It was the final month of the short summer in the far northern volcanic range where monsters ruled and even now the weather could turn foul in an instant.

Nib the kobold trudged along the high mountain pass, leaning against the whipping wind and stinging sharp volcanic dust mixed with pelting rain. Over his shoulder was slung a small deer carcass. It was a precious commodity in this place. Red meat was rich in valuable minerals and was not acquired easily. He would have loved roasting such a prize and eating his fill. This deer wasn’t for him, however. This deer was just another weapon in his growing arsenal of monster slaying tools.

Over the previous months Nib had grown into the top scout and exterminator among Coralia’s guerrilla kobold force. His range was the most expansive and his kills were in the scores, from crude goblins to mighty giants he had killed many and yet had never laid his own weapon on a single one. His tools were much more subtle.

Now he followed the trail of a mountain giant to its cave more than ten miles from the now fully formed village in the valley by the lake. Nib had shadowed the giant for several days as it patrolled its expanding territory in search of prey, which thanks to Nib and his cohorts was becoming quite scarce.

The tiny kobold stopped at the point in the trail he knew from experience the giant would soon cross. He placed the deer carcass on the trail and plunged his short spear into the dead animal’s side. Making the scene appear as though he had just killed it on the spot.

Less than ten minutes later, booming steps could be heard and felt further up the path over the pelting wind and distant thunder. Nib’s blood was cool. He no longer felt the rush of anxiety over the larger and traditionally more powerful creatures of the world. His skills which had been nurtured by his great leader set him apart from such primitive monsters.

The giant appeared and immediately spotted the weakling kobold and the delicious morsel it had caught. Great luck for the giant, terrible misfortune for the kobold or so the giant believed. Predictably, the kobold squeaked in alarm and abandoned the kill, scampering off into the brush. The giant ignored the inconsequential creature and lifted the deer carcass by the spear like a human might hoist a bit of sausage on a toothpick.

The giant savored the crunchy treat and felt the beloved nourishment slide into its empty belly with satisfaction. It continued on toward its lair, intending to nap through the storm. Only a hundred feet down the trail, a strange burning in the giant’s massive gut soon led to dim vision and before it even knew what was happening it was collapsing. It leaned its twenty foot bulk against the rain slick black rock wall on its right and went down to one knee.

It held a giant hand to its mouth as liquid shot up its throat. Black blood gushed between its fingers and it fell face first into the pool of vomited blood. The poison ravaged through the giant’s system and did its work well.

Nib calmly approached the huge corpse, tiny ebon dwarf forged dagger in hand. He sliced off the ear that was as large as his own torso with practiced efficiency and stuffed it into his now overstuffed pack. He was about to turn around to return to the village when an odd sight caught his attention.

Just ahead was a large neighboring valley, and through the wind and rain, a red glow could be seen on the horizon. It would have been unnoticed on a clear day but in the dark grey overcast of this day, it was clearly visible. Nib hiked higher up the trail for a better view and what he found stunned him.

There, filling most of the valley nearly a mile below was a sea of fires, black tents, and creatures that even from here Nib recognized without effort. This was Maiphon’s horde, finally free of the subterranean caverns. It was the scenario they had prepared for and feared the entire summer but the sheer scale of the enemy force was beyond belief.

Mixed in with the most common Maiphonian orcs and lower imp-like goblinoid demons were colossal hellish creatures, some dragon-like in appearance, others were humanoid and seemed to be formed of living lava. Clouds of steam rose from them as the rain pounded down.

Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

Nib took in as many details as possible before sprinting down the trail to report to his lady Coralia. An hour and a half later, the storm had blown itself out and left only a few scattered and benign puffy white clouds behind as Nib passed the fortified perimeter of the village.

He passed a dozen secret defenses, deadly pitfalls, complex mechanical snares, traps loaded with volleys of poison darts, runes that activated devastating magic on command, and of course the grim faced and well disciplined defenders themselves. Under the leadership of Coralia and her various generals, every kobold had become the best fighter they could be. Their senses were sharp, their minds were keen, and their weapons were never far from a snakeskin container of deadly poison.

