The Iron Teeth

Honor Among Thieves 5

Herad had done as she said and organized the search that evening. By early the next morning practically everyone in the band was up and about looking for the cave where the slime had come from. Only a few of the bandits were left to guard the camp and watch the roads.

The entire operation was well planned and organized by both Saeter and Herad. The scouts went out first to make sure the area was safe. They knew the forest and its many dangers so they could locate them before the less skilled bandits stumbled into them unaware. They were also much less likely to get lost among the green maze of trees.

The rest of the men then followed behind the scouts and made up for their lack of skill with numbers. They worked together to thoroughly search the bush for caves. They had been carefully instructed to move in small groups and not wander around alone.

They had also been warned to look out for danger signs because it was more than likely that the scouts would miss something. It was a deep forest, and Herad's rangers were skilled but still far from perfect.

After a few hours of searching the scouts were ordered to start doubling back to make sure the less skilled woodsmen hadn't got themselves stuck in mud or fallen down a hole.

Saeter still thought there would be a few casualties. It was just to be expected with so many untrained men blindly wandering the woods. Thus, it would also be the scouts' job to collect the lost and the bodies.

Saeter himself served as a scout and Blacknail went with his master. This was no trip to empty the snares; they would be ranging far outside the somewhat safe areas they normally frequented.

The old ranger had been assigned the area North of where Blacknail had fought the slime. It was not a direction Blacknail, or many other people, had travelled. As they walked North the terrain became rough. Hills and ravines sprung up out of nowhere to block their view.

Blacknail found the constant changes in elevation exhausting. Now he knew why humans stuck so close to their roads all the time. Having to scramble up muddy hills and rocky inclines was a lot of work for a goblin with stubby little legs!

"Don't worry about being too quiet," Saeter told Blacknail as they started their search. "Since we're not hunting game today I'm more worried about running into a bear or something than attracting predators."

"Yes, master," the goblin replied automatically.

He knew what his master meant. Certain dangerous animals were likely to attack you if you surprised them but would normally avoid people if they heard them coming. Thus, moving stealthy wasn't always the best idea.

The forest canopy that Blacknail was walking below blocked out most of the sun, but it wasn't nearly as dark here as in the spider infested woods. Blacknail was very glad that they weren't headed in that direction. He shuddered at just the memory of the creepy webs that blanketed those shadowy woods and their nasty residents.

The trees here were tall and thick. The ground was covered by short leafy plants where it wasn't blanketed in dead leaves. Here and there, small white and blue flowers peeked out from behind other plants. Blacknail actually found it all very calm and nice looking.

The goblin had tried to eat a few of the flowers earlier but Saeter had pulled them out of his hand before he could taste them. Apparently, they were poisonous. Oh well, they had smelled a little off anyway.

As Blacknail followed his master he sniffed and examined the ground for signs of the slime's trail. He hadn't found anything yet though.

He darted around to check under bushes and around rocks for crevices or hollows. He wanted to be the one to find the cave and its treasures! He was sure that would earn him a reward.