Geas

This poem is in a weblit I've been writing. This one takes place when one of the main characters asks the most powerful witch in the world for a favor. She grants it but her price may be a bit high.

In the land beyond the ring,

Past the hall of the mountain king,
In the well of the singing souls,
Guarded by faerie, selkie and trolls,
In the mountain you will see
A fountain sitting in a tree.

Journey beyond the veil of tears
Across the Rainbow and tower of years
Seek yee not the unselee court
And do not pause for Selkie sport.
Follow the path of the darkening day,
Where light is shy and loath to stay.

I say the words once said to me
And now I charge you can't go free
Until the flask I give to thee
is filled and brought across the sea;
Found and used to pay my fee.
Thus I bind. You cannot flee.

---

Author's Note

Because this is pulled from a book, there are some references that may be unclear to you. The unselee are evil elves and faeries. They are ruled by the Unselee Court who--for kicks--will lure humans into positions of great peril. A selkie is a creature who is part dolphin and part human. They can shed their skin, and anyone who can get the skin and hide it can keep the selkie--your major slave clause. The tower of years is a large square edifice dozens of stories high that appears and disappears at will. The Rainbow is something that even the heros don't know about yet. The fountain in the tree is the waters of time and they are reported to give you eternal life.

Reviews

[Gandré]

This what I like to read, everything about nature, such a fantasy of wide-open space, beautiful pictures - the first stanza and the play with sound of words were what I liked " In the well of the singing souls,
Guarded by faerie, selkie and trolls," .....it tickles my fantasy and it lets me feel well. hmm the right thing to read before I go sleep. thanks for reading my small poem.