They didn’t want to stay in the cave much longer, but after they carried out Nogh and Perry, they realized they had to go back and collect a few coins, weapons and any other valuables they could find. Once their short-lived looting ended they had amassed a healthy amount of gold and silver coins, they were now also equipped with 3 short swords, a dagger, 2 bows and 3 quivers packed full of arrows. Furthermore, they also looted arm bracers and other pieces of armour that they could use, there weren’t many pieces of armour fir for kobolds, but they were better than nothing.
Once they were done looting, they started gathering the bodies they could and created a big bonfire to burn the bodies to stop disease from spreading. Makeshift crosses made of their weapons were planted into the ground and were adorned by their helmets or other pieces that they found on the body. As for the dragons, well there wasn’t much they could do, but they made sure to drag the cubs near to where their parents lied.
As the finishing touch, they used the remaining extra weapons as chisels and carved into the stone on the cave walls. It wasn’t as if they were going to carry the two kids down a mountain, so they might as well honour the dead in some form of respect.
“Here lies the ruler of the Mountain and Guardian of Drak’s Sanctuary, may he and his family rest in peace.”
The text was written in both common and draconic and would remain there for many centuries if left untouched. This text was meant as a memorial and a reminder to all who visit that Drak fulfilled his duty of protecting his people, even at the cost of his life.
Such declarations won’t mean much to humans and elves, but any dragon or kobold that will visit the cave in the future will be able to spread the news to the Council of Elders, and it will be recorded accordingly. It would also allow fellow kobolds to get closure in case they had relatives in the village.
Nogh and Perry would only wake up the next day, forcing the old man and his son to make camp near the cave and wait on them. It was around breakfast time that Perry would raise its head, his keen sense of smell had alerted him of the presence of food, stirring him from his slumber. Ralk was grilling meat on a few sticks over a fire for all of them. He was concentrating on his task and didn’t notice Perry stalking him, waiting for him to focus elsewhere.
Perry, had awoken to an empty stomach, and he didn’t bother resisting his base instincts, he stood up on all fours and got into position to pounce on a nearly finished meat stick. He waited for an opportunity patiently, Ralk would undoubtedly take his eyes off the food eventually. And Perry’s patience eventually paid off, as Ralk had to turn around and grab the salt from his bag to season the meat.
It was the perfect opportunity and Perry didn’t waste it, he jumped out from his hiding spot next to Nogh and landed on the other side of the fire pit with the stick stuffed full of meat in his mouth. He then scurried off into a bush nearby to chomp down on his prey, he delightfully ate the perfectly cooked meat. He was incapable of holding back his slurping and munching sounds as he savoured his meal. His rookie mistake got him caught by none other than Ralk, the panicked peep that escaped from Perry’s maw was frankly adorable, but Ralk was all but pleased with him.
“Gotcha! We got a little thief amongst us, it seems.” he said as he picked up the baby dragon by his belly.
Perry made attempts to retaliate at the non-consensual pick up and carrying to no avail as Ralk could easily keep him far enough away to avoid getting bit.
“Easy there, kiddo, how was the food?” he asked the wide-eyed Perry. The answer came in the form of a loud growl from his stomach.
Ralk chuckled as he held the young dragon, “Is that so? Then let’s get you filled up, kiddo.” he announced as he carried Perry back over to the fire pit.
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The smell of the roasting meat calmed the little drake, and it almost made him purr in joy. Ralk put Perry back on the ground when they got to the fire pit and pulled a log under him. Perry was busy staring at the meat kebabs, drool flowing out of his mouth. Ralk for his part kept working on the food, seasoning and turning them, so they cook evenly. Eventually when one of the sticks was ready he picked it up and took the hot pieces of meat off one by one and threw them at Perry who eagerly jumped up and caught them.
As these two fooled around, the old druid came through a small path between the tree on the plateau, his bag full of mushrooms and berries. He watched the two with tender eyes before turning his attention towards the young kobold, who was still asleep. The boy had been asleep for a very long time now, and he was growing worried. He, however, still walked up behind Ralk and Perry before taking a few sticks from in-between them to stick mushrooms on.
