“Candia rose its banners to war. ‘Rejoice! As we’ve been chosen as the true north! Our hero will led us to a new era, to the true kingdom that sits above all’, the Wizard King announced and the second triumphantly posed. Such as strong will directed to the wrong enemy. Those that cheered would see their mistake”

  We made good progress, stopping just once to shelter from the sun. I was wondering about what would happen in Sallas, delivering Colt and leaving the princedom today was a possible, I would be in Sallas tomorrow probably. Still, I wondered about what would await for me, I was tired of getting in trouble… even if I liked a fight from time to time. Whatever will happen, what’s important is that I get more information about the sword.

  “Wait! Stop!”, Colt screamed and startled me, “What is it!?”, I asked as I stopped the horse and he jumped off, running to a small patch of grass, kneeling and picking a… flower?!, “You stopped for a stupid flower? C’mon, I don’t have time for this”. Colt stored the flower in a tiny bag he carried, “Sorry, but I’m gathering flowers to make a bouquet for my new owner, I’m trying to have a good first impression. The one I just picked is called ‘Nightsong’ it has a striking blue color that glows in the dark!”, he explained and got back in the horse, “I wonder how is she like. Lady Delilah just told me she likes to read, nothing else. But I’m sure we’ll spent many evenings playing and reading together, maybe I can even learn some farm work, Lady Delilah said they lived in a farm. I hope I can be useful…”. Colt kept asking himself things about his future owner for a while, then a thought formed in my head, a question actually, something I asked before to other… slaves, “Do you like that? You know, being owned? Being a slave I mean, I wouldn’t ask this to other kobolds but you’re a smart enough to know what that entails”, I asked, turning my head slightly to see his face which got a bit flustered before replying, “I...I don’t mind. I suppose that is how the world works. A kobold must be owned, they are property. A-and… I prefer it that way, the world is to big for me, if someone… uh, owned me, guided me, I would feel safe… uh, thanks for saying that I’m smart”. What a stupid response, being free is what’s more important! Ugh… Seems a smart kobold is still a fucking kobold, they don’t change no matter how many books they read. It’s the same deal with them, the only difference is the fur I guess.

  I’ve tried to push my annoyance aside, I can’t let the opinion from an animal make this much of a dent in my patience, is just like those times in the taverns where I would get into stupid discussions. Still, the little bastard seemed to noticed my annoyance, he leaned a bit and asked, “Uh… Sir, w-what do you think about that… about owning someone?”, now he was getting on my nerves, “What I think? I think I wouldn’t own a kobold, I prefer to own something useful, like a horse”, I said, kind of out of spite, and Colt expression turned sad, “I-I guess you’re right…”, he became silent for a few seconds before asking, “Uh… what is the horse’s name?”. Why was he asking that stupid question? Ugh, “I didn’t give it name, it doesn’t need one. If I give it a name then it would be like a pet and I don’t need a pet, I need a horse. Okay? Now shut up”.

  Finally some silence, or something like that, just a bunch of sighs from Colt for an hour or so. Actually, he got really quiet, too quiet, then I felt his head resting against my back and as I turned he fell off the horse. It seemed like he fainted, the once green scales from his right hand had become a bright reddish color up to his elbow; immediately I took the ‘Nightsong’ from his bag, I did saw him pick the flower up with his right hand, and I brushed its petals against his left hand and, sure enough, his green scales swelled and turned a bit reddish. This idiot was allergic to the flower and he didn’t know. I had to think now, I threw the flower away, I didn’t know if the flower was fatal to kobolds, or just to him. I checked his breathing, he was still alive at least but he was burning up, I enveloped his body on my cape and carried him, I couldn’t deliver him in this state… shit, another delay. By some miracle I found a tiny shack, partially hidden among the trees, it was in bad shape; covered in moss with broken windows and a half-broken wooden door that I broke even further as I tried to enter. I let him rest against the old floorboards and went outside to search for something to help me with his condition. There was a thing I learned back in the holy army, a medicine, ‘Robensus’ is the name of the tree which sap can be used to treat any ailment on the skin, a tree easily found everywhere, specially in the south. It didn’t take long to identify one Robensus, I made a small cut on the trunk and smeared the sticky sap on a leaf. When I entered the shack again I saw more swelling on Colt’s scales as the red spread from his arms to his chest, I stuck the leaves all over his body and let him rest against the wall.

