A Cruel End
“Traitors will not run free.”
This is part of a Choose Your Own Adventure story, Through the Black Door. Go back to the first chapter. Or return to the previous chapter: “The Blue Faerie” or “Free the Faerie.” Check out the chapter guide.
It breaks your heart to do this, but you have to give up on the colt. You simply can’t attack an old woman.
You bow your head. “All right, Asha. You can keep the colt.”
Even Asha looks surprised, as if she can’t believe that you let her win. But a wicked grin stretches across her lips, so different from the sweet smile you used to see from Asha.
Just then, you hear a loud crash inside the foal’s room. The door bursts open and you see the foal standing there, handsome as an avenging angel. Beside him, you see the black mare, and dread coils deep in your stomach.
“But how is this possible?” Asha cries out.
Then from behind the black mare and her son, a stalwart-looking man walks into sight. Asha shrieks, “Lionel, you traitor! How could you?”
Lionel sighs. “Asha, it’s time to let go of the past. It’s been bothering me, how we had to keep even a child captive for so long. He’s not innocent and neither is his mother. But I couldn’t tolerate it anymore, and I had to listen to my heart and do what’s right. I’m sorry.”
Asha is livid and clenches her fists. “I bet that the faerie bribed or blackmailed you.”
But the man shakes his head. “No, no blackmail or bribe was needed. I was merely prompted by my conscience. I truly am sorry, but I couldn’t help you keep a small child hostage anymore, even if he is a faerie.”
Before Asha can get another word in, the black mare steps forward. Her eyes blaze like a demon’s as she stares at you. The intense green of her eyes is scary and mesmerising. She says, “Humans are endlessly cruel and not to be trusted.”
Asha cuts in, “You’re the one who is endlessly cruel and unworthy of trust, Shi Lei!”
Shi Lei’s green eyes flash, and all of a sudden, she is no longer a black mare. She is a young woman. But though she is gorgeous, there is no mistaking what’s about to happen.
“Traitors will not run free,” she pronounces. “I will pay you back exactly for what you did to my son.”
Without warning, blue sparks fly from her hands, and coil around you and Asha like blue lightning. You scream and shut your eyes at the stinging pain. When you open your eyes, you see that you and Asha are trapped inside the blue glowing rings.
Asha looks hopeless and angry, but she’s mostly furious.
Shi Lei adds in a blithe voice, “Don’t worry. I’ve enchanted you so that you can’t die of thirst or starvation. In fact, you can’t die at all, even if you try to kill each other. You won’t need to sleep, and I have cursed you with eternal insomnia. You two can enjoy being imprisoned for an eternity!”
The glee in the faerie’s voice scares you just as much as the punishment.
“But, is there any way we can end this?” you plead desperately. “I’m sorry that I’ve failed you, but I really did not wish to hurt Asha, since she’s an old woman now. Is there any way we can be forgiven and atone for our crimes?”
Shi Lei grins. “It’s too late. You should have listened to your conscience and saved my son, who is only a child. If you didn’t want to hurt an old woman, you would have found a way to defy her without wounding her. You didn’t have to abandon a child in your cowardice.” The faerie tosses her head, like the mare she sometimes morphs into.
You yell and beg, but Shi Lei, her colt, and even Lionel leave you, and the church door slams closed.
Your unease towards the church wasn’t unfounded, after all. You just had no idea how horrible it would be. In the faint glow of the blue rings, you can see Asha’s face.
How cruel fate is. You are finally reunited with the woman you love, but not only are you now decades apart in age, you are also trapped in this eternal prison, with not even sleep or death to bring you relief.
