Will of Iron 2


    Surprised, cknail took a step back as a tingle of fear shot up his back. In front of him, therge insect-like creatures continued to hiss and re. cknail had never seen anything remotely like them before. Saeter also hadnt mentioned anything simr, so he had no idea how to react. Were they dangerous? Should he run away or stand his ground and try to scare them into retreating? cknail had no idea what the right action was. Although, he vaguely remembered that Ilisti had mentioned some mysterious creatures that sort of resembled these things. Boggarts, he had called them.


    Both the ck beasts began to scuttle forward, so cknail reacted instinctively. No giant bugs were going to chase him away from this ce! He had already imed it as his own.


    Enemies are here. To me, my minions! Fight for your great leader, cknail yelled as he drew his sword.


    Since he didnt know how to properly handle these boggarts, the safest bet was just to kill them. He could probably manage that easily enough. Not only was he super strong, but he had allies nearby.


    Almost immediately after cknails shout, there were replying yells from the nearby hobgoblins who were just out of sight, and they began to run over. While that was happening, the two boggarts hissed and threw themselves at cknail. Their front limbs came up and reached for him, revealing three long curved ws on the end of each foot. Theirrge ck eyes shone as their jagged mandibles opened wide enough to bite down on a humans head.


    cknail quickly dodged to the side and shed at one of the outstretched ws. His de hit the limb and knocked it aside but didnt appear to do much damage. Hmm, that wasnt good. A frown appeared on the cknails face as he caught his bnce. The creatures shiny carapace was strong and thick. ying it safe, cknail retreated a few steps to buy time for his allies to arrive, which they promptly did. Behind him, two hobgoblins ran around the spire of rock and then toward the fight.


    The arrival of more hobgoblins didnt appear to intimidate the boggarts. If anything, it seemed to infuriate them. They hissed loudly like boiling tea kettles and shook with anger. One of them reared up on its back legs and wed the air aggressively. It only stopped when the reinforcements reached cknails side and became an immediate threat. Readying themselves to fight, the two boggarts crouched down as if they were about to leap.


    Oh, what are these things? one of the hobgoblins asked in shock as he raised his weapon to guard cknails nk. The second hobgoblin took up position on his chiefs other side.


    It doesnt matter. Just kill them, cknail replied as he leaned back to avoid the swing of a w. It didnt look very clean.


    Following his orders, both the other hobgoblins immediately shed at the boggarts and went on the attack. Their swords bounced harmlessly off carapace, but cknail took the opportunity to step forward and kick the enemy to his left. The toe of his boot mmed into the head of the boggart, stunning it. Grinning as the thrill of the fight filled him, cknail didnt let up. Fiercely, he stabbed his sword down into one of the creatures shoulder joints. The de caught for a moment, before sinking into the thin strip of pale flesh between the armor segments. The boggart immediately shrieked in pain. The shrill scream assaulted cknails ears. He winced as he tugged his de free and stepped back, but the pain felt like sweet victory.


    The wound seemed to cripple the boggart. Its arm went ck, and slobber began dripping from its mouth. It tried to attack again, but even its working front limb moved slowly and weakly. cknail grunted disdainfully as he blocked the blow, and then he kicked it in the head again. There was a wet crunch and the boggart copsed onto the rocky ground.


    The remaining enemy was busy fighting the two other hobgoblins, but itspanions fall seemed to enrage it. The boggart ignored a de aimed at its head and charged. The surprised hobgoblins de bounced off its armor as it leapt on top of him, and its mandibles mped down on his arm. As the hobgoblin yelped, cknail pulled out a dagger and stabbed the boggart in the eye. The de effortlessly sank deep into the creatures brain, and it began to spasm uncontrobly. Immediately, the hobgoblin it had tackled pushed it off himself and stood back up. His wounded arm was bleeding quite badly and he was covered in scratches.


    Huh, I thought theyd be tougher. Ilisti made boggarts sound scary, cknail remarked as he studied the fallen creatures. They hadnt been weak, but there were a lot of things more dangerous than them in the Green.


    The injured hobgoblin made a pained whine and cradled his arm. It was difficult to say how bad his injury was, but most the hobgoblins had been taught basic first aid, so he would probably live and recover. If he didnt, it wasnt cknails problem. Back at his base, more goblins were transforming into hobgoblins all the time. He honestly didnt know what to do with them all.


    cknail started to sheathe his sword, but a ttering noise drew his attention. Still on edge, he turned to look over at the edge of the rocky formation. There were several tall boulders blocking his sight, but as he watched, a group of dark shapes ran out from between the rocks.


    More enemies! cknail yelled to get his minions attention.


    He counted five boggarts this time. That was bad. Even if he defeated these, he couldnt be sure there werent more on the way. The five boggarts took a moment to study the hobgoblins and their fallen kin, before scuttling forward to attack.


