The only road they could see, though, led to the north, and for a short while they followed it without saying anything, sometimes going slowly uphill, then back downhill for a while. Then, suddenly, they emerged from the shade of the trees.
On their left was a grassy valley with just a few very young trees. At its centre was a small, deep-green lake. Beyond, the forest began again, dark and dense, and in the far distance they could see slopes and mountain peaks.
Tiuri blinked; he had just looked up at the sun, which was already in the west. But he went on looking, not at the valley and the lake, but at the mountains, the Great Mountains. How very close they seemed – and on the other side lay the realm of King Unauwen!
“That’s where I need to go,” he whispered.
“What do you mean?” said Jaro. “I don’t like the look of that lake at all. It’s so still and it looks very deep.”
“I meant the mountains,” said Tiuri. “I don’t know how to get there, but I know that I must. I have to reach the Kingdom of Unauwen before the attack that’s coming via the Road of Ambuscade.”
“You must be mad!” said Jaro.
Tiuri looked at him. “Now that I know, it’s my duty to warn them,” he said, his voice trembling slightly. “I have to attempt it, even if it seems impossible. And you mustn’t try to stop me,” he continued. “The King of Eviellan is a wicked man and you no longer wish to serve him. So do you really want the Kingdom of Unauwen to come under his rule?”
“Calm yourself!” said Jaro. “No, believe me, I don’t want that to happen.”
Tiuri thought he sounded sincere. He sat down by the side of the path and his friends did the same.
“You’re right, Jaro,” Tiuri went on. “We can’t keep on walking along a path that we were ordered to follow without knowing our goal. Oh, if only I knew when the attack was going to happen!”
“Listen, Tiuri,” said Jaro. “I don’t agree with your plans at all! And for a number of reasons. Firstly because, even though I happen to have escaped, I don’t like the thought of being a traitor…”
“You have to do one thing or the other,” Tiuri said firmly, even though he barely raised his voice. “You were born in the Kingdom of Unauwen, and the King of Eviellan is bad. You can’t run away from him and yet refuse to fight him.”
“That sounds true enough,” said Jaro, “but there’s something you don’t understand. Maybe you’re not able to understand. The King of Eviellan is a wicked man, and I know that. And yet still I can’t bring myself to turn against him. I would be the first man to say that everyone should fight against him, but still I don’t want to play a part in his downfall. I just can’t do it!” He looked at Tiuri with something like desperation in his eyes. “You can’t understand,” he said again. “You haven’t known him and served him for years as I have.”
Tiuri didn’t know how to respond. But he did understand – had he not spoken to the King of Eviellan himself and listened to his words? But he had met Prince Iridian first… He felt a sudden sympathy for Jaro, who no longer wanted to follow the path of evil and so had nowhere to go.
“I’m not saying you have to come with me,” he said finally. “I am the one who came upon this information.” And I’m not the only one, he thought, but I could be the only one who can still tell someone about it. “And because I know,” he added, “I have to try to foil Eviellan’s plans.”
“How are you going to get across the mountains?” asked Jaro. “You can’t take the Road of Ambuscade, and there is no other way over. There truly isn’t.”
Tiuri didn’t answer. I’ve no idea either, he thought miserably.
“You want to fight the King of Eviellan,” Jaro continued. “But you are no more his match than I am. Whole armies have failed to defeat him! You have met him, so you must realize it’s madness to think you could take him on.”
For a moment, Tiuri was back in the Tarnburg, sitting across from the Black Knight, with the chessboard between them – the game they had not finished. “Yes,” he said quietly, “that’s true.”
“I think there is only one man in the world who could stand up to him,” whispered Jaro. “Someone who is just as strong as him…”
“Prince Iridian,” said Tiuri.
“But I doubt he would ever want to take up his sword against his twin brother,” Jaro added. “I mean in a one-to-one duel.”
They fell silent. But Tiuri noticed now that the silence was full of life. A cricket chirped in the grass, and small creatures were moving all around. He shivered; suddenly he felt cold.
“In any case we have to get away from here,” said Jaro. He struggled to his feet and held out a hand to help Tiuri up. “I am afraid this could be the Deep Lake,” he continued, “and I’ve heard nasty stories about that place. The Deep Lake, where sacrifices were once made to the evil spirits of the forest. I don’t want to say another word about that, but you know that the King of Eviellan also rules over the Men in Green. You are still on his land, Tiuri, and so you must flee with us from this place!”
When Tiuri did not move, Jaro added, “You can only fight against him once you have placed yourself beyond his reach. Outside of this forest there are better roads and you have friends who can help you.”
“That is true,” Tiuri agreed.
Now the Fool spoke to him. “Stay here, Friend,” he said. “This man Jaro is afraid, but he does not know the secrets. I have already told you that. Stay here and wait.”
“What for?” asked Tiuri, rather puzzled. The Fool had always been afraid of the Men in Green.
