Chapter 138

Creeper slipped inside the Horned King's chambers after tapping the door, feeling his throat tighten at the sight of his master. He had flown Addie hard to get back as quickly as possible, but it had been some time...

The lich turned slowly towards him, his voice echoing off the walls and adding to his menace.

"Well?"

The goblin told everything, before the Horned King summoned a map from the Invisibles and made Creeper show the exact location of the campsite, before slowly descending the steps of his chamber and heading to the courtyard, the goblin trailing behind.

Creeper did not dare ask what his master was planning, but he thought he knew.

And as his master ordered him to bring the female gwythaint out of her stable, his eyes tiny pinpricks of red, Creeper's suspicions were confirmed.

The men had stayed awake all night, none of them daring to sleep, for fear of being killed in it by another. The first killing had put them all on edge and none of them wanted to be the second victim.

Avalina was so exhausted she couldn't help but doze now and then, but the pain she was in and the noise the men made kept her awake as they prepared to break camp early. It was still a few hours to sunrise but it was clear all the talk of gwythaints and the Horned King had them thoroughly spooked.

Avalina had managed to regain the use of her legs during the night, bringing them out in front of her and then folding them back again to get the feeling back, but she was trying very hard not to panic. If they pulled camp early, help might not get here in time! She would have to stall them...but how? One little prisoner among a group of barbarians didn't stand much of a chance for anything.

Shouting at them would only get her beaten again and would not help at all, but she could think of no other option. In her state, she literally had nothing else.

She hadn't spoken a word since yesterday, but she was afraid she was going to have to now, if only to stall them. Anything she said, they would probably do the opposite, so there was a chance she could use this to her advantage.

Trembling, she took a steadying breath, but after several minutes went by and she still said nothing, her trembling only getting worse, she silently prayed for courage for what she was about to do.

Or a miracle.

"Excuse me," she said softly to a man in passing, "But could I please have some water?"

"Quiet!" He snapped around an armload, before walking away.

Taking a breath, she tried the next one, with much the same response, except with a whole lot of cursing.

The third time it was her captor, and the one she'd asked first bellowed across the clearing, "Oh, give it to her so she'll shut up!"

Grumbling, her captor brought a cup, but a whiff of it showed it certainly wasn't water, although Avalina could plainly see the waterpouches across the clearing.

The other men paused with what they were doing to watch, leering from ear to ear.

"Drink it or go without," he snarled at her spitefully, and grinned nastily when she steeled herself and took a mouthful, nearly gagging at the wretched taste, but a desperate plan forming quickly in her mind.

'Oh Fates, have mercy on me!'

The instant the cup was removed from her face she steeled herself with everything she had and whipped her legs up, kicking him in a very sensitive area.

The man groaned in pain, doubling over, and Avalina spit the alcohol directly in his eyes while simultaneously kicking the dagger from his belt. Catching it between her boots, she brought the blade up and nicked him in the thigh as high as she could reach. She couldn't ever bring herself to out and out harm someone, and even now she regretted spilling blood, even if it was her enemy's.

Her captor roared in pain, and she saw a dark stain appear on his trousers as he looked murderously up at her.

'Fates, help me!'

She kicked at him again as he approached, but he slapped the knife away from her like it was nothing and backhanded her hard across the face.

Retrieving his dagger from the dirt, he struck her again, before grabbing a fistful of her hair, violently yanking her head back and pressing the bloody blade tip against her throat.

Avalina screamed in pain and fear as he did so, the men suddenly seeming agitated.

"Don't kill her!" they protested, "We need that money!"

"Shut up!" Her captor shouted at them, "I've had it with her! We can get another one, easy!"

Turning back to her, he yanked her head back even farther and snarled, "You're out of luck, wench."

Avalina felt the blade break her skin and screamed in terror, right as the wind gave a low, ominous moan, brushing coldly at the leaves overhead, before falling abruptly silent as the very air seemed to turn to ice.

The flame still sputtering in the small campfire blew out.

A crackling, snapping spiral of brilliant blue lightning appeared on the far side of the clearing, starting at the ground and winding its way up, bringing with it a red, hazy smoke that filled the air.

The men were frozen in petrified horror, watching. They knew all too well what this symbolized.

The center of the spiral lit up with a flash of light, an explosion of fire and a crash like thunder that made everyone in the clearing jump.

