KOBOLD

“The smell of the meat must have drawn them here,” Peony said. The Elf held out their hands to strengthen the barrier.

“I’m sorry. I feel like that’s my fault,” Masha replied. Her tail was limp, and her ears drooped.

“You made sure we were all fed. There’s nothing to apologize for,” Peony smiled.

The kind words made Masha perk right up. She was so easy to read with that tail.

The Kobolds hovered around the barrier and raked their claws on the ground. There were about a dozen of them, and if one got too close to another, it would hiss and snap.

“Why does it seem like they’re looking right through us?” Miyabi asked. The Kobolds would turn their ears and look in the direction of the noise whenever someone talked or moved, but didn’t seem to pinpoint their attention on any of them in particular.

“The barrier is hiding us. While we see them clearly, all they can do is hear and smell us. To them, it’s like we are on the other side of a solid wall,” Peony explained.

“So what now? Do we wait for them to get bored and leave?” Joel asked.

“If these are anything like the Kobolds I’m familiar with, then they don’t give up that easily. We could be stuck here for days,” Chinatsu said.

“I can’t hold this barrier for that long.”

Miyabi drew her sword and positioned herself in front of Peony.

“We discussed this last night, didn’t we? We’ll fight. It’s time for us to get into formation,” Miyabi commanded.

Joel and Masha readied their knives and positioned themselves flanking Peony. Chinatsu scoured the ground for pebbles and rocks he could fling with the slingshot.

He couldn’t find any. Nothing adequate anyway. He supposed he could just throw the rocks they used for their campfire. But that might not work.

“I’m going to drop the barrier if everyone is in position,” Peony confirmed.

Oh no! He had to buy some time.

“Um…Actually, I’m not rea–”

“Do it now!” Miyabi ordered.

And with that, Peony dropped the barrier.

The Kobolds froze–confused by the sudden appearance of five humanoids–but quickly surged forward.

Miyabi swung the sword in a wide sweeping motion, instantly taking out three of them. More ran past her while she hacked and slashed at them.

Peony could only beat them back with their staff, but Joel and Masha performed their supporting roles beautifully. They stabbed and slashed at the Kobolds that made it past Miyabi.

Chinatsu was still trying to figure out what to attack with. Miyabi still had the coins in her pockets, but maybe he had something in his bag. He started dumping the contents of it on the ground.

As the others landed their attacks on the Kobolds, the creatures, in turn, focused their attention on them. This could buy Chinatsu some time, but not for long. They had taken out so many at once in the beginning, but the Kobolds were smart and learned quickly to evade attacks.

One of the Kobolds sank its sharp teeth into Masha’s leg, not letting go as she shook and kicked.

Joel drove his knife into the creature’s skull, but it did not release. The dead Kobold was clamped on tight. Masha cried out in pain as Joel helped pry its jaw off her leg.

“I’ve got your back! Elf, do your thing,” Joel urged.

Masha rested against a wall as Peony aided her. She was bleeding, and the scent of the blood seemed to be driving the Kobolds further into a frenzy. Chinatsu tried to hurry up and find something he could help with.

He didn’t have anything as useful as the spray deodorant in his bag now. All it contained was some textbooks, notebooks, and a pencil case.

Chinatsu figured he could shoot the pencils and pens. He had no other options–they would have to do. He shoved the case in his pocket.

Chinatsu saw a Kobold creeping up on Peony and Masha. Peony was focused on healing Masha, and she was probably in too much pain to even notice! Chinatsu had to act fast.

He grabbed a mechanical pencil, aimed it with the slingshot, and fired.

It whizzed through the air and embedded its tip into the Kobold’s belly. Not enough to take it out, but enough to make it cry out in pain. Joel finished the Kobold off.

Chinatsu began firing off more pencils and pens at the pack of Kobolds.

One…two…a miss…three…four…

None of them were lethal shots, but they provided opportunities for someone like Joel to finish them off.

