‘Remove the shawl,’ it told him.

Nab had worn the beautiful multi-coloured shawl in which Brock had found him wrapped as a baby for so long that he had almost forgotten he had it. Next to his skin it lay as it always had. He took off all his outer garments until he reached the Belt of Ammdar and then, gripping the two clasps firmly, he unbuckled it and placed it on the earth. Now the shawl flapped loosely about his shoulders in the wind, its colours flashing in the sun. He took it off and laid it out on the ground. Seeing it again filled Nab with memories of Silver Wood and especially of Tara; Tara who had looked after him for so long and with whom he had had so many happy times in those early days, laughing and playing on long winter nights or on warm balmy summer evenings outside the sett.

‘Now unlock the caskets on the Belt of Ammdar. Remove the Three Faradawn and scatter them over the shawl. First the Faradawn of the Woods, then the Faradawn of the Sea and finally the Faradawn of the Mountains.’

Nab did as he was asked and as the contents of the caskets fell over the shawl the wind seemed to hold them firmly down so that none blew away.

Then the Voice of Ashgaroth spoke again, high, clear and pure in the wind.

‘Now is the end. And we are only just in time, for the world of the Urkku is coming to its conclusion. They are destroying themselves. Yet as I pledged, the animals and the Eldron will be saved. You have achieved what I asked of you; you and the chosen ones from Silver Wood, and I am well pleased. Take the caskets from the Belt and fill them with water from the pool. Then sprinkle the water over the shawl and the way will be clear.’

The three metal caskets unclipped easily. Nab bent down and scooped each one in the pool till it was full and then carefully carried them back to where the shawl lay flat on the dark peaty earth. Sam sat patiently watching a few paces away at the edge of the plateau. Nab could feel his heart thumping under his chest in excitement and apprehension but there was no fear, simply a sense of satisfaction. Then very gently, his hand shaking a little, he lifted the first casket and began to sprinkle the brackish water over the brilliant colours of the shawl. Nothing happened. He picked up the second casket and sprinkled the water from that over it but again nothing happened. Now it was the last of the caskets. The water fell evenly in little droplets and then, when the last drop had fallen the shawl burst into brilliant life and gave forth a glow so bright that Nab and Sam turned away and covered their eyes to shield them from the light. In a second it had died away and cautiously Nab looked back. All the colours and patterns had come together to form a picture of the world. On it they could see all the mountains and the woods and the seas, and over all the picture were lines which shone with a pure white light; a network of lines each leading to a point on the map. Nab looked at the picture of his own country and recognized the points as the Scyttels and the lines as the Roosdyche along which they had journeyed. Unknown to Nab, at the same moment that he was staring at the picture on the summits of the Peak of Ivett, so did the lines appear over all the lands and seas of the earth yet they could be seen only by the animals and by the Eldron and they wondered at them and felt themselves drawn along the lines so that throughout the world all the animals and the Eldron began to journey together along the ancient pathways and tracks of the Roosdyche.

It was then that the world was shaken by the first blast. Beneath his feet Nab felt the mountain shudder violently and he fell over. Before he could get up another, louder, blast filled the sky and he felt himself thrown backwards by a searing blast of heat which scorched his flesh and singed his hair. Sam crawled across to him whimpering and terrified and they raised their eyes and looked out on a gigantic mushroom which billowed and grew up from the earth. Nab watched, transfixed by its awesome beauty as the brilliance of its colours burned themselves into his brain and the evening grew light again. Higher and higher it rose, growing all the time until the sun was blotted out and the sky was merely a frame around its edges. All the time Nab watched he could feel the earth quivering and shaking under him and then, out of the corner of his eye, he saw the oak tree moving its branches gracefully over the pool and, tearing his eyes away from the hypnotic beauty of the great cloud, he saw the pool suddenly drain of water so that there was simply a gaping hole in the earth where it had been. But then he saw that there was a roughly hewn flight of steps down the side of the hole; steps which appeared to lead down for ever for he could see no end to them.

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.