It dawned at last and that sleepy vagabond woke up when the Sun slapped him, shaking his disheveled hair he gave a long and sonorous yawn, looking around he prepared to arrange his things and with his daily ritual checked that everything was in his pockets, he introduced the sword in the sheath that fit perfectly to his chest, leaving the handle to protrude a little over his shoulder, he put on his safety glasses, and set out on the road towards the unknown Forest of Eoz, crossing the river at its lowest and narrowest part, completely forgetting his route to the Moon Mountains.
-The Forest of Eoz.
I was thinking as I walked between the trunks of that grove where pine trees predominated.
-Why does this forest become known to me, why? Yes, right! I remember it now, it's the forest of the wizard of Oz, not the Wizard of Eoz, the scarecrow, the tin man and a lion man I guess; I'm remembering! And these kinds of memories cannot be memories of the heart, but of my head. "That's how he kept thinking as he walked in that pine forest. -It is better that you remember the ritual of the sword, I already walked a lot and it did not take long to find one of those fierce warrior angels guarded by Mirídia; What were the words the star said to me when I asked him about the sword ritual? Ah, yes!
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-Mmm?
He wondered as he his chin trying to remember B'eila's words.
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What the hell do humans do when we are scared or in danger? Run! No, that can't be the ritual," he thought as he laughed at his own occurrences.
"Mmm, rituals, rituals, enchanted swords, rituals of frightened humans, mmm, let's see, I have come up with something, or rather, I have remembered something.
And taking the sword, raising it with the 2 hands he shouted, in the midst of those lonely pines, He repeated the cry to no avail.
-BY THE POWER OF GRAYSKULL, I ALREADYYY HAVEEETHE POOOWER!
Remembering the ritual performed by the hero of Heman and the masters of the universe to activate the powers of the sword of Grayskull and nothing.
- No, this is not; Ah, I know!
-Placing the sword between his eyes he shouted:
-SWORD OF OMEN, GIVE ME THE POWER TO SEE BEYOND THE OBVIOUS!
As he remembered and said that legendary Lion-O of the series of the THUNDERCAT'S, and nothing.
-It fucking to me! What will be the fucking ritual of The Sword of Destiny?
As he walked, he made with his lips the whistle of the singing sword that he had heard in the cartoons of his childhood and nothing.
"No way,"
He said aloud as if talking with his sword.
-Neither crackpots, nor sing, nor anything, to see if when I am scared because I have in front of a dragon of the warriors, I remember that it is what we of my race do when we are scared or in danger; Maybe it's the rain dance? I know!
He said and skewered the sword on the ground dancing around it trying to imitate apelike movements.
-Uga chaca, uga chaca, uga, uga, uga, chaca, uga chaca!
And just like nothing, although he knew perfectly well that nothing was going to happen, he amused himself amply with his occurrences, he continued to walk deeper and deeper into that pine forest without trusting, attentive to every movement and every sound, In some parts it had to jump or go around because there were ditches, and logs fallen on the ground.
Some holes that seemed to be made by some animal, that's why he walked attentive to any movement or sound around him, suddenly and very close he seemed to hear a slight roar, and automatically took the axe with his hands and right in front of it, between the leaf litter and the trunks of those pines, As if it were fog in a luminous cloud, the body of an animal began to be configured, that of a huge feline with large white wings like those of a pigeon, As it appeared, the beast scratched the floor with its front legs and looked at it.
"My name is Onel. "said the white lion," staring into his eyes, "I am the guardian of the entrances and it will give me great pleasure to tear you apart.
"I hope you don't mind me at least trying to defend myself.
Yurik said with a broken voice, trying to hide his amazement, bewilderment and fear, undeterred that impressive white lion with piercing blue eyes said to him:
-You are in my reign and if your pretension is to pass there is only one way to do it, you will have to defeat me and there are only 2 ways to defeat me, of which you can choose only one.
-And what are they?
Yurik asks the lion inquisitively, while thinking at 1000 per hour, trying not to miss a single detail of what the fantastic animal did and said.
-Are you sure you want to try?
-Yes of course! What are those two ways to pass?
-Intelligence or strength, if you choose intelligence you will have to solve a magic riddle, but if you fail in the answer, the spell of the riddle will take the soul out of your body and you can see how I tear you apart while devouring you, but if you go on the side of the force, then we will face each other in a fight to the death in which you can only use one of your weapons, that you will choose, the one you want but only one. –and putting himself in position of attack Onél indicated him. Choose your way to die, noooow.
And Yurik, less nervous and without raising his voice much, said to him:
"I'm not afraid of you and I have no idea how strong or skilled you are, but I know that maybe I could defeat you in a fight to the death, but since in my world I am an active member of the humane society, I choose the intelligent way. "And crossing his arms he finished, saying: "Tell me your riddle nooow...!
Onél placed himself in a resting position, and without ceasing to place him with his penetrating blue eyes, he said:
I have villages, but I don't have people...
I have forests, but I don't have nests...
I have rivers, but I don't have fish...
And Yurik without moving a single muscle from his body or face, he thought.
-Villages without people, forests without nests and rivers without fish.
Maybe some atomic bomb that fell or an epidemic, maybe the Apocalypse; No! That's too obvious for a magic riddle, think master of riddles, think, think, eat you; What is it about villages without people, trees without nests and rivers without fish? Think! That they eat you, think... Master of riddles... Think...
In his mental effort he remembered that in the Forest of Murmurs there were no fish in the river, nor birds in the trees, he also remembered the drawings he had made in his little traffic note book, and when he took it out of his back pocket and looked at it, a saving light came to his mind.
-The forest at the entrance! I mean, The Forest of Murmurs! Yes, that's the answer to the riddle, I was deserted and you couldn't hear any sound, not of birds or fish or anything and I didn't see people either.
But when he was about to say the supposed answer, he reconsidered.
"No, there was no people there!" Or maybe I did but I didn't see it and so I can't know if I had villages without people.
And as he reviewed and revised his drawings and notes in the notebook, the real saving light came to his mind,
And now he did give the cry of victory.
-I have it, I have it, the answer is!:
Sketching his usual half-smile and showing him the contents of the notebook he said:
-A map! Yes, a map has villages without people.
-Trees without nests and rivers without fish; Oh, no?
-NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!
The noticeably upset lion roared mightily as it scratched the ground.
"That was my favorite riddle and no one had ever solved it!"
It began to fade but he managed to say before disappearing: "We will see each other again!"
And he answered him as a farewell greeting.
"I'm sorry my dear lion, but it's not my fault that you're so obvious," and the road was cleared in that pine forest. -Hell! For the other I do not play the master of the riddles again, and I better remember the ritual of the sword to grab him with kicks, if he is very strong I do not think it is more than the sword that defeated Odin and his Valkyries.
And he continued on his way in that now dangerous pine forest.