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The remainder of the journey is uneventful, and you arrive at the oracle's cave with the sun already set, and the moon visible above the peaks. The entrance is a perfectly round hole in the side of the mountain, with slabs of fallen stone forming a crude staircase up to its mouth. Helmod takes the lead here, feeling his way up the stairs with his walking sticks and passing fearlessly through the threshold of the cave. You reluctantly follow.
It's dark inside, but cool, with a strong breeze blowing out from the depths of the cave. You can hear the faint rush of water, which tightens your throat with thirst, but Helmod seems to go away from it, keeping his hand on the left wall until he finally comes to a chamber which is completely dark. You move to light a torch, but he grabs your wrist.
An austere, feminine voice speaks from the darkness, the words bouncing off the walls around you into the tunnel behind. "I saw your coming," it says. "Do you have the offering?"
Helmod falls on his knees and yanks the opal ring from his finger, presenting it to the voice in his palms.
"And the other?" the voice asks.
"No," Helmod says. "He's no one. Just my escort."
"Then he must wait outside. Two may not hear the words meant for one."
Helmod reaches into his robes, pulls out his waterskin and slides it to you. "Wait for me by the pools," he commands.
Having come this far, you had hoped to at least see the oracle's face, if only for the sake of having a story to tell to your sister. Already, a strange pale light is beginning to dawn in the chamber. You see now that the ceiling, which you had thought so distant as to be lost in darkness, is in fact open to the air, and it is the radiance of the moon which is slowly filling the chamber. There are similar slabs of stone here, leading up to a broad shelf on which you can make out the shadowy shape of a woman in loose robes. Just a little longer and the light will be strong enough to make out her face.
Helmod pokes you with his walking stick, hissing at you to go.
What do you want to do?
>Do as Helmod says and wait by the pools
>Try and speak to the oracle yourself
>Pretend to go, but then hide and listen in
>Write-in
