Chapter 026 pt.2

A horn sounded from the south, short and sharp, as they arrived at the southern gate. Anton saw the villager using the horn, it looked liked a hollow horn from some unknown beast. They ran up the steps on the side of the gate. The villagers either side looked very nervous.

“Where are they?” Jeff asked.

The woman from before pointed out past the bone yards and to the dimples in the grass which denoted the Thumper fields.

Oh yeah, I forgot about that. We'll need to go hunt one of them one day and try that experiment again.

Slowly moving through the Thumper fields were hundreds of small brown and white creatures.

They were covered in fur, had animal ears, short tails and a dog's or fox's snout for a face. Out of their backs were several large, randomly placed, bone-like spikes about half a foot long, their tips were a pale green and looked wet under that late suns light. Each wore an extra layer of patchwork skins over their chests that continued down to their knees, each also wielding a crudely fashioned wooden spear.

Unlike Kal there was nothing about them that looked or could be called remotely human.

“Are those Kobolds?” Anton asked. “They look...”

He looked to Kal who nodded but also grimaced.

“There's...three hundred and twenty seven of them.” Kal added. “And yes, they do have a resemblance to us Beast-kin.”

That could be one reason why Beast-kin seem so hated.

“You really can see well, huh?” Verona asked, Kal not knowing how to answer. She seemed not to care about their similarity.

“So, what do you think we should do?” Anton asked Jeff.

He looked a little confused towards Anton but seemed to realize what he was trying to say.

“Right, we need to be able to defend ourselves properly even when your not here.”

“You're in charge of the soldiers, but I'll help when I'm needed.”

Jeff smiled at hearing that.

“Where's Avery?” Anton asked, “We need all the ranged weapons we can get.”

A few seconds later there were more approaching villagers. Over a hundred fully armed villagers emerged from behind the buildings, Avery and another thirty odd ranged villagers behind him. He and the ranged villagers raced up the stairs and onto the wall, the other villagers standing in a rough formation behind the gate and wall.

“Sorry I'm late.” Avery raised his hand in apology, “It took us a while to get everything together and ready. From now on, with your permission, I would like them to be stored somewhere near the center of Atros. That way we can get them and respond more quickly.”

“Sounds like a good idea.” Anton said, Jeff agreeing as well. “Anyway, get ready, we have Kobolds to fight. What ever they are.”

With a wave of his hand the archers and crossbowmen fanned out along the wall. There were not that many of them, about thirty in total, but they made a difference last time and that was against several thousand. They would be a great help now.

“What are Kobolds, anyway?” Anton asked.

Kal was the first to answer, before anyone else could.

“They are a monster race just like the goblins. They send out raiding parties like this to steal and take whatever they can for their tribe, killing anything in the way. Though, there's never just one group.”

Kal looked around the southern horizon.

“There are probably a dozen of these parties roaming around now.”

“Should we attack first?” Verona asked, the height of the wall being just below Anton's chest so she could see over.

“Maybe.” Anton replied. “It looks like they are coming straight for us, and there's no way that they cannot see this city. At least it's not the capital goblins making a move on Atros.”

“What type are they?” Kal asked hesitantly.

“Green Goblins at the capital ruins,” Verona answered, “There were yellow ones from the mountain.”

“Green Goblins, as you call them, are very frail. As they are so weak they need to attack in swarms, they run away quite easily. I once had to fight off a few at once and I found it relatively easy. There are quite a few varieties out there.”

“What about the yellow ones then?” Verona asked.

“They have decent strength and vision, at least from what I can tell. The Yellow's are not going to run away easily when they decide to attack.”

“You are right about that. At last count, there were several thousand Green Goblins at the old capital.” Anton lamented as he grasped the edge of the parapet. “Who knows how many there are now.”

“At least they haven't tried to take anyone away,” Jeff added, “So they should not be able to breed up too quickly.”

