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

Hearts and Homes 5

The corpse of the man Blacknail had just killed lay on the ground. Blood leaked from his torn open throat. The other two men the hobgoblin had poisoned had also stopped choking and gone still. A mere minute ago, they had been talking in a friendly manner with Blacknail, and then the hobgoblin had killed them without mercy or warning.

There was a look of complete horrified shock on Elyias' face. His eyes were wide with terror as he took a fumbling step back away from Blacknail. "Oh gods! What the hells? Have you gone crazy? Are you going to kill me now? I knew this was going to happen, but no one listened to me. Oh gods, why didn't they listen?"

"You're fine," Blacknail reassured his minion. "Didn't I tell you about this part of the plan? I thought I had told you..."

"Plan? You can't just kill people!"

"They betrayed the rest of the band, so it's fine. That's the kind of people you're supposed to kill. Herad did it all the time."

"You were the one that convinced them to do that! You led them out here, so you're just as responsible as them."

"Don't be silly. I'm the leader; I can't be a traitor. It was a test and they failed," Blacknail replied as he rolled his eyes in a condescending manner. Humans sure could convince themselves of some crazy things.

Elyias stared slack-jawed at Blacknail. He didn't seem to know what to say at first but then he opened his mouth. "Why did you bring us out here if you were just planning on killing them? It makes no sense. You're insane!"

"It makes lots of sense, too much sense for a minion like you," Blacknail answered. "You're here to help me carry things, and I brought them out here because they were in the way of my plan."

"What plan? Is it to see how many humans you can lure out into the woods and murder?" Elyias yelled. His voice echoed through the trees.

"No, that's dumb. That plan is for later. I don't want to kill you humans. You're part of my tribe and I'm trying to help you."

"By lying to us and poisoning our food?"

"Phh, I'm trying to help most of you, the ones that deserve it. Like you, you're a good minion. Aren't you?" Blacknail asked as he stared meaningfully at Elyias. The human minion got the message.

"Er, yes?" he responded carefully in much lower voice.

"You still haven't explained your plan at all."

"And I'm not going to right now. There's a lot to do and you need to get to work."

Despite the man's obvious reluctance and residual fear, Blacknail ordered Elyias to help him move the bodies somewhere out of sight and to gather up their valuables, including all the coins they had stolen from the other bandits.

"What do you even want all this money for?" Elyias asked as he picked up the last coin purse.

"Nothing. I just don't want other people to have it," Blacknail replied.

When they were done, the hobgoblin led the way back. Elyias had no option but to follow him. They were in the middle of the forest and Elyias wasn't anything remotely like a woodsman.

"Shouldn't we have gotten back by now?" Elyias asked after a few hours of hiking at a steady pace. He had a large pack on his back and the effort of carrying it had tired him out. His brow was sweaty and he was breathing heavily.

"We would have reached the village if that was where we were going," Blacknail answered without slowing or turning around.

"Where are we going?" Elyias asked in surprise. He didn't sound happy.