City of Daggers (The Iron Teeth Book 2)

by Scott Straughan

  This answered a question Blacknail had been wondering about. So that was where all the spare pillows had gone. They’d disappeared suddenly right after that one time he’d piled them all on his bed to make himself more comfortable. The hobgoblin ignored that for now though and tried to find somewhere to hide. Another creak, this time from the roof right above the window, meant the hobgoblin had to move quickly.

  He didn’t see anything large enough to hide behind, except for the bed, so he crept up to the window and pulled himself up over it and into the rafters above. Humans rarely ever looked up; it was a weakness of the species. Herad gave him a dubious look but just shook her head and crouched back down out of sight. Blacknail was fairly sure that meant she trusted his judgment, and why wouldn’t she?

  Almost immediately, the shutters below Blacknail shook ever so slightly. A slim, hooked blade poked out from between them and slid upward until it hit the latch. There was the faintest of clicking noises as the blade knocked the latch loose and unlocked the window.

  As the hobgoblin watched from above, the shutters swung slowly open. A second later, a man wrapped in dark clothing crept through the window and into the room. He quickly glanced around the room and stared apprehensively at the dummy beneath Herad’s sheets for a few seconds before tiptoeing off to the side. The assassin was wearing a black hood and had a dark gray scarf wrapped around the lower part of his face, but Blacknail recognized his scent. It was Malthus, the assassin who had failed so badly at being Galive’s bodyguard.

  As soon as Malthus was out of the way, his companions followed him in until all five of them were inside. Blacknail watched with interest as Malthus raised a hand and signaled to his men using some sort of sign language the hobgoblin didn’t understand. Almost instantly, the assassins spread out and stalked stealthily towards Herad’s bed. Blacknail waited expectantly for them to step completely into the trap, but halfway there, Malthus froze and hurriedly signaled his men. Instantly, the two men closest to the window turned and ran for it. The other three, including the leader, drew their swords and began backing up slowly. Up in the dark rafters, Blacknail pouted in disappointment. Somehow, they’d obviously noticed the trap. That was no fun.

  Several things then happened all at once. Blacknail dropped down onto the back of one of the fleeing assassins and then lashed out and kicked the other one savagely in the head. Meanwhile, Herad rose from behind the bed with her blade drawn and launched herself at the other three assassins. The ringing of clashing blades drew the attention of several of Herad’s guards who had been waiting in the hallway. They threw the door open and moved to join the fight.

  As Blacknail grappled his opponent to the floor, Herad engaged two of the assassins in a swordfight. The third attacker stepped back and quickly reached into his robe before pulling out a beaker and throwing it violently toward her charging minions. The glass container hit the floor and spilled liquid everywhere as it shattered. Herad’s thugs stepped onto the mess as they ran toward her and began tripping all over themselves as their feet slid out from under them.

  The man wrestling Blacknail finally went limp as the hobgoblin withdrew his knife from under his ribs. The assassin Blacknail had kicked earlier had gotten to his feet and was crawling through the window, so the hobgoblin grabbed the booted foot closest to him and pulled him back into the room.

  The assassin who had thrown the vial used the time he had bought himself and his companions to turn back toward Herad. He was, however, too late to prevent Herad from parrying one of his companion’s blades and unleashing a lightning-quick slash that sent the assassin’s severed hand falling to the floor.

  “Plan Dawn,” Malthus barked as he ducked under a slash from Herad.

  Hearing this, the assassin who had thrown the beaker broke away from the fight and made a dash for the window. He ran right past Blacknail as he fled. The hobgoblin was now wrestling with his second assassin, and he wasn’t doing nearly as well as he had against the first. The man had got in a lucky blow at the start and kicked Blacknail’s knife away. The masked hobgoblin had more, but he was too busy trying not to get choked out by the larger and stronger human to draw them. He also wished he wasn’t wearing the mask so he could bite the stupid man’s fingers off, or that he hadn’t forgotten to take his Elixir again.

