City of Daggers (The Iron Teeth Book 2)

by Scott Straughan

  Blacknail reached the ground and began walking out toward the street. The alley around him was piled high with refuse, but he didn’t mind. Ahead of him, flashes of warm light could be seen as doors and shutters were opened and closed off in the distance. The hobgoblin scanned the nearby buildings. Several of them seemed in bad repair and were probably abandoned. Humans sure liked abandoning buildings. Well, it made it easy for him to find somewhere safe to sleep, so he wasn’t going to complain. No one was going to be able to find him in this twisted, wooden, human hive. It would be like trying to search for a single mimic in an entire forest, and just as dangerous for the searchers.

  Also, unlike out in the forest, there were no dangerous beasts here. The wooden wall and the thick human stench behind it kept them out. In this city, there were just blind, deaf, and stupid humans. Blacknail chuckled darkly in amusement. Well, there had been no dangerous beasts in the city. Now there was him.

  Part 2: Den of Beasts

  Chapter 8

  The city smelled of humans. That was no surprise to Blacknail. It was a scent he knew well, but its intensity was still almost overwhelming. The dark alleys and city streets reeked not only of human sweat and urine but also of their blood and shit. The smell made Blacknail grimace in disgust as he slipped through the shadows along the edge of the street and past the other pedestrians. He stayed away from the light that shone out from nearby buildings. Even goblins knew better than to shit where they lived. Were the humans just lazy, or were they too afraid to go outside?

  The black gloom of night lay thick over the city as Blacknail searched for some sign or scent of his tribe amongst the torrent of other odors that filled the streets. Try as he might though, he couldn’t detect anything. Mingled among the foul and the vile, there were, however, some other more pleasant aromas. They were smells he couldn’t quite place but were familiar nonetheless. Some of the scents were somewhat like stew but even more... varied. Other smells reminded him strongly of bread or some of the treats Varhs and Geralhd had occasionally brought him. However, these were so much more full and fresh in their aroma. It brought back bittersweet memories of his life before he had been taken from the sewers.

  The sound of nearby whispering tickled Blacknail’s ears. He looked over to see the shadows shift at the entrance to the alley he was about to walk by. There was movement within. Suddenly, figures dressed in rags burst from the alley and toward him. Some of them were quite small so Blacknail kicked the closest one away and growled at the rest. Only then did he get a good look at them. They were human children, and they were now fleeing in every direction. The larger female he had knocked over quickly got to her feet and scrambled away as well. Blacknail smiled smugly to himself as they fled. The pests may have looked like they were running past, but the hobgoblin hadn’t been fooled. He knew they’d been targeting him, most likely for theft. Goblins played similar tricks on each other all the time. A good kicking was always the right answer.

  Since the children were no real threat, the hobgoblin moved on. His recent actions had caused some attention to be focused on him, but not too much. No one had died, and he hadn’t made too much noise. The humans of this city seemed to value their privacy, which suited Blacknail just fine. He was even far from the only person out and about in a hood and cloak. Most of the passersby were alone or in small groups, but occasionally a larger group of armed humans would pass by. Anyone who got too close to them was hassled and shoved around. Blacknail had examined a few of these human packs from a safe distance. They wore no uniforms or other marks of identification he could see. He had even seen two of the groups meet and exchange insults and threats. They hadn’t actually fought though, so while they weren’t friendly, they weren’t enemies either. Blacknail suspected these were warriors from different tribes attempting to gain status through displays of might and bravery. However, since it was easy for him to avoid these large groups he decided to move on.

  The hobgoblin wandered the sprawling streets of the city for a while without finding anything of too much interest. He did, however, pick up two tails. Blacknail didn’t look back, but he had definitely been hearing the same steady sound of footsteps for the last few minutes. That was interesting; he wondered who they were. Blacknail suddenly swerved and walked into a dark alley to his left. There were a lot of dark alleys to choose from in this place. He crouched behind a pile of junk and waited. Just as he had planned, two men soon stepped into the alley. They walked quickly toward his hiding spot as they scanned the shadows for signs of him.

