by Elliott Kay
“The what?”
“The goblin idea of physical beauty.”
Shady Tooth rolled her eyes. “I’m not an ideal. I’m a bugbear. We’re a bigger and stronger breed of goblin. The others always want us. Bugbear women aren’t as common as males, so we get blown out of proportion. And I’m healthy. People like healthy.”
“Healthy,” Teryn repeated. A nudge at Teryn’s hip drew her eyes to another companion.
“Shoulders,” DigDig mouthed silently with wide eyes. He patting his own shoulders, then tilted his head toward Shady Tooth. He held up his hands, spreading and flexing his fingers wide to convey his awe of the bugbear’s grip.
“I-I suppose I can understand that,” Teryn stammered, still watching DigDig. He ran the back of his hand across his own cheek as if petting it. Unlike Shady Tooth, he had no fur at all, nor did any goblin or hobgoblin she’d met, but apparently her fur had its appeal. Without thinking about it, Teryn glanced to War Cloud and found him nodding in subtle agreement with DigDig.
“People always want what they can’t have, too,” Shady Tooth added. She didn’t notice the resulting frowns among her companions.
“Is there a lot of, um, inter-marriage?” Teryn wondered.
“You mean mating? It happens sometimes. People get bent out of shape over it. They act like it’s wrong or something. They aren’t the ones fucking, though, so what should they care? If a bugbear wants to settle for smaller and weaker, let ‘em.” She remained oblivious to the way her words brightened the faces around her only to darken them again. “Maybe they like to dominate. Maybe they like to cuddle. It’s their business.
“Anyway, elves and humans can breed together, right?” Shady Tooth went on. “You’ve got an elven grandfather or great-grandfather or whatever. How close are your ‘ideals’ to theirs? Or what about orcs?”
“Well, I can’t say I can speak to their tastes,” Teryn began, glancing uncomfortably at Scars, “but I guess you’ve got a point about being…healthy?” She shrugged. “Every elf I’ve ever met has seemed beautiful to me. Orcs are, um. Different. When I was young, the only orcs I knew felt imposing and dangerous, but those were the impressions of a little girl. I felt the same way about more than a few adult humans. I saw fewer and fewer orcs until there were none for me to know. Pretty much every orc I met when I was captured in the mountains was deliberately trying to scare me.”
“They were also mercenaries working for a lowlife wizard,” noted Scars. “Not like you saw the best of us there.”
“My thoughts exactly,” Teryn agreed. “But I guess everyone likes, er, health?” She looked to Shady Tooth again. “So do you have anyone special?”
That scowl turned Teryn’s way again. “No.”
“Ever?”
“Why are we talking about this?”
“Just making conversation.”
“In a camp full of strangers all staring at us,” said Shady Tooth.
“Fair enough. I apologize.”
They trudged on. Shady Tooth kept scowling.
“Is this why you had a hard time with the others in Zuck’s stronghold?” Teryn ventured. “Were you rejecting lots of suitors?”
“What? Suit…? No. I mean, I guess.” She shrugged. “Nobody likes rejection. It didn’t start with that, though. We’re always brushing off the gobs and hobs. It’s expected. Bugbears don’t take mating among our own for granted, either. Most of them were afraid I’d challenge them for authority. I was a better scout than most, and a better fighter. That made me a threat, even though I didn’t want to lead. None of that is about sex. It’s not weird for females to be in charge. Nobody likes a possible challenge, is all. They get defensive.”
Their surroundings changed as they came to a crude intersection of paths among the sprawl of tents. Bugbears and hobgoblins appeared in the path ahead and the branching directions. Some held blades or maces. Others resorted to torches or crude clubs. “That’s far enough,” growled one bugbear. Torchlight flickered against his curved sword and brown fur. “Time to explain yourselves.”
Scars glanced over his shoulder to Shady Tooth. “You were saying?”
“Should’ve seen this coming,” Zana grumbled, stepping forward. “Ruck, what’s the deal with this?” she asked the towering bugbear.
“You tell me. We heard a pack of newcomers came into camp with armor and weapons. Mixed group, too—and with a human. Someone’s gotta look into that.” Ruck looked over each of the crew. “Who’s in charge? What do you want? You here to recruit for someone? Or to spy?”
