“If your spirit had traveled much further, you wouldn’t have heard me or been able to return,” said Arconn. “You were nearly to the wall, and I was afraid you wouldn’t answer.”
“The wall,” said Alex, thinking back to his dreams. “Yes, I remember the wall and the soft gray lands around it.”
“We’re all glad you did not cross that wall,” Thrang said. “If you had, we wouldn’t be talking now.”
“What did you see beyond the wall?” Tayo asked in a slow, quiet tone, his expression troubled. “Did you see people there? Friends? Family?”
“I don’t remember seeing anyone on the other side of the wall,” Alex replied after a short pause. “I only remember feeling that if I crossed the wall, all my troubles would disappear.”
“We should not speak of such things,” said Bregnest. “It will bring worry and darkness to us all.”
“I don’t know,” said Alex, thinking about it. “The wall didn’t seem like a place of worry. It was more like a place to start a new adventure.”
Tayo’s troubled look seemed to fade a little at Alex’s words.
Alex continued to eat. The food tasted wonderful and he could feel his strength returning with every bite. He could see how happy his friends were that he had recovered and that reassured him the wraiths had been lying to him.
“Once you had answered my call and had come partway back, we rode as quickly as we could toward the dark forest,” said Arconn, continuing the story. “I knew that when darkness returned, you would be tempted to go back to the shadowlands. I had called you back once, but just barely. I feared I would not be able to do so a second time.”
“I remember you saying something about the forest being near,” said Alex. “But everything was dark, and all I wanted to do was sleep.”
“Yes, the sun had gone down and you were returning to the shadowlands and the wall,” replied Arconn. “Luckily, we found some of Calysto’s people as soon as we entered the forest. I explained what I could about your battle with the wraiths, and they rushed you to Calysto without asking questions.
“At first they tried to put you on one of their own horses, but Shahree wouldn’t let them,” Arconn continued. “She was determined to carry you herself, as though she was afraid they would not get you here fast enough. In the end, my kinsmen took Shahree’s reins and led the two of you here as quickly as they could.”
“And it was lucky they did, because you were almost gone when you arrived. You were speaking softly in your dreams about the gray land and wanting to see what was beyond the wall,” Thrang interjected.
“And then Calysto called me back,” Alex said quietly.
“It was more like a demand than a call,” said Arconn, looking suddenly grim. “I have never seen so much power used to call someone back from the wall. For a time . . .”
“For a time, what?” Alex questioned.
“For a time it seemed that you would take Calysto across the wall with you.” Arconn’s face was grim.
“I almost did,” Alex said, remembering his insistence that Calysto come with him.
“Indeed you did. I do not know how it was possible,” Arconn said, his eyes distant, “but it seems that in the end you wanted to come back and Calysto seems happy that you did.”
“As are all the elves,” said Thrang with a laugh and a smile. “Gives them a reason to hold a feast.”
“There’s going to be a feast?” Alex asked happily.
“Tonight,” Arconn replied. “In your honor.”
“My honor? Why?”
“You defeated the wraiths,” said Thrang, refilling Alex’s mug. “You’re something of a hero around here. Not to mention the elves are all impressed with your sword.”
“But you’ll need to take a bath first,” said Skeld, laughing. “Or the elves will be disappointed in their hero, and the rest of us will need to stay upwind of you.”
Alex laughed and threw a bit of bread at Skeld before asking where he could take a bath. Skeld led him to a smaller room at the back of the house where a huge tub was already filled with hot water. Fine new clothes and polished boots were sitting to one side of the tub.
The hot water felt wonderful and Alex relaxed, alone with his thoughts. He wondered how Calysto had managed to call him back, and why Arconn had said that her call had been more like a demand. The food and the bath helped clear his thoughts, but he couldn’t seem to remember exactly what had happened after the company reached the forest. He felt like he should remember, and the fact that he couldn’t troubled him.
The sun was sinking into the forest when Alex returned to his friends once more. They all seemed excited for the feast to start, and pleased that the feast was in Alex’s honor. Alex was slightly embarrassed by it all, thinking that he hadn’t really done anything worthy of a feast. As shadows covered the meadow, a tall elf appeared in the doorway of the house. He smiled and asked them to follow him to the celebration.
“It will be a grand feast,” said the elf as they walked into the woods. “Our people have been arriving all day. From what I hear, the kitchens have pulled out all the stops as well.”
Alex laughed at the elf’s excitement, which reminded him a great deal of his young friend, Thrain. He wondered how old this elf might be, before remembering that elves did not age like men or dwarfs. He glanced at Arconn who was walking beside him, remembering how old his friend had looked after calling him back from the wall the first time.
“Are you troubled?” Arconn asked, noticing Alex’s glance.
“Not really,” Alex replied. “I was just wondering why you looked so old the morning after the wraiths attacked me.”
“It was not age you saw,” said Arconn with a faint smile. “You saw me after a great effort, an effort that took me to a place few elves ever go.”
“I am sorry I took you there,” Alex said softly so only Arconn could hear him.
“Do not be,” said Arconn. “I have long wanted to see the wall, and now I have. Though having seen it, I would not willingly return. Enough of this talk, we have arrived.”
They walked into a vast meadow lit by hundreds of silver lamps. The meadow was crowded with elves sitting at long tables or carrying serving trays. Off to one side, a choir of elves sang happily, while more elves appeared from the trees around the clearing.
“The lady Calysto bids you all to her table,” said the tall elf, bowing.
Alex and his companions followed the elf through the crowded meadow toward Calysto’s table. As they walked, many of the elves stopped what they were doing and bowed to the company, while others simply smiled and nodded.
Calysto’s table sat above the others on a raised wooden platform so that it overlooked the other tables. Chairs ran alongside one side of the table, and in the center chair sat Calysto, smiling as her guests approached.
“Welcome, my friends,” said Calysto in her musical voice. “We are pleased you could join us.”
“The honor is truly ours,” replied Bregnest, beginning to bow but then stopping himself.
Alex barely had time to wonder about Bregnest’s unfinished bow before he and his companions were shown to their places at Calysto’s table. Alex sat on Calysto’s right; an important-looking elf sat to his right. Calysto introduced him as Delinus, the chamberlain of the dark forest.
“Let the feast begin,” said Calysto as soon as Alex had taken his seat.
The feast was as good as any he’d ever attended, and it was not only the food that took away his troubled thoughts and worries. The happiness on the faces of the elf host, mixed with their singing and fair voices laughing, left Alex feeling like nothing bad could ever happen again.
Looking along the table, Alex saw Skeld joking loudly with the elves beside him. Andy was trying to sing an elfin song, and even Tayo smiled as he sat listening to the elf choir singing. All too soon the feast ended, the plates and food cleared away, and the elves grew quiet.
“A final toast,” said Calysto, rising from her chair. “To he who vanquished the shadows!”