  Blacknail observed and frowned in disappointment. He didn’t know these men, and they didn’t smell of anyone he knew. They were probably just a pair of random stupid humans. With a sigh, the hobgoblin rose from his hiding spot and confronted the men who had been following him.

  “There he is!” the smaller one barked as he spotted Blacknail.

  His companion whipped around and pointed a long dagger at Blacknail’s face. The hobgoblin tilted his head to the side lightly and gave him a quizzical look.

  “Give up your coins or we’ll…”

  Blacknail tuned him out and sighed again. These men were just boring thieving humans and no one important. They didn’t even have swords or look tough at all. Oh well, it was to be expected. Thieves were the lowest of the low after all. The hobgoblin raised the sling he was holding at his side and launched a rock at the talking idiot’s face.

  There was a loud crack as the stone smashed into the man’s forehead and tore a bloody gash across it. The injured mugger staggered and began to collapse. Before he hit the ground, Blacknail was already moving. The hobgoblin shot forward, drew his sword, and slashed at the second man.

  “Wha?” the man said as he fumbled for his own dagger.

  Blacknail’s blade cut deep into his shoulder before his target could manage to draw his weapon. The man screamed shrilly in pain as his arm went slack, and the dagger fell from his limp fingers. The disabled man tried to pull away from the hobgoblin, but Blacknail took a step after him and silenced his annoying blubbering with a second heavy chop to his neck. Blacknail then pulled off his right glove and leisurely reached down. With a satisfied smile, he tore the unconscious first mugger’s throat out with his bare claws. The man’s flesh felt nice and squishy between his fingers as he squeezed. It was too bad humans didn’t taste that good.

  The grinning hobgoblin took a few seconds to listen for the signs of anyone approaching. However, it was soon apparent that no one was headed over to check on the source of the brief scream, so Blacknail began rifling through his attackers’ clothes for things to take as trophies. He found a few shiny coins, and pocketed their daggers as well, before leisurely continuing on his way down the alley. He could tell no one was coming, so there was no reason to hurry.

  A few minutes later, Blacknail stepped back out onto one of the main streets. At this time of night, there were only a few other people around, and none of them were looking his way. As he started walking deeper into the city, his stomach gave a rumble. Killing things usually made him hungry. There were still some nuts left in Blacknail’s pack, but all the exotic smells around made him hungry for something more. The hobgoblin wanted to sink his teeth into something new and tasty. Thus, Blacknail followed his nose in the direction the most delicious aroma was coming from. Soon, he found himself moving closer toward one of the more crowded and well lit areas of the city. Cautiously, he looked out from a shadowy alley to see what was going on.

  The street was wider here and stretched quite a distance in both directions. It was well lit by bright torches and the open doorways of buildings that lined the street. What had to be hundreds of humans were walking around as they shouted, yelled, and did other annoying things that were too loud. Most of them wore rough, cheap clothing and bore visible weapons, but not all of them.

  Blacknail also saw quite a few human females dressed in next to nothing, and some similarly garbed men as well. He thought they looked more than a little cold. Scattered aro
und the street were several other humans in much nicer and more colorful clothing walking around too. Usually, they were surrounded by more than a few tough-looking escorts. They seemed to be higher status humans with their own warrior underlings.

  The hobgoblin still didn’t see anyone he knew, so he looked past all the rather fatty and oily humans to see where all the wonderful smells were coming from. The most potent of the aromas seemed to be leaking from several large well lit buildings with open doors. The problem was that lots of people were coming and going from them. Light and crowds of humans in close proximity were something the hobgoblin planned on avoiding.