The Kobolds started to retreat. As they backed away, Miyabi advanced further on them. Out of everyone in their group, she had the greatest advantage over the creatures.

FWEEE—

One of the Kobolds tilted its head up to the sky and let out a whistle-like call. More joined in, and soon all remaining Kobolds were making that eardrum-piercing noise.

Masha clamped her hands over her ears and cringed in pain. Peony seemed unable to concentrate on healing her now.

“What are they doing!?” Miyabi shouted.

“Calling for more!” Peony replied. “Hurry! Take them out!”

Chinatsu plucked pens that he could from the dead Kobolds to fire them again.

Miyabi slashed at them, but they’d learned to duck under her sword with the way she swung it from her waist.

“Swing low to high! Like you’re golfing!” Chinatsu urged, performing the motion himself.

“Wha–!? But I don’t know how to–”

Chinatsu shot off a pen, hitting a Kobold charging at Miyabi. It was a stupid, lucky shot right in the creature’s eye.

“Don’t think! Just swing!” he yelled, launching a pen at a different Kobold charging at Masha. “Remember the baseball swing?”

Another Kobold charged her. Miyabi seemed to realize something. She took a deep breath and lowered the sword so the tip grazed the ground.

Miyabi closed her eyes and swung upwards like she was driving a golf ball down the fairway. The Kobold instinctively ducked, but had practically run into the sword as she slashed it in half.

More of them came into view. Miyabi met their charge. She hacked and slashed at them wildly–varying her swings prevented the Kobolds from learning a pattern from her attacks.

Chinatsu plucked pens that he could from the dead Kobolds and fired them once more. Peony had gone back to providing healing to Masha, and Joel provided cover to them. Any Kobolds that made it past Miyabi, he swiftly took out.

One Kobold remained. Miyabi was getting tired, and her strikes were getting sloppy. The creature raised its head as if to call down even more of them.

Chinatsu pulled out the pencil case. Maybe there was a pen that he missed? Or a really sharp pencil?

Remaining in the case was a geometry compass with a very sharp point on it.

Chinatsu readied the compass in the slingshot, aimed at the Kobold as it started to whistle and…

FOOM! It went right into the throat, aborting the call.

The Kobold went down. It was bleeding but still alive. Miyabi raised the sword and thrust it down, ending the life of the wee beastie.

She turned to Chinatsu and threw up a V for Victory. He grinned and returned the gesture.

“You saved me!” Masha cheered, pulling Joel into a bear hug.

“C’mon now, it wasn’t that big a deal now,” Joel said, trying to push her off as she squeezed tighter. “The Elf helped too.”

“Peony!” Masha exclaimed. She let go of Joel and lifted Peony into the air with her hug.

“Ah! Wha–!? It was all of us, of course!” Peony blushed.

Masha chased down Chinatsu and Miyabi to shower them in affection as well. It was the first thing in the morning, and they were already so tired and out of breath, but her energy was certainly infectious.

With Masha’s leg mostly healed, it would be best for them to pack up and move along. Their campsite was now littered with dead Kobolds and their viscera. The smell alone would likely attract more of them–or possibly something worse.

They moved north, then west, then east again. After walking for some time, Peony stopped them and pointed to something rising just above the walls of the maze.

“There. Can you see it?”

In the distance, a spire was beginning to reveal itself. Chinatsu could only see the tip of it, but the afternoon sun reflected off of it like a beacon.

“Is that the center?” Miyabi asked.

“Correct. The God of this world resides at the top of that tower, and there you will find the exit,” the Elf explained.

They felt so close, yet so far. Peony had explained before that it would likely take them a few more days with rest to reach that place. Then what would happen? Chinatsu wanted to save everyone. He was determined to reason with the God of this world to let them all go home. Surely just reaching the end of the maze together could grant them that, right?

Even though the danger in this maze loomed over them like a dark cloud, Chinatsu felt hopeful they could all make it out of there. After all, they worked great as a team.