A Tradesman’s Tools 6


    cknail immediately pulled himself up from the tangle of sheets around him, and growled menacingly. The sound of his anger echoed throughout his small room, as he shot to his feet. Someone was trying to be sneaky and invade his tribesir!


    Enemies, he hissed to himself.


    The hobgoblin felt his drowsiness burn away under the relentless waves of his rage. His lips rose to reveal his teeth as he snarled. Whoever these people were, they were about to get a very nasty surprise. He was going to stab them, a lot.


    cknail didnt waste any time. He quickly began throwing on his clothes and arming himself, as he carefully listened in on the enemies'' progress.


    The footsteps were slowly but steadily crossing the roof. At first the hobgoblin assumed they wereing to attack him, but he realized that was unlikely. No one knew who he was, or where hed stashed his cheese.


    That meant they must be after Herad! They were assassins, and aiming to murder cknails chieftain the same way the hobgoblin had killed the other chiefs.


    Well, it wouldnt work, because they were much worse at it than cknail. The hobgoblin had already discovered them, and not being detected before reaching the target was the most important bit.


    He pulled on his mask, slipped quietly through his door, and stalked quickly forward down the hallway towards Herads room. The hallway was dark except for a single candle set on a small table, and there was a sleepy looking guard leaning against the wall beside it.


    cknail growled as he noticed the mans eyes were closed. What kind of pathetic warrior went to sleep in the middle of a job?


    The man was apparently a light sleeper though because the hobgoblins outraged growl woke him. He blinked and turned to see what was going on, and then jumped in rm when he saw the masked and cloaked hobgoblin descending upon him.


    Shh, quiet, cknail hissed as he raised a finger to his mouth. There are-ss people on the roof,


    What? the man whispered in confusion, as he began to recognize cknail and started calming down.


    Assassins on the roof! cknail whispered back.


    Why did he always have to repeat himself? Human hearing wasnt that bad, even if they had tiny pink ears.


    Herads guard flinched as the hobgoblins words finally sunk in. He then threw a quick nce upwards, as if he expected to see something. cknail sighed in frustration; he wasnt impressed.


    We need to raise the rm, the man said a few secondster.


    No, then-ss they would run. Give-ss me door key, and then go raise rm, silently. Herad would-ss want us to warn her, and then trap them so they end up dead, cknail argued.


    There was no way Herad would want to pass up an opportunity to kill some of her enemies. She was pretty consistent that way.


    The guard seemed to agree with cknails judgment of Herads character, because he nodded reluctantly in agreement and then handed cknail the key.


    Ill be right back. You wake the boss then. Better you than me anyway; shes not a morning person, the man told him.


    He then quickly disappeared into a side room, and several secondster the hobgoblin could hear him begin whispering to someone else.


    cknail was tense and nervous as he unlocked the door and walked through it. Not because of the assassins, but rather because he was pretty sure the guard was right about how Herad wouldnt like being disturbed. She would however like not being informed of the assassins even less, which meant there really werent any good options.


    The chieftains room was dark, except for the slivers of moonlight that squeezed through the cracks of the one small shuttered window, and the light of the candle in the hallway that shone out from under the closed door behind cknail.


    It was however more than enough light for the hobgoblins sensitive eyes. He could make out most the details of the room, including the bed Herad was sleeping on. The bandit chieftain was curled up under her sheets and her sleeping face was pointed his way.


    As he approached Herad, cknail very carefully calcted a minimum safe distance that was out of reach of a sword. He didnt believe for a second that she didnt have one shoved somewhere around the bed, or that she wouldnt use it on him if he angered her.


    Once he had gotten as close as he dared, cknail took a second to study Herad. She looked different somehow, but the hobgoblin couldnt immediately figure out why.


    Then he realized her eyes werent as shadowed and menacing as usual. Did Herad wear makeup? No wait, that was just silly; of course it was actually war paint. That made much more sense.


    The creaking of wooden supports from above brought cknail back to reality. He knew he needed to wake his chief up before the assassins arrived, but he couldnt figure out how to do it safely. Yelling was out of the question, and so was touching her. Maybe he could poke her with a long stick?


    cknail looked her over again. She actually didnt seem all that dangerous at the moment. In fact she seemed kind of vulnerable, so he should probably just go shake her awake. That would be quietest way to do it after all. He took a tentative step forward


    I can think of three reasons a hobgoblin would be creeping around in my bedroom after dark, and youll only survive one of them, Herad told him, as shey unmoving in bed with her eyes closed.


    cknail instantly froze, and he felt a cold shiver work its way through him. His eyes widened as he realized hed just almost gotten himself killed. Good thing he was a coward.


    There are bad assassins on the roof! When I, your ever loyal servant, heard them I told your guards. Then I came in here to tell you, cknail whispered to her nervously.


    The bandit chieftain grunted and opened her eyes. Her cold gaze bore into him as she studied his face. She was still scary, even without war paint.


    Good, because youre not my type, and it''d be a shame to have to kill you for being too ambitious, she told him, as she sat up.


