Sorting scrolls and books was rather dull work, but I took to it gladly all the same. It was nice to take a break from training/ doing absolutely nothing. My 'worshipers' seemed to take it as a personal offence if I tried to help with just about anything around the estate, and so I was frequently left with next to nothing to do. So I was quite pleased when a foxmen approached me, looking very uncomfortable, and made a request. Apparently, the estate was heavy in people trained in combat or house keeping- and even more specialized arts like alchemy- but not many were all that versed in reading or writing.

So this young foxmen had been forced to approach me for aid in the matter. It may be tedious work, but at least it was work. I picked up on the goblin glyphs well enough- my efficient learning no doubt a result of being a god in some fashion- and started organizing, categorizing, and shelving documents and books in the recently completed library. When I arrived at the estate it had still been incomplete, but recently the last of the shelving and basic seating had been added.

It was fairly basic in design, but larger than we currently needed as we only had a few hundred books, and maybe as many scrolls, must of which were dealing with either goblin construction, or weapon play. Apparently monsters were not huge creators of entertainment novels by any means. As a former quadriplegic, much of my former entertainment had been either television, or audio books. I did miss it, but I wouldn't trade my arms and legs for J.R.R Tolkien, no matter how epic an adventure it could be.

Besides- current doldrum aside- I was literally living an adventure. I had no room to complain.

But, it was as I was mid reading titles and adding them to a series of lists before handing the book to an attendant who would then sort them to their appropriate shelf, that excitement once again entered my world. And that usually was not a good thing when one lives with monsters- even if they were steadily becoming a little more cultured.

The two attendants present, and myself, turned toward the door as a commotion could be heard out in the hall. I told the two foxmen that I was going to check it out and they bowed as I hurried out of the mostly empty room. In the large hall I saw a small group of servants gathered near the entrance to the temple. I made my way to them and waited for them to do their customary bowing before starting my questioning.

"What's going on?" I asked a foxie woman.

She hesitated, worry in her large doe like eyes, before answering. I knew then that they thought that what ever was happening, it may be dangerous. My people may not be nearly as bad as they once had been about keeping me out of harms way, but they still had their habits. "I think we have a visitor Lady Enna." She said in a very feminine voice, the other three females, all foxie, nodding as well. "A group of them I think."

"From the fox village?" I asked, worried that something bad might have happend. It wasn't odd for small groups of foxes or goblins to come, visit and leave offerings, and leave again after a day or two. But it was odd for a commotion to be made over it. Unless it was Margund himself who decided to make an appearance, but I rather doubted that. The goblin king was still very busy setting to rights his father's mishaps, and did not have the time to just disappear from the capital, Gurten, for a month long trip without good reason.

"No, My Lady!" Piped int he youngest of the woman, her russet fists clenched in her apron. She sounded more excited than worried. "Its a group of kobolds. We haven't see their kind since well before I was born!"

"Kobolds?" I needed to see this for myself. Besides, if they came here, it was likely to see me. This was the land god's temple, after all.

I said a swift farewell to the servants, and hurried though to the church. It was even more breathtaking now that Drazdon and his sons had installed more of their stained glass. They were even beginning to get the scaffolding up to install the next of Drazdon's "masterpieces" depicting our trip to the estate. But it was a lot noisier than it usually was- construction aside. the sound of several men speaking over one another along with a set of voices that sounded stranger than any I had heard before. They were sort of higher pitched and reedy, but also had some growly tones around some of the consonants.

Cautiously, not really knowing what a kobold was, I approached the mass of people. I could make out Lagdon and Draxly immediately, one being a grey skinned mountain and they other a pitched black fox man dressed in black leather. Both were standing rather menacingly, arms crossed over their chests and eyes narrowed to ward the ground. Either kobolds were short, or they had made a mess on my shiny stone floors, which would be a shame.

"What's going on?" I asked, sideling up to the two men I knew best in this group. I could see several other guards as a few of the people who had decided to journey to the estate with the expressed intent of being some kind of Enna priests. I was not comfortable with that name and so they just referred to them selves as 'shrine keepers', and made themselves busy keeping the temple- or shrine i guess they now referred to it as- clean and orderly, as well as help those how came to pay respects here.

I can't say i was too keen at their being some kind of religion springing up with me at its center, but i saw no harm if they just wanted to be helpful. I had decided to keep an eye on the group however, not wanting them to turn obsessive or radical in some way.

"My Lady!" Exclaimed Trixie, the estate manager. I had not even realized she was here, despite the brightness of her blonde hair. "I was just about to send someone to find you."

Draxly and Lagdon stepped back, opening up my view. that act alone told me that what ever I was about to see was of no danger to me. No way these two muscle heads would just open me up to potential attack.

