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Being bound and dragged by my tail along the dirt road was probably the most uncomfortable I have ever felt in a while. If I  could, I would have yelled at the lion guard dragging me, but he had gagged my mouth a few roads back. Said he couldn’t stand my screaming. We had been at this for hours, and my scales were starting to bruise. By the gods, I wish I knew where he was taking me. But before I knew it, the guard had stopped, and in one quick motion, I was sent flying into a wooden door.

“We’re here, kobold,” the bastard stated coldly as he walked towards me. Though my body ached from the sudden impact, I was soon filled with fear as he took out his sword and pointed it towards me. “If you move, I will not be responsible for any ‘accidents,’” as he cut my ropes loose, giving me freedom once more.

Rubbing my soars, I looked over to see an abandoned keep. Parts of it had small cracks that had allowed vines and other flora to take root in the crevices. Any banner it had was long gone, and you couldn’t tell who once owned it. It was clear no one cared about this place, so it begged one question.

“Why am I here?”

“King Geltios, the kind and forgiving lion that he is, has decided that instead of executing you for the sin of having an artifact, that you could be of use and retrieve one of his ancestors’ artifacts. It had been stolen by a sneaky wizard, and this was the last place he had been seen.” The lion just looked on at the keep with pure rage in his eyes.  “Due to the last group we sent to retrieve it, all but one died. And he refused to go back.” I could feel the hatred in his tone as he spoke.

“Did he ever say why?”

“A creature lived here, though we killed it, and yet,” his grip on his sword grew tighter. He still insisted that we didn’t. So the king had him executed for his cowardice.” He grinned wickedly, “ and you will meet the same fate if you fail to produce the artifact.” 

He handed me a piece of paper with a drawing of the artifact. It looked like a medallion with a giant orb in the middle. I finally stood up, barely reaching the lion’s knees. I wanted to protest and say something, but he was still holding onto his sword and glared at me. I just grunted and made my way into the keep. 

The keep looked terrible. Rubble blocked parts, making it nearly impossible to crawl through, even with my tiny stature. Looking around the first floor, I found that the only thing I could see that was not completely blocked off was the kitchen, which had been partially destroyed. The study room was blocked off by rubble. Peering inside, I mainly saw books scattered around.  The only thing of interest on this floor was right by one of the windows. There were a couple of gashes on the wall with dried blood on the floor. The only thing left on this floor was the spiraling staircase in the middle.

As I made my way up the stairs, being careful not to fall on any loose rubble, I couldn’t help but wonder what this artifact even did. He didn’t say anything about it, but it had to be powerful if the king still wanted it even after their previous men had failed to retrieve it. Maybe I can use it once I figure out how to use it.

Though the staircase only went up one floor, the track was exhausting. Catching my breath and looking around, I saw holes in the ceiling and random debris on the floor. Yet, unlike the floor below, the scattered remains blocked nothing. The bookshelves along the back wall had their books scattered throughout the room. Potions were either cracked open with their content spilled out or just looked like colored water. The cauldron in the corner was covered in dust and webs.

I dragged my claws through the puddles to see if anything would happen, but sadly, nothing. I wiped them clean with a random piece of paper until I noticed it was a layout of the keep. With this, I saw that the kitchen had a hidden basement by the stove. Sweet, this could be the big break I needed to find this artifact. Looking over the print, I noticed it mentioned something about a snake living down there. However, any other information it had was smugged. Whoops. That was the creature the guard mentioned they dealt with. I wish I knew what kind of snake a wizard would keep, but I need to get that artifact right now. 

I just made my way back down towards the kitchen. As I entered the kitchen, I scampered over to the stove. There was a door where it said, but it was covered by rubble, so after clearing it, I opened it to see nothing but an endless abyss. Ripping a leg of a wooden stool, I blew some fire on it, giving me some light. I proceeded with caution as I made my way down the stairs. 

As I slowly made my way down, I couldn’t help but notice the blood staining the wall. They must have stumbled on the creature in his lair without finding the notes. I grimaced at the thought of having to face it. Could I beat a beast with my magic that took a guard squad to kill? Not without help, but hopefully, I could buy myself time to escape.

The further I trudged, the more I started to pick up the hint of something dying. It was faint. Maybe the creature wasn’t dead like the one guy said and caught itself one unlucky bastard. Letting out a nervous groan, I readied my free hand to let out a blast. Once I reached the bottom, all that was before me was a rusty, beaten-up iron door. It was slightly open, and the stench grew stronger. Blasting the door off its hinges, I pointed my free hand out for nothing to happen.

