City of Daggers (The Iron Teeth Book 2)

by Scott Straughan

  “Fall back to the first line of defense and help defend it. I want you to keep an eye out for assassins or scouts that try to sneak past though. That’s your main concern, Blacknail. I expect Zelena to send them in when she realizes how hard a nut we’ll be to crack, and I want you ready. It’ll be your job to deal with them,” the bandit chieftain explained.

  Blacknail scowled doubtfully. If Malthus showed up, Blacknail didn’t want to get in another fight with him. The annoying man was a much better sword fighter than him. Herad was giving him a very dangerous job. His expression didn’t go unnoticed.

  “If you manage to handle Zelena’s knifemen, then I’ll buy you all the food you can eat,” Herad told him as she grinned sardonically.

  The hobgoblin fidgeted as he considered the offer. It sounded interesting, but Blacknail wasn’t an idiot. The job was going to be very risky, so he wanted something more than just a lot of food. He wanted quality food.

  “You’ll give-ss me all the expensive blue cheese and apple pies I want-ss?” the hobgoblin asked as he licked his lips. Herad rolled her eyes, and several bandits chuckled.

  “Anything you want,” she answered dryly.

  “Then I’ll do-ss it!” Blacknail replied as he grinned smugly to himself. He was obviously a master negotiator! Blue cheese was worth a little danger. It smelled so good but was very hard to find or buy.

  The merchants wanted crazy amounts of coins for it and never left it lying around, which was very rude of them. Even the thought of eating as much of it as he could swallow sent shivers of joy down his spine.

  “Do you think you can handle it?” Saeter asked him with concern. The hobgoblin looked at the ground and began to think furiously. A few seconds later, he looked up and met his master’s gaze.

  “Yes, I can do it. They might be sneaky and dangerous, but they’re just humans. I also don’t have to fight them fair,” Blacknail replied with a vicious grin.

  “Sounds like you have a plan,” Saeter remarked.

  “It’s the best plan ever! This job will be easy,” the hobgoblin bragged as he grinned smugly.

  Saeter grunted dubiously and frowned at Blacknail, but he didn’t say anything further. The hobgoblin knew his master was skeptical, but was sure his plan would work. The meeting continued on for almost another hour before Herad sent everyone away. Saeter immediately went off to gather men for their mission.

  “Get ready to do some running and fighting. You’ll want all your gear for this, including your bow. I have to wrangle up the other members of our little party, so I’ll probably be a while. I’ll meet you out front at the eleventh hour,” his master told him.

  The hobgoblin nodded and dashed over to his room to get his stuff. He would need all the time he could get if he wanted to prepare his surprise for Malthus and the other assassins. Blacknail quickly wound the bandages around his arms and legs, donned his cloak, and pulled on his mask. He grabbed his backpack and filled it full of some extra rope and stakes. Then, as his master had suggested, he strapped his bow to his back and pulled on his sword belt. When that was done, Blacknail quickly rummaged through one of his other bags. A second later, he pulled out a pair of sausages and scoffed them down. He didn’t want to run on an empty stomach.

  The hobgoblin dashed out of the building. When he returned around two hours later, his backpack was missing, and he was out of breath from running so hard. Saeter was right where he’d said he would be, just outside the front entrance to Herad’s base, and he wasn’t alone. Two dozen other men were with him. Blacknail recognized them all as scouts that had been with the band since before he’d joined. The rangers were dressed somewhat similarly to the rest of the band. If anything, their leathers and cloaks were more worn looking than usual. Unlike most the men in Herad’s employ though, they had an aura of stillness about them. It wasn’t that they didn’t seem dangerous, it was that the danger was tempered by patience, which was good, because Blacknail was late.

  “So the hobgoblin’s finally here,” one of them commented as Blacknail arrived.

  “Good, I was beginning to think old Saeter was going to make us leave without him, and he’s probably worth two or three men for something like this,” another replied with a smile.

