AGoblin'sTale

by Scott

  “What was it?” one of the bandits asked Saeter.

  Blacknail's master turned to them from where he lay on his blanket. “Dunno. Could have been an ogre taking a night stroll or a hungry drake that decided we weren't worth the trouble. Let's hope we never find out.” Saeter turned away and went back to sleep.

  Several of the other bandits whispered fearfully to each other for a few minutes before settling back down themselves. Blacknail lay down by the remains of the fire but was too nervous to sleep. He couldn’t shake the feeling that the creature was still out there and just waiting for them all to relax their guard. If it attacked them while they were asleep, they wouldn’t stand a chance. The terrible hungry beast would rip them apart and chew on their bones…

  Chapter 9

  Blacknail didn’t get a lot of sleep that night. Instead, he anxiously gazed into the woods for any sign of the creature’s return. Eventually though, exhaustion overcame his fear and he lost his hold on consciousness.

  He dreamed of dark waters and pale worms with toothy maws swimming beneath him in strange patterns. It was far from the best dream he’d ever had.

  The following morning, he woke with a start but had only the faintest recollection of the visions that had disturbed his sleep. Blacknail was more than happy to let the memories slip from his mind as the group once again got up and began walking.

  The group of bandits reached their destination around noon that day. The goblin was more than a little disappointed when he saw it. It was just a clearing along the abandoned road they’d been traveling on. Why had they walked so far just to move from one empty spot to another? Humans were stupid!

  This meadow was much larger than the one they had been camped in before, and it contained a small derelict building. Those were the only real differences Blacknail could see.

  It was a solid-looking wooden building, but it had clearly degraded over the years since it had been abandoned. The wooden door had fallen off, and the thatch roof had long since rotted away. Blacknail stood off to the side of Saeter and listened as he spoke to the other bandits.

  “This used to be a farmhouse, and this overgrown meadow used to be farmland. When I was young, homesteads like this dotted these lands. Now look at it,” Saeter mused sorrowfully.

  “Times are tough everywhere. All the bloody kings and nobles have been at their damned pointless wars for decades now. At least up here in the North, there are no press gangs and taxmen,” one of the other scouts replied before spitting onto the ground.

  Saeter snorted disdainfully. “No, there are only monsters, mutants, and a thousand other ways to die out here. Let's also not forget about all the merciless bandits and depraved outlaws,” he countered with dark humor.

  “Like I said, times are tough everywhere,” the other replied with a shrug. “Years of war will do that.”

  “The North would have toughed it out if not for the thrice-damned City Killer. We would have united if that gods damned drake hadn’t destroyed Coroulis,” Saeter said with sudden heat that made his face flush with barely contained hatred.

  Blacknail almost stepped back from him in alarm. His master never showed his anger like that! He was usually so in control. It scared the goblin more than a little. He could too easily imagine that wild rage being turned against him.

  “Well, I wasn't there so I wouldn't know, but I suspect you're wrong about that. Things would have been better here were Coroulis still standing, but the rest of the continent would have still dragged the North down with it,” the other bandit replied carefully as he watched Saeter out of the corner of his eye.

  “We would have had a chance though,” Saeter said as his anger gave way to resignation. “Ha, I really must be becoming an old man, because I'm starting to rant and grumble just like one.”

  The other man grunted in response, and they both stared at the ruins in front of them for a while. Blacknail joined them, but he didn’t see anything interesting. Were they looking for something?

  After a few minutes, they had to help the other scouts work. Their group had a lot of work to do to get the new campsite ready for everyone else’s arrival.

  First, they had to fix up the building and clear the land. The tall grass and plants that grew in the clearing had to be cut and set out to dry in order to make thatch for the building's roof and to clear an area for camping. They also cut down some of the nearby trees and stockpiled the wood and branches for fuel and construction materials.

  As they worked, one of the scouts stumbled upon an old well by the house. So they added repairing that to the list of things they needed to do. Luckily, they had over a dozen good workers and one over-enthusiastic goblin.