He approached Coralia’s office, where she could most often be found drawing up more and more effective ways to layer the surrounding area for maximum impact against the impending invasion. He found her conversing with Elisif, the demon knight of Belithel who carried the toddler reincarnated demon goddess on her hip. Belithel squirmed and quietly fussed to get down when she spotted Nib. For some reason the tiny demon was incredibly fond of Nib and always demanded to be near him when he was around.

Elisif put Belithel down and looked to Nib along with Coralia.

“Welcome back Nib, do you have a debrief for me?” Coralia asked, using high common.

“Yes. Demons have come.” Nib had come a very long way in learning high common from the young dwarf Kira as had most of the other kobolds.

The atmosphere in the room immediately tensed, except for Belithel who simply seized Nib’s tiny clawed hand and popped the index finger of her other hand into her nose.

“Very well, tell me everything.” Coralia focused her intense green eyes onto Nib’s own beady brown ones.

“The west valley filled with them. Orcish, goblinoid, giant, dragon, even giants made of lava there.” Nib laid out what he had seen to the best of his ability. “Found after I killed the giant.”

“Good work. I can always count on you.” Coralia walked around her large sturdy planning table and knelt down before Nib to favor him with a sincere pat on the shoulder.

A tiny white hand with dark fingernails appeared on top of Coralia’s own, and Belithel smiled happily at her adopted aunt and uncle. As usual no sound came with her actions but her emotions carried through strongly and had a settling effect on both Coralia and Nib.

“Gather Mathael and Hurstag immediately.” Coralia ordered the other two as she stood and leaned over the table which had a detailed drawing of the surrounding area on it.

The camp exploded into action as the news spread. The plan was based on a system of tiers. This was the highest tier, meaning that the village itself would become one giant trap and left empty for the invading force to occupy after the defenses softened their numbers. The logic was that the most important commanders of the invading army would commandeer the attractive buildings to use as their own temporary bases of operation.

After those preparations were made, the guerrilla kobolds organized into strike teams that would immediately take action by doing all they had been trained to do. Identify the highest value targets, disrupt food and water supplies, create internal chaos among the enemy, and never be seen. These were not just orders, they were the meaning of life for the now zealous guerillas in Coralia’s service.

The dwarves had spent months preparing as well, forging weaponry, excavating massive pits, escape tunnels, and distilling a large quantity of salt from the nearby brine spring.

Elisif and Mathael had devoted their time to training everyone in the village about the weaknesses of the demons. Traditional poisons could kill them, but if those poisons were also infused with salt and coated on a weapon of pure iron they could kill instantly with only the tiniest poke. With this in mind, a huge quantity of deadly salted anti-demon poisons were brewed and stored in casks created by the industrious dwarves.

Though their force was small, there was no group in the world currently better equipped and trained to wreak havoc upon the hellish invaders. While the concept of battling the demons that had once slaughtered them was still frightening, nearly every single kobold, dwarf, and demon wore a grim smile during that day of final preparation.

That evening as the sun was dipping behind the mountains Nib and his fellow commander Laz stood before the troupe of elite guerrilla kobolds. Each one was outfitted in black dyed leather and cloth and carried the mana charged token granted by Coralia herself. Their numbers had grown to forty and each was tactically worth a hundred human soldiers in Coralia’s estimation.

“We take back our pride tonight.” Laz said clearly in high common, the language was a prerequisite to joining the guerrillas. “Never seen! Never known! Ever felt!” She said the mantra of the guerrillas proudly.

“Oh shit!” The guerrillas answered with the traditional call. Without further interruption, the deadly autonomous force filtered into the dusk forest, vanishing from sight almost instantly.

Coralia watched them depart with swelling pride. That such a force could be assembled from the lowliest monsters was beyond impossible according to everything taught in the human kingdom, yet here they were. A group of absolutely effective and deadly killers born in just a few months, ready to seep into the enemy force like a plague.

“Those are the scariest little buggers I ever saw.” Hurstag said, similarly impressed by the departure. He turned to Coralia after a moment and continued. “Everything is ready for operation Armageddon.”

“Good. Then it’s time you all move to location two.” Coralia replied steadily.

“You’re not gonna die right?” Hurstag asked, genuinely concerned. The plan called for the evacuation of everyone except Coralia and was shrouded in mystery.

“I will see you soon, but do take a long look at the valley because it won’t ever be the same when I’m through.”