  Blacknail gave the second man a friendly nod of acknowledgement. He had spent more time around the scouts and foresters than any of the other bandits and was thus comfortable being around them. He also respected their skill. They were hunters.

  “More than that, at least ten,” Blacknail bragged, which drew a round of chuckles.

  A scattering of wispy, white clouds filled the sky overhead, but the noon sun was still visible most of the time. A cold heavy wind was blowing from the north, and it was pulling the dark clouds that lay thick on the skyline ever closer. Blacknail thought there was a good chance the day would soon grow dimmer.

  “All right, we’re all here, so let’s get moving,” Saeter told everyone. “Our job is to intercept anyone trying to get a good look at the compound. Gavius, I want you and seven others to watch the gap in the buildings to the west. I’ll take these eleven and watch the main road."

  There were nods of agreement from everyone present. The rangers started to form their parties, but just as the groups had started to split up, Saeter spoke again. “And remember, nobody here should try and play hero. If you see anything you can’t deal with, then don’t try, go for reinforcements. It’s not our job to stop a serious advance.”

  “You remember it!” Blacknail muttered as he gave his master a dark look. If anyone here was going to end up putting themselves in danger, it was almost certainly going to be Saeter, and that meant Blacknail would have to put himself in danger to help him. This time, if the old scout tried anything stupid, Blacknail was going to drag him away, even if he had to knock him unconscious first.

  Saeter led the hobgoblin and the other rangers over to the main road, and they started walking to their destination. As they moved, Blacknail observed their surroundings carefully for any signs of danger. This part of the city was mostly deserted. The fact that it had been claimed by Herad was common knowledge, and so was her violent nature. Not that a lot of people had lived here even before the bandit chieftain had moved in. Most buildings here were old warehouses. Right beside Blacknail, two large ones stood on either side the road. Their foundations were rough stone and mortar, but the rest of them were made of thick wooden planks. Saeter stopped and pointed to a window high up on the second floor of the building to the right.

  “That spot has a good overview of the entire area. I want someone with a bow up there. If you see anyone that doesn’t belong, then use standard birdcalls to tell everyone else which side of the street they’re on,” Saeter said.

  “I’ll do that,” one of the scouts replied. The man exchanged a nod with Saeter and headed for the entrance to the warehouse.

  “All right, you two are with me and Blacknail. The five of us will take the west side of the road. The rest of you will take the eastern side. Carvus, you’re in charge,” Saeter explained. There were nods of agreement all around, and then the group split into two. Scouts weren’t the most talkative of people.

  “Keep those big green ears of yours open, Blacknail,” Saeter told the hobgoblin as they walked off the street and into an alley.

  “I will-ss, no one will get past me!” Blacknail replied happily.

  The hobgoblin was already scanning his surroundings with all his senses. Hunting like this always made him excited, and this time was no different. The act of sneaking around while looking for prey made him feel all tingly inside. There was nothing he would rather be doing, and he couldn’t wait for some unexpecting enemy to stumble onto his path. Dealing with them would be so fun!

  It had rained slightly that morning, so the loose cobblestones under Blacknail’s boots were still damp and muddy. The sun had dropped low enough in the sky that it didn’t illuminate the spaces between the buildings, so the alleyway was gloomy and full of shadows. Blacknail h
eard a slight noise from up ahead, and he instantly whipped his head around to stare intently in that direction. Was it an enemy? No, a rat had just scuttled out of hiding. The hobgoblin sighed and continued following his master as the vermin disappeared through a hole in a wall.

  They continued trudging through the alleys for what seemed like forever to Blacknail, and it was boring! Why hadn’t an enemy shown up yet? The hobgoblin was beginning to think he should be going on ahead by himself. There were supposed to be lots of enemies in the city right now, so he could just go grab one of them. The sucker would never know what hit him!

  Suddenly, Blacknail heard a thumping sound from down a side street up ahead. There had been a few more false alarms since the rat, so at first he didn’t think too much of it, but then the sound repeated itself several times. It sounded suspiciously like footsteps. A large group of unknown people were approaching. The hobgoblin's group was out here looking for enemies, and it seemed likely that they'd found some. Hooray?