I am not really sure what I thought a kobold would look like, but it had not been what I saw standing, hunched and fearful, before me. There was a group of six men, about the same height as the foxes had been back when the were just foxkin, but they could not have looked different from the furry fox faced people I had once known.

The kobolds were not ugly, but the best description I could make for them was a mix between bald dogs and naked mole rats. They stood on two feet and in most ways appeared humanoid, but their faces were somewhat elongated and they had slightly saggy, peachy or pale grey skin. Most were bald, or nearly so, and all had beady black eyes and floppy, hairless, ears that resembled that of a beagle.

As I looked at them, they looked at me, and I saw their eyes grow wide. Maybe they knew me by name, or maybe my feint glow gave it away, but they knew immediately that I was the land god. I knew that word of me had been spreading through the nation so either was a possibility. All at once, the small, saggy skinned men bowed. They were dressed in what i would describe as old English cloths with white linin shirts, little vests, and several removed paper boy caps as they bowed.

"We apologies for disturbing your peace Lady Enna." Stammered one of the men. I was a little ashamed to admit that I was finding it difficult to tell them apart. It seemed rude. Especially since every one of them seemed terrified out of their minds. I frowned down at them. Were rumors spreading that I was vicious or something?

"Er, Lady Enna, these people are kobolds." Explained Draxly, his eyes narrowed on the diminutive creatures. "A race of demi-humans. They say that they have come seeking your favor..."

So they were demi-humans hu? Through my reading in the library, as well as from what I learned from the others, I knew that demi-humans were neither humans nor monsters. Though they did hold some traits of both. Other species that fell into this category were the elves, dwarves and harpies. Demi-humans tend to have the same reasoning skills as humans, but similar strength as monsters. But unlike monsters, demi-humans did not evolve. If they wished to obtain new power they had to learn it the slow and steady was as humans did.

"We a-are very sorry to disturb you..." Said the kobold once again.

At my confused and slightly offended look, Lagdon explained. "There should be no kobolds in the forest Lady Enna. Aeros loathed the demi-humans nearly as much as he did humans, and did not abide by them living in his lands."

Ah. These kobolds had been driven by desperation, seeking my aid, but feared that I held the same prejudices as the nasty old dragon. They must have been desperate, to risk the wrath of a god, and come to ask for help. That begged the question: What the heck was scarier than an enraged land god?

"I can't speak of Aeros," I said, just barley stopping myself from saying 'dumb lizard' rather than the former god's name. "But I have no problems with demi-humans, or even humans for that matter. Unless I am given a reason to have issue with them that is. What is it that you need help with?"

The kobolds head snapped up, eyes hopeful. He exchanged desperate looks with the other kobolds. "Thank you Lady Enna, that is most gracious of you."

Gracious? For not killing people on sight? I hoped I never got so jaded in this role that I was forced to make people fear me like that, just on principle.

"Lets take this to the meeting rooms." I said, not unkindly, before turning to Lagdon. "We should probably have Nord sit in on this, as well as anyone else you think might have needed input."

Lagdon nodded, shared a brief glace with Draxly- that I took for a 'Stay close to her'- and hurried off to find Nord and who ever else may be present in the estate that held some kind of authority.

True to his nature, Lagdon did not keep anyone waiting. As Trixie was escorting the last of the Kobolds in before Draxly and I, the goblin prince arrived with Nord, two fox elders, and a goblane woman I vaguely recognized as an advisor to Margund, probably here on a pilgrimage. I entered the room and the others quickly followed behind. Trixie was getting the kobolds seated, their heads barely clearing the table, and Draxly pulled out a seat at the head of the table fore me. He and Lagdon decided to stand behind my chair. I could only guess that they were trying to put up a front for the kobolds, as normally they would simply take the seats either side of me, rather than be a pair of threatening muscle men behind me.

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Nord took the chair to my right, while Trixie took the one to my left, the other foxes and goblin's sitting where they would, all of us on one end of the table while the Kobolds sat on the other, looking very small and terrified.

"Alright," I said, still uncomfortable with these situations but sucking it up all the same. "Please, tell me what's happening? How is it that you have come to be in my forest?"

The kobolds exchanged another nervous look, but then the apparent leader cleared his throat and spoke. "Though your people are correct, and my kin are not normally welcome in the Monster Nation Aeros, we have actually been living here for quite some time." We really needed to change the name of this nation. I usually just refereed to it as the 'forest' even though it held more regions than the forest I currently lived in... but I knew if I brought it up the others would want to name it after me, and that would be just too embarrassing. So I held off mentioning it till I thought of a plausible name to use instead. "We kobolds once live in in the nation of Barsole, along this nations southern most border. But, eighty years ago or so, that nation went through a bit of a revolution."

