108 A Dogs Purpose (1/2)
As the flames from Aura's efreet caressed the furry white tail of the lead kobold, a panicked yelp escaped its snout that was loud enough to bounce off the stone walls of the tower's interior.
The kobold blinked its sky blue eyes to waking and found itself staring up into the not-so-handsome mug of my half-ogre squad leader.
Edo growled in that intimidating way he loved to do. It was highly effective.
The kobold let out a whining squeak, its eyes darting left and right, looking for a path of escape. His gaze fell upon his bound friends, all their faces looking forlornly back at him.
Seeing them tied down like that must have struck a nerve for a sudden visible change appeared in the kobold's face. His fear had shrunk, replaced by a manic determination that might have made things messier if I hadn't stepped in at that exact moment to de-escalate the situation.
”Whoa there,” I pushed past Edo and raised my free hand to stop the kobold from launching what might as well have been a suicide attack on the half-ogre. ”The fight's over. Now's the time to deal.”
Kobold didn't have eyebrows, but the confused tilting of its head was unmistakably one of confusion.
I kept my hand raised in a gesture of peace. ”You can understand me, can't you?”
The kobold did not reply. Yet its eyes narrowed. Confusion replaced with suspicion.
”Listen, friend, my guy here,” I jerked a thumb toward Edo, ”would love any excuse to turn you into dog paste, but I'm more magnanimous if you cooperate.” I pointed at the kobold. ”What's your name?”
Seconds ticked by while I allowed the kobold to ruminate and glance back and forth between me and Edo. But as I expected, it opted not to attack and instead answered my question in a husky voice, ”I am Thor, son of Arthor.”
”Nice to meet you Thor, son of Arthor,” I said. Then I pointed to myself. ”I am Dean, son of Desmond, and I've got a proposition for you?”
Thor repeated the word, ”proposition,” awkwardly like he couldn't pronounce it right.
I stood up straight and raised my arm to the side, moving my fingers back and forth like I was calling someone over. Varda arrived soon afterward and handed a scroll of parchment to my waiting hand. I unfurled this scroll and read aloud some of the more interesting parts written on it.
”The White Howling Gang… Wanted by the Sunspire Dominion for highway robbery and attempted theft of priceless artifacts… successfully infiltrated the Adamant Fortress…” My eyes momentarily went wide at the mention of the Dominion's unconquerable fortress located in the Westersand Desert on the western side of Westmarch. ”Rumored to have given away their stolen loot back to lowly kobold villages along Westmarch… The reward for capture or proof of death: three thousand Leprechauns…”
I whistled before I wrapped the scroll around again and tossed it back to Varda.
I glanced behind me and found Aura's smirking face looking back at me.
”Of course, you didn't last very long against us,” I reasoned.
”We were ill-prepared,” Thor growled, his fangs appearing for the first time since Luca knocked him out.
Edo growled and then hefted his glaive menacingly in Thor's line of sight. The kobold cowered instantly. His fear had come back after I'd stunted his earlier adrenaline rush.
”Maybe you were ill-prepared to face us,” I admitted. ”But you've done quite a few interesting things… did you really give the loot you stole back to other kobold villages?”
”W-we stole only what was taken from us first, what the Dominion stole from kobold tribes,” Thor answered hotly.
I raised a hand to stop Edo. The dude was raring to go.
”A real-life robin Hood, huh,” I commented.
I glanced over to Luca and mouthed, this dude's got a hero complex too. He's so much like you its creepy!
Shut up, Dean! I don't have a hero complex, Luca mouthed back.
I let out a low chuckle that others might have misunderstood as an evil laugh that promised evil things were coming. In fact, there was a sudden uptick in kobold whining right afterward.
”You're in luck, Thor, son of Arthor,” I said. ”I've got need of a crew with your particular skill set.”
”We do?” Varda's question came at the same time as Thor exclaiming, ”You do?”
I nodded and then pointed to the soldiers surrounding the kobolds.
”Great General Darah didn't send the Foolhardies to the west just to help out our trading partner.” I looked over to Kallista with a smile on my face before turning my attention back on Thor. ”We're here to investigate certain troubling rumors regarding this war between Great General Garm and the Sunspire Dominion.”
There were too many ears listening for me to reveal more of our mission. But the truth was that Darah had sent us west to see if there was truth to the rumor of Garm making use of Scarlet Moon forces in his war against the Dominion. The Patriarch had declared the Scarlet Moon our enemy and any friendly ties with them were an act of treason. Of course, Darah hadn't put all her eggs in one basket as ours wasn't the only unit she'd sent this way.
”Which means… I'm in need of thieves who know their way around the area and can get in and out of hard to crack places,” I explained. ”And it just so happens I've got about forty slots to fill in my five-hundred man unit.”