“We were taking them to see Karana,” Zana sighed.
“Not ‘til they go through us first,” said Ruck.
“Might not be the phrase you want to use,” muttered Shady Tooth.
“I can speak for us. Call me Scars,” he said. “We’re not spies or recruiters for anyone. We came looking for a place to stay, like anyone else. Also to share some news. Maybe to help with a local problem.”
“You don’t look like another homeless family,” said Ruck. His gaze stopped at the sight of Yargol’s face. “I’m not sure what some of you are at all.”
Without looking back, Scars put one arm out to block War Cloud’s angry advance at his side. He was a heartbeat short in realizing he needed to put the other arm out to stop Shady Tooth, but he caught her in time. The slight tilt of Ruck’s head showed their point was made.
Behind them, Scars heard a sigh. “We should carry on,” said Yargol.
“We’re a crew,” said Scars. “We were working a mercenary job for a wizard in the mountains. Olen Zuck. You heard of him? He’s gone now. Job’s over. Adventurers.”
Several of the hobgoblins and bugbears spit. A few others grew concerned. “Where’s the rest of them?” asked one hobgoblin. “Two of my kids signed up for that job. Lots of people did.”
“I’m sorry.” Scars shook his head. “Hardly anyone stood a chance. We barely got out alive. I don’t know if anyone else made it, but I doubt it.”
The hobgoblin sighed. “Well, fuck,” he muttered.
“Bummer, Stev,” said another.
“Knew that was a bad job when they came around,” a third piped up.
“Hey, they needed the work, y’know?” Stev shrugged.
Behind Scars, Teryn’s jaw dropped. “I thought they’d take it harder than that,” she whispered to DigDig.
“Why?” he asked.
“They’re talking about their own children. Most people would be crushed.”
“Most humans,” DigDig corrected. “Told you. Goblin folk don’t deal the same as you. This is what grief looks like.”
“We might be discreet with the details of our escape,” Yargol suggested in a whisper. “That may not garner such a peaceful reaction.”
Conversation at the front continued throughout the quiet discussion at the back. “Bounty hunters grabbed us out in the woods southwest of here, toward Eastford,” said Fregg. “This crew put down most of ‘em and drove the others off. Killed a magic freak with the hunters, too.”
“Ruck, they need to talk to Karana,” Zana repeated. “It’s important. Where is she?”
Ruck hesitated, looking the crew over again with a thoughtful frown. He tilted his head back to guide the way. “She’s in her hut. I sent someone to make sure she knew about this. Doubt I’m the only one. Let ‘em through, everyone,” he instructed, then walked beside Scars as the crew continued on.
Though some of the mob drifted away, most of the bugbears walked along with the crew. No harsh words or even dirty looks came from the escorts, but their presence was impossible to ignore. Ruck glanced back more than once at the newcomers, looking them over with a wary eye, but said little more.
Teryn leaned close to Shady Tooth, whispering, “So is he…?”
“Trying to impress someone? Yes. I’m not sure who yet.”
“No, I mean is he hot?” She shrugged under Shady Tooth’s renewed scowl. “You know, for a bugbear.”
“You know he c
an probably hear you, right?”
Teryn swallowed hard. Ruck walked on as if he hadn’t heard anything, but his ears were turned to listen behind him. Then it was Shady Tooth’s turn to lean in. “I can find out if he likes humans,” she offered.
“I wasn’t asking for myself,” Teryn hissed.
“We all have the same basic parts,” Shady Tooth continued in quiet, mocking reassurance. “Everything’s in the same places. It’s only a matter of size and shape. And strength. And stamina, and—”
“I don’t think I’m ready for all that,” said Teryn.
“Uh-huh.”
Tents slowly became larger and better-established as they passed through the camp. Here and there the crew found crude workbenches and little garden plots with the first sprouting signs of the season. A few tents were reinforced with stronger wooden supports and animal skins over their walls. The residents had been here long enough to scrounge and build.