  As they worked and waited for Herad and the wagons, Saeter sent scouts out to watch the road. He wanted to make sure no one could sneak up on them unaware.

  Even once they had finished most of the original jobs, Blacknail was still kept busy helping his master with his usual duties. He ran about helping with hunting in the morning and chores in the afternoon.

  After several days of exploring the woods with Saeter, the goblin felt more comfortable out there. Being under the forest canopy wasn’t so bad, as long as he stayed within three feet of his master and didn’t go anywhere too dark. The spiders lived in the gloom.

  He quickly picked up a lot of useful skills from doing so many chores every day. He was even rewarded with a small knife of his own. That was great, because it showed that his master trusted him to be loyal, useful, and not to stab people.

  The first thing the goblin learned that day was how to set fires. Saeter showed him how to arrange the wood and tinder and set it alight with steel and flint, or by rubbing two pieces of wood together. A few impromptu fire-starting practice sessions later, Saeter snatched the flint and steel back. He then ordered the disappointed goblin not to practice anymore without permission. Blacknail didn’t know what the big deal was. It was only a small section of grass that had caught fire, and together, the scouts had managed to stamp it out easily enough.

  Next he was put to work skinning rabbits again. When he ran out of carcasses to practice on, Saeter took him out into the woods and showed him how to set the snares himself.

  He did this by bending a sapling and tying it to a piece of cord with a noose on the end. A twig was tied to the cord right before the noose and was held against the ground by a stake or another sapling. When the rabbit hit the noose, it tightened and the movement caused the twig to come loose and the sapling to snap up. The rabbit was then pulled into the air and ended up hanging from the sapling.

  Blacknail learned exactly how the trap worked when he stepped on it and the noose snagged his foot. He was almost instantly sent sprawling as the trap yanked his feet out from under him. Luckily, he was too heavy to be pulled into the air, so he just ended up falling on his ass. At least now he knew it worked.

  The hardest part of snaring rabbits was finding a rabbit trail or hole to place the snare on. Saeter had to look for signs, such as droppings, but Blacknail could simply smell rabbit trails and follow them. That made it easy for the goblin.

  “Rabbits can’t hide from me. Me too great!” Blacknail bragged as he set up a trap.

  “Good job, you’ve got the hang of this. Now you can empty and set the traps yourself each morning,” Saeter replied as he watched the goblin work.

  Wow, he’d just been given a job all of his own! The goblin couldn’t believe his master trusted him to go out into the forest alone…

  “It danger. Me die,” Blacknail replied in wide-eyed shock.

  There was no way he could go into the forest by himself! He was just a tiny goblin. There were harpies, wolves, spiders, and other more dangerous things out there. Blacknail was fairly sure the forest existed solely to give all the things that ate goblins a place to live.

  “You know enough to keep yourself out of trouble, goblin,” Saeter said sternly with a hardened look in his eyes that showed he wasn't asking; he was commanding.

 
; Seeing that look, Blacknail cringed, but he didn’t move from where he was standing. Saeter stepped toward the goblin and raised a hand as if to strike him. Blacknail's eyes went wide in alarm. Yet after only a few steps, Saeter stopped and scowled at the goblin.

  “Herad isn’t going to believe you’re useful enough to keep around if you can’t even walk into the woods by yourself,” Saeter explained.

  The goblin groaned. Ugh, he had been trying to forget about the dark-eyed, glowering chieftain. He didn’t really have a choice, so he gave his master a reluctant nod of acceptance. That appeased Saeter somewhat, and he began preparing Blacknail for his first solo excursion.

  First, Saeter taught Blacknail how to use his knife against various other animals. The goblin was told to stab them in the eye or under their ribs and into their heart or lungs. He was also told to watch out for teeth and claws. Blacknail didn't really need to be told that last part; he had already figured that out.