  Herad was now locked in a brutal sword fight with the assassin leader. Both of them launched attack after attack at each other with furious precision. Their blades flashed through the air so quickly, they were almost impossible to see. It was obvious both combatants were Vessels; no one else could move so swiftly. However, they weren’t evenly matched. Herad was slowly forcing Malthus back. She smiled cruelly as she fought, and she seemed to be having quite a bit of fun. The assassin leader, on the other hand, looked nervous. He was obviously having trouble avoiding some of her attacks and already had a few superficial gashes in his clothing.

  The man who was fighting Blacknail suddenly lurched backward and surprised the hobgoblin by punching him heavily in the side of the head. Blacknail’s mask absorbed most of the blow, but it also shifted slightly to the side and blinded him. The now blind hobgoblin could only flail about and try to grab his opponent’s hands. This didn’t work very well though, and a few seconds later, he lurched backwards as something slammed into his stomach.

  By this time, the third assassin had reached the window, but instead of diving through it, he turned and pulled something out of his coat.

  “Dawn,” he yelled at the top of his lungs, which caused everyone to look his way. Blinding light then burst forth and enveloped the room. Swearing rang out as everyone tried to shield their eyes.

  “Fucking mage,” Herad hissed.

  The leader of the assassins had been facing away from the light and prepared for it, so he wasn’t blinded. He took the opportunity to slash at Herad’s neck. The bandit chieftain must have sensed something though, because she threw herself out of the way of the attack. The assassin’s sword ended up only grazing her shoulder. Malthus didn’t try for a second attack. He turned and fled toward the window as Herad and her men tried to organize themselves and regain their footing.

  The assassin that was grappling with Blacknail pushed him aside and tried to rise to his feet. As Blacknail lurched backward, he growled in frustration. Rage and confusion pulsed through him until he couldn’t take it anymore, and he ripped his mask off. His opponent froze, and his eyes widened in terror as the hobgoblin’s inhuman visage was revealed. Blacknail didn’t waste the opportunity. He grabbed one of the man’s wrists, and before the man could recover, he lunged down and savagely bit into it with his now exposed teeth.

  Screams filled the room as the hobgoblin dug his teeth deeper into the human’s flesh. The iron taste of blood filled his mouth and excited him. Filled with a sudden bout of hungry energy, the hobgoblin let go of his opponent’s ruined arm, jumped up, and dug his fingers into the man’s eyes. The hobgoblin's long, sharp nails cut through his gloves and deep into the man’s sockets. More tortured screams rent the air.

  As the man lay helpless and writhing beneath him, Blacknail took the time to look around the room. The other assassins had already fled. Only Herad, her minions, and several corpses remained. Herad blinked and dropped the hand that was massaging her eyes. She looked at Blacknail and ground her teeth together furiously.

  “Leave the wounded one, you idiot. After them!” she yelled at him.

  Blacknail immediately grabbed his fallen mask and jumped to obey. He leapt off his defeated prey and launched himself at the window. In midair, he grabbed the windowsill and swung himself around to the outside wall, where he sank his claws into the wood and began to climb after the assassins. He could hear them running across the roof and see the discarded piece of rope they had used to escape to the street below.

  With inhuman agility, the hobgoblin pulled himself onto the roof and scrambled after the fleeing assassins. Instinctively, he knew the best way to catch them was to make sure they didn’t know they
were being followed. Also, Blacknail wasn’t sure what to do with them when he caught them. They still outnumbered him, and Malthus was apparently a much better swordsman than he was a bodyguard. So the hobgoblin kept his head down and used the angle of the roof to hide himself from sight. When the remaining pair of assassins reached the end of the roof, they disappeared. Blacknail scurried over and saw them on the ground below him. He also saw the rope they had used to get there. As he watched, the assassins ran across the dark city street and into an alley.

