by Sabrina Rosen
in Issue 100, May 2020
Sergeant Tream looked over his shoulder and ducked between the tents, heading toward the nearby woods. Since the payroll had not come through, I wanted to know where he was going. I was counting on that money. I only needed a little more in order to buy into my brother in law’s mercantile, and make a life for my little girl. I stayed low, most of my body on the ground behind the tent. Once he had disappeared into the trees, I bolted after him as fast as I could, sword thumping against my leg.
Following through trees was harder, but there were a lot of dry leaves, and I could hear him crunching ahead of me. Trying to move only when he did, I made some noise, but not nearly as much. Either the guy was seriously lacking in skills, or he was desperate to get where he was going. I hadn’t known the sergeant very long, but the general opinion was that he would not be with the Grey Thunderers for very long. While most armies had their share of idiots, mercenary troops couldn’t afford them. When you make money on your reputation, there is no good reason to pay people who will increase the likelihood of failure. I thought that whatever he was doing now might make that happen a bit sooner.
The crunching stopped. I slowed. Voices. Yes, Tream was talking to someone. I sank down and worked my way closer until I was at the edge of the clearing.
“…payroll is ours,” said a voice.
“When do I get my payment?” Said Tream.
There was a tall figure standing over him. Long white teeth flashed in the moonlight that filtered through the trees. Shit! This was one of the goblins we were supposed to be engaging in the next day or two. That scum, Tream, had sold us out!
Another tall figure was slipping up behind the captain. I realized two things. First, Tream wasn’t going to get what he wanted from his venture, and second, he might have information we needed. It can be both a blessing and a curse to act before a thought is completely formed. I leapt from my spot and made enough noise that the demon behind Tream spun and took a slice from the tip of my sword across its neck. Black blood spurted and I turned to Tream’s conspirator, hoping he hadn’t brought any other friends. Tream was gawping.
“Run!” I shouted at him, and stabbed at the goblin. He slipped to the side, evading the blade and aiming a strike at my head with his own sword. But I was already pulling back. The tip of the bade sliced my cheek just missing my eye. I swept my blade in an upper cut as his came down, and he lost his hand, the sword flying. Then the demon fell as Tream took his head off from behind. I was surprised. Both because Tream had stayed, and that we had killed two goblins with me only having a scratch. Maybe they were cut-rate goblins.
But there were supposed to be a lot of them. Numbers mattered, even if they were not the great fighters everyone imagined. I turned to Tream.
“You sold us out.” I said. “I can kill you right here,” I had seen him fight and while he was clearly brave, he wasn’t as skilled as I was, or pretty much anyone else in the Grey Thunderers for that matter. “Or you can come back to the camp with me and face Goran.”
***
Goran nodded to me. “Corporal Delos.” He looked like he had eaten something nasty. I expected more surprise when I walked into his tent with Tream, and while his eyes widened a bit, the hard line of his mouth said that he had expected something. Tream stood at parade rest while I told Goran about the last two hours. Goran leaned back in his chair and stared at the man.
Having told my story, I saluted and turned to leave.
“Stay, Delos,” said Goran. “I want you to hear this.” I suspected that I really didn’t.
Goran addressed both of us. “When I took this job, Tream here was one of the conditions.“
I saw Tream tighten his shoulders. I stepped a little closer. His jaw tight, Tream said, “What do you mean!“
“When the Duke and I negotiated the contract, you were part of the deal. I was to offer you a position in the troop, or the deal was off,” said Goran. “What I don’t understand, is what you were doing out in the woods, making deals with money that isn’t yours.”
I could hear Tream grinding his teeth. “I’m not working for the duke.” His tone was low and flat.
At this Goran did raise his eyebrows. He leaned forward in his chair. “Explain it to me,” he said.
Tream swallowed and lowered his head. Then he raised his chin back up and looked Goran in the eye. “My family is noble, but poor. My sister could marry, but she needs a dowry. I thought that a rich mercenary troop like yours wouldn’t miss one payroll.”
