“Thank you,” Math said as he examined the lacerations on his legs. Beside him, Rai had cut a strip from his shirt and was wrapping Thea’s torn wrist tightly. She gritted her teeth as the cloth pressed down on several deep punctures. She would need to get that wound cleaned out, and fast. He feared for her even more with the memory of his mother’s recent bout with infection still fresh.

“You’re welcome,” said one of their rescuers.

“We’d have been torn apart for sure, if you folks hadn’t appeared out of thin air like Sidhe coming up from the underworld,” Math said.

Another of the strangers threw his head back and laughed, looking at one of his companions. The companion shook his head with a smirk and finished cleaning off his bloodied blade.

Math gave them a glance, then turned back to the one who had spoken. He had seen the man before.

“You’re Khel, aren’t you?” he asked. “The wanderer?” He had never met the man but had seen him from time to time. Khel was rumored to be a nomad. He came to town once in a while, never staying long. Sometimes he spent the night at an inn, sometimes he spent the night somewhere outside of town. Nobody seemed to know where he actually lived, or why he traveled.

“I am,” the man replied. “And you are Maethius, brother of Rhaiven there, and this lovely young lady is Thea. My friends here are Ulric, Rowan standing to the side, and over there is Destrian.”

“You know us?” Math asked.

“I know of you,” he replied.

“Forget that,” Rai interrupted. “What the hell were those things?”

“Kobali,” Ulric replied.

“Bullshit,” Rai said. “The Kobali are ghost stories for scaring kids.”

“Yes, of course. As are Sidhe, and dragons, and all manner of nonsense,” Rowan joined in. “And yet, there they lay in the dirt in front of you.”

Math looked at the corpses strewn around them. Kobalds. It couldn’t be true. Yet the proof was in front of his eyes; the carcasses were no creatures he had ever seen before.

A dozen questions leapt to mind. “Why,” he asked simply.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

“Let’s go,” Khel said in response. “We’ll talk on the way. It’s not a good idea to stay here.”

Math nodded in agreement.

“How are you two doing?” he asked his brother and Thea.

“Thea’s arm is pretty torn up, but we can move,” Rai said.

“Let’s get moving then,” Math said. He took a few steps but stopped when no one followed.” He turned back, a questioning look on his face.

“This way,” Khel said. “It’s too late to make the walk back to town. Not with the Kobali out.”

“Where then?” Math asked.

“This way. We’ve got horses, and a camp on rocky ground. We’ll stay the night there.”

“Rocky ground? Safe from the tunnels?”

“That’s right. The Kobali dig like badgers. Sleep on the dirt and you’re going to be dinner for some lucky Kobald.”

“Trey lived here, with his family. We came to find them. Nobody’s seen them in days,” Math said.

Khel shook his head. “What did you see in the house?”

“I was only in there for a minute before I was attacked. There was a lot of blood. But no bodies.”

“There wouldn’t be any bodies. The Kobalds would have taken them. We found blood in the fields as well. Maybe they got away, but I think that’s most likely a false hope.”

Khel looked to his companions. Rai’s face was grim. Thea was taking things harder. She and Margaret had been close. She had helped watch the children on more than one occasion when Trey was off on business. Rai put an arm around her and pulled her against him as the tears started to trail down her cheeks. Once her head hit his shoulder her self-control faltered and the thought of her friend, together with the strain of the recently ended attack, brought on a series of tiny sobs that shook her body in Rai’s arms.

Math walked ahead with Khel and his companions. Rai followed behind, arm still around Thea. Strong and stubborn, she let her grief for the dead woman out for a few minutes, then regained control of herself and stifled the tears with a few sharp sniffles. She walked woodenly next to Rai, following Math and the others, the three of them all still in shock at the ordeal.

“How did you happen to be in the area?” Math asked.

“We knew the Kobali might be on the move. We were trying to find out and warn anyone who might be in their way.”

“On the move? From where? To where?” Math asked.

“These came from the mountain. We don’t know where they were headed.”

“The mountain? I thought solid rock would keep them away?”

“They don’t dig through it, but the mountain is riddled with caves and tunnels. They are infested with the beasts,” Khel answered.

“Infested is a good way to describe it,” Rowan added. “There were only a few here today. They must be stragglers or scouts or some sort of outriders. Count yourselves lucky.”

“They haven’t been seen in so long that everybody thought they were fairy tales,” Rai asked. “Why would they surface now?

“Because the Dragon is close to escaping.”

All three of them stopped short.

“The what?”

“The Dragon,” Khel said. “The Beast. The Bringer of Midnight. Imprisoned under the mountain by the Sidhe a thousand years ago. It has found a way to escape.”

“Oh good god,” Rai said. “Kobalds and Dragons. Next you’re going to tell us the Sidhe have returned to the lands of living men.”

Rowan and Ulric laughed. Destrian just looked at them with a smirk. Khel gave Rai a wry smile.

“Haven’t you figured it out yet?” Khel asked. He paused then continued.

“We are the Sidhe.”