Chapter 2

Luminesa

The place in which Baatha finally stopped was a wild jungle of overgrown vegetation. Vines dangled from sinuously curled tree limbs. The humid air was awash with the scents of hibiscus and plumeria flowers.

Body trembling from the violent surge of heat already beginning to drain at her, Luminesa conserved her energy by stepping out of the mist and changing the ice of her body to flesh and bone.

She loathed this form. Hated the clunkiness of it. The foreignness of heated blood sweeping through her veins. It wasn’t that she couldn’t handle the warmth, she could.

She’d been human once, a long, long time ago.

Suddenly an image wavered in and out of focus before her, the form quickly taking shape into that of a long, tall man. His body was muscular, though not too large. His flesh firm and youthful, but tinted a shade of green that bespoke of his goblin heritage. He wore a colorful array of fabric. His shirt was a brightly colored fuchsia, while his pants were a muted shade of palest blue, on his fingers, wrists, and about his neck were large pieces of golden jewels. In some ways he reminded her of a gilded flower in this muggy land.

Hair as black as ebony trailed past his shoulders, framing a face that was hawkish in appearance and covered in deep scratches and grooves. Ribbons of dried blood on his cheeks caught her eyes.

What had happened to him? The Under Goblin was never so unkempt.

“Ah, the Ice Queen comes. And to what do I owe this honor?” Draping an arm about his waist theatrically, the Under Goblin bowed low.

She turned her nose up, affronted by his arrogance. “Surely, you knew I’d be coming.”

Standing straight once more, his mercurial black eyes filled with bursts of silver pinpricks seemed to dance with mirth. “Why, I haven’t a clue.”

Tucking his hands behind his back, he glided in a slow circle around her. The press of his glare raked her back. He would not intimidate her with his heavy silence; no matter how hard he tried.

Luminesa feared no man. Not even one spawned of hell fire. Holding her chin high, she never once fidgeted or turned to look at him. As if realizing how truly unaffected she was, he finally came to stand in front of her.

“You look a bit...piqued, my frigid beauty,” he said with a sneer.

There was no love lost between them. Their rivalry went way back to almost the very beginning.

“I am none of your concern.” But even as she said it the heat continued to leech through her energy reserves. Tightening the power about her, she crafted flakes of snow to sift gently through the air.

The Goblin snorted and then leaned back against the thick, twisted trunk of a tree heavy laden with vines of fruit. “Then why are you here?”

Wanting to leave as soon as could be, Luminesa reached inside her bodice and extracted the pouch, opening the sack to reveal the sliver of looking glass within.

"What is this?" she asked as he peered inside.

He shrugged, his manner insolent once more.

"A mirror. What else? You look into it, Ice Queen." The Under Goblin's smile was lecherous and full of wickedly sharp teeth.

Luminesa narrowed her eyes. "I'm no fool, Devil. So do not play me as one. I know you are up to something."

The Under Goblin shifted his stance, and then taking a large, curved knife from the sheath at his belt he drew it along the inside of his thumb nail. His green skin seemed more muted and gray toned than normal. The unusually greasy lanks of his hair were twisted into ropey knots and full of brambles and weeds. He really did look awful. As though he’d been on the wrong end of a scuffle.

He’d never been a devastatingly handsome sort, but the Goblin had at least always taken great pride with his appearance.

"What has happened to you, demon? Where have you been, and what have you done?"

The rusty squeal of his laughter grated on her nerves. “Well, you know, it’s interesting you should ask that.”

She narrowed her eyes. Not liking the insolent tone of his one bit. Licking his front teeth, he sighed deeply, put his knife away, and then looked back at her.

Deliberately taking his time about it, no doubt to irritate and annoy her, but she would not be ruffled. Luminesa had learned how to deal with the goblin long ago, and that was to not give him the satisfaction of knowing anything he did rankled her.

Lacing his fingers together, he bent a knee against the base of the tree, and thinned his lips as he tapped his thumbs together. His claws clacking as he did so.

“I want that land,” he finally said.

She glared. This had been an ongoing battle between them for nearly a century now.

“It’s not yours. And never—”

“Oh no,” he wagged a finger under her nose, “it was always mine.”

Clenching down on her back teeth, she stared at him. Maybe, just maybe, the land had seemed his. Years, and years, and years ago. So long ago in fact that none could truly say whether it was so or not, since that’d been long before the days of owning land came with a deed.

The Under Goblin called that land his merely because he’d lived in this muggy, rank Jurassic era throwback world almost since the dawn of time. But, there was a problem with his line of thinking. He’d let that land go, he’d never visited it, never nurtured it, never even claimed it until the day she’d stumbled into it and had changed it merely by her presence alone.

