by Lea Ryan
Part 9
Gareth returned with no Mordecai, hours later, Juniper guessed. She had lost all track of time.
In a huff, he stormed into the prison and dropped into the chair at his table. He glared at the floor with his hands in his coat pockets.
"No luck?"
He grimaced, "No."
"Too bad. You seemed eager to catch him."
He looked at her, "Mordecai is the worst kind of offender. He's a hypocrite. He captured more of these souls than I did. I’m a failure because he is free."
"What would happen if you released them?"
"Who?"
"The souls, the prisoners - what if you let them go?"
"Then I would be replaced and hunted by my successor."
"Like Mordecai."
"This line of conversation is trouble I won't have. I won’t release anyone." He shuffled his feet on the floor. "I should've been smarter. When Cricket brought you, I should have known he was nearby. I was so focused on you..."
"Yeah, I'm a total distraction." Juniper decided to spring her idea on him. "What if I could get Cricket to lead you to Mordecai?" She would convince him to settle for the mirror later if she had to. The initial offer had to be irresistible to him.
"Are you asking me to trade? Let you go?"
Gareth rested his elbow on the table and his chin in his hand. He studied her for a few moments.
"Would you interfere on the mortal plane again?"
"Probably. I need to see if Nikki is okay."
"So, even if I let you go, you would probably just end up here again."
"It's entirely possible." Juniper nodded. Regardless of whether the trade idea worked out, she would make a run for it. Any time outside the prison walls held the possibility for an escape.
Gareth, warden of lost souls, opened the cage door. He held up the manacles.
She grumbled inwardly. She wouldn't be able to flee at the end of a leash.
"Is there any way we could skip the manacles this time? Mordecai attacked me before."
His eyes narrowed, "If you try to trick me, I will no longer exempt you from the torture. You will receive the same treatment they receive." Gareth stroked the side of her face and hair. "Part of me would enjoy undoing your beauty."
"The manacles can stay off then?"
"Yes."
The lost souls raised a cacophony of cheers and sobs and animalistic roars of anger. Some slammed against the bars. They wanted out as badly as she did.
Juniper gave them a last look as she left with Gareth and his jackals. She never wanted to come back, and she certainly didn't want to become a lost soul.
Back through the open interior of the hollow mountain, beneath patrolling harpies, through the cave tunnel and its golden light, they traveled together again. Day Limbo was in full effect with its light gray sky and haze all around. Being outside made her feel like part of the world again.
At the cave entrance, Gareth asked, "Where should we go?"
"Cricket usually finds me. She might appear more quickly if we put some distance between us and the prison." Juniper wasn't sure the girl would show herself at all with Gareth close by.
"Walk then, out in front where I can keep an eye on you."
They doubled back to the trench in which Mordecai’s house previously rested. Juniper kept walking, the more distance, the better, onto a lowland where a forest of those bare, black trees stood.
"Stop." Gareth ordered. "Do you have a destination or did you just want to take a pleasure stroll?"
"I thought she would have found me by now." Juniper cupped her hands around her mouth and yelled, "Cricket! Come out!"
"This isn't going to work."
His jackals paced, sniffing the ground and the air.
As Gareth ran low on patience, Juniper ran low on time. She only had a few minutes until the guardian would give up and turn back.
She looked longingly into the trees. If only she could run fast enough…
"Cricket!" She called out again, desperation cracking her voice.
"Enough. This is a waste of -" Gareth stopped.
Juniper looked down the path into the trees to see the shape of a little girl in a knitted hat come out of the fog.
