Curse of the Goblin King

By: OtakuSailorV

Chapter Five

Erutis dragged herself through the hallways sullenly. She was sure she was completely lost, she had walked so far that morning, twisting and turning, opening every door possible, she was sure there was no hope of her ever backtracking properly. The whole place was like a giant maze, with few distinguishing features from one room to the next.

She had wondered if it was an illusion to confuse his enemies, but soon abandoned that idea. It was plausible, but she couldn't find any proof that it was anything but what it was. Maybe he had purposefully made it to seem as an illusion, but in truth it was nothing but a master's ploy.

The person, who thought that they were experiencing a magical illusion, would simply disrupt it by using a spell to counter act the illusion. But, seeing as it was real, they would be in a stupor. She smirked slightly at this. Then they would be just as lost as she was, no matter how strong they were with magic. That Goblin King sure was a genius after all, she mused to herself. He had traded showy magic for something simpler, but that had an even better and more lasting effect on those who fell prey to it. A natural illusion.

Erutis stopped after a few more dogged paces. She was trembling with weakness. She had not eaten in breakfast and was having a bad case of the shakes. Her whole body felt as if it would give way under her, her stomach was lurching uneasily, making her think she was going to throw up whatever was in her stomach.

Leaning against a wall, she took in several deep breaths, trying to relieve the sick feeling threatening her. It worked to some degree, but only on her swimming head. And then she had had to make sure to think simple things, thinking too hard or intensely made her swoon.

Sliding to the floor, she continued her breathing, aware that her hand was jittering uncontrollably on the marble by her side. Feverishly, her eyes glazed and darted around, up and down the hall uncertainly.

'I'll bet he'll show up. . .' She thought disdainfully. She hated that he was constantly the one helping her. She was much too chummy with him; he was the enemy. She couldn't allow herself to get comfortable around him. She always had to have her guard up. . .

"Feeling sick?"

Her head lolled to one side, her eyes rising up until it fell on his eyes, sparkling with amusement and seemingly laced with concern. She frowned at him and made an attempt to stand. It took her some effort, but soon she was able to stand upright, though she was still shaking like a leaf.

"No." Erutis grumbled at him stiffly, setting her spine rigid though the effort proved almost too much for her.

"If you want, you may join me for supper." Krayon offered her.

"I can fend for myself." She informed him coldly, continuing on her way as if nothing were wrong. Her stomach growled though, signaling that she was indeed hungry, and he smirked after her, the stars lined along underneath one eye seeming to flash and glitter. Erutis flushed with embarrassment, cursing inwardly.

He followed after her at a slow pace, making sure to stay far behind her. When she felt like she was being followed and would turn, Krayon would disappear, leaving her to face an empty hallway. She would always scowl; as if she knew he was there, but was unsure if she were going to callout at him incase he was not.

After a time, she began to sway, as if woozy, and he smirked at her attempts to stay upright. He followed closer now, gliding along between the pillars steadily, watching her the entire time.

"Are you sure you will not join me?" He inquired, startling her out of her wits. She looked about, trying to find him, and soon spied him up amongst the tops of the pillars.

She looked angrily at him, huffing. "I am not going to dine with my enemy. I'm going to find my sword and destroy you!" She informed him over her shoulder, still glaring before turned jerkily about and stomping down the hallway again.

By this time, she was quite famished, and her shaky, light-headed spells had doubled in proximity. When she had spun, and when she had yelled at him, she had felt as if she might just drop. Her muscles felt weak and several times her knees bent while she was walking, making her stumble.

Her mind was shifting to tired, dazed thoughts now, and once or twice she thought she felt as light as air, like when she did just before she fell asleep.

Erutis stopped as she came face-to-face with the door that led to the room in which she slept. She blanked, staring at it in confusion. But this had to be it, there was her fist mark from the other day. . . .

Without really thinking about it, she looked at her bandaged hand thoughtfully and placed it into the mark on the door. It fit perfectly. Yep, this was the place. But how had she gotten here?

She looked around and thought she saw the Goblin King faze out from behind a pillar. She narrowed her eyes. So, he was playing around with the construction of his castle again, was he?

