Chapter 137
Something cold and wet dashed across her face jolted Avalina back to consciousness, a cry escaping her before she could stop it and coughing as it went up her nose.
Blinking the water from her eyes, she stared through her wild, now-sagging hair that hung over her face at her captors, terror twisting inside her chest so painfully she nearly cried out again, but refrained, only a sharp gasp of fear making itself known.
The man who had thrown water in her face leered unpleasantly down at her, his now-empty cup in hand, and the others chuckled and guffawed in the background as she struggled to back away.
Only to realize after a moment that she couldn't. Her hands were tightly bound behind her around a tree, and she was kneeling in front of said tree, without the slightest slack in the rope at all. She could feel the bark pressing roughly into her back, but at the moment she scarcely noticed. Her attention was focused on the group of thugs that surrounded her on three sides, looking at her with expressions that petrified her.
"Rise an' shine, princess," the one with the empty cup mocked, to the laughter of the others. "You ain't gonna run away, now are you?"
"Who are you?" Avalina asked fearfully, shrinking against the tree as much as possible.
"Ha! Like we'd be fool enough to tell you," another from the side jeered.
"Please let me go!" Avalina begged, which only prompted more guffaws from the group.
"After such a flawless getaway?" the man who had captured her asked as he appeared behind the other. "You ain't very bright, wench."
"What do you want with me?" She asked, trying (with little success) to keep her voice from trembling.
"None o' your business," her captor said harshly, before continuing after a moment, his leer widening. "But if you insist...there's a very good price for slave girls in the city, and for a good one, you can get two or three horses. And capturing you was so easy, we'll turn a profit no matter what we get."
"But slavery's outlawed in Prydain!" Avalina protested.
Her captor chuckled. "Not if you know the right...people."
"King Gwydion will never stand for this!" Avalina said, trying not to panic.
"His /majesty/ doesn't know a thing about it," the man replied, "And there's nothing wrong with doing a little...business."
"But it's wrong!"
"You think we /care?/"
Avalina wracked her brains desperately for a plan of escape, before alighting on one.
"The Horned King won't be very happy with you if you don't let me go right now," she threatened, internally flinching at how weak her voice sounded.
A collective gasp had gone up from all the men at her words, terror on their faces as everyone in the campsite stiffened. For a few moments she thought she'd succeeded, before her captor suddenly guffawed loud and long, the others following after a moment.
"You're quite the little liar," he told her when the laughter had died down. "Everybody knows the Horned King is dead! He died over a year ago! By a /boy's/ hand, no less! And his skeleton army he sought to raise are deader than he is!"
The men roared with laughter as Avalina shouted to be heard above them.
"He's not dead! He was in the castle this morning, and Creeper was in the courtyard with the gwythaints!"
Her captor held up a hand for silence, before continuing.
"Oh, yes, and I'm the brat that slayed him," he sneered. "Your stories won't help you any. The Horned King is /dead/, and do you know how I know? I was there! We /all/ were, right men?"
Avalina gasped, realization dawning as they all bellowed affirmatives, noticing for the first time just how well that description fit them.
They were certainly wicked enough to have once been the Horned King's henchmen.
"Y-you're from the Horned King's old army!" she stammered.
"Who else would we be?"
"Then why don't you believe me?" Avalina protested. "You saw the gwythaint! The Horned King is alive, and I've been staying with-"
She cried out in pain as her captor slapped her hard across the face, the force of it knocking her head back to collide against the trunk she was tied to.
"Shut up!" He snarled, towering over her, "Or you'll regret it!"
"Don't beat her up too much!" One of the others said. "We won't get anything for her if she's black and blue."
Through her spotty vision, Avalina barely made out the shape of the man walking away, grumbling to himself, before the tears came, and try as she might she couldn't stop them. At least her hair hid them from her captors.
Her head hurt terribly, but the terror and helplessness of her situation that filled her heart was a hundred times worse, threatening to wind around her throat and choke her.
She knew the Horned King was probably missing her by now. Everyone probably was. It was about midday, as far as she could tell, and he would be waiting for her in the music room. No...Creeper probably would have noticed her missing when he took Addie out that morning. He would have seen the tracks...and saw Mitternacht still in the stable. And Gethin probably would have alerted him to the problem.
'He's such a good boy,' she thought fondly, a tiny smile crossing her features. 'They're probably out looking for me right now. I just hope they hurry! Tomorrow I'm being taken to the city, and if I ever get there...the person these men will be trying to sell me to...'
She shuddered at the thought.
'Will probably make sure I'm kept well out of sight. They'll never find me there without exposing themselves. There's too many people.'
