by Scott
“Herad should be happy when we get back! Or at least as close as she gets,” Red Dog proudly told the others. The bandit lieutenant was standing tall with his chest puffed out. Blacknail thought it made him look fat.
They were making their way through the woods and back to the road. The tall shady trees around them were alive with morning birdsong. Every member of their group had a backpack stuffed full of supplies and loot, even Blacknail.
When Blacknail stopped for a second to look over a small patch of red mushrooms that had caught his eye, a group of deserters passed him. Most of them ignored him or shied away and tried not to catch his eye.
One bandit wearing a brown feathered cap gave him a disdainful look. “Look, it’s got a sword. Ha, I’ll eat my hat if the critter can actually use it,” he muttered to the man beside him.
The other man’s eyebrows rose, and he gave the speaker a disbelieving look. “Don’t tempt fate, fool.”
Blacknail ignored them. He was more interested in whether the mushrooms he was looking at were edible. The red color probably meant they were poisonous, but it also made them look very tasty. With a sigh, he decided against eating them. He picked one to show Saeter so he would know for later though.
The wind shifted, and a breeze blew through the trees. Leaves rustled, and the smell of healthy growing things surrounded the hobgoblin. However, under the more powerful scents, something else lurked and drew Blacknail's attention. Instinct took over. The hobgoblin froze, and his heart sped up. The sound of its pounding filled his ears. He twitched as he fought the sudden urge to run. Instead, he took a quick look around and forced himself to relax. He saw nothing lurking nearby. With no signs of immediate danger, he walked up the line and passed the other men to find Saeter.
Saeter was talking to Red Dog at the front of the group. Mahedium and some of Red Dog's men were walking right behind them. After another quick nervous look around just to be sure, Blacknail moved up beside Saeter. He was trying to act calm, but his movements were jerky and stiff. He didn't want to alert anything that was watching that he had detected them.
Saeter broke off his conversation with Red Dog as the hobgoblin approached. He looked over and gave Blacknail a puzzled glance. Blacknail was fidgeting and clearly nervous.
“I smell the troll. It's downwind, being sneaky,” Blacknail whispered to his master. Almost immediately, he felt kind of stupid. He was fairly sure trolls couldn't understand human speech, so there had been no real reason to whisper.
“Shit.” Saeter grimaced and closed his eyes for a second as he thought things through.
“What is it?” Red Dog asked.
“That troll's back, and it's stalking us,” Saeter replied darkly.
Red Dog added a long string of his own curses to Saeter's. Blacknail didn't understand most of them but made a mental note to look into them later.
“We'll need to prepare and make sure everyone's ready,” Red Dog said when he had finally stopped swearing.
“If we can make ourselves look like more trouble than we're worth, it might back off without a fight. The trick will be getting ready without tipping it off,” Saeter added.
Red Dog nodded. He then turned around and spoke to the group behind him. “Mahedium, come here for a second.”
The mage gave them a curious look as he picked up his pace and walked over to them. “What do you need?”
“That troll friend of yours is back. I want to know if you've got any tricks that might be useful, and don't think of holding anything back just because you can't replace it,” Red Dog said.
The mage flinched fearfully before responding. “For use against a troll? I have no idea what would work. They’re hardly my area of expertise. I mean, I have um… a few heat crystals, and obviously I have light crystals I can use to blind it. I also have a force crystal I've been saving, but that's it.”
“That's all you got? You’re of the Fiery Eye, and they’re one of the most hardcore combat guilds around,” Red Dog said with an eyebrow raised doubtfully.
“I wasn't actually at the front when I took my leave of the army. The Guilds only give combat mages the crystals they think we need, so most of what I have are support spells,” Mahedium explained.
“Fine, go for the heat then. Just be damn sure you have a clear shot before you fire. I've seen what those things can do to a man, and I don't want to see it again,” Red Dog told him.
“Probably your best bet,” Saeter added in agreement.
