by Scott
Landing in the tall weeds, Blacknail felt his claws grasp something soft and pudgy. Immediately, he yanked his prey from its hiding spot and up into the air. Scamp hung limply in his hand. The goblin’s large eyes were wide, and he had a nervous smirk. It reminded Blacknail of Khita’s expression when he had caught her.
“’Ello, boss. I gonna carry rabbits for ya,” Scamp told Blacknail hopefully.
The hobgoblin glowered at the little liar. He wanted to tell the goblin that Varhs was his master, not him, but he couldn’t. Varhs was a terrible master. Blacknail was pretty sure he never beat Scamp at all! How was that supposed to work? Blacknail shuddered to think about what would happen if he wasn’t around to keep Scamp under control. Why couldn’t Scamp be as well-behaved as he had been as a goblin?
Unlike Khita, the goblin hadn’t actually been forbidden to enter the woods. He was just annoying, and Blacknail didn’t want him around. The stupid little runt had no fear of the forest since he had been born there. He was also borderline suicidal, especially since he kept trying to steal Blacknail’s rabbits. No matter how many times Blacknail caught and punished him, he didn’t stop.
Unfortunately, the young goblin was also sneaky and thus unlikely to actually get himself killed. The same couldn’t be said for Khita. Blacknail had to watch her like a hawk.
A while back, Khita had gotten bored and decided she wanted to be a scout. So she had bugged Saeter until he reluctantly let her join them on a few trips out into forest. Blacknail had been secretly hoping that she had finally annoyed Saeter enough that they were taking her out into the woods to be disposed of.
He hadn’t been so lucky. Now Khita considered herself an expert at navigating the forest, which she wasn’t. To make matters even worse, Vorscha had made it plain to Blacknail that she was holding him responsible for Khita’s safety. How was that fair?
“You gonna drop me, boss?” Scamp asked as the hobgoblin held him up.
Blacknail’s arm was getting tired, so he gave the goblin a quick growl and dropped him. Then he gave him a hard kick. Scamp grunted as he was sent sprawling over to rest at Khita’s feet, but he quickly pulled himself back up. Goblins were hard to hurt.
“Stay with her,” he ordered Scamp before he stomped back toward camp.
“Okay, boss,” the goblin replied cheerfully.
“Hey, why did you do that?” Khita asked in disapproval.
Blacknail ignored her; he didn’t care what she thought. She was stupid.
When he didn’t respond, Khita and the goblin immediately followed him. It wasn’t as if they had anywhere else to go.
It took more than a few minutes to hike through the woods and get back to the camp. Khita was huffing in exhaustion when they arrived, because Blacknail had set a quick pace. After a brief nod to the sentry on duty, who was no one important, they stepped out of the forest and Herad’s base came into sight.
The seasons weren’t the only things that had been changing. Herad had her ambitions, and she was working hard toward achieving them. The camp was slowly but surely transforming. The small log buildings that the bandits had originally built had been expanded, and several more of them had been constructed. Almost all the lean-tos had been torn down and replaced. Even the forest had been pushed back, both for lumber and safety.
Wooden watchtowers had been set up along the road at the edge of the woods, where they could be concealed by the trees. A small haphazard wall of wooden stakes was being constructed along one side of the perimeter as well. All in all, the base was beginning to look more like a small woodland village than a bandit camp.
After a quick look back to make sure Scamp and Khita were still following him, Blacknail headed for his campsite. He had to prepare the rabbits right away or they would go bad. Actually, he would probably make Khita do it. He would have made Scamp help, but the goblin would just eat half of them.
Blacknail didn’t have time to waste preparing rabbits. The larger base also contained more outlaws, and all those outlaws needed to be fed. Thus, Herad kept her scouts busy hunting for food. Buying supplies from town was expensive and cut into her profits, after all.
The bandit chieftain had continued to send out parties to recruit or wipe out anyone who dared operate in the territory she claimed as her own. Since her territory was a rather large and poorly defined area, she never ran out of targets. The base contained over two hundred bandits now, or it would have if men weren’t constantly being sent out and coming back.
