A Bloody Road, page 5
part #3 of Iron Teeth Series
“What are you two doing here?” Saeter asked suspiciously as he looked up from the pot.
“Do we need a reason to visit a good friend such as you?” Geralhd countered courteously.
“Yes,” Saeter grunted. “You weren’t invited.”
“It’s too nice of an afternoon for anyone to be spending it alone. We just felt like stopping by and enjoying the pleasure of your company,” the younger man explained with a smile.
“Plus, you make really good stew, and I’m hungry,” Vorscha added. “We could smell it from across the camp.”
“Too bad,” Saeter told them. “Leave.”
“Blacknail wants us to stay,” Geralhd told the old scout.
The hobgoblin frowned. He didn’t want any such thing.
“I doubt that,” Saeter replied.
“Do you?” Vorscha asked as she grinned and winked at Geralhd.
“Blacknail, we brought cheese scones!” her lover announced.
The hobgoblin’s ears perked up and oriented themselves toward Geralhd. The rest of his head quickly followed. Then his eyes locked onto the bundle of cloth the younger man had just taken out from behind his back.
“They can-ss stay!” Blacknail declared.
Saeter glowered at both visitors, highlighting the lines of his weathered face. He looked as if he was trying to think of some way to get rid of them. He sighed in defeat a few seconds later. “Ugh, fine.”
“Yeah, scones!” Blacknail giggled. This meal was going to be so great, maybe even the best ever! Rabbit stew with cheese scones! He couldn’t wait.
Vorscha smiled, and Geralhd placed the rolled up cloth on a rock next to the fire. The pair grinned at each other as they settled down on the other side of the campfire from Blacknail and his master. Saeter’s fire pit was quite large, even if it was just a shallow hole in the ground surrounded by a ring of round stones. Two nearby flat rocks could be used as chairs, and there was also a nearby collection of cut-up logs for people to sit on. Wait, why did his master have so many seats around his campfire if he didn’t want visitors? Blacknail couldn’t figure that out. Was the old scout going to use them for something?
“Bah, I suppose I cooked enough food to share.” Saeter grunted as he stirred the stew again. “It goes bad quickly anyway.”
His master’s speech, and the intense stare Blacknail was directing toward the yet-to-be-unwrapped scones, distracted the hobgoblin enough that the voice from behind him was a surprise.
“What’s going on here?”
“No!” Blacknail hissed in alarm as he realized who it was and spun around.
It was Khita! She had probably come to steal some of his delicious scones and stew. Well, he wasn’t going to let her! She was useless.
“There you are,” Vorscha announced as Khita walked closer. “Take a seat.”
“I didn’t say she could-ss come,” Blacknail whined.
“She’s with us,” Vorscha replied as she gave the hobgoblin a flat stare.
Blacknail froze under her gaze. Good-natured or not, there was a steely edge there. She clearly wasn’t going to accept any complaints from him. Why was the big woman always sticking up for Khita? She was useless.
“What’s one more mouth to feed? She may as well join us,” Saeter remarked sarcastically as he sat down on his favorite stump.
“Thanks, your stew usually tastes nice,” the young woman remarked.
Saeter frowned at Khita and pursed his lips. Clearly, he was insulted. “Nice…” He huffed as he shook his head. “I’ve been perfecting this recipe since before you were a fire in your father’s loins.”
“It’s the nectar of the gods itself, if that’s what you want to hear,” Vorscha told the old scout as she rolled her eyes.
Khita smiled and sat next to Blacknail. The hobgoblin groaned and shuffled away. The cheese scones had better be bloody delicious!
“Hey, Blacknail! How did your last mission go?” Khita asked. “Herad and Vorscha never let me go on any important missions. I’m either stuck here in camp or Vorscha is watching my every movement.”
“It was all right. I snuck around, met a new friend, and killed a bunch of people,” Blacknail remarked offhand as he waited for stew. He didn’t mention the food he’d looted from the wagon. He wouldn’t put it past Khita to steal it, like the thief she was.
