Along Twisted Paths 6


    cknail grunted in annoyance. It was toote to try and go after his master, but he had just woken up from his earlier nap so he wasnt going to be able to fall asleep anytime soon.


    He didnt really want to sit around and watch a bunch of dirty goblins gulp down stew either. Even cknail couldnt believe how messy they were.


    The hobgoblin was used to doing chores when he had spare time, so out of habit he looked around for something to do. His gaze stopped on the pile of wood. It shouldnt be left out in the rain, so he decided to build a shelter for it.


    He got up and began to construct a lean-to against the remains of one of the nearby brick walls. He used some of therger branches the goblins had brought him, and tied them together with twine to form the roof.


    Then cknail stood back and admired his handy work proudly. The goblins behind him murmured in appreciation. The hobgoblin froze. What in all the hells was he doing? Why was he building these little green pests furniture?


    With a disgusted grunt he sat back down by the fire. He slouched over and rested his chin on his palm as he gazed into the mes. For a few minutes he enjoyed staring at the crackling dance of the ze, but he quickly grew bored.


    He had depleted some of his stock of rope earlier so he decided to rece it. He walked out into the bushes by the road and began to gather nt fibers. When he returned the goblins had not only reced all the wood he had used up but actually made the pile substantiallyrger.


    cknail ignored them and began to twist the fibers together to make rope. As he worked several of the goblins copied him. The hobgoblin gave them a disdainful look. As if they would be able to do it properly. It had taken him weeks to learn to do it, and he was a genius.


    A few minutester when cknail next looked up he saw several of the goblins working together to make near perfect rope. He felt his jaw grow ck and fall open in shock. That wasnt possible; there was no way these feral little runts should be able to do it so easily!


    Then, cknail remembered the other hobgoblins axes. They had used simr cord to keep the stone heads attached. Obviously, the goblins had already known how to make twine.


    That made sense. They had probably had practiced for years to manage the feat, while under the threat of strict punishment. Still, maybe they werent as dumb as they looked.


    It was some time before cknail grew tired. Before then he had not only made two more lean-tos and reced all his rope, but also constructed a door for the dens entrance. Hed made it from more branches and tied it down using twine and stakes.


    He was nning on sleeping down there anyway, so having a door directly benefitted him. He obviously hadnt done it for the goblins. That would be stupid


    Several nearby goblins were ying with their new door as they squealed in excitement. cknail shooed them away, flipped the door open, and reentered the den.


    Once down there he scowled. It was dark enough now that even with the door open and goblin night vision he was having some problems seeing. That wouldnt do.


    cknail walked around the room until he found a section of the wall where the stones were crumbling. Using the deceased horned hobgoblins axe as a hammer he opened a small hole there. Then he shoved a nearby goblin into it and forced the gibbering runt to dig its way to the surface, as he motivated it with pokes from his sword. His firece was thuspleted!


    It only took a few seconds to fill the newly dug shaft with wood and light it with a burning branch from the other fire. He removed the goblin first,of course, a burning goblin would undoubtedly make a truly hideous amount of noise. cknail had gotten the idea for the firece from the one in Herads house.


    With the light from the fire and the help of several eager goblins, cknail was able to clean the ce up a bit andy out his nkets. The final touch was to scatter flybane around to ward off the bugs. With that done cknail had created afy ce he actually wouldnt mind sleeping in. In fact, it was actually pretty nice.


    Moving around so much had caused his wounded shoulder to hurt, so cknailid down on his nkets and went to sleep. Just before he slipped unconscious he thought he felt several warm bodies cuddle up next to him. It could have been a dream though.


    As the sun was just peaking over the tree tops the next morning cknail opened the new trap door he had built and stepped outside to greet it. He had everything packed and was ready to continue his journey to Daggerpoint.


    Feeling fully rested he made his way through the bushes and back onto the road. He was going to have to travel quickly if he was to have any chance of finding Herad and the others trail. With that thought the hobgoblin broke into a fast jog.


    Just as he was about to leave the bushy scrund behind him he heard a shrill screech fill the air. cknail looked back to see a flock of harpies circling the goblin den from high up in the air.


    He then heard the unmistakable yelp of a terrified goblin. He hesitated and grunted in annoyance as he watched the harpies circle. Stupid bloody feral good for nothing runts, it served the goblins right for attacking him.


    The hobgoblin took another step forward but then froze. He was totally not responsible for them just because he had killed their chief. That wasnt how it worked!


    cknail let out a long resigned sigh and turned around. He raced back to the clearing in time to see one of the circling harpies dive. Below it a goblin was desperately attempting to scramble through the bushes towards the entrance to the den. It didnt look like it would make it.


    cknail was prepared though. He had already pulled out his sling, and he immediately sent a stone whirring towards the diving harpy.