As she had planned, Herad had stopped raiding caravans and was instead charging tolls. Bandits were still sent out to intercept travelers on the road, but now they were under strict orders not to kill anyone who didn’t resist. They also weren’t allowed to rob anyone who paid Herad’s fee. Word of these changes and what was happening was spreading rapidly through the region.
However, Herad didn’t send Saeter and Blacknail out to collect tolls. For some reason, she thought they wouldn’t be very good at it. Blacknail was pretty sure it was because Saeter was so grumpy. They had more important things to do anyway. On top of being her best pair of hunters, Herad also used them for less dangerous jobs, like tracking down other bandits that encroached on her territory. Compared to some of the things that lurked out in the deep green, killing a few humans and scaring the rest into submission was no big deal.
His first trip out to fight men who had tried to encroach on their territory had been the most eventful by far. Blacknail was just glad they hadn’t run into any more trolls.
They reached the camp Saeter, Khita, and Blacknail shared. The hobgoblin turned and addressed the young woman behind him. “Prepare the rabbits.” Blacknail held them out to her.
“Why should I?” she asked defiantly.
“So I don’t kill you and hide-ss your corpse in the mud-ss,” he replied with an annoyed hiss.
Khita laughed and gave him a cheerful smile. “You wouldn’t do that. You’re all nasty on the outside, but inside, you’re soft as cloth.”
Blacknail snarled at her. He would totally do that! Well, he would if he thought he could get away with it. Unfortunately, if Khita went missing, he would be among the first suspects. Then he would have to flee into the woods before Vorscha could smash him flat.
Sometimes he still almost considered doing it though. At least it would be quiet out in the deep green.
“Do it, or I’ll tell-ss Vorscha you haven’t been practicing,” Blacknail told her.
“Hey, I have too been practicing everything she told me to,” she said excitedly as she glared at him.
“I will lie-ss. She will believe me.” The hobgoblin gave Khita a smug smile.
“I take it back. You are nasty and evil on the inside.”
Blacknail shrugged and held out the rabbits again. Khita threw him a glare, but she grabbed them.
“Fine, come on, Scamp, let’s…” She stopped when she looked down and noticed the goblin was gone. He had been there a second ago.
Khita gave a defeated sigh, walked over to the fire pit between their tents, and got to work. Most the bandits were moving into cabins but Saeter preferred having a tent to himself. Blacknail heard her muttering angrily to herself and saying rude things about goblins as she worked. He ignored her and set off to find Scamp. He had a feeling the goblin was going to get into trouble unless he stopped him. Mostly because that was all the little pest ever did. For what was far from the first time, Blacknail cursed Varhs for picking up the goblin. Why couldn’t he have found a smarter goblin at least, or an attractive female?
Apparently the scout had been out hunting when he had stumbled upon the young injured goblin and decided to tame it. Blacknail found this story suspicious. He suspected Varhs had been out looking for a goblin to tame.
That would have been fine if Varhs had properly trained Scamp, but he hadn’t. The man was far too lax and undisciplined. That meant that if Blacknail didn’t want people getting a bad impression of goblins, he had to discipline Scamp himself.
&nbs
p; Blacknail scowled as he looked around and sniffed the air. Scamp’s trail wasn’t easy to follow. The odor of many strong scents, such as blood and garbage, lay thickly upon the camp, and it was sometimes hard to distinguish the goblin’s latest trail from his older ones. Luckily, the goblin had picked up some fairly pungent plant smells while he was out in the woods.
After several false leads and dead ends, the hobgoblin found himself standing outside Mahedium’s cabin. That made him more than a little nervous. He wasn’t sure exactly what the mage did in there, but he was sure it was a bad place for a goblin to be running loose. Things might explode—more than they normally did.
“Hells-ss.” Blacknail had been working on learning and using swear words lately.