“The Yellow Goblin's kidnapped people?” Kal looked surprised at the others, their attention falling on Anton.

“Quite a few women. They were...forcing them to bear their children. Very nasty. Dana, the one you met before, is the only captive still alive.”

“They killed them? That seems odd.”

“No....I put them down.”

Anton did not like having those memories brought up, but he knew that Kal would have had no possible way to know about that. Seeing his expression darken she looked quite apologetic, though Verona, out the corner of his eye, waved her hands and let her know it was alright.

“Anyway, these Kobolds...” Anton began, removing his hands from the wall, “Do we wait for them to come to us or do we hit first?”

Jeff held his chin in thought, everyone around him was silent.

“If they do see us and think that we have something of value, and they make it back to their main camp, they may decide to attack with everything they have. And we would have no way of knowing when that would be or if any attack was the last.”

Jeff turned to Anton and Verona.

“It would force both of you to stay here, so you wouldn't be able to continue negotiations with Maxill or anyone else. Basically stopping the growth of the village for some time. If what you told us is right, we cannot spare any of that.”

Kal threw a quizzical brow up but said nothing.

“So, we attack?” Anton asked.

Jeff hesitated, “We'll wait for them to get closer then attack. We have walls so we should use them, and then we can chase them down and stop them running back home.”

“The timing seems a little convenient.” Avery said quietly.

Anton was about to rebuke him but could not disagree. The day that a half-breed Beast-kin joined them coincides with their first incident with Kobolds, which looked similar to her, was something that could look a little suspicious. However, Anton thought that there was nothing deceptive about Kal, for the most part.

“It could be.” Anton replied, “But I don't think so. These Kobolds don't seem like the kind of things to work with humans or Beast-kin. You all seem to know what they are though.”

Avery nodded in response.

“We've seen them from time to time but never that many. Guess they've bred up since the kingdom collapsed.”

Another forty armed villagers came to the gate, all looking quite eager for battle. Some of these wore the recovered green Bosciycium weapons. They could carve through the Kobolds so long as they could get into close combat.

“Can someone get Dana and the other scouts and their horses here?” Anton said. “No point waiting for them to run away first.”

A few lightly armed soldiers ran back into the village.

“They're at the beginning of the bone-yard now,” Kal announced, the crossbowmen loading their weapons and archers readying their arrows.

Anton could not help but feel some unease. If the Kobolds were after things to steal, this somewhat obvious attack could be a distraction for another attack somewhere else along the wall. He felt like there was something bigger at play, maybe.

“Jeff, are the rest of the villagers on alert?” Anton asked, “Something's not right with this.”

“Everyone should be,” Jeff said as he pointed to somewhere further down the wall that had more villagers that were on alert and ready, “Something wrong?”

“Just that this attack doesn't make much sense, unless they really think they can break through into the village. Just remember though, that we will only provide help if you need it.”

Jeff agreed, he seemed to like the chance to prove the strength of the villagers.

The sound of horse hooves running on stone came from the center of the village. Dana emerged, leading a dozen horses with armed villagers, wielding spears and small shields. The horses themselves looked like they had armor attached on their chests and side.

“You called for us?” Dana asked, bringing her horse to a halt.

“Really impressive Dana, just keep them ready. We'll need them to chase down the survivors.” Anton replied.

Dana looked at the other riders, they nodded.

“Sure. I'm looking forward to it.”

“Good to hear Dana. Jeff, can you make sure that the gate can be opened quickly, just in case we need to charge forward in a hurry.”

Jeff agreed.

“They're almost here.” Kal announced, everyone crouching low behind the parapet's.

The Kobolds emerged from the bone-yard and continued straight towards them.

“Avery, when they reach about fifty meters...or yards, unleash hell on them. Any sooner and they might just run away without loosing many.”

Avery nodded, sending the order down the line of ranged villagers. The melee villagers took their positions on the wall as well.

