Amihan crept behind the Wargrider. It took aim at Dumog and cocked his throwing arm back, they were snickering. She hopped and mounted the warg, slitting the rider’s throat. The warg was trying to buck her off, kicking up its hind legs in the air. Landing on the ground, Amihan and the Warg were face to face.

She reattached her knife to her hiking stick as they circle and gauge each other. It can smell some of its brethren on her bloody clothes. The warg knew the right decision was to run away, they lost and there was no point in fighting anymore. But the scent of its fallen allies filled it with rage, dictating its next actions.

The warg charged straight ahead, jumping into the air. It was a predictable move from a four legged creature. Amihan thought so as well. Without the need to think about her next move, her body moved through pure instincts and just reacted. She went low and pointed her spear up.

Dumog was still by the rock, waterboarded. Amihan walked alongside the river toward him, no signs of pursuers on their trail. From her pack, she brought out a giant fishing net.

The current was too strong for Dumog to do anything to save himself. He was stuck in a pocket that naturally formed on the rock. Something wrapped his limbs and body. With no more endurance left, he doesn’t fight back anymore. Dumog lost consciousness for the third time in an hour. It would be a miracle if he doesn’t sustain some form of brain damage from this. Amihan hoisted him up with one hand, limp inside the net.

He woke up for the third time that day, wet and cold. Sneezing really loud, he scared all the birds away. Amihan threw him a towel.

“We should start moving before more of them show up,” she was clean now, washed up when he was knocked out.

“Is it always this dangerous in this world?” He was teary-eyed.

“Hmm, not really I don’t think,” she placed all her equipment back in her bag.

“Why does everything want to kill me?” Dumog curled up in a fetal position on the ground.

“Flaunting and wearing their baby’s diaper isn’t a friendly gesture is it?” She tightened the straps of her pack. “Anyway, goodluck with the rest of your life, Chosen one.”

Dumog crawled and clung ontop her leg. She continued walking normally, only stopping before they reached a rocky area.

“Please don’t leave me here,” he was traumatized from the several near death experiences in a row.

“Fine,” she sighed. “I’ll bring you to the nearest town. You can start over there.”

“Thank you,”

Amihan wasn’t planning nor had no reason to visit a town, but she had been traveling for months since she had last visited one. She also had no idea how far away she was from her destination. After thinking through it she figured that a few extra days in town wouldn’t derail her journey.

“So you’re pretty strong huh, what do you do? Like, what your profession or job is,” Dumog asked as they were walking along the river. “Are you a warrior or have powers? How are you so strong and what are you doing out here?”

“Bah, so many questions.” regret starting to invade her mind.

“What do you expect, I’m from another world!”

“Then shouldn’t your first concern be how to go back home?”

“Fair.”

As they trekked to town, Amihan explained to him some general knowledge that she could think of on the spot. “First, I guess my profession would be an Angler, do you know what fishing is? I’m not officially one yet though, I’m not employed and don’t have a license to sell anything I catch. That’s why I’ve been traveling, then I encountered you.”

He seemed offended by what she said. “An angler? With strength and skill like that, you want to fish?”

“Why do you care?”

“I don’t know, it just seems like a waste don’t you think?”

Amihan continued explaining that there were other lifeforms that had similar intellectual capacities as humans. So that he shouldn’t be surprised and attack immediately if he found something that looked weird. Some races coexist within their own societies–naturally some don’t and have been at war with another race for centuries–because of that intellectual capacity.

“The Kobolds we fought, were they intelligent?” he asked.

“More than you. Most of the talking races consider them as pests or the same level as animals.”

“So are they like monkeys? Do you have monkeys here?” Dumog is passionate about monkeys.

“No, Monkeys are part of the intelligent group.”

“Okay I’m confused again.”

To remedy and heal the relations between the intelligent creatures, The goddess, Mother Tongue, gave all who reached the requirement, the blessing of language. They were now able to communicate with each other without a language barrier. Though, people would still need to learn vocabulary and improve their understanding to utilize it well.

“I wonder if we had that back in my world, would it accomplish world peace?” he wondered out loud.

“It actually made things worse and regressed most civilizations and societies, technologically, socially, and culturally. There may be a place where two species interact and live together peacefully, but in a different part of the world those same species could be at war. Most of the ones who fight don’t know why they’re fighting anymore, meaning is lost but the feelings are still there.”

“Oh.”

Majority of the world hadn’t been discovered or at least recorded on a map yet. There had been efforts years ago by bigger, more organized groups but most of those efforts had been lost alongside the civilizations falling. Amihan herself doesn’t have a map.

“Then how do you know there’s a town nearby?”

“Don’t you see those smoke columns in front of us?” She snapped at him as if he was supposed to know it.

“I thought those were clouds.”

“What kind of clouds do you have in your world? Anyway I count more than twenty right now. Which means there’s at least twenty buildings or households over there, and it’s way past lunch time. We also haven’t encountered a kobold or game beasts nearby, there's probably a large group hunting them nearby.”

They had been walking for a while now, Dumog was dry now. There was a sense of freedom he felt walking through nature with only the Kobold diaper on. Empowered him in a way he hadn’t experienced back in his original world. Amihan kept explaining things to him, for his sake. But somewhere in the middle he drowned out her words and enjoyed the walk.

