Ash fell upon the stone.

Smoke washed over them as they pressed onward into the abyss.

Torch in hand, the leader spoke to the group.

“They’re around here somewhere.” His eyes darted toward every shadow revealed by the light. Scratches and claw marks covered the cave walls, and blood stained the ground.

One of the group members spoke,

“We’ve been going down this damn hole for an hour now, they’re not here, Jasper!”

“Hold your tongue, mage. The quest said they were here, so they’re here.”

Another spoke, his arrow nocked,

“All of their footprints were outside, Malva. Ready yourself.”

“Damn kobolds. All this for a handful of gold,” Jasper said.

Axe, staff, and bow in hand, the three adventurers delved deeper into the cave. The traces of clothing and bones became messier with every step. The adventurers halted as Jasper’s torch went out.

“Let me grab another out of my pack. You see anything up ahead, Elf Eyes?”

“Nothing yet—” Eligos’s elven ears twitched. “Something's coming!”

He drew his bow and aimed into the dim abyss. Scattering and scraping echoed throughout.

“Hurry it up, Jasper!” Malva’s staff shined a dim blue.

The torch grew ablaze as a steel spark ignited it.

Jasper threw the torch down the cavern; the party made their stand. The snarls grew louder from the void.

The elf was the first to shoot into the dark.

“How many!?” Jasper shouted.

“We can take them!” Eligos said.

Three more arrows fired before the other two adventurers could see the snarling beasts. The kobolds were a deep red color with jagged teeth and boney frames. Patches of hides and flesh strapped to their bodies, bone clubs, and daggers in their clawed grasps. Their horns were twisted and their eyes a yellow hue.

Bolts of electricity flew down the hallway, striking the group of kobolds, and bringing them to a smolder.

“I got the rest!” Jasper yelled.

He charged down the cavern to brave the two kobolds left standing. They snarled and snapped their teeth at the dwarf sprinting towards them. As Jasper ran, he picked up the torch and sprinted into one of the kobolds, battering its head on the stone. The other tried to bash the dwarf with its club but the torch blocked the attack and a swift axe buried itself deep into the kobold’s chest.

Jasper retrieved the axe and severed through the neck of the unconscious kobold.

“We have proof!” he said, lifting the kobold’s decapitated head.

The archer and the mage walked over to the warrior and saw the mass of bodies. Ten corpses lay on the ground, either pierced or burned, their viscous blood now pooled onto the stone. Malva noticed another trail of blood leading into the puddle.

“You have a knife in your chest, you fucking moron!”

Jasper looked down and, to his surprise, saw the crude dagger in his chest. He winced from the pain and dropped the kobold's head.

“Don’t take it out yet! I have a potion in my pack,” Eligos said.

“I knew that armor was cheap,” Malva said.

Eligos gave him the healing potion. It was a watery light red fluid in a small glass vial. Jasper sat on one of the kobold's bodies, his hand grasped around the dagger inside him while the other held the potion. Eligos knelt beside him.

“Remember, you have to do it fast,” Eligos said, bandages in hand.

The dwarf breathed heavily. After he inhaled one last time, he ripped the crooked dagger out of his chest and chugged the potion immediately. His face was scrunched in agony until the potion went down his throat and a calm demeanor washed over him. The blood stopped pouring out and Eligos quickly wrapped the bandages around Jasper’s chest.

“So what’d we learn today, Jasper?” Malva said.

“That you can’t hit your shots, she-mage,” he winced as the pain returned.

“Tsk! Yeah right! Hope that scar stays forever to remind you of your idiocy,” Malva said.

“Both of you! We don’t know if that’s all of them,” Eligos said, looking past the bodies and deeper into the twisted cavern. He grabbed the severed kobold head and shoved it into a net attached to his side.

“That’s all of them for me. I’m sick of this place!” Malva said.

“We have a slaying quest to do. And our job is to kill every rotten kobold nested in this hole,” Jasper said, grunting as he stood up.

“The reward isn’t even enough to pay for a nice room back in the city.”

“No, but these kobolds have raided enough caravans and villages to warrant a quest. They must have loot stockpiled somewhere, and we can sell any valuables in their possession,” Eligos said.