    His hasty shot missed, but it definitely caught the raptors attention. The sound of the stone shooting past it startled the harpy, and caused it to abandon its dive. Instead, it fluttered in the air for a second before winging its way across the clearing. The goblin it had been aiming for reached the trap door and slipped under it.


    The other harpies that were still circling up above began to screech angrily. cknail eyed them warily as he pushed his way through the scraggly bushes and back towards the den. When he burst into the ruins of the old home one of the flock detached itself and dove towards him.


    cknail whipped another stone at it, and this time it hit. The harpy squawked in pain and dropped from the air. There was a loud thud as it smashed through the bushes and into the ground.


    cknail gave the mangled body of the downed raptor a brief look over. He was fairly confident it was dead. That had been quite the lucky shot, or maybe he was just super skilled?


    That only left five more harpies. cknail hoped they would give up now that they knew how dangerous he was. He was really strong and fast after all! They wouldnt gain anything from attacking him.


    Suddenly, the air above him was filled with the furious screech of vengeful harpies. Moving as one the entire enraged flock descended upon the hobgoblin.


    cknail swore as his eyes widened in rm. Maybe that hadnt been a lucky shot after all


    A surge of panic rushed through cknail as he sprinted for cover. He could hear the harpies descending upon him, so he quickly measured the distance to the dens entrance as he ran. It was obvious he wouldnt make it, so he swerved and threw himself aside at thest moment.


    The first four harpies missed and blew past him in a gust of wind, but thest one caught the edge of his cloak with its hind ws. The furious raptor then began to sh at cknail with the long ws on the end of its wings. Luckily, its efforts were hampered by the hobgoblins clothing.


    cknail rolled and ripped his cloak off, with the harpy still attached to it. He then drew his dagger and stabbed at it. The iling creature slipped away from him so he only managed to graze it. That was when the other harpies swung back around and whipped past him once more.


    He tried to roll out of the way again, but this time one of the raptors managed to sh him across the back as it flew past. The cut stung, and cknail could feel his clothes grow damp as blood seeped from the gash.


    The hobgoblins roll ended as he hit one of the nearby crumbling walls. He ced his back up against it, and then brought his dagger up into a guard. Bleeding and tired, cknail prepared himself to face the winged terrors again.


    When the first harpy rushed at him he grabbed his cloak from off the ground and swung it at the creature. Instinctively, the surprised harpy gripped the long piece of fabric, so cknail whipped the cloak around and sent the raptor hurtling off into the nearby brambles.


    The other three harpies that were still in flight dove at him, so cknail flipped over the wall at his back. This forced the furiously squawking raptors to fly over him harmlessly. cknail smiled mockingly at the stupid feathered beasts. They werent so tough.


    That was when the first harpy that had attacked him pounced on his back. cknail shrieked in pain and tried to throw the creature off, but it had its ws dug in deep. As he futilely tried to reach around and stab the harpy with his knife it suddenly and unexpectedly released him.


    cknail rolled through the dirt as he hissed in pain, but the urge to survive raged through him and drove him to act. Hended on his feet with his dagger up, as he spat loose feathers from his mouth.


    Stupid man faced birds Ill cut you all up! the hobgoblin roared.


    He had expected to immediately have a face full of furious harpy but it didnt happen. It soon became obvious why. A goblin had shoved a spear up the raptors ass.


    A wave of angry shrieking goblins had rushed out of their den, and were in the process of finishing off the two grounded harpies. The green mob filled the clearing.


    Several of them were mercilessly stabbing each of the iling raptors with stone tipped spears. Several more rushed over to cknail and surrounded him protectively. They waved their spears and jeered at the three harpies that were still flying around.


    The now very outnumbered winged beasts apparently didnt want to keep fighting. They twisted in the air and started pping towards the woods. A few secondster, as cknail watched they let out onest angry shriek before disappearing into the trees. cknail let out a deep sigh of relief as the goblins around him began cheering at the top of their lungs.


    Now that the fight was over he grunted in pain as he awkwardly tried to stand up straight. That fight could have gone a lot better


    There was no way he was going to be able to start after Herad and Saeter now. He had to clean and patch all the new wounds he had just gotten. Not to mention he wasnt exactly feeling up to a long run.


    Oh well, it wasnt all bad. At least he had a safe ce to sleep and recuperate. Of course it was full of annoying little runts


    He kind of, but not really, owed them one though. So he could also use the time to teach the goblins a trick or two. Just so they could survive without a hobgoblin around to look after them.


    After getting a nearby goblin to grab him some more food and patching his wounds cknail went straight to work. The most important thing was that the goblins were able to protect themselves. That way he could leave without having to worry about them being attacked as soon as his back was turned.


