Chapter 81
The Horned King could hear the longing in her voice, although she hadn't meant to voice it.
She wanted to fly.
He did not understand it himself, but he had often longed to fly as well. If he allowed himself, he could wonder what it was like quite frequently.
After watching them a moment, he had made up his mind.
The gwythaint clearly wouldn't hurt her, and she had demonstrated the excellent ability to stick to an animal's back, even when they were pitching and fighting.
He would let her ride.
It took a moment for her to relax, but he had seen her sit up, looking all around in wonder, and he felt that pleasant feeling burn inside him again.
He watched as they went out over the lake, making a grand loop before going over the forest, raising and lowering.
Using the spyglass, the Horned King was able to see Avalina actually steering the gwythaint, despite not having anyone tell her how.
'It may be like riding a horse, if my memory is correct,' he mused. 'She's riding it the same way she rides Mitternacht.'
The pair of them went up, down, side to side, and then, with no warning, disappeared into the trees.
Literally, disappeared.
The Horned King searched hard through his glass, his eyes narrowing.
Had they crashed? That seemed unlikely, the gwythaint put up with Creeper, but still. . .
Another thought came to mind.
'Is she trying to escape again?'
He snarled softly at this and felt his eyes threaten to change. If she was. . .his free hand fisted into his robe, making his servant flinch.
'As much as she cares for that horse, surely she wouldn't leave him.'
Suddenly they reappeared, looking so small, shooting straight up like an arrow.
The Horned King saw this and stiffened. Going straight up like that, she was going to come off for sure. . .
He had no time to think about it as they disappeared into the moody clouds that covered his lands around the castle, cutting a hole open in them to let the sunlight strike down.
He waited, and waited, and waited, his free hand slowly clenching and unclenching, watching the skies.
Nothing, nothing and nothing. It was as if the sky had swallowed them.
"Master, are they gone?" Creeper asked timidly when a minute or so had passed.
The Horned King ignored him and scanned the skies fiercely, bracing himself for the worst. Avalina had made good her escape, or she was just riding above the mist, where no one could see.
Silently he willed them to appear, his hands clenched tightly.
They shot out of the thick clouds like a lightning strike, a thick beam of sunlight lighting their way down through the sky where they had blown a hole in the reddish-black mist.
The gwythaint had its wings folded tightly against its body, Avalina leaning over its neck, gripping its spikes, her legs snugged tightly under the creatures wings.
A yell of triumph echoed back to him on the wind as they kept on coming.
The Horned King lowered his spyglass, watching them, not unpleasantly.
They were coming down at an unbelievable speed.
He frowned slightly. They probably should start slowing soon. . .he waited for the gwythaint or Avalina to pull themselves up, but they did not.
Staring hard, he realized Avalina was gripping the gwythaint for all she was worth, not trying to steer at all.
Was she too frightened to?
They were going to crash right into the courtyard. . .an image of a broken body lying limply on the stones flashed unbidden before his eyes, and he roared at the gwythaint for all he was worth.
"PULL UP!"
The gwythaint was already doing so of its own accord before the first syllable was out of his mouth.
A sharp crack as the gwythaint snapped its wings out, pulling swiftly out of its dive, swinging back gracefully into the air, doing another low circle around the courtyard before landing at the base of the castle steps.
The Horned King could only stare at the pair of them, unmoving in his shock and anger. Was that girl *trying* to get herself killed?
Creeper had never ridden like that. Ever. The Horned King had never seen a gwythaint reach that speed with a rider on its back before.
And Avalina had laughed.
Weakly, she had slid off the gwythaint's back, crumpling to the ground as her legs gave out on her.
Now he could see that she was shaking uncontrollably as the sudden rush left her system, leaving her body drained of energy.
Sitting on the ground, leaning against the gwythaint, she laughed and laughed like she would never stop.
The Horned King had not heard someone laugh in so long he had nearly forgotten what it sounded like when it wasn't filled with malice.
And it was the most beautiful thing he had ever heard. Like a silver wind chime in a crystal breeze, it tinkled and rippled against his ears so truthfully. . .it was also one of the sincerest sounds he had ever heard. And one of the most infectious.
Laughing so hard she could scarcely breathe, she had pointed a shaking finger at him, unable to get any air to speak, the other hand holding her stomach.
Her aura was so joyous she was nearly delirious with it. He didn't think he had ever felt this much joy come from someone in his entire existence.
Then he realized he was standing there with his jaw proverbially on the ground, gaping at her like he had lost his mind.
Snapping it shut, (Which earned another bout of laughter from the girl) he wondered if *she* had been the one to lose her mind, rather, the way she was laughing.
He felt his cheek muscles twitch faintly as he listened to her. It had been so long since he had laughed himself. . .in fact, he couldn't ever remember doing so.
The Horned King realized she was deliriously happy, her aura full of it, and he found his fingers slowly working in the air, as if he could feel her joy.
It was all around him.
And he realized that he would rather it didn't stop.
He didn't know how long he stood there, waiting, but eventually, to his faint disappointment, her laughter finally tinkled into silence, leaving her gasping for breath as she used the gwythaint to help her slowly stand up, leaning on the animal for balance.
"That was. . .amazing!" Avalina gasped, staring at him with wide eyes, her hair a windblown mess. "Did you see? I was flying! I was. . ."
Avalina hugged the gwythaint, who had turned around, looking for attention.
As she did so, the Horned King was reminded of the crash they had nearly had, and then he was angry. His chances were already needle-thin, the only sliver of hope he would ever have from saving himself from his fate rested with her alone.
"Were you *trying* to get yourself killed?" He growled, staring at her hard.
Surprised by his sudden change in attitude, Avalina turned around, before shrinking from his angry gaze.