  Chapter 32

  Blacknail hissed softly in warning as the sound of footsteps on wet cobblestone drew closer. Saeter quickly held up a hand and signaled everyone to stop, and he looked back at Blacknail to see what was the matter. The hobgoblin responded by pointing to the source of the noise and then making the hand gesture for people approaching. Saeter immediately gestured for the group to split up, take cover, and ready their weapons for an ambush. Blacknail was more than happy to obey. Finally, some prey had shown itself! He hoped they had lots of shiny bits and tasty things on them he could take as trophies, like pie.

  The hobgoblin quickly dashed over to a rain barrel and hid behind it before drawing his bow. It had been a while since he had last used the weapon, but he remembered how. It just wasn’t something he usually carried around with him in Daggerpoint, since a sling was almost as good and much less conspicuous. Experience had taught Blacknail that half the art of successfully hitting someone lay in making sure they didn’t know you were about to take a shot at them, and that was hard to do with a bow unless you were very far away.

  The other members of his party also took cover behind various obstacles and waited for the source of the noise to draw near. Blacknail could barely contain his excitement. He was shivering eagerly and had even started to drool in anticipation as he listened to the footsteps approach. The stupid humans didn’t know what was about to hit them! Unless it was Malthus of course. If it was, Blacknail planned on running away as fast he could.

  Soon enough, a man’s head poked out from around the corner. His wild-looking hair was dirty blond, and he had a short beard. After a few seconds of staring down the street suspiciously, he turned around and looked the other way for a few seconds before stepping back around the corner and out of sight.

  “It looks clear,” Blacknail heard him tell someone.

  There was a low rumble of conversation, and then the blond man stepped back out into the street. He was soon followed by several other men and a woman. Blacknail studied them as they walked closer. All of them were wearing rough, mismatched leather armor and were armed with short swords. They all looked like normal Daggerpoint thugs to the hobgoblin, but they clearly weren’t just out for a morning stroll. They were far too nervous to be anything but intruders, and that meant they were fair game.

  Saeter’s hiding spot was the closest to the enemy because he had been leading the group. While still concealed, Blacknail’s master flashed the signal for three, and then the one for two. Blacknail smiled eagerly as he realized it was a countdown. Just as the lead thug stepped in a small puddle in the middle of the street, Saeter gave the go command. As one, the scouts rose from their hiding spots and unleashed a barrage of shrieking arrows. Their targets barely had time to react before the arrows ripped into them.

  Howls of pain filled the air, and three of the enemy fell with feathered shafts protruding from their flesh. Their bodies hit the wet ground with a splash and went still. Two more of the enemy had been hit but were still standing. Blacknail hissed in annoyance. His own arrow had missed and flown harmlessly down the street. The stupid human had moved at the last second! That wasn’t fair. He had wanted to show off how great an archer he was!

  “Damnation, you bloody bastards!” swore a large, brown-haired thug.

  He had a deep gash across his arm that had been caused by an arrow grazing it, but the wound didn’t stop him from drawing his sword and charging the closest target he saw. The three uninjured thugs behind him also drew their own weapons and charged as well. Blacknail hissed in irritation when he realized they were headed for Saeter. Why did that always happen?

  The hobgoblin was relieved that at least the last two thugs weren’t joining the attack. One was too busy cradling his arm because it had an arrow sticking out of it. The other was uninjured but decided to make a run for it. He dashed back the way they’d come but didn’t get very far. A scout to Blacknail’s left calmly put an arrow right between his shoulder blades.

  Saeter saw the enemies bearing down on him and threw down his bow so he could pull out his sword. Blacknail hurriedly put his own bow down on the barrel in front of him and rushed over to support his master. Two other scouts were right behind him. They all drew their swords as they moved. Saeter took a step back as he warded off his opponents with a wide swing of his blade. This bought Blacknail enough time to close on the thug closest to him. The hobgoblin put on a dash of speed and ducked under the man’s blade. He then stabbed the tip of his sword deep into the terminally surprised man’s belly. There was a wet sucking sound as the blade sank into flesh, quickly followed by a choking noise as the man collapsed and vomited up blood. Blacknail hurriedly stepped out of the way of the messy red torrent and kicked the kneeling man hard in the ribs so he could pry his sword out of his guts.