“By that reasoning then the whole of Kingdom should belong to you, and we both know that is not so.” She lifted a brow.

The Under Goblin was an ancient, older than many of the beings that lived and dwelled in this world, but he’d been obsessed with her for the past many years. A dark obsession she was hard pressed to understand.

He shrugged. “I do not care what happens in the rest of Kingdom, I only care that you’ve turned my grounds into a wasteland of pale, blue ice. I cannot abide the sight of it and I will take it back.”

His snarl made her blood run cold. Beneath the suave exterior laid a monster more capable of evil than almost any other creature she’d ever known in her life.

Luminesa was no stranger to the darkness of men’s hearts, she’d nearly died by the hands of one of them. But she was no longer the weak woman she’d been then. And no man would ever do to her again what’d been done to her once before.

She smirked. The smile cold, frosty, and full of disdain. “You can do nothing to me, demon. I do not know what you hope to accomplish by—”

But rather than erupt in fury as she’d half expected him too, the Under Goblin’s libidinous grin grew wider still with each word she spoke.

Confused by his countenance, the words died on her tongue as a horrible shiver of foreboding zipped down her spine like a sheet of black ice.

“Oh no,” he flicked his fingers, “please continue to make a fool of yourself, my sweet.”

Nostrils flaring, she had a horrible sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach that something foul had happened that she was as yet unaware of. She knew her adversary well, and he’d never acted like this unless he was sure he held the upper hand.

“What have you done?” she snapped, blasting out a sheet of ice from between her lips at him.

His black lips suddenly turned a pale shade of frosty blue when he inhaled and star-dusted eyes widened in fury as he growled, “Give me my land back!”

Slamming her hand to his chest, she shoved him up against a tree and pumped him full of ice, knowing this act drained her of the vital cold she needed to survive his goddess awful lands, but she didn’t care.

“It is my land. You never wanted it, nor cared for it until I arrived. Leave me in peace, Devil, and I shall do the same for you.”

And though his skin was now turning a shade of greenish-blue, he merely laughed, the sound of which was like a dagger thrust deep into her cold heart. The Under Goblin was not scared as he should be, he was taunting her, mocking her.

He swatted her hand off, then insolently brushed at his vest as the tint of color returned back to his cheeks. A corner of his lips tipped up.

“Oh, Luminesa, my beautiful, wicked woman.”

She clenched her jaw. Irritated with herself that she’d ever once thought him a friend. That she’d ever once let him envelope her in a hug. That she’d trusted him with her heart. He was a male unworthy of such an honor. Her lasting shame would always be the knowledge that he knew her as he did. That she’d ever once confided the secrets of her heart to him.

But once she’d thought him kind, thought him gracious...until she saw the true mark of the man and severed all ties between them. From that day forward it’d become his sole mission to make her life a living hell.

He trailed a long, curved claw along her cheek, cutting her open and making her bleed. She hissed at the ribbon of pain that blossomed beneath his touch.

“I should have killed you when I had the chance.” She stated matter-of-factly.

“Oh, my beauty,” he crooned, but his words lacked tenderness, “yes, yes you should have.”

Laughter danced inside his starry eyes. Then latching his hands around her wrists, he yanked her tight to his chest, moving so that the heavy weight of his cock pressed tight against her thigh.

She hated him now with a passion that burned hotter than the sun. She’d trusted him as a friend and he’d given her nothing in return but scorn, disdain, and hate.

“Now listen to me well, you bitch,” he hissed, “you’re absolutely right, I have done something. I’ve done a very clever something. You love your riddles, your little games, well let us play one together. Like old times.”

He leaned in, his lips so close to hers that she felt the heat of him wash against her.

Luminesa said nothing, refusing to be goaded by him. Fiery anger wasn’t a killing anger; it was quickly ignited and quickly burned out. It was show, and nothing more. No, it was the cold anger that should be feared. The one that took weeks, months, even years to make manifest, the one that took time and thought and plotting to see come to fruition.

Because there were no messy emotions involved in that kind of war, simply rational reasoning and years of forethought and planning. It was exacting, cold, and calculating.

She narrowed her eyes. “What game?”

He continued to rub her wrists with his thumbs, creating a sizzling burn that made her want to cry out in agony, but she refused to give him the satisfaction.

Curling his nose, he looked down at her now blistered flesh, and clearly realizing she would not give him the satisfaction of crying out in pain, he finally released her with an angry jerk.

Luminesa lifted her chin high, refusing to rub her wrists or show any other sign of weakness in front of him.

“That looking glass you have in your pouch, it is mine. Now yours. Call it a...” he flicked his wrist as though searching for the right word, “gift.”