  I sat there pondering, why I was going to such a length for this kobold, might as well deliver him like it is and keep going. No, I couldn’t leave things this easy, I have to make sure to do it right. I also made a promise to Delilah and I am a man of my word. And, it wasn’t his fault, he shouldn’t be punished for trying to make a stupid bouquet, he is probably doing his best and I should… ngh… I should be more mindful and less aggressive I guess. My gaze went down to the floorboards and then lingered on a small detail, the floorboards were marked; tiny scratches barely visible, littered the floor, and something I didn’t noticed before, a stain in the ceiling where a clasp was attached, it was completely rusted except for the middle were the chain was suppose to go. I didn’t want to stay long in here, everything pointed towards this place being recently used. “Ahhh!”, Colt screamed as he regained consciousness, he began to scrape off the leaves I carefully set on his scales, “Do not take them off!”, I said and grabbed his arms, then he calmed himself, “S-Sir! W-what happened? Where are we? What are this things I have on me?!”. I showed him a petal of the Nightsong I had on my pocket, “See this? It looks like you’re allergic to it. You almost died picking a stupid flower!… And those leaves have a special sap that’ll help with the allergic reaction, keep them there”, I explained and placed the leaves, he tore off, again on his scales one by one. “I’m sorry… I should’ve been more careful, didn’t know I could be allergic to something. Sorry for being such a burden”, he apologized and I wanted to say, ‘I told you so’, but that would be immature in my part, “Don’t be an idiot and go around picking random things until I deliver you, okay?”, I said and he nodded effusively.

  I wanted to let Colt stay longer in the shack as to wait for the redness and swelling to subside a bit, he seemed too eager to leave; sweeping the floorboards with his tail, moving from corner to corner, and sighing a lot. “Stop or the reaction won’t subside”, I said as the wood of the shack creaked, outside a storm was forming and the wind ramped up. “We might pass the night in here, at least it has a roof. Don’t want to get wet”, I commented and Colt looked at me with a seemingly annoyed expression, “No! Please, I’m better, let’s go!”, a weird reaction from him, “Why? We can wait in here for the storm to pass”, I replied and he pulled on my cape, “No… Is this cabin! Is… ugh.. C-Can’t you smell it?! It reeks of blood!”, Blood? I wondered what was he talking about and then the stains became more apparent, but still it wasn’t excuse enough, “So? Maybe some pigs were killed in this shack or something”, I said but I could also feel something wrong about this place, and his comments about the blood sparked the suspicion that this place might be used by the cult, so I grabbed him and enveloped him, like a carpet, in my cape as to avoid the leaves from falling off, “Alright, yes, if you don’t want to stay, then we can leave, I also don’t want to be here for much longer”. I grabbed everything and got to the horse, this time we’ll be going straight for the farmhouse without stops, with luck we might make it before the downpour.

  We made good progress despite the rain and thunder, the road ahead did look worst though, we had to make a detour that took us through a small road that had some farmhouses around, the sight shouldn’t had been that insightful but I noticed no light coming from any of the houses, no cattle and barren land, no crops or anything. Thankfully the road ahead was clear and the storm began to pass. The sun broke through the clouds with the dim sunlight of the dusk. The narrow road ahead was the one belonging to the unknown village that hosted the supposed family; ‘red tiles on the roof, a large door painted blue, a big carriage wheel decorates the outside entrance’ were some of the descriptions given by Delilah. Colt felt we were close and he sat expectantly behind me, he was repeating some of the same descriptions under his breath, “Red tile roof… red tile roof”, and scanning around with his kobold eyes. Wasn’t long until he spotted the house and pointed towards it, his face spelled complete happiness but as we approached, well, the expression became worried bit by bit. Just like the last places we went through, there was no cattle- no life it seemed, the house itself was completely opened to the outside, the large blue door was broken off its hinges, the big wheel was gone, just the silhouette of dirt that made the form of the wheel on the wall. I expected the worst, so I pulled Colt aside and told him to wait on the entrance, to scream if he saw anyone, then I entered.