    I dont like these things, cknail observed sourly as he readied himself to fight again.


    Judging by their behavior, it seemed like boggarts were territorial and moved inrge packs. It also looked like they didnt care much about individual survival, which wasnt a good trait to encounter in an enemy.


    The five boggarts hissed and spat angrily as they determinedly charged the hobgoblins. cknail and his two minions stepped closer and raised their weapons as the boggarts closed in. cknail grimaced as he studied the enraged creatures. This was going to be a hard fight if his own reinforcements didnt arrive soon. Just then, there was yell from behind cknail.


    Im here to join the fight! Wow, what are those? They look mean, Khita shouted excitedly as she ran over to join cknail and his minions.


    cknail grimaced and sighed in exasperation. Why did it have to be Khita? Anyone but her would have been much more useful. She was useless.


    However, quite unexpectedly, the scuttling mob of attackers suddenly stopped just outside of the reach of the hobgoblins weapons. Instead of charging the surprised hobgoblins, they froze in ce and threw a series of surprised nces at Khita. Uncertainty shone in theirrge ck eyes as they studied the human girl. When she reached the hobgoblins, the boggarts began furiously clicking at each other, and then they backed away and fled back the way they hade.


    What? Why? cknail eximed angrily as he watched them go.


    Why had they chosen to flee all of a sudden? Was it possible that they been afraid of Khita but not him? No, that was impossible. Khita was as weak as her skinny arms and fat head made her look.


    Apparently, Khita had simply been the first of cknails allies to arrive. From the same direction, a mix of humans and hobgoblins rushed out from behind a pile of rocks. ncing over his shoulder, cknail saw Geralhd among them.


    Ha, look at those creepy things run, Khitaughed as she put a hand on cknails shoulder. I sure scared them away. They''re no match for us!


    No, you didnt scare them away. Dont say that! cknail replied as he brushed her hand away. The boggarts were nowpletely out of sight, but they hadnt fled from Khita.


    What in all the hells were those things? Geralhd asked as his group joined up with cknails. Several of the humans looked spooked.


    They were boggarts, cknail exined authoritatively. He was fairly certain that was right, and no one else here would know more than him.


    I thought those were a myth, and a lot smaller, one of the men from Shelter remarked in surprise. Werent those supposed to steal chickens unless you put out old shoes for them?


    The humans began talking amongst themselves nervously. The two dead boggarts were stillid out on the ground alongside the bush and dead deer that theyd been dragging.


    They dont even have real feet. What would they do with boots? Khita observed as she pointed at a carcass.


    Everyone ignored her, and cknail took a moment to lean down and study the fallen creatures. They were certainly strange looking. Like bugs, their bodies were divided into three segments and they had hard shells. They also reminded cknail of Mimics, especially their eyes, although their body shape and coloring werepletely different. They alsocked anything that resembled a Mimics fake foliage.


    Sniffing one of the dead boggarts, the hobgoblins nostrils were filled with a rich earthy musk. It had an undercurrent of what smelled like a mix of decaying matter. Strange. cknail was reminded of the piles Harvesters made, but these creatures were obviously not rted to the beetles at all, despite a few small superficial simrities.


    Do you think those creatures  the boggarts or whatever- will being back? Geralhd asked.


    cknail frowned and stood back up before beginning to walk toward the rocks that the boggarts had disappeared behind. Good question. Lets see where they went.


    A lot of the humans from Shelter seemed confused. One of them scratched his head as he spoke up. I still dont understand. Arent boggarts like evil spirits? I dont think theyre supposed to be real or this ugly.


    These are boggarts. Do you know more about the Green than me? Im the ranger here, cknail replied as he reached the rocks and nced behind them. Stupid confusing humans. Obviously, he was an expert on boggarts, even if he knew next to nothing about them.


    There were no boggarts behind the boulder, just a lot more tall splinters of rock. After signaling for his hobgoblin minions toe up and cover him, cknail began to sniff out the fleeing boggarts'' trail. He followed their scent around the huge stone pir and the through the smaller boulders for a few moments before it disappeared into a slender fissure. cknail stopped and stared warily at the dark opening. It was located at the base of a pile of boulders and its ck interior was imprable to his sight.


    Geralhd arrived and looked over cknails shoulder. The boggarts went down into there?


    Yes, thats why Im staring at it, cknail replied dryly.


    So, what does this development mean for us, exactly?


    It means we shouldnt camp anywhere near here and that we should double our night watch, cknail replied as he turned away from the hole in the ground.


    There were several things about this situation he didnt like. Most importantly, he had no idea how many boggarts were down there in the deep roads. There could be dozens or hundreds of them just waiting underground for the right time to attack. Secondly, the creatures obviously had no problem seeing in the dark, which meant a night attack was likely.