The Kobolds broke into a run the moment they emerged from the bone-yard. They did not have anything that looked like bows, but those green tipped spines gave him cause for concern.

Everyone was quiet, waiting for the sounds of arrows and bolts flying through the air.

The first Kobolds reached fifty meters from the wall. Avery gave a low shout, the ranged villagers repeating. They stood up quickly and fired. The arrows and bolts struck the mass of flesh, shrieks emanating from their panicked lines. Their panic did not last long as they girded themselves and charged.

Kal rose as well, firing into the crowd.

Anton gave Verona some blood and readied some fireballs.

To his utter bewilderment the Kobolds continued to run at the walls. The archers and crossbowmen did their best, killing dozens before they smashed into the wall.

We're going to need a lot more crossbows and bows, then they won't even reach the walls.

With a snarl and howl they started clambering over each-other and up the wall. Jeff waved his soldiers forward to the edge, striking them down as they clambered up.

Quite a few managed to clamber over the wall and straight into the villagers. Anton could smell them now, it was like a mixture of vomit and putrefying flesh, though it may have been coming from their spines.

One leapt up infront of Kal, just as she was about to fire another arrow. She shot it between the eyes, its body going limp as it fell back onto the ground. Another attacked from the side. Kal dropped her bow and brought out a dagger, glancing away the wooden stake. It flung clean out of its furred paws, the surprise clear on it's muzzle face.

Instead of panicking it reached onto its back and, with a almighty reef and scream, pulled the spine clean out of its back. It was about a foot long, the root was covered in blood and looked as if it had teeth where the body was attached to it. Verona was fighting another Kobold, more toying with it, and did not see this but Anton was shocked. So much so that the fireballs quivered under his distraction.

He flung the fireballs straight over the wall and onto the Kobolds. Many screamed but it did nothing to dissuade their assault.

The Kobold held the spine towards Kal. The tip looked incredibly dangerous and not something to be cut with. Kal seemed to be of a similar mind. The Kobold lunged forward to try and impale Kal with it.

She brought out her other dagger and waited until the spine was close, twisted down and deflected it with one dagger and brought the other up into its neck. The dagger may have been old but it was more than sharp enough to puncture its fur. With a gurgling groan, it died and fell of the wall and into the village.

Kal looked around, striking and killing another Kobold with the same precision as before.

“What is that?” Verona asked, finishing off her Kobold and returning to Anton.

She was about to pick up pick up the spine when Kal grabbed her hand and stopped her.

“You don't want that on your skin.” she said, kicking it towards the wall. “If you get that on your skin, you'll be in serious trouble. Trust me.”

Verona looked between the spine and Kal. She was about to say something but another Kobold climbed over. Kal leant down and grabbed her bow, aiming at the Kobold. Verona swung her spear and cleaved its head in two above the jawbone.

The body juddered and rolled back off the wall. It fell onto another Kobold attempting to climb up, receiving several spines in its face and body. The dead body rolled off the other Kobold as it began to struggle to pull its body up. Its mouth opened and began to froth as its body shuddered uncontrollably. The strength left its body as it slid down the outer wall.

Anton leant over the wall to look, it had curled itself into a ball and leaked fluids from every orifice. A few seconds later it stopped moving and died.

Guess they aren't immune to their own poison.

He looked back to the other villagers. Some were fighting the Kobolds that had ripped out their spines, though they were keeping their distance.

“Don't let them touch you!” Anton yelled. “Their spines are covered in poison!”

The villagers had seemingly come to the same conclusion. They started bunching together and those with shields move to the front, archers and crossbowmen shot at the Kobolds from behind.

The Kobolds could not make any further progress and began to die in droves against the villagers.

A minute later, nearly all the Kobolds were dead or wounded and they knew it. None of the villagers were anything more than wounded, none had been seriously hit by the spines.

