14. ENTER THE HEROES

It began to rain, fat drops rustling through the canopy of leaves and forming trickles down branches, and trunks. The ground became a bog, the daytime became night. The heroes glanced at the rain, shaking their heads in annoyance. They took up stations behind the great trees and watched the shadows, guarding against the dangers of the dark. They were in a classic Guild raiding party of seven: three blockers in heavy armor and carrying big shields, three strikers armed with bows, spears or long swords, and a scout who was standing with the awkward air of someone who wanted to be anywhere else. Three of the party were human, but there was a dwarf, an orc, and an elf, too, and the scout was a short lizardling with orange scales. The Heroes Guild did not discriminate: any race willing to get their hands dirty was welcome.

The party’s leader was a human frost archer named Nial Liv, and he was less than pleased with Nanoc and Dren. He’d tussled them up with ropes around their wrists and ankles and forced them to sit in the mud.

“So there’s no treasure?” he asked them for the third time.

“No,” Dren said.

Nial Liv shook his head. “I just don’t believe you.”

He pulled an arrow from his belt and spun it in his fingers. Watching the silver arrowhead was hypnotic – Nanoc forced himself to look at the hero instead. There was a golden ‘H’ pinned to Nial Liv’s chest, showing him to be a senior hero, someone who had reached the rank of ‘party leader. Only the toughest and most dangerous heroes made it to such a high rank.

“This forest is dangerous,” he whispered to Dren. “No one would simply enter without good reason. I’ve heard stories, you see. The most terrible stories of travelers who met nasty ends beneath these dark trees.”

Dren looked interested; Nanoc rolled his eyes at the dramatics. The rest of the heroes, however, were getting worried. One of the best ways a hero could stay alive was to stay moving, but they had been wasting precious time interrogating Nanoc and Dren.

“We can’t stay here, boss,” one of the blockers called out, but Nial Liv waved a dismissive hand at him.

The blockers’ badges were wooden, which marked them as junior apprentices, the second lowest tier in the Guild hierarchy. Their armor was rusty, their weapons one-handed, and they wore large round helmets that didn’t quite fit them. They shuffled their feet nervously as they stared into the forest gloom.

Nial Liv, by comparison, had been a hero for many years. His armor was custom-made, his bow enchanted, his purse full of stolen gems. He was not worried about creatures in the forest. He waved his second in command, Rellik, towards him. She was a powerful orc with a scar down the side of her face and a red axe in her hands. Rellik was a striker, too. They tended to live longer than blockers, and she had reached the level of senior journeyman hero. She knelt down beside Nanoc, drew a knife, and began to clean her nails with it. She’d painted her nails red to match her axe and even added tiny white skulls.

“This unlikely duo claim to have no treasure nor to know of any,” Nial Liv explained to her, his voice soft and deadly. “Yet they cannot explain what they seek in this far corner of the empire.”

“And why would they be in this gods forsaken forest if not for treasure?” Rellik agreed, sharpening one of her nails. “I think they know something we don’t.”

“I don’t,” Nanoc said, but at the same time Dren said “I do!”

The heroes exchanged a glance.

“So which is it?” Rellik asked. “Do you know something or not?”

“I know lots of things you don’t,” Dren said passionately. “As I am sure you know much I would like to learn. Do you know, we could discuss—”

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Rellik drew a rag from her pocket and forced it into Dren’s mouth, shutting him up. Nial Liv pointed his arrow at Nanoc.

“Talk,” he ordered.

“I don’t know anything, really,” the gnome said. “I’m just as confused as you are. Does anyone have any pants I can borrow? I think these ones are splitting.”

Rellik cuffed Nanoc across the head.

“They’re idiots, boss. Let’s just kill them and steal their…” Rellik cast a professional eye over Nanoc and Dren to determine how much their possessions might be worth. She shook her head, equally annoyed and disappointed. “Let’s just kill them. Then we can go find the necromancer’s tower.”

Dren nodded his head vigorously, and Rellik pulled the rag from his mouth.

