Gaber looked intently at the sleeping Skaar, then turned his attention to Deeb, who was manning the tiller and had a peaceful smile upon his face.

He began to speak, half to himself, half to Deeb.
    "I have lived my entire life hating humans. They have enslaved and abused us. The funny thing is that I've never seen one up close before. Is he truly trustworthy?"

Deeb's smile broadened.
"We have been traveling together for years and I trust him with my life."

Gaber stared hard at Skaar. He could see the human was well muscled and hard with countless small, and a few large, scars on his body.

"He looks like a warrior," the wolverine noted.

"He was at one time, early in his life. Then he was a priest and a priest warrior. He has always been loyal... though for a period it was to the wrong being."

"An evil man?" Gaber asked.

"No, a misguided beast who wanted to end the world."

"If he was a warrior and priest in his past, what is he now?"

Deeb shifted his gaze from Gaber to the sleeping Skaar.

"My friend." He said affectionately.

The Sojourner continued on its westward tack, driven forward by a gentle breeze. Skaar had awakened and taken Deeb's place at the tiller. Deeb now slumbered under the central mast. Gaber's attitude toward Skaar had shifted and the internal hatred replaced by curiosity concerning his two saviors.

He questioned Skaar.
"Deeb told me you were once a warrior and then a priest. Was he a priest as well?"

Skaar laughed.

"He was far more than that. It is difficult to see now, but he was one of the most feared creatures in the world. They were called the Deev...they were magical and immortal."

"Were?"

"Yes, he is the last Deev roaming the world. They lost their powers to a great monster called Xenophus. Most were killed, some imprisoned...only Deeb Shatus breathes the air as a free beast, though he is now mortal and without the powers he once possessed."

"He does not speak of this." The wolverine commented.

Skaar smiled.
"He does not remember. His life was erased, his memory cleansed. He was reborn and now serves others after countless lifetimes serving the Deev. He is not even that curious about his previous self. He chooses to live in the present and not lament the past. It is that determination which has helped me face my future and discard my own past. We now follow his voices wherever they lead us."

"Voices?" Gaber asked.

"Since his rebirth, voices have spoken to him, guiding him here and there. When they beckon, we follow."

"What do they ask of him?"

"Nothing really, they simply say 'I am here, find me if you choose'. Deeb says he will find their source when the time is right. There is no hurry." Skaar stood and stretched. He faced Gaber, "Now let me ask you a question. Why are you out in the sea, this far from land...by yourself?"

Gaber looked toward the horizon.
"I was on a quest...," his eyes became hard, "a quest suggested by Vulmer."

"What manner of quest?"

"My tribe believes that we are the guardians of the Wild. The Wild is a shielded area of Lyonisia, the only part that no living man has seen. It was given to us by Uumas, our great guardian. He left long before the time of the Aesirians began, but will return to guide us to prosperity and freedom.

"Each year on the occasion of the summer equinox, a member of the royal family... that would be me...sets out to sea to try and find him and guide him home. This is my first time, my uncles have been the chosen before, but Vulmer said it was time that I took that responsibility and now I know why he was so anxious."

"This Vulmer seems a clever beast," he could see the anxiety on the young wolverine's face, "do not worry, he will not move against your father yet."

"How do you know?"

"As I said, he seems a clever beast. He has gone to great pains to make your 'death' seem like an accident. If he was simply planning an simple coup, he would have killed you and your father outright. No, he will wait till you are long overdue and presumed dead. Then he will probably poison your father, claiming he has died of grief or some such nonsense. After that, he will be offered the crown and pretend he doesn't want it...for a while at least... until he finally accepts it. It is a good plan, but not one which he can implement too quickly, so as I said, we have time to save your father."

Gaber couldn't help from smiling.
"You really were a sly and dangerous man, weren't you?"

Skaar returned the smile.
"Yes, I was."

As dusk approached, the three shipmates sat down amidships to eat some dinner. It was Gaber who first saw the landmass in the distance. It appeared, not as land, but as a bank of clouds on the horizon.

Skaar addressed the two beasts.
"Do you think we can make landfall before dark?"

Gaber answered.
"We probably could, but I don't think that would be a good idea."

"Why is that?" Deeb asked.

Gaber looked toward Lyonisia as he answered the mink.
"It is not as simple as making landfall. This entire side of our land is high cliffs and rock-strewn shallows. You need to be very precise if you wish to get to the Wild without wrecking your boat. I will need to see all the landmarks very clearly to get us in safely. I suggest we get to within a mile of shore and then make anchor until dawn."

Deeb nodded.
"That sounds reasonable. It will give us a little extra time to sleep. We'll make land first thing in the morning."

The sun rose over the eastern horizon in a brilliant explosion of gold and red. A cloudless sky transformed from a deep azure to a light robin's egg blue as light flooded the calm sea and air.