“I… I… I don’t know,” the Fool replied.
“Well, what I know is that we’re wasting precious time!” said Jaro impatiently. “We have to head to the east and make sure we get to the other side of the Green River. Perhaps we’ll reach civilization that way.”
“You can’t!” said the Fool. “Look, there’s another one. Down by the lake.”
“The devil take him,” said Jaro. “I’m leaving.”
“Don’t say that,” whispered the Fool, going after Jaro. “He’s calling us.”
“Let’s pretend we haven’t seen him,” said Jaro, without stopping. Tiuri went with him.
“There are two of them now,” said the Fool. “They’re both calling us.”
Yes, they were standing by the lake, beckoning to them. Tiuri and Jaro stopped and looked at each other.
“We can’t just run away,” whispered Tiuri. “They’ll be sure to stop us!”
“We have to go to them,” said the Fool.
“Then we shall do that!” said Tiuri, suddenly decided. And to Jaro he added, “It wouldn’t be the first time Marius has been right about a situation. Without him I would never have found out who lives in this forest. Besides, I see no other possibility. Right now we just have to do what they want!”
They walked slowly down into the valley, the Fool leading the way, and Jaro bringing up the rear. Tiuri looked up at the mountains again. “If only I knew how much time we have left,” he said to himself.
Jaro heard his words and said, “I don’t know when the attack will happen. But I think it will be late spring or early summer, when the pass is free of snow and the road is passable for an army with horses.”
Tiuri thought of Piak. His friend knew all about the mountains; he could have told him when that would be. Oh, Piak…
“Are you not scared of anything else?” asked Jaro beside him.
“What do you mean?” asked Tiuri.
“An army by the Black River, closer to your own land than to the Kingdom of Unauwen. It actually is your own land! You are a knight of King Dagonaut, after all!”
Tiuri looked at him aghast. It was true; he had hardly thought about the danger that might be threatening the Kingdom of Dagonaut!
They soon reached the shore of the lake. The two men had greeted them without speaking, but did not seem unfriendly, and they asked them in their usual, silent way to walk with them to the opposite shore. But Tiuri said, slowly and clearly, “You are telling us where we must go… but why? We are fugitives and mean no harm. Do you hear what I’m saying?” The men nodded, their faces serious.
“But do you actually understand, too?” asked Tiuri. “We don’t want to do as you say until we know what you plan to do with us.”
“That’s right,” said Jaro. “You tell them!”
One of the men pointed at the sun, slowly lowered his arm, and said, “Tehalon.”
“That again!” growled Jaro.
“Who or what is Tehalon?” asked Tiuri. “Is it a person?”
The man nodded again. He frowned and seemed to be thinking for a moment. Then his face brightened and with a solemn gesture he laid his weapons – spear, bow and arrows – at Tiuri’s feet. Then he looked at Tiuri and gave him a cheerful grin. He reminded Tiuri of Tirillo for a moment – the same wry, pointed face – and suddenly the man had a personality of his own. Until then, the Men in Green had all looked the same to Tiuri.
This man appeared to read his mind. He grinned again, pointed at himself, and said, “Twarik.” Then he put a finger on Tiuri’s chest and said, “Tee-ooh-ri.”
Tiuri looked at him, a little surprised, although he shouldn’t have been too astonished that his name was known to the Men in Green. After all, Jaro had said they knew everything.
The other man now followed his companion’s example. He put down his weapons and introduced himself as “Lian.” He was small and slender, and had no beard.
“Delighted to make your acquaintance,” said Jaro sarcastically.
The Fool said with a shy laugh, “The Fool in the Forest is what they call me, but my name is actually Marius.”
Tiuri suddenly felt lighter. “I have to believe that you mean us well,” he said. “We will follow you.”
The men loped ahead of them around the lake shore. When they reached the other side, they were made to sit down beside a pile of wood, and Twarik lit a fire.
“It would seem that we’re supposed to stay here,” Jaro remarked.
“It just occurred to me that they allowed us to keep our weapons,” said Tiuri. “That shows they have good intentions.”
“Don’t be too sure of that! There are so many of them. There’s no way we could take them all on,” replied Jaro. “I’d rather not be sitting here, but as things stand, I think we should just rest and eat. That’s if they have any food for us.”
They did. The Men in Green brought them wild apples and hunks of meat, which they cooked over the fire. They joined them to eat, but then disappeared into the trees, where it was already getting dark.
The Fool stood at the edge of the lake, peering into the water, and said, “It is deep, so very deep! But it is not a lake of evil spirits, not as Jaro thought. Not anymore. It makes me sad, not scared.”
“Don’t the Men in Green make you scared anymore either, Marius?” Tiuri asked quietly.
