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Back Goblin King Save as PDF
Chapters (35)
  1. Title Page
  2. Copyright Notice
  3. Dedication
  4. Epigraph
  5. Prologue
  6. PART ONE
  7. 1
  8. 2
  9. 3
  10. 4
  11. 5
  12. 6
  13. 7
  14. 8
  15. PART TWO
  16. 9
  17. 10
  18. 11
  19. 12
  20. 13
  21. 14
  22. 15
  23. 16
  24. PART THREE
  25. 17
  26. 18
  27. 19
  28. 20
  29. 21
  30. 22
  31. Epilogue
  32. Acknowledgments
  33. Also by Kara Barbieri
  34. About the Author
  35. Newsletter Sign-up

“I won’t lie and say you’ll be okay,” Diaval said. “I don’t know what will happen. But if this is our only option, then I trust your strength.”

I took a deep breath in and let it out sharply, then nodded. “I accept your tasks, Hel.”

Carefully I picked my way around the roots of the world tree to find part of the gap that would be the easiest to jump through. As I did, the hair stood on the back of my neck from Lydian watching me. For once, he didn’t look like he was about to taunt me. Instead, an intrigued expression crossed his face, as if he couldn’t quite understand what I was doing. A flicker of respect passed his expression and was gone in almost an instant.

I found a spot between the roots big enough for my body to fall through without banging anything on the way down and turned back once more to look at the people I loved. I wasn’t sure what type of world I would enter into once the gap had me in its grasp, but in case they didn’t exist there … I made sure to memorize their faces down to the shadows below their eyes. Soren gave me a small, reassuring nod. My mate believed in me.

Turning back to the gap in the world tree, I took one more deep breath and jumped into the darkness.

13

THE YAWNING GRAVE

I WASN’T SURE, but I was expecting to feel like I was falling when I jumped into the void. Instead, it was almost like I was rising, floating, my body caught in the air and held there in some space and time that existed solely for that moment. My eyes were closed, and when I opened them, I still didn’t see myself fall even though the roots of the world tree should’ve been rushing past me. They went down and down and down forever, and yet still, no matter how far I traveled down, I didn’t feel like I was falling.

Reaching out, I grabbed one of the roots and my vision went blurry, transporting me to another place in time.

Specifically another place in another time, as I stood in front of my parents and watched as they tanned hides and sewed them together, dyed white wool and white pelts of animals; even the shoes themselves were made of white leather. A me who was not really me shivered in the body I stood in.