After he had sworn to obey Herad and officially joined the band, Mahedium had quickly commandeered one of the cabins. The former occupants had complained, but the mage managed to convince Herad he needed it for a lab. The mage rarely left the building except for one trip he had made to Riverdown for supplies. Apparently he was scared to go into cities because he had powerful enemies. Blacknail had heard him argue with Herad over the cost of the equipment he needed, and arguing meant Mahedium begged and pleaded until he got what he wanted.
Blacknail stepped up to the door of the building and opened it enough for him to slip inside. The interior was dark, but there was enough light to see, even for a human. The cabin was a fairly large building because it had been designed to bunk a dozen men. The inside was split into two rooms: a smaller front room and a larger one in the back.
The floor of first room was packed dirt with a thin straw covering, and two small windows on each side of the room let in light. A small bed was tucked up against one wall, and there was a wooden table and chair against another. A few items and books were scattered around, but no one was in sight.
Idly, Blacknail examined some of the things. He was surprised to find the weird rectangular things were full of word-covered paper. What could humans possibly write about that would require so many words? He certainly couldn’t think of anything. With a sigh, Blacknail put the book down and fought the urge to pocket some of the things lying around. Mahedium seemed like the type of person who would notice if things went missing, and Blacknail wasn’t a thief anyway.
Since it was clear no one else was there, Blacknail moved to the door on the far wall that led to the next room. Carefully, he opened it and went through.
The room on the other side was very different from the one he’d just left. A large table dominated the center of the room. The floor around it was straw free but looked as if it had been mixed with clay or something before it had been flattened. It was much cleaner but also colder than the other room. A few smaller tables, a small desk, and some mostly empty bookshelves lined the walls.
The windows here were all shuttered up, and the only light came from a pair of obviously magical lamps that flooded the room with a pure white glow. They looked like simple metal oil lamps, except the wicks and oil had been replaced by brightly glowing crystals. One of them hung from the ceiling while the other had been placed on the desk.
Seated in front of the desk was Mahedium. He didn’t look up when Blacknail entered. In fact, he seemed completely ignorant that anyone else was in the room with him. Blacknail cast a look around the room for signs of Scamp but didn’t see any.
Scattered across the tables and shelves were glass beakers and cups of different sizes. Various fluids, most of which were clear or muddy brown, filled the containers. Blacknail saw a few crystals that he was pretty sure were magical lying around as well.
The hobgoblin walked up behind Mahedium and coughed to get his attention. The mage quickly spun toward the unexpected noise. When he saw Blacknail, he gasped and flinched, which made his chair rock, then tip over. The surprised mage flailed and tried to catch his balance, but failed and hit the floor with a heavy thud.
Blacknail frowned at the man. He hadn’t meant for that to happen. “Sorry.”
As the mage picked himself up, Mahedium scowled at him and brushed the dirt from his clothes. Blacknail didn’t notice a difference; the man’s clothes had been pretty dirty to begin with.
“Ah, Blacknail, you shouldn’t surprise people like that. Now what do you want? Normally I wouldn’t mind talking with you—you’re a rather fascinating creature—but I’m very busy right now.”
Blacknail decided to take that as a compliment. “I followed Scamp here, and this is a bad-ss place for him.”
Mahedium blinked in confusion. “The little goblin? Well, he can’t be in here. I would have noticed.”
Blacknail gave him a dubious look. He hadn’t noticed a hobgoblin walk right up behind him, so he stood no chance whatsoever of noticing Scamp. Before he could say anything though, there was a flash of light and both Blacknail and Mahedium looked over to see Scamp reaching onto a table to grab some crystals. One of the crystals in his hand had flared to life and was the source of the bright glow. The goblin gave them both a startled look as he unexpectedly found himself the center of attention. Blacknail growled menacingly.
“Bye bye,” Scamp blurted and dashed for the door Blacknail had left open.
Before anyone could react, he had disappeared through it. Mahedium’s eyes were wide with disbelief, and he looked stunned.
“He shouldn’t be able to do that. It’s impossible,” the mage exclaimed. Then he froze and clenched his jaw tight. “Oh, if we don’t get those crystals back right now, this could be very bad.”
