Arn

Arn held his breath while walking into the training cave. There’s no turning back now. He dragged his preferred shield on the ground, laden with weapons. Knowing that acting natural was the best way to not raise suspicion, and actually acting natural, turned out to be two very different things.

The one thing that worked in Arn’s favor was that the Kobolds truly didn’t know him. To them, he was a battle-obsessed nut case. Most had come to expect strange behaviors from him, and seeing him in full armor, with a variety of weapons in tow was just par for the course.

Arn moved over to his prepared meal, set in a corner of the room where a raised platform had been built. Originally, the platform was installed to provide the kobolds an advantage in height over him. Before they had reached an agreement, the kobold squads would use their flame breath and bows to attack Arn from a distance. Whenever he got close, they would pull out spears to try and skewer him. Although it still saw some use by the group today, for the most part, it was where Arn ate and the kobolds rested.

Behind the platform, inlaid into the wall, was a heavy iron door leading into a large cave system that was home to the little bastards. The door was usually kept locked and only opened from one side, but now that the kobolds had taken over more land, their forces were spread thin. In their minds, why waste manpower on a door that was no longer needed. Arn had shown no interest in opening it over the years, and the kobolds eventually relaxed their protections.

While he ate his traditional plate of cooked mushrooms, the kobolds began their warm-up routines. Five today, Rook isn’t here, probably spending the day learning from the beast tamers. That leaves Sprat, Karn, Toff, and the Punt twins. The twins were the deadliest of the group. They had apparently hatched from the same egg, and shared a mental connection. The twins shared senses and feelings, so as one fought, the other could watch like an additional pair of eyes. When they both fought, it was doubly dangerous.

Arn had found himself in a stand-off with the pair of them several times. The first twin would stall him and keep his attention, only attacking when necessary. The second would use that time to circle Arn and attack from his blind spots. It normally wouldn’t mean much as this was a common attack pattern from the lizards. With the twins, however, it meant that they knew exactly where his focus, weapon, arms, and feet were located at all times. His usual method of feigning a frontal attack and baiting the backstabber never worked.

The twins were also the kindest of the group, ironic given their fighting prowess. Sharing emotions led them to have a greater sense of empathy for others, and the Trainer was no exception. The twins would often sneak in dried fruit into the daily meal, something Arn hadn’t known the kobolds even had access to. The dried apricots were impossible to grow underground and were treated as a delicacy.

He hadn’t thought much of the gesture before. To him, it was just another attempt to curry favor with someone powerful. It wasn’t the first time one of the lizards had been kind to him, and when he’d taken that to mean they were appreciative of his training, he had given them special attention. That turned out to bite him as the kobold used attention as leverage to his superiors as some sort of ‘genius warrior’. The kobold got a position of authority, never returned to training, and the Trainer grew more distant than ever.

It was only now that he realized that many of his trainees of the years had been kind for no particular reason at all. Kindness he tried his best to ignore. His eyes circled the group as they stretched, How many of them have partners? How many loved ones will they leave behind?

One of the twins was a natural fighter, and always excited to give and receive advice. The other was the group's healer, he had access to a low level healing spell that had saved their squad on many occasions. Together, they formed the heart of their squad, and were being groomed for powerful positions. The others respected and relied on them.

They would need to die first. If I want to get out, then they have to die. Empathy doesn’t mean that they would forgo their duty to the tribe. Arn felt a lump grow in his throat as he tried to smother the newest facet to his already massive guilt.

While he was finishing his meal, Lou gently waddled out of Arn’s helmet and behind the platform, using his friend's large body as cover. The owl wasn’t simply a companion to Arn, Lou had already become a physical representation of the promise he’d made to his wife. How could he face her if he wasn’t willing to fight for her?

How can I live with myself if I kill these younglings?

Arn finished his plate, set it aside, and donned his helmet and gauntlets. Rolling his weapons off of his shield, he secured it to his left arm. Finally he grabbed his arming sword, leaving his longsword, longbow, two daggers, and quiver on the platform. His steps off the platform marked the beginning of their training, a routine the kobolds had learned after their second day of getting an unexpected ass-whooping.

He looked towards the mangled golem in the corner. That was another kindness this group had given him. They’d seen how the golem disturbed their Trainer, even if he denied it. Sprat had promised him that they’d handle the golem daily, before Arn walked through his door.

The plan was to use his bow before the kobolds had realized what was happening. He would take out Punt the healer, then Punt the leader if he had time before the lizards got their wits about them. However, Arn had made his decision, he could give the kobolds something he and his wife were denied.

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He’d give them a choice. Not one that took advantage of their ignorance, but a true offer.

Of course, he’d beat the ever-living shit out of them before they made their choice. A nudge towards the choice that led to them living. A nudge, a push, a smackdown, whatever you wanted to call it, his conscience could live with that.

“Before we start,” Arn spoke out as the squad got into their favored battle formation, making them hesitate for a second. “... Before we start, I need you to know that I’m leaving. Yes, it’s what you think. I’m leaving out that door,” he pointed towards the iron door, emphasizing his point.

“I’m sorry,” Punt the leader began saying, “but you know we -”

“I know your duty young man. But I’ll offer you this choice. Let me leave, I’ll go quietly, and you can say I never arrived. Your other option is we fight, and I kill you.”

