AGoblin'sTale

by Scott

  “Pardon me, but I should really go. I have to report back to my order,” Sir Masnin answered with obvious reluctance.

  “That will be difficult since your escort just rode off without you,” Red Dog interjected as he walked over to his boss.

  Saeter was right beside the other man, and both looked annoyed. Vorscha appeared to have stayed behind though. Herad instantly turned to look at her lieutenant. The paladin remained perfectly still except for his brow, which tightened in concern.

  “Explain,” Herad commanded Red Dog.

  “This guy’s escort started arguing amongst themselves a few minutes back. It got kind of heated, then they just turned around and rode off down the road and out of sight. From the looks they were giving the men, I’m sure they don’t plan on coming back any time soon unless it’s to attack us,” her lieutenant replied.

  One of Herad’s eyebrows rose as she turned and gave the paladin a suspicious stare. “Can you explain this?”

  The holy warrior sighed deeply. “This was due to no action on my part. Sir Devus must have decided that I wasn’t coming back and decided to leave. He must have thought you’d acted against me and that he would be next. I obviously underestimated that man’s paranoia and impatience.” Sir Masnin asked Red Dog hopefully, “I don’t suppose they left me my horse?”

  “No.”

  The paladin sighed again.

  “It seems you’ll be staying here a little longer after all, while we figure out what to do with you. I’m going to have to ask for that weapon of yours now,” Herad told the paladin.

  “As you wish.” The troubled-looking paladin drew his sword and handed it over.

  “Hmm, I’m going to have to put you somewhere now,” Herad mused playfully, like a cat with a mouse. “My house would be the most secure place. Of course, since it’s full of my valuables, I’d have to watch over you if I put you there. It’s out of sun though, and nice and private.”

  “Alas, I’d hate to intrude upon you. Anywhere out here is fine,” Sir Masnin replied.

  Blacknail scratched his head as he listened. Why would anyone take Herad’s offer? Sure, her house was nice and cool, but if Herad was there, no one would be able to relax. Humans were weird.

  “That’s too bad. I do like to please my guests,” Herad told the now nervous-looking paladin with a smirk. “Red Dog, make our guest comfortable and assign him a pair of guards. I need to go check on our defenses in case those knights show up again. I have a feeling they will.”

  “Yes, boss,” the bandit replied as his chieftain turned and walked away.

  Blacknail’s master stepped forward and glared suspiciously at the paladin. “I don’t like him.”

  “You don’t like anyone,” Red Dog replied dryly.

  “I like plenty of people,” the old scout countered in an offended tone.

  “Such as?” the other man asked doubtfully.

  Now that Herad was gone, Blacknail decided to stop skulking around. He walked over to Saeter and the others, and his master noticed the hobgoblin’s approach.

  “Blacknail, for one,” Saeter answered triumphantly.

  “Right, is there anyone human on that no doubt gigantic list?” Red Dog asked.

  Saeter froze for a second, and a look of concentration came over his face. “Bah, I don’t have to answer your stupid questions.” He stomped off.

  The other bandit snorted. “I rest my case.”

  As Blackanil watched, Red Dog led the frustrated-looking paladin over to an empty tent. Well, if his master didn’t like the man, then Blacknail was going to keep an eye on him. The hobgoblin didn’t know why Herad hadn’t just had the man killed, but he was clearly suspicious. Who knew what he could be up to?

  “I don’t suppose you have any black tea?” the holy warrior asked as he sat down in front of the tent and pulled off his helmet.

  “Nothing you want to drink.” Red Dog looked around and called two nearby men over. He told them to keep an eye on Sir Masnin. Red Dog grunted at the paladin. “Stay here and keep out of trouble. You’re lucky the boss likes you and that most of the men have nothing against the holy orders or you’d already be dead.”

  The other man didn’t bother to reply. Instead, he knelt in front of the tent, closed his eyes, and prayed. The two men Red Dog had selected took up position on either side of Sir Masnin. Neither of them seemed too worried about the enemy in their midst. In fact, they looked more bored than anything.