  It really was a large house, just like the one Bernard has. It seemed bigger thanks to the fact it was completely ransacked, there was no furniture, just marks on the floorboards, all the windows had their glass broken and the dirt and cobweb meant this house has been in this state for a long time. I went through the many rooms, all of them separated by doors… doorframes, the house lacked doors, all of them had been taken away, then I began to see marks on the floor, along the walls and the unmistakable dark stains of blood; one spreading a long way from the hallway and to the kitchen. Must have been horrible, I guess, the only thing I was left with was the view, the kitchen had its walls written from corner to corner, writings that seemed to be praises to Delia, all in old blood. From the ceiling, tied around the wooden beams, there were chains with a hook at the end… fortunately, fortunately? There were no remains, just the hooks hanging from the ceiling, four to be exact, one for each of the family members of the house I presume. This type of sighting didn’t cause that big of an impression on me, but there was this feeling of anger mixed with sadness, not for me but for Colt, and then it dawned on me… what would I do with him now?. I took some minutes to think what to do but couldn’t come up with anything, I just went outside to Colt who had his gaze down at his feet and I placed my hand on his shoulder, “Colt… uh… It seems… the cult got to your family first”, fuck… that came out wrong. Colt didn’t even flinch, “I-I… understand. W-when we got to that cabin then I realized the cult had already reached these parts and, no… no family would be there”, he said in a cold manner but still couldn’t hold back some tears falling from his eyes. Despite this, he wiped the tears away and locked eyes with me, “What- What are you going to do with me? I-I mean! I guess you must continue your path, no? You..you can leave me here, you did well and fulfilled Lady Delilah’s request, even having to endure a stupid useless kobold like me… and… I’ve already… already prepared myself mentally… for this scenario… y-you can go on...”, he continued as his voice broke into sobs and the tears flowed freely again.

  He was right though, I did fulfill the request and I needed to continue north and finish my quest but, the same feeling welled inside me, the same one from when I had to part with Dorlan and I hated it so much. I wasn’t moved by him, I’ve seen to much commiseration; some fake, some real, but too much to be moved, still, I felt more anger by the injustice of the situation and him having to dealt with it made me want to… do something about it. I also couldn’t let a defenseless being fend for itself in this place… Can’t believe I’m treating him like a human child, anyway. “C’mon, wipe those tears and get on the horse”, I said as I took my cape back from him, I had to take another fucking detour, “We’ll go to Prime Bay, I’ll drop you off with Delilah”. Colt jumped and locked his arms against my waist, burying his head on my stomach and resuming his crying, normally I would shoved him immediately, especially because he was dirtying my clothes with his boogers, but I guess it was best to let him cry it out for now.

  We got back on the horse and kept going north, we had to go a bit further as to find a road that should lead eastward, towards Prime Bay. The problem was the distance, I mean, the Princedom is not even half the size of the Confederation but, from what I knew, the way towards Prime Bay from the north meant crossing another mountainous region, the real difference was the terrain. I won’t lie, it feels right to take this kobold and see him safe and sound, just like the past times I played a hero and I ended up failing miserably… hope this time is different. The way we took, until we found a road eastward, was pretty uneventful; the villages we had seen pillaged by the cult were probably attacked long ago, the issue was that it was getting dark and we had nowhere to stay, and we could face danger at any moment, so I looked around for any place that could shelter us, then I saw one small farmhouse in the distance and immediately head there.

  The house was just like the others, completely empty, but at least they left the front door untouched, and the house was probably never been lived before as there were no markings, blood or hook. “We’ll pass the night here. Go get the bags”, I said to Colt who remained silent since we left the murder house, too quiet. I made a fire and cooked up a soup as there weren’t any more provisions, and the whole time Colt just sat looking at the floor. We dined and Colt gazed at me and finally spoke, “Sir! I-I… would like to… S-sorry, I just… I don’t know what else to say. I thought of words of appreciation but it’s not enough… and I don’t have anything I can give you”, his words sounded to exaggerated to me, “You don’t need to thank me. Once I drop you with Delilah, she can thank me”, I said, dismissing him a bit as I don’t like to be ‘overly thanked’, but Colt didn’t relent, he stood up and came closer to me, “N..no! See, why would you even care for me? You already got paid and did what you’ve been asked! You took me to the delivery point… and that should have been the end of it”, he said with agitation and his demeanor began to annoy me, “Just get to the point. What do you want?”, I asked with firmness and Colt took a breath before finally speaking his mind, “I’m barely eleven months old and for eight of those months I’ve been wishing to live another life, I know it sounds silly, what life if I’m that young? But, I knew the tea house wasn’t a place for me, it’s a place for ‘kobolds’, a place where I was mistreated by my own brothers and sisters... I hoped I would find my home in that family but now they’re gone… And... I don’t want to go back to Delilah!”, he screamed that last part and then went down to his knees, “Sir… The only thing I can offer you is myself, so, please, would you be my master?... Master?”. It was a long time ago the last time I got called ‘master’ and my anger reacted for me, I unsheathed my sword and struck the floorboards beside Colt’s bowing head, “Never, never again call me that. I’m not your fucking master, I’ll never be your master and I don’t want slaves”, I got the blade scratching his neck as his whole body shook in fear, “If you so wish to be a mere toy then I’ll prefer to discard you here and now before having to put the effort to take you to Prime Bay”, I said and he raised his gaze a bit, “I...I understand, sir”, he replied with wet eyes and cowered to the corner.

