"I've had word from The Oracle, and it's as I feared, the Raven has grown in strength considerably, it seems that since the last pilgrimage he's worked aggressively to assemble a coalition of some of the most impressive people in the world, stopping them is going to be extremely difficult."

For days Robert had waited anxiously for the Goose to return with more information about the Raven. The Goose had been gone for three days and in that time Robert contemplated the intense feelings of loneliness and emptiness that he felt in the Goose's absence. Experiencing such feelings was a first for him; he'd always been perfectly comfortable in solitude. He wondered if the goose had done something to him, if it had used its powers to make him dependent on it to ensure his loyalty as a disciple.

There was so much about the goose that he didn't know that Robert had to remind himself that he couldn't just have blind faith in it. But then, if that was the case, what could he do? He had already agreed to assist the goose and the goose's power was such that Robert dared not imagine what the consequences would be should he decline to assist the goose further. What caused Robert to give to goose the benefit of the doubt was the raven, a being that, from the goose's description, was the embodiment of malevolence, an almost satanic like being. Robert wasn't a religious person--never had been--but having been thrust into a battle of enormous consequence between two opposing forces of the goose and the raven Robert decided that the side he should be on was that of the goose.

When the goose returned from its information gathering exercise Robert felt ridiculous for having entertained thoughts about the goose manipulating him. The goose was an honest being, everything about it said as much. Its reappearance in his life was a great comfort to Robert, who was looking forward to beginning the pilgrimage.

"Can we beat him?"

"We can, but it's going to be extremely difficult, and I can't guarantee that we're not going to have to do things that I wouldn't ordinarily do."

"Such as what?"

"Awakening."

"Awakening?"

"You know how dangerous that is," the Oracle said. She appeared out of nowhere and walked toward them from the corner of the room.

"It may be our only option, given what a formidable foe the raven is going to be this time around."

"If you awaken them and they see what's happened in the thousands of years since they went to sleep their anger will make them more dangerous than the raven."

"I'm sorry, but who are you talking about waking up?" Robert asked.

"The Guardians, they've been asleep for nearly 6000 years; ordinarily during the pilgrimage you'd visit their hibernation sites to gather a tiny fraction of their power for the egg, but this time the goose wants to go all the way and wake them up," the Oracle answered.

"Why did these Guardians go to sleep in the first place?"

"Humanity started building sustainable civilizations, they weren't needed anymore so they went to sleep, and they haven't woken up since," the goose said.

"And why are they going to be angry?"

"Certain promises were made that haven't been kept, mostly pertaining to the health of the planet."

"If you're intent on going through with this then you should start with Iowa, he can be a great help to you with the rest," the Oracle said to the goose.

"Are we going to the forest?" Robert asked.

"Yes Robert, we're going to the forest," the Goose answered.