Chapter 51: Kobold attack

Alcar spun around, ready to run or seek cover as soon as he had seen which direction the Imperials were shooting from.

But as he did so, he heard Etienne speak out sharply: “Hey, it’s not soldiers – we’ve been ambushed by kobolds!”

A further three arrows then landed among the group in quick succession, one of them glancing off of the metal shoulder-guards of Olynka’s armor and away behind, one splashing into the nearby pool, and the third thunking into the ground directly in between Alcar’s feet, the fletching brushing past his robes.

“Kobolds or otherwise,” he cried, grabbing his staff and beginning to run towards the cliffs on one side, ”we need to get out of here. Come on, Brutus!”

Leaving the wooden chest behind, the three companions and dog darted off to the left hand side of the gulley, moving diagonally forward in the direction they had been going. Alcar scanned the rocks on either side as he ran. He couldn’t see anything immediately above them, but then, as an arrow slammed into the leftmost rock face just up ahead, he turned to the others. “They’re in caves on the opposite side!” he cried.

“Then we need to move along and away,” said Olynka, moving past him. “Duck and weave, my friend!”

Together they ran further along the ravine. Alcar soon fell behind Brutus and the others as he whirled and danced in what he hoped would put off the kobold archers. He looked up to one side, and saw one of the archers leaning over. Like other kobolds, the creature had a scaly but wolf-like face, and was a little taller than a halfling.

As Alcar ran closer to the cliff, hoping to cut down the archer’s angle, the little creature leaned further and further out over the edge, the arrow still nocked and ready, a grin on its face... Until he leaned a little too far, overbalanced, and tipped over the edge with a scream.

“Wow,” muttered Alcar, running on eastwards. “That was lucky.”

The small stream that ran along the floor of the gulley was just beside him now, and sensing that the kobolds were mainly on the southern side, he leaped over it, hoping to stay closer to those cliffs and therefore make himself harder to shoot at. But the southern side was also strewn with more rocks, many of them larger ones.

Alcar looked ahead as he continued to run, and could see that Etienne and Olynka were already sprinting far ahead of him without a backwards glance. Brutus, however, had paused around a hundred yards on, and sat, waiting, tongue hanging out.

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Now, as Alcar dodged past a particularly huge boulder that was only a few feet from the near edge of the gulley, three kobolds with spears appeared on the ground up ahead. He gripped his staff in both hands, and called out, “Rac et weimannia!”, hoping against hope that his earlier practice hadn’t completely exhausted his own sorcerous energy.

Sure enough, though, on command, the purple-crackling energy appeared. It hovered just above his hands as he held the staff, and as he then swung it down, the energy flew away from the staff and towards the trio of attackers, spreading out into a cone of crackling blue-purple flame.

It was weaker than what he had summoned before, he was sure, but because the kobolds were small and huddled together, all three were hit by the attack. The middle one was entirely engulfed, and staggered backwards before collapsing against the cliff, screeching in pain.

Continuing his run, Alcar swivelled his staff sideways. The two remaining kobolds had dropped their spears in order to pat furiously at the patches of flames now erupting on their clothing, and Alcar ran directly in between the pair, his staff thumping both of them on the head simultaneously. They each collapsed to the ground, moaning and chattering in their own strange language, and Alcar ran on.

***

Now as Alcar continued to flee, Brutus ran alongside him. The dog was a powerful and rapid runner, and proceeded to bound from one rocky surface to the next as though he could never tire, but stayed close to his master.

Alcar ran on too, his green robes flowing out behind him. As he went, he heard another spear rattle behind him, and an arrow deflected off the stone surface just ahead. He ducked as it ricocheted back in his direction. It was clear that he needed to keep going, as quickly as he can, and it was fortunate that for now at least, the surface was clear, and sloped slightly downhill.

Olynka and Etienne were now out of sight, presumably still up ahead somewhere. But despite knowing that he needed to catch up with the pair, Alcar soon slowed a little, taking another glance over his shoulder as he did so. There had been no further arrows for a minute or so; he was surely getting away from the kobold’s base, he reasoned. And besides... there was no point in twisting an ankle in his haste to get away.

The ground ahead was getting rockier, too, and the cliffs on both sides started to come closer together. The gap ahead was narrow as the cliffs came almost together .

Soon he had slowed to a walk. Brutus paused, and began to lap enthusiastically at the water in the stream, while Alcar took a moment to assess his situation. He could see footprints ahead in the sandy earth ahead – those of his companions, he believed, but also other small prints that likely indicated kobold boots. The area was still full of dangers. They must be in the territory of some kind of kobold clan or tribe.

After the cliffs came close to meeting immediately ahead, the canyon widened again. This meant that just ahead of Alcar was an area where it was only possible to make his way along on a single strip of dry ground.

If the area before had been prime ambush territory, the next section was surely even worse. And now Alcar was alone, with no doubt very little remaining of his magical energy.

“Come on Brutus,” he said.

And began to walk cautiously onwards, gripping his staff tightly.