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

Hearts and Homes 9

"Oh, hello," Scamp said as everyone in the shed turned to look his way. The goblin gave the humans a friendly wave and smiled at them. He looked like he was enjoying all the attention.

The three young villagers didn't return the goblin's grin. Joan went stiff from fear and Aris stepped in front of her protectively. Hassiol just looked really confused and more than a little disbelieving. His eyes were wide with surprise.

"A goblin!" Aris yelled dramatically, as if he was doing something more than stating the incredibly obvious.

Blacknail wondered if it was too late to kill Scamp and pretend he knew nothing about him. It wasn't impossible that a goblin could randomly wander in here.

"Yep, I'm a goblin. You're smart for a human." Scamp replied cheerfully.

This forced Blacknail to acknowledge that it was too late to kill him. Random feral goblins didn't talk like that.

"You can't be here!" Blacknail hissed. "You're supposed to stay out in the forest. The villagers aren't supposed to see you!"

"Staying behind is boring, and you didn't say I couldn't come," Scamp whined back. "I miss the others. I want to see Geralhd."

"It talks! How can it talk?" Aris asked. He sounded like he was in shock. A good punch to the side of the head would probably clear his mind, or wipe his memories. Either would work for Blacknail.

"Scamp isn't dangerous," Khita hurriedly explained as she stepped over and placed a hand on top of the goblin's head. "He's a pet that was trained by a member of our band."

"Goblins can talk?" Hassiol asked in a great display of human ingenuity in the face of the unexpected.

"They can if you teach them," Blacknail grumbled. "There is no point though, if they are too stupid to follow orders."

"Don't be so mean to him," Khita told Blacknail as she patted Scamp on the head. The little goblin looked smug.

"How did it get in here? We have walls and the gate is watched," Avis asked.

"I snuck through a hole under the wall, it wasn't very hard," Scamp explained helpfully.

"I've never seen a goblin this close before," Joan remarked as her shock gave way to curiosity. Scamp wasn't all that intimidating for a goblin, unless you counted his smell.

"I have. A few years ago, one got its hand stuck in a hole in the side of a barrel, while it was reaching for the apples inside," Avis said. "The beasty caused quite the commotion right outside our window that night, so my mother grabbed a broom and went out to deal with it. She got a few good smacks in before the critter gave up on the apples, pulled its hand out, and ran off."

"We should report this to Mr. Tannin," Hassiol told his friends. This earned him a place on Blacknail's most annoying human list. It wasn't a long list, because people kept dropping off of it, usually in spectacularly fatal ways. Life was funny that way.

"There's no need to tell anyone. Goblins probably sneak inside this village all the time, like in Avis' story. What is Tannin going to do about it?" Khita replied before chuckling dismissively.

"He should still know."

"What, are you afraid of the little goblin? He's just a pet," Khita teased him.

"Of course not," the blonde boy quickly replied as he blushed a bright red. He tried to stand tall and look confident but since he couldn't meet Khita's eyes he just looked insecure.

"Then a tough guy like you doesn't need to tell anyone about a harmless goblin like Scamp. This can be a small secret just between us," Khita told him as she smiled suggestively. Her words actually caused Hassiol to smile back and nod, although Blacknail had no idea why. It was more than a little weird.