Out of Darkness 5


    The branches overhead creaked and swayed back and forth as the wind blew. The leaves rustled restlessly alongside them. It was a cool afternoon and the sun was just beginning to disappear behind the horizon. However, the shadowy canopy overhead blocked sight of the dusk sky and stifled the light it cast. There was an expectant feeling to the earthy smelling air, and for good reason. Dozens of silent hobgoblins waited in the shadows around cknail. Soon the hunt wouldmence.


    There was a faint rustling noise as Scamp stepped out of the bushes and approached cknail. He stalked forward and gave the other hobgoblin a bow, which earned him a nod in return.


    I circled the human camp, boss. They have no watchers in the trees, and only a few men watching the fields around their tents, Scamp quietly informed his chieftain.


    Then we move now. Follow me. I will lead the way, cknail replied as he grinned in anticipation.


    cknail shivered in delight. It had been too long since he had hunted his favorite prey, humans. Nothing else made him feel quite so fulfilled as taking down a thinking enemy that he had outyed. The fact that these men worked for Werrick also added to his delight. When this hunt was done he would be one step closer to his vengeance.


    With a wave of his hand, cknail signaled his minions and began creeping forward. Silently, the other hobgoblins followed after him. They barely made a sound as they slipped through the gloomy trees and bushes. Every hobgoblin waspletely focused on the task ahead.


    It didnt take them long to reach the edge of the forest. Like Scamp had said, they encountered no scouts or any human at all until they reached the border. cknail crouched behind a bush and peered out into the fields. There were campfires burning there and they cast long shadows as men moved around them. The raiders camp was made up of several clusters of tents, with a ring of watch fires set up around it to provide the sentries with light and ward off beasts from the forest.


    The camp was situated between the forest and Shelter, and since it had been set up out of bow range from the vige, that meant it was only about a hundred feet from cknails current position. After a few moments counting the shadows and studying theyout of the encampment, cknail turned back to minions and began issuing orders. He knew how to infiltrate this group of humans.


    Split into three groups. Gob, Scamp, and I will lead them. We will each aim for one of the closest fires and take out the scouts there. You will then leave behind imposters to rece the scouts and cover our exit, as the others move in deeper. Remember to withdraw when you hear the signal, he told them.


    There were murmurs and nods of eptance from the listening hobgoblins. A few of them even bowed, including Gob. cknail had no idea where they had learned to do that, but he kind of liked it.


    The hobgoblins then quickly organized themselves and began creeping out into the fields. The three groups of ten separated and headed for different targets. Each hobgoblin crept across the ground on all fours and kept their head down. It was slow going but they were patient. When the shadows shifted and light from the fires shone out in their direction, the nearby hobgoblins froze and waited until it passed.


    When each group was in position they signaled their readiness with a birdcall. At the sound of the third call, they made their move. Hobgoblins with bows sighted their targets as others with drawn des rose up and dashed closer. cknail led the way. He drew two long daggers and lunged out of the darkness. In a blur of motion, he hit the exposed back of one of the sentries. The man was looking in the wrong direction, and before he could even turn around, cknail had cut his throat. That done, cknail spun around to face the next target, but there was no need for him to do anything. Another hobgoblin had already stabbed the man, and his sword was sunk deep into victims chest. In fact, there were no sentries left standing. Thest one coughed quietly and copsed onto the ground with an arrow in side. All three of the sentries had been taken out before they could raise the rm.


    cknail quickly looked towards the other two campfires hed ordered attacked. He saw some quick shes of movement as the hobgoblin there finished up, but he didnt hear any loud noises that would alert the enemy. Most of cknails minions had received only the most basic of training, but they had seeded in their task. cknail had been more than little worried. So many things could have gone wrong. He had never tried to lead so many hobgoblins in such aplicated manner before. It was a good thing that hunting such as this came naturally to hobgoblins. They knew what to do. They just obeyed their instincts.


    Smiling to himself, cknail picked out three hobgoblins and ordered them to rece the sentries around the fire. They quickly looted some human clothes andplied. If anyone looked they would be indistinguishable from humans at a distance. cknail then joined in the looting of the bodies and pocketed a dagger and some coins. There was no way the other hobgoblins werent doing it, so he might as well join in.


    Enough, we need to move, cknail hissed after hed finished searching the body of the man he had killed. His minions reluctantly did as they were told. Unlike cknail, they had never seen such riches before.