Red Dog carefully gave out other orders. As the line of bandits hiked through the woods, he called several to him, one at a time. When the men returned to their place in the line, they whispered to their nearby companions.
While this was happening, Mahedium went to work as well. The mage quickly dissembled his staff in a practiced manner. He replaced the white crystal within the staff's mechanism with a red one, then he made some adjustments that narrowed the staff's metal head.
Slowly, the bandit group began to split until it had divided itself into small units. The transformation was gradual, but soon every unit had someone watching each direction, and every bandit had a hand ready to draw their weapon.
As the group farthest from the front was forming up, there was a scream. Blacknail whipped around in time to see something explode from the bushes. At first it was nothing but a green blur, but then it smashed through a group of men in the middle of the line and slowed almost to a stop. Men screamed in pain and surprise as the green behemoth roared and sent clumps of earth, broken branches, and bloodied men flying.
Even while stooped over, the troll towered over the few men still standing around it. It had bizarrely elongated arms that reached all the way from its broad hunched shoulders to the ground. Heavy muscles rippled under its greenish-grey skin as it spun furiously and whipped its heavy clawed fists around to batter and break anyone unlucky enough to get too close to it.
The troll’s head was similar to a hobgoblin's but with a thick, extended lizard-like snout. A dirty mane of brown hair grew from the top of its head and down its back. As it attacked, it opened its mouth to let out a savage roar, which revealed countless jagged yellow teeth and two massive blade-like fangs that descended down past its jaw.
It wasn’t the troll’s strength or size that alarmed Blacknail though. No, what truly frightened him was the beast’s speed. It seemed to jerk and twist as it moved, but it did it so quickly that it was almost impossible to keep track of. There was no way he could run from such a beast!
“Rally!” Red Dog shouted as he drew his sword.
In a violent frenzy of motion, the troll ripped into the men surrounding it. Its fists smashed them aside like paper dolls and sent them flying. They barely had time to react or even draw their weapons. Then the beast screamed in elated rage as it snatched up a shocked bandit. It brought the shrieking man to its mouth and bit down on him. Its huge fangs sank into its prey with a wet cracking noise, and the man's chest seemed to collapse in on itself.
With a mocking satisfied hiss and a powerful lunge, the troll broke through the scattered and bloodied men and charged off into the woods. It used its long arms and knuckles like a second pair of legs as it ripped through the underbrush.
Suddenly, just as the troll was about to disappear, there was a hissing noise off to one side of Blacknail and the air rippled. A wave of heat washed over him, and the hobgoblin cringed away. There was a sharp crack as the base of a tree near where the troll had been seconds ago exploded into flames.
Startled, Blacknail looked over his shoulder to see Mahedium standing frozen in place. Heat radiated from the metal head of his staff. Was this magic?
The mage wore a shocked expression, and his knuckles were pale and white from gripping his staff so tightly, but he was pointing his weapon in the general direction the troll had gone. Apparently, magic could do much more than create light, but you still had to aim it properly.
All in all, the savage onslaught had lasted seconds. All the dozens of bandits c
ould do was gape in stunned horror and take in the destruction the troll had wrought around them. For a moment, the forest was quiet except for the moans of the wounded. Then as the shock dissipated, shrill screams of pain and panicked cursing filled the air. Half a dozen men the troll had passed by lay strewn across the ground or had been dashed against trees. The air was thick with the mingled scent of blood and the putrid stench of the troll.
“Fire and damnation! Fucking trolls. Drakes are worse, my ass!” Red Dog stomped off, shouting orders. He had to yell at the top of his lungs to be heard over everyone else.
Nervously, Blacknail stood up from where he had instinctively crouched behind Saeter. His master gave him a hard, unamused stare, and the hobgoblin gave him an apologetic smile back.
Erissa had fallen backward in shock and landed butt first on the ground, where she was shivering in terror. Saeter crouched beside her and whispered reassuringly in her ear.