  Night arrived along with another storm, from the corner Colt held his back to me, seemed like he didn’t move an inch since I scolded him. I went to get the horse and put it inside the house to guard it from the incoming storm. The horse was tied to a wooden pole, it remained there, only raising its head a bit to look at me… uh… why didn’t I named the horse? I wonder, it didn’t feel right to give it a name, it was just a feeling… I stared at its eyes, horse’s eyes are always so expressive, and its hair was so smooth, the same for its mane, I’ve always appreciated horses, more like tools than pets obviously, I was taught on how to treat and ride one back in the orphanage, and- why am I thinking about? Horses are horses, just animals. The raising wind got more violent so I quickly untied the horse and led it inside the house, and I turned to see Colt still hadn’t move, hmm… the broken windows can’t hardly keep the cool wind from entering, I took my cape and place it on Colt, don’t want him to catch a cold and get sick like last time, I prefer to avoid carrying his kobold ass around.

  I sat beside the fire and read a poem from the book, the poem was about love or something, then I cleaned the sword and began to pray. The first word that came to my mind, ‘master’, that word by itself didn’t mean much, but directed to me? That was a different story… it had a name too, the slave town of Kolkia. Last time I was there was four years ago, Kolkia was one of the last locations were I did any type of work as the famous Tak of Sonnda; famous by the fact I was the most requested by the slavers, working for them meant escorting large groups of slaves to different locations, sometimes humans, rarely kobolds… always them, always the wolven.

  Besides kobolds, the other ‘lowly sentient creatures’ the faith hated were the wolven; human looking wolf people, they seemed taken out of a fairytale, or that is what the first one I saw looked like to me, just like kobolds, wolven grow fast, can gain massive amounts of strength into adulthood and may speak and behave like any human but… they are, too put it lightly, dumb and brute like a rock. Most wolven can’t read, write, sometimes they growl more than talk, may even kill their kin for a piece of food- Well, maybe not that far, I’m being unfair, most wolven I met were slaves after all. Kolkia is the hub of the wolven slave trade, inside the town they reproduce non stop, you can easily get one just by walking the street, they see a human and they lunge at them, seeking to be taken as a slave just like those kobolds in the slums of Franck. And I think the way Colt phrase that ‘master’ brought something from a recent past I wish to forget, I should apologize to him, sometimes I get carried away by emotion and act stupidly, can’t change my ways so fast but I shouldn't make it harder for him.

  First thing I felt in the morning was something wet on my forehead, I opened my eyes to see the horse nibbling my head, I instantly stood up, somehow the horse had untied itself, or someone untied him, I went to tie him again and then turned to the corner were Colt was supposed to be, I say suppose because he wasn’t there, only my cape which I moved to see it had a bunch of flowers inside... this fucking kobold ran away. I went out and looked around for any signs but saw none. After dressing and taking the horse, I head for the road and, thanks to the mud the rain made, I saw tiny footprints going towards Prime Bay, he couldn’t have ran too far. After ten minutes of riding, the footprints dissipated, meaning he must had gone into the grass, towards the tree line to my left or to my right, or worst, he might’ve been picked up by someone. I took a gamble and went towards the tree line to my right and had to stop my horse just shy of a ravine, sometimes I forget how unpredictable the terrain is in this country, hope the little bastard hasn’t fallen off one of these. I turned and went to my left now, looking through the trees for any sign and I found a tiny clearing with a clue; one book, one of his I hoped, among the grass, I picked up the book and continue further. There was something in the air the further I went and I could feel something pressing on my back, it was my sword which was reacting to the magic influence here, so I got off and grabbed the straps of the horse, deciding to walk.

