The Goblin's Crown

Chapter Three: Visitation

I ran home as fast as I could with the blood covered dagger hidden beneath my bodice. I was overjoyed to find that the house was empty. My brothers had left for the day and were not home yet.

I burst through the front door and hurled myself at a small basin of water I kept by my cot to wash my face. I splashed the lukewarm water against my cheeks and scrubbed at my hands where the demon's blood had dried onto my skin. The water turned so dark with blood it was almost black. I took the dagger out of its hiding place and washed it as well, scrubbing it clean until its pretty gold and rubies sparkled in the dim firelight of my candle. I sat with it, turning it different ways in the light, watching the flame as it flickered across the dagger's mirror like surface.

"I hope you're worth it." I grumbled as the vivid memory of the monster raced through my mind. Had I really seen what I'd seen? I'd seen corpses destroyed beyond recognition, my brothers beaten and mutilated after being caught stealing, and yet nothing compared to the sight of that deformed creature, leering at me like an old lecher.

I shivered, feeling my skin crawl. I'd flirted with that thing, and it enjoyed it. It wanted me. It knew me. How had it known my old pet name? He would have had to have been around me for a long time. My brothers only ever called me Matilda, even when we were in the privacy of our own home. Tilly is a common nickname for Matilda. I'm sure it was just a coincidence. I reasoned with myself, twisting the dagger in my fingers.

As I turned the dagger once more, the room behind me was reflected in its golden surface. That is when I saw them, at least five small, demonic looking faces peering at me from the edge of the candlelight's reach. I screamed and flipped myself around, holding up the dagger.

They were still there, moving around on spindly limbs, their features similar but less human than Knut's. Their eyes, large and slightly slanted, glowed gold in the dark. They smiled at me, those slanted eyes squinting, rows of small sharp teeth flashing in the light. I tried to yell at them, but fear was strangling me. I couldn't get my tongue to form words.

One of them moved further into the light so that I could properly see it. It was about the size of a newborn baby, even with its too long legs and arms that nearly dragged the floor. Its skin was a dark green and it wore fancy, purple livery with gold buttons and a velvet hat with an abundance of plumage. "You see us now?" It asked, grinning with sharp needle teeth. Its voice was high pitched and raspy. You could hear its breath whistle through its teeth.

I nodded my head stupidly, unable to move.

"Good." It said, putting its hands behind its back. "Grab her."

The moment the order was out of his mouth, the unlit fireplace sparked to life, becoming a doorway of light and a swarm of little deformed men came pouring out of it. They surged towards me. They had the same spindly form as their ruler, but whatever humanness Knut possessed, they did not have. Everything about them was jagged and sharp, from their long noses to their protruding hip bones. Their skins came in a variety of muddy shades, from the same corpse pale as Knut to the murky brown of bog water.

Their fingers clung to my skirt, clawed at my skin and pulled at my hair. I flailed in desperation, clawing at them and throwing punches and kicks, but it did no good. Whenever my nails or the dagger dug through the skin or my fists or feet made contact, there would be no resistance, beyond the initial jolt of contact, as if they'd turned to smoke. A group of them crawled up my arms to hold them down while another two scrambled up to my chest and pinched my lips together so that I couldn't scream.

Without another word, the one in the purple livery turned away and reentered his realm through the magic door and the hoard followed him, carrying me above them like a bunch of ants carrying a piece of bread back to their hill. I didn't know exactly how many of them there were, but it felt like thousands of hands were on me as they carried me towards the light.