“N… no,” replied the Fool. “Not now. They speak to me – not with words, but still they speak.” He stretched out in the grass by the shore and continued thoughtfully, “For the first time I am not longing for my home and my cabin, Friend. And that is good, because you cannot take me there yet. If I cannot go there, then I want to stay here. I have never been here before, so I did not know what it was like.”
“Is this place… good?” asked Tiuri.
“Yes…” said the Fool slowly, and he yawned.
Tiuri went for a wander around the valley. He stopped by a path that led to the west. There was a large stone there, with words carved into it. It was exactly the same kind of stone as the one by the path to the Unholy Hills, and the words written upon it probably meant the same.
You who come as an enemy,
now retrace your steps
or may the Wood devour you!
Was the language of the Men in Green, which had sounded so familiar to him on the watchtower, the same language as this, the old secret language of the Kingdom of Unauwen?
He thought about Isadoro. He wished he had asked her more questions when he’d had the chance. He tried to picture her, but she remained hazy, like a dream that leaves a strange feeling upon awakening.
The sound of a voice made him look around in surprise. A woman’s voice… how was that possible, here in this forest? A man’s voice replied, and it was two men who came walking down the track: Lian and Twarik. Lian said something to his companion, but fell silent when he saw Tiuri.
He…? Lian was not a Man but a Woman in Green, a woman, dressed and armed like a hunter. Tiuri stared at her. There was no doubt about it, although he’d never heard of such a thing before, except in stories.
Lian and Twarik both smiled and walked past him, to the place where Jaro and the Fool were sitting by the fire.
Tiuri followed them. They belong together, he thought. They must be husband and wife. And he wondered if more of the Men in Green were actually women.
The sun sank behind the trees and mountains. Lian stamped out the fire. Tiuri looked at Jaro; would he notice she was a woman, too? But Jaro wasn’t paying attention to anything; he looked as if he was working on an escape plan.
Then Twarik signalled at them to follow him beneath the trees, where they found three hammocks.
“Do we have to sleep in those things?” said Jaro. “Like birds in a nest?”
Tiuri laughed. “They’re high and they’re dry,” he said. He looked at Twarik and said, “When will we be free to come and go as we please?” He used gestures to make his words as easy as possible to understand.
Twarik shrugged and simply replied, “Tehalon.”
“So we have to wait for Tehalon,” muttered Jaro. “Then I’ll just crawl into this hammock and hope he doesn’t see me.”
A moment later they had climbed into their hammocks. They were actually comfortable, Tiuri realized. Twarik and Lian went away again, but he was sure they would remain nearby.
Now he realized just how tired he was, and finally he would be able to have a peaceful night’s sleep. He could not imagine that the King of Eviellan was the ruler here as well – and that he might appear and take him prisoner once again.
He dreamt he was drifting in a boat on the lake. Slowly he sank into its depths, but he was not afraid. All around him was green half-light; ragged plants waved to and fro, and fish looked at him with dimly gleaming eyes. He sank still deeper, darkness enveloping him… but suddenly it was torn apart by a bright light that shone in his face.
He awoke slowly and reluctantly. Someone was leaning over him with a lantern. Startled, he tried to sit up, but the hammock rocked and he fell back into it.
The figure held up a hand to block the light. Now it illuminated the figure’s face instead, which looked down at Tiuri like a ghostly mask, angular and weather-beaten. But still Tiuri recognized him. It was the Man in Green he had seen by the Black River, the man against whom not even Ardanwen had dared to protest. In the flickering light, his face looked even more mysterious, and not a little frightening.
“W-what… is it?” stammered Tiuri.
“Do you want to sleep? Or are you awake?” came the quiet response. “If you are awake, I would like to speak to you.”
“I’m awake,” said Tiuri. He scrambled out of his hammock and stood swaying unsteadily.
“Quietly, then,” whispered the Man in Green, taking Tiuri by the arm. “Come with me.”
They walked for a way around the lake. The man blew out his lantern and Tiuri realized it was not completely dark. He could see the water, the slope on the opposite shore and the outline of the trees against the sky. As he looked at his companion, it dawned on him that he had spoken to him in his own language.
“Who are you?” he asked. “And what do you want to tell me?”
“We have seen each other before,” said the man. His voice was low and he spoke slowly and deliberately. “You were a knight with a white shield and you rode along the Black River on a black horse, captured by the Red Riders. You escaped the Tarnburg, with one of your companions. But the third man who is with you now is not the one with whom you came into the wood, but a servant of the knight who lives in the Tarnburg. The other one was not captured. Where did he go?”
Piak! thought Tiuri. Oh, if only he knew what had happened to his friend. “I do not know,” he said. “But who are you?”
“I watched you while you were sleeping,” came the reply, “and I decided to speak to you. Can you not guess who I am?” He stopped and let go of Tiuri’s arm.
“Are you… Tehalon?” Tiuri asked quietly.
“Yes, Tehalon, that is what the Men in Green call me. In your language that simply means ‘Master’. I am the Master of the Wild Wood.”