It was hard swallowing her disgust for the man. When he chose to be, the Goblin could be charismatic, some might even say charming. She’d once thought so herself. Monsters came in many shapes, sizes, and forms. Some of them came in ugly packages and were easy to see for what they really were, but some came dressed up as something glorious and unique and wholly different, utter perfection.

Luminesa had always been a terrible judge of men, and it saddened her to realize that even now, even having gone through all she had before she’d become the woman of legend, not much had changed.

She was still a poor judge of character, but at least now she was no longer blinded to the Goblin’s ways. And she’d be damned if she ever let him fool her again.

Calling a cloud heavy with moisture to her, she leaned into its comforting presence as the first fat flakes of snow fell around her shoulders like dancing snow bees.

He grinned. “Wilting so soon, my pretty? Well, we don’t want that, do we? So let me be quick about this so that you may leave as soon as can be. I’ve decided that since you’re a creature of honor,” his lip curled as though the very word tasted like ordure on his tongue, “I would stop the petty games we play, and come at you with a deal much too good to pass up.”

Her flesh tingled, not liking this at all. The Goblin was not known for being an honorable creature, with one exception. He could not lie. Oh, he could evade the truth with twists, and turns, and hoops that made you dizzy, but he could not outright lie. And if you knew how to deal with him, you could actually enter into an arrangement, so long as you were always aware of every byline of the laws and rules he played by.

Her lips thinned. “What is your game?”

He shrugged, spreading his hands wide. “Simple enough really. I win, I take it all back. You win, and I leave you alone forever.”

Her heart beat a terrible tattoo in her chest, excitement warring with caution. She did not trust this sudden altruism of his.

“Why? Why would you do that?”

He grinned. “Because I know I will not lose.”

Every cell in her body flashed a warning not to trust this, not to believe his words.

Oh, his hubris was true enough; him believing he would not lose wasn’t the issue here. No one person was infallible, not even the Under Goblin, though he’d love to believe it so. There was always a kernel of hope, a chance at success even with his twisted games, though with him those kernels were few and hard to find.

“What happens to me if I lose?” she asked quickly.

He grinned, exposing two sharp rows of teeth. “I take away the genie’s spell which turned you from woman to ice, making you human again. Pathetic again.”

She shivered.

That was a fate worse than death for her. To be flesh, to be weak again, goddess help her. She’d rather he kill her than steal her magic.

“And if I win you leave me alone, never to come back?”

“As I said.”

She shook her head. “I want more than that. I want it all. I take all your lands; you become nothing but a ghost, a nomad, fated to forever wander and never know what it means to have a home again. Forever doomed to drift through Kingdom with no hope, no light, and no way to ever, ever harm another again.”

Tossing his head back, he laughed uproariously. “My dear, sweet ice, how very cruel you’ve become. I do hope I had nothing to do with this transformation.” His grin widened as he took up a curl of her hair and let it slide between his fingers.

She stood absolutely still, staring him down. It wasn’t all about him, her hatred of men in general had been secured the day a man she’d thought had been a friend had taken his knife to her tongue and cut it off for daring to cry out during his violent act against her.

For a second she’d wavered in her knowledge that men were evil, the Goblin had made her believe that maybe out in the world existed some who were kind and good and honorable. Until he’d shattered her heart and soul and laughed in her face when she’d dared to cry.

Men were evil, and the Goblin was one of the worst.

“Fine. Fine, I give it all to you. Everything.”

Wrapping her arms tight around herself, she took a step back. This was too easy. Too simple. He was much too sure of himself. She shook her head.

“I do not trust you, demon.”

“I cannot lie, my dear, though it vexes me so, you know this is truth.”

For years the Under Goblin had been a constant source of pain to her. Killing off her creatures that roamed her icy forests, blasting jets of heat through her lands, so that her snows would melt, and wrecking havoc on her home.

To imagine a time without him in it, it seemed impossible. Too good to be true.

But what had he done?

As though sensing her thoughts, he stepped forward an inch and bit his bottom lip. “Do you wish to know the game?”

She should say no, tell him to go straight to the underworld and be gone. But the promise of a world without him in it was too much for her to ignore.

“What have you done?”

Rubbing his hands together forcefully, he grinned broadly. “I am glad you’ve asked. The glass shard you’ve brought me, it is a looking glass. For you to see through, within it you’ll find a group of three...humans—”

She narrowed her eyes, catching the obvious pause when he’d said it.

“—trapped in an endless cycle of winter. Homeless. Without food. Water. Shelter. Nothing.”

She frowned. “I do not like humans. Why would you think I cared?”

His smile was pure venom as he said. “No, you do not like the males. But you do not mind the little children.”

She gasped, clutching at her gown. “That is depraved even for you.”

He winked. “Why, thank you.”

