When I glanced up, Ulizet no longer looked at me, but stared at something overhead. Her normally untroubled expression turned grim.
The ground shook, causing the tree’s limbs to tremble. “It is time,” Ulizet whispered. “You must leave this place.”
“What about you?”
A small smile creased her mouth. “I will never be hard to find.”
The ring grew warm in my palm as the shaking increased. I wasn’t sure what was happening, but I suspected it had nothing to do with me being here and everything to do with what was happening in Mog’s Keep.
“Know this—there is no way for your physical body to pass through the wall. You must use the pure magic to destroy the wall first. Only then will you be able to free your godson. Use great caution, Deathbringer. This path you choose is one of immense danger.”
I nodded. The ground shook so violently I thought I might be thrown off my feet.
I balled my hand into a fist, pressing the ring into my flesh. I exhaled and then called my magic. It swelled within me as I concentrated on the word. In my mind’s eye, I pictured the wall surrounding Mog’s Keep.
“Enter,” I whispered. The ground disappeared beneath my feet. My stomach flew into my throat. I kept my eyes closed, certain that if I opened them, I would lose all sense of reality.
Focus, I told myself.
The freefall continued until I was certain I had made a horrible mistake. Was this supposed to happen? I clenched the ring in my fist. I conjured the picture of the wall once again, imagining every detail.
The picture came more vividly than I expected. The air turned cold. I tasted ice on my tongue.
The freefall stopped.
I opened my eyes.
Before me rose Mog’s Keep.
Chapter 39
I stood at the foot of the elven wall. The single tower of Mog’s Keep rose beyond it. Magical sparks shot through the barrier’s mirrored surface. The raw power emanating from the wall caught me by surprise. My stomach knotted. I’d never felt such a strong enchantment in one place. I stumbled back into a snow bank as the magic took my breath away. The freezing air bit at my exposed fingers. I crossed my arms over my chest as I paced the length of the barrier.
The snow muffled my footsteps as I inspected the tower. It was taller than I’d realized and seemed to pierce the sky with its razor-edged turrets. The light I’d seen before pulsed with a blinding brightness from the tower’s topmost window. Something moved behind me, and I rounded.
The strange fog I’d encountered in the Wult tombs covered the landscape. My breath came out in puffs of white clouds and mingled with the fog. I listened for sounds of life, but the fog muffled any noises I might have heard.
“Olive,” said a deep voice that came from the mist. I shuddered as the voice echoed against the tower’s wall, a long, drawn-out sound that made my hair stand on end. I’d heard that voice before.
“Who are you?” I called.
The mist swirled, gray and white, brushing my face with its damp fingers. My heart rate spiked. Something moved in the fog. I couldn’t be sure what it was, but as I looked closer, I realized that hundreds, perhaps thousands of forms moved inside the cloudy barrier.
I took several steps back until I collided with the enchanted wall.
“What do you want from me?” I called. The mist muffled my voice.
Sinewy forms crowded inside the fog. They stood with hunched backs, their spines protruding from their meatless frames. Gray, almost-transparent skin covered their bodies. Hungry eyes leered at me, making me shudder.
I balled my hands into fists. The goblin army waited for me. But what did they want?
A man walked out of the crowd. With his neatly groomed beard and pockmarked face, I recognized him as the man I’d seen in my dreamstate not long ago.
“Mr. Green?” I asked.
He clutched his cane and then stooped into a courteous bow. A stiff breeze whipped his cloak around his stocky frame. “You’ve found me at last, though I had hoped to meet you in the human realm. The circumstances there would have been much more civilized.”
I took a step away from him. The flickering light came from the tower, though it was less of a flicker and more of a pulse. “Is this your army?” I asked him.
“Of course. What good is a king if he does not have an army?”
My stomach sank. “You’re a king?”
“Yes. I am the king of goblins. But only for now. Soon, I hope to exchange the name with something a little more awe inspiring. As soon as I capture Theht’s power for my own, I shall acquire a new title. God sounds more appropriate, don’t you think?”
I brushed my fingers against my pocket, where I felt the pure magic still tucked inside. “You tricked me. You wanted me to find the pure magic so your army could break through to summon Theht.”
“It was never a trick, child. I had honestly hoped you’d find me in Earth Kingdom. It would have been much less complicated. As I’ve mentioned before, your godson means something to me.”
“Yes, you’ve mentioned it. So besides being a goblin king with a god complex, who else are you?”
His eyes narrowed. “Look in your pocket.”
“I’ll never give you the pure magic.”
He laughed. “I wasn’t referring to it.”
Confused, I reached into my jeans’ pocket. I searched through three pockets before I felt it. Stiff cardboard bent under my fingers. I pulled out a business card.
“You were so very close. You had but to read the card and you would have found me. I suppose I can only expect so much from a half-human hybrid.”
I shot him a dark look as I read the card. Houston Area Christian Charities for Foster Children. Phone numbers. Addresses. Several different quotes on how they were preferred by most children in the area. Honestly, who put so much clutter