“Sharp! That’s what I’m talking about,” the young woman exclaimed happily. “I want to go on a mission like that!”
“I don’t think killing people is a good measure of success,” Geralhd interjected.
“It is if you’re a hobgoblin,” Saeter said.
“Is the food ready? The smell is making me hungry,” Khita asked.
“Close enough,” Saeter replied as he got up.
The old scout reached into a sack and pulled out a bunch of wooden bowls. One by one, he filled them with stew and passed them out. While he was doing that, Geralhd finally unwrapped the cloth bundle to reveal the scones within. It only took a few seconds for him to toss them around. Blacknail grinned as he caught his and took a bite. It was delicious, so cheesy and yet so smooth and rich.
Up in the sky, the sun was setting behind the western clouds. The clouds glowed a deep red as darkness set in. All around, the shadows grew thicker as flickering firelight filled the camp.
There was silence as everyone ate, if you didn’t count the hobgoblin’s smacking. Blacknail thought that this was fine, but Geralhd apparently found it awkward. The young man looked around at everyone else seated by the fire. “So, Saeter. What do you think of our current situation? From what I hear, Werrick is coming and he’s bringing more than a few men.”
“I think there is going to be a fight,” Saeter replied.
“Ugh, I don’t want to discuss fighting right now,” Vorscha interjected. “Here we are enjoying a great meal among friends! Why bring up violence?”
“Imagine what will happen if Herad wins though,” Gerald pointed out. “She’ll basically hold dominion over all the North! All its wealth will be at her fingertips and part of that will be ours!”
“That’s a good point,” Vorscha remarked as she smiled. “Retiring from the bandit life with a chest full of gold sounds great to me. I could really use a nice mansion full of servants.”
“That does sound nice,” Geralhd mused.
“It would have to be in Daggerpoint, or somewhere else beyond the king’s writ, but it would still be much nicer than my current cabin. Especially if you were there with me,” Vorscha told her lover.
He looked uneasy and smiled sadly. “That does sound wonderful. Unfortunately, as you know, I need to be heading home as soon as possible. My parents and sister need me back down south.”
“You’re still a wanted man,” Vorscha pointed out.
“The warrant for my arrest will eventually expire, especially if I get my hands on enough coin to grease the right hands. Bribes are the only reason I was ever charged in the first place. All I did was win a fair duel!” the young man complained.
“And kill a man,” Vorscha added dryly.
“There are duels all the time where I come from, back in Eloria proper. Some of them are even to the death, yet rarely is anyone arrested and sentenced to life imprisonment,” Geralhd exclaimed.
“Ha, you’re all lazy or cowards. I don’t plan on retiring ever! I’m going to work my way up to becoming Herad’s most trusted lieutenant, and maybe even eventually be her successor!” Khita bragged.
There was a lot of eye rolling and skeptical looks from everyone else present. Blacknail tried to picture Khita as the leader of anything and failed. How could anyone ever be stupid enough to accept her as their chieftain?
“I don’t think Herad trusts anyone, especially not her lieutenants,” Saeter grumbled as he got up and refilled his bowl.
“I don’t think that’s very likely. Everyone retires eventually,” Vorscha told Khita. “You really should be trying to figure out how to escape the criminal life.”
“It will be an adventure!” Khita replied. “Besides, I won’t be alone. Blacknail won’t be retiring to some stuffy mansion. He’s a hobgoblin, and they know how to have fun!”
Blacknail looked up from where he was eating the last of his scone. Bits of crumbs fell off his chin. “I’ll go where Master Saeter goes.”
That made everyone look Saeter’s way. The old scout frowned and sat back down.
“Bah, having dreams like yours is just a good way to be disappointed. Only fools believe in happy endings. You’re better off accepting things the way they are,” he told the others.
Blacknail put his empty bowl down and gave his master a questioning look. He seemed to remember Saeter saying something else a while ago. “I thought you wanted-ss to make Herad Queen of the North and kick the southern king person in the balls. Didn’t you say that? I think-ss you did…”
Geralhd snorted in amusement, and a huge grin appeared on Vorscha’s face.
