The Iron Teeth

Playing With Fire 1

Blacknail was walking through the woods at the edge of Herad's camp. He had gone out to empty the rabbit snares and reset them, as he did almost every day. Today though, he felt a cold shiver run up his spine a few minutes after entering the forest.

The days had grown shorter and colder recently, but that wasn't what had caused him to shiver. Blacknail had felt eyes on his back. Something was stalking him. His ears twitched ever so slightly as they detected the faintest hint of noise in the trees behind him. Make that at least two things that were stalking him.

He was careful to act normal, and not to reveal his awareness of the watchers, as he continued on his way to the traps. As he walked, Blacknail subtly scanned the forest around him.

The plants had grown throughout the year and reached their full height now, and most the flowers had disappeared as well. Here, in the sunnier part of the woods, the taller plants reached up to his chest. Their once colorful summer blooms had withered and been replaced by hard black seeds, or white fluff that took flight when the wind blew through the trees. Autumn had crept up and stealthily disposed of summer when no one was looking.

Of course not all the changes were bad. The trees had begun to bear fruit and nuts. These new treasures were hidden among the green branches of the forest canopy.

The hobgoblin had been completely unaware that food even grew on trees. The very idea sounded silly to him. Wasn't food supposed to be harder to get? Now all he had to so was climb a tree, which was something he had recently gotten very good at.

When Saeter took Blacknail out to hunt or track he would show him which fruits and nuts were edible and how to harvest them. Being a hobgoblin, there were many things that Saeter wouldn't touch that smelled delicious to Blacknail. Unfortunately, just because something smelled delicious didn't mean it wasn't poisonous. Blacknail learned that the hard way, after a night of fever and vomiting.

Blacknail approached the snares carefully. He was listening for any hint of movement behind him that would reveal the position of his stalkers. He frowned in concern when he didn't hear anything. He knew they were there... somewhere.

Quickly, Blacknail gathered up the carcasses and started heading back. Around halfway there, he entered an area of the forest where the canopy was especially thin and the forest floor was bathed in sunlight.

The animal trail Blacknail was following wound its way through a small field of tall weeds. As soon as he entered it, the hobgoblin purposely slowed his pace. When he was sure he was out of sight of any watchers he ducked into a small depression where the weeds concealed him. It was time to turn the tables on his pursuers.

A few minutes passed as he waited. The only noise was that of morning birds singing, and then the shrubs rustled ever so slightly in the direction Blacknail had just come from. He tensed as he heard the sound of footsteps. His stalker was approaching!

Eager energy burned through him but he patiently waited until the source of the noise had moved past him. Then, he burst out of concealment and sprung towards his pursuer's exposed back. As he leapt, his jagged claws closed around the back of Khita's shirt collar, and she let a high pitched screech of shock as she jumped into the air.

She squirmed and struggled to escape his grip for a few seconds. Blacknail had to brace himself to keep his hold. He was stronger than her, but their weight was almost the same. She calmed down after a moment when she threw a look over her shoulder and realized it was him.

The young redhead flushed in embarrassment as she turned around and gave Blacknail a nervous look. The hobgoblin was frowning in disapproval as her held her.