The reaction of the kobold sentries was immediate. The one who wasn’t asleep shouted in alarm and pointed his spear at me; his partner, woken up by the sound, jumped up, startled, and a couple second later assumed the same position.

Not very friendly.

“I came in peace,” I said, stretching my lizard lips in an attempt to smile and raising my free hand with a palm towards them.

The sentries let out a series of angry squeals and clicks and made poking motions at me with their spears. I took it as my attempt at being peaceful didn’t go well. Whatever. It’s not like their tiny, primitive village had anything worthwhile. I dropped my hand to the side.

‘They don’t understand you, dumbass!’ Pest appeared in my head. ‘Who the fuck you are trying for? Just kill ‘em and eat ‘em, isn’t what you just fucking love to do?’

‘Shut up.’ I threw at him on reflex before remembering something else. ‘Hey, you promised to be my translator with kobolds earlier. What are they talking about?’

‘They tell you to go the fuck away, hah! Oh, and they also tell that you are hideous, that your mother sucked all cocks in the village, that you are weaker than a worm, that—’

‘Shut up,’ I interrupted that tirade, grinding my teeth together. I glanced at the kobolds, who were still making threatening sounds and gestures at me, and then tried to imagine Pest’s face and hit it. ‘The only cock-sucking worm of a bitch here is you, Pest.’

‘Hey! I’m just a translator!’

‘And I believe everything people say,’ I said, scoffing.

I unfurled my wings from where they hid behind my back. With a toothy grin to the now shocked kobolds, I jumped in the air and, with a thunderous whirr, flew up and away. I had another place where I wanted to be in mind.

‘Come on! Go, fuck these fuckers up! They insulted you!’ Pest kept urging, but I ignored his droning in my ears the best I could. I had a lot of practice, too. Eventually, he quietened, which only enforced my surety that he was messing with me.

I had no doubts that I could escape from a fight with kobolds if I started one, but win against their entire village? Doubtfully. And if I didn’t win, then I won’t be able to gather the corpses, which meant that it would all be a waste of time.

It was hard to fly in the dark, and soon I descended to the ground and walked. My destination wasn’t far away, and soon the quiet murmur of running water reached my ears, and the smell of moisture—my nose. I walked faster until the trees gave way to the overgrown banks of a river.

It felt bigger when I was shorter, even when I looked from a higher position. Now it only looked medium-sized. Not that I cared. What I cared for was that water was necessary for all life.

An animal path winded towards the river, and several snares made from my webs crossed it. All empty. I dismantled them as I went towards the water. I didn’t intend to stay in the area anymore, so they would only be a bother for everyone starting with me right now.

I drank until I had my fill of cool, if a little muddy, river water and flew up on a thick branch of a nearby tree. There, I made a temporary nest out of web and went to sleep. It would be easier to continue on my way tomorrow, when I would be able to see.

⠀⠀

Something pulled me out of my dreamless sleep. I opened my eyes, instantly on alert, but everything was quiet but for the distant calls of birds. Quiet and dark… Dark! It was still night. The birds would only cry out if something spooked them!

I crouched in my nest, looking around from my high position, but everything around was still. With a frown, I jumped in the air and flew until I looked from above the forest canopy.

The night sky was lightening with the first hints of dawn. There wasn’t much light yet, but it was just enough to see dots of birds flying from whatever disturbance in the forest. And smoke, thick columns of smoke, all coming from the place where the kobold village stood. It could’ve been their cooking fires, but I’ve seen those, and they didn’t give out this much smoke.

‘Huh? What the fuck is this?’ Pest spoke, almost absentmindedly.

“I wish I knew,” I muttered in response and floated back to the ground. I wanted to know, and to know, I needed to look. It was possible for me to just fly there, but it would make it impossible for me to stay hidden, not with the noise I produced in flight. If I wanted to be stealthy in case of a danger—and I wanted to—I had to go on foot.

‘A fire? An explosion? Might be an explosion,’ Pest kept talking, though it didn’t feel like he was talking with me.

My feet landed on the ground, wet with dew, with the softest thud. Careful to produce as little of the noise as I could, I walked over the thick cover of fallen leaves, old grass and new moss towards the same place I just left. Hopefully, there will be some good food. If something happened with the kobolds, I hoped that whoever made that happen wasn’t interested in their corpses.

There wasn’t a long way to walk, but before I could even reach the place, a sound of voices—human voices—made me freeze in my tracks.