hear my brother’s concerned voice call. ‘Are you all right? Talk to me.’
I hold my hand up to stop his intrusion. He goes quiet and I open myself to the vision again. Immediately I’m lifted upwards, so that I can see the river for kilometres, winding between mountains and valleys for great distances. Then I’m brought back to my body and we take off again. This time it’s as if I’m in a fast train – a supersonic fast train, that passes straight across the river, through a barren landscape, to a mountain of black ice, and onwards to an island surrounded by an icy lake on which a single, yet incredible structure stands. As the vision disappears, I understand that I have just been shown the way.
I open my eyes and slowly bring Ethan and Matt back into focus. They’re both squatting before me. ‘What did you see?’ Ethan asks.
‘We’re being guided,’ I start to explain. ‘But it’s a long and treacherous journey.’
‘Did you see Arkarian?’ Matt asks.
I shake my head. ‘No, but there’s a building. It looks like an elongated pyramid. It glistens like a shimmering beacon with all the colours of the universe.’
‘It’s the temple,’ Matt says. ‘It’s sacred.’
Both Ethan and I stare at him. Ethan asks, ‘How do you know this?’
A blank expression fills Matt’s eyes, a deep frown forming, and he shrugs.
Dragging his eyes off Matt, Ethan drills me further about my vision and I explain what I remember, ‘This … temple, is on an island. That’s where they’re keeping Arkarian.’
‘Well, if it wasn’t Arkarian who sent you the vision,’ Ethan says, ‘then who’s guiding us? Did you see a face?’
I take his hand, knowing my words are going to shock. ‘Our guide is your sister.’
Chapter Twenty-four
Isabel
We stare at the river for ages, studying it from various angles. And still no one has any idea how to cross it.
‘Well,’ Matt says. ‘One thing’s for sure, we can’t swim it.’
Ethan and I both nod in agreement. This river is just too wild. The speed it’s travelling is staggering. And it’s also icy cold. We wouldn’t live long if we fell into it. Great chunks of ice pass us by. The sound of one hitting the river bank, and exploding into several smaller chunks, echoes like an ear-shattering roll of thunder.
‘We can’t go round it,’ I explain, working moisture into my mouth. ‘This is where we’re meant to cross.’
‘You didn’t see any bridges in that vision of yours, did you?’ Matt asks hopefully.
‘No. But a bridge would be nice. What do you say, Ethan? Can you build one? You know, like you did for me in the ancient city last year?’
He aims his torch across the water. ‘I can’t see the other side. It would be too risky.’
‘Oh well. Now what?’
Suddenly Ethan claps his hands together as if struck by a brilliant idea. ‘Well, that settles it. If I can’t build a bridge, we’ll just have to row.’
Matt flicks his torch around the river bank. ‘And the boat is … where?’
I’m inclined to agree with Matt. Not because I don’t have faith in Ethan’s illusions. I’ve seen the reality Ethan can create with his mind. It’s just, I’m reluctant to get in any boat to cross this river. ‘It’s too fast for a boat. We’ll end up way down river. Or up river. Or …’
‘Somewhere down the bottom,’ Matt finishes for me.
‘It will have oars,’ Ethan says by way of explanation. ‘Good strong oars.’
The thought of crossing this river in a rowing boat has my stomach churning into knots. I take a deep breath to control my composure, at least outwardly for Matt’s sake. But right now Ethan’s idea is the best option we have – in fact, the only option. ‘Give it everything you can, Ethan. I don’t like this river. It’s as if it thinks on its own, but can’t make up its mind on which direction to go. It has a hungry look about it.’
‘I’ll give it a rudder too, one that will work with a rowing boat and help us steer it.’
Matt’s head is shaking as he turns his back to the river to stand in front of Ethan and me. ‘In case you two haven’t noticed, there is no boat. None. Zero. And even if there were, you wouldn’t get me in it, not in these waters.’ His head keeps shaking. ‘You two are crazy.’
Ethan’s tolerance snaps. ‘Do you have a better idea? I mean, you’re supposed to be our leader, aren’t