CHAPTER 4

[THE FOUR WERE WALKING THROUGH THE FOREST TOGETHER, LOOKING FOR SOME FOOD FOR THE THREE YOUNG WOLFKINS.]

[A GROUP OF FIVE KOBOLDS CAME SPRINTING AT THE GROUP AT AN ALARMING SPEED.]

[UPON SEEING THE GROUP, VYN IMMEDIATELY USED HIS NEW, LARGER BODY TO GRAB HIS CHILDREN AND START RUNNING AWAY.]

[HE MADE IT A LONG DISTANCE THINKING THAT HE HAD ESCAPED, SO HE DECIDED IT WAS TIME TO PUT HIS CHILDREN DOWN, WHO HAD NOW BEEN ASLEEP FROM HIM CARRYING THEM.]

HE LAID THEM DOWN GENTLY, MAKING SURE NOT TO DROP THEM.

[IMMEDIATELY, THE GROUP OF KOBOLDS SUDDENLY APPEARED, SCARING VYN AND MAKING HIM JUMP.]

VYN: GEEZ, WHAT DO YOU WANT? IF YOU TRY TO HARM MY CHILDREN, THERE WON’T BE ANYTHING LEFT OF YOU TO BURY.

[THE STRANGE PARTY IMMEDIATELY KNEELED TO SHOW RESPECT.]

KOBOLD LEADER: WE DO NOT MEAN YOU OR YOURS ANY HARM. WE ARE KOBOLDS SEEKING HELP. OUR SCOUT HAD SEEN WHAT YOU DID TO THOSE SOLDIERS EARLIER. WE WERE HOPING YOU’D BE WILLING TO COME TO OUR VILLAGE AND SPEAK TO OUR ELDERS.

VYN: DO YOU HAVE FOOD?

KOBOLD LEADER: YES

VYN: IF YOU PROMISE TO FEED THEM, THEN YES, I WILL HELP YOU, BUT YOU WILL HAVE TO WAIT FOR THEM TO GET THEIR REST. THEY HAVE BEEN THROUGH A LOT AS OF LATE AND DESERVE ANY PEACE THEY RECEIVE.

KOBOLD LEADER: OF COURSE, MEN STAND GUARD AND MAKE SURE OUR NEW FRIENDS ARE LOOKED OUT FOR.

[KOBOLD IN UNISON]

KOBOLDS: YES, SIR!

[AFTER ABOUT AN HOUR, THE THREE CHILDREN WOKE TO A NEW GROUP OF MONSTERS ALL AROUND THEM.]

THE CHILDREN RUSHED TO GRAB ONTO THEIR NEW FATHER.

GAIA, PAPA, ARE THEY HERE TO HURT US?

VYN: NO, SWEETIE, THEY CAME TO ASK FOR MY HELP WITH SOMETHING. THEY PROMISED TO FEED YOU THREE IF I ASSISTED THEM WITH WHATEVER TASK THEIR ELDER HAD IN STORE FOR ME.

GAIA: OH, OK, THAT’S GOOD.

[THE MUCH LARGER GROUP NOW MADE THEIR WAY TO WHERE THE KOBOLD APPEARED FROM.]

IT WAS LATE AT NIGHT UPON REACHING THE KOBOLD VILLAGE. THERE WERE SEVERAL TINY BUILDINGS MADE OUT OF STICKS, DRIED GRASS, AND MUD.

VYN, WHERE WOULD I FIND YOUR ELDER?

KOBOLD LEADER: RIGHT THIS WAY, PLEASE. MEN GO AHEAD AND TAKE THE CHILDREN TO GET SOME FOOD AND CLEAN WATER.

KOBOLDS: YES SIR

[THE FOUR KOBOLDS ESCORTED THE THREE CHILDREN AWAY AS VYN FOLLOWED THE LEADER INTO THE ELDER’S HUT.]