Goran looked at his captive for what seemed like a long time. “You don’t deal with money much do you son.”
Tream fluffed up like a hedgehog, Goran held up his hand. “Please, spare me the nonsense that everybody believes about mercenaries. We are not all rich, and we’re just trying to do a job. It’s a really difficult job, which is why we can get a lot of money for it. If everyone was willing to do the job, nobody would need us. And we could all go be farmers.”
“I’d rather be a merchant sir.” I said. Sometimes I don’t know when to keep my mouth shut.
Goran looked at me and blinked, and then he produced a genuine smile. “I don’t blame you. Farming is hard work. I’m not sure how much time I actually wanna spend on the south end of a mule.” He turned back to Tream.
“So you organized that payroll theft all by yourself?” Goran asked.
“No! The goblins approached me! They just wanted to know when it was coming in, and from which direction. And they were willing to pay for the information.”
Goran stared into the candle flame for a moment. “So why would the duke be so interested in having you come with us?”
“He probably wanted me dead,” said Tream. “My family originally supported his grandfather. But my father has been in opposition to the duke’s rule.” Looking up, his lips twisted. “He set me up.”
“Son,” said Goran, “if you were willing to betray your oath bound responsibilities, then I’d say you set yourself up.”
Tream opened his mouth to say something, but Goran held up his hand glaring at the man. “Do. Not.” His look could have lit paper on fire. “Whatever the duke did, and I have a bad feeling that this isn’t the only thing, no one forced you to betray us. You could have fought and gotten paid like everyone else here. You could have improved your skills instead of acting like you had more knowledge and experience than you do. Take responsibility for your own actions.” Goran looked out the tent door, and called, “Guard!”
One stepped into the doorway, “Sir?”
“Tie this man up and confine him,” ordered Goran.
The guard looked confused. Since mercenary troops are a voluntary activity, the Grey Thunderers did not have anything in place for confining a human being. If someone stole from someone else, depending on the theft, it might simply be worth their life if they got caught. And attempting to kill someone was stupid in a room full of people who actually knew how to fight. So it wasn’t like we carried a stockade around with us.
Goran rubbed his face in his hands. “Tie his hands, drive a post into the ground, and tie his hands to it. Understand?”
The soldier repeated the orders back, Goran nodded, and they took Tream away. I started to follow, but Goran called me back.
He pulled a stool out of the corner, and placing it across from his chair, gestured to it. I sat, trying to keep my expression calm. Resting his elbow on the arm of the chair and his chin in the palm of his hand, he stared at me.
“I don’t like this,” he finally said. “Something doesn’t feel right to me. The duke offered us a lot of money to do this job. Maybe even more than fighting goblins is worth. Especially after you telling me about their fighting skills.”
I had to agree, and it made my stomach twist. I nodded.
“I need intelligence,” said Goran.
Which is how I ended up sneaking back towards the goblin army the next night.
***
I had almost reached what should have been the other armies picket points when Tream materialized. I heard something behind me, so I planted myself behind a tree and waited. My shadow went past, and I slipped in behind, stopping myself from knifing Tream in the kidney when I recognized him. He had the nerve to look relieved when he turned around.
He started to talk, but I put a hand over his mouth and pulled him back in the direction that we had come for 50 yards or so.
“What are you doing here?” I hissed.
He started to babble, which made me glad I had pulled him back. I made a shushing gesture, and got him to calm down. But the upshot was that he had wiggled out of his bonds and snuck away from where he had been tied. His guards were going to be in trouble. How he had managed to be that sneaky was a mystery. He was not good at being quiet in the woods and field. Not really a skill you need to develop when you do all your hunting from horseback with a hawk.
One thing was abundantly clear. He hated the duke.
“I will have my vengeance!” He said sotto voice. “I wanted to prove myself, but I wanted it to be on my terms. Not because I was forced on somebody.”
I shook my head, “and stealing the payroll was the way you were going to do that?”
“That only came up later.” He waved his hand as if it was somehow unimportant, “I do regret that. And I never thanked you for saving me. So thank you, I owe you.”
