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‘Have it your own way,’ and continued on with her cooking then turned towards them. ‘Come and join me with this meal.’
    Both were delighted at this friendly invitation. They hastily sat down as Ette divided the fish into three equal portions. Nothing more was said during the meal about the Sacred Sword. Rom in turn, decided not to ask any more questions.
    Ette broke the silence by saying, pointing towards the horizon, ‘Walk towards that large mountain. It will take you in the direction you want to go.’ Then she gathered her belongings, turned on her heels and strode into the thick forest, disappearing from sight. Aela and Rom looked at each other for a few seconds, then began walking along the path towards the large mountain, they continued in this direction, for the rest of the day.
    As the sun began to sink Rom declared, ‘We will camp here for the night. I will go to a nearby stream to catch fish for us to eat. You, Aela gather some wood for the fire whilst I am away.’
    Rom quickly disappeared before Aela could reply to his command. With a shrug of her shoulders, Aela went about the chore of collecting wood, but making very sure she didn’t stray too far from the designated spot. Just as she was bending to pick up a piece of wood she heard a loud grunt very close to the ground, then a crashing sound of a large creature moving through the foliage at high speed.
    Aela didn’t hesitate, she started to run in the opposite direction, frantically pushing her way through the branches. With her heart pounding, gasping for breath, she continued to run as fast as she could through the forest. All the time the sounds behind her were becoming louder and louder. Just as Aela felt she couldn’t run any more, suddenly the ground gave way beneath her and she fell into a shallow ditch. The creature continued smashing its way through the bushes, all the time grunting and growling. Gradually the noise faded into the distance, until there was silence once more, except for the mournful cry of an owl nearby. By this time the shadows were lengthening and the sun was rapidly disappearing behind the horizon.
    Out of the corner of Aela’s left eye she saw a fissure in a large boulder. She thought that perhaps she could find shelter behind the rock for the night, as Aela quickly realised she was lost somewhere in the dense forest and didn’t know where she was at that instant. She was completely exhausted, all she wanted to do, was to curl up somewhere in a safe place and to sleep for the night. Slowly crawling on hands and knees Aela worked her way towards the opening and squeezed inside the crack. Feeling with her hands ahead of her face she was hoping not to bump her head on a piece of rock that might unexpectedly be jutting out. Aela made slow progress as she edged her body along until her hands felt a smooth surface. She placed her back against this surface then sank her body on the ground and Aela promptly fell asleep as she was completely worn out.
    Meantime, Rom had returned to camp, carrying the fish he had caught for their meal, feeling very pleased with himself. ‘Aela, Aela where are you? Come out from your hiding place now.’ But there was no reply. After searching for her a little longer, Rom realised his efforts were fruitless. So he gathered some wood, lit the fire and placed the fish on the glowing embers to cook.
    At any sudden sound, he called out Aela’s name hoping that she would appear in front of him, but all in vain. Eventually he fell asleep and his last thoughts were ‘This is the last time we are ever going to be separated.’
    Next morning Rom rose before the dawn and deftly gathered his beloved spear and general belongings. He, then circled the camp searching for clues such as Aela’s footprints on the ground, as the first shafts of early sunlight shone through the leaves. Before long he picked up her tracks, as well as the paw marks of a