“It wasn’t a compliment, you foul bastard.” 

But she knew he’d taken it as one anyway the moment he bowed deeply at her.

“What are the rules?” she snapped.

Luminesa still did not know that she wanted to get involved in his games; the Goblin had a cruel streak that turned her stomach.

“Simple really, find the hidden key to the doorway that leads them out of there.”

She cocked her head. “That sounds far too easy.”

Inhaling deeply, he seemed terribly pleased with himself as he said, “You’d think so, no?”

He chuckled.

“How long would I have?”

He shrugged. “Oh, I don’t know, does a month sound fair to you?”

Why was he doing this? It seemed far too easy, but nothing was ever easy with him. And yes, she knew failure would result in her being turned human again, a prize he’d been after for some time now. But nothing was ever this easy with him.

If she asked all the right questions he’d have to answer them. Only problem was she didn’t know which questions to ask.

She shook her head. “I will not do this.”

He shrugged. “You do not have to. But it changes nothing for them. They will merely be killed sooner.”

Normally, Luminesa would not have cared what happened to the humans. They were cutthroat, cruel, and a dangerous lot. She’d seen the worst of humanity and knew that that seed of darkness dwelled in the souls of every one of them, even those who professed goodness.

But there were children...

“Damn you,” she hissed.

He nodded. “Thank you. But so you know I’m being truly fair, ask me any questions you’d like. Of course I’ll answer them honestly.”

She still didn’t want to do this. At all. Luminesa wanted no part of the human world; she’d renounced it the moment she’d died to it.

“No interference from you?”

“None, so far as it does not already pertain to my game.”

Hm. She didn’t like that answer, but at least he was honestly letting her know that there was a plan. Forewarned was forearmed, as they said.

“And I can use any means necessary to save them from your world of ice?”

He nodded. “It is not my ice, dear, it is yours. I merely placed them inside a maze of it with no end and no beginning, though there is one way out, and one way only.” He held up a finger with a long curved talon. “I told you, I’m being completely fair in this.”

“So it’s a puzzle I must figure out?”

A mysterious grin played along the fringe of his lips. One that reminded her that nothing was ever as simple as it seemed with him.

“How old are the children?”

He lifted a peaked brow. “Does it matter? Would you choose not to save them if I said they were twelve and fifteen?”

She thrust her lower jaw out. “How. Old?”

“Five. And seven.”

She closed her eyes.

He’d known her well enough to know why she’d asked. It wasn’t that Luminesa hated mankind, although perhaps she did, the truth was she hated their darkness. Hated their capacity for such great evil.

But ones as young as those were far more innocent than not. How could she knowingly condemn them to their deaths when she could at least try to help?

The cost of losing wasn’t simply high for them though; it was high for her as well. She’d lose everything she was. The life she’d carved out for herself.

“Where do I find the door?”

He laughed, wagging a finger under her nose. And she was sure he’d taunt her, saying that he’d never make it that easy for her, but he surprised her by saying instead, “In the beat of one.”

She frowned. Confused by that. “What does that even mean, in the beat of one?”

He grinned. But did not answer. She knew she was close to the truth of the riddle because of how he’d evaded answering the question. But what in the world did in the beat of one mean?

However she knew she’d get nowhere questioning him further on that point.

“One month?” she asked again, wanting him to verbally confirm it. His words needed to be carried by the breeze, only then could they become reality.

“One month only. Not a day less. Not a day more.”

Luminesa squeezed her eyes shut. Why was she doing this? Even contemplating doing this? For children she’d never met, for humans who’d grow up to become people of such wicked, foul hearts that she’d regret it every day of her life afterward?

Latching his hand to hers, he squeezed. “What say you?”

His voice was a thick growl full of fury, but also humor. She should tell him to go straight to hell, turn around and go back to her home. Forget about the trapped souls he’d hidden away.

Block them out of her life; forget they’d ever been.

But the children...

Glowering, she gave him her frostiest stare. “I loathe you. And when I win this, as I shall, I will reduce you down to nothing, Under Goblin. You will be nothing but a snake crushed beneath my heel.”

His grin was lecherous. “It is sealed.”

A mighty rush of wind rolled between them, echoing with the pulse of primal, raw power. And she quaked as the magnitude of what she’d just agreed to made itself known to her.

“By the way,” he said when he dropped her hand, “I may have failed to mention that one is not simply just human.” He shrugged. “Mostly human.”

She frowned. Heart clenching. “What do you mean, mostly human?”

“I’m sure you’ll learn soon enough.” Then he clapped his hands and the heavens shook with a roll of thunder.

Luminesa shivered, staring at the empty space where he’d stood just moments before.

The flinty echo of his laughter chilled her heart to its very core.