'Oh shit, why do these things always have to happen to me?'
Once more, Trueth slapped the carpet in frustration, but all she got by way of response was a puff of dust while her conveyance kept hovering halfway up a mountainside. On one side of the recalcitrant rug an abyss presumably loomed; she was too scared to risk even a peep. On her left, rocks covered in lichen and moss might well have offered a false sense of security but did not yield any access. She was stuck between the proverbial rock and hard place. Occasionally, the carpet would waggle its fringes but otherwise showed no inclination whatsoever to continue with their journey.
All had been well until just a short while ago. She had traversed the plain, floating close to the treetops and going at a speed that prevented her getting blasted too badly by the wind: Her craft was very open to the elements and even wrapped up as she was, the cold had started numbing her toes and fingers - as well as her posterior. Once they had approached the triangular mountain that reminded her all too much of a shark's tooth the carpet had duly started rising. It had been shortly afterwards Trueth had felt pleased enough to pat her needlepoint steed, thanking it for the good ride. The carpet seemed to either have taken offense or assumed she wished to go no further. In any case, it had stopped its ascent and there she was, suspended in the air with no way of disembarking on either side. Assuming that Seisi had not woven a fault into his spell, the carpet had either developed a mind of its own or misinterpreted her approval as an 'all engines stop' signal.
What now? None of the spells at her disposal featured carpets. She had already tried a couple of times to flow her healing magic into the stubborn mat. While it might well be feeling sturdier than before, it still was only a rug.
One that insisted on having a rest.
Softly swearing under her breath, Trueth rummaged in her provisions and dug out the black T-shirt Seisi had left behind. It had been through the wash but hopefully traces of his erstwhile owner still lingered and her stupid craft would remember its master. She placed the shirt on the carpet, patted it carefully and pointed towards the skies.
'Go after Seisi!'
The carpet wriggled its fringes once more. Trueth was ready to scream in frustration as a wave rolled through the surface of her conveyance and with a jerk the carpet re-started its ascent.
'Good boy!' Trueth breathed a tremendous sigh of relief, then held on to her breath as the carpet passed rocks, a small waterfall and a couple of bewildered mountain goats clattering up a pebbly trail. The air felt fresh and clean and smelt faintly of pine needles, even if they had left the treeline below them. Suddenly, there was a plateau on her left with a small mountain meadow. The carpet hovered across to the other side, where the snow lay preserved in the eternal shadow of the cliff. There, her transport lowered itself to the ground.
'Is this it?' Trueth asked.
The carpet waggled its fringes in response.
'You're not a good conversationalist,' she said, rose—and swore as stabs of pain shot through her limbs. She had been hunkering in one place for far too long. Having stretched her legs back into working order, she took stock of her sterile environment. Grass, rock, stones, some leftover snow-- and a little snowman sitting under the overhang. Unless the resident goats were into sculptures, this had to be a message from Seisi.
Trueth got up and removed her makeshift rucksack, which Myrtle had created using an old flour sack. Trueth hefted it on her back and walked across to the patch of snow. She got down on her knees, smiled and caressed the figure Seisi had formed from balls of snow. It was crude, but the pointed nose, round ears and hat were unmistakable.
Paddington Bear had been waiting for her on the mountainside, and next to him an arrow pointed towards a trail that was barely discernible among the shadows of the curious rocks. It was littered with mountain goat droppings and snow had partially blown across. She could see footsteps and paw marks in the powdery white, where a man and his faithful hound had made their way. The carpet had got her to the right place after all. Smiling, Trueth bent down and caressed the plump little effigy her creative lover had left behind.
'What was this fuss all about?' Trueth turned towards her conveyance. Or would have had it still been around. Instead, the meadow was empty, flat brownish grass eking out an existence among the rocks and there was nothing beside her and a cold draught that made her shiver. Trueth stomped her foot in exasperation, but it appeared she was stranded. The carpet had not even granted her time to leave a message. At least, she had retrieved her backpack in time.
It appeared she would have to follow wherever Seisi and Dog had gone. She shoved her rucksack up her back, wondered for a brief moment whether she would need it and set out to complete the rest of her journey on foot.
Trueth soon realised she was indeed in mountain goat territory and it did not take long until she was sweating and breathing hard. Nefertiti's good food and all that boating seemed to be catching up with her in the place where she least needed it. She struggled on and followed the path that was thankfully far enough away from any dangerous precipices.
She had not finished counting herself lucky when she rounded another zigzaggy bend and nearly stumbled over a jumble of rocks. In front of the obstacle sat another cute little snow figure. How had Seisi found the time for all this? Trampled snow filled most of the small space in front of the rockslide but on one of the ledges she noticed another arrow. Next to it, Seisi had kindly drawn a vertical line and with a sinking feeling, Trueth realised that he indeed wanted her to climb. From her vantage point, she could see that he had certainly done so, a muddy footprint here and an imprint in some leftover snow there showed her where he had gone.
He must have carried Dog, for there were no paw prints. Trueth sighed once more, drank her last of the by now lukewarm coffee and ate some bread with hardboiled eggs to fortify herself for what was to come. The lengthening shadows indicated another problem—she had maybe a couple of hours of daylight left and if she did not find the access to Kemet fast, she would have to seek shelter among the inhospitable rocks.
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This chapter is dedicated to @pedroernestorevilla Thank you very much for reading and voting on my story!
The Images are from DeviantArt, I absolutely love Annabelle's art!