  Saeter then taught him how to throw a rock faster and more accurately by using a strip of cloth called a sling. This amazing invention deeply impressed the goblin. He’d always wanted to be able to throw rocks harder; it was the answer to almost every problem he’d ever faced!

  On the third day, Blacknail was given a belt and some leather pouches to put things like ammo stones or food in. Thus armed and equipped, Blacknail was ready to make trips out into the woods alone. He was very proud of himself. Proud, but overcome by terrified panic.

  Under his master's watchful eye, the goblin walked over to the edge of the woods and hesitantly took the first step through the bushes and into the forest. He cast a look over his shoulder to see Saeter walking back to camp. Blacknail gulped, and his eyes widened in fear. He was all alone! Any second now, a hideous monster was going to show up and eat him.

  For weeks, he had either been right beside his master or surrounded by at least a dozen somewhat friendly humans. Now he was all alone out in the woods, or a few feet from the edge of it anyway.

  The snap of a twig somewhere in the distance broke his concentration and made him twitch in fear. Something was coming! He yelped and scrambled to the large exposed roots of a nearby tree. Quickly digging, the goblin widened the gap beneath some of the roots and dove down there to hide. From his vantage point at the entrance of his impromptu burrow, the goblin warily eyed the green foliage and tree trunks around him.

  Nothing moved or made any more noise. Blacknail waited in his hiding spot for several minutes, overcome by terror. He wanted to dash back to the safety of the camp. The only thing stopping him was fear of what his master would do if he returned without the rabbits from the snares.

  Several more minutes passed as the goblin tried to think of some way to escape his current predicament. If he tried to get the rabbits, he would most likely be torn apart and eaten. If he stayed here under the roots, he would slowly starve to death. If he returned to camp, his master would punish him. He didn’t like any of those options.

  Blacknail had never directly disobeyed his master and didn't know what Saeter would do if he did. It would probably be terrible, but would it be worse than being eaten by harpies? He could always say the snares had been empty. Saeter might even believe that.

  Having made up his mind and decided that cowardice and begging for mercy were his best options, the goblin slowly rose out from under the roots. He scanned his surroundings for any threats, but the bushes around him and the branches overhead seemed empty. The clearing was only a little more than a dozen feet away. Then he heard another crackling sound from somewhere behind him. Blacknail dashed frantically toward the clearing and safety. He didn't want to be eaten!

  With an imaginary host of monsters chasing him, the goblin burst from the shrubs into the clearing as fast as his little legs would carry him, and he almost ran right into Saeter. Much to Blacknail's surprise, his master stood only a few feet away and was calmly watching the goblin. Blacknail froze, or at least he tried to. He was moving so fast that he tripped over his own feet and went cartwheeling painfully across the ground. His head bounced off a rock, but luckily he didn’t get hurt anywhere important.

  Saeter stood there silently as Blacknail tentatively got to his feet. The goblin brushed himself off and threw his master a nervous glance. All thoughts of lying to his master were banished by a wave of shame and fear—plus Saeter had probably been watching from there the entire time.

  “There was noise!” Blacknail whined piteously as he gave his master a pleading look.

  Saeter frowned and shook his head disdainfully. Blacknail cringed again. Why had he used such a stupid excuse? He could have come up with a much better one.

  “Take all the time you want, but you won't be getting any food until you bring back the rabbits, and I wouldn't be going out there after dark if I were you,” Saeter told Blacknail calmly but harshly.

  The goblin shivered at the thought of being out in the forest at night. Everything was worse at night! Blacknail stood there for a few seconds and gathered his thoughts. Saeter just observed the goblin.

  With a sigh of resignation, Blacknail realized he had no choice but to go out and empty the snares, unless several rabbits suddenly decided to run up and let him choke them to death one at a time. That seemed unlikely though.

  Trying to banish his fear, Blacknail stood tall, turned around, and walked back over to the edge of the trees and out into the forest again.

  This time he forced himself forward more successfully. When he next heard a noise, he merely threw himself to the ground and froze for a few frantic heartbeats instead of running back. He was making progress!

