AN: The song the MC sings is called Mad World by Gary Jules. Love it to death, and it somewhat fits the entire scene.

Anyways, folks, thank your for reading thus far. If you have any questions, comments, or concerns, don't hesitate to voice them.

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"Hello father," Nox's voice was hollow, devoid of emotion, as he stared upon my kobold body with such hate. This simple reaction caused the lips of the left side of my muzzle to twitch slightly.

"Such a foolish child, you are, but you've brought along dolls playing dress-up," my gaze briefly stretched itself over the large cadre of well armed and armoured dwarves surrounding the rebellious hybrid. Of whom seemed to be smiling in content over what should be my demise, but frowned as monsters, orcs, and ghostly undead began to form up around my person.

Those within my group simply laughed or grinned at the fight to come. Well, that is, until the dwarves started parting to reveal the hybrid with chained captives. "Papa!" Puella cried out, as tears fell much like a waterfall from her cheeks that were stained with blood. Near her person were the kobold pups, who were crying piercingly loud the moment they saw my kobold self.

"Nox, really? You expect me to what, surrender, or you'll harm the children?" Truly a clichéd situation as I've ever seen, and one of which was believed will happen. "My dear, boy, you have much to learn if you believe this will sway my thoughts." My right foreclaw pointed towards the children, as a shadow flitted past us, charging towards the now closing ranks of shield bearing dwarves.

This shadowed creature leapt high into the air, becoming a dozen, two dozen, three, four, five, six, before landing amongst the startled dwarves who were now frantically fighting that which had no form. Nox, on the other hand, had tightened his grip on the chains that bound the children, shaking it with rage building up in his body. "You've been a bad, bad boy," whispered a silky voice, who laughed with great humour, as the hybrid search about his person for the voice.

The hybrid then fell to his knees, as a shadowed fist collided with his abdomen, and relinquished the chains that held onto the children. Of whom were staring at a large, buxom female creature who simply laughed as she lifted the children, and ran back towards my position. The moment she arrived, however, the shadowed like entities that plagued the dwarves seemingly vanished, leaving many with only dented arms and armour, along with a few streams of blood here and there.

"What was that?" Cried out several shaken, but angered dwarves.

The boy's jaw moved up and down in response to the ruckus these dwarves were creating, as I removed the chains that bound the children. Once free, the trio clung to my body, shaking, whining, and crying as I did my best to soothe their small hearts. "He hurt Lupa, papa," whispered Puella, whose face was buried in my neck fur, "Red stuff came out of her, when he left her room. She didn't wake up, papa. She didn't wake up..." Her voice became soft, as Simara appeared with tears in her eyes.

The female orc's eyes stared upon the scene, and it appeared as though she desired to hold the trio close, but dared not. Her eyes sparked an idea within my own mind, as I lifted the three to stare into their small faces. "Puella, Igne, Puer," their eyes were wide and red from the constant crying, and turned their attention towards the orc as I continued, "This is Simara, and she wants to be a mommy."

"Mah-mee?" the girl-child whispered the unfamiliar word slowly, then looked towards the kobold pups, whose arms were stretched out towards the orc.

"Take care of them, Simara," she squawked loudly, as I dumped the children into her arms. Puella, on the other hand, cried even louder the moment she realised I was no longer holder her. This sparked the pups' cries to begin once more, of which only calmed down the moment they had the fingers of my right, clawed hand within their small mouths. My left, on the other hand, was busy stroking the girl-child's head slowly.

"I will return," my voice was soft, and did not rumble as it normally does. Instead, it was filled with warmth that startled the orc who held the children. Who then shivered as my starry gaze turned towards her own.  "Watch over them Simara. Do this, and your wish will come true. Don't, and your carcass will feed many hungry mouths this night."

*****

"Damnit all," I cried out, pounding the ground with my fist, as I watched fa-, no, the monster steal back his children from my grasp. It was perfect, too, and his death would be assured once he realised I would carry out my threat of killing them. However, "Where did that thing come from?" I asked the air around my person, as chaos ensued about it.