    Her movement caused her nkets to shift and slip off of her shoulders. Underneath that, she was wearing a loose in white shirt and long dark pants.


    How many? she asked, as she stood up and pulled on a leather jacket that had been lying beside her bed.


    Five or six, cknail replied uncertainly. He was just grateful that his answer had apparently been the right one. What had the other two been?


    Theyreing for me? Herad asked as she pulled a sheathed sword and hilt out from under her pillow.


    Sounds like, cknail whispered back.


    There was suddenly a slight creaking noise from the roof above, and both of them looked up. Herad then narrowed her eyes and then turned to the window. It was the only way in other than the door.


    There was then a creaking noise from behind them, as the entrance swung open slightly. Both Herad and cknail tensed and reached for their weapons. However, it was only several of Herads guards. When they saw that their boss was up and about they stopped, and waited for orders.


    Herad studied them for a second before motioning silently for them to back off. The man in front nodded, took a step back out of the room, and then carefully shut the door behind him.


    The bandit chieftain then moved over to her bed and pulled several pillows out from underneath it. She then stuffed them under her nket, so that it looked like someone was still sleeping there. With that done she crouched down beside the bed out of sight of the window.


    cknail had been wondering where all the spare pillows had gone, theyd disappeared suddenly right after hed piled them all on his bed to make himself morefortable.


    The hobgoblin ignored that for now though, and tried to find somewhere to hide. Another creak, this time from the roof right above the window, meant that the hobgoblin had to move quickly.


    He didnt see anythingrge enough to hide behind, except for the bed, so he crept up to the window and then pulled himself up over it and into the rafters above. Humans rarely ever looked up; it was a weakness of the species.


    Herad gave him a dubious look, but then just shook her head and crouched back down out of sight. cknail was fairly sure that meant she trusted his judgment, and why wouldnt she?


    Almost immediately, the shutters below cknail shook ever so slightly. A slim hooked de poked out from between them, and then slid upwards until it hit thetch. There was the faintest of clicking noises as the de knocked thetch loose and unlocked the window.


    As the hobgoblin watched from above, the shutters swung open ever so slowly. A secondter, a man wrapped in dark clothing crept through the window and into the room. He quickly nced around the room, and stared apprehensively at the dummy beneath Herads sheets for a few seconds, before tiptoeing off to the side.


    The assassin was wearing a ck hood and had a dark grey scarf wrapped around the lower part of his face, but cknail recognized his scent. It was Malthus, the assassin who had failed so badly at being Galives bodyguard.


    A soon as Malthus was out of the way hispanions followed him in, until all five of them were inside. cknail watched with interest as Malthus raised a hand and signaled to his men using some sort of signnguage the hobgoblin didnt understand.


    Almost instantly, the assassins spread out and stalked stealthily towards Herads bed. cknail waited expectantly for them to steppletely into the trap, but halfway there Malthus froze and hurriedly signaled his men.


    Instantly, the two men closest to the window turned and ran for it. The other three, including the leader, drew their swords and began backing up slowly. Up in the dark rafters cknail pouted in disappointment. Somehow, theyd obviously noticed the trap, and that was no fun.


    Several things then happened all at once. cknail dropped down onto the back of one of the fleeing assassins, and thenshed out and kicked the other one savagely in the head.


    Meanwhile, Herad rose up from behind the bed with her de drawn andunched herself at the other three assassins. The ringing of shing des drew the attention of several of Herads guards, who had been waiting in the hallway. They threw the door open and moved to join the fight.


    As cknail grappled his opponent to the floor, Herad engaged two of the assassins in a swordfight. The third attacker stepped back and quickly reached into his robe, before pulling out a beaker and throwing it violently towards her charging minions.


    The ss container hit the floor and spilled liquid everywhere as it shattered. Herads thugs stepped onto the mess as they ran towards her, and then began tripping all over themselves as their feet slid out from under them.


    The man wrestling cknail finally went limp as the hobgoblin withdrew his knife from out under his ribs. The assassin cknail had kicked earlier had gotten to his feet and was crawling through the window, so the hobgoblin grabbed the booted foot closest to him, and pulled him back into the room.


    The vial thrower assassin used the time he had bought himself and hispanions to turn back towards Herad. He was however toote to prevent Herad from parrying one of hispanions des and then unleashing a lightning quick sh that sent the assassins severed hand falling to the floor.


    n Dawn, Malthus barked as he ducked under a sh from Herad.


    Hearing this, the assassin who had thrown the beaker broke away from the fight, and made a dash for the window. He ran right past cknail as he fled. The hobgoblin was now wrestling with his second assassin, and he wasnt doing nearly as well as he had against the first.


    The man had got in a lucky blow at the start, and kicked cknails knife away. The masked hobgoblin had more, but he was too busy trying not to get choked out by therger and stronger human to draw them. He also wished he wasnt wearing the mask so he could just bite the stupid mans fingers off, or that he hadnt forgotten to take his Elixir again.


