‘Peace,’ said Raphael. ‘We must spy out the city of the Sorcerer if we are to destroy him and bring back my sister.’
‘You had better go,’ counseled Empyrean. ‘These creatures are fools. We shall wait here for you.’
‘I’ll go,’ agreed Raphael. ‘Perhaps that will be best. People of the Woods, will you circle the city of the Sorcerer so that he may not slip away from us? I shall spy on him myself.’
‘We will,’ came back the answer. ‘We are of one mind in this.’
‘I may be gone a week. Will you guard faithfully?’
‘If we do this, Mr. Raphael,’ said a hare timidly, ‘who will save us from the wolves and the foxes?’
‘You need not worry,’ said Raphael confidently. ‘We are here for one purpose, the freedom of all from the Sorcerer and his creatures, and so have declared a universal truce.’
‘A truce! A truce!’ shouted the animals. ‘Death to the Sorcerer. Freedom forever.’
The hare looked nervous, but said nothing. Then Raphael called together the leaders of the wolves, the eagles, the bears, the wild cats, the moose, the elk, and all the others, and urged them to keep the peace for seven days. He sent this word by the otter to the trout and salmon in the river. Then he once more cautioned the animals to keep faith, saying that on them rested the success of the expedition. After that Raphael made his way to the city.
