by Scott
This made Blacknail uncomfortable. He remembered the things some of the meaner men had said about how they had wanted to kill him. Did a lot of these humans feel the same way?
He was almost sure that his master would protect him until he figured out how to get home, but just to be sure, he would have to try extra hard to be a good helper. He just hoped he could work in the camp instead of out in the woods. He would rather deal with the glares and rope weaving than the ravening beasts.
“Is that a goblin?” one disbelieving voice said.
“I think it is. Look at it. It must be some sort of pet,” another human replied.
Other voices murmured and debated amongst themselves, but Saeter completely ignored the voices as he walked over to his tent. Off to the side of his fire pit was a simple three- or four-foot high rack made of sticks tied together with twine. After Saeter had put down his bag, he pulled out a knife and slit the rabbits' throats. He then looped a piece of cord around their feet so he could hang them on the rack.
Blood dripped from the rabbits' open wounds onto the trampled grass. It smelled so delicious that Blacknail licked his lips. However, he knew better than to eat something without his master's permission, especially while he was still looking. He couldn't prevent his stomach from growling though. It had been a while since he had last been fed. His last full meal had been early that morning, when he was still caged on the wagon. That seemed like so long ago, much longer than a day.
Saeter noticed the rumbling sounds and turned to the goblin. “I suppose you've earned a bite to eat.” He rummaged through his bag, pulled out a small piece of dried meat, and tossed it to Blacknail. He also fetched a small wooden bowl and filled it with water from his water pouch.
The goblin hurriedly ate the meat. It tasted salty but good, much better than what he had been fed on the wagon, but not as nice as a freshly caught rat. He washed it down with water from the bowl. After he had finished eating, Blacknail turned to his master and assumed a sad, begging expression. He wanted more food, like one of the juicy rabbits. Surely his master didn't need all of them!
“No begging. If you're still hungry you're gonna need to find your own food. There's plenty of wild carrots and other stuff around,” Saeter told him with a scowl.
Saeter looked around and pointed out a tall white flower. Blacknail sighed and reluctantly trudged over to the plants. He sniffed them carefully and looked them over. How was he supposed to eat those? Before he could figure out what to do, his thoughts were interrupted by unexpected voices. The goblin looked up to see a human female with short black hair approach his master.
“Saeter, what in all the hells are you up to now?” she said with a feminine but hard, commanding voice.
This new woman was athletic-looking without being muscled like a man or Vorscha. Various dangerous-looking blades were strapped to her dark leather armor. The armor itself seemed more complete and better maintained than that of most of the other humans around. Yet it was her glacial blue eyes that stood out the most. They were as hard and cold as ice and seemed to pierce through whoever she was looking at.
Blacknail involuntarily ducked into the grass as her eyes passed him over, but Saeter casually looked up from what he was doing and met her stare.
“Ah, what can I do for you, Herad?” the old scout replied nonchalantly.
The woman narrowed her eyes slightly in annoyance. “Vorscha told me you found yourself a goblin pet. I don’t want vermin like that wandering the camp.” She threw Blacknail a hostile look.
“Really? I think he’ll be very useful,” Saeter replied.
“I don’t care what you think. Get rid of it or I will,” Herad told him coldly.
Blacknail froze and felt goose bumps rise on his skin. The woman seemed to be the chief of this tribe, and she didn’t appear to like him much! He didn’t think any simple tricks would win her over either.
However, Saeter seemed to be calmly thinking it over. “If that’s what you want, then that’s what I’ll do, but I was just thinking about how useful he would be in helping me hunt. Not to mention if we have a tame goblin around, it will drive the wild ones away; they’re quite territorial.”
“How exactly will that thing be of any use?” Herad asked scornfully.
“Many ways. It can track like a hound, but it’s stealthier and smarter,” Saeter explained. “With him, I’ll be able sniff out creatures’ trails, such as whatever was picking us off up North. The frontier is getting more dangerous as the forest consumes the land people once worked.”
