Hugh gazed at the man, and could have thought it was he who called the word, "Huuuuu," But the sound was really coming from the wind behind that man, surely from the wind.

The man stepped forward and then spoke the boy's name slowly, "Huuuuu."

Hugh was startled, and he asked, "How do you know me?"

The man laughed gently, and his face reflected the light. He said, "How do I know you? ... "Huuuu" is the word for greeting, for farewell, for me, you, this, that, and everything under the stone. And it's the name of this cave. Sound is one thing we all share the same." The sound became louder for a moment.

"Why do you say 'we?'" asked the boy. "Is someone else here?"

"Yes. And first, my name is Tuza. I have been living here for as long as I have heard the cave singing. I sing with it, and with my friend, Aspir, who came here to learn what caverns' voices are. I stay here to sing with him, though I have other homes: on the beach, in the mountain's forests, and with the winged ones on the peak."

Hugh recalled his own friend, Hansa. "Have you seen a swan fly into your cave? He was a lovely white thing."

There are are white mists," replied the man, "that sail into the cave. Some stay here, some drift out, and fly white like swans."

Hugh said, "I'm not looking for mists. I'm looking for a bright, living swan, and he is here."

"There are no bright things, no bright swans in this cavern. He is probably flying in the blue sky right now while you are looking for him in darkness." The man smiled at Hugh, and began to walk toward a deeper part of the cave, saying, "Before you go back on your journey, I want you to meet my young friend, Aspir."