B01DCAV4W2 (S) (28 page)

*
I am ready, master,*
she thought back.  There was a distinctly predatory tone to her thoughts.

Less than a minute later, Richter heard Futen’s voice directly in his left ear. 

“There is a party of eight kobolds approaching, my Lord.  I could not Analyze them without giving away my position.  Four have spears or small swords, two have crossbows, and one is slightly larger and is wearing armor.  The last is carrying a staff and I can sense magic emanating from her,” Futen’s whisper was almost inaudible. 

Richter nodded, it sounded like a caster and a series of warriors.  One of the warriors might have some extra training, but that might actually work in his favor.  “Are they coming this way?”

“I believe so, my Lord.  There is a small tunnel branching off between their position and here, but they are walking in this direction.”

“Do they know I am here?”

“I cannot understand their language, my Lord,” Futen replied, “but they do not seem to be expecting trouble.”

Hopefully it’s just a random patrol, he thought.  “The larger warrior and the one with the staff, are they at the front of the group or in the back?”

“They are both in the back,” Futen answered.

“Good,” Richter said, “I want you to hover high above me and several yards away.  Let the patrol pass me.  When the mage and larger fighter pass my position, flare as brightly as you can.   Keep the light in their eyes.  Alma, you attack the smaller ones and be careful to avoid the ones with crossbows.”

*
I am ready, master!*
she thought gleefully.

Richter took his bow out of his Bag of Holding and placed it under his cloak.  Next, he adjusted the position of his quiver so that he could swiftly draw and nock an arrow when needed.   Between his
Stealth
skill and his Cloak of Concealment, he looked like nothing more than a shadow in the darkness.   He banished
Night Vision
and then settled in to wait.

The voices grew louder, the kobolds’ barking echoing in the tunnels.  Again, the tunnels made it hard for Richter to gauge how far away they were, but he didn’t have to wait long.  After only a few minutes, the voice stopped echoing and he could tell that they were crossing his position.  Their footsteps were characterized by a slight scratching as their talons scraped the floor.  There was also a faint
shush
sound.  It confused Richter for a moment, but then he remembered that the kobolds had long tails that dragged behind them. 

Richter kept his eye screwed shut and his head pointed down.  He didn’t dare move a muscle until Futen lit up the tunnel.  His first encounter with kobolds kept playing through his mind while he waited.  He had remained undetected while he stayed still, but they had seen him as soon as he shifted in the slightest bit.  He could only guess that their vision was movement based.  Richter kept his breaths shallow.

Suddenly there were screams of pain and howls of agony.  The darkness Richter had lived in for the past several hours was banished by a bright white light.  Richter opened his eyes, and the light nearly blinded him as well, despite not looking directly at it.  The kobold patrol was almost completely incapacitated.  The subterranean creatures could barely even tolerate bright light, but having a light the equivalent of the sun shine directly in their eyes after being in a completely dark tunnel had overwhelmed their senses!  Three were down on the ground rolling around in agony and two others had fallen to their knees as they hissed in pain.

Richter wasted no time.  He spat the word of power that triggered his spell
Charm
and overcame the will of the kobold mage.  With no hesitation, he pointed his Ring of Spell Holding at the armored kobold and suddenly had another fighter on his side.  He followed this up with a third enchantment.  With a harsh word of power, his fingers contorted into a peculiar arrangement and he cast
Troubled Sleep. 
Unlike
Charm, Troubled Sleep
took a whole three seconds to cast.  It was why Richter seldom used it in battle.  Only the pain and disorientation that Futen’s brilliance had caused the light sensitive kobolds let him take the time to cast the spell.  Three seconds didn’t seem like a lot in normal times, but in battle it could be a lifetime. 

The Dark magic writhed down Richter’s arm and then shot forward.  It flew towards the kobolds and started to circle around some of them.  It moved faster and faster, varying its height with each elevation.  It was clear that it was running around the circumference of an unseen cylinder and those caught within it had to either resist the spell or fall into a nightmare plagued sleep.  Of the five caught within, only one managed to maintain his feet.