THE HUT LOOKED MUCH LESS TAKEN CARE OF THAN THE REST OF THE VILLAGE, WHICH WENT FOR THE INSIDE AS WELL. [ALL THAT WAS THERE WAS A BED MADE OF DRIED GRASS AND A MAKESHIFT TABLE MADE FROM WHAT LOOKED LIKE A BIG ROCK.]

[THE ELDER SAT PATIENTLY AT THE TABLE AS VYN ENTERED AND SAT ACROSS FROM HIM.]

ELDER - WELCOME TO OUR VILLAGE, AND THANK YOU FOR ACCEPTING MY AUDIENCE. WHAT SHOULD I CALL YOU, SIR?

VYN - I AM VYN FYREKIN. IT'S A PLEASURE TO MEET YOU.

ELDER: DID YOU SAY FYREKIN?

VYN: YES, SIR, WHY DO YOU ASK?

ELDER - THERE’S NO WAY THEY WENT EXTINCT A HUNDRED YEARS AGO, DID THEY?

VYN - YOU ARE CORRECT, BUT DUE TO SPECIAL CIRCUMSTANCES AND THE WILL OF A GODDESS, I AM NOW HERE.

ELDER - YOU WOULDN’T HAPPEN TO MEAN THE MOTHER OF MONSTERS, WOULD YOU?

GURIS: THAT IS INDEED HER.

VYN: YES, SIR, SHE IS MY MOTHER, BUT I HAVEN’T HEARD THAT TITLE BEFORE.

ELDER: OH, MY, HOW I HAVE BEEN SO DISGRACEFUL.

[HE BEGINS TO BOW, AND SO DOES THE LEADER BEHIND VYN.]

ELDER: PLEASE FORGIVE ME, MY LORD; WE MEANT YOU NO DISRESPECT WITH OUR LACK OF MANNERS.

VYN: PLEASE DON’T BOW TO ME. I AM JUST ANOTHER MONSTER SUCH AS YOURSELF.

ELDER: NO, NO, IT WAS THANKS TO THE MOTHER THAT WE MONSTERS HAVE ANY LIFE AT ALL.

VYN: WHAT DO YOU MEAN, SIR?

ELDER: SHE CREATED DUNGEONS AS A WAY TO TRY AND PROTECT US FROM THE TYRANNY OF THE NON-MONSTER RACES. BEFORE HER, THEY WOULD HUNT SPECIES INTO EXTINCTION EITHER OUT OF SPORT OR OUT OF PROFIT. YOUR RACE WAS NO DIFFERENT; THEY USED TO LOOK AFTER WEAKER RACES, SUCH AS US KOBOLDS, PROTECTING US FROM THEM. SADLY, THAT WAS PART OF WHY THEY WERE HUNTED TO EXTINCTION. IT WAS ONLY AFTER YOUR PEOPLE WERE GONE THAT WE MONSTERS TRULY SUFFERED. IT WAS A LITTLE WHILE AFTER THAT THAT THE MOTHER APPEARED AND CREATED ALL THE DUNGEONS OF THE WORLD.

VYN: OH, I HADN’T KNOWN MY MOTHER DID SO MUCH FOR THE MONSTERS OF THIS WORLD. IF YOU DON’T MIND, COULD YOU EXPLAIN TO ME WHAT A DUNGEON IS?

ELDER: AH, YES, OF COURSE. WHEN SHE SAW THE CRUEL WAYS WE WERE BEING HUNTED, SHE CREATED DOORWAYS IN THE NORMAL WORLD THAT EACH LED INTO ANOTHER DIMENSION. THESE DIMENSIONS ARE THEIR OWN REALMS, EACH GRANTING A SAFE HOME FOR MONSTERS TO DWELL IN AND ALSO MAGICAL PLANTS AND ORES TO PROVIDE THEM WITH A MEANS OF SURVIVAL. SHE LEFT THE DOORS OPEN SO THAT WE MONSTERS COULD SPREAD IN THE EVENT WE OUTGREW OUR HOMES. THIS NEVER CAME TO PASS, THOUGH, BECAUSE SHE VANISHED AND THE HUMANOIDS BEGAN USING THE DUNGEONS FOR PERSONAL GAIN.