    If the harpies came back the goblins would need slings. Even a small goblin could do a fair bit of damage with a sling, and they worked well against flying targets. Then again a rock to the face worked against almost everything. He didnt have nearly enough cloth to make slings though


    How else could he do it? Well the goblins had shown they could make twine so maybe he could use that.


    Less than an hourter the hobgoblin wasughing excitedly as heunched a small rock across the clearing using the twine sling he had just made. It had worked; he truly was a genius!


    Immediately, cknail grabbed several nearby goblins and forced them to make twine. He had to smack them a few times to keep them from slipping away, but once they knew what he wanted they went to work. The grey haired goblin that had guided him to the creek was there, and cknail didnt have to hit him at all. That was an impressive amount of intelligence for a goblin.


    When he had the enough twine he then got the goblins to watch him make another sling and use it. The weapon apparently impressed the goblins, or maybe they just liked mimicking the hobgoblin, because soon the air was full of flying rocks. That also meant the ground was soon littered with goblins who had welts and bumps decorating their heads. He should have seen thating


    Even cknail had to dodge the asional rock that shot past his head. He couldnt figure out which goblin, or conspiracy of goblins, it was that kept doing that. His n to discipline them by giving them all a good kicking also failed. There were just too many of them, and the little runts were quick when they wanted to be.


    Stupid ungrateful idiots, he muttered to himself.


    Clearly he had to rethink things. How did Herad control so many bandits? She had lieutenants like Saeter and Red Dog! Could he train a goblin? The grey haired goblin had shown something that mimicked intelligence kind of.


    He was also standing right beside cknail, which ced within easy reach. With his mind made up the hobgoblin began instructing the grey haired goblin on how to use a sling.


    You boss goblin now, the hobgoblin told his wide eyed follower.


    You boss, the goblin repeated.


    cknail sighed. Well,nguage wasnt important anyway. It was time for phase two of his goblin proof n.


    cknail handed Grey Hair a spear, and then had him go around smacking the other goblins with it. If they tried to fight back cknail gave them a solid kick, and that was that. Thus, did Grey Hair rise in the pack hierarchy.


    After repeating the process two more times cknail had trained himself some loyal lieutenants. Now if the stupid tribe of goblins didnt do as the hobgoblin wanted it was his lieutenants problem, because he would take it out on them. That was much less smacking that cknail had to do, and while it started out fun it quickly became just more work.


    His n worked wlessly, because he was a genius. Soon cknail had the goblins under his, almost,plete control. He kept them very busy while he recuperated. With the help of his new lieutenants he managed to force most the goblins to practice slinging stones without anyone getting hurt.


    Next on the list was fortifying the den some more. First, cknail started constructing some more stone axes. He copied the horned hobgoblins simple design. A sharpened stone was wedged into the split top of a length of wood, and then wrapped in twine. He had goblins use the axes to cut down saplings.


    The work went quickly with two dozen goblins all working together, especially since if one of the goblins wasnt working fast enough they got poked by one of the hobgoblins spear wielding lieutenants. cknail knew how to motivate goblins.


    The wood from the saplings was used to reinforce the trap door, and then to add two smaller trap doors to the back tunnel and the firece. With the leftover poles he was even able to make himself a raised tform to sleep on. It was good to be chief.


    Once that was done he taught the goblins how to make snares, and how to use them to catch rabbits and squirrels. This greatly increased the amount of meat the goblins caught, and cknail cooked stew again that night.


    After a fire lit feast under the stars cknail and the tribe withdrew underground. The room below was barely recognizable now. The flickering orange light of the firece illuminated the old cer. Thanks to the dens new doors the fire also warmed the cold stone walls of the chamber.


    Most of the trash had also been removed, and the ce now smelled of Flybane instead of goblin stuff. The less he thought about that the better.


    From his ce on his newly constructed bed cknail yawned and snuggled into his nkets. He felt good enough that tomorrow he would probably be able to hit the road again. For now though he just wanted to enjoy this rare moment offort.


    He was just about to fall asleep when heard a goblin approach. He opened his eye to see a female approach and began to lick his face. She was tall and skinny for a goblin, and had short ck hair. cknail found her attractive, and he smiled in anticipation as blood rushed to his lower regions.


    It had been quite a while since thest time a female goblin had shown interest in him. cknail rolled over and sniffed the female. Lust built up in him as he took in her aroma. He growled in appreciation and his heart beat quickened. Just as he was about to mount her two other female goblins moved over and began to lick him as well.


    cknails smile grew even wider. He was definitely enjoying being a hobgoblin, and was without a doubt d hede back to help this tribe.


    His master and Herad would be fine without him for a few days. How dangerous could this ce Daggerpoint be?