Red Dog was still shouting, and he was even waving his sword around to get attention. Slowly, he managed to get people calmed down and somewhat organized.
Saeter got up from where he was tending to Erissa and made his way over to Red Dog. The other man was yelling at a small group of bandits. He pointed off in one direction and they jogged over to help the wounded. That left Red Dog standing by himself and glowering darkly at nothing.
“We have a problem,” Saeter told Red Dog.
Very slowly, the bandit lieutenant looked over. Red Dog’s face twitched as a mix of emotions warred within him. Finally, he settled on an incredibly dark and hostile glare which he aimed directly at Saeter. “I know we have a fucking problem! We have more problems than there are hells right now!”
“But you don’t know the real problem,” Saeter replied calmly.
“Oh, and what might that be?” Red Dog asked with a snarl.
“That wasn’t normal troll behavior, not even close. That thing was an experienced man-eater with a taste for human flesh. It will be back. Repeatedly. Even if we head home, it will just follow us,” the grey-haired older man explained.
“Of course it fucking is! Go slay the deserters, she says. It’ll be easy, she says. She just forgot to mention the bloody huge Slosher, the combat mage, and the man-eating troll! I've had enough of this. We're making a break for the base. Then the troll will be Herad's problem.” Red Dog swore.
Blacknail liked that plan. He was sure he could outrun most of the humans without a problem, and it was a man-eating troll anyway, not a goblin-eating troll. Yep, his survival was practically guaranteed.
“If we do that, we'll lose a lot of men. The troll might even get you or me, since we can't predict where it will strike,” Saeter told him.
Blacknail frowned. He didn't like where this was going.
“You have a better idea, old man?” Red Dog asked.
“Yes. I'll take a seven or eight of our more experienced men and trail the troll back to its lair. We'll corner it there and finish it off. That’ll give you and the wounded time to get going,” Saeter suggested.
“Dangerous. You would be putting experienced men at risk to save the wounded and rookies. Do you really think you can do it?” Red Dog replied skeptically.
“This is what I do.”
“Very well. Good luck then, and may all the gods bless your path, old man.”
Saeter nodded, then turned to Blacknail. “Come on, we have a lot of hard, dangerous work ahead of us.”
Blacknail sighed. Of course his master didn't like Red Dog’s plan, and of course his idea put them right in the most dangerous place possible. The hobgoblin was beginning to wonder if his master was trying to get himself killed—and take Blacknail with him.
Chapter 27
It only took Saeter a few minutes to round up his pick of the men. None of them looked thrilled at being selected, although one or two agreed that it was necessary. All the men Saeter picked were among the most experienced of the bandits and were familiar with the forest, except for Mahedium. The mage made his objections to joining the hunt clear, but in the end, he had no choice. Mage or not, he was still not even a proper member of the band.
Before Red Dog’s group had gotten moving again, Saeter led his party after the troll. It wasn’t difficult to spot its trail. The troll had simply torn through the forest at full speed while carrying a human body. Branches had been snapped, the earth was torn up, and blood littered the ground. Saeter didn't even have to stop and look for signs as he led the way. It was obvious to everyone which way to go—they just had to follow the trail of destruction.
Blacknail followed his master and scanned the surroundings for danger. Saeter seemed sure that the troll was long gone, but that didn’t mean the forest was safe. Blacknail thought chasing a troll through the woods was an incredibly stupid idea, even without considering what would happen when they actually caught it.
The easy-to-follow path ended when the party came across a wide creek that meandered through the woods. Cold water raced and bubbled over a stone-filled streambed that was wider than a man was tall. Its banks were rocky and mostly clear of plants except for the occasional scraggly sapling or patch of grass. The beast's trail stopped abruptly at the water's edge.
