A Long Night

As the light slowly made its way over the horizon I could see the small town below, just down the slopes of the hill. Beyond the cover of the forest a small town sleeps quietly without the nightmares of my past nights travels. I sigh softly as I think of the small gnome girl I left with one of my healing flowers then stride ahead as I start singing softly. It was a song from my parents, one of the only things I still remember about them. A song about the skeleton king Bopen, he was an ageless that sailed the high seas and plundered and killed, wherever he went a trail of bodies was found. It only took me a half hour to finally get in view of the town's gates but as I got closer I could hear a bard singing and playing a lute. He sang the same song I did, about Bopen, but with a happier tone, his voice rose high and his body moved to the music as he played. It was only when I got near that I noticed that under his Light Leather armour he had thick brown fur.

"A kobold in the dwarven city of Kathar, how interesting," He said smirking softly as he watched the tall brown furred creature sing,  then stop suddenly as he looked around in the shadows. "Shade, Where did you go…" he sighed softly. His mangy old Moonwolf must have run off again. His ears perked up suddenly at the sound of barking and the sounds of someone yelling.  He looked back at the gate where the kobold bard was, then broke out laughing as he saw his pet wolf, Shade, chasing the poor bard in circles. His chest grew in laughter as he walked slowly towards the Kobold. The bard looked up at me then growled loudly as he yelled out at me.

"Get your stupid hound off of me! He's going to ruin my new leather armour!" he yelled and growled as he ran towards me the hid behind me. Shade, a black grey wolf looked up at me then peered over my shoulder at the Kobold. The wolf licks its teeth then sits down in front of me. "That wolf is blood thirsty man…" he says in my ear, with a sudden pivot I'm standing next to Shade and looking at the frightened Kobold. I look him over once more then nod as I give my wolf a pat on the head.

"I apologise for Shade he doesn't see many friendly people nowadays but for your pain and… suffering," he chuckles softly then rubs Shades head softly "if you show me the way to the closest arcane crafter I'll gladly buy you an ale or two." He gestures to his broken staff in his backpack then sighs softly. "These parts are right full of bandits these days..." the kobold is taken aback a little but manages a weak nod as he starts walking.

"Fine… but only since ale is involved." He says gruffly as he mopingly leads me into the city. We get to the large gate, it's guarded by two scared dwarves that wave me through but interrogate the poor kobold for a moment before letting him in on a warning. The guards gave him a hard time since the two races never got along but I never really understood why. After they finally let him in we walk down the empty streets of Kathar. The kobold sees me looking around then sighs as he informs me about the recent attacks on nearby villages; some fungus has sprung up in the forest and is spewing dark spores into the air. Once on a tree these spores devour it and replace the once great oak with a tall mushroom Ent. I nod as I continue peering through doors and windows into empty houses and storefronts; it was like a ghost town. After a long walk up a side street I point out a large sign saying "forged in Fire" and ask if that's the place. The brown furred kobold nods then turns towards me.

"Some say he's one of the greatest blacksmiths the realm has ever seen, he crafts staffs for a great Gnomish wizard and swords for the elven military. Some say he's even been blessed by a dragon." He says in a hushed tone as we slowly get closer. If he were this great then I'll be unloading a large bag of coin for him.  He stops outside the door and looks over at me with a look. "Don't mention his height..." I nod then knock loudly on the front door.

After a moment it slowly opens and a soft soothing voice calls out to us from the dimly lit interior. I, being intrigued, brush past the kobold and walk in. I blink a few times then look left and see a tall light grey kobold working on carving a staff on a stool and then look right to come face to face with a rather beautiful looking Blood Snake Queen, I gasp out of fright and a little surprise. "I I I um…. Snake…"

She giggles softly pulling me deeper into the workshop then coils her snake like lower half down more so were eye to eye. Her beautiful blue eyes peer deeply into my own dark purple one. "Oh this one's interesting Bossss, he' a magic user and everything! Weren't you looking for one of thoessss." She giggles softly again then looks away, "sorry, my lisp issss…"

I look from the half elf half snake lady to the Kobold on the stool. He chuckles then smiles at me softly then goes back to work on the staff. "It's perfectly ok miss… Is this the home of this great blacksmith? I heard he was short…" I ask inquisitively as I smile up at the snake lady. At this point the other Kobold walks in then snickers as he closes the door.

"I see you met Trix, she's a doll and a sight for sore eyes isn't she?" he says as he pats my shoulder then gets in close to my ear. "No tricks my friend."

The older grey Kobold looks over at us then sighs loudly getting all three of our attention. "Vollin, how many times do I have to tell you to not tell people I'm a damn Gnome? That's five this week." The old man groans then uses the staff he was carving to stand up and walk over to us, he reaches out as I turn to him. I take his hand and shake it slightly. "My name is Kollin, my beautiful companion is in fact Trix and this mischievous Kobold is Vollin. Don't mind him; he's a bit of an idiot." He says taking me by my shoulder and walking me to his table. On top is an assortment of gauntlets and wands.  I look back at Vollin and smirk as he makes a face at the old man's back then goes and talks with Trix who was blushing the entire time. "So what are you looking for my friend, maybe a gauntlet for casting? Or are you more of a wand kinda guy?" he asks rising an eyebrow as he looks at me. The wands at the table intrigue me, as I pick one up I feel the love the craftsmen put into it but put it down as I feel tightness in my chest. I shake my head then slowly slide my finger across one of the golden gauntlet. My finger burns slightly as the magic in the weapon seems to dislike me.

"I am more of a… Arcane mage… A witch if you will." I say as I place my pack on the table and pull out my broken oak staff. He quickly takes it and glares at me as if feeling the pain from the once powerful staff.

"Wh… What did you do! This… this staff…" his eyes look down at the broken wood and examine it.

"A fight, one I should have taken more seriously. I am so sorry; it was my old masters so I do feel pain for it." My eyes are drawn to the fire crackling at the hearth as I speak in a saddened tone.

The old man takes it to the hearth and bends down with a groan as he looks into the flames. "Then let the magic go and I shall make you another, one more suited for swinging and other crude things meant for metal." He tosses the two pieces into the fire with a huff then stands as the flames turn bright purple.  They make waves like the ocean then go out suddenly with a whisper. My chest tightens again as I watched as my masters staff burned then turned to ash. I look back up at the old kobold with a saddened expression.

"Yes sir, thank you." I pick up my pack from the table then untie a heavy coin bag from my belt. I place it on the stool then walk back to the door. "Vollin, I require a drink…" He looks back from his conversation with Trix and nods.

"Another time my lady." He says then runs back to me and walks out leading me away from the building. My footsteps fall heavy as if weighed down by the sheer guilt of burning the staff. I bound my chest hard; Vollin looks back at me a question in his eyes. "What lives may never die." I say loudly then look down at the ground as I feel the weight slowly lift.

"What lives may never die? Just like my old man used to say, a Templar saying…" Vollin says softly to himself as he leads me to the closest pub.