AGoblin'sTale

by Scott

  “It is if the beast kills us all first, which is pretty damn likely. You also need somewhere to trade your stolen goods.”

  “We can move,” Herad said as she shrugged. “Besides, you're the one who’s constantly reminding everyone that no one is ever safe out here. A mutant could attack at any time and it wouldn't be a surprise to either of us. This is the Iron Teeth, and we're bloody bandits. Every day we survive is a lucky one. A large payoff is worth a large risk.”

  “As you wish,” Saeter replied with a sigh. “I guess we'll see what we find tomorrow.”

  “Indeed we will, and if we find the cave, I will be the one making the call. You can go now,” she told him dismissively in a cold, commanding tone.Saeter nodded and quickly withdrew. Blacknail followed his master and thought over what he had just heard. It sounded like tomorrow would be exciting.

  Chapter 12

  Herad had done as she said and organized the search that evening. By early the next morning, practically everyone in the band was up and about, looking for the cave where the slime that had attacked Blacknail had come from. Only a few of the bandits were left to guard the camp and watch the roads.

  The entire operation was well planned and organized by both Saeter and Herad. The scouts went out first to make sure the area was safe. They knew the forest and its many dangers, so they could locate them before the less-skilled bandits stumbled into them unaware. They were also much less likely to get lost among the green maze of trees.

  The rest of the men followed behind the scouts and made up for their lack of skill with numbers. They worked together to thoroughly search the bush for caves. They had been carefully instructed to move in small groups and not wander around alone. They had also been warned to look out for danger signs, because it was more than likely that the scouts would miss something. It was a deep forest, and Herad’s rangers were skilled but still far from perfect.

  After a few hours of searching, the scouts were ordered to double back to make sure the less-skilled woodsmen hadn't got themselves stuck in mud or fallen down a hole. It was also the scouts' job to collect the lost and the bodies. Some casualties were to be expected.

  Saeter served as a scout, and Blacknail went with his master. This was no trip to empty the snares; they would be ranging far outside the somewhat safe areas they normally frequented. The old ranger had been assigned the area north of where Blacknail had fought the slime. It was not a direction Blacknail, or many other people, had traveled. As they walked north, the terrain became rough. Hills and ravines sprung up out of nowhere to block their view.

  Blacknail found the constant changes in elevation exhausting. Now he knew why humans stuck so close to their roads all the time. Having to scramble up muddy hills and rocky inclines was a lot of work for a goblin with stubby little legs!

  “Don't worry about being too quiet,” Saeter told Blacknail as they searched. “Since we're not hunting game today, I'm more worried about running into a bear or something than attracting predators.”

  “Yes, master,” the goblin replied automatically. He knew what his master meant. Certain dangerous animals were likely to attack if you surprised them but would normally avoid people if they heard them coming. Thus, moving stealthily wasn't always the best idea.

  The forest canopy that Blacknail was walking below blocked out most of the sun, but it wasn’t nearly as dark as in the spider-infested woods. Blacknail was glad they weren't headed in that direction. He shuddered at the memory of the creepy webs that blanketed those shadowy woods and their nasty residents.

  The trees here were tall and thick. The ground was covered by short leafy plants where it wasn't blanketed in dead leaves. Here and there, small white and blue flowers peeked out from behind other plants. Blacknail actually found it calm and nice-looking. The goblin had tried to eat a few of the flowers earlier, but Saeter had pulled them out of his hand before he could taste them. Apparently they were poisonous. Oh well, they had smelled a little off anyway.

  As Blacknail followed his master, he sniffed and examined the ground for signs of the slime's trail. He hadn’t found anything yet though. He darted around to check under bushes and around rocks for crevices or hollows. He wanted to be the one to find the cave and its treasures! He was sure that would earn him a reward. Plus, he wanted to see where the cave slimes came from. It sounded interesting. He was a very brave and loyal goblin when Saeter was standing right behind him.

