The treacherous weather foiled all search operation. The troops returned empty handed and with no information. Night fell and so did Engi's mother, fainting in fear of losing her beloved daughter. Engi's father had not spoken to anyone since he was made aware of the situation upon his return. Neither had he eaten a morsel of food or drank a drop of water despite being back from an exhausting travel. Only one thing filled his mind – the prophecy of the village elder on Engi's birth.
"Great perils lay ahead for the little one. She is destined for greatness beyond comprehension, but that shall come only through hardship. Her spirit is strong, and like a mighty serow she will conquer giant mountains of adversities. Walking over them as if mere mounds, while the god of thunder himself watched over her." Not too pleasing words for new parents to hear.
As dawn broke at the horizon and the thunderclouds gave way to the morning sun, Engi's father strapped the mighty Zothinrim to his belt and wandered off in the only direction nobody had thought of. To the forests!! Engi had fallen asleep in the muddy floor, tired from all the crying, exhausted to the point where she could shed tears no more. She lay still in silence, as if feared to death from her encounter the evening before. She did not remember when she was rescued, brought back home, cleaned and dressed in new robes.
When she opened her eyes, she saw her mother sitting by her head and her father by her heels. Both of their hands were gently caressing her cold body as if trying to warm it back to consciousness. Three days had passed since that fateful incident and neither of them had anything to eat or drink. Seeing her open her eyes filled them with uncontrollable joy. Shedding streams of joyful tears her mother took her in her arms. And her father finally smiled.
Upon recovery Engi was asked to recall what had happened that evening but mysteriously she could remember nothing to everybody's surprise. As if all memories of that day were wiped off from her mind. All but one!! She remembered the stump of the tree that left a clearing in the middle of the forest, and how much she missed her violin as she sat there.
Engi's father never spoke about the incident again, nor how he singlehandedly managed to find and rescue his daughter from the forest that day. But her mother knew something was wrong. She could sense something strange in him, for since that day he never slept in peace. He would often wake up in fear and sweat in the middle of the night, as if he had met his greatest nemesis in his sleep.
She was not surprised on being told that he had summoned the General of their army and asked him to train Engi in the art of battle, war strategy, and of wielding a sword, instead of being schooled in the art of trade and commerce. This was something she never expected of her husband, not from the most successful merchant of the land. But she knew of the prophecy that was foretold and thought this to be right. So she took the burden of teaching Engi about the customs and culture of the people of the Land of Zo, and its bloody history.