The weather was nice, in between the end of summer and the start of autumn. A chance of starting his life over in a new world invigorated him. Amihan continued talking about the politics and the relations of the major factions, but he blocked them out. Even in his original world he didn’t care for politics, whether that was a good or bad thing didn't matter to him.

They encountered their first taste of civilization, a hunter’s cabin. The building reminded him of medieval architecture, a thatched roof and the rest of it in cobblestone. A man was tanning leather outside his house, Dumog smiled and waved at him. He got a scowl in return.

“Not very friendly are they,” disappointed with his first real interaction.

“Look at what you’re wearing. No one sane would bother with you dressed like that.”

“What does that say about you?”

As they got closer, Dumog noticed that the tree density was getting thinner and the color palette of the forest browner. The logs that composed the town's walls were the biggest he had ever seen. He estimated that they were nearly 40-stories tall. How many civilizations had it outlived before they were cut down to protect a small town of less than a thousand people, he wondered. Amihan also looked at the log wall and pondered, no amusement or wonder on her face though.

Entering the town, they weren’t stopped by any guards, so they walked right into town. It was like looking at illustrations of a medieval town back home. But there were a lot more quirks and differences that didn’t seem normal to him.

The world definitely had magic when he saw objects flying around and colors he didn't know existed. New houses were being built, and a lot of people going around tending to their business. It reminded him of a street crossing in a big city.

“There were more people here than I anticipated,” Amihan said, disappointed at the sight of all the people.

“That’s great! More people makes it more interesting,” Dumog was filled with positivity.

“No, more people means more problems.”

Their supposed first stop was to find a clinic to treat his wounds. They were interrupted by the commotion in front of a mansion. Being terribly curious, Dumog ran towards the shouting.

The screaming came from a woman in purple robes. She threw a bald man with a white beard that touched his feet, straight into a puddle of muddy water. “If you don’t come back and fix my client within the week, I’ll report you to the academy and have your license revoked!” The old man gestured a thumbs up and rubbed his lower back.

“Hey Amihan, I think we just got our first quest!” Dumog ran towards the bald man, stopped by Amihan with one hand.

“We?” she sighed.

***

Inside a hut of mud and straw, sat three Great Kobolds. Several squad leaders were arguing in front of them. In the middle of the trio was an older looking Kobold, but it didn’t make him look weaker than them.

The squad leaders continued screaming and hitting each other. Frustration welling up from inside of them, caused by the recent loss and the inability to communicate and process these feelings. The only reaction they know is violence. Confusion beating their heads as to why these things were happening to them. Fury and rage were the only things clear to them.

The Elder Kobold raised his hand, a grim expression on his face. He had just heard of the news, the clan’s youngest strangled and their dead body defiled. Everyone in the mud hut quieted down when he got their attention.

“Ever since they settled on these lands, each day those humans commit crimes. Not only towards us, they do these vile human acts that violate nature, even to our lifelong enemies,” he stood up, his head barely touching the ceiling. He towered over most humans. “Has the child’s parents heard of the news?” he asked.

“They were killed when they tried to go after the pair of humans,” one of the Kobold warriors responded.

“I pray they find peace in the afterlife,” the elder wept.

Everyone stayed quiet as their leaders performed a prayer for the fallen ones. He took a deep breath as he thought his next words through, knowing they have weight to influence their actions during a time like this.

“They lose my respect each day,” he felt his eyes well up once again but stayed strong, he had to for his people. “They take and commit these crimes because of their greed. Leaving nothing but trash and evil in their path,” anger and a beast-like growl rumbling through each word he spoke. “Now they have killed our youngest, rejoicing in it like some kind of game. Know that baby suffered through their final moments. Strangled! Their last few breaths were spent to survive a bit longer, spent in misery,” they all got riled up. “That child was the symbol of our clan’s future. They are trying to choke us out to our extinction!”

Gasps and bawls echoed through the hut. Some of the Kobolds fall on their knees.

“We will no longer avoid contact and give up space for the humans to take. This is war!” he raised a fist, punching through the roof.

“Yeah!” they roared.

“But comrades, we need a compromise for the sake of our future.” the elder looked towards the other two that sitting behind him. “There’s a reason why we have avoided as much conflict with the humans despite their behavior. They are simply smarter and greatly outnumber us. Before we can declare war, we need to make peace.”

Questions were thrown among the squad leaders, asking each other what their elder meant. For a long time, the three Kobold elders have had this idea.

“We need to make peace and unite the three vermin clans.”

It caused an uproar. These warriors who prided themselves in participating in the centuries old war between the clans. Fighting became a tradition, an idea like this was blasphemy to them. An alien concept that none of the common Kobolds have thought of.

“We have a common enemy now and something to protect. We can bring meaning to our fighting. To stop the evil and crimes of these humans, crimes not even our old enemies would ever commit. Nature is crying, the animals are losing their homes and leaving. They are the ones who are unnatural and a blight to this world. Uniting the clans and waging war on the humans is the greater purpose that we are destined for. The Vermin Horde will rise!” he roared through his scaled and fanged maw.

The rest of the clan had to take it in slowly and process it in silence. It started with one, then two more joined in, until finally the whole clan was cheering and agreeing with the idea. Some discussed possibilities it could entail.

“King Krav of the Blue Kobolds!” They chanted.