Labyrinth: A Darker Season

Chapter 6

Sarah packed up everything, saddled Shadow and led him outside to mount. She rode up the mountain. The fae in the cowl hooded cloak watched her go up, passing by his cave. He thought that it looked like a young man or boy, but could be human or fae. He just wasn't sure, so he packed up and followed at a distance, trying not to spook him.

Sarah rode along all morning with a niggling feeling that she was being followed but saw nothing. So, she said, “Shadow, I think we are being tracked, but they are keeping out of the line of sight. Let's hide behind that big group of boulders on the right side up ahead of us and watch if they pass.” Shadow nickered. When he got up there, Sarah had him backed up behind the boulders. Sarah wished for horse prints in the snow to go up to the top of the mountain. They waited.

…And they waited, until a man in black passed by them. Sarah let him get far enough ahead of them and started following him out of the line of sight. She watched the hoof prints and knew he was up there, then she saw them veer off.

Sarah said softly, “I 'wish' to bind the hands of the man in black tracking me behind his back.” She moved forward slowly to see the man in black struggling on the horse with his hands behind his back.

Sarah said in a low voice, “What trouble are you looking for?” The fae man stopped and looked at her but still could not make out whether she was human or not.

The man demanded, “Let me go!”

Sarah laughed all throaty low and proceeded up the mountain. The man yelled, “You can't just leave me out here like this!” She had Shadow back up a bit.

Sarah said in her low voice, “Oh, yes, I can. Tell me who you are and why you followed me like a tracker and what you are thinking of doing, or I'll make you.”

The fae snidely said, “You can't make me do anything.”
Sarah turned around in her saddle and softly said, mumbling, “I 'wish' that this man would tell me the truth of why he is following me and what he wants.”

Sarah said in a low voice, “Tell me what I want to know and the truth, or die out here.”

The man struggled and was compelled but fighting the words, “I wanted… to know… if you were…hu…human or what, since…  last night when I… looked in… your cave. If you were… human… I was going to sell you…to the ogres or centaurs… for money because I haven't had a bounty in a while.”

Sarah said, “You sure are stupid because I am human and you're dead. How do you like that for fate? Thought you'd ruin my life, and now you'll die for it.” She shook her head and started up the mountain again.

The man screamed after her, “I didn't mean to do it! Please help me!”

Sarah said, “I 'wish' that that man could no longer commit a crime or sell another human again.” She stopped and turned around. She took the man's reins and tied it to her saddle.

The man said softly, “Thank you, thank you.”

Sarah said in a low voice, “Shut up!”

She stopped to feed her kittens, never bringing them out of the pouch into the cold.

The man asked, “What creatures do you have in that pouch?”

Sarah said, “None of your damn business. I said to shut up, and you will, or I'll leave you here again.” When she was done feeding the kittens and ate a cookie, she proceeded up to the town.

By nightfall, they reached the town of Féasóg. As they approached, Sarah wished that the man could not perform any magic on her or her animals or gear.

Once she tethered him to the post outside the inn, Sarah boarded Shadow and brought her gear with her to the inn. She stood at the door of the inn, wished to release his hands, and went inside to get a room for a week.