"How bad?" the hobgoblin asked suspiciously. He was beginning to suspect magic was more trouble than it was worth.
"They might explode and take out half the base… or worse," Mahedium replied.
Blacknail eyed the mage warily. Of course they would. As if explosions weren't bad enough. The hobgoblin clenched his teeth and let out a low, angry growl. When he caught Scamp, the little goblin was going to get such a kicking.
Chapter 30
With an impatient growl, Blacknail took off after Scamp. He ran through Mahedium’s lab and out through his living chamber. The hobgoblin burst outside and landed on the ground in a crouch as he looked around for the goblin. There was no sign of him, so Blacknail hurriedly sniffed the ground for his scent.
Mahedium stepped out behind him. He looked flustered and annoyed, but there was also a gleam of excitement in his eyes. “Where did he go?”
Blacknail didn’t bother to respond. He took off after Scamp as soon as he caught his scent. He moved at a brisk walk, and Mahedium followed him.
Why was Scamp allowed to run around like this? It was stupid. When Saeter had taken him in, Blacknail hadn’t been allowed to leave his master’s side without permission.
Scamp's trail led to a group of tents that encircled a fire pit off to one corner of the camp. The four tents were made from animal hides stretched over wooden poles. A large pot of something was hanging over the unlit campfire. Blacknail scanned the area but didn’t see any obvious signs of Scamp.
Then he heard a faint sound from one of the tents. As silently as possible, the hobgoblin crept over to it and slid the entrance flap open so he could look inside. Blacknail didn’t see the goblin, but there was a man sleeping under some blankets in the tent. Blacknail frowned; he had been sure Scamp would be in there.
The unconscious bandit within the tent stirred as cool air blew in through the open flap. Then he blinked and opened his eyes to find Blacknail’s green face staring at him.
“What in all the hells?” he yelled as he jerked away from the hobgoblin.
As he moved, he pulled his coverings with him, and the hide blankets slid away to reveal a green lump. Tentatively, a small hand rose from the green mass and patted the area around itself as if searching for something. After it apparently failed to find what it was looking for, Scamp’s head rose and looked around. The goblin cringed and grimaced when he saw the hobgoblin staring at him. Blacknail growled triumphantly. He’d found his prey.
Mahedium step
ped up beside the hobgoblin and stuck his head in the tent as well. “Ah ha!”
“Wha? What the fuck are all you bastards doing in my tent?” the man yelled as his fear and surprise turned to anger.
“Sorry, it’s important,” Blacknail replied politely. At least the man hadn’t thrown anything at him.
“Don’t let that goblin get away. It’s stolen some dangerous magical items!” Mahedium said at almost the same time.
The tent’s owner stared at Mahedium for a second, then what the mage had said sank in and an alarmed expression appeared on his face. He responded by diving as far away from the goblin as he could get while Blacknail was blocking the tent’s entrance.
“Return my mana crystals!” Mahedium commanded as he scowled disdainfully at the goblin.
Blacknail didn’t bother with words; he just leapt at Scamp. The useless little thief was really getting on his nerves.
“No, my bright pretties!” the goblin troublemaker yelled as he rolled under one of the tent walls to the outside.
Blacknail hissed as he landed on empty ground. Infuriated, he spun around and pushed past Mahedium to continue the chase. Once outside, he whirled around until he saw Scamp’s fleeing form. The goblin was making for a group of bandits standing around and talking to each other beside a pile of crates. Blacknail sprinted after him. When he got his hands on Scamp, the little idiot would never dare cross him ever again!
Blacknail’s target ran through the legs of the humans in his path as he frantically tried to keep his lead on the angry hobgoblin. Several of the bandits swore and flinched as he hit their legs on his way past. Blacknail didn’t slow down as he approached the group of men. He was going to catch that stupid runt no matter what! How dare the little goblin challenge him. This was Blacknail’s camp, and as a goblin, Scamp should do what he told him to, or else!