Chapter Six

Kobold Assault

Ember was completing his mission to find some human or possibly elven children to kidnap and take back to the dungeon. They had set out through the forest for five days until broke through the woods onto a dirt road ill kept and covered in grass showing it wasn’t an accessible route. Ember led his Warband east for another day, and they came upon the outskirts of a village. There were fields where farmers worked, and the older children played, but the rest of the children played in the town square where they were playing. There was a clanging from one the buildings where a blacksmith was at work next to a larger building with a sign showing the picture of a glass of ale on it were two figures in black cloaks sat each nursing a beer.

Ember considered waiting until nightfall, but the real purpose of this mission wasn’t to get away as such, sure they wanted one of the kids preferably all of them, but they needed to be seen doing it not just be figures in the night. It was growing late as it was, and the farmers would be coming back from the fields at any moment. Ember decided that a quick and viscous snatch and grab would be the best way to get the prize and create panic and fear to draw in adventurers.

“All right troops, let's make the boss proud. Circle around the back of that house, then we rush forward to kill the old man watching the kids, grab of few of them and make a run for it, Rob, you cover our retreat with your bow, Amy and Emy you hold the back of the line with your shields,” Ember ordered and the squad of kobolds rushed forward. The spear-wielding kobolds slung their weapons onto their backs and grabbed a small boy and a little girl while the two other boys stared at the monsters in surprised horror. Ember lunged forward at the old man who started to stand up from his stump and shout an alarm.

Ember wasn’t fast enough to stop the old man from crying out an alarm, but his sword came down and buried itself in the man’s skull. Ember was a little disappointed Wraith wouldn’t be able to get anything out of this, but sacrifices had to be made.

The village went quiet as the daily activities halted and the humans stared at the monsters kidnapping their children in horror. They quickly rushed to their children’s aid wielding the tools of their trade, pitchforks, hoes, and hammers were snatched up as the village rushed to save the children.

“Retreat,” Ember ordered I’ll hold them off. Of all the kobolds he was the toughest and most heavily armored and could deal the most damage. “Hob you’re in charge if I go down get them back to the dungeon I’ll meet you there one way or another.”

The blacksmith rushed forward wielding a giant hammer swinging it two-handed at Ember’s skull, Ember stepped back, but the hammer caught him in the shoulder. Rob, the kobold archer, fired his bow but missed the farmer he was aiming at. Two farmers lunged at Amy and Emy guarding the retreat, but only one of them made it past their shields cutting a narrow graze in Amy’s arm. Amy and Emy lashed out as they swung to the side to avoid being impaled turning their movement into an attack to cripple the farmers. Amy managed to hamstring the farmer who had injured her but Emy missed, and the farmer avoided taking damage.

Ember reeled for a moment from the wound in his shoulder but then struck out with his sword and stabbed the blacksmith in his thigh eliciting a cry of pain. The blacksmith struck back but his leg buckled, and he fell to the ground. Ember retreated and stabbed another farmer in the stomach, and the farmer fell over. Rob fired another arrow and the second farmer took it in the neck.

“Help us!” the blacksmith shouted at the two mercenaries from his prone position on the ground.

The two men looked at each other, but an arrow thudding into the door of the tavern next to them changed their minds, they sighed and stood up. It was never a profitable endeavor to engage in battle before wages were negotiated it was best to head to the next town for work and wait for a group of do-gooder adventurers to come along. Ember turned around and ran into the forest with the other kobolds with two children in toe kicking and screaming. Once in the trees, the kids were clubbed across the head knocking them unconscious and rushed away. They ran for hours pausing for brief breaks and to gag and bind the children.

Night fell, and Ember set up a makeshift camp, they killed a small wild boar and speared it through the middle without cleaning or gutting it. They began roasting it above a fire, tossing off chunks to the children who barely ate as they sat huddled and terrified. Ember set a watch and lay down to rest, his spirit didn’t need to sleep, but the body he was in would give out without it.

A snarl woke Ember, and he looked up to see a massive bear standing over Amy’s dead body her spark already returning to the dungeon. Ember leaped up and used his poison breath, something Wraith had given him in case of emergencies but had ordered him to hide from the humans. The bear coughed and gaged, and Ember ran forward grabbing a spear. It was crucial that the children stay alive so even if he died the rest of the kobolds could get them back to the dungeon. The spear took the bear in the eye, but the massive beast would not go down easy it swung a massive claw and Ember barely ducked as the spear was knocked from his head and shattered against the ground.

The bear roared in fury and began to savage Ember ripping into his stomach and chest. Ember stabbed his dagger into its neck repeatedly. The bear collapsed on top of ember, and his soul spark drifted out his body and began floating back towards the dungeon.

“Looks like you guys will have to get the children back on your own,” Ember said to the remaining kobolds, “don’t mess it up.”

A group of individuals and one tall elf in blue robes walked into a small town on their way to the capital. A human with dark brown leather with daggers and a shortsword on his waist looked around the town with shifty eyes. He noticed a dark stain on the town square. The town was oddly quiet, and the dwarf of the group clutched a holy symbol of a sunburst to his chest. A woman in chainmail carried a sword a plumed helmet in one hand and a shield on her back, two hand-axes hung on her belt. An elf with golden hair carried a book in one hand and walked with a quarterstaff as dust clung to the bottom of his blue robe. They entered the tavern where the villagers looked at them in a mixture of fear and hope.

“A round of ale for my friends and me,” The dwarf said to the innkeeper.

“Do you by chance to have an apothecary in town?” the female warrior asked the inn keeper’s wife, “I am looking to buy some potions.”

“Yes, Dr. Madrel lives on the edge of town in the house with the red door, theirs a sign with an engraving of a bottle on it so you can’t miss it. The signs not very good though, the bottle looks a little bit more like a fat toad,” the inn keeper’s wife replied. “Dr. Madrel is busy now though; the blacksmith was wounded in a kobold raid this morning they captured two of the children of the village and killed three of our men.”

“They attacked in broad daylight?” the dwarf asked.

“Aye, they hit us fixed and fled before we had scarce a chance to do anything,” the innkeeper said with a sad sigh. “If you’d be adventure’s we’d be offering a bounty of five silver ringets for every kobold you kill just bring their heads in to show. If you can save the children, the town has agreed to give you an extra thirty gold ringets as well.”

“We are indeed adventurers,” the leather-armored rogue said with a tight smile fingering one of the daggers on his waist. “How many kobolds were there?”

"It was so fast it was hard to tell, but by most of our reckonings, it was only around eight. One of them was a vicious brute, maimed Harl, the blacksmith and killed one of the farmers, it was almost as tall as a man and covered with white scales,” the innkeeper's wife said setting down

“White scales?” the wizard asked curiosity in his voice. “I’ve never heard of a white-scaled kobold before that is rather odd. Are you sure it wasn't paint perhaps?”

“I suppose it could have been, didn’t see ought but their backsides before they ran off, Harl was the one who got the best look at them you could ask him when you get deem potions form Dr. Madrel,” the innkeeper said polishing the counter of his bar. “Will you four be wanting rooms for tonight we just got a new vacancy since that lazy good for nothing mercenaries cleared out.”

“Are we agreed on taking this quest?” the warrior asked.

“I see no other way, Martha,” the dwarf said, “If there is one thing Zizula teaches his clerics it is that the light does not turn its back on good people in need and allow evil to flourish.”

“Plus, we get paid, so I’m in,” the rogue said.

“I am curious about this white kobold and would love to get a look at it,” the wizard said amenable.

“Then we talk to the blacksmith tonight, get potions, restock on rations and go rescue these children,” Martha said, and the rest of the party nodded.