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I walked over to the door and saw that it was unlocked.
Lucky, I thought, and immediately regretted it.
We will see about that, the girl said.
Please be quiet, I replied.
Surprisingly, she listened.
As I opened the door and let myself into the hallway, the girl became smaller inside my mind, leaving me the space I needed to think.
The sounds of fae chatting had stopped. I had no way of knowing which way they were, and this place was quite big compared to all the other structures in the village. I would have to walk around for a while to—
You can sense them, the girl said, interrupting my thoughts. Use your power.
I did not object to her suggestion this time. She was trying to help, and I desperately needed this to be over quickly so I could go back to the inn without anyone realizing that I had gone away.
Reaching blindly into the darkness to feel someone nearby was odd, but as soon as I did, I felt the presence of two minds. I stepped to my right and knew I was walking away from them. I turned left.
Soon, the hallway ended on a staircase. When I took a step to climb upstairs, I knew I was walking away from the two fae again. They were on a lower floor.
Their thoughts grew louder as I went down the stairs.
Once I reached the basement level, I saw the light. They were on the other side of the narrow hallway. The light was coming off the torches that lit another hallway to the right, and I guessed that was where the cells were.
This isn’t the first time you’re secretly going into a dungeon to meet with a monster, the girl commented.
No, it’s not, I replied.
What will you do with the guards?The girl asked.
I need a distraction, I replied as I tried to think of a way to make them leave their post.
No, you don’t, the girl said. Just tell them to go away, and they will.
I can’t do that, I replied.
Why not? Morals?
No, I replied, I don’t have that kind of power. They’ll question the urge to leave. They’ll...
You can do it, the girl said. It’s straightforward. Their questions and objections are like flowers on a field. You just pluck them and throw them away. See?
Even though I realized what she was doing as soon as she did it, I could not stop her. Suddenly, the question in my mind about whether I could or could not make the guards forget their worries disappeared into thin air. I still had the memory that I had been thinking that a second ago, but the validity of that thought was gone.
The girl had just messed with my mind.
Don’t do that again, I told her, anger mixing in with my fear. You can’t steal my thoughts. They’re mine.
Even though my words were simply thoughts we exchanged, my last words sounded like I was growling at her.
I won’t, she said, the surprise evident in her voice, but you can do it now, can’t you?
I had to gruntingly accept that she was right. When I tried to dispel the guards’ thoughts, I found no resistance. They started to move, and when I told them to take the stairs on the other side, neither of them questioned that thought, even though it meant a longer walk.
See? The girl asked.
Doesn’t matter, I told her. My thoughts are mine from now on.
