The morning was as quiet as last evening was. The Goblins were still stewing on my outburst and the others were mostly just trying to keep going. We quickly ate some packed up rations and broke down the camp to move on. It was mostly hardtack now. There were too many of us to pack much else besides hardtack and some jerky. I hated those things. Dry, flavourless and as hard as a brick, but at least my fangs were enough to break it bit by bit. Once done, we got back into a thin file to easily pass through the forest.
The sounds of rustling leaves and chirping birds soothed my heart and helped with the stress. It couldn’t shake off my anxiety. That I wanted to keep. It certainly didn’t feel well, but there was always a chance we would run into those mercenaries. Or even other people. I wasn’t worried about wildlife that much since we’re such a large group, but with how insane this world has been so far I couldn’t shake off the worry either.
I at least had my brother to help me. He kept an eye out for any tracks that suggest danger nearby while I led the group. Eidechse didn’t want to lead them and I doubt they’d follow him anyway. It did prevent me from flying up to scout, though. Just adding to my anxiety.
As we neared the evening, Vyth came up to me and whispered his alarming news. He had found boot tracks that had been made recently. They were near our file with a set going towards our last camp and a set going away from it. I wanted to scream. The last few days had been grinding at my nerves and slowly wearing me down. Now, there was a possibility we’d find ourselves with blades pointed at us once we left this miserable forest. I wanted to scream and shout. I wanted to break something, to claw at my own face, to do anything to let out this frustration. But I couldn’t. Vyth was looking at me for guidance, and though he tried to hide it, I could tell he was worried. He understood the danger just as well as I did and I’m sure the Goblins would too if they found out. With that in mind I took a deep breath and walked towards the back of the file where Eidechse and Thet were.
“I need you to lead for a moment”, I said.
“Not happening. They’re your problem”, he curtly answered.
“I need someone to lead for a moment and you’re the only one with the character to do so. It’s only for a few minutes while I scout ahead”.
“I don’t think you understand, runt. Me and th-”
“I’ll do it”, Thet says.
“You sure they’ll listen?”, I asked.
“Don’t worry about it. Go look into whatever it is that’s concerning you”.
“But I-”
“You and your brother are as inconspicuous as a squealing hog. Half the Gobs know there’s something going on”.
I was too tired to argue or ask about this. So on an impulse I decided to turn to the rest of the file and grabbed their attention.
“Listen up! Tracks have been found that lead us to believe there’s people nearby that have spotted us. If they manage to get into a town and notify them of our movements, we’ll have a small army to deal with. There’s not much you can do to stop this. Rushing toward where we think they are is just gonna get them to hide to run away. So I’m going to need you all to trust me. I will fly around and search for them. Once I do, my brother and I will kill them. In the meantime, follow Thet and stay quiet so they’re not scared off”.
The Goblins remained quiet for a while. Clearly they were nervous and they had every right to be. Thet and Vyth were also silent, taken aback a bit by my sudden announcement. Eidechse looked impassive, however.
“Kill, eh?”, Eidechse said.
“What else can I do? As long as they’re alive they can bring us in danger”.
“You seem to be overestimating the average constable, pipsqueak. I doubt they’ll take it seriously or even bother with sending someone to investigate”.
“What if they get lucky and find someone that’s actually competent? What if others spot us? The constable might ignore one or two people, but they can’t ignore a whole group”.
“Listen to yourself, kid. You're being paranoid. You’ve got your scales shivering because some random hunters ran out of fear for their lives. Take them alive and bring them to me. I’ll deal with it without the need for bloodshed”.
I wanted to continue arguing. We couldn’t be sure Eidechse’s convincing would work, so there’d still be the threat of persecution. I didn’t understand why he couldn’t see that. Our group is odd and will be perceived as a threat. Any authority figure with half a brain would act on it. Besides, I thought he was a criminal. Why was he suddenly so careful to spill blood? He must’ve ruined far more lives with the drugs he sold them and killed many more that formed competition or stood in his way. Still, arguing wasn’t worth it. I agreed to his plan and flew off in search of these people with Vyth in tow to point me the way. The decision on what to do with them would be delayed until I could gauge them while Eidechse did his job.
After an hour and a half of searching we managed to spot them. Two of them. Men that looked rough and wiry. They were hiding in a little dip in the ground. They reminded me of rabbits, trying to stay out of sight from any potential predators. We swooped down and landed right before them. They jumped and were just about to run when I spoke to give them a second’s pause.
“Wait. We won’t harm you if you come with us willingly. We have a friend that wants to speak with you. So just come along peacefully and we’ll leave you alone afterwards”, I said.
“Bullshit! You stay right there or I’ll shoot you down where you stand, little lizard”, one of them said as the men notched arrows aimed at us.
I shot a ray of ice against the tree next to one. The bark froze up quickly and crumbled. It left lightly coloured wood exposed with slight discolouration around the edges, like a scar.
“Choose again”, I grumbled.
I knew I was right. These guys were pissing themselves, they were so scared. They would have ratted us out. They couldn’t live with “monsters” in their woods. With my message made clear, they slowly unnotched their arrows. I nudged them in the right direction and followed about 10 paces back with Vyth. We remained quiet for the whole trip. I could see them whispering to each other occasionally, but all it took was a glare for them to reconsider any escape attempts.
Once we finally reached camp, Eidechse and Thet had been waiting. The Goblins had been kept busy, gathering food or wood, and thus kept mostly out of sight. I don’t know why, but that irked me. I saw what Eidechse was doing and I understood the wisdom behind it. But it still felt disrespectful to the Goblins we had been travelling with now for days on end.
“Greetings, huntsmen!”, Eidechse bellowed once we arrived, “Sit and make yourselves comfortable! We have much to discuss”.
Their conversation lasted a good while. The hunters were scared at first, but Eidechse managed to calm them down. He lied to them. Told them there were Goblins, but that they weren’t with us. He said we fought off the Goblins when they ambushed us and that we were taking the few survivors they could see hanging around to the nearest town for a bounty. He was pretty convincing all in all. The hunters accepted his story without much question.
The idea that such bounties even existed had never even crossed my mind, but of course they did. Hearing that probably brought those hunters a measure of comfort. They weren’t exactly comfortable with me and Vyth either, but Eidechse managed to convince them that we were his sons and that we only looked like Kobolds because of how young we were. Even said we’d lose our tails once we’d grow up. Those lies were ridiculous, but I guess they knew practically nothing about Draconic creatures and so they just took it as fact.
Once Eidechse had fully convinced them of his tales and made sure they were placated, he sent them back with a broad smile and a happy tone. Once they were gone, like a switch was flipped he immediately turned back to normal.
“Well, glad that’s over with”, He said while stretching out, “time to hit the sack”.
“Draushril children lose their tails as they grow up?”, Thet exclaimed amusingly, “Can’t believe what bumpkins will fall for these day”.
“Probably saw a lizard lose its tail once and thought that went for everything with scales”.
“To be fair, you do look like an overgrown iguana”.
“Har har. Go to bed. We’re gonna need to wake up early tomorrow so we can finally leave this evergreen pincushion".
I went to sleep a little further from them. I still didn’t feel right with just letting them go, but the problem had been solved. Vyth was happy with it, though. The moment any chance of danger left he went back to his old happy self again. It was infectious. My mood was uplifted just a little as I closed my eyes and fell asleep.
