Part 17

"P-please don't hurt me!" David added.

The dirty, red-robed stranger regarded him with a mixture of disgust, pity... and fear. The man's eyes flicked away from David's face to search the darkness every few seconds, but they always returned to fix the boy in a hard, terrifying stare.

"I'm waiting," the man growled.

"...please..."

"You don't listen very well, do you?" the tone and volume of the man's growl lowered further. "I'm not here to hurt you... but you WILL answer me-"

-again, the man paused to search the darkness. Again, he returned his eyes to David's face.

"What is your name!"

"D-david," David whispered.

"And what brings a child to this place... to THIS place... at night. Is if fate or mischief?" The robed man scowled. "Or worse. Who follows you, boy?"

"I... n-nobody..."

"You lie..." The man didn't appear to be speaking to David. He stared at the steep trail that led down the side of the Hill. "You've led them here!"

"I didn't! I swear! There's nobody-"

"Stumbling about in the dark... screaming like a loon.... what are you looking for!" The stranger searched again, but this time his target was David's face. David could almost feel himself being weighed and considered. "...and why are they looking for YOU, eh? Just a boy that wandered off? Or.... something more, eh? I sense fate in this. Or a trap. TELL me, boy! Which is it? Why are you here!"

"The voice! It said... it said it would show me magic and colors and all I had to do was come up here and find its name and it promised the ghosts wouldn't get me and-"

"Name? Did you say... NAME?"

The flow of words from David's mouth halted. He stared up at the stern face and nodded, grinding the back of his head in the dirt as he did.

"Fate it is," the stranger hissed. "Come with me. We will have words."

"But-"

"That was not a request."

For an instant, the stranger was gone. The bony knee vanished from David's chest. David sat up-

-hands grabbed him and yanked him to his feet.

"AH-"

Another hand clapped over his mouth.

"Shhhhhh..."

"THERE!"

This new voice was neither David's nor the strangers. Someone was coming up the path. David could see lights from torches and lamps.

"I HEARD SOMETHING! UP HERE!"

"GO!" Another male voice shouted from further down.

David was yanked backwards hard. He almost fell.

"See..." the robed man hissed in David's ear. "They come for you." The stranger's hand left David's mouth, and a red-robed arm curled around his chest. The man held David close to him as they backed down the steep far side of the Hill. David began to squirm-

"Shhhhhh.... this will end badly for us both if they find us."