With a howl from the rear of the attack, they began to retreat. Anton wondered why they had not done it sooner, putting it down to them not realizing how many well armed villagers they had. However, their suicidal attack was concerning, he had not heard any other sounds of fighting coming from along the rest of the wall.

Verona summoned ten large blood shards and threw them at the few Kobolds still alive on the wall killing them instantly, to the delight of the villagers.

The archers and crossbowmen took their position at the edge and started shooting at the retreating Kobolds. There must have been roughly fifty that had survived.

“Dana, run them down!”

There was a smirk over Dana's face as she readied her scouts. The gate groaned open, the horses charging out with the scouts cheering as they ran straight towards the fleeing Kobolds. Anton formed a series of lightning bolts and flung them over the at the Kobolds. He had said that he would not interfere, but he had not done much during the quick fight.

The lightning flickered and arced through the air, striking them in the back. Twenty Kobold's fur burst into flames, strange pops came from the spines as they exploded like a flower, spraying their light green poison over the trampled grass.

Dana's horsemen charged forward, though they held them back so they would not impale their horses on the their spines. They ran around them, thrusting their spears from the side and running around them. The odd Kobold skull was crushed under the horses hooves, audible even from the wall.

A few attacks and they were all dead, none made it halfway to the bone-yard. Dana cheered in triumph, something that he did not expect the calm woman to do in celebration. With a whistle she brought the horses back.

“That was impressive, everyone.” Anton said to the villagers. “You basically didn't need our help. You've come a long way since I first got here.”

They let out another cheer, glad that they had survived and done well.

“Anyone that's injured, come to me. I'll heal you.” Anton asked of the villagers.

A few came forth with minor wounds and scratches. Three villagers had wounds that looked like they had been cut by the poison spines, but not very deep. There was already the look of acute pain on their faces as they held those wounds tight.

Healing those took quite a bit of mana, the poison already starting its work.

That poison stuff would be devastating, it seems that a bit is needed for it to kill instantly like unlucky Kobold....guess that aren't immune to their own stuff. We should probably coat some arrows with it and see how it works.

With the wounded villagers healed Anton, Verona and Kal exited the village, making sure they did not get too close to the dead and still poisonous Kobold corpses. Some appeared to still be moving.

“Verona, could you please take care of them?” Anton asked, gesturing to the field of corpses.

Verona nodded, bringing up a dozen small and thin spears. She started smashing them through the head. Every so often one would groan as it was still alive. The villagers looked on blankly but Kal seemed a little disturbed.

“Well done Dana. Looks like your training really paid off.” Anton said to Dana as she stopped her horse next to Anton.

“It was not much,” she replied, “A good chance to get them some exercise, even if it was only for a moment.”

Dana stroked the neck of the horse. It seemed to enjoy it.

“Where any of the horses hit with that poison?”

Dana looked around, receiving shaking heads in return.

“Looks like they are fine. We'll let you know if they start to act any differently.”

Verona came back up to Anton. It had not taken her long before she had finished making sure they were dead. Her face was beaming, like she wanted to be praised.

“We didn't really do all that much.” he said as he rubbed her head.

“Yeah, that was annoying.” she said, shrugging dismissively, “But at least you got to train our magic a little. Also, Kal did very well.”

“She did indeed.” Dana said as she smiling, “I saw her take quite a few Kobolds down, even after they ripped out their spines.”

“Jeff, did you know they could do that?” Anton asked Jeff. He had come down from the wall and had just exited the gate.

“I've never faced Kobolds before.” he answered, looking a little awkward. “I only know a few stories about them. Didn't say anything about those spines though.”

Anton turned to Kal. She was still a little disturbed by Verona's actions, though she was quickly recovering.

“You said there were raiding parties,” Kal's ears pricked up as Anton talked to her, “Do you know where they would camp?”

Kal looked to the south.

“They would not be too far away, half a day at most. I don't know if they would have somewhere they would want to camp though.”

Anton nodded in appreciation.