Keeping my wits about, I slowly entered the room. Looking around I saw a bed in one corner, the sheets were old and tattered, and right beside it was a desk and bookshelf, though it looked wiped clean. Lastly, away from everything, on the opposite side of the room, was a large hey nest filled to the brim with bones. Guess they never came down here, huh? Despite the nest having bones, the smell was not emanating from them. I didn’t want to be here any longer than necessary. Where is that artifact?

After searching the room, I found a journal hidden in the far corner under the bed. After retrieving and dusting off dirt, I saw that it had the kingdom’s emblem on it, which meant it belonged to a kingdom guard. He didn’t mention that his fellow men were sent to retrieve it. Just one of them is a problem, so how could three not take care of the monster?  

The journal only mentioned how the guard and two of his friends were sent here to retrieve the artifacts, but they were having no luck. It was a tedious read until it mentioned the voices they heard. At first, they thought it was one of their friends messing with them, but everyone denied it and thought it was them. It mentions how they found the basement by accident, but before they could explore it, they heard one of their friends scream for help up the stairs. When he and their other friend got there, they saw a humongous winged snake constricting their friend. Its face had been damaged, but right before them, it had regenerated. He describes how the snake taunted them with their friend’s voice before devouring him. He and the other guard just ran for it as the snake laughed at them. 

It mentions that even though they were able to make it to the front door, the creature had grabbed them and tossed them into the kitchen. He writes about how he went down the basement, and the last thing he heard was his friend screaming for help. Though he locked himself up here, the snake pounded on the door, mimicking his friends’ voices and asking him to let them in. The last thing he wrote was that he found a hidden space behind the bookcase and hoped that someone would come and save him from the creature. Well, judging from the smell, I couldn’t help but snicker at his fate.

Pushing the bookcase aside, it seemed like there was a tiny hole right in the wall, but the stench was coming out of it. A little tired of this place, I returned to the entrance to cast a spell.

“Leli Bel Soi!” Soon, little sparkles of light gathered along the wall where the hole formed a ball that would explode. A boom so loud I’m sure the guard heard it outside. “Shit should have gone with a quieter spell. Oh well.” 

A faint glow could be seen as the smoke began to clear up. The artifact was tied around the neck of a rotting corpse—gross. Still, I walked up to them. Pulling out the paper, I ensured it was the artifact I had been looking for. Sure enough, it checked out, though strangely enough, the orb had a colorful vertex in the middle. 

Removing the artifact from my rotting friend, I half expected him to reach out and attack me. Luckily, nothing of the sort happened. For a guard member, it is weird that he ran and hid from a monster. Oh well, that’s not my problem. They probably thought he abandoned them, seeing how they never found him.

“Thanks for the help, friend,” I gave him a cheeky smile while putting on the artifact. “Now, to leave this stupid place before the cat knows I have the artifact.”

“Leaving so soon, thief?” The lion guard let out a low growl. 

“Fuck,” I mumbled, “No, I-” Before I could say anything else, he slammed into the wall.

“I have yet to reward you for your efforts in retrieving the artifact for me,” regaining my senses, I only look back in horror to see a winged snake staring right at me. “Don’t worry, little kobold. I’ll take care of you,” with his mouth agape, the monster lunges at me.

“Cita Letis Begair!” I quickly formed a water bubble to encase me, and no sooner than when the creature’s fangs pierced right through it. In a fit of rage, it threw me toward the door frame hard enough to pop the protective bubble. Before I had time to cast another spell it put me in a constrictive hold. Squeezing the life out of me, it let out a chuckle.

“Wow, what a feisty kobold you are! I like you more than the others,” its grip grew tighter. “And unlike my last meals, you’re not in some unreachable room or a squad of guards,” The snake just giggled with glee as it squeezed me more. It was slowly crushing me, toying with me. Damit, it was bad enough when those lion guards insulted me. Now, I’m a plaything for some abandoned pet.

Wiggling an arm out, I raised it towards the snake and closed my eyes .“Le’li Bel Voi!” a flash of bright light burst from my hand, blinding the snake and causing it to drop me. As it let out a horrific scream of all the voices it had heard. But I had no time to be in awe of it and needed to escape. I made sure I still had the artifact and scampered my way up the stairs on all fours as the creature cured me.

As I made it up the stairs and through the kitchen, I saw the guard in the middle of the room. I had never been so happy to see him, but right before either of us could say anything, the ground between us busted wide open, and the serpent flew right out of the hole it had created.

“THE HELL! WE KILLED YOU! HOW ARE YOU STILL ALIVE?!” it seems like your pal had a right to be scared. As the guard pulled out his sword, he said, “I see you have the artifact. Toss it over!”