One of the men, in passing, threw some sort of alcoholic drink against the side of her head, and she screamed in agony as it burned like fire, working into the cut where her captor had knocked her out earlier.
The men laughed like they'd just been treated to the joke of the century. Several minutes later, when the pain had dimmed enough to be slightly bearable and her throat was hoarse from screaming, Avalina shook in a silent attempt to bite back any more tears.
'Sire, or Creeper, or anyone,' she thought, shivering, 'Please, hurry!'
Creeper studied the tracks once more, before easing Addie along the trail as quietly and swiftly as she could go.
Ordinarily they would be in the air, but the goblin was not as stupid as many believed. He knew how to track, and since that man had seen Gethin, it made sense to assume he'd be watching the air for the gwythaint. He didn't know Gethin couldn't fly.
The sun still had a little bit to go, and until it sank and dusk covered the earth it wasn't safe to risk them going airborne. Besides, in the air Creeper couldn't see the trail his quarry had left.
The tracks showed the animal had been traveling fast and heavy, not a few hours since, but they had certainly covered ground like a gwythaint /had/ been after them, Creeper thought.
He had heard the human screaming as she was taken away. She hadn't wanted to go. She had needed his help. And he hadn't been fast enough.
Nobody had ever needed Creeper, and the sensation of being needed was so strange he wasn't sure what to make of it. All he currently felt was a thick, heavy sensation the girl had once described to him as Guilt. And an insatiable desire to watch Addie rip the human's captors limb from limb. The goblin was as bloodthirsty as the lich he served, however Creeper was rarely graced with an opportunity for it to show.
It was another hour before the sun set and Creeper let Addie take to the air. This way they could easily travel three times as fast, but the risk of losing the trail was higher.
Addie's sharp eyes scanned the landscape like an owl's, picking out everything below her and searching for her quarry. She could sense the supreme need for stealth, but didn't understand why. She could kill almost anything that moved without hardly even trying, why was her rider so edgy?
Her wings pumped softly in the evening breeze as they flew low high above the trees, watching for any signs.
Smoke wafted against the goblin's nose, right before a bright circle of firelight could be seen poking through the treetops.
Addie tensed in anticipation, and Creeper guided her skillfully in a wide midair turn and circled back, before lightly dipping through a hole in the forest roof and landing on the ground.
Pricking his little pointed ears, he could hear men talking, and Addie, listening, gave a soft, deep growl. She didn't possess hackles but Creeper was sure if she did, they'd be standing straight up.
Tiptoeing through the undergrowth, Creeper wondered irritably why the gwythaint couldn't have landed on a trail somewhere instead of this. They'd be much quieter that way, but he wasn't going to search for a trail in the dark and make possibly even more noise than they already were.
Well, Creeper was making noise. Addie walked as stealthily as any predator. After a moment Creeper mounted her again and they went smoothly on.
The group had made camp in a clearing, and after telling Addie to stay put, Creeper stealthily slipped up, observing them.
The stench of alcohol was quite present, and the goblin noticed in shock that almost all of them were none other than the Horned King's old henchmen.
Rubbing his eyes, the goblin stared, hardly able to believe what he was seeing. Like a piece of his past had came back to laugh in his face. Over there was the one that regularly kicked him, and that one by the fire had enjoyed throwing a various assortment of knives at the goblin...and that one over there had taken particular pleasure in robbing Creeper of what little food he'd managed to get.
And over there, tied to a tree, was the human girl. Creeper stared at her fiercely, trying to see if she was alright, but her hair hung over her face like a curtain and he could make out nothing. But he knew he wasn't imagining the dark stains on her clothing, and the goblin's embittered little heart shivered in rage.
Some of them were talking, and Creeper's ears perked at the mention of "gwythaints." Drawing as close as he dared, he listened carefully.
The way they were talking, many of them were overly trigger-happy with their bows, watching the black sky in paranoia. Apparently they were concerned the gwythaint one of them had seen at the castle would follow them, hoping for an easy meal.
Even as the goblin watched, one of the men whirled and shot an arrow through the leaves when the wind shook them, the others angrily cursing at his actions.
Quickly, Creeper did a headcount. Twenty was his limit, but there were three more after that...
'Twenty plus three,' he thought to himself, slowly backing up. 'Too many for Addie to attack alone. Now, get back and tell the Master where they are. And then...'
The goblin grinned so nastily in the darkness, he fancied he could turn someone to stone with that look if he so wished. The human girl had read him a story like that once.
After getting back to Addie, he pulled her over onto a side trail to walk on, til they were far enough away to take to the air without being heard.
Addie, however, refused to place a single claw on the path and stuck stubbornly to the undergrowth, her eyes glowing faintly.