  Really, they were so bad at being guards that they should never have been chosen in the first place. Blacknail was going to do everyone a favor and take their place. Even the guards probably had better places to be.

  A few minutes later sir, Masnin got up and crawled into the tent. One of the guards stepped around the tent to make sure nothing suspicious was going on behind it, and Blacknail made his move. The hobgoblin calmly and silently walked up behind the man, while he was out of sight of his partner, and smacked him across the back of his head with a small club. With a muffled grunt of pain, the man collapsed, but Blacknail caught him before he hit the ground.

  With that done, Blacknail slipped around the tent and into the other guard’s blindspot. The man was still staring in the same direction with a slack look on his stupid face, so Blacknail knocked him unconscious with smack from his club as well.

  Wow, these two bandits had been really bad at their jobs. What had they even been on guard against—working too hard? Blacknail sighed in exasperation as he dragged the unconscious idiots out of sight behind a pile of wood, where it was nice and shady. He was considerate like that.

  Then he riffled through the men’s pockets for anything interesting. He wasn’t planning on keeping the stuff he found though. If he left them there, a thief might come along and take their stuff while they were sleeping. As their loyal tribemate, Blacknail wasn’t about to let that happen. He would hold on to their stuff for them until later…

  “What are you doing?” a youthful, curious voice asked from behind the hobgoblin as he was looking through a small coin purse.

  Shit, there was only one person in camp who sounded like that. As Blacknail turned toward the source of the voice, a shiver of frustration and annoyance worked its way up his spine and made him twitch. Behind him stood Khita, and she was giving him a curious yet smug look.

  Blacknail looked at the knocked out men at his feet and grimaced. “Umm, they-ss looked like they could use a nap-ss, so I helped them. I’m going-ss to take their-ss place and guard the prisoner.”

  “Sharp, let me join you,” Khita told him.

  Desperately, Blacknail tried to think up a reason for her to leave. He didn’t want the annoying girl around, but if he told her to go away, it might bring him unwanted attention. Oh well. If something went wrong he could always blame it on Khita.

  “Fine-ss, let’s go.” Blacknail turned to walk back toward the entrance to the tent Sir Masnin was using.

  “Just a second,” Khita replied as she pulled up her own hood.

  Together, the pair took up position in front of the paladin’s tent. A few seconds later, there was a rustling from within and Sir Masnin emerged.

  “It’s not the cleanest tent I’ve ever had, but I’ve seen worse. Hopefully I won’t be here all that long anyway.” The paladin froze and blinked a few times after looking up and seeing Blacknail and Khita standing there. “You’re not the same guards from before.”

  “Maybe we are…” Khita replied vaguely in as deep as a voice as she could.

  “They-ss fell,” Blacknail explained truthfully at the same time.

  “Right…” the befuddled paladin replied as he stared at his new guards.

  Blacknail stared intently right back. His loose-fitting clothes, scarf, and cloak concealed his inhuman form. Now that he was on guard, there was no way this man would get away with anything bad. Sir Masnin kept glancing back between his two new guards, as if he couldn’t decide which one was weirder. Blacknail and Khita were noticeably shorter than the men t
hey’d replaced, and Khita had a clearly feminine voice.

  “You’re the… man from earlier, and I’m fairly sure you’re not a man at all,” the paladin remarked hesitantly as he looked at Khita.

  “What’s that supposed to mean?” Khita snapped while Blacknail remained silent.

  “Nothing. I just meant it’s unusual to see someone your age in such a place,” he explained politely.

  “I’m unusually dangerous.” The young woman huffed as she pulled off her hood and stared at the paladin.

  “I believe you,” the paladin muttered as he sat down and shook his head. Sir Masnin closed his eyes and prayed again.

  It only took a few minutes for Khita to grow bored and wander off, but Blacknail kept up his watch. He was sure the paladin was up to something and just waiting for him to lose focus. After a few more minutes of intense staring, Blacknail decided that the man wasn’t going to do anything as long as it looked as if he was paying attention. Thus, the hobgoblin yawned and pretended to sit back against a log and relax.

