Tim and Naar-Tam walked back and forth through the sparse forest in search of Ri-Bo, but he was nowhere to be seen. Instead of him many of their other classmates came into sight, mostly upset and frustrated, none of them even mentioning feyo or any other games. Little by little, they crowded together, discussing whether there was anything they could do to help those in the cells and how to treat the anzimars now. And while there was disagreement on the first question (many were afraid of being punished), on the second, a consensus was reached: not to communicate with blue-eyed fellows, and if they ask for anything, refuse it at once.
That wouldn't scare them much, Tim thought wistfully. Anzimars don't want to keep anyone company as it is; they have enough to do with each other.
"I wish I could master such magic that they wouldn't even think about bothering you!" Yantau said dreamily at the end.
"Become a Master, no problem," Elsingor teased him.
"By then I'll probably have forgotten what they look like."
"Well, then eat a lot of crystals, and see if you get lucky!"
"Thank you, I don't feel like it. Try it yourself."
"By the way, there is a way to make powerful enough magic without using crystals," Alkitmi said with a smile of a discoverer of the great secret.
"Now that you mention it, tell us!"
"One book said that if several wizards cast a spell in unison, it would increase its power manifold."
"Is it really that simple? We'll have to check it out while there are still many of us here. Anyone interested?"
Of course, there were those who wished to do so at once.
"What spell shall we try? How about a grand illusion?"
"Let's try sprouting patiis," Ruum-Fib suggested. "I'd brought some seeds with me to practice on after breakfast, but I'd be happy to donate them to the cause."
There was no objection, and a light brown oblong seed was placed in a hastily dug hole, then covered with earth.
"And now all together!"
"Olpikki..."
"...tuns..."
"Not tuns, but dunt!"
"...imrir..."
"Not imrir, but immier!"
"That won't do," Ruum-Fib shook his head. "Once again, clear and friendly, without confusing the words: olpikki dunt immier!"
"Has it really worked?" said Faelinn, incredulous, as he looked at the sprout emerging from the ground. "I had a problem with patiis."
"If even an elf couldn't do it, let alone us!" Yantau replied humorously.
"So it works," Alkitmi said thoughtfully.
"It's a pity we can't do this in class, the teachers would notice it straight away!"
"Can't we find something to use it on? What do you say we try to summon a unicorn?"
The unicorn that had been wandering among the tables at the banquet the day they had arrived at the school was an inhabitant of the local woods, but none of them have managed to make friends with it yet - the wary creature had sensed them from afar and silently slunk away into the thicket.
"Shh, the yellow-haired ones are not far away!" Yumial warned in a whisper as she glanced around.
The carefree chatter subsided in an instant as they saw the four anzimars returning to the school.
"What if we tried it on them?" with a conspiratorial wink, Yantau suggested.
"Don't be afraid, they will not dare to attack us all," he added with a mischievous smile after a second, noticing the indecision on the faces of his comrades.
"We are not afraid. But it's better if it doesn't hurt, but will be insulting," Iwiel replied.
" How about drawing the illusion of some scary beast or evil giant in front of their noses?"
"No, they'll guess right away that they're not real."
"What about the Air Stream?" Tiis-Mir suggested.
They liked that idea better.
"If all of us together, it should be a real hurricane! And let it scatter them in different directions!"
"You know the formula, don't you?" Ruum-Fib inquired. "Waznirr ivrogt, just in case!"
"What's there to remember, two words only! Point your staff, and we won't let you down!"
It turned out really well - the wave of air, blowing up a pile of fallen leaves, caught Kunfor and tossed him aside Drega so that they both couldn't keep their feet.
"Hey, why are you falling?" Hindag got excited.
"We didn't do it ourselves, we were pushed!" Kunfor stood up and tried to excuse himself.
"Idiot! You were pushed by magic!" Germeht was angry, looking back at the group of their classmates. But Ruum-Feeb had already hidden his wand behind his back, and they were all smiling mockingly, glaring at the anzimars in defiance. Yantau was right: the blue-eyes did not accept the challenge without the advantage of numbers and ghosts on their side. Instead, they preferred to hurry away.
"That's it!" Naar-Tam exclaimed triumphantly. "Let them know who we are!"
"We are strong together!" the others cheered.