It was subtle, but Blacknail thought he saw Herad stiffen and clench her fists in response to the old scout’s words.
She scowled and eyed Saeter suspiciously. “We came South because the nobles here have grown weak and there are easy pickings.”
Blacknail could see that she had begun to think things over though. He felt a speck of hope that he would survive this.
“Of course,” Saeter conceded neutrally.
Herad was quiet for a few seconds before answering. “Fine, since you seem to believe it will be useful, you can keep it, but it had better not cause any trouble or inconvenience me.”
“Don't worry, he's well trained, and I'm planning on keeping him too busy to get into any trouble,” Saeter replied.
“See that you do, old man,” she responded as she threw another look toward Blacknail.
The goblin crouched down again and tried to disappear into the grass as she looked his way. He knew she could still see him and that all he was doing was making himself look silly, but he couldn't help himself. That woman's eyes were really scary. She looked as though she would kill him as soon as look at him.
Blacknail was glad that the chieftain Herad had decided not to kill him and allowed him to join her tribe. He just wished he hadn’t been volunteered into hunting in the forest. That sounded dangerous! When he lived in the sewer, he had never had to deal with things like this. He needed to find a way back there soon.
Much to the goblin's relief, Herad soon turned back to Saeter. She scowled at the rabbits hanging on the rack beside him, and that upset Backnail. He had almost died getting those rabbits!
“I do hope you're planning on bringing more than a few scrawny rabbits to tonight's celebration. We need to celebrate today's victory. It's not every day that a fat caravan of goods falls into our laps. Those pathetic excuses for rabbits in front of you will hardly make up for skipping out on helping reload the wagons,” Herad told him coldly.
“I plan on going back out in a minute,” Saeter replied without any apparent concern.
“Good, but don't stay out too late. The band will be heading out early tomorrow morning after the men have had a chance to rest and patch their wounds. I want you scouting a path first thing tomorrow. We’ll be heading north to escape any unwanted attention we’ve brought down on ourselves, just in case one of what passes for the local lords around here decides to actually care… for once. We'll use the roads for the first few days but head off track when it turns eastward. I don't want to run into any surprises,” Herad explained.
“A good plan,” Saeter replied with a nod.
For some reason, his response annoyed Herad. “I wasn't asking your opinion. Just do your job with your usual competence, and we won't have a problem.” She threw Blacknail a disgusted look before turning around and walking off.
Saeter turned to the cowering goblin when she was gone. “She has that effect on a lot of people.” Sighing, he got up and stretched before picking up his pack and bow again. Then he turned back to Blacknail. “Well, it seems like I’m going to have to get you trained quickly now, so there's no point in waiting around. Come here.”
Blacknail shoved a still dirty wild carrot he had managed to dig up into his mouth and headed back over to his master. He was glad the scary lady had left. Saeter started walking across the camp toward another group of bandits, and Blacknail followed him. As the goblin moved, he glanced past his master at the humans they were heading
toward. A group of five was talking and sitting in the shade cast by a tall pile of crates. Blacknail recognized two of them: the muscular woman Vorscha and the thin, weak-looking man named Geralhd.
“Geralhd, I have a job for you!” Saeter yelled as he approached.
With an annoyed grimace, Geralhd turned to look at Saeter. “Since I don't actually work for you, I think I’ll have to pass on whatever it is you're talking about.”
Saeter ignored his response. “I got some rabbits I don't have time to skin and cut up since Herad wants me out hunting. Seems like a job for you, unless you don't know how?” Saeter said with a hint of taunting in his voice.
“I know how to skin a rabbit, and no, I'm not going to try to prove it to you. It's going to take quite a bit more than a simple taunt to get me to do your work for you,” Geralhd said with an annoyed tone.
The three bandits Blacknail didn’t know shuffled away, talking amongst themselves.
“I'm thinking my idea of skinning a rabbit right is different than yours. Besides, didn't you say you wanted to learn how to survive out here? Well here's an opportunity to learn, boy. I'm sure Vorscha can help you figure out the hard parts,” Saeter told him.