I rolled my eyes. “I only did that so I could take you back to Captain Goran.”
“Irrelevant.” He said. “It would’ve been easier for you to just let them kill me and take my body back when they were done.”
“What? So I could bring back a half eaten corpse? No thank you. And way too much work.”
“Say anything you want I owe you.” He insisted.
I shut up. It’s not any good to argue with crazy people. But now what was I gonna do with him? I went back to the original question.
“I’m here to help you spy on the goblins,” he said.
I groaned softly and put my head in my hands. If there was anyone less suited to spying than the man in front of me…
But it was clear I wasn’t going to get rid of him. Then I had an inspiration.
Fine.” I said. “You can do your best to make this right. Go find the payroll, if you can. And we’re gonna need to find someway to get it back.”
Tream stood up straighter. “Yes!” He said. “I will do it or die trying!“
That worked for me. And with any luck, he would make enough of a distraction that I might be able to learn something.
“Good,” I said. “But let’s see if we can get you to be able to be a little quieter before we get into this camp.”
***
Tream surprised me. I had not expected him to learn how to walk quietly so quickly. It turns out it was not a matter of ability, but lack of experience. I was right, he had never hunted on foot. Once I got him to pay attention to where his feet were and how to walk, he did much better. By the time we could see the outer patrols from between blades of grass, he was moving about as quietly as a beginner at this could be expected to. I made sure that both of us covered our skin in mud to keep it from reflecting light, and wove us both some leafy crowns that we could wear on our heads for camouflage.
There were few guards around the camp, although there were plenty of goblins in the camp itself, and I hoped Tream would be able to successfully avoid or distract them. I had my own job to do. In hindsight, doing this at night was probably a tactical error. The goblins all seem to be awake. Apparently they are nocturnal. Disguise was hardly an option, because even if I stole some of their boiled leather armor, thank the gods I bore no resemblance to their froggy, toothy features.
I, however, did have plenty of experience hunting and stalking on foot. Not that that mattered. The goblins did not have a camp the way humans did. Why on earth did I think the goblins would have tents? There was nothing for me to hide behind, except some trees. And they were all so close together, there was no way I was going to be able to do any sneaking around.
There were fires, but the goblins hadn’t built them, they had randomly lit up trees. Lucky for us, it was not the dry season, or the whole forest would have gone up. This could only be called an army by the broadest of strokes. If there was any leadership, I couldn’t see it.
Suddenly they began to turn away from me. Goblins shambled to their feet and started to move through the trees. They went as a group leaving no sentries or guards. It seemed that Tream was providing that distraction I had hoped for. I followed behind slipping from tree to tree. The stench was unbelievable. Goblins did not believe in latrines. I did my best to avoid stinky piles, but wasn’t always successful.
I headed to where the goblins have been clumped most tightly. Had I not been on a battlefield before, the stench might’ve made me vomit. If this was any indication, we might all die from the smell of them.
I gave up trying to clean off my boots. The goblins obviously didn’t care what they were walking in. Where they had been clumped most tightly, was what appeared to be a giant nest made of sticks, and apparently, important enough to not be used as a toilet. Lying in the center was a black rod approximately two feet long, smooth and shiny and marked with sigils.
I scooped it up and ran.
***
By the time I made it back to the camp, Tream was already there, bleeding from a cut on his forearm. It was wrapped in a makeshift bandage and he looked glum. I was surprised he was still alive and wondered how long he would stay that way. But Goran looked more perplexed than angry. I put the staff down on his work table. Goran raised his eyebrows, and I told him about the camp. His eyebrows went even higher. He picked up the staff and examined it. Then froze.
Tream had finally raised his head to see what I had brought. He came over for a closer look. Putting his his finger on the staff, he said, “I’ve seen this before, or at least something very much like it.”
Goran turned the staff a bit, revealing an emblem. “That is the duke’s coat of arms unless I am greatly mistaken.“
Tream nodded. “Yes sir, it is. When I was in the duke’s castle last year, I saw this. My father and I were called to an audience, and it was on the table next to him.”