  Almost immediately, the hobgoblin saw Sir Masnin open his eyes and turn to look his way. He clearly found Blacknail both unsettling and interesting. The man studied the hobgoblin for several minutes but appeared to grow more confused as time went on.

  "I have to admit I haven't visited many bandit camps, but this one seems odd to me," Sir Masnin commented. "You're all very different from what I expected, and I have absolutely no idea what to make of you personally. I don't suppose you want to tell me who you are?"

  "I'm watching-ss you," a slightly insulted Blacknail hissed as he sat back up and glared at the paladin.

  He was going to say more but stopped when he heard footsteps approaching. A few seconds later, his master appeared and gave the hobgoblin a surprised look. He clearly hadn’t expected to see him guarding the prisoner, but it was the paladin he turned toward.

  “Your friends are back, and they’ve brought reinforcements. It’s looking like there is going to be a fight, so we have to decide what to do with you,” the old scout said coldly.

  Sir Masnin rose and stared back at Saeter. As they glared at each other, the paladin’s left hand inched toward his empty scabbard but then stopped and disappeared into a pocket at his waist.

  Chapter 33

  Blacknail reacted quickly to the fight brewing between the two men in front of him. He growled menacingly as he pulled himself to his feet and reached for the pommel of his blade. The hobgoblin’s cloaked body was tense and hunched over as he readied himself to spring forward.

  Sir Masnin threw a startled look the hobgoblin’s way and hesitated. He tried to peer past Blacknail’s heavy clothes without success. Unnerved, the paladin hesitated and then turned back to the old scout as he reluctantly let his hands drop to his sides. “Sir Devos is a young fool. If he is truly attacking you and your compatriots, then it’s his own folly, although I fear I have been caught up in it.”

  Blacknail smiled proudly. Obviously he’d terrified the man into submission without even needing to fight. He sure was a scary warrior!

  “He’s got us all involved in this mess,” Saeter huffed back. “Now come with me. Herad wants to see you.”

  As Blacknail watched, the paladin nodded and followed the older man. The hostility from moments before had yet to completely fade though. Saeter kept one wary eye on the paladin while Blacknail glared at the man’s back as he followed.

  Saeter led Sir Masnin back through the camp and toward the entrance. There, Herad and her lieutenants were yelling orders at dozens of bandits running around. One of the outlaws near the chieftain had a trumpet and was signaling the call to arms. The annoyingly loud tones of the instrument filled the clearing and echoed off into the trees.

  Almost everyone seemed focused on the eastern entrance to the camp, so Blacknail peered in that direction as well. However, the long dusty road that ran through the forest looked empty. The hobgoblin grunted in annoyance. Hopefully this wasn’t another stupid human waste of time. The trumpet was giving him a headache.

  “How do you know Lord Strachan’s men are on their way back? I don’t see them,” Sir Masnin asked.

  Saeter grunted in annoyance. “Herad had mounted scouts sent out to trail your friends the second they left. Apparently they didn’t go all that far. They picked up a few more men from the first village they crossed, then headed straight back here. Now they’re sitting up on the hill that lies down that road. It’s just out of sight from here.”

  “You must mean Datshire. It’s the village we stopped at yesterday. We left our supplies and some of our retainers there,” the paladin commented.

  “I know it was Datshire. There aren’t many villages left hereabouts, and I’ve been to them all,” Saeter replied scornfully.

  Before Sir Masnin could reply, Herad shouted in their direction. “Come here, paladin!” The bandit chieftain motioned him closer.

  “Mistress Herad, if my companions are really returning, I need to talk to them. There is no reason for this to devolve into a fight,” the paladin said as he approached.

  “That would be nice,” Herad replied sarcastically. “I didn’t call you over to play peacemaker though. If these damned idiots plan on charging to their doom, I want you within arm’s reach where I can keep an eye on you.”

  “I know you outnumber Sir Devos’s force, but they are trained and mounted knights,” the paladin explained. “Your victory is far from a sure thing and would undoubtedly cost you in blood and souls. It would be better for everyone if it didn’t come to violence.”