  Blacknail slid down the rope and hurried after them. He couldn’t see them, but he could still hear their heavy footsteps and follow their scent. His quarry twisted and weaved their way through the city as they tried to lose any possible pursuit. Blacknail found it highly amusing. All their efforts were utterly pointless against him; he followed after them through the alleys and back ways of the city without any problem.

  Soon, Blacknail arrived in a familiar part of town. The trail of the assassins who had tried to kill Herad led up to the front entrance of a large, colorful building that the hobgoblin didn’t immediately recognize because he hadn’t really looked at it from the front before. It was the place he’d met Luphera. A suspicious growl escaped from Blacknail’s lips as he stood at the opening of a nearby alleyway. The darkness of night hid him as he glared at the building and considered this new development.

  Was Luphera involved in the attack on Herad? It wasn’t impossible, she had bragged about having minions and connections. The idea upset Blacknail for some reason. He wasn’t sure why though; it wasn’t like they were of the same tribe, and he didn’t really even know much about her. In fact, she was very unsettling to be around.

  What should he do now? Could he just return to Herad and tell her where the assassins had gone? Did she expect him to kill them before returning? He probably could head back now without being punished, but Blacknail realized he didn’t want to. He wanted to know exactly what was going on and whether Luphera was involved. Yes, perhaps it was time to be a little more… aggressive with the woman. He had let her weird perfume and behavior put him off guard before, but now he was done being on the defensive. He would find her and get answers, but this time there would be no stupid games. He would simply take what he wanted, no matter who he had to kill.

  Chapter 23

  Blacknail growled as he made his way around the building. He sounded like a beast from the deepest corner of the Green, because that was what he was. He was headed toward the building’s back exit. The way was familiar, and he’d been here enough times now that he wasn’t really paying attention, and thus he almost walked right into a pair of guards. He heard them coming only seconds before they turned the corner. Startled, Blacknail immediately ducked behind a large barrel of rainwater and out of sight. A man and a woman with sheathed swords and leather armor stepped into view and headed his way.

  Blacknail’s stomach twisted as he watched them from concealment. He wasn’t in a very good hiding spot, and if the two thugs got too close or walked behind the barrel, they would see him. The hobgoblin cursed himself for not paying attention. He held his breath as the two humans walked right by him. One of the pair suddenly stopped walking and threw a look backward at the barrel. She stared at it for a few seconds and frowned when she didn’t see anything out of the ordinary.

  “What are you doing?” her partner asked.

  “Nothing, I thought I heard something, but there’s nothing there,” she replied before turning back around and walking away.

  “This is Daggerpoint. If you jump at every shadow, you’ll be spending the entire day on your toes,” the man remarked.

  “Maybe, but that means it’s also one of the places where you’re most likely to get a knife in your back,” she replied before they both turned the corner and disappeared again.

  Blacknail sighed with relief as soon as they were gone. When the humans had passed him by and he’d become exposed, he’d instinctively crept around to the other side of the barrel and back out of sight. His instincts had served him well, but then again, they almost always did. They weren’t terrible and useless like those of a human.

  The hobgoblin stood back up and continued on his way. He still burned with anger, but now he was struggling to keep it contained. Nothing good ever came from letting his fury loose. He prowled through the alley and toward Luphera’s window. When he got to the corner that overlooked the passage behind the building, he stopped and peered stealthily around it.

  The sun was now starting to rise. The tips of its rays had just begun to shine over the grungy buildings of the city. This gave Blacknail a very good view of the two guards that were standing by the back entrance of his destination. Both of them were large, armed men with purple vests, and one of them had placed a lit lantern on top of a nearby crate. The windows of the building behind them also shed light out on the back street. None of the sources of illumination were that strong, so together they cast a confusing maze of shadows onto the dirty cobblestones and mud of the alley.