Tim was not so optimistic, but the general enthusiasm took hold of him as well. Together they tried to summon the unicorn, but it did not respond. Failure, however, did not upset them too much and so when Parial suggested a game of feyo, most eagerly agreed. After playing a few rounds, Tim suddenly discovered that Ri-Bo never showed up. He couldn't have slipped past them, which meant he was still wandering in the woods. Or holed up in some hiding place, unaware that the anzimars had long since returned to school. What if something happened to him? Tim felt a little uncomfortable at the thought and took the first opportunity to get out of the game.
Naar-Tam, noticing his friend's excitement, followed his example. Together they wandered in search of their friend, though they had no idea where he might be.
"Let's see where the blue-eyes came from," Tim suggested.
"And we'll find out what they were doing in the forest," Naar-Tam picked up on that.
But they didn't find anything suspicious. The forest was as usual and nothing disturbed the tranquility of the place. After wandering around for a while, they found one of the paths that led deep into the forest. They called out to the tilfing from time to time, but no one responded. In the end, a little weary from the search, they sat down to rest on the trunk of a fallen tree, the top of which had been carefully peeled off the bark as if to serve as a bench.
"Without a search spell, there's not much to find in this thicket," Tim sighed.
"We could try to call him with the Magic Call," Naar-Tam suggested. "And what if it works! Smillt destro saes! Ri-Bo, we've been looking for you!"
They waited a few minutes, but there was no response.
"It must not have worked. I might have made a mistake in the formula," the peirot tried to justify himself.
"Or maybe it just didn't have enough power," Tim said in a conciliatory tone. "We should practice on each other if we get the chance. For example, I hide something, and then I mentally tell you where it is, and you go and get it."
"That's a great idea!" Naar-Tam's eyes lit up. "Because many spells it is not even clear how to train (Tim was reminded of Yantau, who had tried to use Eyes Away on him). We, Children of Fire, are more accustomed to Elemental magic, because if it works, you know it works! As far as Mind magic, that's more for yusmes."
"Oh, by the way, now that the Children of the Water are mentioned, here's the thing," Tim hesitated, but then realized right away that if he backed out, he would never make up his mind, "I have a desire to invite one yusme to our team..."
"I can guess which one," Naar-Tam grinned. "You should have said so long ago, why are you dragging your tail?"
"I was afraid that you would misunderstand."
"Nonsense. I personally have nothing against Selkise, she's a great girl. So you can count on me. But," Naar-Tam's face took on a sly expression that was not usually its usual expression, "I'll ask for your support in return."
"What kind of support? If I can do it, no problem," Tim exhaled in relief.
"Totally. I've been thinking about expanding the team, too. Tiis-Mir has been bugging me lately, wondering when we're going camping, and she wants to come with us because she thinks we're going to explore the backwoods of the woods. I make all kinds of excuses, but sooner or later she'll think we're ignoring her and she'll be offended."
"Will she keep her mouth shut? Otherwise, it will be like that time..."
"No! If you don't warn her, Tiis-Mir might say something, but if she gives her word, she'll keep it. I have already had the opportunity to make sure of that. She has nothing to do with Gook-Luk, who got no bones in her tongue. If you want the whole class to know about something, tell Gook in confidence!"
"Worse than that, she is not only talkative, but also a bit of a coward. It's better not to go on a scouting trip with her at all. All right, if you vouch for Tiis, let her be on the team. All that's left now is to convince the others."
"Nonsense, we'll manage it," Naar-Tam brightened up. "It'll be a lot easier with the two of us. When we get Ri-Bo, we'll start with him. We've wasted so much time looking for him, that he just wouldn't dare refuse! By the way, it's about time to continue our search!"
And they turned off the path and went deeper into the thicket of temuizes - willow-like midget trees. Here was a perfect place for a game of hide-and-seek: unless you came close and spread the branches bent to the ground, you would never know whether there was anyone or no one under the tree. Of course, they did not check all the trees, but simply walked and looked around, calling out to Ri-Bo from time to time, but still without success. At last they stumbled upon another path - an almost inconspicuous one, probably long since unused. It led to a part of the forest where none of them had been before. They followed it and soon found themselves at a fork in the road. Three half-worn arrows and nearly illegible inscriptions next to each of them could still be discerned on a battered and blackened by time signpost. Next to the arrow pointing to the left was 'fallen trees', next to the arrow to the right was 'ravine', and below the arrow pointing upward was 'don't go there'.