A round wooden hut turned out to be the most elaborate building. Though lacking for artistic flourish, the hut rose a couple steps above ground on a foundation of stone and clay. Candlelight flickered through its one open window. Nothing marked it as anything special or official apart from the obvious distinction of stability.
The door flew open with the sudden egress of two goblins, followed by a pair of orcs and a bugbear, all not quite to adulthood. They ducked and covered their heads in a vain attempt to escape the swatting hand of one more figure to emerge: a hobgoblin in a simple white tunic and blue vest, with black and grey locks of hair reaching past her shoulders. Grey-green muscles were evident under her short sleeves, but the only other hint of any martial inclination was the long dagger on her belt—and the sharp aim of her hand.
“Stop trying to strip the barn!” she snapped. The bugbear would have been a full head taller than her if he wasn’t trying so hard to duck. It didn’t do him any good. He winced as she caught the top of his skull again. “It’s not cheap lumber. We need at least one sturdy roof around here. It’s for the sick and for dry storage. Quit stealing nails and shingles!”
She didn’t chase them beyond the steps to her door. The youths escaped into the night with apologetic noises, leaving her at her stoop. She sighed as her eyes fell on the new arrivals.
“Karana,” said Ruck, bringing the crew and their escorts to a halt. “I’m out here with the newcomers.”
“You hardly need to announce it, Ruck. I’d have finished with those kids minutes ago if not for everyone running up to interrupt me with news about newcomers.” She walked forward, fixing the half-orc with a raised eyebrow. “You’re Scars? Come down from the wizard’s mountain? I hear you saved Fregg and Zana here from a pack of bounty hunters.”
“All true,” said Scars. He noted Ruck quietly fuming off to his side, but the bugbear said nothing. “Are you in charge?”
“Yeah, you could say that. I’m Karana. Came out with one of the first groups to stop here. I saw what needed doing and made it happen. After a while most folk got used to it.”
“It’s one thing to lead a raid or run some guards,” said Ruck. “Keeping a camp together is a different kind of job.”
“He knows, Ruck,” said Karana in a patient tone. “You don’t have to justify anything.”
“Hrm. Alright.” Ruck folded his arms across his chest, falling silent.
“So are you passing through or are you looking for someplace to be? We don’t have any tents to pass out and food is scarce. Other than that, you’re welcome to stay as long as you follow the rules. Even the human.”
“Even the human?” Teryn repeated.
“Welcome to my world,” Yargol muttered under his breath.
Karana shrugged. “You don’t look like a prisoner. I’m sure you’re all together for one reason or another.
“What rules?” asked Shady Tooth.
“The obvious things: don’t kill or maim anybody, don’t steal, and clean up after yourself. No demons and no necromancy,” she said, glancing toward Yargol. “If a dispute is going to lead to a real fight, bring it to me. Oh, and no ‘salvaging’ the barn or stripping it for materials, obviously. You caught the tail end of that. Most other things sort themselves out. The big problem we’ve got to enforce is no raiding against human villages. If you’ve been up to that already, you need to tell us right now.”
“Turns out they did the opposite,” Zana spoke up, shaking her head. “They helped Eastford get rid of bandits earlier tonight.”
“Bandits?” Karana asked.
“Yeah, and they’re still in the area,” said Scars. “There are a couple hundred in the main group. It’s why we came out here. We didn’t know about Zition until the job in Eastford was done. They never said a word before that.”
Karana laughed bitterly, resting her hands on her hips. “They played you, huh? Let me guess: your crew came into town with weapons and armor right when they needed help, so Mayor Dunning gave you a sob story about how defenseless they were.”
“Not like we did it for free,” muttered DigDig. “Weren’t totally suckered.”
“They paid us shit wages considering all we did,” said Scars.
“Aw, really?” DigDig asked. “Damn. Why didn’t you say?”
“We thought they needed help,” Teryn answered. “And we needed a place to stay.”
“So they all kept their mouths shut about running Eastford’s goblins out of town?” Karana asked.
“They claimed King Dostin ordered everyone out, and not that long ago,” said Scars. “We hadn’t heard of any such order, but we didn’t get much news in the wizard’s stronghold over the winter. The mountains were choked with snow. Whatever news Zuck learned through his magic, he didn’t share it. Last we’d heard, the king’s original order stood: no goblin folk of any kind in the southlands, but nothing about lands north of the Snowcaps.”
