CHAPTER 11

—--day 41

In the morning, Sarah woke up, did her routine and got tea with oatmeal on the fire boiling. She broke down the camp and packed up the horses after feeding everyone. She spent all morning to afternoon ascending to the highest place to look down on the other side of the mountain. There was a narrow walkway ledge that wound around like a snake around the next peak to go around it where she couldn't see. Sarah rode her horse up to the ledge and then led her horses single file behind her going slow to let them watch their footing. Sarah said to Midnight, "Watch where you step so we don't fall ok?" The horse nickered.

Sarah crept slowly and the horses were doing fine. The wind was a bit of a hindrance at this height. They made it around the bend and she saw an older man hanging off the ledge ahead of her. It was a straight vertical drop. There were two other men squatting down looking at him trying to push off one finger at a time. Sarah wished both men and their horses away to Bláth. That would get them away from here.

She got the horses up to that point and she called out to the man, "Can I help you?!" The older man was clinging with both hands hanging off the edge of the cliff.

He cried out, "Oh thank the gods you came by! Please help me get back on the path!" Sarah wished him to rise up to be put safely on the path. Sarah stayed with him until they were past the ledge on fair footing.

Sarah said, "Come, you look exhausted. Let me help you and get you comfortable by a warm fire. It's not easy trying to be part billy goat, huh?" The older man was surprised at the offer of kindness extended to him and he chuckled. He said his wife used to tell him he was stubborn as a billy goat. Sarah said next time he should bring his hooves, making him laugh.

The man said, "Ok, I'll take you up on your hospitality. I am exhausted"

Sarah asked, "Were you all alone up here traveling by yourself?"

He said, "Yes. My horse may have left me and went down the mountain on its own after I fell. I was going the other way over the mountains than we just did. I could not use my hands to use magic to save myself hanging by my hands, but you came in the nick of time. Those ruffians were teasing and playing with me to make me fall."

Sarah said earnestly, "Well I'm glad I could offer help. Maybe if we travel and descend together we will find your horse munching on something down there." Sarah chuckled. The man laughed and thought the boy was kind of odd being so friendly.

Sarah found a cave entrance and set up a fire and wood appeared. She set up her horses and her tent and the litter box putting the kittens inside. He watched her do things magically and manually keeping quiet. The two kittens she had in her pouch were shocking to him. It was confusing to the older fae man, as to why the young man was carrying around two kittens.

Sarah sat down in front of the fire and opened her pack up and filled the pots with water from her water trough to boil. She said, "You must be hungry and thirsty from such a scare. How long were you out there?" She took out her cutting board and chopped up meat and cheese with wild dried mushrooms and spinach.

The older man snapped out of his thinking daze and said, "Hours. Those men were taunting me. I was hoping my strength would hold out but was losing hope. My grip was growing weary. I'm lucky you came along. Why are you carrying kits around your neck all day?"

Sarah smiled and pulled down her hood. She smiled at the man and he gasped at it being a beautiful girl under there. She cheerfully said, "I saved my little boys from freezing to death a few weeks ago. I am glad you are alright now it is all that matters. I'll feed you and get you on your feet again." Sarah went into her tent and wished for three blankets, two cups, two spoons and two bowls. She brought them out to the fire.

She handed him the blankets to use however he wanted and she poured him a cup of tea. Sarah got out her honey jar and smiled offering it to him to get a spoonful. He smiled at her generosity and pretty face. She made dinner for her kittens and said, "Come on, Spooky and Smokey, come eat babies." The little seven week old kittens toddled over to eat. She petted them as they ate.

She seasoned the barley medley she made and put the cheese in it, stirring it up until melted. She dished up a hot bowl and handed it to the man. He took a taste and smiled at the good flavor.

The man said, "My name is Jarrmain. This is very tasty." He held his hand out to her.

Sarah said smiling, "My name is Ashar. Pleased to meet you. I'm glad you like it. I have been eating roasted or fried rabbit and fish, if I can find it, but supplied myself with lots of dried meat for the trek over the mountains." She put her hand out and he kissed the back of it. Sarah blushed. He thought she was a very cute young lady.

