UnSeelie XXIV

The passage was narrow with just enough room to maneuver in if he paid attention and was mindful of the barbs.  He kept close watch on the white branches and walked ahead a few steps and stopped abruptly as the color began to disappear.      He turned around to locate the way again.     

Confused frustration clouded his exhausted mind.  The grey silver seemed to sparkle with intensity causing the glow of the ivory to fade.  He had barely made it into the maze and now he had to deal with this shit.  Was nothing ever simple here?

Close your eyes.   

“Close my eyes?”  He muttered out loud to the voice.  “You’ve got to be kidding me, right?    How in the hell am I going to find my way through this mess if I close my eyes?”

Trust me.

“Why should I?  Look at the mess we’re in now.”    A short burst of pain shot through his head making him close his eyes in blinding pain.    He groaned and nearly lost his balance.    “Damn it.  And you want me to trust you?”    He grounded out between clenched teeth as he held his pounding head.   

Keep your eyes closed, the voice warned.    You will see.

He could see the path clearly in his head, the barbs glowed like stars and the ground shone like a negative proof under his feet.    Stay away from the shadows and you will be able to find your way.             

The night hummed with electric charges as he navigated the twists and turns around him.      With each step the childhood poem Jabberwocky clattered around in his mind.   

‘Beware the Jabberwock, my son!  The jaws that bite, the claws that catch!’*

He stopped as the path began to dim.    Warnings went off in his head to back up, watch the shadowed areas for the thorns there were waiting.    Something slithered on the ground close to his feet.    Small vines reached out advancing toward his face, he slowly back away until the area brightened again.   

He could hear movement among the brambles, the limbs retreating from any form of light.  He had to put all his concentration on surviving to find the center of the maze.    Small rustling sounds could be heard from time to time as he kept his pace steady and focused.    His filthy tartan had long dried and his stomach rumbled with hunger.    He had not really been allowed much time to eat or even take anything but the coins with him when they dropped him in this hellhole.  Faun’s warning about the food came back to him in a bitter reminder.   

“Damn, can’t worry about that now.    Let’s make it through this shit first.”  He continued down the next narrow lane where the light steadily got more brilliant with each turn.