It's too much to just expect Kal to know every little thing about the beasts and monsters of the world. Still, there may be something on them that could give us a clue.

He leant down and looked at one of the dead Kobold's feet, hoping to find something. The walking and grass had removed just about everything, but in the depths of the pads of its feet was sand. A familiar coloured sand.

“Kal, could they have made camp near a lake?” Anton asked as he stood up.

Kal nodded. “Yes they could....You think they have made camp at the lake?”

“Possibly. But there's no way to be sure until we scout it out.” Anton turned to Dana.

She smiled and patted her horse again.

“We'll be fast. We'll find them and then come back before dark.“ She looked to the other scouts, “Let's go!”

The gave a cheer, whipped at the reins, and the horses galloped off to the south-east.

Anton turned to the others. They still seemed quite energetic despite having just fended off an attack.

“We need to get rid of these bodies before they foul the place.” Anton said.

“But they've got those spines on them,” Verona replied, “I don't want to get any of that poison stuff on me.”

“Actually, Kal, do you know how to remove these spines without getting the poison on us?”

Kal shook her head.

“Oh well. We'll just get some thick leather when we handle those that they have already ripped out. Everyone, grab a body and drag it away, carefully.”

With a groan, the villagers started to remove the corpses. Despite a few near incidents they were all dragged away into the bone-yard. Anton also got some villagers to collect some loose spines, with thick pieces of cloth, and put them in a barn. He hoped that he could get some thick gloves in Maxill, nothing like that was available in Atros, so they could harvest the poison.

As the scouts would not return for some time Anton headed back inside the city walls.

---[]---

News of the battle traveled fast. Strangely, most people seemed interested in what Kal did during the battle. The similarities between her and the Kobolds was not lost upon them. However, as they heard how she killed quite a few and with little mercy, their attitude took a positive step. Not much, but a step. The villagers no longer looked like they wanted to get rid of her to just wanting to keep her distant.

However, there was trouble of a different kind brewing at the central plaza. As Anton came past the last building he saw fifty odd people arguing. Half were the old villagers while the other half were the released bondsmen, who did not look to happy.

“We were told this place was safe!” one of the former bondsmen said.

“They were repelled with nobody dying or getting really injured.” A villager replied, trying his best calm them down. He seemed relieved when he saw Anton.

Anton looked back to Kal, she still had her hood down and her Beast-kin ears on display.

“Kal, you had better cover your head. I don't want them to get even angrier at seeing a Beast-kin.”

Kal covered her head with the hood. The only hint that she was a Beast-kin were her eyes.

“Verona, can you take Kal to the main hall? While they cannot see her ears they might recognize her eyes.”

“Got it,” Verona replied, “We'll get something to snack on.”

Verona gave a little wave and left with Kal. The other villagers, except Jeff and a few of his soldiers, returned to their previous duties. Avery took his ranged villagers back to the training field to improve their skills.

Anton took a deep breath and walked towards the still arguing villagers. When the saw him and Jeff approaching they all stopped, the new villagers still looked quite angry.

“What's happening?” Anton asked, hoping it was not about Kal and Beast-kin hatred. “I take it that most of you have settled in?”

“How safe is this place?” one of the new villagers asked, he was the same one that at Maxill that had said that they would be safe with him.

“I didn't get your name at Maxill.”

“It's Raston.” he looked to the others, who started to calm down. “We just heard that there was a Kobold attack on the south wall.”

“Yes, there was.” Anton answered.

“And...?”

Anton looked around.

“And we won, with no casualties. They crashed against our walls and were slaughtered by a flurry of swords, spears and arrows.”

Raston looked still nervous.

“How wild is this village that we moved to?”

“Did you never have to fend off monsters or beasts of any kind in the Qaiviel Kingdom?”

Raston grimaced and awkwardly nodded.

“Most of them are kept under control, even in Maxill. I've never seen anything more than a few Green Goblins coming out of the forest.”