  “You underestimate the options at my disposal,” the bandit chieftain replied. “I was quite happy letting you fancy high bloods leave unmolested, but your friends had other plans. This my territory and you’re intruding, so whether you like it or not, there’s going to be a fight, one I intend to win.”

  “If you let me talk to them, I’m sure I can prevent any bloodshed. If they see I’m free to leave, then they will turn around. This expedition’s goal was to root out ghouls, the enemy of all mankind, not skirmish with bandits,” Sir Masnin begged.

  “Or then I’d have one more enemy to worry about, and unless I miss my guess, you’d be more dangerous than any of the others,” Herad countered angrily. “The order of Helio-Lustria rarely accepts anyone but the best, then they make sure their warriors are equipped with everything they might need to fulfill their duties, like Elixir.”

  “I give you my oath that I wouldn’t betray your hospitality,” the paladin told her.

  “Even when your compatriots are dying right in front of you? You’d do nothing? That’s not a risk I intend to take,” Herad replied with a scowl. “Besides, even if Sir Devos leaves, he’ll probably just be back later with more men and time to prepare. We’ve insulted him by existing, and he sees our deaths as a chance to build up his name.”

  Sir Masnin sighed and looked frustrated, but he didn’t say have anything else. His shoulders hung loosely under the weight of both her words and his chain mail shirt.

  A sudden burst of activity got everyone’s attention. The noise and movement around Herad had grown quieter while she talked to Sir Masnin, but now it redoubled. The cause was obvious.

  “It seems like they got their shit together,” Herad growled as she stared down the road.

  A large formation of soldiers appeared around the bend in the road and marched into sight. Blacknail had to squint to see that far, but there was no mistaking who it was; the knights were back.

  In the front rode a large formation of mounted men. They were even more heavily armored than the last time Blacknail had seen them. Almost all of them had steel plate armor and helmets with visors that concealed their faces. Above them, the flag of Lord Strachan waved and snapped in the wind.

  Behind the riders came a smaller formation of foot soldiers. Their armor was much lighter, but they were still heavily armed. Some of them held spears while others had swords and round shields. There were definitely fewer of them than there were
knights. Blacknail wasn’t that good at counting, so he wasn’t sure of the exact number. After staring at his hands and wiggling his toes, he concluded that there were a lot more than twenty though.

  As bandits all around Blacknail rushed to prepare for battle, the horsemen suddenly charged and clouds of dust rose up behind them. Their horses’ hooves pounded against the earth and roared like thunder as they closed in on the camp’s entrance and the men guarding it.

  “Everyone get to your positions now!” Herad roared as she waved her sword above her head.

  A good dozen bandits with spears had taken up position behind the wooden barrier that partially blocked the way into the camp. Alongside it, men were climbing into the watch towers and stringing bows.

  Blacknail’s eyes went wide and his ears went flat against the back of his head as he watched the charging enemy. He was fairly far from the front line, but not nearly far enough. The knights were closing in quickly, and they certainly didn’t look like they expected the spearmen to stop them. Blacknail was sure he agreed with them. The speeding wall of steel, horse flesh, and drawn blades terrified him. Something seemed to be squeezing his heart and stifling his breath.

  The hobgoblin quickly looked around. While he had been focused on the enemy, almost all his tribesmen had wandered off. Only a terrified-looking Khita was left, and she wasn't good for anything!

  Saeter had somehow ended up off to one side with a squad of archers. Herad, Red Dog, and the paladin were now surrounded by the chief’s bodyguards and headed toward the center of the camp. Blacknail wasn’t sure where he was supposed to go…

  Suddenly, a heavy crashing sound was followed by screams as the knights slammed into the barricade, then blew right through it. Uh oh, that wasn’t good. The riders were barreling straight toward Blacknail, so the hobgoblin decided to retreat in an orderly fashion. There was no way he was going to stay back there! That furious stampede of horses would crush him into paste! Their riders also looked sort of dangerous.

  “Eeeekk,” he squeaked in unrestrained terror as he fled as quickly as he could. The hobgoblin hesitated only for the split second it took to push Khita and get her moving as well before dashing off the road. The stupid woman had been in his way.