“The only time I’ll ever agree with a leaf-loving elf like you,” Jasper smirked.

“I’m a stone elf. More of a stone lover just like you, boulder brain,” Eligos chuckled.

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Jasper tossed the blood-soaked dagger, “We’ll loot on the way back.”

In a relaxed state, the three adventurers continued onward. They meandered through the stone tunnels, hoping to find the end of the cavern. Jasper was still leading with his torch, this time slower and with a hand over his chest.

The cavern diverged into multiple paths. Without splitting up, the party adventured into each of them, only to find more hides and tree branches that acted as nests for the kobolds.

“No kobolds or caravan supplies yet,” Malva sighed.

“How are you feeling?” Eligos asked.

“I could use a rest but I can cast a little more for now.”

“And I’m doing just fine, thanks for asking,” Jasper muttered.

“I’m sure you’ve suffered through worse, rock eater,” Eligos said.

The torch was getting dim again as the adventurers pressed on.

“It never ends,” Malva groaned.

“I got one stick left,” Jasper said, taking off his pack and tossing it on the ground.

Scraping and snarling echoed throughout the chamber, the adventurers tensed and readied themselves again. The growls came from all sides within the vast chamber. Multiple paths yet ventured and previously explored paths echoed with the snaps of kobolds.

“We have to fall back!” Malva exclaimed.

“They’re behind as well,” Eligos said.

“Let the bastards finish what they started!” Jasper yelled, beating his wounded chest.

The adventurers were back to back, surrounding the dim torch. The yellow eyes pierced through the dark before they lay shut by the arrows of the elf. Eligos rapidly shot the dim figures that charged from each of the halls.

His quiver was half full and he pierced them without a single arrow ricocheting off the stone walls. Sweat poured from his long black hair and his fingers fumbled when reaching his arrows.

Dark blue light shone over the party as Malva’s staff grew bright and electricity flickered into the air from the top of the crystal. Electrical arcs blasted from the staff, leading trails into the depths. Silhouettes of the stout creatures flashed with each new bolt shot in the dark. Malva grew weary and her brown eyes grew heavy with every spell she cast.

Jasper’s grasp tightened with every passing moment, ready to charge the kobolds when he could see their red flesh. He gritted his teeth, his bandage soaked crimson on his chest, and his braided beard swaying with every step.

Arrows flew back at the party from the depths. Black arrow tips dripping with ichor scraped against the stone floor.

“Kill the archers first!” Jasper exclaimed.

Both Malva and Eligos fired their weapons down the hall where the arrows came. In the distraction, the kobolds that were left unattended charged the party. Jasper was ready and hacked through the kobolds that came. Blood splattered all over the party and the kobold bodies were spread across the ground, but the snarling never stopped.

Electrical arcs bounced from one kobold to the next, burning orange holes in their bodies. Kobolds tripped on their brethren’s corpses in the narrow passageways, only to snarl more viciously, while foam dripped from their jaws.

“I have a handful left!” Eligos said.

“I… can’t…” Malva said. Leaning on her staff, the blue dimming.

Jasper met any of the kobolds that were close, taking the fight to them. With screams heard throughout the cavern, he slashed, chopped, and skewered.

Eligos made a desperate attempt to kill the ones blocking their retreat but with his quiver empty, he unsheathed his shortsword. Malva could barely stand, hobbling towards Eligos. The torch smoldered and Jasper was now in a separate tunnel ahead, the screams and snarls combined in the abyss.

Eligos looked behind him to see the exhausted Malva, but a kobold surprised him and shoved him into the cavern wall. The creature swung with its rusted dagger, its deep yellow eyes piercing more than the blade that went into the elf. Eligos quickly threw back the vicious creature and slain it with the sword. He looked back towards Malva but saw the beasts lurching over her corpse, tearing at the back of her neck.

With tears welling in his eyes, Eligos screamed as he charged the killers. They snapped and clawed at him but with willpower alone, he slashed one and thrust his sword deep into the other, its lifeless body hugging onto him. He threw off the creature and looked down at Malva. She was inanimate and chewed upon.