For some reason, Saeter’s face grew noticeably redder. The old scout winced and looked off to the side. “I never said anything like that! Stop lying, Blacknail. You’re imagining things, you stupid hobgoblin.”
“Ambitious, but I like it,” Vorscha remarked.
“Ha, so much for not having any dreams!” Geralhd laughed. “I should have known you had a reason for sticking around here.”
“I wouldn’t mind kicking a king or two in the nuts,” Khita mused as she smirked. “Those fancy bastards have never done anything for me.”
“That was just something I said once as a joke,” Saeter protested.
“Of course it was. Don’t worry, Saeter. We all know you didn’t mean it,” Vorscha joked.
As Saeter glowered, Blacknail looked around at everyone’s smirks. He didn’t get it. What was so funny?
It grew dark as the bandits talked and laughed. Soon, the only light came from their campfire or those of other nearby bandit groups. However, by the time Saeter’s guests left, almost everyone else in the camp had turned in for the night.
With a happy yawn, Blacknail went to bed. An owl hooted off in the trees as he walked over to his tent and crawled inside. Feeling comfortable, Blacknail curled up and fell asleep.
However, his rest was disturbed by unpleasant dreams, and Blacknail tossed and turned in his sleep. A green maze of twisted trees surrounded him, and there was only a single path through it. Skulls and swords littered the ground. Coins slipped from his fingers no matter how hard he tried to hold them, and eventually he was all alone in the darkness. The hobgoblin looked up and saw a white light shining down the forest path in front of him. He reached toward it…
Chapter 6
Blacknail smiled as his knife opened the helpless man’s throat. Blood poured out of the jagged wound and spilled down his chest. The man’s body jerked and twitched, but the hobgoblin held it still. A few seconds later, he went limp and Blacknail let the body fall.
With an annoyed sigh, the hobgoblin rolled the corpse into a nearby clump of bushes, where it would be hidden. When that was done, he scuffed the dirt with his boot to conceal the blood trail. Cleaning up after himself was such a pain. This was the second sentry he’d taken out today, and it was probably far from the last. There were undoubtedly a few more around the perimeter of the enemy camp. A lot of humans seemed to think that if they simply had lots of guards everywhere, it would make up for the fact that they were all incompetent. It didn’t work that way.
The forest around Blacknail was full of thick green vegetation, and small hills lay scattered in every direction. That made spotting people difficult and hiding easy. To keep one step ahead of his prey, the hobgoblin needed a better view.
Quickly, Blacknail pulled off his boots and socks. He took a second to wiggle his toes and flex his fingers before sinking his claws into the bark of a nearby tree. Then, he climbed up into the higher branches to find a good vantage point. The tree swayed ever so slightly in the wind once he got higher, but that didn’t bother him. His flexible and light body gave him excellent balance. Up among the leaves, Blacknail made himself comfortable and looked around.
Herad, Blacknail’s great and deadly chieftain, had ordered the hobgoblin to scout around the base Werrick’s men had set up out in the Green. The other bandit chieftain’s encroachment on her territory would be met with blood and fire.
Blacknail had spent two days skulking around the forest by himself to get all the information his mistress wanted. He’d been told to avoid being seen at all costs, and he hadn’t even been allowed to kill anyone! This was the North. Who would notice one or two missing humans? There were hundreds of ways they could have gotten themselves killed or vanished. Most humans were so dumb, Blacknail was constantly surprised they lived long enough to breed. Not his humans though. They were remarkably intelligent—almost hobgoblin-like really. Of course, Blacknail had only ever met one other hobgoblin, and he’d stabbed him to death several minutes after their first meeting. Still, that meant half the hobgoblins he’d ever encountered had been incredibly smart and handsome. He could not say the same thing about humans.
Well, that was the past. He certainly had permission to kill now. The time for scouting was over. Herad’s attack was underway.
Blacknail balanced on a long branch as he studied the terrain. From his high perch, he saw the steep hill that concealed the enemy camp. It looked as though the way there was clear. However, a pair of Werrick’s men stood off some distance to his left.