  Some of the smells were coming from booths or smaller buildings with far less people in them. Those looked far more promising. Hesitantly, Blacknail stepped out of the shadows and onto the dimly lit street. He forced himself to casually walk past all the loud men and woman around him. As he moved, a few of the tough-looking men gave him glares, but they ignored him when he moved out of their way. Some of the skimpily dressed men and women looked him over curiously, but after he failed to meet their gazes, they lost interest as well. No one appeared to notice anything off about him, so Blacknail relaxed and even began to enjoy himself.

  Ha, he was so tricky! All these stupid humans didn’t know he was right there in front of them. This was too easy. All it took was a cloak and the humans couldn’t see him, and they sure couldn’t smell him either! As he walked past a pair of chatting humans, he sniggered in amusement. One of the women threw him a rude glare but kept walking. This only caused Blacknail to snigger harder. He was so amazing! Now he just had to find some food and then locate his tribe.

  The hobgoblin scanned the nearby wooden booths. They were covered in delicious-looking treats, but at least one human was watching over each of them. Blacknail grinned smugly; that didn’t seem like it would be a problem. The hobgoblin did a quick walk down the street and back to pick a first target. Eventually, he settled on a booth being operated by a fat man that appeared to be selling some sort of meat pastry. Their spicy and meaty aroma made his mouth water.

  Blacknail watched the man carefully for a few minutes from the across the street. When he had the man’s mannerisms down, he made his move and began his walk by the booth. The fat man watched him approach from the corner of his eye but seemed unconcerned. Blacknail was just another random person on the street. As he reached the booth, the fat man looked up and away from the hobgoblin, toward a scantily clad woman who was walking by. Instantly, Blacknail’s hand shot out and grabbed several pastries. Quick as a striking snake, the hand withdrew out of sight and back beneath his cloak. The hobgoblin picked up his pace ever so slightly and swerved to disappear into a nearby alley before the man even noticed anything was missing.

  Once safely out of sight within the alley, the hobgoblin stuffed his face full of meat pies. They were so very delicious! Ugh, he couldn’t eat them fast enough. They were too good. Blacknail began coughing and choking as he fought down the urge to throw up from eating too quickly. That didn’t stop him from devouring the last succulent pie as he shivered violently in excitement though. The delicious taste was worth it.

  After a few more dashes out to liberate food that wasn’t being used, Blacknail had filled his stomach. He took a brief rest to let his stomach settle before continuing on his quest to find his tribe. It quickly grew even darker out as the hobgoblin searched the quickly emptying streets. Eventually, all the lights went out and all the humans disappeared. Blacknail cursed as he stood alone in the middle of a completely empty cobblestone street. During his search, he hadn’t managed to find any trace of Herad or the others. Well, at least he was in no danger of starving to death…

  With a tired yawn, the hobgoblin decided to abandon his hunt for now and find somewhere to sleep. After thinking it over for a minute, he thought the best place to look was the area where he had first entered the city. Most the buildings there had been empty and abandoned. They were also a little worse for wear, but he didn’t care. As long as they kept the rain and wind away it was fine.

  Blacknail’s cloaked form slipped silently through the now pitch-black streets. The sky overhead was heavy with unseen clouds that blotted out the heavens’ light. Even the hobgoblin had some difficulty seeing where he was going. However, his nose worked fine. Soon, Blacknail was back where he had started earlier that night. He selected one of the nearby houses as his territory for the night. The one he had chosen was a squat wooden structure with a small upper floor. There was a hole in the roof, but it was still mostly intact and would serve as a shelter. It was also the house that smelled the least of humans and rot. Unfortunately, it also smelled strongly of rats, so Blacknail went around and urinated on the walls to mark the territory as his own. That would keep them away while he slept, and if not, then he would simply not have to look very far to find some breakfast.

  The stairs to the upper room had collapsed, but Blacknail had no trouble climbing up using its remains. Once he was on the second floor, he found the driest corner and set up his blankets. With that done, he looked around and gave a satisfied nod. No humans would be able to sneak up on him while he rested there, and the rats probably couldn’t either.