    Herad was now locked in a brutal sword fight with the assassin leader. Both of themunched attack after attack at each other with furious precision. Their des shed through the air so quickly that they were almost impossible to see. It was obvious that bothbatants were Vessels, no one else could move so swiftly.


    Herad was slowly forcing the man back though. She smiled cruelly as she fought, and seemed to be having quite a bit of fun. The assassin leader on the other hand looked nervous. He was obviously having trouble avoiding some of her attacks, and already had a few superficial gashes in his clothing.


    The man who was fighting cknail suddenly lurched backwards, and then surprised the hobgoblin by punching him heavily in the side of the head. cknails mask absorbed most of the blow, but it also shifted slightly to the side and blinded him.


    The now blind hobgoblin could only il about and try to grab his opponents hands. This didnt work very well though, and a few secondster he lurched backwards as something mmed into his stomach.


    By this time the third assassin had reached the window, instead of diving through it though, he turned and pulled something out of his coat.


    Dawn, he yelled at the top of his lungs, which caused everyone to look his way.


    Blinding light then burst forth and enveloped the room. Swearing rang out as everyone tried to shield their eyes.


    Fucking mage, Herad hissed.


    The leader of the assassins had been facing away from the light and prepared for it, so he wasnt blinded. He took the opportunity to sh at Herads neck. The bandit chieftain must have sensed something though, because she threw herself out of the way of the attack. The assassins sword ended up only grazing her shoulder.


    He didnt try for a second attack. The man turned and fled towards the window, as Herad and her men tried to organize themselves and regain their footing.


    The assassin that was grappling with cknail pushed him aside and tried to rise to his feet. As cknail lurched backwards he growled in frustration. Rage and confusion pulsed through him, until he couldnt take it anymore and he ripped his mask off.


    His opponent froze and his eyes widened in terror as the hobgoblins inhuman visage was revealed. cknail didnt waste the opportunity. He grabbed one of the mans wrists, and then before the man could recover he lunged down and savagely bit into it with his now exposed teeth.


    Screams filled the room as the hobgoblin dug his teeth deeper into the humans flesh. The iron taste of blood filled his mouth, and excited him. Filled with a sudden bout of hungry energy the hobgoblin let go of his opponents ruined arm, and then dug his fingers into the mans eyes.


    The hobgoblin''s long sharp nails cut through his gloves, and then deep into the mans sockets. More tortured screams rent the air.


    As the many helpless and writhing beneath him, cknail took the time to look around the room. The other assassins had already fled. Only Herad, her minions, and several corpses remained.


    Herad blinked and dropped the hand that was massaging her eyes. She looked at cknail and ground her teeth together furiously.


    Leave the wounded one, you idiot. After them! she yelled at him.


    cknail immediately grabbed his fallen mask and jumped to obey. He leapt off his defeated prey andunched himself at the window.


    In mid air he grabbed the window sill and swung himself around to the outside wall, where he sank his ws into the wood and began to climb after the assassins. He could hear them running across the roof, and see the discarded piece of rope they had used to escape on the street below.


    With inhuman agility the hobgoblin pulled himself onto the roof and scrambled after the fleeing assassins. Instinctively, he knew that the best way to catch them was to make sure they didnt know they were being followed. Also, cknail wasnt sure what to do with them when he caught them. They still outnumbered him, and Malthus was apparently a much better swordsman than he was a bodyguard.


    So the hobgoblin kept his head down and used the angle of the roof to hide himself from sight. When the remaining pair of assassins reached the end of the roof they disappeared. cknail scurried over and saw them on the ground below him, he also saw the rope they had used to get there. As he watched they ran across the dark city street and into an alley.


    cknail slid down the rope and hurried after them. He couldnt see them, but he could still hear their heavy footsteps and follow their scent.


    His quarry twisted and weaved their way through the city as they tried to lose any possible pursuit. cknail found it highly amusing. All their efforts were utterly pointless against him; he followed after them though the alleys and back ways of the city without any problem.


    Soon, cknail arrived in a familiar part of town. The trail of the assassins who had tried to kill Herad led up to the front entrance of arge colorful building that the hobgoblin didnt immediately recognize, because he hadnt really looked at it from the front before. It was the ce hed met Luphera.


    A suspicious growl escaped from cknails lips, as he stood at the opening of a nearby alleyway. The darkness of night hid him as he red at the building, and considered this new development.


    Was Luphera involved in the attack on Herad? It wasnt impossible, she had bragged about having minions and connections. The idea upset cknail for some reason. He wasnt sure why though; it wasnt like they were of the same tribe, and he didnt really even know much about her. In fact, she was very unsettling to be around.


    What should he do now? Could he just return to Herad and tell her where the assassins had gone? Did she expect him to kill them before returning? He probably could head back now without being punished, but cknail realized he didnt want to. He wanted to know exactly what was going on, and whether Luphera was involved.


    Yes, perhaps it was time to be a little more aggressive with the woman. He had let her weird perfume and behavior put him off guard before, but now he was done being on the defensive.


    He would find her and get answers, but this time there would be no stupid games. He would simply take what he wanted, no matter who he had to kill.