“Hmm, difficult,” Blacknail mused.
It was practically impossible for someone to take down two sentries by himself without making any noise, and that meant it was sort of difficult even for Blacknail. The hobgoblin preferred easier targets. Why work hard?
With this in mind, Blacknail swung below the branch he was sitting on and climbed back down the tree. Once on the ground, he brought his fingers to his lips and whistled. The sharp cry of a bird echoed through the forest as he blew. A few moments later, an answering bird call rang out from the wild greenery. Blacknail smiled as Saeter slipped out of the forest and walked over. The old scout was dressed in brown leathers with a dirty green cloak. He held a bow, and there was a full quiver on his back.
“We’re all clear here?” Saeter asked.
“Yes-ss, there are no enemies around until we get closer to their camp,” Blacknail replied.
“Good, then let’s go together in case we run into a larger group,” his master suggested.
Blacknail opened his mouth to agree, but he was interrupted by the sound of another bird whistle. His mouth snapped shut in surprise. That was their signal!
“What? It’s not the right season for real grey warblers to make that cry,” Saeter remarked. “And no one else could possibly know we were using it.”
“I don’t know,” Blacknail replied nervously. “Maybe-ss it’s an ambush.”
Together, the pair peered off into the forest in the direction the sound had come from. Slowly, Saeter drew an arrow and strung it on his bow. Nothing moved up ahead. Instead, there was a fluttering noise behind them. Blacknail flinched in surprise and jumped around, pulling his long knife free in one smooth motion. Beside him, Saeter moved as well.
The hobgoblin’s heart pounded as he scanned the forest for the cause of the noise. There was nothing there, or at least he didn’t see anything. Something had made the noise though. Suddenly, a flash of movement made Blacknail look up into the trees. Perched there was a harpy. Its human-like face looked at Blacknail and Saeter with amusement. It flashed them a toothy smile, then a familiar bird cry issued from it lips. The foul thing had mimicked their signal!
“Shoot it,” Blacknail hissed in alarm.
Harpies were dangerous. The large bird-like creatures had long talons on their feet and the tips of their wings. They were also cunning.
Saeter raised his bow to take the shot. Before he could do anything though, there was another flutter from the direction they had just turned away from.
“Shoot it,” someone or something said.
Blacknail’s head whipped around, and he raised his dagger defensively. A second harpy was standing on a tree branch not too far away.
“There’s another harpy behind us, isn’t there?” Saeter asked. The old scout hadn’t turned around. He kept his arrow aimed straight at the first harpy.
“Yes, but two harpies aren’t much of threat-ss. I’ll take one and you can take the other,” Blacknail replied as he stepped toward the second creature.
However, before he could get near it, the beast let out a muted screech and flapped its wings. Blacknail froze. They were still near the enemy camp. Raising a commotion would draw attention, and that would be bad.
“Don’t let it make so much noise!” Saeter hissed.
“Fine, you shoot both of them,” Blacknail replied. What did his master expect him to do? The hideous creatures could fly!
Saeter grunted in annoyance. “I can’t get both of them at the same time.”
“So much noise!” squawked the first harpy merrily.
“You shut the hells up,” Saeter told it.
“Ya, no one asked you,” Blacknail added angrily.
Saeter and Blacknail stood there silently for a few seconds as they contemplated their next step. The hobgoblin scratched his nose as he warily eyed the harpies. They didn’t appear to be doing anything…
“What should we do?” Blacknail asked his master.
“I don’t know. The fucking things are probably just messing with us. I don’t think they’ll risk a real attack,” Saeter replied.
The first harpy, who still had Saeter’s arrow pointed at it, hopped down from the tree. It landed on the ground and eyed the hobgoblin and his master. Blacknail thought it looked smug.
“I want to kick it in-ss the face,” the hobgoblin muttered.
The harpy ignored him and crawled across the ground using the claws on its wings as another set of legs. Its motions were smooth and purposeful as it headed toward a familiar set of bushes.
