The Iron Teeth: A Goblin's Tale - From RoyalRoadl.com by ClearMadness

Written in Blood 7

None of the deserters did more than glance briefly Blacknail's way as he walked up behind them. They were preoccupied by the bandits in front of them, and the hobgoblin was still wearing the cloak he had won from the sentry. Winning something from a fight was very different from stealing it.

No one found anything odd about another straggler joining the group now and that's exactly what Blacknail looked like. Most the deserters wore the same cloak as him, and he wasn't even the only one in the group with his hood up.

The hobgoblin stretched himself as tall as possible and walked on his toes as he entered the crowd of deserters. He hoped his somewhat awkward gait wouldn't attract attention but he was short for a human so he had to do something. He avoided directly looking at anyone and tilted his head down so that his green skin was hidden within the shadows of his cloak.

Blacknail saw his target; he was rather hard to miss actually. The man loomed over the other deserters like a solitary mountain over the forest.

Quickly, but without seeming hurried the hobgoblin walked up behind the large man. Luckily for him, the rest of the men had had taken a few steps back from their leader and given him space.

"You've had all the time you need. If you don't surrender right this second I'm going to kill every last one of you!" the enemy leader yelled.

"Hmmm," Blacknail muttered thoughtfully to himself.

He wasn't sure what his next move was going to be. Things seemed more complicated now that he was actually in the middle of the enemy tribe. His target was definitely very big!

Even from the back he towered over the hobgoblin. Blacknail would have trouble just reaching his throat and that the shiny shirt protected his chest. The hobgoblin needed to adjust his plan, and quickly, or it wouldn't work.

A tall man with a sword in his hand turned towards Blacknail and looked him over. He was standing only a few feet away.

"Ha, I'll bet you two silver that those spineless dogs are going to surrender any second now. No one sane would pick a fight with Basghus," the swordsman told Blacknail.

The hobgoblin gave a vague grunt of acknowledgement and ignored the man. He still needed to come up with a better plan.

The disguised hobgoblin perked up as an idea suddenly occurred to him. He sure hoped he could pull it off. Stupid Red Dog, his insane plan had put Blacknail's master in danger. Blacknail idly wondered how the man had survived so long without someone around to clean up his messes.

The hobgoblin drew his dagger as he stood in the very middle of his tribe's enemies. He sighed in relief when his action failed to raise anyone's suspicion. Everyone around him was still focused on Red Dog's group.

Then, with a vicious snarl, Blacknail pounced onto the back of the enemy tribe's leader. As everyone around him reacted in shock, Blacknail got a firm grip on the neck of big man's chain shirt and pulled himself up higher.

"What the holy fucks!?" the giant yelled as he jumped in surprise.

He dropped his sword and the vial he was holding, spun around, and reached back to try and grab the freaky thing that was climbing his back.

Blacknail wasted no time. As the man flinched and tried to grab him, the hobgoblin reached around and cut the man's exposed throat. The dagger dug deep as Blacknail put as much force as possible into it. He wouldn't get a second chance at this. He felt warm blood wash over his hand, and the scent of wet iron filled the air.

As the man choked and began to topple forward like a felled tree, Blacknail flipped himself over the man's shoulders. He landed on the ground, and rolled straight towards the bandits and safety. His hood slipped off as he moved.