  When Blacknail woke up the next morning, the sun was at its peak in the sky. So it wasn’t really the morning at all anymore. No rats, dogs, cats, or humans had disturbed his sleep. The hobgoblin got up and looked out of the nearby window. It only gave him a good view of the nearby empty alley, but he could see the sky as well. It was cloudy overhead and the sun was hidden, but it was still far too bright for him to be comfortable going out.

  Of course, his only other option was to stay in the ruined house for hours until it got dark, and see if the rats ever showed up. After thinking it over, Blacknail decided he would be fine exploring the city as long as he stayed away from people. Daggerpoint was a maze of shadowy alleys and narrow streets, so it wouldn’t be that hard to keep out of sight. Besides, he smelled something delicious and really wanted to taste it.

  Blacknail slipped his cloak back on and hopped down to the first floor. After looking around to make sure no one was nearby, he crept carefully outside and into the sunlight. He then decided the first thing he was going to do was find some breakfast. Hopefully, he would stumble across some clue to Herad’s location as well. So Blacknail started wandering the alleys and back streets of the city. He saw a few people around, but he kept his distance from them, and they stayed away from him as well. The people of Daggerpoint weren’t very friendly.

  Once, Blacknail accidently walked past a man covered in rags who was crouched under a ledge without seeing or hearing him. When the man unexpectedly spoke, Blacknail jumped in surprise and dashed away. It wasn’t his proudest moment, but that was how Blacknail found himself standing outside the back of a large, colorful building. It was only two stories high, but it was still one of the tallest buildings around. It had a solid stone-and-mortar foundation and was solid wood above that. Unlike all the other buildings around, it seemed in good repair and looked freshly painted. Most importantly, there was a rather interesting aroma wafting down from one of the second-floor windows, and there didn’t seem to be anyone nearby.

  Intrigued, the hobgoblin gave a quick look around before slipping over to the wall and beginning to scale the outside of the building. His claws found purchase easily enough, and it didn’t take him long to reach the window ledge. He hung below it for a few seconds and listened, but he didn’t hear movement in the room on the other side.

  Reassured, he slowly raised his head over the windowsill and looked within. His first thought was that the room on the other side was rather fancy looking. In fact, it was the fanciest room he had ever seen. The walls were dark red, and luxurious wooden furniture lined the room. A huge, carved wooden canopy bed dominated the center of the chamber. Red curtains hung from the bed’s canopy, and it was piled high with ruffled sheets and pillows. However, Blacknail was focused on the wooden stand just on the other side of the windo
w. There was a silver platter and a jug of water on top of it. The delicious aroma he smelled was wafting up from there.

  With an eager growl, Blacknail climbed through the window and crept quietly over to the tray of food. He eyed it critically for a second. There looked to be some kind of cheese, slices of red meat in some sort of sauce, and bits of fruit on it.

  They all looked tasty, but the cheese smelled so good, he began to drool. He reached for the food with a happy smile on his face, but the smile slipped as he suddenly heard the sound of sheets shifting.

  “What’s going on here?” a sleepy but smooth voice asked from behind him.

  Blacknail jerked back in surprise before quickly pulling his hood down farther and turning away to hide his face. He looked out the corner of his eye toward the source of the unexpected noise. He was just in time to see the mass of blankets and pillows on the bed be thrown aside to reveal the form of a completely naked human female with long dark hair. The sheets slid down her body as she gracefully pushed herself off the bed and stood up, before glaring suspiciously at Blacknail. Much to the hobgoblin’s surprise, she didn’t betray a single shred of fear at his presence.

  Luckily, she didn’t appear to have a plate in her hands. The last time Blacknail had surprised a naked woman, she had smashed his nose with a plate. It had hurt a lot.

  Chapter 9

  Blacknail stared nervously at the woman who had appeared behind him. She was definitely completely naked… yet she was looking him over without a single hint of fear. The hobgoblin found that to be more than a little unnerving. She was in a room with a cloaked intruder while totally undressed! Why was he the anxious one?