Blacknail walked across the creek and sniffed the ground. He felt a nervous shiver work its way up his spine when he failed to pick up the troll's trail on the other side. The idea that the troll was both smart enough to lose him and could be anywhere made him nervous. He looked up and scanned the forest for any signs of it.
The trees here were mostly tall evergreens with long needles instead of leaves. Close to the ground, their smooth white trunks were bereft of anything but the remains of broken dead branches. Higher up, the tops of the trees were green and healthy-looking though. The ground was rocky enough that in some areas, the trees were forced to grow fairly far apart. These spaces were filled by sparse stretches of moss and a layer of brown pine needles. There was no sign of the troll, and not a lot of places for something so big to hide.
Saeter's boots got wet as he splashed across the creek after Blacknail. He examined the forest for a few seconds. “Let me guess, you've lost the trail?”
“Yes-ss, it's gone,” Blacknail answered with a frown.
Saeter didn't seem surprised. “It used the water to hide its scent, and it will be moving more carefully now. It's probably more worried about another predator stealing its meal than us catching up with it, but the result's the same.”
“What do we do now?” Blacknail hoped this meant they would turn around and go home, but deep down, he knew better.
“We split into two groups. One goes upstream and the other down. It can't have gone too far. A whistle should do as signal.” Saeter turned and cast a skeptical gaze over the other bandits loitering at the stream’s far bank. “I'll take upstream. Georgius, take some men downstream. Blacknail will go with you.”
Georgius gave Saeter a mildly annoyed look. He was an average-sized bandit with short blond hair and a jagged scar that stretched back from one corner of his mouth. It looked as if someone had shoved a knife in his mouth and tried to slice his cheek in half. The long scar made it seem as though one side of his face was always frowning. It was clear he was insulted by Saeter's obvious lack of faith in his tracking ability. “All right, whatever, Saeter.”
Saeter split the group, and Blacknail followed Georgius downstream, in the opposite direction as Saeter. Mahedium stuck with the old scout. The mage was clearly nervous to be out in the forest, and he kept throwing anxious glances at the forest around him.
Most the bandits walked on one side of the creek or the other. However, Blacknail had taken off his boots and kept walking through the water barefoot so that he could sniff both sides. The cool water felt refreshing on the hobgoblin's feet as it flowed over his skin. The stones and pebbles at the bottom of the creek were smooth enough that they didn’t poke his soles when he stepped on them. Even though the water was shallow except for the occasional eddy-dug pool, Blacknail kept
an eye out for snapping turtles. He hadn’t forgotten that lesson.
As long as he kept an eye out for the snappers, Blacknail thought the creek was probably a safer place to be than walking along the bank. If someone was going to stumble into a mimic or spider, it wouldn’t be him. Of course, it was always possible that Saeter had simply forgotten to tell him about some sort of terrifying beast that lived in streams. That would be just like him.
Georgius seemed to be doing a good job searching for signs of the troll. Blacknail didn't know why Saeter had doubted the man's ability to track. Then again, Blacknail knew he was far from an expert on tracking by sight.
The hobgoblin hadn't caught the scent of the troll or human blood yet. However, he had come across quite a few other interesting scents. He had smelled deer, rabbits, harpies, and some other things he couldn't identify. They must have all come to the creek to get a drink.
Blacknail was just about to cross the stream again when he heard a whistle. He looked up, but none of the humans seemed to have heard anything. They continued to follow the creek downstream while checking the bush for signs of the troll.
“Georgius, I heard-ss the whistle,” Blacknail yelled.
Georgius turned to look at Blacknail, then back up the stream. He frowned and seemed to think things over for a second. “Right, you have those long pointy goblin ears. Let's get back then. It seems like we've gone the wrong way.”
He called the other men over, and they headed back. After a brief trek upstream, they found Saeter standing in the forest a few feet from the water. The rest of the bandits were resting around him.
“Took you long enough. While you were off taking a stroll, I found the troll's trail,” Saeter remarked.
“I figured that,” Georgius replied dryly.