Jeff suppressed a laugh.

“We have fought off a Yellow Goblin army of almost six thousand. Armored and fierce.” Jeff said triumphantly. “That many Kobolds was virtually nothing.”

Anton was not going to point out that they survived the Yellow Goblin assault because of his magic. Raston and the other new villagers looked in a mixture of awe and disbelief.

“If you feel nervous we could get you and the new villagers to begin training first thing tomorrow, how to handle a sword and spear properly.” Anton looked to Jeff who nodded, “You don't look like you got any practice back at Maxill.”

“No. Only those that followed the Duchess got any equipment or training.”

“Everyone here, young and old, know how to defend themselves. I think it would be good for everyone to at least know that.”

Raston smiled awkwardly.

“I...I suppose. We're still a little bit nervous.”

“I can understand that,” Anton replied, “Seeing them up close is still not pleasant.”

“Tomorrow,” Jeff began, “We're going to get you guys to begin working. Building the wall higher should be a good way to make this place safer. If we can get it high enough they won't be able to climb up. Are you guys any good at laying stone.”

“I guess? We sort of had to do whatever we were told before.”

“Then I think that most of you will be going to help Zac then.” Jeff replied.

Anton looked to the sun hanging very low in the sky.

“I think it's time for dinner now. Once we get that under-way we can talk more and introduce you to him.”

Raston seemed quite happy that this, and so did the other new villagers, that there concerns were actually going to be listened to. Before they were probably just dismissed without any consideration.

Jeff led them away, hopefully to find Zac wherever he was now.

Anton remembered that he needed to ask him about how well the new miners had done in their scouting for minerals. He turned back to the main hall, finding Verona leaning against the wall while Kal stood patiently beside her.

“Did it go well?” Verona asked as he approached. “They don't seem to be angry anymore.”

“To be honest, I'm not sure.” Anton honestly replied, rubbing the back of his head. “I think they are just scared about being in a new place, hearing that there are monsters and beasts roaming around. I was terrified the first time I saw a Yellow Goblin. They've probably been inside a walled city their whole life.”

Anton turned to watch them walking away. “I hope that Jeff can convince them better than me.”

He turned to Kal.

“We had best show you to house now Kal. Just in case something happens you know where you can sleep.”

Kal was about to protest getting a house for herself so easily but Anton held up his hand to stop her.

“I'll just go and see if Bertram's in and get the location.”

---[]---

Bertram had one of the villagers guide them to the house. It was a few down from his new one on the other side of the alley.

Although it was small it looked quite good, the villagers had done a good job at rebuilding it so quickly.

“This...this is to much for someone like me.” Kal muttered as she stared at the house.

Verona started looking Kal up and down, a frown forming on her face.

“Where's your stuff Kal?” Verona asked, some surprise in her voice, “Did you only have the daggers and your clothes?”

Kal smiled awkwardly as she nodded. Anton frowned at Verona for asking a rather blunt and undiplomatic question.

“I traveled light. I also didn't have anything else worth taking.”

“I didn't have much either. Two sets of clothes, one that's stained now with blood, and a few other things.”

Verona paused for a bit.

“I still don't have that much. But I have my spear, my armor, my new boots, food and shelter, and Anton. So I think it's going pretty well.”

She seemed quite happy, burrowing her way underneath Anton's arm.

Kal back looked to the house and pushed the door open. She entered the house, followed by Anton and Verona.

Inside was a single large open room. On the far side there was a bed with a fur rug, a chair and a table. It was very little but probably had more comfort than Kal had been offered in her whole life.

If she was carrying something, this was the point where she would drop it. He could see on the way she took a few tentative steps that she was gobsmacked.

“I...I” was wall she could manage as she walked over to the bed. She touched it and recoiled, like it was not real.

“I'm glad you like it.” Anton said. “In a bit of time you can get some more things, should you wish.”

Kal turned back to him and shook her head whilst she smiled.