I glanced to Nord for confirmation, but he looked like this was as much news to him as it was to me. I suppose that would be too much to hope for from the goblin rumor mill. They may be deep in the know about the working of the Monster nation- especially this side of the mountains that bisected the nation- but given Aeros stance on other races and nations, it was not a surprise that anything outside the borders was a complete mystery.

"We demi-humans never had the greatest standing in Barsole as it was, but once the new royal family took over, they condemned all demi-humans to death or slavery, and all sentient monsters were to be killed on sight." The kobold leader continued. "My great great grandfather, along with others of my race, decided the only course of action was to flee Barsole... It was well known that the Great Dragon also held no love for demi-humans, but it was also said that he had not made an appearance in over one hundred years at the time. Our ancestors decided to take the risk."

I watched as the kobolds slowly began to release the tension in their shoulders. It was brave of them, considering they were currently surround by rather powerful monsters, to have come here where they were even more disadvantaged. Brave or they were really just that desperate at any rate.

"How is it you got thorough the Dark?" Asked Nord, his eyes somewhat suspicious, but his tone soft and understanding. "It spans most of our border with Barsole and is the main reason- Aeros not included- that humans from that nation are kept out of our lands."

"I does cover the main paths that lead to this nation, but from the stories I have been told, our forefathers decided to take the long way around, risking the border crossing stations rather than cut through the Dark it self. Due to the instability of the nation at the time it was some what easier than it had been in years before."

"And you just live on the other side of the border?" I asked. Is the problem these kobolds face that of an entire other nation? If that was the case than I wasn't sure if we could help. In fact, I was pretty sure it would spell near disaster for this nation if another decided to invade or pick a fight. It was why I was avoiding trying to reach out to human nations before I could better build up our power base here. I was of the thought that dealing with humans could very well boost my peoples way of life greatly... but that was only if the threat of angering us was enough to convince them to be nice rather than simply invade and take what Aeros abandoned.

"No Miss- Er, I mean, Lady Enna." Stated the kobold who had still not named himself. I guess it was poor manners on my part not to ask him... oops. "Once our people made it across the border, we then made our way back toward the Dark." Seeing the confused look on my face, the man smiled weakly. "We still feared the Dragon God, and so thought it best to hide in a place we knew most people- monsters included- avoided. We built a village on the edge of the dark and did our best to lay low. As our ancestors suspected, we rarely ran into any others so close to the Dark, and, luckily, the denizens of the Dark keep to its shadows... at least, they used to..."

"Used to?" questioned Nord, his voice a worried rumble.

Pale faced, the kobold nodded. "Its is why we came to ask for the aid of the new land god. We knew that Aeros would never- but, when would came from a rare traveler that there was a new god... well, our mayor and the village elders figured that we had no choice but to risk the asking..."

It was then that I realized that these men, not even once, thought that they would ever make it out of this meeting alive. They could not imagine that Aeros' successor would look favorably on them at all. I was sure that their only hope was that- who ever the new land god would be- would be territorial enough to not want what ever was stirring up trouble in the Dark to be left on its own. They just hoped that their people could escape during the melee.

The leader sighed, then got into the meat of the issue. "On the day we left our village, already twenty people had been killed, or have gone missing. I am afraid that we are not sure what is doing this... We refer to it as the specter, simply because it attacks at night, in a cloud of fog, and no one has seen it. Or, if they did, they died right after. Some weeks ago we began noticing that, at night, a fog would roll in from the Dark. Then, a few days later the first person went missing. Just before we were sent out seeking help, people began to just die in their own homes."

Another one of the kobolds nodded and then spoke up for the first time. "It has been awful... my sister and my uncle are among the missing. And, just the night before we left, my good friend was found dead in his bed."

"Dead how?" Asked Trixie, never one to be fearful or to think that such a discussion was above an estate manager who didn't know the first thing about battle. "Knowing the method of death may provide clues to the culprit. Though I do not know of a monster that produces a fog... not one that would blanket an entire village at least."

"We do not know the exact method. We know that it is painful, as we hear the victims' scream out into the night before they are found dead. And we know that how ever the Spector is doing it, it leaves no wounds." Stated the leader, looking sad and defeated.

"Just husks..." Said another of the kobolds, voice hardly more than a whisper.

"Husks?" Asked Trixie.

The man nodded. "Yes, husks. When the sun comes up and the mist recedes we go and try and find who it is that has been taken from us. And all we find are the withered corpses the Specter leaves behind. It is as if they aged in seconds and all blood and moisture has been drained from their flesh. It is a most disturbing thing to see."