  The path they were following veered upward and grew rocky. As they climbed, the tree branches overhead thinned out and disappeared. When the goblin and the scout reached the top of the hill, the sky was completely clear. The forest canopy lay below them, and here was nothing to block their sight.

  A green expanse of forest stretched out in every direction. It was unbroken by any signs of civilization. Even the road was hidden by the maze of trees below them. Off in the distance, a range of dark grey peaks towered over the forest.

  “Breathtaking, isn’t it?” Saeter announced keenly as he took in the landscape.

  Blacknail stared at the mountains. His mouth hung open as he watched clouds float beneath their peaks. He had never seen anything like them. The world was so huge!

  “Those are the Iron Teeth. They mark the farthest point North any human has ever traveled on this continent,” Saeter explained as he noticed the goblin’s fascination.

  “No humans there? What is it like?” Blacknail mumbled. He was still stunned by what he was seeing.

  “Who knows?” Saeter replied. “Humans have discovered three continents, but most of the world remains uncharted. Monsters such as sea serpents and drakes make exploring dangerous.” The old scout stared at the far-off mountains. His usually tense demeanor relaxed for a second as he took in the stark but beautiful landscape. “It’s probably bone-chillingly cold and I imagine there are more than a few goblins, since they get everywhere. However, I doubt you’ll find golden cities there, as some of the old frontiersmen used to whisper.”

  His last few words didn’t make much sense to Blacknail, but he was barely paying attention anyway. Was that a flock of birds off in the distance? How many days would it take to reach the mountains?

  “We can’t stand here all day, so let’s get going,” the old scout suddenly announced as he started down the other side of the hill.

  Blacknail tore his gaze from the view and followed his master. Together, they headed back down into the forest. Soon, the ground became muddy and they had to watch where they stepped. Blacknail's short legs meant he had to hop from dry spot to dry spot to keep up with Saeter, who could simply step over the muddy areas. The goblin almost fell into the mud several times but managed to catch himself after some skillful wild flailing.

  After a bit more walking, the pair stepped through a gap in the foliage and into a wide open area. There was a large break in the canopy above that let in light. The leafy shrubs on the ground grew thick under the open sky. The few trees Blacknail saw were thin and seemed quite young. The drone of insects and cries of birds were louder here as well.

  Saeter stepped forward into the sun but stopped to survey the clearing before going any farther. Blacknail stepped up behind his master and looked around as well. The goblin couldn't see much though. He was too short to see over a lot of the plants and bushes. He tried hopping as high as he could, but that didn't really help. He did, however, manage to spot several patches of tasty dew berries. Blacknail licked his lips. Dew berries were so tasty! He was tempted to go grab some, but his master would smack him if he ran ahead like that. Also, something might kill him.

  “Hmm, something feels off,” the old grey-haired scout muttered as he looked around.

  He apparently didn't see anything though, because he tentatively walked forward again into the clearing. Saeter trampled the long grass and shoved bushes aside as he moved inward. Saeter’s careful stride carried him toward a group of small trees surrounded by a large berry patch. He stared at it for a few seconds before turning and glowering at the
rest of the clearing suspiciously.

  The scout took another step forward. Suddenly, a sharp cracking sound assaulted Blacknail’s ears. The goblin whipped around in time to see a large branch break loose from a tree and slam into Saeter. Saeter raised his arms in an attempt to shield himself. The branch knocked them aside as it smacked into him with a loud thud. Blood spattered across the ground as Saeter was battered.

  Blacknail gasped in shock but was relieved to see that his master had managed to stay on his feet. He was just tangled up in the fallen tree limb. The goblin rushed forward to help his master disentangle himself. He really hoped his wonderful master wasn’t injured. He wouldn’t be able to get back to camp without him!

  As he ran, Blacknail was abruptly struck by a strong sense of wrongness. Something wasn't right here; something was bad. The goblin scrutinized the scene in front of himself carefully.