    No one disagreed with cknails n to leave the area even though it was getting dark. The two boggart corpses were a in reminder that something strange was going and that they werent safe. Everyone immediately began packing up and they were soon back on the road. The sun was almost halfway under the horizon now and it was starting to get difficult for the humans to see, but they didnt have any other choice but to put some distance between themselves and the rock formation.


    Luckily, after about half an hour, the scouts found another good camping spot, on a hill next to the overgrown road. It wasnt quite as nice as the old one, but a quick exploration revealed no nearby caves or angry boggarts.


    As everyone else was settling down for the night, cknail stood at the peak of the hill and looked around confidently. Geralhd and Khita were with him, and it was truly dark out now. The stars and moon both shone overhead in the ck sky.


    Yep, we should be safe here. As both the leader and our best ranger, I led us to a good spot, the hobgoblin remarked proudly.


    Geralhd grunted and looked over the trees to the west. I wish the horizon wasnt still on fire, though.


    cknail frowned. From atop the hill, they could all see that a long stretch of forest off in the distance was burning brightly. The orange glow of the mes was obvious in the dark of night.


    Its not moving in our direction, and it wont spread beyond the old woods. Ilisti said so, the hobgoblin remarked with more confidence than he truly felt.


    Khita justughed. I think its as pretty and sharp as silver. Its definitely the biggest fire Ive ever seen, and Ive burned down a few buildings. You can see the light reflecting off the clouds.


    Its beautiful, Ferrar agreed as he emerged from the darkness to join them. The burning is so bright, yet so far away. I wish I could feel its heat.


    I believe that would almost certainly be fatal, Geralhd observed dryly.


    Since there was little else for anyone to say and it was starting to get veryte, everyone went their separate ways andid down for the night. Amidst the other hobgoblins, where it was safest, cknail snuggled into his nkets and went to sleep.


    The next morning, cknail woke up and got everyone moving. It only took a few kicks and shouts intozy peoples'' ears. Once that was done, a quick chat with his sentries revealed that no one had spotted any strange activity during the night, but there was no reason to stick around. cknail shuddered as a shiver went down his spine. He had a bad feeling in his gut about the boggarts. Their ck armor and segmented bodies were creepy and icky, but it was more than that. He couldnt exin exactly why they bothered him so much, but his instincts were telling him that they were dangerous, and that he hadnt seen thest of the cave dwelling scavengers


    The party and their creaky wagon travelled along the old overgrown road for several hours before nearing their goal. Except for a flight of harpies flying overhead and the distant bellowing of an ogre, they didnt encounter anything dangerous.


    Once the forest parted and the fields around Shelter came into sight, the group split up. Most the humans headed for the town, while the hobgoblins began hiking over to their camp. The humans took the wagon, but almost all of its contents were divided up among the hobgoblins for them to carry. The only human travelling with the hobgoblins was the smelter from Herstcrest that Ferrar had chosen.


    Ill be along to check on you soon, he told his mute daughter before handing her off to Geralhd.


    Geralhd gave the man a dignified nod. I promise that she will be well cared for. Shelter is a rather safe and weing ce. The people there are rustic but well-meaning. Shes in good hands. You wont find better.


    Ive talked to some of the men from there, and I believe youre right, the man replied before giving his daughter a reassuring smile. The little girl gave him a sad nod back and clutched her doll.


    Ferrar had been rather stubborn about making sure the craftsman came with them right away, instead of going to Shelter first. cknail didnt care, but Ferrar was apparently quite impatient to get to work and hadnt been willing to ept any dy.


    Im going to go with them to Shelter. I need to make sure my underlings are taken care of and stuff. Some of them have beenining about the adventure we just went on, Khita told cknail. He didnt care.


    Once Geralhds group was moving, cknail led the others to the goblin settlement. Weighed down by loot and gear, it took the tired hobgoblins a few hours, but they got there without a problem.


    As usual, before entering through the gate, cknail climbed up one of the nearby hills so that he could look down on the entire settlement. It was much the same, a crude wooden wall around a bunch of rocky hills and primitive structures, but he noticed two things that had changed. The longhouse that had been under construction when hed left was done and the beginnings of apletely new one had been put down. cknail sighed as he studied them. So many hobgoblins


    Huh, I was actually expecting much worse than this, the bearded craftsman remarked matter-of-factly as he stared down the hill. I can see some smoke rising from those y furnaces over there. You werent lying about that.


    cknail sighed. It keeps growing. I cant stop it.


    I built those furnaces, Ferrar announced proudly.


    The man grunted and began walking toward the gate. Well, lets get going. I cant say I ever thought Id be doing anything like this, but Ive been expecting to die in misery for a while now, and this cant be worse. The gods have given me hope, so Id be a fool not to grasp at it, no matter how treacherous the way through the dark is.


    Ferrarughed with gleeful excitement as he followed after the man. The light is from a fire burning bright. I cant wait. Were going to burn so much together! It will be so very glorious.