I immediately pictured a mummy. I had no clue if any culture here practiced making mummies like several cultures on earth had, but the kobolds description of the bodies sound just like an unwrapped mummy to me. Were these people mummified alive? How awful.

Silence met the end of the kobolds description and I had no doubt that we were all thinking much the same thing: How could we defeat a ghost that sucks the life out of you in the night?

Coming to a decision that I was sure my trusty guards and advisors would not like, I decided to voice it all the same. "We need to go to the kobold village and investigate."

As i suspected, there was immediate uproar. It was too dangerous. No place for a young land god. It wasn't our problem if a beat was making a snack of some demi-humans...

It was the last statement that had me shouting above the protests.

"Enough!" Perhaps because I was a land god, or maybe just because they were not used to me raising my voice, I did not know, What ever the reason, the room grew silent. The goblins and foxes looking a mixture of worried and angry, and the kobolds looking horrified and attempting to make themselves even smaller.

"As far as I am concerned," I said, glaring at all the foxes and goblins in the room, just so they could be made perfectly aware of my stance on this. "These kobolds are as much a part of my lands as any one of you." the goblane woman looked as if she was about to protest, but I glared till she turned away. "I am not Aeros. I had thought that I had made that perfectly clear already, but apparently not. I have no reason not to sympathies with demi-humans, or even humans for that matter. Indeed, I am sure that most would think that- being of human birth myself- that I would identify better with them than with you monsters. But did I even once hesitate to accept you all under my care."

Lagdon did not even hesitate, even when the others were busy looking chastised. "Not even for a moment Lady Enna." He said, still looking irritated and aggressive, but I appreciated the acknowledgement all the same.

"Exactly. I plan on extending the same curtesy toward these kobolds- as citizens of theses lands for nearly one hundred years- as I did to all of you. When the foxes faced doom to the hands of the goblins, I did not just ignore their plight. And when the goblins- under the goregek's thumb- could neither grow or thrive, I did not hesitate in trying to free them either." I sighed, slouching my shoulders and feeling a little drained. "that being said, most of the hard work had been accomplished by you all, and not by me. But I can not, under the weight of my own conscience, ignore the plight of these kobolds.

"Besides," I added darkly. "If this Specter is growing in strength, as the kobold's story seems to indicate, then that could spell disaster for us. When first we heard rumors of the strange happening around the Dark they seemed worrisome, but not desperate. I do not think that is the case any longer. If what ever this Specter is has the power to leave the forest to kill people, then where will it go when all the kobolds are gone?"

"Here." Sighed Nord, looking as drained as I felt. "You are right of course, Lady Enna. And I do not doubt that this Specter poses a serious threat..."

"But why do you need to go?" Lagdon finished for his mentor, a growl of disapproval evident in his tone.

I had not said that I intended to go. But he was right in assuming that that was exactly what I had planed.

"Sure, I could send out some good men, or even send word to Margund and hope that he could send aid, but that would not help me understand at all. And defiantly not swiftly." I explained. "I need to go see this dark for myself. Feel out what my senses tell me this Specter might or might not be, and whether it is anything we can possibly handle."

"My lady," Said Trixie, her eyes sad and scared "I am sure this is starting to sound very repetitive for you, but I do not think it is safe for you to go your self."

"It should be fine. I am not proposing that we charge straight into the Dark and recklessly confront the horrors that lay within. I do take your warnings to heart and agree that am not ready for such and under taking, even if I am willing. But I do feel I need to see this for myself. What I am proposing is not an invasion, but merely a reconnaissance and a rescue."

"How do you mean?" Draxly asked, foxie eyes narrowed.

"I say that we take a small group to the kobold village, assess the situation quickly, then evacuate the entire place and bring them all back here."

"What?" Asked the leader kobold, confused and maybe a little overwhelmed.

I nodded. "Yes, we go and evacuate your people and bring them back here. It's not a perfect solution, and your people may not live as comfortably as they would in their own homes, but am sure we can put together an make shift camp for your people to stay- the infirm or those with very young families can stay here in the shrine- at least until we can figure out how to properly be rid of the Specter. then you all can go home, or -given you no longer need to hide from Aeros- make a brand new village in a less inhospitable location if need be."

The group exchanged looks before Nord groaned in defeat. "She will go, weather we agree to go with her or not. And as far as emergency measures go, it is not a bad plan. The kobolds are small and industrious people, I am sure they will not take up much space and are more then capable for assisting in erecting a temporary settlement before the winter has a chance to fully set in."

This time it was Lagdon who sighed. In a rare display of familiarity and affection, he thumped me lightly on my silver head. "If it keeps this one from charging head first into a monster den, then we have no choice but to agree."

I rubbed the top of my head and glared up at the insufferable goblin prince, trying very, very hard not to stick my tongue out at him like a petulant child.