  The branch was wrong, he realized. It hadn't come loose from the tree at all—it was still attached to it. In fact, it had stopped falling and had even risen a bit as Saeter struggled to free himself from its clutches. Much to the goblin’s confusion, Saeter seemed to be having a lot of trouble untangling himself. His eyes were wide and showed a hint of fear. That was wrong. His master shouldn't be afraid of a tree branch.

  Blacknail had a sudden, unwelcome thought. Was this a trap? Had someone or something made the branch break on purpose? Blacknail had no clue what was going on, but he knew what he was going to do. He drew his knife. It was time to find something to stab, until it was time to start running away.

  Saeter flailed and yelled in earnest as he tried to pull himself free from the tree branch. The old scout pulled out his own knife and stabbed at the branch with his free hand. The entire tree quivered as Saeter was abruptly yanked toward it by something unseen.

  Blacknail had used this time to reach his master. Sprinting, he scurried around to get at the branch, then sprang atop it with a quick leap. The goblin had thought he would find rope or something to cut, but he didn't see anything like that. So as soon as he landed, he stabbed the branch wildly with his knife. The blade hit the bark and skidded across it without penetrating. What, that wasn’t right! This was weird wood…

  Saeter was also hacking at the branch with his knife. However, his longer blade didn't seem to penetrate the wood any better than Blacknail’s did. In fact, the wood seemed strange in general to Blacknail. It was warm and weirdly segmented. Looking at where his master was stuck to the branch, it almost seemed as if it had grabbed him, as if it had claws. Trees didn't have claws. Blacknail was pretty sure Saeter would have mentioned it if they did.

  “Behind you, Blacknail. Down!” Saeter yelled.

  Instantly, Blacknail obeyed and rolled off the branch. He was just in time. With a loud whooshing sound like leaves in the wind, another branch swept through the space he had been occupying a moment ago. The tree quivered again, then tilted wildly toward them, knocking leaves free and sending them spiraling to earth in a green storm.

  Blacknail yelped in surprise as the tree-like creature rose up and twisted around to rearrange itself into a horrible new shape. Uh oh, it was time to run!

  As the alarmed goblin watched, the tough-looking tree trunk cracked and split to become two long segmented legs. Branches shifted to become a pair of armored arms. The top of the tree also divided to reveal two more long twisted arms and a monstrous insect-like head that was crowned by two short stalks that ended in small black eyes. The twisted thing's vicious mandible-adorned maw opened as it screeched at them. Blacknail winced as the disturbingly high sound drilled painfully into his ears.

  As the terrible, armored monstrosity rose, it pulled the struggling Saeter under itself and pinned him against the ground with one long arm. The strange creature was taller than a man, even though it was hunched over and balancing on four long legs. One free claw had Saeter firmly in its grasp, and the other was swinging around again to grab at Blacknail. It most resembled a giant predatory stick insect or some sort of horribly stretched out leafy crab.

  What the goblin had taken to be bark was actually camouflaged carapace with lichen and moss growing on it. The weirdest part however was the smaller branches and leaves. They poked out randomly from its back and limbs, and as far as Blacknail could tell, they seemed to be real plants that had sprouted from the creature's carapace.

  The terrified goblin rolled out of the way again as one of the creature’s limbs descended toward him. The claw missed him, hitting the ground instead and scarring the forest floor.

  “Eep, run away! We’ve angered the trees!” Blacknail shrieked as sprang back to his feet and ran around in little circles through the grass. The goblin didn’t know where to go and wailed fearfully. There were trees in every direction. He was doomed!

  Just then, Saeter stabbed the arm holding him again. This time he seemed to have found a weak spot, because the creature hissed and shook in pain. The leafy claw that had been going after Blacknail pinned Saeter's other arm instead.

  “Damnation and misery, that wasn’t the plan,” Saeter screamed in anger and pain. He struggled to escape from beneath the claws that held him firm against the ground.

  Blacknail knew he needed to come up with a plan of his own quickly or his master was going to die, leaving him all alone and very far from camp. There was no way he was heading back by himself now that he knew the trees would try to eat him! He wouldn’t last a second.