“You’re forgetting a third option. We keep you here, run for help, and your plan crumbles.”

“Run, and you die. You know as well as I do, I will chase you down and kill you, even if it costs me dearly.”

At that, the lizards stiffened. “We’ll all die if we have too.” said Toff, “Stop fucking around Trainer. You know no one would believe you never showed up. We’d be executed for letting you leave anyways.”

“Then let me offer a compromise. We fight, like any other training day. You do everything in your power to stop me. I’ll do everything in my power, short of killing you, to escape. I won’t make a single attempt to leave before I’ve won, however.”

Arn hoped with every part of his damaged soul, that they would offer him peace. He expected them to refuse and make an attempt at the door. It would be the smart choice. They had no obligation to accept, and no smart reason to either. He was dangerous and they had their duty.

They didn’t refuse.

Punt the healer spoke up before anyone else, “We accept your compromise sir.” He stared down at his twin for a long moment. His decision was meaningless if his twin didn’t accept, the rest of the group knew this and waited. Thankfully, the wait was short lived.

Punt the leader nodded firmly and turned towards Arn, “We accept. We’ll begin now.”

Arn till that moment had stood in stunned silence. As soon as he heard the word, “now,” his demeanor changed to straight business.

Arn made the first move, lunging towards Punt the healer. His twin was expecting it and moved to block Arn’s strike. If Arn let their weapons bind, the ensuing struggle would give the others too much time to retaliate. So he chose to step back just enough for the kobold shortsword to slide off of the tip of his arming sword. He followed up by slicing deeply into the leader’s shoulder, forcing him to drop his weapon.

The moment of advantage ended as Toff and Karn released breaths of fire to roast Arn alive.

Instead of reacting to the flame, Arn kicked Punt the leader into his brother. As Sprat drew back and fired his bow, Arn stomped his heel into the healer’s jaw, breaking it.

At that moment, the flames of the kobolds and the arrow reached Arn. Under normal conditions, Arn would be a flaming ball of flesh, however, this group of trainees had never seen the glory of his shield. He had chosen not to use it in order to challenge himself, a moronic decision in hindsight, but one that paid off now as they didn’t expect their flames to be absorbed by it. The arrow on the other hand, struck his side, but his Brigandine did its job. The tip of the arrow jammed between two plates and lost its penetrative power before cutting through his gambeson.

Arn took full advantage of the squad’s surprise, rushing shield first into Karn and Toff. He punched the edge of the heater shield into Toff’s face, making sure to keep Karn to his left, behind the shield itself. Following up, he bashed the pommel of his sword into the newly disoriented lizard’s skull.

Karn ended his flame and grabbed two ends of the shield in front of him, rotating it like a steering wheel.

Arn was forced to abandon the shield or risk breaking his arm. He retaliated by utilizing the close quarter Karn was in and stabbed his sword deep into the leading thigh of the lizard. He also followed it up with a pommel strike to the kobolds soft chin, knocking him off of his feet and leaving his limbs twitching.

Sprat leaped onto Arn’s shoulders forcing him to the floor in a grapple. He held a dagger in his right hand and tried to stab it through the gap between his Trainer’s armet and gorget.

Arn dropped his sword and grabbed the claw holding the dagger inches before it struck. The momentum meant that he couldn’t fully stop its descent, but he managed to knock it towards his shoulder and into the mail that protected it. The angle of the dagger caused it to slide across the mail, rather than stab into it, however, Arn felt his left shoulder dislocate.

Toff was getting back to his feet at this point, and Punt the leader had already retrieved his sword off the floor. Arn furiously punched Karn directly in the face until he forced a reversal of their stances.

Now on top, Arn used his full weight to repeatedly punch the lizard's jaw stopping when he felt it give. The vibration of the crunch, traveling up his arm.

Toff wobbled forward and threw a weak punch. Arn let the punch land and instead focused on getting the kobold into a grapple in order to incapacitate her.

It was at that moment that Punt the leader ran tip first towards Arn’s exposed back. He had been quiet, and assumed he had the drop on the human, but he was missing a crucial piece of information.

The leader twin is behind you! Shouted Lou from within Arn’s mind.

Grabbing hold of Toff, Arn twisted around to use her as a meat shield out of instinct. It was only after he turned around that he realized that the tip of the blade would impale Toff through the heart.

Arn made his decision and threw the lizard to the floor.

The downside of his decision was that he was unprotected from Punt’s thrust. The upside was that Toff’s now unconscious body made a perfect obstacle to make Punt trip. The blade ended up buried in Arn’s already damaged left arm.

Arn’s adrenaline, and constant experience dying, meant that he was able to shrug off the weariness of pain. Instead, he bawled over Punt and started punching in his face as well.

When it was clear that the leader was no longer able to fight, Arn paused in his assault and looked the kobold in its eyes.

“I’m sorry for the hurt I’ve caused, but I still don’t get it. Why did you accept my offer? It makes no sense. What do you get out of it?” Arn asked.

Punt cracked a crooked smile, stained with blood, and replied, “Because years ago, you spared a young kobold guard. You took him as one of your first trainees, and made him a damn good fighter. He went on to become the first commander of a legitimate kobold fighting force. That man was my great-grandfather. I’m only paying the debt my clan owes.”

System Alert:

Reap the rewards of mercy.

Dharma fulfilled, Karma increased by 10!