“This is better than anything I could have hoped for.”

“How was it sleeping out there alone?” Verona asked.

“Cold, wet and quite frighting. Especially during the thunderstorms that last for days. I can get quite hungry through those if I haven't got enough food before hand.”

“There's another thing, Kal.” Anton began, “Something I don't really want to have to bring up but I feel like I should.”

Kal tilted her head.

“I'm saying...that as someone new, and especially as you're a beast-kin, you should definitely keep yourself armed at all times. You might also want to consider putting the table to bar the door when you go to sleep.”

Verona caught on to what he meant, Kal taking a few seconds more.

“Do you think that could honestly happen?” Kal asked, some concern of her face.

“Probably not. But I want you to be prepared just in case.”

“Cutting the inside of their legs with my claws has always worked.” she replied. There was a tiny hint of pride.

“Those hunters?” Verona asked.

“One managed to catch me once. He didn't just want to capture me though. He thought that without my daggers I was defenseless. My feet begged to differ.”

“Dead?”

Kal nodded.

“Your feet are the same as your hands?” Anton asked.

Kal smiled awkwardly. She seemed like she did not want to reveal that fact just yet.

“They are.”

“Huh,” Anton replied, “I don't think there's much of settling in to do. So, why don't we go and see how dinner is going.”

“What do you normally have?” Kal asked.

“Usually it's just the same as lunch, but after that battle I think we'll probably have some roast Razor-Pig. Very delicious, you'll start drooling the second you smell it.”

“It sounds good....what's a second?” Kal asked.

Ah damn. Another slip.

“Yes. Just a fragment of what I can remember.”

Kal glanced at Verona, Verona kept a straight face. He was not sure if she would drop it but could not check without making things more difficult.

“Anyway, let's go.”

When they exited Kal's new home they found a villager running towards him.

“Anton.” she began, “I was told to come find you. We've seen the scouts returning on the horizon.”

“Excellent. Make sure Dana reports to me, I'll be in the central plaza helping with dinner.”

The woman saluted and ran off towards the eastern wall.

“Better go help out,” Anton said, beginning to walk to the plaza, “It would be a good chance to get to meet some of the villagers that aren't soldiers.”

Kal smiled and followed them both.

---[]---

Zac caught up to Anton just before he reached the central plaza.

“Evening Anton, Verona....Kal.” he said, respectfully nodding to Kal.

“By the way you're jumping around I'm thinking that you found what you wanted?”

“Absolutely.” Zac tried to suppress a smile, “The guys managed to find some signs that there's some coal and iron almost at the base of the mountain. They dug a bit and found a few seams of coal and iron barely a foot down into to the ground. They had to return as it was starting to get dark.”

“Fantastic, when can we expect to get a regular supply?”

“Couple of days, just to get everything set up. Next time you go to Maxill, can you get us a few more carts? We're starting to run into problems as we have so few.”

“Not a problem.”

Zac smiled and started walking with them towards the central plaza.

“It seems you did very well against the Kobolds.” Zac said to Anton, then glanced at Kal. “Since they could look sort of similar, was there-”

“There was something like that, but after watching her kill quite a few Kobolds their tone changed.”

“Good to hear. Anyway, I've got a few things to finish before dinner. See you there.” Zac finished as he gave a wave and ran off.

They walked in silence, Kal seemed to a bit happier knowing that attitudes towards her were changing. As they arrived at the central plaza they were waved over, Sybil and many of the women were preparing and asked for their help.

Preparing for the dinner was quite an ordeal, especially for so many villagers.

Anton spent the quarter of an hour mainly serving as a mobile source of fire for roasting the Razor-Pig. It was a bit demeaning but everyone, including him, found it quite fun. Verona helped with cutting the meat. She wanted to use her blood power but Anton stopped her, much to her annoyance. Kal helped as well with the vegetables. At the beginning it was very awkward but one finally plucked up the courage to ask her how she had fought during the battle with the Kobolds. After explaining, and getting a confirming nod from Anton and the other soldiers, they started acting more friendly. Kal was starting to warm to them as well, but she kept some distance and always held a weapon of some sort.

