He waved his hand at shadows and hostile trees that glimmered with greenish light, the color of poison. The forest smelled evil and made me think of tramped grass bathed in the blood and stiff innocent creature’s reeking with the foul breath of slaughter. “Concentrate, Aiden.” He clapped his hands. “Please you really need to focus. This is important. Children have to be careful when they venture into the Forbidden Forest. There’s a pack of voracious wolves with gaping mouths and forked tongues each as thick as my wrist. They roam the woods, tasting your scent, considering how best to devour you.” His yellow eyes gleamed. “As a matter of fact, only the other day several of them snatched a baby elf out of its sleeping mother’s arms and thrashed the sad little dear to pieces. Anyway, now that I’ve made you aware of the dangers, there’s one other itty-bitty issue that we need to settle,” he whispered, his thin lips twisting into a wicked smile. “Where is the Scepter of Sirethiel?” With a chill, I realized I was more than a diversion, I was an enticement like bate on a hook used to lure the goblin out of the castle. Then something else occurred to me. Was I also a sacrifice for the cause? “I think that I am …show more content…
I was nimble. I seized a jagged spear of timber, and spun to face my attacker. He lunged again. As agile as I was, I couldn’t get clear of the reach of his fangs. A bite aimed at my throat glanced off my upper arm instead. There was no sting—that would probably come later, unless I was dead. The goblin pounced again I dodged in close to him and thrust, felt the stick catch flesh and sink in. I pulled back, leaving my makeshift weapon in his gut. His face registered neither pain, nor shock. It was, I thought as he closed in, an expressionless face. Or rather, the straight face of a dead