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  The magic influence made every step I took be a cautious one, too slow to search I thought until I heard a tiny whimper and, just a few meters ahead, Colt was sitting against a tree with his head hidden in between his legs, I went closer and called for him, “Hey. C’mon, come here”, then he looked up, “Tak? Run! Run now!”, he blurted out and then I felt their presence, weird I took this long. A distinct screech was accompanied by the ugly looking beast, a brawen nonetheless, before it managed to lunge at me I took out my sword and its head in the same move. Another one from behind tried to get my horse but the horse managed to kick it in the head, knocking it to the ground and landing me an easy kill. I held the blade with my hands and invoke the holy fire, now this was going to be an easy job, turning to face Colt again I saw another one running to attack him so I threw my sword and dashed to slice the beast in two. It went like this for a few minutes, I probably managed to kill at least eleven before they stopped appearing. Once they finally stopped coming, I lifted Colt to his feet, he was hyperventilating and trying to speak between sobs, “T-Tak… you came… you came for m...me…”, I had to grab him from his neck as the brawen had torn his clothes apart, and placed him on the horse, “Yeah, yeah. Stay here and watch the horse, scream if you see something”, I said and he held to my arm, “N-No! Don’t go there, it’s full of them, you’ll die!”, die he said? Hehe, I’ll kill myself before dying to a brawen.

  With this many brawen going around that meant the den must be close by. Passing through some clearings I stumbled upon a cabin that looked old and abandoned; the door and its windows were barred and it had a hole on the roof, but no doubt, the brawen were using this as their den. I cut the door down, letting the daylight illuminate inside, giving me an awful view; only three brawen remained and they were human hybrids, these brawen were distracted and only slightly turned to gaze at me, they were occupied raping a woman that, just by the tone of her skin, I could gauge died yesterday. Didn’t plan to wait and let them have a single ounce of pleasure, I struck them and ignited them with my sword, and then let the fire consume the cabin but then I saw a figure, a small one cowering on a corner, for a second I thought it was Colt, but it was a girl with her gaze lost. I enveloped her with my cape and returned to my horse, I did examine the girl on my way there, she seemed to be barely ten years old, she had scratch marks and was bleeding from her genitals.

  “Tak, you are back and alive!”, Colt exclaimed upon my return but went silent when he saw I was carrying a girl, “W-who is she? Is she okay?”. I got on the horse and thought of what to do next, I’m no protector, it’s already difficult having to deal with Colt but now a girl? Not only that, a girl that might be bleeding to death soon, shit… What should I do?. “Tak hey! Tak! Let’s go back to the road, if we go further back and go down we’ll find get to the stream that connects to the river, we can use the water there!”, Colt suggested but when did he? When did he learn to be useful?. I did as he said and rode back and then down to the stream. There I submerged the girl into the cold water of the stream and she regained her senses, looking up at me, “Uhm.. mm..”, she muttered as I cleaned the blood and dirt off her skin, there didn’t seem to be any new blood coming out of her, or maybe she sustained internal damaged but I couldn’t know at the moment, I gave her some water from my canteen and she drank the whole thing. “Ah... w-who are you? Where is Nera? I-is she okay…?”, the girl asked, I’m sure she’s referring to the dead woman back in the cabin, “I’m Tak. You and your friends got attacked by brawens, I managed to kill all of them and burn their den but… I’m sorry, but you’re the only one alive”, I said and the girl gazed down at her feet and replied in a calm demeanor, “I’m Aisha, sir. T-thank you for saving me”. Weird but maybe she was still processing the trauma? I went to the horse and Colt was lying with his stomach against the saddle, “W...why are you like that? Sit properly- Actually, get down and help me with the girl”, I said and he got flustered, trying to hide even more, “S-sir but… I-I’m naked… and she’ll see me… you too might see… uh…”. I grabbed him by the tail and force him off the horse, he instantly jumped back to his feet and hid his crotch with his hands, “Stop saying such nonsense. Is not like I’ve never see a kobold’s ass before, take the horse for example, we see its asshole everytime we ride it. Or are you worried I’ll see your slit?”, I teased and he began to shake in embarrassment, “N...no… is… just… uh, I want to be… you know… decent”, he muttered and I went to the bag and pulled two cloth sheets, throwing them to Colt, “Alright. Cover yourself with one and dry the girl with the other”.