Opening the door, she decided she would take a rest for a while, she felt achy all over and her feet hurt from all that walking. When she stepped into the room, she found that a lavish dinner awaited her within, on a tiny wooden table with a singular chair that seemed to have just been erected by the large window. Suspiciously, she whirled and stared at the place where the Goblin King had been moments before. Then, seeing as her lingering gaze was lost on him, she whirled back away and went into the room.

Having eaten and feeling restored and fit again, Erutis went back out in search of her sword. She tried looking in areas she had not before, but they were few and far between. She was starting to get annoyed and frustrated with the lack of results. There wasn't even a single weapon storage room anywhere in the castle! Not a thing, not a even a small dagger in the whole place. . .

Some of the rooms led into empty hallways, or were nothing but walls on the other side. Another trick, she had thought. To get you lost and confused. It had worked on her before, but she was determined not to get lost again. And to safeguard against her sick feelings from before reappearing in the future, she had brought along some food. Not very much, some bread and other small things, but it would be enough if she did happen to get lost again.

The search was proving fruitless though, and Erutis was ready to smack the first person that showed up, preferably the Goblin King. Suddenly, as her mind darted to him, a thought struck her.

What if he kept her weapon on his personage? Or worse yet, in his own quarters? He knew she would never dare go there in search of it, and if she did she might be trapped there. She highly doubted that he did not have spells cast to keep intruders out, and she didn't know enough about magic to counter anything he might throw at her. In fact, she knew very little about magic at all. . .

She had never seen anything on him that resembled a sword, so it had to be hidden in his quarters. She grimaced at the thought. She didn't want to know what his rooms looked like. She was sick just at the thought of approaching them. But she was desperately wishing for her sword back. . .

She didn't have any idea where he lodged though. And she didn't dare follow him to his quarters at night; he was perceptive enough to pick up the fact that she was following him, for she knew she was no match for him in stealth.

Erutis sighed, leaning one elbow against the wall as a support to lean on in her frustrated exasperation. "I'm getting nowhere. . ."

Her eyes closed as she pondered deeply for some time to herself, though soon she found that her mind was drifting along with some mysterious melody that had reached her ears. For a moment she just sat and listened to it, no clear thought running through her mind, but soon her mind started to wonder on the lilting song that seemed to enchant her and guide her along toward it.

Where was it coming from? When had it started, or had it always been there, unnoticeable to her until then?

Erutis' eyebrows stitched together in displeased thought. She wasn't so keen about following the music, for this was an odd castle ruled by an even odder King, but she was curious as to what was going on.

Following the soft, sweet melody, Erutis walked carefully and as quietly as she could; feeling her heart beat picking up.

As she got closer, the music got louder, and the sound of someone's heels clacking on the marble floors was heard, moving in time to the music. Rounding the corner, she peered into the vast hall that had suddenly opened up in the middle of the castle.

It was enormous, reaching up far above her head and above the rest of the castle's roof. It was lighted brilliantly with some kind of unknown light. The suspended roof was painted a gold color that shimmered in the wild light. The floor was pure white, with fine gold rivulets running in it. There was a black border all around the edge of the white floor, with gold inlayed in an ornate, block pattern.

The room was enormous, it could very well have accommodated more than a thousand people. On the walls were several open balconies, suggesting that there were some second level to the castle that Erutis had not yet discovered. She supposed it was magic that made it look so brilliant, but even with that in mind, it was breathtaking to behold.

The music was beautiful, and the expansive room did not alter one brilliant key of its wonderful lilting melody. And in the middle of the floor was the Goblin King, dancing with his eyes closed, oblivious to the fact that she was watching, to the rest of the world, in fact.

He went on, swirling and turning wit his imaginary partner, acting as if his own little world had been constructed. The music flew into a crescendo, and Erutis found herself entranced by his movements.

His eyes opened as the music ended, he did not even appear out of breath from his exertions. Krayon's eyes immediately fell on Erutis and he smiled at her.

Coming out of her trance, Erutis flushed in embarrassment and narrowed her eyes on him. This only proved to humor him more as he stretched out a welcoming hand to her. "Care to join me for a dance, Miss Erutis?"

