Gretel returned from the mountain, unscathed and expressionless, the point of her spear pure. Hardly a word was spoken during the seven days it took to get back to their camp. The seventh day marked three months since Rodrick had left them alone. They anxiously made their way to the spot where they had last seen him, and there he waited upon a rock, with a straw hat on his head and a pipe in his mouth. “My dear pupils!” he cried. “Alas, I was beginning to fear for the worst! But of course I never doubted your success for a second. You all look very tired, and I can see already, clear as day, that this adventure has changed you, as it should have! But we will talk of that later!” His eyes darted from face to face. He clapped his hands together and smiled. “Now, I believe you have a trophy to show me! Where is it? Which beast did you choose to slay?”
Victor’s heart fluttered. He tried to speak but the words caught in his throat, until at last he managed to stammer: “There was no beast – at least, none of which you described. We scoured the mountains and crossed the desert, but encountered no evil.”
Rodrick was silent for an excruciating amount of time. He tilted his head and looked into each of their eyes. And then, slowly, his lips curled into a smile, and his eyes lit up. “Oh, thank goodness! Thank goodness! I don’t think I have to say anymore. You have passed the test. It’s about time we made our way home!”
Home. What did that even mean anymore? Victor had been so preoccupied with surviving the last three months that he had barely thought of home at all. To his bemusement he felt deep down that he would be leaving the safety of the wild to face some new unknown perils at the place he had once thought of as home.
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