"N-no!" She stammered, her fear flaring up like twigs on a fire.
"I was j-just riding."
"What were you thinking?" He snarled, his eyes beginning to flicker, "You could have *died!*"
"She wouldn't h-h-hurt me!" Avalina shook, backing against the gwythaint fearfully.
"You t-told me she wouldn't let me fall!"
As he stared at her, his glare like stone, she tried the last bit of an excuse she had.
"Sh-she knew what she was doing!"
The Horned King stared darkly at the shaking girl for some time, noticing how quickly her aura had changed from overflowing happiness to drawn fear.
The knowledge that he had brought this on irritated him, especially when he grudgingly remembered that for a moment, he had actually enjoyed seeing her happy.
She had just gone on a ride that would normally have anyone else begging for mercy, and she had laughed over it. Before he had spoken to her, he had felt no fear at all.
Finally, he dredged out, "Weren't you frightened at all?"
"I w-was a little, at the b-beginning, but not anym-more."
After staring hard at her for several more moments, he finally turned away to walk inside.
"Be careful," he snarled harshly. "The Invisibles do not need to be scraping you off the courtyard when there are much more productive things they can be doing."
And then the door shut.
Avalina felt tears build in her eyes as the door slammed. She hadn't meant to make him angry! She had only been having fun, and she had thought he had enjoyed it too.
Her vision blurring, she watched Creeper hop awkwardly over to them and beckon the gwythaint away to its stable.
Reluctantly, the creature followed, leaving Avalina standing alone.
Before they had gone too far, Creeper turned around to see her watching him.
Seeing her like this was painfully awkward for the goblin to watch.
"Don't take it too personal, human," he rasped uncomfortably, shifting his feet, "He's like this all the time. You'll get used to it."
Hurriedly, he took the gwythaint inside the stable and closed the door, leaving Avalina by herself in the courtyard with tears running down her face.
She knew the goblin had meant well, but his words were not very comforting.
Numbly, she turned and headed to the one place she knew she would find comfort and companionship.
Mitternacht.
"He had to open his fat mouth."
"The big dummy."
The Invisibles flitted about, setting the table for supper. They had seen the whole thing, and they were heavily irritated over it.
"They were doing so well."
"And then he had to ruin it."
"And Avalina was actually having fun for once," the fourth said. "Did you feel her aura? I don't think I've ever sensed someone that happy in a long, long time."
"She was loving every second," the second Invisible agreed. "I mean, she was *loving* it like we love pranks and sugar."
"And just when she was starting to get over her nightmare, he had to just. . gah, he makes me so frustrated!" The third grumbled.
"He makes us *all* frustrated," the first Invisible answered as it laid the silverware.
"I'd be less frustrated if we could smash a teapot over his head like I did to Creeper," the third one said hopefully.
"Smashing is good," the second agreed.
"No, smashing is bad," the first Invisible said irritably, "And you'd better remember that, because from now on, everything you two break, *you two* will be replacing it, I don't care how difficult it is to conjure."
"I'd really like to know what she dreamed about," the fourth one said, wisely changing the subject before the others could say anything. "It must have been awful to frighten her so badly that the fear carries out over several days."
"I think it contained the Horned King," the first Invisible said. "And definitely not in a good way."
". . .You don't say," the second Invisible said sarcastically, "I never would have guessed."
"Maybe if we knew what it was, we could help somehow," the third Invisible said cheerfully. "I hate seeing Avalina like that."
"We'll be ready next time, if it is what we think it might be," the fourth Invisible said in a resolved voice. "We have to get our suspicions either confirmed or put at ease about it."
"Even if we did know, we would have to watch what we say very carefully. I'm not certain we should tell the master anything about it."
"I wasn't thinking about him, I was thinking about Avalina," the third answered the second. "Maybe we could make her feel better about it. Although I do agree with you on Buddy-Boy, definitely no snitching to him about this."
"We aren't supposed to be seen or heard by anyone except Creeper and the Master," the first Invisible said tartly, setting the plates.
The others all snickered.
"Talk about a day late and a dollar short on that statement," the third cackled.
"Yeah, its a bit too late for that, Dusty-Rainbow," the second snickered, "Because I distinctly remember something that happened only last week. . ."
"I *Forbid* you to mention that *Ever* again," the first said venomously.
"Ok!" The second chirped cheerfully, immediately as the third started in.
"IIII'M A YANKEE DOODLE DANNNNDY!"
Whooping, the second started clapping to the beat, dodging a fork.
"I SAID SHUT UP!" The first Invisible fumed.
"A YANNNKEE DOODLE DO OR DIIIE!"
"YOU NEVER TOLD THEM TO BE QUIET!" The second Invisible yelled cheerfully above the racket, "JUST ME!"
"A REAL LIVE NEPHEW OF MY UNCLE SAM
BORN ON THE FOURTH OF JULYYYYYY!"
The Horned King appeared at the door for a fraction of a second, before turning and leaving.
"Don't let Buddy-Boy get away!" The second cried to the other, who was still belting out verses. "He wants an encore!"
The song-and-clapping duo chased the unfortunate lich down the hall, yelling for all they were worth as he hurried away.
"YANKEE DOODLE CAME TO TOWN
JUST TO RIDE THE PONIES. . ."
The yelling faded away, leaving the other two setting the table in silence.
"You reckon you ought to stop them?" The fourth questioned.
"They are infuriating, but currently I'm as irritated at the master as they are. For once, I say, let him have it. Besides," the first Invisible said as it neatly set the napkins, "Better him than me to be on the receiving end of their insanity."
The fourth grinned, softly humming.
"I'm a Yankee Doodle sweetheeaaart. . . ."
"Shut up."
As of today, I've estimated I have, at most, 15 readers, and at least, I have 9. Its a record! *Parties*