Skaar was the first to arise. It was cool, but pleasant. He looked toward the shore of Lyonisia, now less than a mile from where they were anchored. The shoreline stretched for what seemed hundreds of miles, disappearing below the horizon to the north and beneath a layer of mist and fog to the west. He was greatly surprised by the size of this land, a land that, until now, he had been totally unaware of. As he sat observing the landmass, he could hear his shipmates stirring and soon all three were wide awake.

Gaber was silent and transfixed by the shoreline, carefully looking for familiar landmarks. Deeb handed the wolverine a collapsible spyglass.

After about five minutes, a smile appeared on Gaber's face. He pointed north.

"That way," he said pointing toward a promontory rising above the sheer cliffs which were the main feature of the entire coastline, "there that tall point. Make for that area. You can approach to within a hundred yards of shore in this area. After that the water is too shallow for any ship save a small rowboat."
Skaar took the spyglass from Gaber and scanned the area the wolverine had pointed out.

"I see no outlet or fjord, no entrance to the interior of this land, only unscalable cliffs and stony shallows. We have no rowboat, no vessel other than this craft. What is the point of heading in that direction?" he asked in frustration."

Gaber stood and faced Skaar.

"You will need no other vessel. You must trust me. It is there...," he pointed again to the same point along the cliffs, "that the Passage of Uumas lies."

Skaar was about to respond when Deeb placed his paw upon the human's shoulder and silenced him. Deeb smiled.
"Guide us then, friend Gaber, to this passage of yours."

When they arrived at the point the wolverine had indicated, it looked almost exactly like any other point along the shore. Massive sheer cliffs between two to three hundred feet tall were in front of them. The rock-face continued unbroken in either direction. This area of the precipitous headland, like all they had passed, tilted outward at a slight angle, making scaling it almost certainly impossible by all but the finest and most experienced of climbers.

The face of this natural wall was glasslike in its appearance. This was due to the prominence of mica within the stone barrier that reflected back the morning light. Along the entire length of this imposing and seemingly endless bluff, the only life and color visible were great curtains of ivy which hung every several hundred yards.

Some of these green tapestries stretched only a hundred feet or less over the edge of the precipice, but a few extended all the way down into the sea. These ivy blankets were between ten to upwards of fifty feet wide.

At first Skaar thought that perhaps the vines from which the ivy sprouted would be strong enough to climb. After looking at them more carefully through the spyglass, he realized that they were no thicker than a piece of string and unable to support much more than their own weight.

He looked back and forth along the cliff-face in front of them to no avail.
"I see no way to this Wild of yours, Gaber. This cannot be the correct location," he said dejectedly.

"You must trust me some more now," the wolverine said, pointing at a pair of jagged rocks, thirty feet apart, which were protruding from the foamy surf, "Guide the ship between those rocks."

"Into the wall?" Skaar protested, "That's insane!"

Even as Skaar was voicing his displeasure, Deeb, at the tiller, turned the Sojourner sharply toward the cliff.

"Faith, Yagun," the mink said brightly, "our friend does not seem suicidal."

Deeb deftly maneuvered the boat between the two rocks and continued toward the ivy-covered cliff-face. Skaar prepared himself to abandon ship and tried to decide how he would save Deeb after their craft shattered against the stone. He braced himself and closed his eyes as the craft plowed into the ivy. There was no collision.

Skaar opened his eyes just as the Sojourner passed through the wall of ivy. He gagged slightly as a clump of leaves tore off in his mouth which was still agape from shock.

The three comrades found themselves within the confines of a vast cavernous space. Light illuminated the space through a myriad of holes high above them in the arching ceiling. Behind them the entrance was clearly visible now, a cave-mouth some forty feet wide and easily fifty feet high, completely hidden from the seaside by the thick tapestry of ivy which covered it.

The interior of this enormous subterrane was at least fifty yards wide and extended into the distant darkness.

Gaber called back toward Deeb.
"Stay to the right and keep your sails hoisted."

"Is there wind in here?" Skaar asked.

"There is a constant breeze flowing inland through the many holes and tunnels," the wolverine explained and continued, "we can continue through riding the breeze all the way into the Wild."

"Is this an underground river?" Deeb asked.

"Yes, that is why we are moving to the right...out of the current which drives toward the sea," Gaber explained.

Skaar craned his head in all directions, taking in what details he could in the eerie twilight which bathed the cavern.

"This is amazing!" he said with awe in his voice.

Gaber smiled.
"Welcome to the passage of Uumas."

The voyage through the cavernous subterrane was to Deeb and Skaar almost a religious experience. It was a different world, something mythical, something out of a dream. The journey was a slow one. While it was accurate to say that the constant breeze blew in the direction they were going, in truth the zephyr was little more than a draft that barely propelled them. But the sluggishness of their progress was far from an annoyance to either the mink or the man. They were entranced, mesmerized by the alien beauty of their environment.

