ZZZZZZZZZzzzzzzzz... Huh? What? Oh, okay. Back to the story.___________________________________________________________
It was with no small relief that the companions encountered no further delays or problems locating the Sacred Spring in the south of Torvald. Now they were camped in the Spectrewoods. Tonight they would fulfill their pledge to the Hill People.
The moment came soon enough. Wendolin placed five thick, twelve inch tall candles she brought for the purpose in a circle around the small four foot high boulder. She lit each candle in turn. Then she placed the silver chalice at the highest point on the boulder. She filled it with spring water from her sheepskin. Finally, they all sat down about six feet away to watch and wait.
Curiously, even as the evening breeze picked up and leaves rustled in the trees' branching canopy, the flames of the candles never flickered, that is until...
Lysette was the first to feel their presence. The whisperings began and she felt the light fleeting touches here and there on her face, shoulders and arms. She motioned to the others that the Hill People had arrived. Now the other companions too began to hear and feel their presence.
Something began to shimmer then coalesce between the seated companions and the candle-ringed boulder. The shade of the Hill People's last king, the shade they met for the first time on the road in Spectrewoods, now formed before their eyes. The King bowed when he saw Jayhawk. In a voice sounding like a cross between a breeze and its disturbance of pine needles on the ground the King spoke to the Minstrel.
"Great One, have you at last returned to fulfill your promise to us, the Hill People?"
Jayhawk answered simply. "We have."
The King sighed. "At last... At long last. We had nearly given up hope. We heard of the great battle in the North and the death of the evil sorceror; but we thought you had all perished or forgotten about us. We waited so long... so long. Is the water in the chalice indeed from the Sacred Spring?"
"We believe it to be the spring water you asked us to find and bring to you."
"Then we must try the water to see if it is indeed from the Sacred Spring. But there is a risk."
"What risk?" asked Jayhawk.
"If it is not the water from the Sacred Spring then the spirit who attempts to drink it shall be condemned to wander the earth forever without the power of a spirit. There is only one chance given or received. You are sure, Great One, this is the water?"
"As sure as I can reasonably be without trying it myself. But you know that would prove nothing. I am not a shade."
"That is true," agreed the King. "Then it is my duty to test the water before any of my people. If it is right, I will cease to be a shade. If it is not right, the others will have full knowledge of its being false. Either way, farewell, Great One. I will pass beyond, knowing you and your companions at least have tried."
"Farewell," replied Jayhawk. The King floated over to the boulder and bent his head. The chalice never moved although the candles flickered. The shade put its whispy lips to the water and drew a sip. The water's surface rippled ever so slightly at the shade's fleeting touch. Then the King turned to face the companions. Change was instantaneous. The greyish cast to the shade's image changed to an ever brightening white. The look in its ghostly eyes became focussed increasingly on something distant. Barely discernable lips eased back into a smile. The water was indeed drawn from the correct spring.
Just before fading away the King spoke to his people and his companions. To his people he said, "They have brought us the water of the Sacred Spring. Drink of it and follow me. We are free at last." And to the minstrel,"We are forever grateful to you, Great One, and to your companions. May your days be many and fulfilling, and your reward be as great or greater than ours." Then he was gone.
One after the other, grey colored shades sipped of the water and changed to bright white then faded away. Many times the companions heard whispered 'thank you's' from the individual Hill People as the shades were transported from this world into the next. It was with complete satisfaction that they observed the last shade partake of the water, smile and pass from the Spectrewoods into blissful eternity.
Fulfilled and relieved, the companions slept where they were sitting: Wendolin, Benson, Chunky, Gillandra, Thoren and Lysette. Jayhawk only pretended sleep. Seraphs have no such need. He lay where he was, deep in thought. Tomorrow will bring a new beginning, but also an end. 'Time' will be the link, he thought. Its sands will determine the duration and these mortals, my companions, will determine the rate at which the sands will fall.