Quite a few of the new villagers had joined in as well, Anton's actions helped take the edge off their tenseness.

The thunderous sound of horse hooves announced the return of Dana and the scouts. Anton put out his fires and moved towards her.

Dana and her horses came to a halt infront of Anton, they all looked quite tired. They all dismounted their horses and began leading them away.

I don't know where the horses are kept, or how many there are in the village. I think it might just be this many. How many Ix do we have? And can they be used like horses? War pigs or something?

His tangential thoughts were stopped by Dana as she stopped infront of him.

“Everyone seemed to return safely, did you find the Kobold camp?”

“We did. It was near the lake, basically on the shore.” Dana began to explain in her dry tone, “We kept our distance but we did see them hunting for fish or something, though they didn't go very far into the water.”

“When we went there, there were many large fish hiding in the deep water. We'll strike them tomorrow and get rid of the threat. I'll be needing to head to Maxill soon and we don't want them to attack when I'm gone, I don't think we have a cure for their poison.”

Dana still looked uncomfortable, like she had more to say.

“Do they have more numbers than we thought?”

“No, that's not it. They only have a few thousand at most.”

Dana took a sheet of paper out of a satchel attached to the horse.

“One of the scouts brought some paper and a stick of charcoal by accident. It turns out that it was very important.”

She unrolled the sheet of paper. On it was the drawing of a large wooden totem pole, a circular stone placed on the top and lashed to the totem. The stone had been carved into a rough shape of a leaf with what could be antlers either side. Anton felt it was not their artistic ability but the ability of the Kobolds. Something about it seemed familiar about it.

“Kal?” Anton asked loudly, Kal putting down her tools and rushing over.

“Do you recognize this icon?” he asked. He hoped that Kal might have knowledge of it.

“It's an insignia of the forest goddess, Nithroel. She's usually shown as an elf of immense beauty, so much so that most just call her the elven goddess. This is from the Kobold camp?”

Dana nodded.

“It's very odd for them to worship an old god. It doesn't make much sense.”

Kal looked to Anton.

I might know why. Startos and Esperit told me that the gods can watch over anywhere in the world. It seems the Elven goddess has taken notice and not for the better. Maybe the Kobolds are the only things she could influence straight and not attract more attention from my gods or neutral ones. Maybe risk the beasts but not her own elves. Although, this is all speculation without talking to my gods.

“Anything about this Nithroel? I don't think that my gods like her much.”

“I know that very few humans or Beast-kin worship her, she seems to favor elves exclusively. I don't think Tethra, the prayer goddess, is friendly to her. You think that there's a connection?”

“Yes. But I cannot be sure. Thank-you for that Kal, at least I have a name now.”

Kal nodded and returned to her work. Dana looked on concerned.

“Have we gotten involved in a battle of gods?”

Anton took a deep breath.

“I certainly hope not. But if we have, we have even less time now.”

------------------

Hello again,

I wrote both of these as one chapter but they became so long that i decided to split them up so it would be easier to read, also that it helps to break it up.

A quick battle, even though it was a quick and small one I think it shows that they've come a long way.

On the Kobolds, even though they have poison in their spines they aren't immune to it. It needs quite a bit to do the trick, but I wanted something a little more bizarre than the usual dog-people. Also, another reason why Beast-kin are so hated, a similar looking species wants to pillage anything they can get their paws on. More about the Kobolds will come a little later.

I finally decided on a name for the Elven goddess. While one can send help they can also send destruction towards them, though the gods can only properly communicate with those with glyphs and others take vague messages. Imagine what a simple animal would see and comprehend from seeing it. It won't get to the stage of the gods throwing armies at each-other but they will try.