The ice cold enclosed him and he began to shiver. An uneasy feeling grew inside him, a sign of impending danger.
Vrenli glided slowly within a hundred paces, when suddenly a black shadow appeared above him. He looked up and saw a large, black crow flying towards him. It grabbed him with its sharp claws that dug into the flesh on his back through his clothes. He screamed out. In a dive, the large bird raced with him towards the icy surface of the lake. Vrenli felt the bird's grip loosen. Crying out for help, he plunged onto the lake, which broke at the force of the impact. He plunged into the water and froze. Slowly, he sank down into the deep darkness. Close to fainting, he closed his eyes. He tried to call Nagulaj's name, but his mouth immediately filled with the foul-tasting lake water.
A warm hand grabbed his shoulder. Coughing and gasping for air, Vrenli opened his eyes and drenched in sweat, looked at Nagulaj, who was sitting next to him by the fireplace in front of his tent.
"You had a vision. Don't be afraid," Nagulaj said. Vrenli, pale as a sheet, couldn't get a word past his lips.
Nagulaj handed Vrenli a cup of tea made from desert herbs, which he drank hastily.
"Here, eat," he offered him a piece of pulp from the cactus.
Vrenli greedily sucked in the fruity sweetness and recoiled when Nagulaj handed him the pipe again, its contents still glowing.
"There's more for you to see. You mustn’t be fearful," Nagulaj said gently and pressed the pipe into Vrenli's hand.
"I flew over places, towns and settlements far to the east. I saw terrible, terrifying beings and creatures. They were all preparing to move north, where there was a massive, dark fortress that lay in the middle of a lake covered in mist. These places were dark and evil, and I could feel the hatred that their inhabitants carried within them. What does all this mean?" Vrenli asked him, but he only pointed to the pipe with his bony index finger.
Hesitant and afraid of the unknown, he took a single drag on the mouthpiece. He inhaled the sweet smoke deep into his lungs. He had to cough and gasped for air. He had pulled too hard on the pipe. The smoke from the burning mataii resin billowed out of his mouth and enveloped him. He could no longer recognize Nagulaj because of the thick, acrid clouds of smoke floating in front of him. He closed his eyes for a moment.
When he opened them again and dispelled the last clouds of smoke with a wiping motion of his hand, he saw himself sitting on a branch among the sweet-smelling fruit of a strange tree.
He looked down on a calm and peaceful pond overgrown with ivy and roses, where several silent, white stone sculptures stood.