The Goblin's Crown

Chapter Forty Six: Athane

"Time to go." A strong arm looped around my middle and tore me from Athane's cheek, tearing my knife from its new resting place and snapping me out of the strange fog as Snorri zoomed through the canopy.

"Let me go!" I hissed, thrashing. I clawed at his arm, trying to unpin myself from his side. "I'm not finished! Put me back!" Down below, Athane was growing smaller and smaller as the distance between us grew. Those glowing eyes remained trained on me, but she made no move to follow. Instead she smiled and gave me a little wave. It was not a gesture of a final farewell.

I felt my stomach drop. I knew...I knew deep down in my bones that I hadn't seen the last of Athane.

Snorri threw his head back in whooping laughter, ignoring me as I clawed at him like a feral cat. "Incredible! Absolutely incredible!" He cackled. A grin stretched his mouth grotesquely. "You stabbed the beast in the face and you still want to go at her? How can one so tiny be so fearless?"

"Let go, Snorri!" I hissed, my nails scraping away the skin on his forearm. Something in me...I don't know what, instinct perhaps, was screaming at me to turn around and finish what I'd started. Athane was a threat. A fox in a chicken coop. I was going to regret letting her live. I just knew it.

"Are you mad?" Snorri scoffed. "Can you not see that that beast...that thing, whatever she is, is more than you or me? She is on a different level from anything you've fought. She'll gobble you up like a big fat rat and I do not want to be the one to tell King Knut that you got eaten." His large eyes narrowed as his expression turned more serious, his gaze settling on the brightening sky. "Strange though, that she did not come after us. Did you hurt her that badly?"

"No." Athane was out of sight now and my panic was beginning to wane. I allowed myself to relax a little. My struggling ceased. I hung in his hold like a wet noodle. Boneless. "I didn't hurt her at all. She's letting us go. I don't know why and honestly, I don't want to know." I suppressed a shiver. I could still feel the ickiness of her lingering in my mind. "I thought you were dead."

"She didn't bite very hard." He said. Looking down I could see punctures in his clothing, but nothing was leaking out. She hadn't even bit hard enough to break the skin. That fact did nothing to ease my discomfort.

I turned in his arms and he helped me to crawl onto his back where I clung to his clothing between his powerful leathery wings. "Fly fast. Put as much distance as possible between us and her." I ordered.

"Yes, My Queen. As you command." With rapid strong movements, he obliged. We rocketed up and up out of the red and gold leaves and into the clear sky. We flew low just above the branches, keeping them within easy access should we need to hide. "You didn't get much sleep last night. Why don't you take a nap. I'll wake you once we near The Winter Branches."

"So I can fall off again?" I muttered.

"I've got an idea that might remedy that problem. Take my belt. Wrap it around us both. It should keep you from slipping off while you snore."

"Are you trying to be funny, Snorri?" I asked. I had to admit, it was a good idea. I was kicking myself for not thinking of it myself. It was such a simple solution. I undid his belt and looped it around us, fastening it tightly. I was lucky I had a slight frame. The belt almost didn't reach.

I lay facing the sky. Its pale blue color was bright and inviting. A year ago, a sky like that would have made me think, "It's a good day to pick pockets." The good weather would mean more people at market, more pockets to pick, and crowds to lose pursuers in. Now, it only made me long for home. Not my old hovel with its rotting walls, but the cool dim halls of the goblin palace.