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stone and made the crack widen as the panel easily slipped to the side.
    “This is the way we need to leave,” he told them.
    “Where does it go?” Porenn asked in astonishment, as she and Glaze walked over to Marco together.  “Does it go to the underwater temple you told me about?  I didn’t really think it existed,” she admitted with a sly smile at him.
    “Come down with me and I’ll show you,” Marco answered as he stooped to pass through the low opening, and left the temple behind.  Glaze and Porenn stood momentarily together in the temple, and looked at one another, then Glaze shrugged his shoulders, and motioned for Porenn to go first.
    She stooped down and went into the cavern, followed by Glaze, and they cautiously stepped over to where they could vaguely see Marco sitting on the edge of the opening to the chute that led downward through the rocky mountain.
    “I don’t know if I should do this,” she spoke tentatively.  “I think that maybe I should just wait for the temple to be opened in the morning.”
    “It’s too late for that,” Glaze replied.  He gestured back to where the opening to the temple had been; the pale square of marble had closed while they had their backs to it.
    “No!” Porenn cried in surprise, and she dashed back to the wall and began to feel it with her hands, searching for a way to open the wall and return to the temple.
    Glaze looked at Marco in shock.  “What happens to her?” he asked.
    “I think she has to come with us,” Marco answered softly.
    Glaze stared at Marco, then jogged over to Porenn.  He put his arm around her shoulders as he spoke softly to her for several seconds.  She glanced over at Marco, then she looked up at Glaze’s face.  A moment later she slumped her shoulders in defeat, and moved out of Glaze’s comforting embrace to approach Marco in the dim cavern.
    “Where are you taking me?  Why are you making me leave the temple?” she asked as she stood very close, her face just inches from his.  “Do I have to leave the Isle?”
    “I am not making you leave, Porenn,” he answered gently, moved by the emotion he heard in her voice.  “The spirit of your island has opened this door for us to leave.  I can’t tell you any more than that, except that this way out of the temple has some extraordinary experiences of its own.  The spirit seems to have plans for you.
    “Let’s go this way and see what happens.  You can still get back to the village from here, I promise,” he assured her.  He was confident that the local dolphins would be willing to transport them around the island to any place they wanted to go.
    Which made him wonder, as he looked up at Porenn and Glaze, where did he want to go?  Should he go back to the village too, to face the hostile women?  Should he have dolphins carry he and Glaze directly back to Barcelon, going all the distance through the water?  It was sure to be a colder journey during this time of the year, and he doubted Glaze had ever spent multiple days immersed in seawater, which would be extremely uncomfortable, but at the same time it was a sure way to travel without facing the village disapproval.
    With a grunt, and a reflection that whatever happened in their journey, he was thankful that the powers of the temple had restored his ability to move, Marco set his foot on a protruding stone, and began to slip down the stony way out of their predicament.
    He descended five feet down, and saw Glaze dropping his feet down as well.  Marco went down several more steps, then looked up into the gloom above.  Glaze was visible on his way down, but Porenn was not.
    “Is she coming with us?” Marco asked softly.
    “I don’t know,” Glaze’s voice was filled with concern.  “I want her to.”
    “Ask her,” Marco told his friend.
    “Porenn?” Glaze immediately spoke upward.  “Are you coming with us?”
    “I’m afraid,” the girl’s voice softly floated downward.
    “We’ll catch you;