  A brawen den is always a problem, everytime one appears, the roads have to be closed off as to avoid more victims, but this den must have been recent, I counted fourteen brawens and the cabin they used as didn’t look that full of bones and remains, in contrast to bigger dens which normally have piles and piles of bones. As I stared at my stained cape, I wondered more and more on… how did this girl got dragged to the den, I mean, this is the first person we’ve encountered face to face since we departed from Dardangard... No matter, most importantly is to see if she’ll live. I saw Colt approaching her with the intention to dry her, but she grabbed the sheet and did it herself, then she covered herself in the sheet and went to me, “Uhm… Sir, sorry for bothering you but… could you, take me back to my hometown? Is not far from here, I promise! My dad will be really happy and he’ll reward you for sure!”. What was going on with this girl? She was abused and almost became brawen food but was acting completely naturally. Still, we needed to reach a town soon anyway, we were running out of provisions, so I agreed and we all got up on the horse. Aisha did insist on sitting in front of me by making up a stupid excuse, she really didn’t want to be close to Colt I guess.

  We went back to the road and she gave directions back to her town, “Sir, if you take that road on the left and go straight, we’ll get there in no time”. I didn’t want to ask more questions about what happened to her and her group, didn’t want her to become a crying mess like Colt is sometimes. Aisha led us to another road, one that had fresh footprints and marks, this road had transit, and after an hour we saw a caravan; one carriage and four individuals that stopped when they saw us, I could see two of these people reaching for weapons but when Aisha waved at them, they relaxed and waved back, letting us through without problems. Maybe this road and the town we were going were protected from the cult, or at least that’s what I thought at that moment.

  “There it is!”, Aisha pointed forward, it took us one more hour but we reached the town; it was surrounded by a forest and had wooden walls all around, with a sign that read, “Town of the Sacred Hand”, a strange name for a supposedly secular princedom, also the wood of the sign and the walls all seemed very new. Inside the town itself, there were hardly any people walking the streets except for some individuals that seemed to be a pseudo-military, they wore dark tunics and carried maces, axes and swords, they looked more like a militia than a military force from the Princedom. I didn’t need more clues to get it, this town was of the cult and if that wasn’t enough of a hint, when we reached the main plaza, one that stood in the center of the town, there was a large pole with a skinned body in display, it had both its arms and legs stretched, hand on hand and feet on feet, both with a nail going through to keep it attached, with a sign that read, “Sacrifice for the grace of Delia”. There were some civilians in the plaza, they were praying to the dead body but stopped and looked at Aisha, blurting blessings to her and then, when they saw Colt, they turn the blessings into curses, it appears kobolds are highly unwelcome here, and the fact Aisha was so known meant she wasn’t a regular girl.

  She led us to a road that went upward, from that point on a small force of militants escorted our horse, we reached the top of a hill that hosted a mansion. Aisha jumped from the horse and ran once we had the mansion in view, she was greeted by a woman wearing a dress and a green choker, I thought she was her mom as Aisha embraced her but another two women came out the mansion, both dressed in the same dress and green choker. One of the militants came from behind and grabbed my horse’s reins, “You wait here for the word to greet you”, he said and stood firmly beside us. From the mansion a man came out and greeted Aisha and then gesture for us to come to him, the militant escorted the horse and then bowed in the presence of the man before leaving. “Welcome to the Sacred Hand. My name is Boris. First let me deeply thank you for saving my daughter good sir, by the grace of god you were guided and seen safely. Let your horse rest and come inside”, Boris spoke in a soft manner, he looked middle age and was wearing fine clothing, this guy must be the mayor or something. “Nice to meet you Boris. We are in need of provisions to continue our travels, we’ll accept that in form of payment and then leave”, I said and he patted my shoulder, “Please, you must be exhausted. We will provide you with everything you need but I’ll be grateful if you could stay with us, at least today, I’m eager to hear your story and how you saved my daughter”, Boris replied and I could notice his gaze going pass me and onto Colt. This was tough, I didn’t trust this guy or anyone else in this town, but if I angered him I’ll probably get Colt killed and a whole town of fanatics chasing me… “Fine. I’m also… uh… intrigued”, I said and went to Colt, whispering in his ear, “Listen, you stay with me, okay? This people hate kobolds”, Colt nodded slowly and stuck to me.

  The mansion was as luxurious as the royal palace in Roda, it was filled with golden decoration and different vases and paintings that didn’t seem to combine but were in display anyway. The mansion also had an obscene amount of maids, I counted more than thirty, all of them young and wearing the same attire. Aisha was holding Boris hand as she told him about the brawen attack, “Daddy I was so scared, they killed Nera and I was about to-”, but after listening for a while Boris stopped her and petted her head, “Not now Aisha. You have to be cleaned and examined for injuries, okay?”, he said and called for one of the maids to take Aisha away. Boris then got the maids to prepare a great table and urge me to seat, just me, as he grabbed Colt’s arm, “Kobolds cannot seat on the table with humans”, his words didn’t sit right with me and I yoinked Colt towards me and away from him, “This kobold may seat next to me. He was important in saving Aisha too”, I replied and Boris nodded, “Of course, I’m sorry, it belongs to you after all”.