  Blacknail studied the guards from the mouth of the alley. Why were there all these guards around suddenly? There had never been so many before. Were they expecting him? It didn’t matter though. There was no way he was going to let a few stupid humans stop him. He would get the answers he wanted. He didn’t know why he felt so driven to question Luphera, and he didn’t really care. The hobgoblin glared at the guards furiously for several seconds, and then several more. Okay, he had no idea how he was going to actually get past them…

  There were a lot of shadows to work with, but it would still be difficult to sneak past them up into a window. No, he’d have to get rid of them somehow. How would he do it though? He could sneak up to them and try to take them out quickly before they could raise the alarm, but that would be risky even with Elixir. A distraction might work, if he could come up with a good enough one. He didn’t feel like sneaking around anymore though. He was angry and wanted to hurt someone, and these men were undoubtedly connected to the assassins that had awakened him in the middle of the night! He really liked sleeping on his bed. So he would use a distraction and then attack them! Why do one when you could do both? Even so early in the morning Daggerpoint was never a quiet city, so a little noise ought to be fine.

  The hobgoblin waited until the men were looking the other way then made his move. He stalked silently out of the alley and through the shadows. He kept the cool stone wall at his back until he reached an empty wheelbarrow someone had left at the side of the street. He ducked behind it and carefully prepped his sling.

  Blacknail took out his vial of Elixir, lifted his mask, and gulped it down. Ugh, it still tasted like dirt, but he was going to need every bit of speed he could muster. When he was sure no one was looking again, he gently lobbed a stone from his pouch down the street, so it clattered against a wall on the other side of the guards.

  “What was that?” one of them asked as he took a step closer to the noise to get a better view.

  “Probably a rat, they get pretty big here,” the other man replied without concern.

  That was when the second stone from Blacknail’s sling took him in the back of the head. The thug immediately crumpled as a muffled cracking echoed through the alley. His companion jumped and began to turn back around, but Blacknail had already erupted from the shadows.

  With savage ferocity, he descended upon the man, and Elixir burned through his flesh and bone as he leapt. With inhuman speed, the hobgoblin’s blade slashed through the air and sliced into the man’s unprotected neck. The guard barely had time to gasp before he was dead on his feet. Then he crumpled and hit the ground.

  Blacknail froze and scanned the windows around him for any sign that he’d been seen or heard. When he didn’t see anything, he switched to focusing on listening. A few streets away, a horse neighed, and the pounding of footsteps and creaking of wheels came from everywhere. None of that was unusual though, so it didn’t sound like he’d alerted anyone. The hobgoblin then crouched over t
he body of the man he’d hit with his sling and listened for any signs of breathing. Nope, nothing; the human was dead. Blacknail grabbed the corpse’s feet and dragged it out of sight behind a pile of wood. He was breathing slightly harder when he went to get the other body.

  “Stupid fat city humans, they should-ss get outside more,” Blacknail muttered as he strained to move the second corpse. The people of Daggerpoint were even more bloated than normal humans.

  When that was done, he scowled at the blood trail he’d left in the dirt. A few seconds later, he shrugged and turned to look up at Luphera’s window. It probably wouldn’t matter; most humans were blind and couldn’t smell at all anyway. Why did they even have noses?

  Blacknail quickly began climbing up the stonework and wooden struts until he reached the opening on the second floor. He didn’t have a lot of time. He wasn’t stupid enough to believe that even humans wouldn’t eventually find the bodies; soon the guards he’d taken out would be missed. Blacknail reached the window and peeked over the windowsill. He didn’t see anyone there, so he pulled himself up and crawled inside. The bedroom was basically the same as before. The furniture was still lavish and comfortable looking, but only the faintest hint of the incense remained in the air.

  Blacknail remembered his first visit here, so the first thing he did was double check the bed to make sure no one was hidden among the sheets, and just to be sure, he looked under the bed as well. There was no one in either of those spots, so Blacknail relaxed. After taking a second to scratch an itch, he then turned toward the room’s only door and headed carefully over to it. As he approached, someone on the other side spoke up.

  “Are you sure you don’t want anything to drink? I have both wine and tea?” Luphera asked an unseen person.