Forged in Frost and Fire (Book 1 in the Chronicles of Kings trilogy)

Chapter Ten

"I spy a girl!" a twisted, screeching voice cried. A wad of fear lodged itself into my throat and I felt myself go taught as a wire. What in the blazing hells was that.

"Skin as white as snow, hair as pale as a snowbirds wing," the voice sung out. No, it was a different voice now, although it wasn't in any way nicer sounding. Horror made my heart gallop like a wardrum inside my chest. All thoughts flew out of my head and I had no more sense left. My instincts told me to run. So I did.

I flew through the brush, hearing cackling behind me. I turned my head to glance at my surroundings to see if I could catch sight of my pursuers. And sure enough, high in the trees, I saw dark figures flying from branch to branch at incredible speed. They were too fast to make out but they were small in size from the look of it, but large in width. Bulky. And by the looks of it they were all wearing dark green outfits, to blend in with our surroundings. No wonder I hadn't seen them before.

There was a thump in front of me and I turned back around to see one of the creatures right in my path. Oh shit. I stumbled to a stop, keening laughter echoing around me. There had to be at least thirty of the little monsters surrounding me. I looked down and was finally able to get a better look at the creature. It had olive green skin covered in warts, scars, and wrinkles. Its ears were more intense versions of mine. Except the tips were much taller, going well above its head. Its hair was white tuft and barely covered his head. His eyes were all black, no whites, and when it looked up at me, its mouth contorted into a large smile that covered up half of its face. I saw sharp teeth gleam. Oh that wasn't good.

"How considerate, our food has decided to make it easy for us," the creature crooned. I didn't know what it was exactly, but I certainly wasn't sticking around long enough to find out. Using my fae speed, I ran past the thing and sliced my dagger through its thick skin, hopefully getting close to the neck. I grimaced as hot liquid splattered my face. The creature screamed, clawing at me, but I was already running forward, gasping as I tried to create as much distance as possible.

Elda had warned me of dangerous creatures of the forest, but she hadn't warned me about these little shits. I was going to die here. And no one would know because the creatures would probably rip every piece of meat off of me and then start nibbling on my bones. There'd be nothing left of me to mourn. That was if anyone would mourn me at all.

Tears leaked from the corners of my eyes and streaked down my face as I ran. I ran faster than I ever had before, trees were slicing past me in nothing more than green and brown streaks. But it wasn't fast enough, my pursuers were gaining on me, fast. They were letting out hoots and screams as if this was a game. As if they were having fun. As if I wasn't running for my very life.

Something grabbed onto my sleeve and I felt claws scratch deep into my arm. Cold blood gushed out of the wound and coated my sleeve. I cried out in pain as fire roared up my skin, I twisted around and sent out a shot of ice to the thing still clutching onto me. It flew back and landed in a thump a few hundred feet away, groaning in pain.

"She's one of them!" one of the goblins screamed, it's cry made my ears nearly bleed. "Get her, don't let her get away!" The chasing was done with much more of a passion now. I heard the sound of bark tearing away from the trees as they jumped from one to the next. Blood was still leaking from my new wound, and I probably would have been keening over in pain had I not been desperately running for my life.

Something sharp sliced into my leg. Another claw. I screamed through my teeth, sending a kick into the creature's head. I heard its skull splinter as it flew backwards. Oh wow, didn't know I could do that. Arrows whizzed past my head and I felt one come so close it nicked my ear. I tried not to gasp at how close that came to ending my life.