As Saeter talked, Geralhd seemed to grow angrier, until it looked as if he was either going to yell at the other man or punch him. However, before he could do anything, Vorscha extended a hand and cut him off. She gave both the men disapproving looks and shook her head.
“Calm down, both of you. That's no way to ask a favor, Saeter, and you know it. We'll help you out, old man, but only if you ask nicely,” Vorscha interjected as Saeter gave her an annoyed glare.
“Fine, please help with the work,” Saeter asked grumpily. “For once.”
Geralhd gave Saeter a triumphant smile. Blacknail was sure Geralhd hadn't heard his master grumble the last part, which didn't surprise the goblin. The man had tiny pink human ears.
“I graciously accept your request for help. Think nothing of it,” Geralhd replied smugly.
“Oh, I do. Don't worry,” Saeter grumbled.
There was no way the other man hadn't heard that; however, he apparently chose to ignore it since his only reaction was to keep smiling smugly at Saeter.
“Good, then that's settled. Honestly, I don't know how two men can act so childishly sometimes. To think you're both supposed to be bloodthirsty northern bandits,” Vorscha said with a chuckle.
Blacknail also found himself smiling at the funny faces both men were making. Geralhd noticed Blacknail smiling at him and turned toward the goblin. He returned the goblin's grin and gave a friendly wave. Blacknail thought he was an idiot and planned to avoid him as much as possible in the future.
“Hey there, Blacknail, it's nice to see you again, little fellow. I hope Saeter's not treating you too badly,” he cheerfully told the goblin.
The goblin gave Geralhd a suspicious glance. No one had ever talked to Blacknail like that before. Ever. What was with the super-friendly voice? It was weird and unnerving.
“Master good. He feed me and he scare bad harpies away,” Blacknail replied. He knew which human he needed to stay on the good side of, and it wasn't the skinny weak one. He looked out of the corner of his eye and saw Saeter smile approvingly at him.
“Harpies, eh? That sounds like a tale,” Vorscha said.
Saeter turned to her. “We ran into two of them on our way back from the snares. They thought they could steal some of our rabbits. One of them dove at Blacknail, but I scared them off.” Saeter shrugged.
Blacknail remembered it slightly differently. There were a lot more screams, cowering, and near-death experiences in his version.
Surprisingly, Gerald's eyes widened in excitement. “Oh, harpies! I've always wanted to see a harpy. I've heard they're quite exotic and beautiful creatures. I wish I could have been there.” Geralhd heaved a regretful sigh.
Saeter looked at Geralhd as though he was an idiot. Well, more of an idiot than usual anyway. Blacknail agreed wholeheartedly. He copied his master's facial expression exactly. Anyone who wanted to run into harpies deserved their fate. He remembered their terrible claws and horrible voices. Vorscha saw him mimic his master and chuckled at them.
“Next time I think I'm going to run into harpies, I'll be sure to bring you,” Saeter told Geralhd sarcastically.
Blacknail thought that was a great idea. The fool would make a great human shield, the goblin thought with a smile.
“Harpies are dangerous, Geralhd. They're likely to attack you if they think they can get away with it. You don't want to run into them without someone at your back. I'm surprised Saeter and his goblin got away as easily as they did,” Vorscha explained.
“I know what I'm doing,” Saeter said with a shrug.
Vorscha gave him a skeptical look. “I don't doubt you know the forest better than anyone, but there's a good reason most scouts travel in pairs. It's important to have someone at your back, and before you say anything, that goblin of yours doesn’t count.”
“I don't have time to retrain one of the other scouts to get rid of their bad habits, and if I don't, they're more likely to draw a drake down on me than be any real help.” Saeter huffed as Vorscha eyed him critically.
“You could always take Geralhd with you,” Vorscha joked.
Both Saeter and Geralhd blanched at that idea.
“I'll have to humbly decline that suggestion,” Geralhd interjected. “When I said I wanted to learn to survive, I didn't mean to suggest I wanted to become a scout and go out into the forest. I like it fine here in camp, thank you.”
