They were all up well before dawn and nervously agitated, as they wanted to get on. The previous evening it was decided that there was only death waiting for them here, so they would all try and get through to Trymyll using the old portal in the mountains. Tom was still uneasy about it but was persuaded by Glynda. Anyway, if Glynda was going through, he was going too, as he was not going to leave her, even if it meant immense danger. The whole troupe walked at a pace to near the top of the mountain. There, there was a cave, the river seemed to flow both in and out of the cave. This was the portal.
“Right,” said Jon, assuming control, “we will go first, that way, if the Master is on the other side, we can at least hope to see him off again. Give us ten minutes and then follow.”
The three of them almost huddled together for protection as they entered the cave. Glynda in her now familiar pose, her sword drawn and held across her front, helm in one hand and blade in the other, no sooner had they entered than they walked out of the exit and into a freezing castle.
“HALT!” shouted an elven guard, “stand perfectly still or die.”
He was immediately joined by several other hostile looking elves, with either their long, graceful swords drawn and ready, or arrows nocked on powerful bows. None of the three looked particularly worried as Jon had, as always, set up an impenetrable defensive shield around them. Behind the hostile looking elves, appeared their leader.
“Jonathan, Thomas, Glynda, what are you doing here?” said High Elder Govannon Staley.
The guards all relaxed, so did Jon, Tom and Glynda.
“We have just returned from another world on the other side of this cave,” Tom turned and pointed at a solid wall, “but it was there a moment ago, we just stepped through it.”
The elven guards looked at each other smiling, they knew humans were strange, but these three were exceptional at it!
“No honestly, the other land was destroyed by the Master, there are only a couple of hundred people who survived, and they will be coming through in a few minutes,” Jon continued.
Glynda joined in, “They were badly injured or sick, but we healed them and fed them last night, there is nothing left for them, so we told them to follow us through.”
“Follow you how?” asked a slightly bemused Govannon Staley.
He had hardly stopped speaking when it happened, the refugees started appearing out of the wall and stepping into the ice-cold castle of Mynydd.
The three young wizards were okay, they could generate their own heat by using a little power, but many of the refugees had only thin clothing and many had no footwear on at all.
“Quickly,” Govannon Staley said, “call for fire, bring blankets and shoes. Call the wives and mothers to help with the children. All to the main hall,” he shouted.
The two hundred or so remnant from another land were ushered along corridors, up and down freezing stone stairways and into the main hall where a massive fire was burning. There they were given blankets, warm clothes and shoes or boots for their freezing feet.
Then Elven hospitality came into play, food was produced as if from nowhere, roasted meat and vegetables, hot spiced wine for the adults and hot flavoured milk for the children. Before long all were warm and happy.
The leader spoke to the three young wizards. “Well now we know why no one ever returned, it was a one-way portal, I expect that your ancestor made it that way so that the serpents would have no way back if he failed in his mission.”
Govannon Staley then joined the conversation. “That explains why, over the years, we have found the odd human wandering around lost in the castle, they must have come through the portal.”
“Did they not say where they came from?” asked the leader.
“No, I’m afraid many tried to hide when they saw us and ended up freezing to death before we could find them. Those who did make it through alive eventually told the same story about a portal, but we or they could never find it again in the maze of corridors and tunnels. So, we just sent them on their way down the mountain to warmer climes.”
“Why eventually?” asked Glynda.
“Well, we had to teach them Elfish first to find out their story.”
“But that must have taken months.”
“No, not if you use a little elven magic.” Govannon Staley said with a wink.
“What about when my ancestor Giamillus-Weorod came through?”
“Oh, that was before the castle of Mynydd was built. In fact, it was why it was built. This area was found to be where the two headed serpents entered Trymyll, though we did not know how, so the fortification was built to protect Trymyll from any further serpent invasions. This could mean the end of the castle. If there is no one or nothing left beyond the magic gate, we too can move back down the mountain and join the rest of the Elven community. I for one will not miss this frozen hell hole.”
Once everyone had all their needs catered for, the assembly, led by Jon, Tom and Glynda made their way down the mountain on massive elven sledges drawn by huge elks and into the valley below.
Jon apparated away and returned a few minutes later with Flintock, to whom he had quickly explained the situation before they arrived. The appearance of Flintock also startled them, they could see the resemblance to the Master, and this made them very uneasy. Tom explained who Flintock was to them all, leaving out the bit about him being related, and they soon settled again. Then Flintock apparated them all back to Blaenoraid in three batches, each with one of the three teenagers, should explanations be needed on arrival.
A meeting of the council was called to discuss the situation, but not before Jon, Tom and Glynda had a very heated discussion with Llewellyn, Gwen, and Samuel. All of whom were extremely worried and had been up all night looking for them. They all tried to explain but did not make their points. Glynda was angry that, as she put it, “That little worm had escaped again,” so she went after him. Tom explained that he went after Glynda, in case she got into trouble, and Jon tried to say that he went after them both for the same reason.
“Then why pull in your threads?” Llewellyn asked.
Glynda explained that she was a good match for Muenda and didn’t want to be followed, the boys had no real or tangible explanation apart from, “because Glynda did it.”
The telling off ended abruptly as Llewellyn had to attend a meeting of the council.
“And you three can come too and explain why you brought over two hundred strangers into Trymyll without the proper protocols being observed,” Llewellyn announced.