  Boris sat on the far side of the table and gestured the maid to fill our cups with wine, the first good thing that happened to me since I entered the princedom, it was good wine too, couldn’t help but to chug the whole cup. “Hahaha, it’s good right? I had this wine deliver here all the way from Centralia. Now, I get the feeling you’re not part of the religion of the great Delia. Normally, infidels wouldn’t be allowed near the faithfuls but, the fact you’ve saved my daughter and, from what she said, you also took care of those creatures, must mean you were sent by god. I am the Word of God in this town, I was the only faithful that truly believed in the blessings of Delia and kept truth until our brothers came to liberate the town. In exchange, I was rewarded by our faith, given the highest of status and given holy mission”, Boris explained and I got interested in how it worked, “So, before the cul- I mean, the religion came to this town, what did you used to do?”, I asked and he smiled, “Oh, I was a humble artisan, but one that prayed to Delia everyday. I don’t know in what you believe in, but is never too late to straighten your path. See around you”, he pointed out and I looked around to all the maids standing in line against the wall, “These are my servants and, depending on the day, my wives, they were all infidels who were given mercy by my hand in return for their body, for their usefulness”. He was trying to convince me? Hah, he had better chances convincing Colt. “And what about the sacrifices? I saw one on the plaza”, I pointed out and he chuckled a bit before answering, “That? Ha! That is the right of god given to our mortal coil. Once every week we must present god with a sacrifice and turn it into its image, the image of the flayed, a sacrifice a week ensures peace and prosperity for the faithful, and its been delivering since we began may I add. I understand you must be shocked by the imagery, but believe me, we only sacrifice those that need to be sacrificed under the will of Delia… Now, shall we eat?”.

  With a clap of his hand, from another room, came five maids carrying dishes filled with different types of food; turkey, meat, fish, curry, beans and even truffles. Few times in my life I felt so full, the only problem was sneaking some left overs to Colt, the maid refused to hand him a plate, he sat beside me and under the table. Boris spent the whole dinner talking about the religion, always throwing bait as to convince me to turn, he said I only needed to mark my wrists and that should be enough. It was as exactly as I was taught, those that follow Delia will treat any infidel as the lowest of the low, and the enticing part for the followers of Delia was being able to use any infidel as they pleased, a perverted dynamic that works on those weak of will. Boris that the group Aisha was infunctioned as a scouting group that looked for infidels, he said the town was running low on infidels and they were contemplating sacrificing servants, that group, like many others, was attacked by the brawens, a problem I took care of and inadvertently helped their cause. At the end of the conversation, he assured me I was untouchable and I made sure he included Colt. I wasn’t going to stay, tomorrow I was going to leave with the provisions and continue to Prime Bay.

  Boris let one of his servants led us to the room we were supposed to stay, we were- I mean, I was ‘his special guest’ after all. Just before entering the room I turned and gazed at the servant; a young woman who, like the others, didn’t dare to raise her head too look at me, “Sorry for asking but, there are more than thirty of you, why don’t you just, I don’t know, get rid of Boris and escape. You have no marks on your wrists, I guess a servant can’t become part of the cult, am I right?”, I asked but she stood frozen, didn’t speak a single word, then I saw a light faintly radiating from her choker… so that was why, those chokers must serve as a chain, it might induce pain or worst, probably just speaking badly of Boris might trigger a measure, what a fate, and I won’t risk it and try prying it off, it might kill her. I let the thought off my head,grabbed Colt and shoved him inside the room, shutting the door firmly behind me.

