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.I don't think they've seen us yet, but it's only a matter of time." Robyn balanced upon a limb of a desolate oak tree, looking back along their trail."That's all we need!" Tristan turned to look at the gorge, but he was fresh out of ideas.They could leap or climb down into the rocky gulch, of course, but they would be easily trapped when the deathbirds reached them.The terrain on the far side of the barrier offered no hope of concealment, either.They seemed to be trapped no matter what they did."This was once a river not so very long ago," said the druid, climbing down to stand beside him."Too bad it isn't anymore.Then all we'd need is a boat.We could float down the gorge a lot faster than we can walk through this stuff.""I've got a boat!" Tavish offered."Remember?"Tristan looked at her in surprise, then in remembrance as she pulled a narrow wooden box from her pack."All I've got to do is say the word, and it'll fold into as pretty a craft as you could wish.""I do remember.I owe my life to you, and that boat, when you fished Daryth and me out of the Strait of Alaron." Pawldo and Robyn nodded as well, for they had both heard the tale of Tavish's marvelous folding boat.It was good-sized and a most seaworthy vessel that, upon the speaking of her word of command, folded into the compact box she now showed them."It still doesn't offer much help, with no water to put it in," remarked Pawldo sourly."I wonder…" Robyn paused, looking at the riverbed curiously.Impulsively she reached for the ivory scroll tube and removed the top.She pulled out a sheet of parchment, looked at it, and then pulled out another.Satisfied, she returned the first one to the tube and resealed it."The Scroll of Arcanus that offers mastery of water" she said quietly."It might be the solution to our problem.""Well, let's find out in a hurry.Those birdies are getting closer," announced Pawldo.They could all see a score or more of the soaring creatures, wheeling gracefully over the fens several miles away.But the size of the flock was growing, and their meandering course undeniably brought them ever nearer to the companions.Robyn stepped to the edge of the gorge, unrolling the sheet of parchment and holding it open before her with both hands.Slowly, deliberately, she began to read.The words were strange to Tristan and the others, and it seemed they were strange to Robyn as well.More than once she paused, pronouncing a long word very slowly and carefully, but she never misspoke nor repeated a phrase.The king stood protectively beside her and noticed a strange phenomenon as she read.One by one, the runes upon the scroll disappeared from the parchment, apparently in time with her reading.As she finished and lowered the page, he saw that the entire surface was blank!He forgot the parchment as he heard a splashing sound.As one person, they looked down into the gorge and watched the snow melt along the bottom, carried away by a shallow streamlet of clear water.It originated, apparently, from the stones themselves, for there was more of it than could possibly have been created by the melting of the snow, but the trickle remained far too shallow to offer any hope of floating a boat.As they watched, however, the water slowly grew deeper, and deeper still.Soon it babbled along like a mountain stream some three or four feet deep.And still it continued to rise."How deep will it get?" Tristan asked, disbelieving the evidence of his eyes and ears."Who knows?" whispered Robyn, staring intently at the steadily increasing flow.Unconsciously she placed her hand around the rose-in-sun medallion she wore around her neck.For a full minute, the water level rose, storming up the sides of the gorge, filling the narrow passage with its clean, frothing mass, and rushing ever downward toward Myrloch.Finally the current slowed to a forceful, steadily rolling pace, still racing down the riverbed but deep enough to bury most rocks and obstacles in the gorge.Like a smooth green carpet, it lay before them, a few feet below on the only possible route to safety."If I live to be a hundred, I'll never ask to see anything like this again," said Tavish, awestruck."I'm older than that, and I've never even heard of anything like this before!" whispered Pawldo.Even Newt sat quietly for once, gazing at the miraculous flow."No time to lose now!" Tavish shook off her reverie and placed the folding boat on the rim of the gorge."Everybody get ready to jump in.Once it unfolds, its own weight will topple it into the water, and we won't get a second chance.You, too
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