30 The Snake and the Dog

The first three buildings were easily cleared out. The smallest one was a smokehouse used for preserving meats. The next building they checked, the largest one, was filled with food of every kind. The food ranged from wild tubers and berries to grains and dried goods that were still in their original containers, most likely stolen from unsuspecting merchants. The third building was filled with miscellaneous goods and belongings. Almost as if hoarding every object from all their victims, the building contained a lot of used clothing and armor including things like holey socks or worn down briefs. There weren't many weapons inside the building, but there were several pouches of money and even bones and furs.

Unlike greedy goblins, Kobolds were less interested in the allures of money and gems. Instead they were more interested in unique weapons and simple mechanical objects such as belts, watches, and hinged boxes. The remaining objects in this building were probably just leftovers, their favorite objects being kept on their person.

It was the last building that gave Kalin and his companions a headache. Unlike the other three buildings they checked, this last one had living beings inside of it. Many living beings.

Upon opening the building, they were met with the sight of rows of cages. The inhabitants of each cage varied. One cage had a couple demonic wolves, another had an imp, one particularly large cage had several chained people. The commonality shared between each imprisoned individual were the identical collars clasped around each of their necks. Collars worn by slaves.

Noticing the accessories around the captives' necks, Vin couldn't help but swear, "Shit, this just got a lot more complicated."

"Why?" Asked Artemis, not fully comprehending the situation.

"Kobolds don't use slaves. They're a xenophobic race of demons that don't get along with anybody else. The fact that they are keeping captives means that they have connections to slave traders, either of the demon nations or the nations of the races." He responded with a grim look on his face.

"That's exactly right." Came a voice from the back of the room. Inside one of the larger cages the speaker of the words came to view. The voice belonged to a woman that was eyeing the adventurers.

The woman was the embodiment of seduction. Much like how Kalin's own mother, every trait of her seemed to be used to seduce men. Her emerald hair flowed past her waist. It was adorned with flowers that seemed to pale in comparison to her own beauty. Her eyes were sharp, the pupils of her yellow eyes were a pair of vertical slits. Her lips were plump, like a pair of red fruits. Her head sat on her almost unnaturally long, slender neck. Her bombastic breasts were in plain view, as she didn't bother to hide her modesty from anybody present. While her large breasts and small waist were both undeniably attractive, the part of her body Kalin felt most beautiful were her mesmerizing hips. Situated between the long snake-like tail that sprouted forth from beneath her round, half-scaly butt where her legs should have been, and her thin, smooth waist, her hips seemed to draw the eyes of all the onlookers as the human half of her body swayed from side to side.

"A lamia!" Gasped Belinda as she tried to identify the woman.

With a small frown making her way onto her luscious lips, she complained, "Don't compare the great Ophelia to a mere lamia. Ophelia is a member of the deific race of echidna. The Mindless lamia are but a cheap imitation of the wise echidna."

"If you're so great then how did you get caught by mere Kobolds?" Asked Belinda with a bit of a growl. The tone of the self-proclaimed echidna rubbed her the wrong way. It didn't help her mood any to notice Elric staring at the naked body of this captured demon.

"Hmph!" She snorted, "As if mere dogs could catch Ophelia if it wasn't for their sneaky trap. If they hadn't lured Ophelia with those shiny rocks, she never would have been caught in that net!"

"So, she's an idiot." Claimed Belinda.

"She's an idiot." Confirmed Vin.

"Idiot." Nodded Yami. Her face showing a look as if she had just discovered a long lost relative or kindred spirit.

With the unanimous approval of Belinda's original statement, besides Kalin, Ophelia started to form tears in her eyes. Before the discussion got further out of hand, however, Kalin interrupted their conversation, "Did you guys all forget how dangerous the situation is? We need to decide if we're going to release them now or fight first. We don't have time for this."

Noticing their folly, the rest of the group snapped out of it. That's right, how could they forget something so important?

Wiping away her tears, Ophelia bragged as if she wasn't insulted, "Lesser beings such as yourselves are unable to resist the natural charm of Ophelia. Anybody who looks at her will become quiet and won't want to attack."

Translating her words into more understandable terms, Kalin said, "She means she has a skill that dissipates aggression or a willingness to fight. Probably some sort of passive charm skill." Making a decision for the group he continued, "Because of this, I don't think we need to worry about the prisoners for now. Her presence will prevent people from taking action to hurt the others." Turning to the captives he said, "We'll be back soon. Don't worry, we will free all of you once we defeat the Kobolds."

Although nobody else responded to him, Kalin took it as confirmation. Stepping out of the building he said, "Let's go! We need to make sure none of them escape!" Once the group exited the building, they could feel the tension return to their bodies.

With an ashamed smile on his face, Vin said, "I'm sorry everybody. I didn't even realize that simpleton had been using a skill on us. I almost forgot our job. As your leader I've failed you. However, now's not the time to talk. Prepare to fight!"

