The Goblin's Crown

Chapter Sixty Nine: What Are You Afraid Of

We dove from its path just as it came down. The earth crumbled and plants uprooted where its talons dug themselves in. Tova and Stellan covered me with their own bodies, shielding me from the debris that the crow's landing had sent flying through the air.

Above me, Tova's head twitched, jerking suddenly to the side. The whistling song of an elven arrow grew louder and louder until one came into view. It buried itself into the crow's neck until only the last bit of the shaft remained showing. The crow shook its mighty head, trying to shake the arrow out of its flesh. The arrow dug itself deeper, seeping down into the creature's darkness and disappearing altogether. The goblins took the moment to fully cover it, spreading out from its back to stab at its chest and face, biting and tearing off bits of black flesh.

Greasy fur tickled my ear and a naked tail wrapped affectionately about my neck. "It's about bloody time." I hissed under my breath at the small rat-like goblin that was suddenly hunched atop my shoulder.

"So sorry we took so long, Queen." It chattered in a slimy voice. Agi's beady eyes were flickering green strangely, going from red to green in rapid succession. "Jasper's jostling the seed about. It's mightily distracting."

I nearly swallowed my tongue. "Knut! Is he...?" It was an effort not to burst into tears then and there. "Has Jasper gotten it?"

"No, though it's not for lack of trying. He's managed to lay his hands on it, but the seed heals Knut up too quickly for him to pull it out." Agi absently licked black blood from one of its small hands. "Don't think it can keep that up much longer though. The King's starting to fade." If my stomach had anything at all in it, I would have gotten sick all over the elves blanketing me.

"Get off of me!" I shoved the elves away, breaking out of their protective bubble. I forced myself into a mad dash towards the crow. Knut. I had to get to Knut and I would. Even if I had to kill every single one of Mab's monsters with my own hands. A scream rattled out of me, so loud and sharp it hardly sounded human. The crow thrashed about beneath a mound of giggling goblins. It snapped at me. I dodged it, kicking at that vicious beak.

"What are you so afraid of?" Agi asked, those flickering eyes trained on me out of their corners.

"I have to get to him. I have to save him." I panted as I ran around it, avoiding the strikes of its beak and the flapping of its great wings. My heart was in my throat. I couldn't swallow.

"Knut can't die," Agi said. I could hear its lips peel away from its pointy teeth. "Not unless The Hollow allows it."

As the crow struck at me again, I leaped high and came down onto the ruffle of feathers about its neck. I drove my knife in the moment I slammed into its dark feathers. I stabbed and slashed at it, drawing the blade through its flesh. I could feel the thing die beneath me, feel the last rattle of breath, one last pulse of energy go through its muscles. Then it began to rot. The feathers seemed to melt beneath me. Its darkness became oozing ink. It clung to me, held me close to it. I could feel it reaching, engulfing me. My heart and mind swelled with equally dark thoughts of death and endless regrets. There was something comforting in the rot's embrace. Something that urged me to relax into it, to let it in like I had The Hollow's blood.

Agi's tail tightened slightly around my neck. For a moment, I felt the rough rope of a noose in its place. "I'm growing a bit disappointed with his performance." Agi's flickering eyes settled upon the green of the seed's influence, on The Hollow's influence. Its god had taken hold of Agi once again, slipping the goblin on like a favorite dress. "It's a crying shame. He had so much potential. He is far more creative than his predecessors, I will give him that, but he lacks something."

I flinched at those hateful jabs at Knut's character as if they were the blows of a sword. "Knut isn't lacking anything," I growled, spitting black sludge from my lips. The crow's essence oozed through the eye holes of my helm and slipped beneath my armor saturating me in black. "He's creative and strong, intelligent and cruel. He's everything a goblin king should be."