VYN: I AM SORRY MY MOTHER HAD TO GO TO SAVE ANOTHER WORLD. THE GOD THAT WAS IN CHARGE THERE WAS INTENTIONALLY CREATING SUFFERING, SO SHE PUT AN END TO IT. I AM A REMNANT OF HIS CORRUPTION, WHICH LED TO MY HAVING A CURSED SOUL. TO MAKE UP FOR NOT FIXING IT IN MY LAST LIFE, SHE GRANTED ME THIS LIFE.

ELDER - I AM SO SORRY. I DIDN’T MEAN TO SOUND UNGRATEFUL TO YOUR MOTHER.

VYN - I DON’T THINK MY MOTHER WOULD BE UPSET WITH YOU. SHE SEEMS TO BE THE TYPE TO OVERLOAD HERSELF, FIXING EVERYTHING, AND PROBABLY OFTEN FORGETS TO CHECK ON HERSELF.

ELDER - YOU’RE PROBABLY RIGHT, MY LORD.

VYN: FOR THE ORES AND PLANTS, COULD YOU EXPLAIN THOSE TO ME?

ELDER: YES, MY LORD, THE PLANTS IN A DUNGEON GROW MUCH FASTER AND ARE MORE BOUNTIFUL THAN THOSE OF THE NORMAL WORLD, ALLOWING US MONSTERS TO SURVIVE ON THEM MUCH EASIER. THE ORES HAPPEN TO BE VERY STRONG. THEY ARE EASY TO SHAPE, BUT IF THEY LEAVE THE DUNGEON, THEY NEED TO BE SUPPLIED WITH MANA NOW AND THEN FOR BOTH EXTENDING THEIR REMAINING LIFE SPAN AND REPAIRING THEM. INSIDE THE DUNGEON, THOUGH, THAT IS AUTOMATIC, MAKING THEM PERFECT FOR US MONSTERS.

VYN: HMMM, THAT SOUNDS LIKE IT COULD COME IN HANDY. I’M SORRY TO HAVE GOTTEN OFF TRACK. CAN YOU TELL ME WHAT YOU NEED HELP WITH?

ELDER: WELL, I WAS TOLD YOU HAD A RUN-IN WITH THE SOLDIERS, CORRECT?

VYN: YES, THEY IMMEDIATELY DECIDED TO TRY AND ATTACK ME, WHICH HONESTLY JUST MADE ME ANGRY.

ELDER: THAT IS NORMAL BEHAVIOR FOR THEM, MY LORD. WHAT THEY ARE DOING TO THE KOBOLDS, THOUGH, IS NEW AND SOMETHING I NEED HELP WITH. THEY FOUND A WAY TO ENSLAVE MONSTERS AND ARE CURRENTLY ENSLAVING EVERY KOBOLD THEY FIND HERE, MAKING THEM WORK THE MINES FOR THE ORE. THEY DON’T EVEN CARE WHETHER THE SLAVES SURVIVE, SO THEY DON’T EVEN BOTHER FEEDING OR HOUSING THEM. THEY HAVE THEM CHAINED TO A MAGIC ROPE THAT LEADS INTO THE CAVE AS WELL AS OUTSIDE, WHERE THE SLAVES SLEEP ON THE GROUND. THE ROPE IS ENCHANTED, MAKING IT IMPOSSIBLE FOR THE SLAVES TO BREAK OUT, SO THEY ARE TRAPPED THERE UNTIL THEY DIE. WE WERE HOPING YOU’D BE WILLING TO DO SOMETHING ABOUT THIS FOR US.

VYN: OF COURSE! THERE ARE THREE THINGS I UTTERLY DESPISE: SLAVERS, TERRORISTS, AND PEDOPHILES. I’LL GLADLY TURN THEM ALL TO DUST AND ATTEMPT TO SAVE YOUR PEOPLE. I JUST NEED ONE THING.