Arn
“I suggest that you keep up,” Arn stated matter of factly to Marshall. He unchained the healer and headed in the direction of his former cave, “I doubt they’ll take it easy on you now that you’ve taken my side.”
“I haven’t taken your side!” The kobold shouted in anger. “I won’t let it stand! All I need to do is turn you in and everything will go right back to normal.”
“Sure!” Arn replied, his voice echoing off of the cave walls as he’d already walked several paces ahead of Marshall. “Except, I’ll swear up and down that it was only through your collusion with me that let me escape in the first place. I think you know as well as I do that Igalt won’t bother to actually investigate any further… easier to just kill you to be sure.”
Marshall’s jaw fell open, the horrifying reality that his fate was now suddenly tied to this human, left him speechless. Rather than retort, he shuffled along his head drooping towards the ground, his shoulders sagging.
As Arn walked down the long earthen corridor, his attention drifted to the sudden release of pressure he’d felt from the healer.
Passive
Pacifist’s Commitment (Novice II)
In your commitment to settle affairs nonviolently, you have gained the ability to mentally judge whether others wish to do you harm.
Violent acts will result in loss of rank, but tiers reached will remain.
His skill didn’t announce whether or not someone was going to harm him, instead it gave him an uncanny sense to punch them in the face. It wasn’t wholly unlike the feeling Arn would get when he knew his siblings were lying to his face in order to get what they wanted. Although, he was under no illusions about advancing his skill. Arn had been plenty violent already and expected much more violence in his future. For now, he’d treat the skill like a temporary buff that could come in handy for now and would outlast its usefulness.
Arriving at the door to the training cave, Arn pulled out his bow and motioned for Marshall to head in. The kobold had already informed him of the three guards left behind to chain up the young training group and that they were expecting reinforcements soon to ensure that the respawned trainer had no chance at escaping.
Marshall nonchalantly opened the door, but didn’t go in. He heard the twang of the bowstring as an arrow pierced the kobold closest to his son. The other guards reacted quickly and formed a small defensive wall using their shields. They were too far from the young kobold team that were tied to the raised platform near the doorway.
One of the guardsmen, a man Arn didn’t recognize, spoke first, “I assume the group that went out before us is dead?”
“Yes,” replied Arn, “but I’m wondering why you stayed behind? Why not just transport all of the prisoners at once?”
“We were under order to use them as hostages to get you to comply.” The other guardsman, a man Arn recognized but never learned the name of, answered. “Obviously, that isn’t going to work if you don’t show up where we expect you to.” As he spoke, the pair maneuvered to the other side of the platform, giving themselves some coverage.
Arn casually strolled into the room, he placed his bow on the ground and Lou lept on top of it. The owl only took a moment to absorb the weapon into its inventory space. Reaching Toff first, he began undoing the chains that held the group. As he worked, he kept an eye on the guards on the far side of the room. They seemed content with letting him go about his business unchecked. Arn spoke to the group in a low voice, “So some things have changed. Your people know I got out.”
“We know,” said Sprat, “we got a message from The Divine.”
“Right, of course you did.” Arn said, then he turned slightly to address the Punt twins. “Your mother was captured and forced to fight me. Don’t worry, she’s alive and waiting for you, you’ll both see her soon.”
Arn brushed aside the questions of the kobolds from that point. He had plenty of practice zoning out whenever others spoke about things he didn’t care about, and he applied that experience here as well. Arn then walked to the other end of the cave, giving a wide berth to the two guardsmen huddled near the corner. He had to give them their flowers, the two stayed calm and collected, their hard breathing the only hint that they were under a lot of pressure.
“Here are your options,” Arn said as he opened the door to his safe zone, knowing the kobolds were unable to see it, “you two can either surrender to me, or fight me. Those are your options, there will be no negotiation.” Thankfully, his intuition that the safe zone was connected to both doors that he’d found based on his options when leaving the zone turned out correct. Arn turned and stared at the former jailors. His hard eyes seemed to bore holes straight through the shields of the guardsmen.
The two gave each other a quick glance, their eyes agreeing as they silently dropped their shields. Toff and Karn moved quickly to tie the guards up with their own chains while the others collected the scattered equipment. Marshall checked on the younglings individually, ensuring that none were in need of additional healing.
“Now what?” Marshall posed his question to Arn, his demeanor was not one of challenge but resignation.
“Take my hand.” Arn said as held his arm out for the kobolds. “Looks like you can enter my safe zone if you’re touching me.”
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Toff was the first to approach, leading their new prisoners behind him. He placed a clawed hand on Arn’s forearm and hesitated for only a second as the magical door to the safe zone appeared open in front of him. Once he set a foot inside, the kobold released Arn’s arm and tugged the chains to get the others moving.
Once everyone crowded into his safe zone, Arn gave them a movement of privacy to speak to Carbon. Punt the healer looked over his mother while Arn led Toff into the second room to leave the guards. He’d decide what to do with them later but his Pacifist’s Commitment already told him that they wouldn’t put up any resistance.
Or maybe they will but they won’t attack me? Either way, they can’t see the door to leave without me. The realization that if he forgot about them, the guardsmen would most likely starve to death sooner or later did give Arn some pause but he forced himself to put it out of his mind.
Arn moved back into the staging area of the safe zone and waited for the others to finish their conversations. He asked the others similar questions to the ones he asked Carbon before, specifically, he wanted to know if they knew of any kobolds that fit the bill of, “one who shuns death.”
