The spell was broken, and we arose, and set out together through the wood, traveling due west, for we had left the road on the east side the night before. In this way I hoped to reach the road again and continue along it to the border. We were able to tell the points of the compass in the early morning light, owing to the pinkness of the eastern sky and the darkness of the western.
Reaching the road in safety, we set out northward along it, I blessing my sense of hearing which enabled me to keep a keen ear out for approaching kerkools, each one of which we dodged by hiding in the woods at the side of the road.
In this manner, we kept on without further adventure for the entire day, slaking our thirst at an occasional brook, and staving off hunger by means of certain edible plants with which the princess was well acquainted.
At last, on topping a slight rise, we saw before us a long wall stretching away out of sight in the distance to both right and left.
“Is this the pale of which I had heard so much?” I asked.
“It is,” Lilla replied, “and beyond it lies Cupia, and safety. Look! Directly before us at the foot of the hill is the Third Gate.”
With a cry of joy, we rushed down the hill, hand in hand together. Sure enough, there stood Yuri talking with the Cupian sentinel. Just beyond the gate stood a kerkool.
Yuri greeted the princess respectfully and assisted her into the car, the sentinel offering no objection.
But as I sought to follow her, the sentinel stepped before me and drew a short broadsword, which he held menacingly in his hand.
“Yuri,” I called, “this guard won’t let me pass. Please tell him that it is all right.”