A Power of Old(38)

The creatures halted their sniffing of the barrier. One cocked their head inquisitively in the direction of Queen Trina.

Off you go then…for your next meal.

I willed the creatures to leave so that Memenion and I could continue our journey. They took off at a run, pounding the ground with their hooked claws. Turning back to Queen Trina, I watched her as she unwittingly continued forward.

I hoped the creatures would attack her. Whether they managed to defeat her or not, she deserved the unpleasant battle she had ahead of her.

A few moments later, the creatures were right on her tail, skulking through the undergrowth. As they drew closer, I started to look away—no matter how much I despised her, I wasn’t macabre enough to want to witness her death. But before they could pounce, Queen Trina stopped. She waved a hand in the direction of the creatures, smiling beatifically.

What. The. Hell.

“Are you seeing this?” I hissed to Memenion.

The beasts started to emerge from the undergrowth, their heads down and their tails between their legs. They had instantly submitted to her.

“I don’t understand…” Memenion spluttered.

We both watched in amazement as Queen Trina continued to walk on, the creatures following her like domesticated pets.

“What are they, her personal death hounds?” I snarled.

“I wouldn’t put anything past her,” Memenion muttered. “And can you see how she’s walking? She knows this forest, mark my words.”

I watched. Queen Trina did have the air of someone who knew exactly where they were going. She sidestepped over a fallen log, raising her hand to catch a thorny branch and move it out of her way.

“You’re right,” I agreed. No doubt someone like Queen Trina felt perfectly at home in the Dauoa.

“I think we should follow her. It will get us to the scepters and out of here a lot faster,” Memenion suggested.

I nodded. I didn’t need to think twice. I wanted to know what other tricks Queen Trina had up her sleeve…and if she was a regular visitor to the Dauoa forest, I wanted to know why.

We broke through the protective barrier and hurried to catch up with her. We made too much noise, but it couldn’t be helped—we’d lose her otherwise. I only hoped that the creatures were too entranced with their mistress to pay us any further attention.

As we got closer, we slowed down the pace, focusing on making as little sound as we could. The beasts following Trina eventually seemed to tire of their worship and started to trail off in the opposite direction. I heaved a sigh of relief when the last one disappeared into the thicket.

Trina started to hum softly to herself as she traveled through the forest. That, more than anything else, made my blood boil over. How dare she treat this task like it was nothing, like she knew she would emerge victorious? Memenion scowled—her jaunty little tune was obviously getting to him as well.

We followed her onward. Now the sun was starting to set, and what little light had been visible between the trees was fading to a red and orange glow.

Queen Trina stopped her humming, and I heard a giggle. At first I thought it was the queen, enjoying more of her leisure time in the forbidden forest, but it sounded too high-pitched to be coming from her.

Queen Trina stopped again.

“Out you come,” she announced merrily.

I looked at Memenion in alarm.

Does she mean us?

Before I could move, or whisper to Memenion to run, little creatures started to emerge from the forest. They came from everywhere—scrambling down trees, appearing from burrows in the earth and out from under brambles.

They were repulsive.

Small, with little horns appearing out of their heads, the creatures were entirely green—and quite hairy. They crowded around Queen Trina while she cooed at them. One latched on to her leg, lovingly, looking in the direction of Memenion and me. We both ducked behind an old oak, my breath cut short as I prayed that it hadn’t seen us. Peering around the trunk, I looked at the creature again. It was still staring in our direction, but perhaps it hadn’t seen us – it didn’t warn Queen Trina or the other creatures, so I continued to watch in silent horror as it danced around their mistress. Its eyes were black, beady little things and when it smiled, rows of sharp little pointed teeth appeared.

Goblins.

I remembered Ruby mentioning these creatures from the Hellswan brothers’ trials. They were even more repulsive than I had imagined—Queen Trina’s adoration of them didn’t help. They squabbled with one another and played around her as she walked on, thankfully not noticing us following, but we now maintained more of a distance.

Finally, after a few more miles, we saw a golden glow in the distance. Looking more closely, I saw four scepters suspended in mid-air, hovering over stone plinths. No sooner had we seen them than we heard a loud crashing sound coming from behind us.