    The sounds of human activity from deeper within the encampment were much clearer now. Among the tents, people were walking around and talking amongst themselves. ck listened for a moment before motioning for his minions to follow him deeper in. Going in further was risky because it became much harder to keep an eye on all his minions, but it was still too early to head back.


    The hobgoblins hanging back away from campfires slipped into the dark space between the lights and joined theirpanions in a dash towards the enemy camp. A few humans looked in their direction but they were taken down by archers before they could figure out what was happening. Then the hobgoblins hit the tents. The savage killers dispersed to wreak as much chaos as they could.


    As the firelight flickered behind him, cknail charged ahead. He crouched low as he ran past a pair of empty tents. There were two raiders walking together off to his right. One of them had a hand raised and was pointing in the general direction of some of cknails minions. They had noticed movement in the darkness but they had no idea what it was yet. cknail decided to make sure they didnt ever find out. He circled around another tent and then dashed out behind them. With his sword raised high, cknail lunged forward and attacked. Elixir burned through his blood as his first sh whipped through the air and tore into the neck of his target. The man never even saw the deing. As the body crumpled, the second man flinched and turned around. cknail didnt waste a second. He shifted his body weight, stepped forward, and stabbed his second target right through the stomach. The man gasped and coughed. Flecks of bloody spittle flew out of his mouth, and then cknail withdrew his de. The raider copsed onto the ground and went still, but cknail was already running off to find a new target.


    For a while, there was only an asional scuffle or surprised gasp as hobgoblins jumped on unsuspecting raiders or slipped into tents to kill their sleeping upants, but then a ear shattering scream of pain rent the air and everything changed. cknail froze as he was about to cut open a tent that looked upied. Around him, raiders began yelling and drawing weapons. The attackers had been discovered. cknail grunted sourly and stepped back. He hesitated a moment about whether to call the retreat, but then a blinding white light appeared in the center of the camp. He squinted and turned away, as the light illuminated all the tents and cast away the darkness. It revealed the shadowy figures of the raiders and the hobgoblins, and cknail knew it was time to go. That was mage light. If he ever figured out which hobgoblin had messed up he was going to get such a kicking.


    It was somewhat unnecessary at this point, but cknail took a moment to scream the retreat signal. The harsh wordless yell echoed over the raiders'' camp and then was repeated by other hobgoblins that heard it. The violent screams sounded more like the bloodthirsty call of a beast than a signal to retreat, but that was sort of the point. Now that the hobgoblins had been discovered it was time to spread fear and confusion.


    Partially revealed by the mage light, shadowy hobgoblins began pulling back away from the tents. They headed towards the periphery campfires they had seized on their way in, but it was not an orderly retreat. Many hobgoblins were still looting or had been engaged inbat. cknail quickly dashed towards the closest fight. He needed to buy his minions some time.


    In front of him, two hobgoblins were struggling to fight off two raiders. Without the advantage of surprise they were having a hard time just defending themselves. Humans wererger and stronger than hobgoblins and they were almost always better trained. The des of the raiders were hammering down against the hobgoblins weapons and pushing them back. Then one of hobgoblins was knocked backwards after an awkward block. The raider facing him stepped forward to finish him off, but cknail intervened. He charged in and parried the mans downwards swing. There was a metallic ng as the des met, and then cknail twisted around andunched an attack of his own that forced the man back.


    Retreat. I got this, cknail hissed at his minions as he took a swipe at the second man. Both hobgoblins immediately jumped back and ran away, which annoyed cknail a little. They could have at least thanked him.


    cknails sour thoughts were interrupted when his opponents attacked again. He parried one sh and sidestepped the other. There were more and more raiders appearing, so cknail knew he had to hurry. He would soon be swamped by angry humans.


    Thus, cknail readied himself. The raider to his left shed at his head while the other waited for an opening. Just as he blocked the blow, cknail met both the raiders gazes and then sted them with fear. He reached down into himself and pushed the burning power of Elixir out at them. Instantly, the raiders minds trembled and they flinched. Fear was in on their faces as they went stiff. That was all the opening cknail needed. He knocked away the de of the man who had just attacked him and twisted his own sword around into a sh at the other raider. Caught off guard, the raider couldnt stop the de from slicing deep into his shoulder.


    Demon piss, the man swore as he stumbled back and dropped his weapon.


    The remaining raider raised his de defensively to block a new attack by cknail. It was a clumsy maneuver. He still hadnt recovered from the terror attack, so cknail had no problem using leverage to force the de aside and stab the man in the chest. cknail then tugged his weapon loose and jumped on the fallen raider. A few savage chopster he was dead as well.


