The Scrolls of Skava

Return to the Emerald Oracle - Part 4

     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.”