Beanni grabbed Oslac's wrist and pulled him inside in a flurry of excitement. The door closed behind them, plunging the pair into deep darkness. The sudden envelopment of black took the Prince's breath away.
"Oh, it's so dark!" The wary shake in Beanni's timid declaration spurred Oslac on to scrabble for his light orb. He saw it as his duty to ensure that Beanni always felt safe, especially after what she had been through.
He held his light orb in his left hand and as it grew to fill his palm, rays of white light sent a sparkling glow into the blackness. As soon as that light reached the walls, lanterns chained to the rounded stone lit up, giving a warm orange glow. They revealed a lone Trabem Pool standing in the centre of a round room. Oslac also noticed a dark doorway straight ahead - directly opposite the door they both entered the cave through.
With slow deliberate steps, Oslac walked to the pool, taking in his damp and dingy surroundings. The sound of his footsteps on the slate floor bounced off the towering walls. Soon Beanni's footsteps mixed in with his as she followed his lead to the centre of the room.
He looked over the pool's stone side, there lying eerily motionless, was the water that the pool still held after so many years. It looked black under the deep dark night sky that peeked through the round gap directly above it - in the room's ceiling.
"I can't believe I'm standing here," Oslac broke the awe filled silence, his eyes getting lost in the dark abyss of the night sky. "The very place where Queen Astrid and her family appeared, the day they returned." He glanced at Beanni, who was mesmerised by the deep, dark water. "This spot right here is rich with so much history!"
Beanni tore her eyes away from the Trabem Pool, and looked at him with determination
"Come on, Oz," she said. "We need to set out the Potion's ingredients in the order that Genelle told us."
"Yes, yes you're right!" Oslac replied, then turned his focus onto the satchel that hung at his side. He opened it and looked down at the pile of random things that he worked for hours to collect.
But then his mind went blank.
He turned back towards Beanni, who stood looking at the satchel, then into his face, then back down to the satchel again.
"Are you alright, Oz?"
"Can you remember the order?"
"Yes, it's the etioirm-berries first," Beanni answered pointing a delicate finger towards the full interior of the bag.
"Oh!" Oslac delved in and quickly retrieved the small, pale pink berries. He collected six - the number that Genelle instructed him to get. He set them down, one by one, in a tiny bunch upon the stone side of the Trabem Pool. Once he was done, he glanced towards Beanni, who gave him a small nod. Her gaze then went up to her brow as she thought for a second.
"Next is..." Her face then changed, showing that she was suddenly struck with certainty. "Next is the ghea mach." He found the jar of ghea-mach that he had stolen from Claudia Slànacus' stores at Astrid Palace, and placed it beside the small bunch of berries.
"Then it's the wheat chaff... No! Then it's the goat hair! Sorry."
Oslac quickly picked up the wheat chaff and swapped it for the goat hair, then put the wheat chaff down as Beanni confirmed that that was indeed what went next.
"Then comes the smoke, and the water from Luna Lake at the very end." As Beanni announced the last couple of ingredients in the line, she pulled the vial that held the eternal smoke up, over her head. The leather strap hung from her hand as she carefully placed it on the wall between the chaff of wheat and the jar of glittering water.
As soon as the ingredients were aligned the smoke began to shine with a bright violet hue. Instinctively, Oslac turned towards Beanni, and just as he expected, there within his best friend's stare was that same violet gleam. The rays shining from both the smoke vial and Beanni's irises lit up the entire room with powerful magic. It reflected off the waking water in the Trabem Pool, sending a chaotic map of dancing lines upon the surrounding walls.
"An Gealach ell cumhachior naq uairus ipheim!" Beanni said in a strange voice, her gaze transported to another world.
"What did you say, Beanni?"
"It translates to, The Moon is mightier than time itself," said a voice belonging to another. An impossible voice that made Oslac jump and turn towards the Trabem Pool.
"Ethan? Is that you?" he asked the jar of glittering water, which adopted the violet glow that its neighbour emitted.
"Yes, Prince, I am here. I can hear you. I don't know how, but I can." Ethan's voice echoed from the jar.
"An Gealach ell cumhachior naq uairis ipheim," Beanni repeated, her eyes still in a far away place and her voice sounding even stranger - as if a choir of eerie singers had decided to join her as she spoke in the ancient tongue. "Ann a suillos ain an aonus Beannai."
"That next part means - In the eyes of the blessed one." Ethan contributed his knowledge of the Terran's ancient language.
Oslac glanced at the water in the jar then focused again on Beanni. The cold grip of worry squeezed at his heart.