Getting into formation, the front line consisted of Elric, Kalin, Belinda, and Iola. As the 4 most melee-centric members of the party, they were to act as the vanguard. As the mid-guard, Vin, Yami and Artemis were to be protected by the wall they created. All three of them excelled if there was a distance between them and their enemy. Even though Vin could hold his own in a duel, he was much better with a bow than his sword. As the sole member of the rearguard, and one of the most versatile fighters in the group, Rain was fighting in the back line. As a fire mage, she had plenty of range. She was proficient with both sword and lance, whilst also having the highest mobility in the party. Her job was to protect them from the rear, while also chasing down anybody that escapes into the clearing. While their formation was somewhat shoddy and had various holes trained fighters would notice, it wasn't bad for a group of strangers that most knew little about how the others fought. Waiting for their opponents to arrive, they stood outside of the settlement, to prevent anything from escaping around their sides.

Preparing for their engagement, Iola removed her cloak, revealing her clothing and equipment. Wearing what amounted to a wetsuit made of thousands of tiny metallic scales, her form-fitting armor was completely waterproof, while both highly durable and extremely flexible, it was more like wearing an extra layer of skin than heavy armor. Completely barefoot, the only other things she wore were a pouch that amounted to a diving bag, a necklace containing fangs and teeth of various monsters, and two diving knives, one on her wrist and another strapped to her calf. Her outfit left nothing to the imagination, as there wasn't the slightest gap between her skin and the thin armor, showing off her lithe and powerful figure, the snakeskin conforming to all her muscles underneath. Throwing her cloak in the bag that should have been way too small to hold it, she held the large trident ready to attack.

Elric brandished his giant shield and broadsword, while Belinda readied her maul. Pulling out his estoc, Kalin said in a hushed shout, "They're coming!"

As the two archers already had arrows knocked and half-drawn, Rain and Yami started preparing to send out spells of their own. As the sound of metal against metal, screaming, and snarling got closer, the hairs on the back of their necks stood up.

"Don't tense your muscles! Get ready to fight!" Vin yelled.

At that moment, the first Kobold they'd seen dashed around one of the straw huts into view. As Artemis was about to shoot, Vin said, "Aim only for the ones outside their range. Let the others handle this one."

The Kobold was wearing mismatched clothing it had received as a reward for various achievements it had made for the settlement. Her trusty axe was awarded to her because she had saved one of the chief's women when it was injured driving out those hateful goblins. They don't even taste good. She was quite a proud warrior, as not many had been given a weapon directly by the chieftain. Many of her friends teased her saying that the chief just wanted her to have her pups, but she always denied it. Not that she would have denied advances his if he had.

Lately the chief had them stop hunting for food. Instead, they were told to capture things alive. The chief had some new friends that would trade treasures and food for people and monsters. While she didn't understand why chief's friends would trade interesting things like drums and buckles for worthless things like wolves and weaklings, she didn't really care for the reason. Although she hadn't had the chance to eat any juicy humans since the chief made the rule, she was willing to make the sacrifice. When she was given a leather bag with several shiny brass clasps in exchange for an ugly dwarf, she was happy. She had even seen another Kobold get a strange metal box that breathed fire. The hateful mutt would always brag to the other about it too.

After another day of hunting, her group had caught a stupid snake. She was very happy because the chief would definitely reward her well. Although the snake was ugly, the chief had said that his friends would like it. Perhaps the next time one of the chief's friends came, she would be able to get a firebox of her own, but even bigger and better. Getting tired from a night of hunting, she had gone to sleep just like any other night. However, everything became hell when she woke up after a loud explosion.

After waking up, she noticed many outsiders attacking and killing her friends. Unlike the others she usually captured, these ones were really strong. Her friends couldn't do anything to fight against the attackers. She knew, however that once the chief arrived, they would all be saved. Nobody could beat the chief; he was the strongest.

With a howl, he arrived. Watching him charge at the closest human, she howled along, knowing that the chief would split the tiny she-human in half. However, to her horror, the chief failed. Blocking his sword with the tiny shield, the small woman turned the chief's head into paste as his brain matter splattered over his brethren. Fear overcame the once proud Kobold warrior, as she ran from the battle.

Running in the opposite direction, her escape was stopped short by the wall her chief built to protect the village. Hearing others following her, she changed directions from the battle, and ran with all her might. As she was just leaving her home, she noticed the group of adventurers standing in the middle of the field between her and freedom. Noticing the group of hated attackers in front of her, she charged at them. Anger filled her as she looked at the creatures that should have been her prey, causing her to lash out instead of trying to flee. Maybe if she was a little more level-headed, she would have tried to find another way out, but she was furious. Mere food had killed her friends and the chief. They must pay for what they did. Gripping her axe, she lunged at the group, putting every iota of energy she had into cleaving the ugly creature in half.

Her axe was met with an immovable wall of steel. As her precious axe shattered upon impact, the Kobold warrior didn't have time to react as a broadsword tore through her head, leaving her in a state almost identical to her beloved chief.