Since Futen had flared, bringing light to the darkness, less than ten seconds had passed.  Richter’s two charmed kobolds stood ready to accept orders, four were prone, trapped in a nightmare sleep.  Of the two remaining, one was still staring at him in fear and disbelief over the sudden change in her fortune.  The last was high tailing it towards a nearby side tunnel. 

*
Alma, drain him!*
he shouted mentally.

The kobold was quite quick on his feet, but was no match for the dragonling once she had cast
Haste. 
Before the runner had covered half the distance to his escape route, Alma silently caught him.  Her wings flared to slow her momentarily as her four legs extended.  With a deadly grace, she latched onto the kobold’s head.  His arms started to come up to push off his attacker, but then he fell as seizures overtook his body.  She remained attached as the body collapsed to the ground. 

The kobold standing near Richter had make a quick assessment.  She didn’t know exactly what had befallen her commander and the mage, but their slack expressions and vacant gaze told her that something was amiss.  It clearly had something to do with this cloaked intruder that had arrived in their midst, though.  She had seen him cast spells of multiple types, something only the chromatic kobolds could normally do.  Though running was the default of the kobold race when faced with a new threat, she knew there was little chance of her escaping, and besides, the human was holding a bow.  So she took the only option that was left to her.  She attacked.

Her spear was extended in a lunge even before Alma had caught the kobold she was chasing.  Richter jumped back and to the side in order to avoid the attack, but he needn’t have bothered.  His charmed kobolds reacted to the threat to their new master.  The armored kobold swung his own spear forward and caught the female kobold in its side.  The spearhead punctured her scaled hide and blood, more black than red, sprayed from where he struck her.  The charmed kobold’s attack was strong enough to knock his target to the ground. 

The kobold mage had started casting a spell at the same time that the armored kobold attacked.  The spell had a several second cast time and green energy began to surround both the mage and her staff.  When she finished casting, she drove the butt of her staff into the ground.  A crack appeared in the tunnel floor and zigzagged several feet away.  When it finished, a small stone hand rose from the ground.  Over the next second, a one-and-a-half-foot high figure rose from the ground.  The ground it had arisen from looked unblemished.   The small golem immediately wandered over to the injured kobold and drove a rocky hand into her ankle.  The kobold screamed, but that didn’t stop the golem from ripping a bloody chunk from her leg.

The armored kobold was getting ready to deliver a coup de grace, but Richter said, “Stop!”

Immediately, both the mage and the fighter took a step back.  With a wave of her hand, the mage had her summoned earth monster step back as well. 

The injured kobold female looked up at Richter with pure hate in her eyes, “Just kill me human!  I will die knowing that my people will soon feast on your flesh!”

Richter looked back at her dispassionately and said, “You got it.”

He walked over to where Alma was feeding and drew a dagger.  He quickly stabbed the kobold in the heart, ending his life.  The dragonling looked at him like the cat that got the cream, extremely satisfied with her meal. 

*
Want some more, love?*
he asked her.

*
Oh yes, master.  Thank you!*

He sent her a mental image of the injured kobold and she launched into the air with an excited trill.  The kobold saw death coming and screamed, but the sound was c off abruptly as Alma began to feed again. 

Richter had Futen use his identification ability on all of the kobolds’ equipment, and then he ordered him to turn invisible and sent him to scout the nearby tunnels.  It was clear that the glare had been causing his charmed kobolds pain, and he didn’t want to risk an adverse stimuli breaking his hold on them.  He cast
Far Light,
and attached a small ball of light to the tunnel wall several yards away.   The kobolds did not seem happy, but they no longer looked like they were in pain.  The visibility issue taken care of, he walked over to his new allies.

Speaking in the barking language of the kobolds, he asked, “Are there any other kobolds nearby?  Anyone that would have heard our fight, or is going to come look for you soon?”

“No, master,” the armored kobold said. 

“Are we safe here?” he asked next.

“Nowhere is safe in the Depths master, but we most likely will not be attacked anytime soon.”

“Good enough for me,” Richter said.  He pointed to the kobolds that had succumbed to his
Troubled Sleep
spell, “I need information.  Do any of them have knowledge of the tunnels that the two of you don’t?”