The elf took her staff and repeatedly heard Jasper’s screams deep in the tunnels. Eligos couldn’t locate which tunnel Jasper went into and before Eligos could take a step forward to find him, Jasper was none to be heard. The horde of the kobolds went deeper into the cave where Jasper was, so none were in the main chamber as far as Eligos could tell.

He sat against one of the walls beside Malva’s body, breathing heavily. He waited for Jasper to come out but synchronized snarls and snaps cheered from the corridor. Eligos hastily got up and scrambled to the previously explored tunnels.

Noises of clinking glass, metal, and scraping cloth reflected off the stone walls as he sprinted. Through the dark halls and blood-splattered ground, he could hear the growls close behind. His body was heavy but the gleaming light of the sun was glorious.

As he eventually emerged from the void and into the fill of the gloomy day, he dropped to his knees. Feeling the cold rain hit his face, the wind in his hair, and hearing the rustles of trees, he caught his breath. After hearing the snarls from the depths, he quickly got up again and kept running until he was out of the forest.

It was early in the afternoon and Eligos could feel the slashes of claw marks and daggers along his torso and face. He stopped momentarily on the road and chugged every health potion he had, placed worn rags on his wounds, and limped to the city-state of Maria. With Malva’s staff as a walking stick and a kobold head swaying at his side, he shambled down the red road.

After many hours, he eventually entered through the open gates of Maria. As he trudged to the Guild Hall, mud-filled streets and cramped neighborhoods passed by. Vendors hawked and the commoners gazed at the bloodied elf.

Eligos saw the familiar half-timbered, large two-story structure, and pushed through the heavy oak doors.

Dim light from the overcast skies filled the inside as vibrant stained windows surrounded the walls. Dressed in steel or robes with weapons at their side, many people were in the Hall. All of them adventurers, either drinking with companions at the tables, peering over the parchment pinned to the quest board, or talking with the clerks at the front counter.

Everyone went silent as the elf slammed the doors open. They could see the blood dripping from his injuries. Prints of mud and drops of blood that lay deep into the white carpet followed him to the counter. With exhausted breath, Eligos lurched to the blonde clerk and placed the head of the kobold on the counter.

The adventurers saw the lifeless head and simultaneously cheered and raised their tankards to him. One said, “Good on ya’, mage!” Before slamming the drink into their gullet and continuing their conversation.

The clerk looked surprised at the oozing head on their wooden counter. The red kobold’s jaw was agape, revealing its jagged teeth, and forked tongue. Its eyes were dim, the burning yellow no more.

“Slaying Quest, right?”

Eligos nodded, staring at the head.

“I’ll get the reward right away!” the clerk said, proceeding into the room behind her.

Eligos pressed a hand on his chest and winced. His bandages soaked a dirty red and stuck to his wounds.

He leaned against the counter, with Malva’s staff propping him up. His quiver was empty and his bow and sword were left behind, added to the depths of the kobold’s nest.

Another Guild Hall employee emerged from the backroom, not the white-uniformed, blonde clerk from before, but a black-suited man with a curled mustache and slicked hair instead.

He peered over the entire building. He nodded and stepped back before noticing the elf and the head.

“Oh good. Another to add to the collection.”

Eligos remained silent to the dressed man.

“You only need to kill a few and they’ll stay in their fortress for quite a while,” the man said, nodding to himself. “Well then, hope all is satisfactory,” he said before returning to the backroom.

The clerk passed the man while she was exiting, and she promptly listened to the whispers the gentleman spoke in her ear. She hurriedly went back into the room again to grab a rag and bucket.

After emerging, she placed the tiny sack of coins behind the counter, the bucket and head on the floor, and wiped down the remnants of the ooze that stained the wood. She then wrote with her ink and quill on the quest note, signed it, and gave Eligos the coins and parchment for him to sign.

“That’ll be nine gold coins for the slaying of kobolds near the ruins of Kahsa Fortress,” she said.

Eligos signed the parchment and emptied the coins into his hand. With a wry chuckle, he stared at the shimmering coins in his bloodied palm.

“Quest again soon!”