  That left four enemies that were still attacking Saeter. Blacknail’s master didn’t seem to be having any trouble keeping out of reach of their blades though. He calmly sidestepped any slash or stab that went anywhere near him, and soon the other two scouts reached his side. Instantly, the odds turned against the thugs; now they were the outnumbered ones. Saeter and the other bandits took full advantage of this. All together they pressed forward and attacked as Blacknail leaped to the side and threatened the thugs’ flank. The hobgoblin didn’t like attacking from the front.

  Blades flashed through the air as Zelena’s hirelings were encircled and pushed together. The clang of steel on steel filled the alley as blade met blade. As Saeter and the other scouts attacked and exchanged blows with their opponents, Blacknail leaped in from the side and slashed at one the thugs’ feet. The hobgoblin’s swing didn’t connect, but it forced the man to lurch out of the way and caused a gap to open in the intruders’ defense. Almost immediately, one of them stumbled, and a sword cut into his neck. He collapsed and the gap widened. Saeter and his men redoubled their efforts, and blood splashed against the ground as another of Zelena’s thugs was cut down. Blacknail giggled excitedly as he circled behind the remaining enemies; he sensed victory.

  “Halt,” Saeter told his companions as he held out a hand.

  Blacknail and the scouts stopped their attack. The hobgoblin threw a questioning glance at Saeter. He’d been having a lot of fun, and they were about to get to the best part, so why had Saeter made them stop?

  “Throw down your weapons, and surrender. There’s no point in fighting,” the old scout told the last two thugs.

  “We surrender,” the remaining man instantly replied as he dropped his sword. The woman was quick to follow. Both of them looked relieved but still more than a little afraid. Their fear was understandable, since they were surrounded, and at their feet lay the bloody corpses of their former comrades.

  The hobgoblin was still wound up from the fight. He shivered as he fought down the urge to pounce on his defeated foes. He really hoped this surrendering business was Saeter’s clever way of disarming the enemy so that they were easier to finish off, but he doubted it. Annoyed, Blacknail distracted him
self by studying the captives. The surviving male was a shorter man with a wide build. The hobgoblin thought he looked like he had quite a bit of meat on him. He had dark eyes and dirty brown hair. He also had a short scraggly beard that did little to conceal his fat cheeks and the pockmarks on them. The female was tall for a woman and gaunt looking. She also had messy, short brown hair and pale, washed-out blue eyes. Blacknail eyed her suspiciously. She seemed full of nervous energy and was constantly fidgeting. If one of them was going to try something, it would probably be her. Blacknail hoped she did. Both the captives noticed his intense stare, masked face, and agitated demeanor. The man blanched and took a step away from him, while the woman paled and froze. Their reactions simply excited Blacknail further.

  “See, I told you the hobgoblin would come in handy. He led us right to them, and we caught them like fish in a barrel,” the ranger from earlier remarked.

  “That wasn’t actually what you said,” his companion replied dryly.

  “Close enough. Thanks, Blacknail,” the first man said.

  “No problem; it was easy,” the hobgoblin replied cheerfully without taking his eyes off the prisoners.

  Saeter ignored the chattering going on behind him and was also focused on the captives. “Surrendering was the right choice. Now, what were your orders?” he asked them threateningly.

  “We were just told to scout ahead and report back any activity,” the male captive quickly replied.

  "We’re not Zelena’s minions, we're just in this for the money. They offered us bonuses if we brought back good info. Please, don’t kill me,” the woman begged.

  “Do you know anything about Zelena’s movements?” Saeter asked them harshly.

  “Yes, I do,” the man replied eagerly. “She’s planning on attacking you today and is massing her forces over at Second and Gilber Street.”