    Theres one of the intruders! a deep voice yelled. cknail looked up to see a squad of heavily armed raiders bearing down on him. He quickly sheathed his sword and ran away. As the leader he was too important to risk, unless the situation seemed like fun.


    Off to one side, a hobgoblin was dodging the wild sword shes of a raider. It looked like the hobgoblin had a wound on his leg so he couldnt run away. cknail took a brief moment to veer over and help. The raider saw himing and shed at him, but he dodged under the blow and kicked the man aside.


    Go, he told the hobgoblin.


    As the wounded hobgoblin obeyed, cknail looked around. It seemed like there werent any more of his minions in trouble. All of them were withdrawing towards the forest. However there were a fewggards. One unconscious hobgoblin was being carried by another and a few others were also moving slowly, either because of injuries or because they were loaded down by loot. Rolly was carrying an entire pile of pots, and was even wearing one on his head. cknail had no idea why.


    To make sure his minions escaped, cknail ran over to guard their backs. There were dozens of armed raiders chasing them, and they were only about two dozen feet away.


    Dont let the bloody fiends escape! a taller man roared as he brandished a sword above his head and led the charge after the fleeing hobgoblins.


    Sensing that he needed to do something, cknail turned and took a deep breath. His cloak whipped behind him as he faced the raiders that were trying to run him down, and then he screamed as loudly as he could. Hatred and hunger poured out from him.


    Humans, I am your death! I am cknail, the hunter of men. You serve the Wolf, but he cannot protect you from me. None of you will ever escape the Green. You have gone too deep, and now you are mine, cknail yelled. He then let out a deep echoingugh that was filled to the brim with bloodlust and malevolence, and red Elixir. As the power rolled through him, he boiled it and sted it outwards so that it mmed into the raiders.


    The power hit them like a physical wave. Most the raiders slowed and visibly flinched away from cknail. A dozen or so jumped back and came to aplete stop, while several even tripped and fell. The entire group of charging raiders fell into chaos as they hit each other and stumbled, and that was when the arrows hit them. The retreating hobgoblins had reached the campfires, and the hobgoblins stationed there were taking the opportunity to cover theirpanions. Arrows whirred through the air and mmed into the raiders. There were shrieks of pain and half a dozen more of them fell.


    Gods damn it all. Keep moving! the enemy leader roared. His words didnt aplish much. His subordinates hade toplete stop.


    You cowardly bitches! Come back here and fight like men, the enraged raider then yelled at cknail.


    I am no man, cknailughed as he spun around and ran past the campfires. The darkness there engulfed him and he disappeared from sight.


    The retreating hobgoblin chieftain soon caught up with his minions. They were waiting for him at the edge of the forest. Their nted pupils shone as they reflected the distant firelight, and most of them had satisfied smiles on their faces. There was no sign of pursuit, although cursing and screams could still be heard from the raiders camp.


    It is done, great leader. We are victorious! All praise to you, Gob said as he stepped out from behind a tree. He didnt look any worse for wear, which was good. Gob was the one hobgoblin that cknail couldnt easily rece.


    What he said, boss, Scamp added with smile. He had a swollen eye that looked like it had been punched, but he was carrying a new sword and there was a sack slung over his shoulder.


    All the familiar faces cknail remembered seemed to be there. Bones seemed to be unconscious but Twig was supporting him and he was still breathing. It seemed weird to cknail that Twig would go out of his way to help his rival, but whatever. Herah and Rolly were present, and both of them had grabbed quite a bit of loot. It didnt seem like they had lost anyone. How many hobgoblins had they started with? That would have probably been a good thing to have learned beforehand.


    Did we lose anyone? he asked his assembled minions.


    Maybe? Scamp replied. He sounded uncertain.


    Maybe? cknail enquired impatiently.


    One of ours died, but we grabbed his corpse, so hes not really lost, Scamp replied as he pointed to a body slumped up against a tree.


    Ah, good, cknail eximed as he nodded in satisfaction. He had ordered them to retrieve any bodies.


    Humans feared things they didnt understand. If they had a corpse to examine, gloat over, or make into a trophy their fear would have diminished. cknail wanted these servants of Werricks stewing in their own terror as the darkness pressed in around them all night. He wanted to smell their fear on the wind. He wanted them to jump out of their skin every time they heard a twig crack and see hobgoblins in every shadow. cknail knew humans and he knew fear. Their terror would sap them of their strength and leave them ripe for plucking.


    Since all the other stuff was out of the way, cknail asked the most important question next. Now, did any of you find any cheese?