A day after the announcing of his plan, Baik set off from the tower and left the trio to watch over the other humans in relative safety. Celinus had come with him but lacked anything to really defend herself with beyond a bone knife. Her wolf had come, too, but the only threat it posed was to a normal-sized kobold on its own. Any kobolds that worked together or were relatively experienced could probably best it without much trouble.
All the more reason that his plan needed to work. The two of them walked for almost two hours before reaching one of the few roads marked on the human map: an ancient road that had depreciated to no more than a handful of aged stones and worn dirt tracks.
My previous memories and the things I saw after taking down the group's hunting party means this is probably a place merchants come through. The entire forest is home to more than just my village's kobolds; the fact is that none of the kobolds came to find us or wandered into us in these months for a reason. Either they are truly letting me prove myself... or this area is a testing ground or enemy tribe's land. The likelihood of it being a testing ground isn't that bad since my friends weren't from my tribe, but if it's an enemy territory then the best means to make contact will be baiting the roads.
Baik felt his mind connecting the dots, patiently sitting beside his slave's wolf and watching over the resting bundle of nerves. Unlike the other three they captured, she just simply didn't have the talent for dangerous situations. Using her as bait was a no-brainer, especially when paired with the senses of the wolf to help keep a lookout for the first sign of trouble.
At midday, of course, the chances of a party of kobolds roaming to attack the roads was low. His education told him that the most common time for his kind to attack was later in the day... especially groups that lacked a kobold prince like himself to lead it. Attacking too late in the day, though, left them vulnerable to the demon-aligned forces that used the cover of darkness. It was only in the depths of the woods that kobolds had free reign... and on its roads, he would need to be smart. Setting his trap could lure in all sorts of trouble that may ultimately sacrifice one of his most useful pawns.
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Celinus tries to sit as comfortably as she can amidst the piles of furs they had brought from the tower, not able to see the Prince but knowing he wasn't far. Her magical connection to the wolf let her command it and somewhat sense it, after all, and she knew that Baik had taken it with him.
Artherias says that he... will use me. That kobolds... have their way with women. But for the last month he did nothing but treat me well. Not to mention that he trusts me enough to make me his b-bait. This isn't at all like the stories of monsters.
She brings her left hand up, touching her cheeks and brushing her hair back. It had grown a few inches quicker than she was used to in all this wilderness and had grown somewhat unruly. Kobolds didn't care much for personal grooming outside of keeping clean. Baik and Nehlka generally kept themselves scent-friendly, but they were largely smarter or at least more educated in whatever ways kobolds were.
It's crazy to believe that they're the same species. Even Ango and Nehlka who are siblings are just so different. Add to it that Baik can use magic... most girls back home would kill for a guy like him just from his talents. If he wasn't a kobold I could be his wife and-
The bushes on the opposite end of the road rustle and she tenses up, Celinus quickly clenching the edges of her rags in fear. Nothing leaps out at her save a toad. She lets out a relieved sigh, turning her attention toward the left where the wolf should be.
And immediately feels a palm strike her across the face, the snickering of kobold tongue cutting through the air just as hard as the smack rattles her.
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"Please," Celinus tries to speak in her tongue, only for another kobold to kick her in the stomach while she gets pulled down onto her furs. She tears up and coughs for air, this time begging in the language of her attackers. "Please stop. I yield to you. I yield to your laws-"
"Silence breeder," her main assailant growls, the kobold easily an adult. Like most of the warriors one would see in their society, he even has leather armor resized from beaten humans.
"She speaks our tongue. We'd be better off making her mute or shutting her up."
The other kobold with him is younger, his eyes drifting down to Celinus' rags and where their hem ends just above her knees. The male grabs her thigh, chuckling at her squirming but ultimate lack of action.
It was kobolds like these two that led parties: a veteran scout and most often their most successful child or apprentice. Their actions and mannerisms, including their gear feathering, all point to it being a different tribe.
Baik keeps knelt beside the wolf, his hand holding its muzzle shut while the two watch. Celinus wasn't in danger and they wouldn't have the foolishness to touch her out in the middle of the road. These two were just the first to arrive of a party... and it was this party that he was waiting on before making any actions. Although the warrior wouldn't hear him out, the younger ones could be won over in a show of force. Fighting a kobold was simple for a prince. Convincing younger kobolds to abandon their tribe and follow his rules would need something more.
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Celinus can endure this. But the question now is how many of them are there? If I have to fight more than a handful it will exhaust me... and I certainly don't want to reveal any magic until I know I can see and deal with all of them in a worst-case scenario.
The forest hid more than the initial duo and some stragglers, though; as the two bullied and harassed her, trios of kobolds emerged from relative safety one-by-one. Most were younger and under-equipped, but a second in bone and leather plate armor appeared with the final trio. Unlike the scout, he carried an iron hatchet no doubt looted from humans in the past.