Goran set the staff back down. Resting his hands on his table he looked up and said,
“Gentlemen I believe we have all been set up. The question is why.”
I didn’t know how Tream had came to be included in the term ‘gentleman.’ Whatever he had done in the goblin camp had apparently been enough for Goran to forgive him.
I got the story later. Tream had come across the payroll cart with the horse still attached in the traces and the payroll box on the back. He climbed up into the cart and started to drive away, after a brief fight. The noise was what had drawn the goblins away from me. He got the horse and cart back up onto the nearby road from whence it had originally come, and then they ran hell bent for leather, goblins in pursuit. Eventually the goblins gave up, and he had been able to stop. At which point he found out why out-running them had been relatively easy. The box containing the payroll was empty, explaining his dour expression.
“I’m a failure,” he groaned. We sat in the cook tent. I was shoveling in food as fast as I could. Tream had pushed his meal away and was sitting with his hands on either side of his head.
“You may not have done what you intended, but if you hadn’t distracted them I wouldn’t have been able to find the rod. What you did was brave, and Goran respects that.”
He looked slightly less dejected, “you really think so?”
“You’re not in leg irons are you? And I think you got bonus points for not hurting the guards on your way,” I said. “Now eat your food. When you’re a soldier, you take every opportunity to eat and rest. You never know when the shit’s going to hit the cart.”
He looked mildly skeptical, but pulled over his plate and began to eat. One thing about Goran’s troop, the food was always good. But after this I was going to have to clean my boots. I was pretty sure that the only reason Goran hadn’t thrown me back out of his tent was that I had brought something back with me. Good thing he didn’t have a rug by his work table.
***
I woke to yelling.
Jerking on my now clean boots, and grabbing my sword I ran out of the tent, toward the sound of metal clashing. Goblins were attacking the camp. Not in any sort of organized way, and I realized quickly that there were only four. Two were already down. I arrived just in time to see one goblin get his teeth into a soldier’s arm and shake him like a dog. Blood flew. I stepped in, stabbing it through the side of its throat. It collapsed, it’s teeth still embedded. Another man had taken down the fourth while I helped get fangs out of the injured man’s arm. Goran was suddenly next to me and together we pried open the creature’s jaws and created an improvised bandage. Another man escorted the patient off to the medical tent.
Goran stood up, frowning. “Why only four?” He asked aloud. I had no answer. But later in the day, two more goblins came, and then another three that evening. After the third attack, I was summoned to the command tent. Tream arrived a minute behind me.
Goran waited with his two other lieutenants.
“So here’s what I think is happening,” said Goran. “I think the goblins are drawn to the staff. And I have a place I’d like to send them.”
Which is how Tream and I were once again on the road. This time we were mounted, and I had the staff in my saddle bag. There would be no sneaking this time, just a bit of subterfuge. We skirted the goblins heading for the road. We didn’t move at speed since we needed to verify Goran’s theory. Sure enough, when we paused for a short while out of sight of the main hoard, a goblin emerged from the woods heading toward us, then another close behind. We turned our horses and galloped down the road, only slowing when we were miles beyond the camp.
When we arrived at our destination, Tream and I picked a post where we could see the road, waited until dark, and then waited a couple hours more until we saw movement.
“Time to go,” I said.
Leaving the horses, we made for the Duke’s castle. Tream, who was familiar with the layout, led us to a spot where an outbuilding lay close to the wall. I took a hold of the staff, and with an overhand flip, tossed it on to the thatched roof. Then we retreated back to the horses.
Soon we saw activity. The goblins did not carry torches and their approach to the castle was silent. They were within a few hundred feet of the walls before the alarm was given and the gate guards began to rally the barracks. I wondered if they knew what the duke was up to, or if there were captains that knew he had conjured the army they were now fighting. I expected that most did not.