  The room was luxurious, double bed, nice fluffy carpet floor, big drawers and a personal bathroom, can’t complain. But before relaxing, I took my sword and locked the door handle with it,then I remove some of my armor that, after fighting the brawen, felt heavier than usual, seems the fight had made me more tired than I thought. I turned to Colt who was having fun trying some clothing he found on the drawers, “You’ve been awfully quiet, not that I dislike that”, I said and he came to me, “Uh… is that, well, it is better if they think I’m a stupid kobold rather than a smart one. Also, what do you think?”, he said as he rotated to show me the shirt and pants he found, indeed they fitted perfectly but the pants lacked a hole and his tail was coming out from the leg opening, then his expression turned more worried, “Sir… what do we do? This people are from the cult. Lady Delilah told me about them and said to avoid them at all costs, but now we are being hosted by them. They deeply dislike kobolds, more than any rodian, and they will do something about me sooner or later…”. I stared at him, he sported a look of complete uncertainty and fear, and for a second he looked more like a scared child rather than a kobold, I couldn’t help but to caress his head to soothe him a bit and then remembered I had to talk with him, needed to set things straight, “Colt… I want to apologize. I couldn’t before thanks to everything that happened, but I’m sorry about my outburst yesterday. That word… ‘master’, brought some memories that I wish I could forget”, I said as I felt how his head pressed against my palm; didn’t know who soft akobold’s scaly head could be, it feel relaxing somehow, “Y-you don’t have to apologize, sir. I’m the one at fault, I reacted like a stupid creature and ran away… I actually thought I could find somewhere else to stay, a place where I wouldn’t be a burden”, he said. I remembered what he said before so I pulled my hand from his head and sat straight, “I don’t plan to stay here. Tomorrow I’ll leave this town. I’ll, obviously, take you with me and see you safe and away from this place but, you must tell me now, what do you want do? Before you said you didn’t want to go back to Delilah, so what is it going to be?”, my question made Colt ponder deeply, his mouth quivering a bit as he walked from one side of the room to another, finally stopping in front of me, “I… The problem is… uh… Y-yes, I’ll go back to Lady Delilah. P-please Tak, take me with you”.

  I sighed and nodded, I didn’t need to analyze much to see he didn’t believe in his own answer but also he didn’t have much of a choice. With that sorted out, I continued with the other matter, “Okay. Then, the problem we have now. Tomorrow we’ll see if Boris will fulfill his promise to give us provisions and allow us to leave safely, being able to leave this place with something is a good prospect, beyond this town I don’t think we’ll find anything on the mountainous paths leading to Prime Bay. If it turns out he lied and wants to kill us, then I’ll have to resort to the violent option, one I very much try to avoid… sometimes, but I cannot assure your safety against a town full of fanatics”, I explained and went to the drawer, pulling clothes until I found a cape that could easily conceal Colt, “Worst case scenario, you can conceal yourself with this. Take advantage of your size and… ‘kobold elusiveness’. For the time being I want you to stick with me, but if I tell you to run, you run and hide, understood?”, he caught the cape and nodded with an uncertain expression, he remained staring at the cape as I got my armor off and washed myself in the bathroom, and as I came out I saw him staring at my sword. “Sir, that sword, is it going to be able hold off anyone from entering?”, he asked and then he turned to me with an estranged look, “Sir… I’ve been meaning to ask… w-what is that sword exactly? I saw the blade engulfing in flames and it has that constant red glow…”.

  Dorlan was the last person I actually took the time to explain who I was, what the deal with sword was, this and that… A kobold wasn’t on my mind to be someone I could trust with this information but, even if I trusted in my abilities to protect him, there was the possibility he might die tomorrow, so might as well tell him. “I’m known as Tak of Sonnda and that-”, I pointed at my sword, “That’s the Godsword. A mythical weapon set to be only thing capable of destroying the Calamity”, I can’t lie, I smirked a bit while telling that to him, sometimes I can be a bit of a narcissist. Colt eyes went wide and he did these little jumps of excitement, “Oh! T-that… that means you are like a hero! Like the stories I’ve read, you are a hero who is going to destroy evil! Please! Tell me everything… oh… I’ve always wanted to meet a hero!”, he said and I felt my ego breaking the ceiling, first time I had a fan but I couldn’t let it get to my head, I had to be concise, “I’m not a hero, Colt. Sit, I will explain”.

  Maybe what I thought before was a lame excuse, ‘him probably dying tomorrow’, maybe I just wanted someone to heard the story, my story, once again. I explained most to him; who I was, where I grew up, what I used to do and what I needed to do, heading north that is, to face the Calamity once and for all. He listened with unwavering attention, to every detail and every remark I made, every opinion… it felt nice, to finally be fully heard, I mean, Dorlan did hear me but he was drunk most of the time. After finishing I let him rest, then cleaned my sword as best as I could, being on the door and everything, read a poem and proceeded to pray. This time I prayed more profusely, focusing on what I really wanted, I wanted to see Colt safe to Prime Bay, and I understood that this kobold’s value was beyond any human life in this town.