The Goblin's Crown

Chapter Thirteen: Cleansed

The last echoes of his father burst from Knut's chest in that feral, ancient scream. The goblins, their faces twisted and void of all humanity, returned their own calls until the world around us seemed to shake with their singular voice. A scream of my own, a continuation of one roared a decade prior, joined in, transforming and commingling with their sound until I could no longer tell what scream was mine.

"We did it." Knut breathed beside me as the sound faded. His chest heaved with excitement, his body aching for breath. "We really did it."

"Of course, we did," I panted, breathless myself. My body trembled in awe and terror of the...the power that coursed through that old tree and the man beside me's veins. I could feel it, moving through him through our joined hands. Magic...it was magic, I supposed. I had no other word for it. I tilted my head back and peered up into the far reaches of the cavity. It went on and on until it faded into darkness. The Hollow almost felt like a living thing. An omnipotent being who's belly we were now enveloped in like a baby cradled in its mother's womb. Knut bared his teeth in a threatening manner at the little goblins, his eyes bright and focused, like an alpha wolf showing dominance over its lessers. I was seeing him in a new light. He was no longer just some ugly creature, but a child of this very being and heir to its throne of godhood. "Was that ever in doubt?" I asked. My lips fumbled clumsily to form words as a thrilling and frightening thought came to mind. Knut hadn't just been boasting before. The goblin king really was a god among his people, and I was to be a god's wife. Feeling my eyes on him, Knut gave me that smile. The one I hated. The one he used when he knew exactly what I was thinking. His hand tightened its hold on mine.

Around us, the goblins that were perched on the mushrooms dropped down to the center ring. They landed without a sound, barely flinching from a fall that had stolen my breath. Goblins of all classes and roles came together, swirling around us like bees around a hive, their screechy voices echoing through the Hollow's cavity. The sound rang in my ears and made the blood pulsing through my body hum. They picked up the old king's corpse, lifted him above their heads and paraded him around, singing in low rumbling tones. "What are they doing?" I asked, wrinkling my nose as they dragged Kai's body away leaving a streak of blood across the ground like a brushstroke across a canvas.

Freya's body evaporated into green mist, swirled around Knut, as if uncertain where to go, then flew through his form. He shuttered slightly as he absorbed her essence, her soul returning to the seed from which she first sprung. Why had it taken so long for her to return to the seed? Had she still somehow been alive? Without her head? I shivered at the thought.

"They'll bury my father out in the forest. From him, a new tree like the Hollow will grow. Kai's body will be burned, and his ashes will be spread around my father's grave to give nutrients to the growing sapling." Knut explained. The goblins passed the old king along from hand to hand out of The Hollow while he brought our linked hands to his lips. "While that takes place, we will be getting ready for our wedding." The word sounded odd as if it were not one, he was familiar with using. He turned his back to me and crouched low. "Get on my back." He ordered.

I blinked stupidly. "For what?"

"A goblin king's 'wedding' is a long, drawn-out affair filled with senseless rituals. First, we need to be cleansed and for that, we need to go up." He pointed a clawed finger upwards, towards the darkness above our heads, where the Hollow's cavity went on and on forever. "You lack the necessary claws, so I'll carry you."

"Watch your hands," I muttered, hesitantly wrapping myself around his back. My arms locked around his neck while my legs went around his waist.

Knut laughed, leering at me over his shoulder. "Hold on tight, Beloved." He launched himself up into the air, his long legs acting like a spring. He fell against the wall of the cavity and dug his claws into The Hollow's hardened wood. Like a rat, he climbed his way upward, his claws scraping against the wood rhythmically. Up and up we went, beyond the spirals of mushroom seats and into the gloom of the cavity's upper reaches. I made the mistake of looking down and a yelp like that of a kicked dog came out of me when I saw just how high we were. The ground below was only a speck of light against a sea of black. A single star in an otherwise dark night sky. Knut's chuckle drowned out the scratching of his claws. "You needn't squeeze my guts out. I won't drop you."