As demonstrated by the fact that Treme and I were able to place the staff inside the wall, the duke’s palace was not the best place to be sitting out a siege. The garrison was not nearly enough men to handle the 8000 or so goblins that was surrounding the castle. Riding out into their midst probably was suicide.
When the goblins started climbing the walls, the Gray Thunderers hit them from behind. Tream and I remounted and plunged down the hill to join the battle.
With the Thunderers pressing the goblins up against the wall, we started to get some help from inside the bailey. I could see bowmen on the walls. Then a horn sounded, the gate opened and the guard charged out pressing the goblins toward us.
In the moment between one goblin and the next, Tream grabbed my arm and began to pull me toward the open gate.
“We have to get inside,” he said. “If the duke is going to do something about this I want to be there.”
I followed him as we dodged through the battlefield, and through the gate. Not looking like goblins made us safe enough. There were goblins in the bailey as well where they had climbed over the wall near the stable in search of the staff.
Tream paused in his mad rush, scanning the castle.
“What are you looking for?”
He kept looking, then said, “there,” pointing. A light flickered in one of the upper windows. We ran toward the castle doors, a pair of goblins lunged at us and I slashed at one. Tream was moving fast enough to dodge the second, he spun to engage it, when it disappeared in a puff of smoke. My mouth fell open.
Tream yelled, “come on! He’s sending them back.” He bolted up the stairs to the door. Trying to open it, he pulled, but it was clearly barred from the inside. Tream swore, dodging around the building.
“Wait!” Looking around, I saw some guards fighting goblins, which then disappeared. “Hey!” I yelled at them “You there! The duke is under attack! We need to get into the castle!”
The man looked confused, but then straightened and called, “this way!”
We followed them to a door into the kitchen and then up the stairs to a door on the second floor. They were flashes of light coming from beneath it. We burst into the room. It was empty of furniture, and on the floor was a large chalked circle, bearing many symbols and candles. The duke stood to one side holding a staff very much like the one that now rested on the roof of his stable.
“Sorcery!” Yelled Tream. “He did this! He called the goblins!”
“You fool!” Screamed back the duke. “I’m sending them back!”
It seemed that the duke’s retainers had had their doubts about him. They didn’t hesitate to surround him, and I half expected him to disappear himself in a puff of smoke. But magic has its limits, and it seems that dematerialization was one of them.
While his retainers dragged the duke down to the dungeon, Tream was staring out the window.
“Come on,” I said, “we still have demons to kill. We probably should have let him finish sending more of them back. We’re gonna have to do it ourselves.” Tream’s eyes cleared and he nodded, and we ran back down the stairs.
It took another two weeks, not to mention a peasants revolt supported by Tream’s father, before the matter was resolved. Lord Tream was able to shed some light on the duke’s behavior. It seemed that Captain Goran’s father had blackmailed the young duke after catching him using sorcery back in the day, and then used the money to start the Gray Thunderers. Captain Goran had known nothing of this.
Lucky for the Thunderers, there was enough money in the ducal treasury to pay the mercenary troop. The town’s people even threw in a small bonus in appreciation for being rescued from their own leader.
I was packing to leave when I was summoned to Captain Goran’s tent.
Tream and his father were there. Goran offered his hand to me.
“I know you’re set on going home, but are you sure you wouldn’t like to stay? I can offer you a promotion and an increase in pay.”
I shook my head. “This has been fun sir, but all I want to do is get home to my little girl.”
Goran nodded. “I thought so, but I had to ask.
I turned to Tream. “So it looks like you might be the ducal heir now.”
But Tream shook his head. “Even if I didn’t have two older brothers, I don’t want the job.” He looked at Goran, who nodded back. “I am staying in the Thunderers.”
I grinned. “Decided to do some honest work for a change, huh?”
Tream laughed And offered his hand. I took it. It was time for me to go home.
©May 2020, Sabrina Rosen
Sabrina Rosen is a writer, home remodeler, massage therapist, and, landlord. She lives in Connecticut with her husband and two tuxedo cats. This is her first appearance in Swords & Sorcery.