This took the two by surprise, Perry jumped a few feet into the air and Ralk whipped his head around, a hand on his dagger. Once he noticed that it was his father, the young man removed his hand from the dagger and greeted him.
“Hey dad, you scared the shit out of us, you know?” he asked pointlessly.
“I know. That’s the problem. We aren’t in the village anymore, we need to be careful of our surroundings and be aware of all threats before they get too close.” the old man explained calmly, he just kept sticking mushrooms on the sticks as he talked.
“I know…” he grumbled before releasing a sigh, “You’re right dad, sorry I let my guard down when Perry woke up.” he said.
“Today, it’s fine it was just me, but next time it might not be. Keep that in mind, please. I don’t want to lose my son like this.” the old man said, he had stopped topping off the sticks and gazed into his son’s eyes.
The silence lingered for a few seconds, broken by the sound of leaves ruffling, both men snapped to look at the sound, and they noticed that Nogh started tossing and turning in his sleep. It was then followed up by him, jumping up into a sitting position and breathing hard for a few seconds as he processed his nightmare. Tears were flowing down his face and after looking around, he realized he was a top of the plateau near the cave and then wiped the tears off his snout.
Raouk had walked up behind by now and gently put a hand on his shoulder to comfort him. Nogh slowly looked up at him, his eyes were slightly red, and he was pulled into a hug by the old man.
“It’s gonna be okay, Nogh, we’re here with you. You’re not alone, everything is going to be fine.” the old man said softly.
Nogh answered by nodding over the man’s shoulder and mumbling a “Yea… I know…“
They held the hug for a little bit, waiting for the boy to calm down. Once he had regained his composure, Ralk spoke up from the camp fire, as he petted Perry next to him.
“Hey Nogh! We’ve got kebabs here! Mushrooms and meat, which one do you want?” he asked him, his voice raised slightly louder than need be.
“I’ll take a meat kebab please.” Nogh spoke up as he slowly stood up and walked over to the fire pit with Raouk.
“Coming right up!” Ralk announced playfully as he picked up 3 meat kebabs and handed one to Perry.
Nogh decided to sit down on a log to the right of Ralk and accepted both kebabs which he then offered one of them to Raouk who was sitting to his right. Raouk took the offered kebab and munched away on it as he slightly roasted the mushrooms before offering a few to the others.
As they passed the food around, they discussed what they would end up doing in greater detail.
The plan went along these lines, they would follow the road leading towards the North, where they would reach the Dwarven Jagged Peaks. It is a famous mountain range that separates the North and South of the continent. The Kingdom of Baldrich was also a mostly human country, however their close relations with the Dwarves made them more accepting of other species. However, they didn’t get along with the Lizardman to their East and in their effort to increase the kingdom’s farm lands, they cut down forests and occupied land that the Lizardman considered their own.
This soured their relationship and the lizardman began lashing out at the workers that they spotted in their land. The Kingdom of Baldrich retaliated by mobilizing its army to get rid of the offending lizards, they however didn’t seem interested in the marshlands itself, just the fertile ground around it. And so their troops almost never entered in pursuit, these news however were quite old by now and the situation could be much worse. It also seems like the humans had found a use for all the dead lizardman by turning their skin and scales into durable clothing. This of course enraged the lizardman even more, but nothing could be done now.
And that wasn’t all of their worries, they had to follow the road through the forest and plains out of sight of the local human and elf settlements, as those would attack them on sight. Going through the wilderness also brought the danger of them running into the local fauna, monsters and hidden settlements of various species that might not be friendly with their kind. Even when they reached the dwarven gates that blocked the passage between the mountains, they would need to be wary, as dwarves regard kobolds as both pests and friends alike. Which is good only until you consider that they are trading partners of The Great Woods of Eldran and the Holy Valtran Empire, both of whom influenced local politics against them and the other minorities.
They were also carrying Perry who was basically a newborn dragon, very vulnerable and hard to control, hiding him was imperative as no country on the continent allowed the propagation of their species. In short, they were in for a long and difficult journey to an uncertain but safer future.