Hunted by a Night Fae

Chapter 10

A monstrous creature stood in front of me. He had grey mottled skin and large dark eyes. As his gaze met mine the hair rose along my skin. Soulless. His head was large with long ears pointing off it on either side. He stood tall, blood-splattered clothing hanging off his thin body with low hunched shoulders.

"I have found myself a little girlie," he said, blinking his unnerving eyes. 

He moved in closer, moving quick and fluid. Inhuman. I stepped back, hoping I could somehow escape him. I swallowed thickly, my mouth dry as sand. There was nowhere to go.

The male smiled, warping its face into a terrifying, toothy grin.

"A pretty girlie. How lucky I am, I should take you before you are stolen. I have lucked out with such a delicious prize. I can smell it. You are special." He licked his lips, revealing a drooling mouth. I shuddered. 

I stumbled over a jagged rock in my bare feet. I ignored the pain. I needed to get away from this faerie. There was no way I could let this Hunter claim me.

"Come here now, girlie... I won't bite." He grinned in a way that suggested otherwise. "Well, not today anyway," he added. In the span of a heartbeat, he slipped dangerously close.

I tried to reign in my control, clenching my hands into fists.

"I'll pass."

His weapons remained at his belt, and he made no move to raise them on me. For every step I took back, he gained two more on me. He was so close he could touch me. I could see the pockmarks and deep ridges along his tough, leathery skin.

"You could run, Everard can see you want to. We could chase you, it would be fun," he said, prowling in front of me. Hunger glinted in his eyes. His voice rose. "We do enjoy chasing, girlie, if you want to play that game. Oh please, let's do it."

I stilled. No, running was definitely out of the question. I looked around, but there was nothing but a few small useless rocks around me and small twigs. I had nothing to use to my defense, not that I would have known what to do with a weapon anyway.

Everard prowled closer. I balled my hands into fists, and I bit down so hard my temples throbbed.

"You will make a pretty bride, I will take you with me back to the mountains. You like the snow, don't you, girlie? Well, it doesn't matter. I'll keep you warm." The creature's grin was feral as his voice dropped in pitch.

"You won't even be hafting to leave my bed, sweet brideling. You will be warm under Everard's body." He growled with something like lust, though it was hard to tell, for it wasn't like human lust. Human lust was flirtatious and seductive. But his was feral and rough--animalistic. Just like him.

"I would rather die," I spat back, my voice coming out venomous. And it was true, I realized. If I could not escape, that would be my only way out. Faerie might be ready to chew me alive, but like hell would I let it take the first bite.

Everard snarled, lifting his thin lips off his pointed and jagged teeth.

"How dare you disrespect the Everard—Chief Goblin of the Grey tribes." He patted a golden chain that decorated his thin neck. It glinted in the moonlight . He was so close I could smell the rank rotten scent of his breath.

"You are no better than the princelings and princesses who shun us into their mountains, thinks they is better than the rest of goblinkind." He growled sharply. "Without us goblins, there would be no palace for them to sits in. We are the strength of the Night Courts. Without us, they are nothing."

I had no idea what he was going on about, but Everard's anger had him moving quickly. He circled me like a cat that had just finally trapped its mouse. His pose was hunched as he readied himself to attack. He looked more like he wanted to eat me alive opposed to claiming me as his bride.

Stupid move, I chastised myself as the goblin moved in.

I darted away just as one of his yellow-fingered hands reached out to grasp me. It snagged onto my dress. I ripped away from him, stumbling to the ground. Hands wrapped in my hair, and with a vicious tug he pulled me up. Hot putrid breath brushed against my cheek as Everard pulled me flush to him, his hand in my hair.

Something inside of me snapped. A breeze rolled through the trees making them rustle, echoing the fury born inside my heart.

I shifted, freeing one of my arms, and rammed my thumb up where I knew his protruding eyes sat just beside my face. There was a squish against my fingers, and my thumb slid to the side across a slick, gooey surface before there was a popping sensation. A ear-splitting cry howled next to my ear, making it ring, and Everard's hands loosened. I scrambled away, falling to my knees before I spun around, my bare feet pushing through the rocks and dirt to get me away from him. 

He snarled, dropping his hand as he started towards me. His eye hung from the socket.

I sensed movement near the clearing. But all I could see was Everard as he started towards me. I grasped at the ground beside me, finding a rock which I hurled at him to no effect. I tried to scramble to my feet, but before I could get far, Everard's jagged nails were clawing me back to him, a soft hiss in his throat.

"Ah," came a smooth voice from the darkness. I caught gold glinting out of the corner of my eye. "I am afraid this bride is already taken." This fae's voice was low and deep, yet melodic, as if tuned to the perfect pitch. Behind me, Everard stiffened, a low unintelligible word in his throat.

Before either of us could move, a gentle ripple spread through the air. I felt Everard's body behind me grow heavier, its weight suddenly barreling into my back, a collection of water droplets freezing in the air around me, a few of them misting against my skin. I felt something warm and liquid seep into my back, and then a round object rolled against my shoulder before a dull thud sounded beside me. 

I turned my head, a sick feeling roiling in my stomach. I looked down at Everard's head, one eyeball hanging from it as it rolled to the side.

With a strangled cry I moved away, the rest of Everard's body hitting the ground. My arms and shoulders were slick with blood, a pool of it now forming at my feet.

I backed away slowly. I had no way of knowing if I had traded one monster for another, much worse one.