“What?! No, this isn’t the time to be thinking about that. We need to kill it and leave!” I can’t believe he was thinking of the artifact at a time like this.

But before he could say anything else, the snake lunged at him. I think I heard the guard mudder something, but he was too far for me to catch it. He placed his clawed feet into the ground as the snake dragged him. Then, he stabbed it right in the eye, causing it to yell in pain. While the two of them fought, I looked around for a good vantage point, but seeing that the staircase was my only option if I wanted a good shot at the thing, I made my way there. I could hear the two struggling to fight each other. It was hard to tell who was winning. However, it begged the question of how the three of them struggled with it. Once I got to a good spot, I could see the creature had one of its wings cut in half and the other one wholly severed, while the guard, though tired, looked fine. 

Shit man. I almost felt bad for the creature.  Setting my hands in a prayer motion, I prepared to cast a spell only to see the severed wing reattach itself to the head. The other wing looked as if nothing had happened to it. The whole thing caught the lion off guard, giving the snake enough time to tailwhip him into a pile of rocks nearby. The snake just laughed at him. 

“I’m just full of surprises, aren’t I, Sun Guard? “ Now, he mimicked my voice while taunting the man. But don’t worry; it will end soon,” his laughter filled the room. I got one shot at this.

“Oh, light of the earthly mother, grant me strength to strike my enemy. HEY SNAKE,” grabbing the creature’s attention, “VIT BEL SOI!” Trusting my hand out, a jet stream of fire petals erupted from my hands towards the snake. As it turned around to face me, the spell came out too fast for him to respond.

The snake was met with a chain of firey petals that exploded once each petal made contact with him. It let out a scream that was muffed out by the ramping of explosions. After the dust cleared up, the only thing left of its head was a glory stump. I slump over, exhausted from expelling so much magic in a single move.

“Let us be on our way, kobold. “ Not even giving me time to rest, the lion guard was already heading towards the door. Once we reach outside, I do expect you to hand over the artifact.” 

But before I could even move, the snake’s tail smashed into the staircase, preventing me from going further. Looking over, I could see the head had already regenerated, and the snake was not looking too pleased. 

“That hurt, kobold,” his eyes were locked with mine, and to where he had only one voice, now it was just interchanging with every word. The guard came back, charging at him, only to be knocked outside by a tail. “Why don’t you stay out of this! Once I’m dealing with you’re next!” Not wanting to give it any time, I used what strength I had left to go further up.

Once I made it up the stairs, I started fidgeting with the artifact to see what it could do. There were words inscribed on the side, but I could not understand them. I could hear the guard let out a vicious roar from downstairs, but there was no telling if it was good or bad—probably bad, given how fast that thing can regenerate. Panicking, I just started biting and prodding the orb.

“Come on, man, I need a way out of here or something that can destroy that creature.” Like clockwork, the vertex started to pulse at those words. I have no idea what triggered it, but hopefully, it will be a good thing. 

My happiness soon disappeared as the ground beneath me crumbled, causing me to fall towards the snake. I gathered what strength I had left to cast another protection bubble. This time though, instead of throwing me towards the wall, it tossed me into the ceiling, breaking my bubble upon impact and causing me to free fall yet again, shit too tired to make another bubble. 

As it opened its mouth, hoping to catch me, I pointed the artifact at the creature as the pulses sped up. I could hear the guard yell something, but I could not make out the words. Right now, my only focus is to use the artifact to kill the creature.

“Come on, man, it’s now or never!” as I fell further down and got closer to the mouth, I started to panic as nothing was happening, “Please do something! Anything! I beg you, I don’t want to die like this!” But nothing happened. I fell right into the beast’s mouth, swallowing me whole. I just closed my eyes, accepting my fate.

Though the last thing I felt was a snake’s cold, slimy insides, it was surprisingly warm and dry. In fact, I felt the soft breeze brush past my tail. Slowly opening my eyes, I noticed I wasn’t in the belly of the beast but instead in a clearing. However, I have no idea how I got here or where here even is. Looking around, I could see the artifact lying beside me, no longer glowing. The vertex inside had also dimmed down. Seems like it’s charging up.

Collapsing on the ground I just let out a sigh of relief, it would seem like I was able to get away from the creature. “YES!” I yelled, victorious, as I no longer had to deal with the snake or the guard. I wonder how he will explain to his captain that he left both the artifact and the kobold example under his watch. Oh well, that’s not my problem. Picking myself up, I headed down the road in search of a nearby town to get a sense of where I ended up.