Then screams and cries rose in a gigantic wail all over the world as explosion after explosion rent the air and the sky became filled with clouds of flashing colour. Terrible was the sound of pain as waves of heat rolled out over the land and the buildings of the Urkku collapsed like thistledown in the wind. And as the world destroyed itself the animals and the Eldron ran frantically along the silver paths and many were lost as they were caught in the blasts. Those that came to the end of their paths found the earth opened up for them and they escaped down these tunnels and caves, thankful for their deliverance out of the holocaust of horror which had come upon them. Men, women and children ran blindly down these unknown ways, without thinking or doubting, as the animals raced alongside them, badgers, foxes, lions and tigers, bear and bison, elephant and elk, every type of animal that lived on the face of the land. Under the seas, great caverns opened and through them swam the mighty whale and the gentle seal, the majestic shark and the playful dolphin and all the other fishes and mammals of the ocean.
By now Nab had begun to get very worried about Beth and the others. Suddenly a large mountain hare appeared over the edge of the plateau and scampered towards the steps. He stopped abruptly when he saw Nab and Sam and stared at them hard for a few seconds with surprise and pleasure for he knew who they were.
‘Aren’t you coming down into the tunnel?’ he said. There cannot be much time left for this world. The heat was terrible further down the mountain. Look!’ He pointed to where a big patch of his fur had been scorched leaving the skin showing through.
Nab’s heart leapt into his mouth and a terrible fear pounded in his brain so that his head felt as if it was being beaten against a rock. ‘They should be here,’ he said to himself.
‘Have you seen the others?’ he asked. ‘The girl, the hare, the badger and the owl.’
‘I saw them a while back,’ the hare replied, ‘before the explosions started. Being chased, they were, by a great pack of goblins and Urkku. They weren’t far behind and the girl looked tired. I wouldn’t wait if I were you. If they’ve escaped, they’ll come anyway. If not, well, there’s no point in sacrificing yourself, is there?’
Nab said nothing.
‘Come on,’ said the hare gently. ‘It’s only sense, isn’t it?’
The boy turned to him, and his dark eyes, which had seen so much, were brimming with tears.
‘I am not leaving here until they come,’ he said. ‘You go, Sam, but I must stay.’
The dog turned to him with a reproachful look.
‘Very well, then. Since you’re both determined to stay, I must go on my own. I wish you the best of luck. Goodbye.’ And the hare started to hop down the steps and was soon lost from sight in the gaping black hole.
It was then that a further explosion shook the air, this time nearer the mountain. When the initial deafening blast had died away, Nab lifted his head from where he had buried it in his arms and shouted to Sam above the noise.
‘I’m going to look for them. You stay here,’ and he got up from the damp ground.
‘I’m not leaving you again,’ Sam yelled back. ‘I’ll come with you.’
Cautiously they walked over to the edge and looked over. A great blast of heat met them and they gasped for breath. Nab smelt his hair burning and covered his face with his hands. Sam put his head down and they took a few steps down the side of the mountain. Then, above the din, they heard a shout. They stopped and looked at each other for reassurance that it had not been a figment of their imagination. Then it came again, louder this time and seemingly from behind them. Warily they turned around and looked back up the mountain. Over the edge of the plateau they saw Beth waving down to them with Warrigal perched on her shoulder and Brock and Perryfoot on either side. They were as surprised and overjoyed to see Sam as he and Nab were relieved to see them. The boy and the dog ran back up to the top where the six of them, all together again, greeted each other with joy and tears of thankfulness.
‘We were so worried. We were just coming down to look for you,’ Nab said when he was able to speak again without laughing for joy.
‘We nearly got caught,’ said Beth. ‘They were almost on us when the explosions started and then they panicked and most of them ran off. Then we seemed to be drawn towards a track that shone with a bright silver light which I don’t think they were able to see and the few that were left seemed to fall back so that we were on our own.’
They all walked slowly over to the dark hole where the pool had been and Sam told them how he had escaped from the Urkku. Then they sat under the old oak tree and Nab related all that had happened since they had parted on Rengoll’s Tor. They listened intently; Warrigal perched on one of the great roots that were exposed above the peat, his deep round eyes fixed unblinkingly on Nab. He had heard of the legend of the Map of Lines from Wythen on one of the long talks they used to have together sitting on summer evenings up in the Great Beech in Silver Wood, but the legend had been almost lost in the mists of time and even that wise old owl had known very little about it. How fascinated he would have been to have learnt about the part it was to play in their lives. Warrigal wondered whether or not the old owl had managed to escape the final destruction of the wood and, if he had, whether he had followed one of the lines to a tunnel such as they were sitting beside. Perhaps even now he was about to escape down one of the Scyttels and was thinking about them and of the ending of the story that he, Warrigal, had brought to him that first night when Brock had told him of his strange little discovery.
Perryfoot sat by Nab’s side, his ears flat along his back, contented and happy that all their struggles seemed to be at an end. Where they were going none of them knew but as long as they were together then he would have a home, and what a mighty collection of stories he had built up during their travels. Beth sat at his side stroking his back gently. He thought of the first time he had seen her down by the stream on that wonderful spring afternoon and how he had danced and played in front of her to catch her attention while Nab crawled close to see her more clearly.
Beth was also thinking about that afternoon, so long ago. She wondered whether or not it had been fate that they had met or whether Ashgaroth had somehow arranged it. How strangely her life had turned out! She thought of her parents and her brothers. As Eldron she knew they would have seen the lines and somehow she had faith that they had escaped down one of the Scyttels. She remembered the night when she had seen Nab’s face through the window on Christmas Eve and the turmoil in her mind when she had gone with him. How little she knew then of the world she was entering, the world of animals and elves and goblins, and little did she guess what horrors and wonders she would see. Now, perhaps, they had arrived at the end of their journey and all the things she had yearned for in her life with Nab would be possible.