Blacknail thought that was the first smart thing Geralhd had ever said. Blacknail frowned and wished he had that option.
Geralhd saw the goblin's frown and misinterpreted it. “You’re such a good goblin, sitting there so patiently. You must be getting bored. I think you deserve a treat for putting up with your master.” Geralhd reached into his pocket, pulled out a bit of dried meat, and threw it to Blacknail.
The goblin snatched it from the air and scarfed it down. His opinion of Geralhd changed completely. He was no longer just an idiot. He was an idiotic food source.
“Blacknail thanks Geralhd,” Blacknail said as he chewed and smacked.
Vorscha gave him a disgusted look, but Blacknail ignored her as he was deep in thought. Geralhd seemed pleased at the goblin's response. The man Geralhd had revealed himself to not only have tasty treats but also to be willing to give them to Blacknail. If he sucked up to Geralhd, he should be able to get even more treats, and the weak man seemed to be the type of human who could be easily impressed. The trick would be not angering Saeter while doing it.
“Don't spoil him. He needs to learn to fend for himself,” Saeter told Geralhd with a scowl.
Geralhd just rolled his eyes.
“How about you train him not to eat and speak at the same time, or at least chew quieter?” Vorscha interjected dryly.
“Maybe when I have time,” Saeter replied in the same dry tone.
“Speaking of time, don't let us keep you from your hunting. Since you’re so busy and all,” Geralhd said with a wave in the direction of the forest.
“Indeed,” Saeter replied with a nod to Vorscha.
He abruptly walked off with Blacknail in tow. Geralhd gave Blacknail a wave good-bye, and the goblin happily waved back. He was already planning how to get another treat out of the thin man.
Without stopping, Saeter headed straight into the forest again. Blacknail followed reluctantly. They left the bandit camp behind them as they exited the sunny clearing and stepped under the shadowy forest canopy again. Blacknail sighed in resignation. He really didn't want to go back out there. He wanted to go home! He hoped they didn't see any more harpies…
Chapter 6
Soon, they were walking through the trees again. It wasn’t Blacknail's favorite place to be. It also quickly became obvious that Saeter was headed in a different direction than they had gone during their last trip. The types of trees and bush
es were the same, but none of them looked or smelled familiar. That probably meant less chance of running into harpies, but on the other hand, it probably increased their chances of running into something worse.
Saeter trampled a path through the tall plants that grew under the trees, and Blacknail followed in his wake. The sun shone practically all around them through the sparse canopy. After a few minutes, Saeter found an animal trail where the dirt and plants had been beaten down, and he began to follow it.
Every once in a while, Blacknail heard rustling noises off in the bush. Most of the time he saw nothing, but sometimes it would turn out to be birds taking flight or a small furry-tailed rat-like animal scurrying up a tree.
As they progressed through the woods, the brown and grey trunks of the trees grew closer together and the overhead canopy grew thicker. The grass and tall plants gave way to shorter, broad-leaved plants, and more bare ground became visible. Sometimes Saeter would stop and examine tracks or droppings on the ground, then he would have Blacknail examine them as he explained what they were.
“Blacknail, these are bear tracks. They’re large and dangerous but not usually aggressive unless they smell a free meal or are surprised. Avoid them,” he explained to the goblin as he pointed at the animal signs.
Blacknail's eyes widened in surprise as he examined the tracks. They were huge! Absently, Blacknail wondered what his master thought was truly dangerous if these bear creatures were still considered only a minor threat.
They headed deeper into the woods than they had before. The atmosphere slowly changed, growing darker as the air became moister. The scent of earth that filled the forest gained an undertone of rot.
Blacknail noticed that the trees growing here were different from the ones he had seen earlier. Most of them had smooth bark that was pale grey and sickly looking. They also had wider leaves that blocked out more of the sun and cast the forest into deep shadow. The trees here had no lower branches, and the ones that were lower were dead and leafless. It gave everything a dark, stagnant feeling.