Jarrmain asked, "Why don't you just use your magic?"

Sarah smiled and said, "Sometimes it's nice to do things the manual way. I was taught that you need to appreciate and not squander your abilities. It's a bit odd I know but then so is my family. I don't have a family anymore so I travel to see different places and meet different people. Like you." Sarah smiled kindly at him. He was so disarmed by such a lovely girl. She had kind manners, a caring personality like no other fae women he had ever met and a charm that seemed so sincere. She saved his life, that he knew, he realized that he truly liked her and she wasn't fussy or whiney like all of the fae women.

He didn't want her to know who he was though, because then she would treat him differently. He liked being treated like just Jarrmain by her. He laid down two of the blankets doubled on the ground and cast a spell for a pillow. He laid down and got comfortable. She cleaned up her pots, dried and put them away. She got in her bedroll in her tent, wishing to secure the perimeter. She called her kittens and they gathered up to her and snuggled up. Jarrmain watched her. He couldn't believe someone so pure of selfishness was here and fae. Her gentle way was refreshing.

Sarah said, "Goodnight, Jarrmain."

He said smiling, "Good night, Lady Ashar." She giggled. They fell asleep.

—--day 42

Sarah woke up to the smell of cooked meat. Her kittens were up sitting by the fire watching Jarrmain cooking. Sarah sat up and looked at them while putting boots on and giggled at them.

Sarah said, "You have their full attention with the smell of meat cooking."

Jarrmain chuckled looking at the tiny kittens sitting there so focused on him. He said, "It's not done yet you little beggars." Sarah was smiling while she stepped out to go to the bathroom.

When she got back. Jarrmain had two full breakfasts made and ready to eat. Jarrmain said, "I wanted to return the favor, Ashar."

Sarah sat down and smiled at him and handed her a cup of coffee and a big plate of food. Sarah was in heaven with the eggs, sausage, buttered toast and fresh fruit. Sarah smiled and said, "I love this. Thank you, Jarrmain. It was very thoughtful."

Jarrmain said, "I wish I had a daughter-in-law like you. You are so very different from the status climbing fae women in these parts." Sarah thought that was an odd thing to say.

She blew it off and said, "That's nice. You have a son?"

Jarrmain said, "Yes, I would love to get him married. I want grandchildren."

Sarah said, "I can't blame you for that. Almost anybody would want children or grandchildren. It's just natural. Be patient, Jarrmain. Good things can happen in time. Sometimes not when we expect it too. The universe finds its way in the balance of things. I am positive your turn will come." He smiled at her simple wisdom.

Jarrmain said, "You have a wise mind and a kind heart, Ashar. I'm glad to have met you."

Sarah said, "So am I, Jarrmain."

After a while Sarah packed up everything and she and Jarrmain went down the mountain and found his horse wandering around. He rounded up the horse and said, "Ashar, thank you for saving my life. It's been a privilege knowing you, beautiful lady. I hope to see you one day again." Sarah dismounted her horse and hugged him goodbye after kissing his cheek. It took him by surprise.

Sarah smiled and said, "Thank you, be safe and blessed be to you, Jarrmain." She mounted back up and they waved. He rode away thinking what a lovely girl she truly was.

Sarah continued down the mountain and the little egg was shifting more in her bag on her chest. She just knew it would hatch at any moment real soon. She found an odd looking overgrowth on the side of some rocks. She stopped the horses and went to check out the overgrowth. It was a passageway that was overgrown. Sarah hacked away the dead growth and it was big enough for a horse to pass through but only one at a time. Sarah stood back and wished all creatures and insects to vacate the cave and all of the dirt and cobwebs to be removed.

Once that was done Sarah led the horses through the entrance to a small cave that was a tunnel going inside the mountain on an incline she held up her crystal to look around inside. It opened up to a flat round room that had a hole in the ceiling. She figured it was perfect for a fire smoke to escape. Sarah left the horses there and kept looking around and found a tunnel going further into the mountain. She walked down the tunnel and found a room that had a mine entrance and huge amounts of rotten bags and crates with pots and all kinds of containers lining the walls to the entrance of the mine going all the way back and all the way up the walls. Sarah was amazed at the amount of bagged up minerals there were inside the mine.