Even while charmed, the derision could be clearly heard in the armored kobold’s voice, “They are simple soldiers, master.  They could not possibly know anything that I do not.”

Elitism, alive and well, miles underground, Richter thought shaking his head.  “Do you agree?” he asked the mage. 

“Yes, master.”

The cosign was all Richter needed.  He mentally told Alma to drain them as well.  It was true that the sleeping kobolds could have had information the charmed two did not, but he had to be practical.  There was no way he could control so many of them at once.  And time was of the essence.  Richter could not forget that he was deep behind enemy lines.  He analyzed each and found that they all had the prefix ‘Kol’ in their names.  The armored kobold explained that the Kol caste were born with the ability to use their tails as another prehensile appendage.  Richter remembered that the fighter that had lunged at him had had a tail that switched back and forth like a cat’s.  The Kol caste kobolds had tails that were longer than Richter’s charmed kobolds.  Some of them had a forged spike that was attached to the tip.  Richter saw how it could be used like a scorpion’s stinger. 

After analyzing the third kobold, he was awarded with a prompt. 

Congratulations!  You have reached skill level 6 in Analyze.

Another prompt had been auto minimized since he was in combat conditions. 

Congratulations!  You have reached skill level 7 in Stealth.

He dismissed both notifications and left Alma to her feast.  Richter turned his attention to the charmed kobolds.  He analyzed the mage first. 

Name: En’fota.  Kobold Level 13. Health 190.  Mana 330.  Stamina 140.  Disposition: Charmed (Enmity).  Kobolds are small reptilian humanoids.  Most adventurers can best a kobold in one on one combat, but you will seldom find such a fight.  They highly favor traps and ambushes.  Kobolds shy from bright light and make their homes underground.  It should be a wary adventurer that enters a kobold warren.  Kobolds get two points to distribute per level, and each level gives +1 to Intelligence, Dexterity, and Agility.

Next he analyzed the armored kobold.

Name: Dur’ghen.  Kobold Level 12. Health 200.  Mana 220.  Stamina 170.  Disposition: Charmed (Enmity)…

Richter started interrogating them.  First he asked about the prefixes in their names.  The mage told him that ‘En’ meant that she was in a caste of kobolds known for their long claws.  She demonstrated that the claws on the tips of her fingers could extend another two inches.  Each looked wickedly sharp.  She demonstrated by dragging them down the wall.  Shallow furrows could be seen in the stone afterwards.  The ‘En’ caste were normally used as attackers.  Apparently they were also gifted with increased health. 

Dur’ghen supplied the information about his own caste.  ‘Dur’ denoted a caste devoted to defending mages.  These kobolds were born with heavier scales that significantly increased their natural armor.  They were also larger, had more health than lower castes and had greater strength. 

Next, they told him about their clan, the Sabre Claws.  Their territory did indeed abut the Long Fangs Clan’s territory.  Dur’ghen made it clear that there was no love lost between the two clans.  The tunnels that joined the territories were all no man’s lands and were sites of continual skirmishes. 

“I need to get to the Long Fang’s lands and then travel through them.”

The mage spoke up, “I do not know how that will be possible, master.  Even for us, it is almost impossible to avoid their traps and patrols.  We will of course help in any way that we can master.  I just wanted you to know the risks.”  

Richter nodded.  The information was not anything he hadn’t been expecting.  After all, he was trapped underground with possibly tens of thousands of monsters.  He wasn’t going to give up though!  He had them remove all of their gear.  While he was at it, he had them help strip the other kobold’s as well.  When everything was in a pile, Richter ordered them to get to work drawing maps of the tunnels in the surrounding area and specifically how to get to the Long Fang’s territory.  As an aside, he asked them to jot down any other points of interest.  He started going through their possessions.

The soldiers merely had an assortment of poorly made weaponry and no armor to speak of.  Each had small pouches with a hodgepodge of copper coins, small ingots of copper and a smattering of low quality stones.  Richter had better luck with Dur’ghen’s equipment.