Jaden looked up to see a hint of playfulness had returned to his grandfather. ‘A few,’ he said with his best attempt at a grin.
‘Well, then, it is time you learned. Come, come, walk with me.’
The two left the centre of the hollow and ascended into the gardens, taking no particular route as they weaved their way through the many fruit trees. Vennoss picked a ripe peach and gave it to Jaden, who ate it immediately.
‘What about my illness, Grandfather?’ he asked between bites.
Vennoss did not turn, instead making sure their way was clear by pushing the many branches to the side. ‘That is part of what I wish to talk to you about,’ he said. ‘I have been looking for you, so where have you been?’
‘Trying to find the waters that would heal me,’ said Jaden.
‘No water will heal you, child. I said that the water was good. Remember your training. You were simply to find where the stream ended.’
‘I found a waterfall, was that it?’
‘You should know. You are here. What did you find at the waterfall?’
‘Nothing,’ said Jaden, remembering his fall. ‘I swam downstream and climbed out.’
Vennoss stopped, this time turning back to him. ‘What?’ he asked.
‘I wanted to try to get back up the waterfall, I had to get out.’
‘No, no,’ Vennoss cut him short, waving his hand for silence. ‘How did you get in here?’
Jaden was puzzled. ‘By a passage over there,’ he pointed to the other side of the hollow.
Vennoss followed the direction with his eyes. ‘Impossible,’ he said. ‘That entrance has been sealed for centuries.’
‘It’s open now,’ said Jaden.
‘Yes, but how?’
‘Lightning, I guess,’ Jaden shrugged.
Vennoss was silent. ‘No,’ he said, and then with a swift motion of his hand, he grabbed at something around Jaden’s neck and held it up so that he could examine it closely. ‘You have been guided here by someone. Who have you met?’
‘A Daijuarn woman,’ said Jaden, ‘but I lost her when I went over the waterfall.’
‘And you survived,’ said Vennoss bluntly, as if expecting the response.
Jaden nodded.
‘You are not immortal yet, child. You are alive because of her, and she has guided you here. Why and how she has done this, I cannot say. She should not know this exists.’
‘You don’t know her?’ said Jaden.
Vennoss shook his head. ‘There are no Daijuar that would have sought you out in this land other than Adonis and Blair, the two men who came with me, but I had to go looking for them. What is this? Did she give it to you?’
Jaden took hold of the silver chain, studying it carefully. ‘I don’t know what it’s called. She said it would let me see whatever I wanted to see.’
‘And what have you seen?’
‘My home. It is harmless, Grandfather,’ Jaden assured him.
Vennoss was sceptical, but said no more as he continued on the way up. Jaden followed, wondering how his grandfather hadn’t known who Raquel was. Perhaps she wasn’t Daijuarn. That could have been why she hadn’t answered his questions. Maybe it wasn’t because she didn’t want to tell him the answers; it was because she didn’t know them. But why hadn’t she told him that? She was wise beyond her years. She may have simply given him a chance to vent his frustrations. The crystal had been a gift to help ease his mind. He now realised everything she had done had been to comfort him. But why? What did she want in return?
Jaden felt confused. Nothing seemed to make sense, but there was something more important for now. Vennoss believed she held power of some sort that had saved his life and guided him into the hollow, but she had let him fall. He could have died. He chose not to believe like his grandfather, but suddenly grew concerned for him. He did not seem himself, a shell of the man he had once been. He had been quick to anger and slow to compassion, and now he seemed to believe that Raquel was somehow a threat to Jaden and this place. He almost appeared paranoid. Something was not right with Vennoss anymore. He had changed.
Jaden decided he would not mention anything about Raquel again, nor would he speak of anything that had happened after the attack. He would speak freely, as they used to, when he was sure the wound his grandfather had suffered from the attack was healed.
After a few minutes of walking, they soon reached a rectangular area of smoothly carved stones and tiles. There was a wall of polished brown, dark gray veins throughout it, that Jaden could see his reflection in, accompanied by four small benches, two at each end, made of the same strange stone. The floor was tiled in the same manner, and in the centre was a circle of black marble with a seven-foot Daijuarn symbol made of amethyst within it. Vennoss walked to the left before turning around, leaving Jaden to study what was around them for a moment.