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

Soon after the shadowed thing left, other monsters from peoples' worst night terrors began to appear throughout the dwarven army. A large eyeball was seen swimming above the head of several dozen crossbowmen, of which was deflecting their bolts with relative ease. This was from the mass of wriggling tentacles about its body, and had several frantic dwarves within its tangled mass.

Most of the monsters my eyes could not follow, as they were too quick, and landed atop a very tall, and slender creature devoid of a face. This creature stood tall at nearly three metres in height, with thin limbs that were as long as each other. It wore something akin to a merchant's suit worn for business ventures and meetings, whilst its entire head was simply white and featureless. From its back, however, was the same mass of tentacles the floating eyeball had, albeit with less chaos.

This thing did nothing, except vanish and appeared in front of random dwarves, or group of dwarves, gripped their small bodies, hoisted them towards its head, and dropped them. Each and every one of its victims had a look of horror etched into their faces, and most of their bodies seemingly had contorted in ways that should not be possible. My body shivered with fright, as it turned its attention towards my own, and vanished from my sight. However, it did not appear in front of me, but in front of several of those who decided to follow my lead.

Those that followed me were of the older children, and some younglings, the monster and his slaves had rescued. However, after seeing demons, monsters, and that frightening skeletal giant, desired to run from this place. Each began to beg my person, expressing their desire to leave, but I persuaded them all to stay. That is, until I learned the truth of what the monster who called himself "Father" truly was.

"Do you not enjoy the fruits of your labour, Nox?" Rumbled a familiar voice, one I desired to rush towards, and cling to until this nightmare was over, but steeled myself from this urge. Instead, I stood upon my own two feet, and drew out the blue hilted sword an old man had gifted me last night. Even now, his words still ring true, 'It's dangerous to go alone, young one. Take this, but know that this sword is a terrible burden to wield. For it not only can be used to save lives, but take them as well. And that, in and of itself, is a burden all must bear when wielding a sword such as this.'

The sword itself was odd, but was used to kill someone that didn't deserve to die, but would now be used to kill someone that deserved it. I grinned menacingly as the monster's eyes fell upon it, "That's an interesting weapon you have there, boy. Do you know how to use it?"

"You had the guards teach me, if you remember?" The old man stated it came with a shield, but was being loaned out to an elven boy-child at the moment, so I had to use a wooden buckler in its stead.

"You do not have enough experience to wield it in any case," the monster chuckled towards my person, which only seemed to infuriate me. To this, I simply slashed the air and watched, as a wave of condensed white light dashed towards the grinning creature who I used to call "Father". However, it was simply absorbed by a shimmering, golden aura that coated his small frame. "That was strangely familiar," he became thoughtful, as his eyes tried to bore a hole into the blade, "Tell, me, does it have three triangular shapes upon its hilt?"

My eyes widened greatly, more so when he began to laugh greatly, clutching his sides as he doubled over. More of the dwarves died once he did this, as his voice shook the earth around us, causing them to fall over whilst heavy claws and blades fell onto their body. "What's so funny?" I called out to him, as he forcibly calmed down.

"A relic of my first world has found its way here. Truly this is quite amazing," the creature's voice held traces of humour within it, as its eyes became devoid of emotions once more. "Well, no matter." He vanished, then, and reappeared behind my self. Turning quickly, the blade arched itself towards his body, but was stopped by a single digit. "Tell me, Nox, did an old man give you this after saying, 'It's dangerous to go alone, take this.'?"

Once my head bobbed once, the sword was plucked from my grasp as though I was a child once more. This caused my body to pounce towards his own, but was stopped by his grip upon my neck. Rather, one of his clawed hands had gripped my neck, as his entire body slowly morphed into the skeletal creature that frightened us so long ago. "Y-you," I gasped out, scratching at the bones that held me, but to no avail, as its grasp slowly encased my entire being.

"Yes," it whispered slowly, "Me."