  He had to think! He had somehow beaten the slime. With the right plan, he could beat this thing too. So again, what tools did he have? Right!

  Blacknail drew his sling and slipped a stone into it. He twirled it to build momentum and sighted on the target his master had told him to aim for first—the eyes.

  He flung the stone toward one of the small black targets, but the projectile missed and whooshed past the creature. The creature flinched and hissed in alarm though. It apparently didn't like having rocks thrown at it, which meant Blacknail should do it again.

  Blacknail launched another stone. This time it hit the creature on the head, just under the eye stalk. The tree thing didn't seem hurt, but it flinched again and brought an arm up to protect its fragile-looking eye stalks. However, in order to do that, it had to let go of Saeter with one hand.

  “Let go, you bloody overgrown bush bug!” Saeter shouted as he wasted no time in stabbing again with his newly freed hand.

  Blacknail continued to throw stones at the twisted creature until it turned away from him in an attempt to shield its head from the small projectiles. Ha, his plan was working! He was a genius.

  With a cry of victory, Saeter rolled free from under his captor. He had managed to stab the knife almost all the way into the limb holding him by aiming for a joint. The pain had caused the creature to hiss and let go of its prey for a second. However, it quickly recovered and tried to grab Saeter again.

  Saeter obviously had other ideas. He sprang onto his feet with a grunt of pain and dashed toward the goblin as Blacknail covered him by slinging more stones at the now advancing monstrosity. The thing skittered toward its escaping prey on all six of its legs. Its body and leaves shook as it gave chase through the long grass of the clearing.

  “Run,” yelled Saeter as he grimaced and dashed past the goblin.

  Blacknail did. As fast as he could, he spun around and scrambled away from the thing trying to eat him. His master sure liked stating the obvious sometimes.

  They ran through the woods at full sprint, fear and pure survival instinct driving them forward. Blacknail had no illusions about what would happen if the creature managed to get a hold of him with its long branch-like claws.

  Soon the sound of pursuit and shaking leaves stopped. Blacknail risked a glance backward and saw the creature turn and wander back to the clearing it had come from. Thankfully, it hadn’t been a very fast runner.

  Ahead of him, Saeter came to a stop and leaned against a tree. He was clearly in pain and exhausted. Blood leaked from gashes on both his arms where
the creature had grabbed him.

  In their haste to escape, the man and the goblin had run into the deeper part of the bush, away from the sunlight.

  “Unbegotten mimics,” Saeter growled between two heavy breaths as he rested.

  Blacknail remembered his master mentioning forest mimics once. He had told the goblin that they hid among trees and grabbed prey that wandered too close. He had also said to run from them if he saw one, because they were slow. Blacknail was pretty sure his master had left out some important information in there somewhere. He had certainly not been expecting something like the thing that had attacked them!

  “Are we safe now? There are trees everywhere!” The goblin sobbed in terror as he spun in circles. No matter how fast he turned, he couldn’t look in every direction at once.

  “We’re good. I should have seen it. I knew something was off. That was a perfect mimic hunting ground. They can only mimic smaller trees, and they like lots of sun.” Saeter groaned regretfully. He turned to the goblin beside him, who was swaying unsteadily from too much spinning. “I'm getting you a bigger and sharper knife.”

  “Yes, please,” Blacknail replied with an exuberant nod. He liked that idea. This was the second time his knife had failed him. Just think of all the things he could stab with a bigger knife!

  After taking a few minutes to suck down air and recover as much as possible, Saeter pushed himself off the tree with a wince and turned to the goblin. “We need to head back. I'm wounded, and the blood will attract predators.” The old scout hesitated for a second before grumbling and adding, “Thanks, Blacknail. You’re a good goblin.”

  Caught by surprise, Blacknail broke into a huge smile. His master had never complimented him other than the occasional “good job” before. He felt fierce pride rise in his chest. He had been very brave!

  “Thank you, master. I so happy you no dead,” he gushed as he hugged his master around the waist.