"Ethan, what's the matter with Beanni?"
"Her mind is flooded with the ancient power, the answer is in what she utters," Ethan explained in his all-knowing drawl.
"Must you always talk like that?" Oslac snapped, impatiently. "I don't understand a thing you're on about!"
"The violet magic overcomes all other powers, that includes time." Oslac detected an agitated tone laced within Ethan's voice. But then a sudden thought struck Oslac and he turned to the glittering jar again.
"Wait, does that mean that we don't need to wait seven days for the ingredients to be ready?"
"That's exactly what it means. Start mixing the potion. I'm on my way to the forest right now!" Ethan declared, then Oslac could hear echoing footsteps vibrating from the small jar.
"Oh! Right! I'll call Genelle!" Oslac said, then fished out the mirror shard out of his orb pouch.
"Genelle?" Ethan panted as his footsteps still pounded their rushed beat. "Is that the one who forced Beanni to use the smoke?"
"Yes, why?"
The sound of footsteps came to a sudden stop.
"Don't call her!" Ethan commanded, his tone urgent.
"What? Why not? I have to. She's the one who knows how to mix the potion. Without her help we won't get the portal open!"
"No! I'll talk you through the potion. Promise me that you won't contact her!"
"I don't..."
"Promise me!" Ethan interrupted, his voice now raised.
"Alright! By the stars!" Oslac replied, throwing hands up in defence, then put the mirror shard back in his pouch. Once he turned his focus back onto the variety of items that were lined up in front of him a thought suddenly struck him. "Hang on, wait..."
"What?" Ethan demanded through heavy breaths, it sounded as though he was running a marathon.
"You know how to make the Patengailte potion?"
"Of course I do!" Ethan breathed.
"So we could've just asked you how to make it?"
"Yes. And you should've, it was not wise to go to Genelle. She cannot be trusted."
"Well why didn't you just tell us? You could've saved us a lot of bother if you did!" Oslac asked, his voice raised to a defensive tone.
"I would've been more than happy to tell you, but you didn't ask."
"So this all boils down to a miscommunication?" Oslac said through a frustrated sigh.
"It seems so."
Oslac clamped his teeth shut and listened to the strange man's footsteps drumming their rhythm, giving a perfect percussion beat to Beanni's repetitive recitation of ancient words. As Oslac stood trying to suppress his irritation, he allowed the two sounds meld together, until they became an unfathomable hum.
"Prince?" Ethan's voice shook Oslac out of his stress filled reverie.
"What?" Oslac snapped his response.
"Are you alright?" It sounded as though Ethan was taken back.
"Yes, fine." Oslac decided to quickly pull himself together. He knew they had very little time, and he shouldn't let his pride get the better of him. With a small shake he took a step closer to the side of the Trabem Pool, "I'm ready," he said, holding his hands poised above the first ingredient in the line; he assumed that's where he needed to be.
"Alright, have you got all you need?" Ethan asked, whilst still catching his breath.
Oslac took a deep calming breath, before he responded this time, "Yes."
"Right, first grab the bowl."
"Bowl?"
"Yes, the bowl!"
Oslac swore under his breath as he racked his brain for a solution.
"Prince?"
"Just a second," Oslac called towards the water jar as he walked about desperately hoping to stumble upon something, anything, he could use as a bowl. "By the stars!" Oslac cursed out loud. Genelle never said anything about a bowl! He thought to himself, then doubt seeped in. Or maybe she did... After not finding anything after some time, he began to look at his violet lit surroundings, in a flustered panic.
"Is everything alright, Prince?"
"Err, yeah, yes! I'm err..." Oslac stammered, as he looked around hoping that a thought would come to him. He then noticed a decent sized rock sitting inconspicuously by the cave's heavy door.
An idea then finally came to him.
"Yes, I've got it. Just give me a few more minutes." He said, then rushed over to the small boulder, which he guessed, would've served as a doorstop once upon a time. He was sure that nobody would miss it if he were to use it. Taking out his light orb and letting it shine in his left hand, he reached out his right hand and silently commanded the rock to hover in the air before him.
With intricate movements of the digits on his outstretched hand, he sent light rays through the air, making them sand down and carve dents into the rock's jagged exterior. He worked hard until a finished, perfectly formed stone bowl floated towards him. He grabbed it out of the air, stuffed his shrunken light orb back in his pouch and ran back to the side of the Trabem Pool.
"I've got a bowl!" he panted.
"Good! Now crush the etioirm-berries inside it," Ethan instructed.