As the smoke slowly began to dissipate, figures could be made out inside, before it cleared away from them, revealing a sight the men had thought long dead.

The Horned King stood there, taller than any of them, in all his forbidding majesty, his visage stony and heartless as Death. The pillar of fire burning behind him from his arrival only added to his menace, and every inch of him screamed of an evil so ancient and wicked the word for it has long been lost.

A gwythaint, pale black with an even paler underbelly, stood at his side, wings raised aggressively and every tooth bared, its eyes glowing in brilliant fury. Astride the creature sat the little green goblin they had all tormented so much, but instead of a groveling skulk they saw an enraged little monster that looked as if he couldn't wait to rip their throats out.

Avalina's heart lifted in more relief than she could have ever thought possible at the sight of them, silently thanking the Fates that help had finally come.

The plants promptly shriveled and died by the Horned King's feet, turning black before disintegrating to dust. The black circle spread out, devouring every scrap of plant life in and around the clearing. Avalina gasped as it swept over her, feeling the tree bark behind her crumble to ash, but felt nothing more, save his aura that made the air nearly thick enough to cut.

The Horned King's gaze seemed to freeze every soul it touched, raking over the group like a pestilence, before it came to her and lingered, Avalina giving him a relieved little smile before she even knew what she was doing.

After a long pause, (in which nobody breathed) the lich slowly tread across the clearing toward Avalina, looking neither to the right nor the left. His presence was terrifying, but all Avalina felt was blessed relief.

She was safe now.

From her position she couldn't tilt her head up very far or it hurt her back, but she sensed him staring very hard at her, before she felt him take the ropes that snugged her to the tree and break them like bits of thread.

Gasping in relief, she rubbed her sore wrists, wincing at the pain, before attempting to rise. Her legs almost gave out but she recovered, steadying herself against the now-dead tree and looking gratefully up at the lich.

The Horned King's expression did not change as he took in the hit marks on her face and the bloody spot where the knife had pierced her neck only a moment before. It was still bleeding steadily, but not fatally. It would stop itself up soon, although her shirt collar was already dark red.

"Ride to the castle," he ordered, his voice a dead monotone as he looked her over, and Avalina furrowed her brow slightly.

"But I'm going back with you, right? You can teleport..."

A shard of ice pierced her heart as she realized what he meant.

"Oh, no," she breathed in horror. "Please, don't!"

The lich was silent, and she could hear his answer in it, see it in his face, as clearly as anything.

"It won't help what's happened!" She protested, but she knew he had already made up his mind, and nothing in this world or the next could change it.

"Go," he commanded, staring sternly at her with slightly narrowed eyes, and she knew he wouldn't be asking again.

Either leave now, or watch.

Tears blurring her eyes, she ran past him and into the trees, finding a mount that was in good shape and not loaded down with provisions.

Looking through the trees, she realized he had turned to watch her go, and their eyes met over the undergrowth, a stony decision against horrified realization.

The horse was too stiff with terror to move, but a shriek from Addie shook the creature from its frozen state. After Avalina turned it toward the castle, it screamed terribly and galloped away from the camp as though the very hounds of Hell were snapping at its heels.

The hoofbeats grew fainter and fainter, echoing through the trees, and a long, silent moment after they disappeared completely, the Horned King surveyed the barbarians that were once his pathetic excuse for an army, and twitched the first two fingers of his left hand.

Addie screamed and attacked the men, who were still frozen in their places in terror, as the lich slowly drew the sword of the petrified man nearest him and coldly rendered him lifeless.

Shaken from their stupor, the men tried to flee or fight, but it was no use.

You couldn't run from Death.

Despite the distance, Avalina could still hear the screams, and she couldn't stop her agonized tears as her horse galloped on in a speed and fear that defied all natural limits.

It was a very long time before she could force the terrified horse to a slower pace, but although he had thoroughly exhausted himself he was determined not to give one inch and galloped on. It was all she could do to steer him.

She knew this section of country well. She'd traveled it with Mitternacht many times, and she knew how to get to the castle from here.

Finally, the horse let her slow him to a walk, although he spooked at every little noise and nearly threw Avalina twice when he reared up at a rabbit fleeing through the undergrowth.

The sun rose, bathing the land in its warm light, but the girl scarcely heeded it.