  When nothing happened, he rose to his feet and continued on. Every time he heard a noise, he twitched in panic but didn’t run.

  Blacknail crept toward the snares by moving slowly from hiding spot to hiding spot. He concealed himself against tree trunks, under fallen logs, in thick bushes, and behind tall grass. Eventually, he made his way to all of the snares and got the rabbits. Then after looking around to make sure nothing dangerous was about to eat him, he threw caution to the wind and dashed back to Saeter as fast as he could.

  When he returned, the sun had moved a fair distance in the sky, but Saeter made no comment. He simply took the rabbits from the goblin and set him to work on another chore. However, much to Blacknail's surprise, he was fed an extra large meal that night.

  He was also forced out into the bush the next morning, and every day after that as well. Obviously Blacknail’s master didn’t really understand how rewards were supposed to work. But soon the goblin got used to being out in the forest alone, even if he really didn't like it.

  Then one day it occurred to Blacknail only he knew how many rabbits he actually caught every day. The goblin tried to fight the temptation, briefly, but he began to eat the occasional rabbit out in the bush. He just couldn't help himself! Saeter never let him eat the rabbits raw, and Blacknail loved them that way. They were so juicy and yummy, even if the fur was icky and sometimes got caught in his throat.

  Why did humans feel the need to burn everything? Anyway, it wasn’t like he was doing anyone any harm. He caught so many rabbits every day that Saeter was giving them away!

  Of course, he wasn't always doing chores. Every night, Saeter threw some of the rabbits into a pot of boiling water. Then he added a bunch of plants to create something called stew. The other bandits, who were out scouting or doing other work during the day, would then come over and feast.

  The stew was an all right mix of tastes, but Blacknail loved it because it was the only meal he was allowed to eat as much of as he wanted. His master usually only gave him small meals, so he was almost always hungry. He had to forage for the rest when he had time, and Saeter kept him constantly busy.

  The other humans who joined them for supper tended to be the quiet sort, like Blacknail's master. That was probably because they all had spent a lot of time in the forest, where making too much noise was dangerous. None of them talked to him nearly as much as Vor
scha or Geralhd, but they weren’t hostile either. They mostly ignored him, although one or two would throw him scraps when Saeter wasn't looking, mostly to annoy his master. Nonetheless, it was the first time Blacknail felt he really belonged with a group of humans and not just his master.

  After he had begun bringing back more rabbits than they could reasonably use, Saeter had Blacknail dig smoking pits. First he dug a hole up to his waist, a little bit more than two feet deep. Saeter had wanted him to use a shovel, but he found it faster to just use his hands. He was a great digger!

  A fire was then lit at the bottom of the pit and allowed to burn down to coals, then it was fed green hardwood to produce smoke. A grill of small crisscrossing branches was placed three fourths of the way up the pit. Meat was cut into small thin strips and placed on the grill. Finally, the pit was covered with branches and leaves to keep the smoke in. When the meat became brittle and dry, it was done.

  Apparently, this made the meat last longer and easier to carry around, but Blacknail mostly liked the meat’s smoky taste. It also gave him a chance to set fires. He liked fire.

  Of course, all these activities required constant use of his knife, so Saeter had to show him how to sharpen it using a whetstone and care for it using oil. It also resulted in a lot of bloody rabbit pelts lying around, so next Saeter showed him how to tan them.

  To tan an animal skin, it was scraped to remove the flesh, washed thoroughly, then stretched out to dry for several days. To Blacknail's delight, next he was told to break open the rabbits’ skulls, boil their brains in a bucket of water, then smear the gunk onto the hide by hand. It was so much fun! Saeter smacked Blacknail several times to stop him from licking his fingers while he worked, but he still enjoyed himself.

  The hide was left overnight where it wouldn't dry out. Next, the pelt was repetitively stretched and softened until dry, which was fun for the first while but got old fast. Finally, it was placed over a smoky fire for several hours to dry.