As the dust settles from the trap dropping, Jacob and Aurelius was hightailing it back to the second set of traps where Brian and Riley was still celebrating. However, what happened next made them stop their movements.
Domes of black light shimmered ominously from where the kobold mages and warriors were, the light slowly receded to show the surviving members of the kobold elites. More then a handful of them were alive, the shattered rocks rained harmlessly upon them as the domes disappeared into the air.
Snarls came out from the kobolds amidst the screeches and drums. The kobold mages glowered briefly before they started waving around their staffs again. While the mages were casting their spells, the remaining kobold horde still in the hundreds shot forward running after the two closest to them.
“JACOB AURELIUS! WATCH OUT THE MAGES ARE STILL ALIVE AND CASTING!” Riley’s warning caused the both of them to look back just in time to see bolts in black and blue coming at them from behind. Jacob ducked down and to the side, avoiding the incoming magic bolts. The bolts flew past Jacob and Aurelius landing ahead of them. The black bolts caused the ground to sizzle and the blue bolts froze the area it hit.
Giving the both of them new obstacles along with the next set of bolts to dodge, Jacob ran to the left of the main thoroughfare of the outpost and took refuge into the buildings while maintaining his speed the best I can. Aurelius took the right, with the change in direction from the both of them. The kobold mages did not have a reliable target anymore, they directed their screeches to the horde behind them.
A long note came from the sound of a horn in the direction of the kobold horde, amidst the echoing sound caused by the horn. The kobolds horde started moving faster, initially both Jacob and Aurelius was able to gain distance with each step. However, Jacob checked back when the horn sounded out. The distance he held over the kobolds was decreasing at an alarming rate and he was already using essence to boost his speed.
‘At this rate, they are gonna catch up right when we reached the second set of traps. Lets think, right the shout.’ As the idea came to Jacob, he immediately let out a roar with essence infused into his throat to amplify the sound.
“KEEP RUNNING! RILEY BRIAN PREPARE THE TRAPS!” With that Jacob hoped he slowed down the approaching warriors by a smidge and that was enough warning for Riley and Brian. As Jacob cleared the remains of the outpost with the kobolds hot on his heels, he looked to his right to check if Aurelius made it out.
His worry was unfounded, as Aurelius was a blur of red and black and had a considerable distance from the nearest screeching kobold warrior. Aurelius arrived before Brian and Riley with plenty of time to spare, he got to position and started pulling up the spikes and angling them to receive the kobolds.
The second set of traps was much simpler than the first, they would slow them down with the spikes forcing them to pile up. They would lob the remaining oil over as the kobolds forced their way over their own dead bodies, the group would watch them burn once again. They would run further in and await the kobolds that were unaffected, the remaining wood was separated into overhead traps held aloft by more black sash and 2 piles of sharpened stakes.
Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website.
The remaining kobolds would be the much slower mages and whatever warriors remained, barring any surprises. Riley and Brian would have a pile of sharpened stakes to begin throwing from a safe distance as Jacob and Aurelius engages the remaining kobolds in a melee. Jacob initially wanted to dig some pitfalls, but with the lack of equipment and time. That was a fleeting idea.
With Jacob negating the speed boost granted by the horn for a short while, Jacob made it to the double row of spikes set up for the approaching kobold horde. Jacob pushed more essence into his legs and leapt over both rows joining Riley, Aurelius and Brian.
“All set? Ready for the last of them?” Jacob shot a question to the waiting three.
“Much more ready than you are, I had 2 minutes of rest while waiting for you to reach.” Aurelius quipped. Riley pouted while saying.
“I’m ready, I would be much more happier if I can punch them instead of staying at the back throwing wooden stakes at them though.” Brian tried to smooth it over with a few words
“I’m stuck on throwing duty too, who knows what might happen. We might run out of the stakes before the fight is over.” Riley eyes lighted up a little after hearing Brian’s word, Brian gave a small wink to Aurelius and Jacob, when Riley was not looking.
Brian led Riley to where the piles of wooden stakes awaited, while Jacob and Aurelius readied two molotov in their hands. The first of the kobolds tried to jump over the stakes, but the first two kobolds were interrupted mid air by stakes the length of a Olympic throwing javelin. One kobold spun in the air as it got hit in the shoulder instead of a critical spot, another had its entire skull skewered through dropping mid-air with a big wide hole in its head.
More wooden stakes rained down as the duo of Brian and Riley gave each throw their all, corpses started piling onto the first row of stakes. Hiding parts of the first spikes with their body, apparently the slower kobolds did not receive the warning from the jumping kobolds in front of them and ran headlong into the waiting spikes.
The kobold warriors who were hot on Jacob’s heels did not enter the fray and instead waited for the kobold mages right at the edge of the outpost, they watched their smaller brethren throw themselves to the traps and wooden stakes with stoic silence, their previous screeches were all gone. Jacob looked to Aurelius and said.
“The big ones aren’t biting, wanna take care of the smaller ones the old-fashioned way?”
“The smell would be less repulsive when we burn more of them together.” Aurelius commented as he put the molotov in his hands down and sprinted forward like an arrow in flight. Jacob did the same for his molotov and held Flowing Water in a dual-handed grip before he chased after the arrow.
They began the slaughters of the smaller kobolds, not one of the kobolds who made it through the increasingly larger pile of dead kobolds made it further than the second set of spikes. As they made it over the corpses of their fallen, they were either met with a fist infused with red essence or the glinting blue edge of Flowing Water.
The kobold mages that just met up with the awaiting warriors chittered at each other angrily seeing the futility of the actions of their lesser, barked out orders to the warriors. The warriors ran forward without any delays after receiving their orders, meanwhile the remaining 8 mages started waving their staffs again. This time, their targets were not the fighting Aurelius and Jacob but their own warriors.
Spell after spell hit the warriors, they got faster, larger and more grotesque. After the mages finished casting, all of them clutched onto their staffs for support. Their breathing as ragged as they come, seemingly exhausted after buffing their warriors. Aurelius saw the whole event as he decimated one kobold after another with ease, he opened his mouth to warn Jacob. However, a thought hit him and he decided to keep quiet about the much stronger kobold warriors.
Jacob meanwhile, was dealing with 4 kobolds. 2 of them were jumping at him from his front, while another 2 was approaching him from the sides. He took a simple step back infused with essence and the kobolds struck the now empty air the rusted weapons met each other causing multiple scrapping sound to overlap upon each other as their wielders tried to extricate their weapons from the bind, a rapid cut from Jacob put their worries to rest.
As Flowing Water bisected them from their torso, the weapons dropped along with the top half of their previous owners. Jacob moved to seek out his next enemies, only to be met with a giant kobold warrior. His eyes boggled a little, he did not remember any of the warriors being this big. They were taller than even Aurelius now.
He did not have time to remain confused as another giant kobold warrior joined the first and than another, Jacob was now facing three kobold warriors and unbeknownst to him. The kobold warriors were buffed with all the spells the kobold mages could throw at them.