Chapter 13

In a flash, Pua appeared. Vennoa had lost track of him in the first moments of battle, but now she could make out his familiar shell again. He had engaged the armored kobold, ostensibly from behind, and the two were duking it out.

The flying kobolds had ascended and retreated, probably looking for more rocks. Agate took the moment to rush over to Tempest. He reached and took Tempest’s potion of healing, and poured it into Tempest’s mouth. Tempest looked immediately better again. Agate also took his own potion of healing and drank it himself.

Those potions are amazing. I hope we don’t run out of them. Vennoa glanced around and saw the group of kobolds steadily heading towards her and Fender. Fender readied her crossbow and began firing as quickly as she could. Try as she might, Vennoa couldn’t repeat the rays of fire, so she shot firebolts at the kobolds. The crossbow bolts and firebolts flew towards the kobolds, but in the panic of the battle, only some hit. A few kobolds fell to the ground, but there were still a number of kobolds gaining ground.

By this time, Agate and Tempest had both returned to their feet. With a nod to each other, Agate went to join Pua against the armored kobold, and Tempest ran to the group of kobolds. Neither looked for the two flying kobolds.

“Watch out!” Vennoa called out, when she spotted the flying kobolds, carrying rocks with their legs again.

This time, Tempest heard Vennoa. He looked up and saw the kobold heading for him. When the kobold dropped the rock, Tempest somehow managed to take a step to his left, grab the rock, and throw it back at the kobold. It happened in a flurry of actions, and Vennoa was amazed at how swiftly Tempest moved, especially since he was on the ground just a moment before. The flying kobold was not expecting the rock flying up, and it was hit hard in its body. The kobold fell swiftly to the ground, twitched for a few moments, and stopped moving. Tempest looked pleased with himself.

The second flying kobold ignored Tempest, and came straight for Vennoa and Fender. Knowing that she wouldn’t be able to do what Tempest did, Vennoa started aiming her firebolts at the kobold. One of the firebolts hit the flying kobold, and its charred body fell to the ground together with its rock. In a stroke of luck, that kobold was flying above the pack of kobolds on the ground, and the rock took out another one. Vennoa gave a whoop of delight.

Between Fender, Tempest, and Vennoa, the remaining marching kobolds were dispatched with relative ease. They turned their attention to Agate and Pua, who were still fighting the armored kobold. Vennoa expected the armored kobold to be pretty injured by now, but it looked relatively unscathed. In contrast, Agate looked seriously injured. Vennoa couldn’t tell if it was from the rock that hit him earlier, or from the fight, but it looked like Agate wouldn’t be able to take much more. Pua was still swiftly dancing around the kobold’s attacks, and in the blur of his motion, Vennoa couldn’t see if he was injured in any way.