Fallen trees and the ravine interested them much less than the last inscription - why couldn't they go straight? After a moment's hesitation, they decided to walk a little ahead, but if something went wrong, they would turn right back.
At first, however, nothing seemed to suggest trouble except that the trees surrounding them on all sides had become gloomy and the birds were no longer chirping. The sun barely penetrated the thick clusters of trees, making it seem as if it was evening. Their voices became increasingly muffled, and it was getting harder and harder to make out what each of them was saying. They could also feel that someone's unkind eyes were watching them. At one point Naar-Tam became so uncomfortable that he risked lighting the torch.
"Let it get a little brighter! It's not time to go to bed yet!"
The fire that flashed above him dispersed the gloom all around them. The shadows retreated, but they did not disappear, hiding behind the trees, and the feeling of evil emanating from them only grew stronger; Tim could literally feel it in his skin. They must get out of there now, or disaster will happen! Too late: the ground seemed to shoot up around Naar-Tam, and dozens of thin but strong roots wrapped around his legs and torso; branches began to slam over his head, trying to put out the fire. Hoping for release, the peirot stopped the spell, but the roots continued to hold him, not even trying to loosen their grip. Tim grabbed hold of one of them and tried to break it off, but only the tip was torn from its base. One of the branches slapped him on the head, right on the spot that had not yet healed.
"Ayyy! What a bastard! If I had an axe here, or at least a saw, I'd show them!"
"No, you'd better run and get help! We can't do it alone!"
"But we won't retreat without a fight! Try to give them a good fire, in case they get scared!"
But that wasn't good advice: just as Naar-Tam was setting fire to the foliage around his roots, a particularly long branch wrapped itself around his neck. Angered, Tim grasped it and broke it in half with a desperate effort, skinned the palms of his hands. The punishment was immediate - another batch of roots braided his legs.
"You should have listened to me, now we're both trapped," Naar-Tam remarked reproachfully.
"I hope not for long," Tim reassured him, though he was aware of the futility of his hopes. "But next time without an axe I will not come here! Maybe the dwarves have a spare!"
The leaves rustled menacingly in response, and no one knows how it would have ended, but a glimmer of bright light cut through the darkness around them. It was the unicorn, and the trees were silent as it approached, lifting up their branches and not even trying to attack. A bluish cloud burst from its horn enveloped the friends, and the tree shackles fell from them, hiding back in the ground. But as Tim took one step toward their savior, it rushed away, and all they had to do was shout "thank you!".
And then, though nothing else was threatening, they turned back, eager to get out of the place as quickly as possible.
"And they said the forest was perfectly safe!" Naar Tam was indignant when they arrived at the fork again. "It's a disaster in broad daylight!"
"In our fairy tales, the forest is often hostile to man," Tim shrugged. "It's not hard to get lost in even an ordinary forest and get eaten by wild beasts. And in the magical one you can turn into a beast yourself, fall asleep for about a hundred years, or even to be transported into another world. I agree, if it weren't for the statements about the safety of the local flora, I wouldn't have gone into that thicket."
"Neither would I. It's very grim up there. I'd better warn everyone else to stay out of that neck of the woods."
"Actually, there's a warning posted up there, but we've ignored it. Even though we knew Ri-Bo couldn't possibly have gone there."
"But it was very interesting! Wasn't it?"
"Of course, otherwise I wouldn't have gone myself, and I would have talked you out of it. But then we wouldn't have met the unicorn. You can brag about knowing him now."
"No, I'd rather not say anything. If we could be friends, that would be another matter! But I don't think such a mighty creature would want anything to do with an ordinary schoolboy."
"Yeah, that's a hard friendship to earn. But I guess it's still possible - especially if you know how. Okay, we'll figure something out. Let's go back now - I don't think there's any point in looking for Ri-Bo any further."
In the end, Tim was right - when they returned to the company, who continued to play feyo, they learned that Ri-Bo had passed by just before them and looked a little out of sorts. When asked if he was all right, he didn't answer and ran off in the direction of the school.
That's where our friends went, too.