"Addie!" Creeper hissed, "You're being complicated! Now /get/ over here and /walk/ on the /tra/-AHH!"
Creeper yelped in surprise as something snaked around his ankle and went taut, throwing him to the ground. Addie snarled as he scrabbled to his feet. Yanking, he tried to free himself, but it was no good.
He'd walked right into a rabbit snare.
Addie swiveled her head back, listening as the men's talk got louder, more frantic.
"Addie!" Creeper spat in his gurgling voice as he held out the hard twine, "Bite!"
One quick snap and he was free, before they were off with a whoosh of air and a thunder of wings.
Gripping her corncob-sheathed spikes as they ascended, Creeper reached down with his free hand, working the noose around his foot loose.
"I'll never question you about traveling again," he rasped, fancying he heard the gwythaint give a chirr in reply.
Avalina's captors were terrified of a gwythaint attacking them. They were armed to the teeth and still they were worried, which proved just how much fear a dragon can place in one's heart. One of the more trigger-happy ones had started shooting at anything that moved or made noise. It got to the point another man knocked him out, just so they wouldn't have to duck every time they went for more firewood.
The man who had thrown alcohol on her was convinced seeing the gwythaint had been a bad luck sign, and taking the girl had stirred up evil spirits to haunt them, but Avalina's captor had threatened to kill him if he caused any more paranoia, so he had been quiet after that.
Avalina ached all over from being tied in such an uncomfortable position. Her head still burned, her shoulders throbbed from being pulled back in such a prolonged unnatural pose, and her legs had fallen asleep a long time ago, but the worst part was her wrists. The rope chafed tightly against them, and there was no slack whatsoever.
In a sort of daze, she sat there, unable to move, and prayed desperately for help to come soon. The men had given her neither food nor water, adding to her discomfort, and she was tied far enough away from the fire that the early spring chill made her shiver.
A sound suddenly cut through her haze, whipping the men in a frenzy and jerking Avalina to alertness. She had heard Creeper yell!
A moment later she heard Addie snarl softly, before a quick whoosh was heard, signaling they were gone. But Avalina knew they had found her, and help was on the way.
The men flew into a panic, grabbing weapons and staring into the dark.
"Ah told you," the superstitious one said nervously, pointing his sword at the undergrowth, "That gwythaint you saw wasn't alive. It's a ghost and it's /hauntin'/ us! And everybody knows the gwythaints always showed up right before the Hor-"
The man's death cry was the last noise he ever made as Avalina's captor stabbed him instantly through the heart.
Everyone in the clearing gasped, and Avalina looked on in horror as her captor snarled in the other man's ear, "I told you not to do that."
Yanking his sword free, he kicked the corpse over into the bushes and casually wiped his blade on the undergrowth, before standing and addressing the shocked group.
"No more talk of gwythaints!" He snapped, "/Or/ what comes after. You're letting this fear play with your minds! They're all dead and gone! Now you!"
Swinging his sword at the man nearest him, he snarled, "You stand watch for the first shift and pick a replacement. We move out at dawn."
The men scattered and did as they were told, none of them noticing Avalina was shaking uncontrollably over the horror she had just witnessed.
She had never seen a person die before, and certainly never murder. She hadn't even seen this one, really. The other men had blocked her view...but she had heard it, and she shuddered terribly.
She hadn't liked the man, but she hadn't wanted him to die!
But there his body was, over there in the bushes, out of sight, a small scattering of dark drops in the pale sand the only evidence that anything had ever happened.
Avalina dropped her gaze and wept.
Thank you to Olmo, who spotted an error in my previous chapter which is now fixed. XD
To LiteralSarcasm100Fun: I've been updating more often cause I've had more time in Real Life and the story's cooperating with me. =) Of course, now that I've said that I'll get Writer's Block or something. XD Eh, if it shows up, *whips out cannon* Me-sah BLAAAST! Muhahahaha! *evil grin* Lol
Note: The man that captured Avalina is the guy that almost killed Taran when he fell into the throne room in the movie. =) The way he out and out /taunted/ Taran with his sword showed he obviously enjoyed killing, no matter how old the victim, so I thought he'd be perfect for this part. XD I just couldn't say this earlier because it would give spoilers to this chapter. Just out of curiosity, did anyone see the "Horned King's old henchmen reappearing" twist coming? I'd like to know. XD Oh, and one more thing. They all ran away before the castle exploded, so they all think it's still standing and they naturally assume everyone in it (Creeper, the gwythaints, etc.) got killed by the Cauldron-Born, since they saw the Cauldron-Born kill a few of their own. Just thought I'd say that. XD
Thank you to everyone that reads and reviews! =D