Avalina couldn't tell the difference at first when she crossed from Prydain's forest over onto the Horned King's land a few hours later. A couple things that helped divide the two were the lack of dead limbs and leaves on the lich's grounds and the grass was actually a bit thicker.

Her horse shied again, whipping to the side so quickly the animal bashed its head against a tree. Avalina felt the crack its teeth made against the wood and tried to soothe it, but the beast would have none of it, fighting to gallop again.

'It's true,' Avalina thought fearfully, 'Any animals in the Horned King's presence go mad! Thank the Fates Mitternacht didn't!'

Avalina heard the other horse coming right before her own bolted across the Horned King's grounds as fast as it could run, driven mad with fear.

Glancing behind her, she saw another horse break from the trees and give chase, and her heart shuddered as she realized it was none other than her captor. How he'd escaped from the carnage was a mystery but his mount looked as exhausted as hers.

She urged her horse to go faster, but the creature was worn out and soon her captor was right on top of her.

She tried to steer her horse away, but her mount was too tired to escape.

The man shoved Avalina harshly from the saddle, throwing her to the ground. She barely avoided getting trampled as her mount whipped about in a panic before galloping away.

"You're gonna pay for leading the Horned King to us!" the man snarled, pulling his spear back to run the prone girl through.

A crack of thunder wings and a gwythaint's scream sounded, before Addie sank her talons into the man's shoulders, yanking him right off his horse as Creeper grabbed his spear from him and took off for the castle.

Watching them depart, Avalina leaped up and barely grabbed the horse's reins in time to prevent it from running away, before leaping to the saddle and galloping after them. She knew her captor would be granted the same fate as all the others if she didn't at least try.

Thundering into the courtyard, she bade the Invisible she sensed near to hold the terrified animal near the drawbridge, before leaping off and running over to where her captor knelt in front of the Horned King, begging for his life, while Addie and Creeper watched.

'He must have teleported back here,' she realized.

"Please, sir!" she cried, running up to the Horned King, "Please don't kill him!"

The lich regarded her expressionlessly.

"Go inside."

Avalina trembled.

"Please, no more!" She begged him softly, "Please!"

"Inside."

Avalina trembled harder.

"Sire, please!"

The Horned King was silent for a long moment, before he spoke.

"The goblin has informed me that as with the others, he has killed many since he left my servitude," he rumbled, "Including children. If he were allowed to go, he would inevitably kill again. They were all wanted for murder. And he would have murdered you without a single thought."

Avalina struggled to find anything to say that could sway him, but she could think of nothing. The silence was broken, however, by the Horned King dredging rather thoughtfully, "However, it would be most unfortunate to have blood spilled where you have worked so hard."

After a moment, he turned back to the man kneeling on the ground, uttering a single word.

"Run."

The man shakily got to his feet, running across the courtyard as fast as he could, before mounting his horse and galloping madly away.

Avalina watched the Horned King in trepidation as her captor vanished from sight. She was terribly afraid this wasn't over, and her throat was very tight.

The hoofbeats faded away.

After several moments of stony silence, the lich grated his order to the goblin in his coldest, deadest monotone.

". . .Kill him."

"No!" Avalina cried in horror.

Addie screeched and whipped off the ground instantly, with Creeper astride, giving chase over the trees.

"Please, no!" Avalina begged the lich, tears streaming down her face, "Call them back!"

"For once," the Horned King said slowly, meeting her gaze, "If any other were in my place, they would do as I have. It is merely lawful justice. He is a criminal, and he must pay for his crimes."

Avalina was horrified, but she knew her friend was right. Completely right. But the thought it being /right/ to kill someone, regardless of crime, was so horrible to her she felt nauseous.

"Now," the lich finished, "Come inside."

Taking her arm, the Horned King carefully guided the shaken girl up the steps and into the castle so she would not have to hear the death screams.

Once inside, he bade the Invisibles care for her wounds, before walking heavily away, leaving her standing by the closed doors with tears streaming down her face, watching him go. She wanted to go to him, but felt certain he wanted to be left alone.

She didn't know what she could say if she followed him, anyway.

The Horned King had felt nothing but disgust for these pathetic mortals that had once worked for him, and the thought of them harming Avalina had been the last metaphorical straw. He had been forced to rely on them before but now he had no use for them.