It’s obvious he is the leader even before he pushes through the gathering of nine kobolds to the now-pinned facedown woman and the scouts. He steps his barefoot on her head, looking her over with a smirk.
”She’ll give us a few runts with hips like hers without a problem. Good job not screwing it up, especially since she looks like someone’s runaway.”
Celinus continues begging in her native language, unable to think of how to parse the language under their intimidation. Baik was proud she hadn’t passed out under this much duress, but she likely understood just how safe she was if she had truly grasped the laws. The prince wasn’t acting yet only so he could view the most crucial test in finding new recruits.
”It’s been weeks since we left that dog and our tribe,” the scout growls. “When do we get the women you promised?”
Outcasts. Loners and bandits who flee or are kicked out.
Comparing them, Outcasts had some advantages to a tribe. They often became skilled quickly from wandering and surviving, but their equipment was based on their own ability to make it or steal it. It wasn’t too different from his own experience, but unlike them he still had somewhere to call home if he could find it. The biggest strength of Outcast kobolds, though, lies in their adherence to laws: they view survival simpler and always follow might. It led to most groups having kobolds for fodder with an elite core group. In this case, these kobolds had three elites: the two scouts and the leader. Compared to the dangers of humans, he could far more easily beat them… but using magic may leave Baik vulnerable and he can’t afford damaging his sword.
Returning the sword to its sheath, the prince instead pulls out his broken blade dagger. Although far from perfect, he had sharpened and even reinforced the lower part of the remaining weapon to keep it steady. If he needed it, he still had the sword and his club. He releases the wolf and finally rushes forward alongside the beast.
”Kill only if you must,” he spoke in the human language knowing Celinus’ magic influenced it. “Focus on keeping them spread out."
The latter order was likely too hard but the first was what mattered. He clenches his grip on the dagger and spins mid-stride, clubbing a pair of kobolds between him and the trio down the path and out the way. Both scouts are quick to react, but their leader is slow; the veteran quickly picks Celinus up and clutches her tight to his body with a knife on her throat while the other draws his blade while the armored kobold turns almost entirely around before realizing what was happening.
Baik thrust the impromptu dagger down and forward at the smaller kobold, the grizzled and older man miraculously tilting his head enough so that it only cuts the tip of an ear off.
The immediate retaliatory swing of the hatchet is met with a twist of his wrist, using the handguard of the once-full sword to knock the blade off-course and save his fingers. The third kobold from the trio he split up charges into his blind spot for only a second before the weighty tail doubles back under Baik's instincts.
The sick crunch of the younger kobold's skull meeting a more powerful body part lets him keep his focus forward, preparing his club in his dominant hand while switching the dagger off into his second. His element of surprise was gone but the look of pain and anger in their leader let him know it had worked.
"Whelp," he barks and clutches his free hand to his damaged ear. "I'll kill you!"
"Roktok, guard my back. This bitch is our bargaining ticket when Akort bites the demon's bait."
Although the slang was unusual, the older scout's intentions were clear: he wasn't going to join this "Akort" or any of the others who opposed the prince.
He understood just how big the gap was between a kobold and a kobold prince. Especially a prince that had grown to the degree Baik had. In his childhood he was always looking up to his tribe's warriors... but now that his evolution and age had matured him physically to better match his mind, he felt no fear or anxiety facing down a fight with these odds. Seeing the death of their buddy handled somewhat dismissively would stay them just as well as the wolf now barking and growling at them.
Celinus in all this chaos was teary-eyed and pale, her dark skin making the bone edge pricking at her neck all the more visible. Her eyes were begging to be saved by the only one who had been responsible for her life over the last month, the only way of getting out of here without being raped and used by these kobold scum.
Baik's crimson glare burns brighter in a mix of disgust and anger: he was angry they would dare touch his property... and disgusted that even after all his talk of ideals, his mind still thought of the woman as property.
"Don't blink," he declares to all the kobolds, not looking away from his target and the two kobolds holding her hostage behind him.
With such a declaration, it finally stirs the hatchet-wielding kobold into a furious staredown. He shifts the hatchet into both hands, leaning forward and taking up a stance not too dissimilar from what he'd expect of someone more capable than a common kobold. "I won't!"
I'll show him.
"Sakara, Sakara," Baik whispers, twirling the club around in his grip a single time. The moment it comes around, he clenches the grip tighter."
Akort rushes forward the moment he sees the motion and hears the odd words. "You think I'll let you cast magic, you-"
His words don't come out. As he approached with his hatchet raising to strike, Baik stepped forward and lunged.
In a single motion, he buried his dagger right into the kobold's neck and stopped the air in his throat from forming any words. The onlookers all scream in dismay at their boss getting stabbed even as he pulls away in his mortally wounded state and clutches the wound.
Baik stands still with his eyes still on the kobold, the same predator's glint coming back that he remembered seeing Leik's death.
"Second law."