The cavern was so large in all directions that the only way to determine the orientation of the passage was by knowing that the breeze and the current were aligned to the openings on either end. The roof was pock-marked with holes that allowed the hundreds of thin shafts of light to penetrate the darkness of the massive cavity like radiant swords striking the dark waters. Sound echoed throughout the space ceaselessly making the dripping of water, squeaking of bats and croaking of underground reptiles sound like a somewhat sinister symphony.

After about an hour of riding the breeze along the underground river, a light became visible ahead of the Sojourner in the distance. Gaber tapped Skaar on the shoulder to draw his attention from the sights within the cavern.

"We need to disguise you," he said bluntly.

"We do?" Skaar asked.

"Yes, at least until I have had the chance to prepare the tribes for your presence," he said gravely, "humans are considered the enemy here. No human who has seen the Wild has ever been allowed to live. I need to convince them that you are not an Aesirian before they kill you."

"That would be good," Skaar said smiling, "how do you plan on doing that?"

"I'm hoping they take my word for it."

"Not the best plan I've ever heard, but I suppose it will have to do."

While Gaber and Yagun were having their discourse, Deeb was searching among the supplies and had secured a potato sack which he promptly emptied. He took a knife and after staring at Skaar for a moment, cut some eyeholes into sack. He handed it to Yagun who slid it over his head. The eyeholes lined up perfectly.

"Hows that?" Skaar asked.

"We need to cover those pink hairless hands," the wolverine said bluntly.

Skaar dug into his belongings and found a pair of thick cloth work-gloves.
"There, I'm completely covered. Anything else?" he said with more than a little annoyance in his voice.

"That should do."

The exit to the cavern was fast approaching. It was even larger than the entrance and lacked the ivy curtain of the former.

"How long before your people see us?" Deeb asked.

Gaber laughed.
"They know we're here already. There is always a watcher above, keeping a close eye on the passage through one of the many holes. Our arrival has already been announced. Since this ship is an unfamiliar one, we will be surrounded as soon as we exit. I will need to be on the prow so I am recognized before they attack."

Skaar adjusted the sack on his head so he could see through the holes. Deeb tied it loosely with a piece of rope around his friend's neck.

"How do I look?" Yagun asked.

"Like a scarecrow looking for a field," Deeb replied with a sly grin on his face.

"Here we go," Gaber observed as the Sojourner exited the cavern and was bathed in the brilliant warm light of the sun.

The light was blinding after the extended journey through the relative darkness of the passage. The three shipmates shielded their eyes as the Sojourner glided onto a vast lake. Anonymous shouts and threats filled the air. When their eyes adjusted, it became apparent to the trio that they were surrounded by a dozen boats, each with between five and ten beasts onboard, heavily armed. Bows were drawn and ready to kill the intruders at a moments notice.

Gaber stood near the bow of the ship with his arms raised. He shouted.
"It's me, Gaber Graekwar! Stand down! Stand down!"

As the beasts surrounding the boat recognized him, the word of his identity was passed in a series of shouts and weapons were lowered.
A single small boat propelled by four beasts manning oars pulled up next to the Sojourner. Onboard, a stocky brown bear wearing a green smock and floppy black beret called out with relief in his voice.
"Thank the gods! We thought you were lost, Gaber. You father is inconsolable, he feared the worst. What happened? Where is your boat?"

Gaber jumped into the rowboat and gave the bear a hearty hug.

"Trableck, you scoundrel!" he said cheerfully, "You can't imagine how good it is to see you! My boat sank and I was four days in the water. It is only by the grace of the gods and the generosity of these two new friends that I am alive today."

The bear gave a curt nod to Deeb and Skaar.
"I thank you fine beasts for your nobility," he stared at Skaar wearing the potato sack, "there is no need to hide your features, we will not judge you because of any disfigurement."

Skaar answered calmly.
"I appreciate your compassion, however for the time being I would be more comfortable keeping my face covered...if that does not offend you."

Trableck smiled.
"Not at all, I won't mention it again," he placed his paw on his chest, "I am Trableck Deepfurrow, master-at-arms to Chief Graekwar and godfather to that young beast you saved."

Deeb stepped forward.
"Greetings Master Deepfurrow, I am called Deeb Shatus...and this...," he motioned toward Skaar, "is my comrade Yagun Skaar. We are travelers from a distant land called Arishamal and appreciate your hospitality."

"You are most welcome. We will escort you back to our village. It lies several miles further on the western bank. Chief Bluepelt will wish to thank you personally."

Gaber hopped back onboard the Sojourner.
"You lead, we'll follow," his tone became more ominous as he continued, "tell me Trableck, is Vulmer at the camp?"

"Yes, he is. He has taken it upon himself to attend to your father personally during his anxiety about your safety."

"I'll bet he has," Gaber said darkly as he walked back toward Deeb and Skaar.

The small flotilla surrounding the Sojourner broke up, with some of the boats escorting the visitors back to the village and the rest returning to their duties of patrol and defense.