Predictably, none of them had good answers to his most pressing questions. That didn’t mean he learned nothing, however. Igalt didn’t have total control over Arn’s fate, the Punt twins were adamant that if he could get to either the current tribal chief, Marcus, or general Doddy, that he had a good shot at freedom. Both were part of a more progressive wave of kobolds, sickened by the atrocities of the war, that desired a less militaristic society. Doddy was a childhood friend of Carbon’s late husband and the twins had overheard many conversations between the two. They saw the use of the so-called Trainer as symbolic to the hyper focus on militarism the kobold society had.
The real problem Arn would have would be getting through the blockade Igalt had no doubt set up near the exit of Area III to the city. It turns out that Arn’s assumption that the kobolds lived in a village was also off the mark. The capital of the lizards’ subterranean nation was a city that hosted a population of over 30,000. There were also several smaller towns and villages sprawled throughout the mountain they called home.
The most shocking fact Arn learned was that he way off on his belief that he was trapped for three years. Marshall didn’t know the exact time, but it had been at least twenty years since he was under Arn’s tutelage. It can’t have been that long! Why can’t I remember most of it?
Maybe it has to do with the damage you had to your soul. Lou suggested through their link. I don’t think you look old though. The constant resurrections probably reset your age too. It’s probably best to sort it out later. The longer we wait to act, the longer that jerk Igalt has to act.
You’re right. Arn answered as he turned to the group. “Is there another way into the city?”
Punt the leader grinned wickedly as he said, “Oh, there is. The territory of the spiders has a few exits around the mountain. We can use one of those to get close to the city and slip past Commander Igalt.”
Carbon turned on her son suddenly, “That's what this is all about isn’t it? You want his help in subjugating the spiders!”
“I want his help in fixing the stupidity of our elder council.” Punt the leader responded, defiance in his eyes. “What logic is there in getting stronger just to slaughter our own people? We were going to go into the spider cavern anyways if Rook wasn’t pulled into separate training.”
“We saw an opportunity when Trainer said he was leaving.” Punt the healer added. “With his help, we can fight the Spider Matron.”
“How could this human stand a chance against the Matron when your father couldn’t do it?” Carbon sneered.
“Father could fight it just fine. It was the council that forbade it.” Punt the leader said. “They don’t realize that we’ve run out of space. Uncle Doddy says it himself, farmland is being overused and the soil will lay barren soon. If it was up to the council, we’d all starve before taking back our land from those eight-legged monsters.”
The bickering between the younglings and the parents continued for some time. Arn chose to tune them out and talk to Lucius. What do you think, should we take our chances with the barricade or the spiders?
I’m pretty sure I know your answer already. Arn could feel Lou smirking over their telepathic connection.
I think I’d rather fight every kobold in this place than even look at a giant spider.
You don’t know if they’re any larger than usual.
Oh please, you saw the size of those webs, there’s no way these lizards are afraid of normal sized spiders.
Yeah, but I think you know that there’s little chance you can take on a fortified enemy. Those kobolds you killed before were uncoordinated and not part of an actual troop. I don’t think that their commander is dumb. He brought the twins’ mom as soon as he heard what happened and those soldiers that work for him definitely aren’t the usual rabble.
A shiver ran through Arn at the idea of facing spiders. He wouldn’t even kill them back on Earth, Ana would always catch them and release them into the garden. Arn could already imagine a large monstrosity with eight legs racing through the darkness to kill him. Its chittering fangs dripped with venom and its hairy body flipping him over and over while he was webbed and saved as a snack for later.
Arn shut his eyes and took a deep breath, then addressed the group once more. “We’re going through the spider cavern, decide if you’re joining us. If not, you’re waiting here until we return.” Arn walked to the door and waited for the others.
The others took a second to nod an acknowledgement amongst themselves and gathered their equipment. In the end, Marshall, Toff, Sprat, Karn, and the Punt twins join him. Carbon attempted to join and Marshall stepped in to explain that without any training, she would be a liability. Her joining would probably lead to her death, and could also get someone else killed trying to protect her.
A short while later, the group stared down a long corridor. The left fork in the cavern led to Area III of the dungeon and it was the other opposite direction that the group walked. Each step tore and jostled webs that collected along the path. Arn silently prayed that the luminescent mushrooms above would continue for the entirety of their journey. While staring at the mushrooms, he came to a realization. “Are these the same mushrooms you’ve been feeding me?”
“Yes, but we grow them near the city,” Sprat said. “You could eat these but it’d be best to pick the ones that are growing in packs. If you take a few from each bunch, the other mushrooms don’t have to compete as much and can absorb more nutrients. They’ll shine brighter and make up for the loss of a bit of light.”
Arn used his longsword to stab mushrooms along the ceiling, snacking as they all marched along. It took the better part of two hours for the group to arrive at the entryway of the Spider Cavern. Before, Arn had walked into a separate area of the dungeon without realizing it. This time, with some instruction from Marshall, he knew what to look for. The path ahead was blocked by a shimmering fiber. It was only when Arn looked at it closely and from an angel did he see what lay beyond.
The hall extended well into the darkness ahead. On closer inspection, the silhouette of several legs shifted along the walls. “Looks like they're expecting us,” Arn said. “No surprise given all the webs we’ve been breaking. Can they see us too?”
“Yes, but only if they do what you’re doing now,” Marshall answered. “They have the advantage in the dark so there’s no need to take the initiative. Better to just wait for us to walk right into their waiting fangs.”
Arn rolled his shoulders and drew his longsword. “Well, might as well get started, there’s little point in waiting around.”