I didn't die! What I did do was give up on this fanfic for a longgggg time. I am ashamed that I disappointed so many of my readers, but I hope you'll forgive me. Life simply just gets in the way sometimes. I'm in a writing mood right now, and just gained access to my account again, so I'll post what I have written thus far. I'm not making any guarantees for updates in the future, but I would like to come to some sort of conclusion for this story. I did my best to reread it all of the previous chapters for style and character consistency, but be certain, my writing has changed a lot over the last few years. To anyone who sees the update, please accept my sincerest apologies for taking so long, especially since it was an awful place in the plot.

Disclaimer: These characters are derived from Hilari Bell's story Goblin Wood, which is not mine.

Chapter 14:

The Knight:

While it had taken them only a bit of concerted effort to put their escape plans into action, it had taken Tobin's entire coin collection from the Old Realm to bribe Mourry and the other goblins that retreating home was wiser than coming with Tobin and Makenna to find Agna. Even then, they only did so with a reminder of the looming threat of more barbarians and sorcerers coming into Otherworld. Zvonimir, tempting treason from his own clan, had secretly gathered all the necessary supplies for their respective journey's and sent them on their way just before clan conflict broke out in Ferkai. Although Tobin was still weary of the centaur, he was more than happy to oblige his wishes. Before departing, they promised to update one another on events a week hence via messengers. Tobin had the distinct feeling that even if Zvonimir was not the one to do it, then King Erol would certainly send someone after them for answers. Thinking of the calculating king's displeasure at his disappearance made leaving the absolute luxury of Ferkai easier to bear.

With a healthy dose of trepidation, he began their flight through the deep woods just beyond Ferkai's border. The forest, unlike the one surrounding the unnamed goblin city's, was ancient. Its trees stood taller than anything Tobin had seen, some even taller than the centaur's towering structures. It reminded him somewhat of the forests by the wall in the Old Realm. Vast swatches of untilled earth and feral undergrowth blocked his way until he found a minor game path through the worst of it. There he let his cautious mountain ram set the pace and took care to keep watch ahead and behind, map in hand.

For the first few hours of their journey he could not stop fretting over Makenna. No one, save Miggy or maybe Erebus, cared more about Makenna than Tobin, of that he was now undeniably certain. There was nothing more that he wanted right now than to hear her voice, cracking a joke at his expense, or simple saying hello. It was not a new realization, but the urgency of their task made his feelings all the more troublesome. If he wasn't being plagued by his own paranoia that the curse had begun to spread at a faster rate, then it was something else about her well-being. Their first day of travel he had gotten them a bit off track. The map that Zvonimir had supplied was scribed in centaur, not the common tongue, making deciphering it a challenge. Although he had memorized the path to Agna's dwelling, actually following that path in view of a changing landscape was another thing entirely. Yet, by the time the first stars began winking at him between racing clouds from above the thick canopy, he had gotten them back on track. In the morning following, they had gotten an early start to make up for his mistake and had made good time considering how lethargic their ram had become with the extra body to bear.

Makenna tipping over in her seat ever so slightly suddenly brought Tobin's heart into his throat. He halted their mountain ram, and straightened her out, making sure that the blankets were still wrapped tightly enough to fight off the late afternoon's chill. Makenna's eyes, still shut, showed no sign of reaction to the disturbance. After checking on her, Tobin's gaze wandered over the thick foliage around him. He realized they had ridden their second day away already, well passed time to set camp. After a short distance he found a small glen that suited their needs. Two frost tipped trees stood as sentinels while Tobin dismounted with Makenna and arranged her a temporary bed. First, he set a fire using the strange bottle of oil and wick that Rosto has insisted on returning to Makenna for their travels. He was not too prideful to turn down the help. After all, on the expedition he had gotten quite used to the Flamers setting their camp fires at night, and was doubtful that his skills would be enough to kindle fire in this freeze.

Once the fire was just beginning to consume larger branches, he gathered more recently felled wood to create a makeshift shelter outside their stretched canvas tend. Roots and frozen dirt from the base of the two sentinel trees protected them from the north and west, while the fire, their sleeping ram, and the branches did the same for the east and south. The undergrowth as well as some added branches of pine and a wool blanket provided them with some insulation from the cold earth. It was all he could manage before he needed to get Makenna settled in and check her ailments. To his surprise, Tobin found that the curse had not spread and further up her neck at all, yet somehow, this was not at all reassuring.

After tending to Makenna's needs, Tobin ate a small ration of simple oat cakes, and drank his fill of the water provided after brewing it into a light tisane. Burrowed deep inside their furs and blankets, and feeling the day's fatigue catch up with him, it wasn't long before he began to doze. He shuddered as his body began to tip to the side. It was in the moment he gazed at the fire after nearly falling that he spotted something starring back. A dark but luminous misshapen figure not all that different from a human starred back at him. He froze, hoping to see more of it, but just as quickly as it appeared, it disappeared into the tree line.

Even after putting a great distance between himself and their makeshift camp the next day, Tobin still could not stop thinking about it. He wondered if it was real or if his own anxiety had played a trick on his eyes. What was worse, they still had a whole day ahead before the frozen lake, and he could not shake the hot-cold sensation of the creature's presence on his mind. It was confusing to him, to differentiate between that and his general anxiety. Despite knowing that they would find safety in the forests given that the nearest sorcerers had been eradicated, he could not deny that its appearance was foreboding.