“What?”

“Do you know, I passed a tower several days ago,” Dren said helpfully. “It’s in my notebook. I could draw you a map to it quite easily, I have a pencil in one of my pockets—"

He was interrupted by the sound of a “Glup!” from behind a nearby tree.

“Something approaches,” the lizardling scout hissed. “Take your positions!”

Nial Liv stood suddenly and glared at the scout. “I’m in command here,” he snapped. “I’ll decide what we do. Blockers to the front, strikers behind. Scout, stay with the prisoners!”

The blockers had their shields ready, each also carrying a small sword or hammer. The lizardling scout walked over to stand beside Nanoc and Dren, her steps quick and nervous, threatening to turn into a run at any moment. Rellik took position behind one of the blockers, her axe ready. The other striker, an elf with a thick hunting spear, crouched behind the second blocker, and Nial Liv stood behind the third, bow in hand.

“Every get ready!” he ordered.

Nanoc felt the hairs on the back of his neck rise, and his heart began to pound in his chest. He could hear the toads smashing through the trees and bushes, the hungry Glup! Glup! getting closer, louder, faster.

Nial Liv did not seem concerned. The hero was many things, most terrible, but he was a party leader, and nobody reached such a high rank without being able to fight, without being dangerous.

“Hold your positions,” he called out as the crashing sounds grew nearer. “The first person to run gets an arrow in the back of their heads.”

A bane toad hopped out from behind a tree and barely had time to say ”Glu—” before a blue arrow hit it in the chest and the toad exploded into a cloud of snow. When the snow cleared, the toad was frozen in a cube of ice. The blockers cheered, the strikers and scout were silent.

“There’s plenty more ice arrows where that came from, do you hear me!” Nial Liv shouted into the forest.

Several more toads bounced into view, one charging right at the heroes. It slammed into one of the blocker’s shields, nearly knocking her over before Rellik super kicked it back into the bushes. The other toads hung back, sheltering behind tree trunks and thick fallen branches, but their calling was undeterred: “Glup! Glup!”

More toads gathered until their big eyes glittered from every tree and shadow, but they made no move toward the heroes. They hadn’t come to fight; they’d come to watch.

“Glup!” they began to croak in chorus. “Glup! Glup!”

“Do you know,” Dren said from his position on the ground. “I think this may be some sort of primitive summoning ritual. Can someone untie me so that I can take notes?”

The toads’ call was repeated through the forest, building in volume and frequency, echoing until it seemed to be coming from every direction at once. Rellik tried to shout a question to one of the blockers, but the toads were simply too loud, and no words could be heard. Nanoc raised his hands to shove his fingers in his ears, but his wrists were bound and he couldn’t reach. One of the blockers mouthed a curse, dropping his shield and clutching his ears. Everyone – from orc to gnome – wished the croaking would stop.

And then it did. Every toad fell silent, and the forest was utterly quiet. The birds did not sing, the leaves did not rustle, the rain did not drop. The silence was complete.

“That’s better,” Dren said, still trying to wiggle out of the ropes that bound him. “Now, I really would appreciate if you would let me—"

‘“GLUP!” came a new roar, a single voice but far larger and more powerful than anything the heroes had ever heard before. ‘“GLUP!”

Tree branches snapped and splintered as a new terror came crashing through the trees: it was a bane toad, but at least a hundred times larger than the ones Nanoc and Dren had defeated. It landed with a thud that made the whole ground shake. The heroes cursed and swore, raising their shields and weapons, and a single pearl of worried sweat formed on Nial Liv’s forehead. They were all going to be toad food.

“Hey, Nanoc,” Dren called out cheerfully. “Nanoc, look at the size of that thing! It’s—"

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GLUP! the Boss Bane Toad

A legendary monster! The biggest bane toad in the forest, maybe in the world.

Likes: taking long hops at sunset and eating lesser monsters. Hates: people who hurt his toad followers.

GLUP! was in a bad mood before you arrived, now he’s froggy furious!

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