Creeper had told him that while he had been scouting for the Pig-Keeper by the villages last summer, he had seen "Wanted" posters nailed up everywhere, with many, if not all, of the men's faces on it. Somehow, the Horned King had not been surprised they had continued their habits after their...unemployment.

They had killed hundreds of people under his command. Not a soul was spared, and the Horned King, instead of feeling nothing as he would have some months ago, found that the idea of them killing children was slightly...very slightly...disturbing. Particularly of one, certain child...

They had stolen her from him, and injured her. They would have killed her if he had not arrived when he did.

They had not escaped him. It had taken the goblin a few hours to track down all the ones that had fled but the end result was the same. The one who had abducted Avalina in the first place had been the last to die.

From his window, the Horned King could see the gwythaint and the Creeper on their way back from their job. Doubtless the goblin knew to wash off before Avalina saw him.

Hearing her cries for their lives and denying it made the lich's heart feel oddly heavy. But this was inevitable. It had to be done.

Later that evening, he went to fetch her for the nighttime meal himself. He could hear her crying through the door and wondered faintly if she was angry at him for what he had done.

Easing the door open, he approached as she felt his aura and looked up with tearful eyes.

"I'm not upset at you," she sniffed, taking the lich vaguely by surprise that she would guess his question before he spoke it.

"I would understand if you were," he rumbled, lightly touching her shoulder.

"No," she said, shaking her head, "Not at you."

Hugging his waist, she sobbed, "Why do people have to kill each other? It's so horrid!"

The Horned King gave a faint rumble in his chest as he gently held her close.

"I do not remember," he replied heavily, regretting that for all his intelligence, he could give no better answer. And the knowledge that killing did not bother him at all made it difficult for him to comfort her.

"Perhaps they lack what you possess."

"What's that?" Avalina asked, looking up at him.

The lich had no chance to answer as the Invisibles burst in the door.

"Hey Prickles, are y'all eating or what? Keeping everything warm ain't easy, you know."

"Your complaint is groundless," the Horned King replied tonelessly. "You are so full of hot air I fail to see any complication with your task."

"Oh, ha ha ha," the Invisibles answered. "We got a better idea. Let's just set your stole on fire again and keep the food warm that way."

Avalina snickered faintly behind his robe, and the lich, relieved that for the moment she was no longer crying, led her downstairs, listening to the Invisibles spare no detail to the dozen different ways they had just thought up to keep food warm for late diners.

"Have they really set your stole on fire?" Avalina asked him with wide eyes.

The Horned King grudgingly nodded his affirmative.

"The night before you arrived."

"How's it not all black?" She asked, looking behind him for a moment.

"Cause we burned the cobwebs /on/ the stole, not the actual stole," the Invisibles cackled. "But you'd think we had, the way he swerved around roaring, 'PUT ME OUT!'"

Avalina laughed, and the lich gave a tiny smile, glad to see she seemed to be back to herself.

"They think they're so clever," he grumbled.

"Well, hey," Avalina told him, "Look on the bright side. They could have done your robe!"

The Horned King growled out a groan as the Invisibles howled in laughter.

"We'll have you trained yet!" They cackled to Avalina.

"Keep away from their idle minds," the lich growled, "They are nothing but trouble."

"Too late, McGee," they laughed. "Just remember, we /feed/ y'all!"

". . .And your point is?" The Horned King queried, slightly raising a brow ridge.

The Invisibles cackled.

"There's plenty more cream pies where that first one came from!"

To DarkraixCresselia and Luna Bass: As you can tell, you're not the only bloodthirsty ones here. Lol Hope it was enough for you! XD I intended for him to come to the rescue all along. XD Totally predictable, but it was too bloody awesome (see what I did there? XD) to leave out. Lol

My editors are delighted that I added that little "Don't mess with the cooks!" theme in. Bahahaha! The Invisibles think of everything, don't they? Lol! Honestly though, I cackle to myself like an idiot (that is, more than usual) every time I write their lines. XD "PUT ME OUT!" *ROFL* I can see it now...Bahahaha!

Thank you to everyone who reads and takes time to review, y'all are what keep meh postin' on here! =D

Also, to Kitteninthemoonlight: If, by any chance you're still reading this story, please check your Howrse mail. =) Unless you've forgotten the password, then message me on here, ok? =D