air, and then it was all over. Silence reigned once more in the tranquil valley, and the Claimjumpers raised their heads nervously to see a cloud of sparkling motes of light dancing in the air, winking out one by one as the last of the holy power faded away. “By the Gods!” whispered Thomas in wonder.

      “What happened?” asked Shaun as they returned to the spot to see a scattering of grey ash lying on the grass. All that remained of the scroll.

     “Misfire,” said the wizard, shaking his head. “Must have been. The incantation misfired, just like wizard spells sometimes do. We were lucky to survive that! The power of all those other incantations, we could all have been turned to frogs, or worse! And yet...

     “Yet what?” asked Diana.

     The wizard hesitated uncertainly. “Well, misfires don’t usually work like that. The spell seemed to be working perfectly, right up to the moment when it burst into flames. It’s almost as if...”

     “As if what?” demanded Shaun. “Spit it out man!”

     “I think the spell was sabotaged,” said Thomas, shuffling unhappily. “I think someone reached out and deliberately spoiled the spell. Someone who didn’t want us talking to Resalintas.”

     “The enemy?” asked Diana fearfully. “A Shadowwizard?”

     Thomas thought about it. “I don’t think so,” he said at last. “Whoever did this could just as easily have killed the three of us. In fact, it would probably have been easier to just kill us, and that’s just what a Shadowwizard would have done, but instead most of the power was directed harmlessly up into the sky. No, I think this was done by someone else.”

     “Who?” asked Diana. “And why?”

     “Who, I can’t say,” replied the wizard. “As to why... Look, the Oracle could have just told us what’s written on the Scrolls, but instead it would only tell us where they were. Then we’re not allowed to tell anyone else where the Scrolls are. I think someone wants us, us and no-one else, to go to the Ruby Keep. We’re being led there, like children on a treasure trail.”

     “Or like lambs to the slaughter,” added Shaun darkly.

     “So what do we do now?” asked Diana.

     “Get a good night’s sleep,” replied Thomas. “And then tomorrow we go back to the Oracle and find the others. Then we all go together to the Ruby Keep, get the Scrolls and take them back to Belthar. That sound all right to you?”

     It did, so they ate a light supper, unrolled their sleeping blankets and settled down to a fitful, uneasy sleep.

☆☆☆

     Naomi, Dennis, Arroc and Teasel spent the night in the building at the top of the giant spiral staircase on the central plateau of the island of the Emerald Oracle. They’d found the vertical shaft containing the staircase just a few minutes after their carpet had deposited them gently at the foot of the cliffs, and they’d spent the rest of the evening labouring their way up, Dennis and Arroc taking turns to carry the nome who couldn’t manage the large stone steps carved out of the solid rock. When they’d finally reached the top it had been full night and they’d been so exhausted that they’d lain down in their sleeping blankets and gone straight to sleep.

     They were awoken by flashes of light coming in through the large, open windows, accompanied by the occasional crash of thunder. They'd thought that a storm was blowing up, but when they looked outside they saw a shower of meteors streaking across the sky, some of them coming low enough to cause sonic booms before disintegrating into a cascade of glittering fragments. The red sun was almost directly overhead, casting its blood red glow across the stone building and the surrounding forest, and in the east they saw a rosy pink glow that told them that dawn was not far away.

     They watched the meteor shower for a few minutes, oohing and aahing when an especially bright one passed overhead, and once there was an exceptionally large explosion when a meteor survived its passage through the atmosphere and plunged into the ocean, but eventually they grew bored with the spectacle and went back inside, being careful to avoid the large hole in the centre of the floor where the stairwell opened out.

     They remained in the building for another hour, waiting for the yellow sun to rise fully, and they spent the time having a light breakfast and talking over the predicament they’d found themselves in, the black girl lowering her eyes sheepishly as the others glared at her. “Look, I didn’t force you to come,” she said at last. “You all agreed to follow the others here.” They just glared at her even harder.

     The meteor shower had ended when they ventured out, but a dark bank of cloud on the horizon told them that a real thunderstorm might be on the way. Dennis unrolled the carpet, laid it out on the ground and gave it the command to fly, but it remained motionless, as it had ever since they’d landed on this island.

     “Someone doesn’t want us to leave just yet,” he said, rolling it up again and tucking it under his arm. “They want us to stay and be sociable for a while. They want us to come and say hello.”

     “Well, let’s not disappoint them,” said Arroc, hefting his scimitar and giving it a few practice swings.

     “Let’s just remember one thing before we go any further,” said Teasel however, raising her thin, squeaky voice to be heard by everyone. “Let’s remember that we are not here by invitation. We’re gate-crashers who deliberately came to a place we were told to stay away from. Whatever power rules this place has a legitimate reason to be angry with us.”

     “That’s as maybe,” replied the trog, “but the fact is that we’re now being held here against our will. I’d say that makes us even on the morality stakes, and gives us a legitimate reason ter be angry wi’ them!”

     The nome had no answer to that, and so they packed away their sleeping blankets and headed off into the forest.