The return journey was filled with silence. No one wanted to start a conversation. Compared to the euphoria of the beginning of the journey, everyone felt exhausted now.

Nialeeka slept most of the way, falling asleep and waking up again. She looked around and saw that the sun was already going down. It turned out that the loud voices nearby awakened her.

"What?... What's the matter?..."

"We missed the turn," Zira immediately informed her. "And later we entered the stream that also leads to Odiern."

"What's the difference?"

"We'll spend more time on the boat, I think."

Despite Zira's calm tone, the situation was alarming.

The stream they sailed into had a faster flow, and it was necessary to control the boat on it doubly carefully.

According to the brothers, this part of the river changed its course, so it is not known what they will stumble upon here.

The words turned out to be somewhat prophetic. They really stumbled upon something.

When their boat passed the sharp bend of the river, it collided with stones underwater.

Due to the impact from the collision, the boat warped, and it tilted to one side. Those who couldn't stay on it immediately fell into the water. Zira quickly swam to the surface and grabbed the low side of the boat. Raden and Nialeeka were less fortunate. Raden was thrown away farthest, and Nialeeka didn't like to swim, so she quickly began to sink. Raden looked around and swam to the boat, but when he saw that Nialeeka was in trouble, he swam to her. The girl grabbed him, and they got to the boat after some effort. Attyon and the warriors of Phelan pulled them out of the water.

"Where's Camil?" Not having time to cough, Nialeeka asked.

Everybody looked around and didn't find him on the boat.

The boy will soon become the embodiment of bad luck. Children didn't accept him, he almost died a couple of days ago, and now he is to be washed away by the river.

Raden cursed but quickly found him on the river. He again jumped into the water for the boy. When the boat nearly rolled over, Camil slept soundly.

Zira cleared her throat and saw that Raden was able not without difficulty take a boy who swallowed water back to the boat. However, they had to find out what caused their vessel to stop in the middle of the swamp river. The front of the boat wasn't damaged, but it came across something underwater that prevented the boat from moving. Zira checked for cracks or potholes on the hull, everything she saw above the water was intact. But it was necessary to see the situation underwater.

Attyon came to the same conclusion, jumped into the water and dived into the muddy water. Visibility under the water surface allowed him to see quite a bit, so the young man examined everything by touch. Under his palms, he felt a muddy surface. He noticed that these surfaces are too flat and smooth to be a simple stone. He surfaced to catch his breath and again rushed under the water. This time he was able to see that the stone formation underwater is more extended than he had previously thought. He emerged and realized that he was about five meters from the boat. The current wasn't strong, but he leaned on the top of the stone wall to stay in place. The underwater stone wall didn't reach the surface of the water quite a bit.

"It's amazing what you can find in the rivers of the River Valley," he muttered. "It was definitely a wall of something."

He had heard legends before that their homeland used to be full of cities. He didn't give them any attention, dismissing all sorts of theories of his teacher. Now he has to admit that the old man was right.

Cities didn't disappear, weren't destroyed; they fell under the water. The weather changed, water came, and this led to a disaster.

Attyon was tempted to continue teacher's studies as soon as he returned from his journey. In the meantime, he should catch up and find out everything possible about old legends.

The young man waved to those remaining on the boat, and they were astounded. After all, Attyon sat on top of a stone wall and smiled at something.

Raden was angry with everything and everyone around and cursed while he got out the oars. He distributed them to the men accompanying them on this short voyage and began to command the rescue of the boat from stone captivity. They carefully lead the boat around the barrier that appeared in the middle of this stream to the place where Attyon was.

The River Valley is continuously changing. It's a swamp, and every year the water finds new ways for itself. Many new rivers and channels appear, and you can't even make a map. The situation is the same. This year the water current went to the previously swampy area, where a person's foot hadn't stepped before.

In some ways, everyone who floats in the River Valley can be considered pioneers. Most people walk and swim along well-trodden paths, and for their safety, they don't seek to explore what is outside the safe zone.

If they were more attentive, they would now be on the same calm river that would lead them to the fields in the east of Odiern. However, fate decreed otherwise and led them to this stream. It is not yet known whether they will get to their home through this creek.

Attyon shared his suspicions with everyone. He didn't mention anything about the underwater building; he only said that he believed that such stone walls continue further, and there is no point in sailing forward. Raden decided to turn back and look for the right turn. The warriors of their father agreed with their conclusions.