Sarah went back, secured the cave with a wish, set up camp and started a campfire to illuminate the inside. She set up everything, putting the kittens in their litter box in the tent and she got the horses comfortable. Sarah made her dinner and fed the kittens.

Once everything was done, she went back to the mine and wished all of the gold and silver ore, dust and nuggets to break down and fit into her necklace. The dust in the room kicked up and she covered her face to breathe. All of the gold and silver were flowing into her amulet at an alarming rate because there was so much. The mountain started to tremble and shake, the veins and deposits in the walls broke apart coming out of the mine. The amount was endless. The kittens were crying in the pouch and Sarah was keeping them inside the pouch so they wouldn't be exposed to the clouds of dust. Suddenly after a very long time it stopped. She then wished for all uncut gemstones to go into her amulet. It all started up again and the flow was huge. She wished for all things of value in the entire mine to flow into her amulet.

Once she had cleared the entire mine of everything Sarah went outside of the whole entrance and shook out her cloak and brushed off her clothes. She had to breathe through her cloak covering her nose and mouth. She couldn't believe the haul of minerals she had in her amulet now. Once she went back to Jareth at the castle, she could ask him if there was a smelter somewhere she could keep busy. Sarah went back to the fire, called Jareth and told him why she didn't call the night before. She explained that she saved the older man and took him in for the night to make sure he was ok. Jareth was upset and told her that she was too trusting and should never do that again. He said save him fine then leave. He said she could have been hurt by a stranger up there. Sarah said that she didn't think anything like that would happen again. She didn't mention the mine because she would just surprise him when she returned to the kingdom. She said goodnight and played with her kittens and brushed down her horses hugging them.

—--day 43

In the morning, Sarah was making breakfast, feeding the kittens and the egg started cracking. Sarah held the egg in her hand and a hole was pecked out. She was smiling and sipping her tea waiting for the creature to come out. Eventually, the egg cracked open and a baby wyrmling dragon came out. Sarah knew it was tiny and couldn't be a full size dragon species and this was very little, about six to seven inches long from snout to the tip of his tail. She thought about it and thought that it must be a pseudodragon that never got bigger than one to two feet from tip to tail. Sarah was petting it with her finger. It began to purr and make squeaky noises. It had a dark blue body and purple wings with tiny feathers growing in fluffy layers from the bridge of his nose to his forehead. It was so cute. She picked it up in her palm and held up some chopped meat on her hand that she feeds the kittens. He sniffed it and started licking and chomping it down. She put more in the kittens dish and all three were eating out of the bowl. Sarah was petting them all and taking baby talk to them. It was so sweet when Smokey started licking the baby dragon to give it a bath and it started purring. Sarah giggled at the cute way they interacted. They were bonding. Spooky saw his brother bathing the baby dragon and started doing the same thing. The baby dragon was purring so loud.

Sarah said, "You are going to be nice brothers to the baby dragon." Sarah packed up the horses, put the kittens in the pouch and then put the baby dragon in with them. It kept them all warm. Sarah rode down the foothills thinking of a good name for her dragon. She wasn't sure if it was a male or female yet. She thought maybe Indigo, Azure, or Sapphire. She wished she knew how to tell sexes of dragons. She had a girlfriend who had a male bearded dragon lizard and she showed her how it looked so she would just have to guess that it's the same.

Sarah stopped and fed the baby dragon some of the chopped meat for lunch and the kittens got their bottles of milk and a bathroom break. The little dragon went to the bathroom on a leaf Sarah used to stimulate him to go. She noticed the dragon had two little bumps on each side of his groin. It meant male. Unless, it was crosswise and one bump female. Hopefully it was the correct assumption. She was calling him Indigo.

The little dragon climbed up her cloak to the back of her neck and snuggled up under her thick braid at her neck inside the cowl hood of her cloak. He was purring. She hoped he was warm enough there. It didn't bother her to have him there. She put the kittens in the pouch and mounted up again. Headed to the town of Adharc in the Unicorn Kingdom.