Erutis shook her head, her brown-red hair swirling around her face in a blur of motion. "I would not." She growled fiercely at him. Besides, she knew herself to have two left feet. Unlike other girls, she had very few qualities that fitted one of her gender.

He came toward her slowly, still offering the hand. "Please come and dance, I assure you I will not try anything." He promised in a sweet tone.

Erutis still refused, ready to bolt if he came too close to her.

Krayon was at her side, one arm on her shoulder, the other grasping one of her hands tenderly as he looked down into her eyes. He had moved too fast for her to comprehend his sudden appearance, and she jerked smartly when she felt his hold on her. "You must dance, dear Erutis." He insisted in a soft tone, entrancing her with his eyes again.

Erutis gaped, flushing, and tried to pull away yet again. He held too tightly to her though, and it ended up that all she could do was stare at him with that defiant look. Yet, she couldn't help but agree. It might be a good opportunity to learn of the whereabouts of her sword. Maybe, if he was wearing it on him, she could snatch it away and deliver a blow before he knew what had hit him.

An inner thrill hit her at that thought, though some part of her seemed reluctant to hurt him. She grimaced at the reluctance, had she let him wheedle his way in? She hoped not, it would make it more difficult to destroy him.

He led her slowly to the middle of the dance floor, all the time holding her with his gaze. She felt paralyzed, all she could do was watch him, and though she felt her eyes were wary.

The pair stood there, watching each other for a moment before a new tune suddenly sprang up around them, urging them into a soft, slow dance. Krayon guided her around the dance floor smoothly, and to her surprise, Erutis found that she was an apt dancer. Not wonderful, but sufficient; he surely wouldn't notice that she had never had a lesson in her life.

It was awkward though, dancing in the boy-ish clothes that she was instead of a puffy dress that she knew was more suitable to the occasion. She wouldn't have felt comfortable in that either, but for some reason, she was blatantly aware of how silly it was for her to dance in what she was wearing now.

"I think you look beautiful in anything." Krayon spoke up, as if reading her mind.

Erutis looked at him, a mixture of emotions burning in her eyes. More than anything she was angry with his furthered efforts to flirt with her or whatever he might have called it. He had a horrible way of killing the moment just when she was enjoying herself.

Her read her features as she closed her eyes and turned her head away from him in a huff. He continued to dance with her, as he mused to himself. What had he done to upset her now? It was better to apologize and find out what it was later. . .

"I am sorry if I have upset you." He stated, trying to sound as sincere as possible, which was rather hard considering he didn't know what his transgression was yet. He had thought that the compliment would cheer her, possibly bring her closer to him, but it had totally the opposite effect.

Erutis opened one eye and studied him thoughtfully, considering his apology and the fact that there was no weapon on him that was visible. At least, no sword, not even a sheath. . .

"Where's my sword?" She asked in mid-step, getting more and more accustomed to letting him move her instead of moving by herself in the dance. The music was getting stronger, and with it, their steps became more powerful and rigorous. Krayon had started to move them wildly, in a sort of ecstatic motion that spun them around and shot them across the room.

Krayon seemed miffed with this question. "If what you wish is for it to be returned to you," He started in a tone that sounded putout.

"I do." Erutis said stiffly, eyes narrowed.

"Then it shall be returned to you on the morrow." He informed her, looking displeased. Then, leaning closer, he looked at her in somewhat of a tragically pleading way, making her uneasy. "But for now, stay here with me and dance."

Erutis accepted this, though she felt as if another spell were coming over her from the look in his eyes. It was strange how the unknown emotions came over her so quickly when she was near him. Things like this had never happened before, and she had been around boys a good portion of her life. Why was she so uneasy with this one? Why did his presence make her heart flip-flop and her sharp tongue spark more occasionally in her mouth? She swallowed, blushing at the proximity between them.

He smiled at her benignly when he saw that she would comply, and as the song ended, he pulled her into another brilliant dance, all the time watching her with his serious gaze.

I'm mass-updating again, so there's not much time for a decent author's note. Gomen nasai, minna-san!

Thanks muchly for the continued support and reviews from everyone. I truly appreciate it and i have high hopes for this fiction.

See you next chapter!

Review Please.