“He didn’t have to speak of us directly to hurt us,” said Karana. “Orcs and goblin folk came north as the order was enforced. Most lost everything. That left the north with thousands of poor souls with nothing to offer in trade and no coin for buying anything. Mercy ran out quickly. And it’s not like everything was warmth and hugs for everyone out here to begin with.
“People got sick of the new faces. At first it was humans saying they wanted to ‘take care of their own.’ After that they even took out their frustrations on orcs and goblins who’d lived here all their lives. Cold words, shitty deals in the market, catching the blame for everything. It only got worse. Any humans who stood up for us only got their own trouble. Beatings. Couple homes burned, from what I heard. Hell, I don’t even know if the worst rumors around the north are true, but it sure put a limit on how many friends we had. Lots of the humans who spoke up for us or tried to help got the same shit, and they had their own families to worry about.
“Last autumn, riders came with word from the king. They accused goblins of stealing and raiding throughout the north. From then on, orcs and goblin folk would only be allowed in towns and villages at the sufferance of the local human leaders. Hell, Cedar Falls and Arding had hobgoblin mayors, and both of them were run out right then and there. Some villages moved fast to throw out their goblin folk. Dunning waited until the first threat of snows in Eastford.
“They hardly let anyone pack their things. They took our homes, our goods, they wouldn’t even let us take the food we had harvested and stored for ourselves. Thank the gods the winter wasn’t a harsh one, but it was still hard enough. Many died. Others fell sick.
“Plenty of us want revenge. We want to take back what was stolen. But if we raid, the army will come. We’ve already got survivors from other camps that were scattered for exactly that reason. Naturally, that only makes everyone angrier. It’s a struggle to control the young. There’s a horde of gnolls to the northeast who’ve done some raiding, so we’ve kept the bugbears and the hotheads focused on that as best we can, but it isn’t the gnolls who took everything from us and left us huddled in the woods.”
&nb
sp; “Damn,” War Cloud muttered. “We never heard a thing about all this in the stronghold.”
“No, but we might’ve known,” said Shady Tooth.
“Some did know, or at least expected this,” said Teryn. She stood with her head turned low and away. “Why would he stop with only the southlands? Why would he leave anyone alone up here?”
“It always seemed like only a matter of time to us, too,” said Karana. She watched Teryn closely. “What’s your story?”
“Political insurgency.”
“How’s that?”
“I used a knife to express my disagreements with the king and his policies.”
“Oh. Well, welcome to Zition,” said Karana. “Like I said, we can offer space and company. Food and shelter are scarce, but we’re happy to share our problems.”
“What about magical trouble?” asked Yargol. “Have you had anything like that? Unnatural sickness or madness? Freak occurrences?”
“Can’t say that we have. Plenty of normal sickness. Hunger and rough living do that. We have a couple shamans here and they haven’t warned of anything. Why?”
“Something we ran into on the way here. It could be nothing to do with the camp.”
Karana shrugged. “You’re welcome to look around. We’ve got—”
“Trouble,” Shady Tooth interrupted. She straightened to her full height, turning away with her ears up. The other bugbears followed with much the same reaction. Noise drifted in over the tops of the tents, first an indistinct tremor in the air, followed by shouts. “Shit. They’re here.” She took off running.
The rest of the crew followed, along with Ruck and his toughs. Longer legs and sheer power soon put Ruck’s companions in the lead, with only War Cloud and Scars staying close. None of them caught up to Shady Tooth. She lost no momentum as she darted through crooked lanes between tents and blew through small crowds. More than once, she hurdled clear over goblins who hadn’t seen her coming.
Scars gave up trying to keep track of her, relying instead on the people between them to serve as a trail. This wasn’t the way they’d come into camp. He knew none of the landmarks or terrain. Screams and shouts up ahead served as a beacon, along with the sudden flashes of light as fire caught outside his vision. Arrows arced in from overhead, coming to ground and piercing tents seemingly at random. Goblin folk cried out all around. Parents ran with children in their arms. Flames rose as tents caught fire.