Oslac scooped up the small pile of berries and placed them carefully into the bowl, so as to make sure that no rogue one would bounce out. He quickly glanced towards his feet, where he remembered seeing a loose stone lying. He picked it up and pressed it upon the tops of the pale pink berries. He crushed them thoroughly until they no longer resembled their fine, round shape, but became a dribble of pink goo.
"Done," he called out, then awaited his next instruction.
"Now add 0.2 units of ghea mach, then mix it in - the potion should turn a rich blue colour."
Oslac unscrewed the top of the jar that held the dark blue crystals, and searched for the tiny spatula that he knew Claudia Slànacus kept in each jar. He measured out 0.2 units, which looked like such a tiny quantity, however, he knew that with ghea mach a small amount goes an incredibly long way for he overheard Claudia say so as she took care of Beanni at the palace's healing room.
He mixed the deep blue crystals with the gloopy pale pink paste until it turned a rich blue, just as Ethan said.
"Are you ready for the next instruction?" he heard Ethan's voice ask.
"I am."
"Right, take both the goat's hair and the chaff, twist them together and stir the solution three times. Then drop them into the bowl and allow the blue liquid to soak into their fibres."
Oslac did just that, he then watched the hair and wheat chaff sink to the bottom of the bowl. The thick blue slime then began to bubble and spark.
"Now wait for the bubbling to ease, before you prepare the water."
"Oh, so it's supposed to do that?" Oslac interrupted, staring at the lively blue paste.
"What spark and bubble? Yes," Ethan said in the knowledgeable way that Oslac had come to know well now. "Has it eased off yet?"
"Yes, it's eased off."
"Now, pour the smoke upon the water and mix them together by swirling the water round in the receptacle you have it held in. Careful mind you, don't spill one drop!"
Oslac, took in a steadying breath and moved towards the jar that held the water that connected him and Ethan, who stood in another world. He carefully unclipped the lid and held the jar still as he reached for the vial of smoke. Slowly releasing his fingers from around the water jar he uncorked the vial of glowing smoke, then tipped it upon the tiny surface of the glistening water. He put the vial down, then lifted the jar slowly into the air and swished the water carefully until a tiny whirlpool formed in its centre, sucking in the delicate wisps of violet smoke.
"Good." Oslac heard Ethan's voice say suddenly.
"Can you see me now?" Oslac couldn't help himself from asking.
"No, I can only hear you."
"Then how did you know?" Oslac questioned as he stared at the calming water inside the jar he held.
"I felt it," Ethan said, in a way that sounded as if he thought that that was obvious. Oslac twitched his upper lip and shook his head. Then listened quietly to the rest of Ethan's instructions.
"Now pour the water onto the rest of the ingredients, lift the bowl in both hands, and carefully do the same thing you just did to mix the potion. Once it is mixed, you will no longer hear me, so once the potion is ready pour it into the Trabem Pool. You will know the potion is ready once its surface is calm."
Oslac did just as he was instructed. The water, which now glowed with a mighty violet hue sloshed upon the deep blue solution in the bowl. He then slowly lifted the bowl close to his face, and watched the surface closely as he swished it around. As a wave of deep purple liquid swept the inside of the bowl, the smoke separated out and danced upon the potion's surface. Each time it touched the swooshing surface, tiny sparks spread across the potion, making miniature veins of light.
He watched the pulsing white veins in their dance within the potion. They sent out their tiny branches of light and retracted them in a steady beat, that got slower and slower until deep blue stillness took over. At that very second, Beanni's chanting came to a sudden stop. Although Oslac found the silence disconcerting, he had no doubt in his mind that this was the right time for him to pour the potion into the Trabem Pool.
As soon as the Patengailte Potion touched the surface of the dark waters, they awoke with violent rippling and small crashing waves. Many bubbles then rushed from its depths, as if it were boiling, but the temperature of the water was no hotter than it was before.
Oslac grabbed Beanni's arm, she looked utterly confused as he pulled her back. They both stepped away from the grooves in the ground that now began to glow with a rich golden light. The carved lines formed an eight-pointed star within a circle that perfectly surrounded the stone structure of the pool. They watched the golden light grow and reach up to the ceiling, forming impenetrable walls of magic. The golden walls retracted back to the ground just as fast as they formed, revealing a man, who Oslac recognised to be Ethan.
Ethan took in a deep, satisfying breath through his nostrils, then let it out in a long sigh before his very present voice echoed off the rounded walls.
"Oh! Dachan Terran! I know your air!" His freckled face then pulled into a relieved smile. "I'm finally home!"