The Goblin's Heir

Chapter Twenty Six: Collection

It felt strange not to be leading the pack. Dara walked at the front of our group, guiding us through the entanglement of branches with expert ease. The boys followed at her heels with the rest of us trailing behind. Floki kept near Cerise and me while Bran stuck to Cat and Frit was literally chained to Neasa. Floki watched the trees anxiously, still wary of the elves and their intentions. He kept his shield on his arm and his hand on the hilt of his sword, ready to draw it at a second's notice. The elves were invisible, moving without sound or causing motion in the limbs. The quiet was only broken by the singing of birds overhead, the clank of metal from Floki's heavy weaponry, Neasa's chains and Odd's incessant questions.

"Why are we just walking aimlessly?"

Dara's shoulders slumped in exasperation. "We're waiting for the birds to gather their intel. Until then, we're doing a sweep of The Boughs and making our way north. There's a lot of ground to cover and there's no sense in wasting our time just standing still." 

"How do your friends even know what to look for?" Odd asked, flipping his spear over his shoulder and around his back out of boredom. "Did you give them a thorough description?"

"Goblin princelings tend to stand out wherever they go. If they don't spot his hideous mug, they'll surely catch a whiff of his stench." 

"We don't stink. Elves stink. You all reek of rotting leaves and deer droppings." 

"Better than rancid ass." Dara hissed back at him and picked up her pace, grumbling beneath her breath about having to deal with idiotic toad-men.  Odd jogged to keep up his pace with her, stopping her escape. 

Frit groaned and slicked back his hair with his large hand. "This is going to be a long journey. Listening to Odd's attempts to flirt with her is already exhausting me beyond the point of recovery and we've only been walking for a few hours." 

"I thought I was the only one about to spit up my dinner," Floki grumbled. 

Neasa blinked wide eyes at Frit and glanced around at the rest of us. "You really think Odd's interested in Dara?" The sound of her voice was startling. It had been such a long time she'd spoken. 

Frit grinned, pleased to hear her, and leaned down to her level, speaking softly at her ear. "Very much so. You can tell by how he tries extra hard to annoy her." He explained with a snicker.

"Does that mean he likes me?" Cat asked, walking up beside him with her usual swagger. "Because that's what he's done with me the entire time I've known him." 

Frit shrugged his broad shoulders. "He's told me before that you are his favorite cousin." 

"I'm your only cousin."

"Exactly."

I had noticed brown leaves among the greenery, golds, reds, and browns easing in where green leaves and the occasional red fruits once had been. Now, brown leaves were starting to litter the ground. Panic grabbed me by the throat. "Shut up for half a second," I snapped, bringing us all to a halt. "Dara, where are we?"

Dara slowly turned, tilting her head. "Were you not listening? We're making a sweep northward, Empress. We're currently in the northwestern corner of The Boughs."

My stomach lurched. "We're near the Autumn Branches."

Dara seemed completely unfazed by what chilled me to my core. "We're at the edge. So long as we don't cross into Athane's territory, we should be fine. We hunt this area quite a bit and she's never bothered us." She said with a shrug. 

"No, you trust me when I say we are too close. She-"

"Hold," Dara stopped me. She tilted her head up then left then right, watching the leaves above her head. A bluebird fluttered above us. She held out her hand and the bird alighted on her fingers. She brought it close and listened intently, turning her ear to it as it tweeted and sang. Dara's brows pinched. "Are you sure?" She asked it. "Why would he be..." She clamped her mouth shut as the bird's tweeting turned higher in pitch. The bird flew off and slowly she dropped her hand to her side.