Being confronted with the fire on the torch, but most of all with something the amazon did with the beast's mind, made the giant carnivore decide that the risk was not worth the prey and made it turn around.
The amazon then turned to MacDonald: "Hey, you there, sleeping beauty....time to wake up."
MacDonald woke up, dazed and confused: "What? Who are you? Where am I?" "You're back in Chahar Bagh, or should I say you never left. And as to who I am, my name is Mana Wāhine."
"What do you mean? Where are my buxur? What do you want from me?" "Let's start at the beginning. Everything that happened since you came here was an illusion created by Barði. He blocked out Tornassuk at the entrance and then transformed to Hodēgós, looking for a way to get the buxur."
"Barði? Where is he? I have to save my friends. And I need the submarine to go back to the Inconstant...to find a cure for the aging disease."
"Listen to me! You have no friends here. Tornassuk was blocked out and Hodēgós was in fact the old wizard. You did not find an underwater boat....the mere thought that someone would leave such a thing behind, and you did not see your mates. It was all just a trick to get the buxur. And in the end you gave it to him. Good thing however is that he destroyed it. So no more of it."
"We now first have to find you friend Tornassuk, because he is waiting at the entrance for your return. I you don't go back to him, he will die there waiting for you. Those bears are loyal, if anything."
"Then we will look for your ship and your mates. And even through there is no submarine like the one you saw....I do know of a kingdom under water, technologically very advanced. And me and my people may know a way how to get there. But not in that big boat of yours."
"I can recruit my sisters with their smaller boats to meet with your people. And my sisters know ways to dive up hidden secrets from the bottom of the sea. Me and my people will help you find your cure there if it exists."