Season of Bloom - 6. Seeking the Scroll

The bow served them well through the fortress, Lapis sniping troll after troll. Acid left them utterly defenseless, and he made sure to end every trollhound he saw. Khemet wasn’t hit a single time during their fight to the lower levels of the fortress.

Room after room was laid bare before them, yet no bag appeared, no scroll was found to save Cassiel. Lapis was starting to despair; he needed someone to take the burden of command. The amurrun was clearly not cut out for this, and he knew it, Faes knew it, everyone knew it.

“You kobolds no treasure…”

The group froze at the rumbling growl, Lapis’ ears swivelling. Khemet slunk forward, a low grunt carrying news back to his companion. Lapis sucked in a breath, turning back to the group.

“Two trolls talking to an army of kobolds,” he breathed. “There’s a collection of random stuff in the corner, the kobolds are picking through it.”

“We need to go through that junk,” Regongar growled. “How do we kill all of the kobolds?”

“Fire. Can’t Sarenrae’s faithful make their enemies burn?” Faes smirked at Tristian.

“You ask much of me,” the cleric mumbled, but he moved forward regardless. “Everlight, grant me your flames to purge evil from the world.”

A tiny bead of light flew from his outstretched finger, a sudden explosion of fire wiping out the lives of nearly ten kobolds and washing over three trolls.

“Your cat fucking lied,” Regongar snarled at Lapis.

“He’s a tiger, he can’t count!” the amurrun snapped as the half-orc charged past him toward a chanting kobold.

Arrows and bolts cut down one troll after another, Faes throwing fire at one of the fallen beasts. It exploded in flames, and the half-drow smirked.

“Fire immune my ass…” he muttered, pulling the dead troll’s soul into his body and pouring the fire within him into the beast’s essence.

Body purified of its overflow of fire, the elementalist began throwing more, the backlash slowly building up again.

Lapis’ fur stood on end watching Faes work, and he shuddered, his next shot punching through the final troll’s chest. Silence descended over the battlefield, broken only by the quiet panting of fighters catching their breath.

“Nice…”

Regongar’s voice broke the silence, and then the crack of a whip shattered the silence further.

“So splendid!” he crowed, holding up the black leather whip as he studied it.

“Isn’t that Delgado’s whip?” Linzi demanded. “Oh Shelyn, is that a human bone in the handle?!”

“Finders keepers,” Regongar grinned, looking at Lapis. “So cat, can I keep it?”

Lapis murmured a spell under his breath, studying the whip curiously. The black leather whispered to him, promising such sweet pain, pleasures wrought from seducing any and everyone around him, and he shook his head in alarm, trying to clear it.

“What would you do with this whip? You use a blade in combat,” he said, trying to figure out what that enchantment was.

“Octavia would have so… much… fun… with this whip,” the half-orc grinned, wriggling it playfully in front of the amurrun.

It called to him, and he fought his instincts. There was such dark energy in the whip, but surely it could be used for pleasure? But he didn’t know.

“It… It’s evil,” he pointed out. “Maybe you shouldn’t use it.”

“You trying to tell me what to do, cat? Anyone else who tried has met a rather unpleasant end,” Regongar sneered. “Relax, I would let Octavia use it. No one is going to die.”

“And… and if someone wanted to use the whip with you?”

He reached forward, his fingers brushing over the whip with such a sudden thrill. Lapis’ body tensed, a low moan escaping him as he was hit with the sensation of an orgasm like he hadn’t had since he lived in the House of Cats.

“You like that, huh?” Regongar grinned. “And what role would this… someone take? To hit or be hit? No no, don’t tell me. Let’s leave it a surprise.”

“FOUND IT!”

The two startled as Tristian’s exultant voice cut into their conversation. The cleric was holding a scroll in his hands, the weathered parchment thick with ink.

“Good. We bring the baron back now,” Ekundayo nodded. “But first we kill troll king. We do what the baron wants.”

“Makes sense,” Regongar smirked, tucking his new toy in his bag. “We’ve already taken enough time waiting. Why not spend a little more time finishing your revenge?”

“Borba! You managed to get here! Took you long enough! Now I can kill you with my bare hands!”

They stared across an ancient anvil, King Hargulka standing beside a purple kobold. Faes’ fingers curled as he held onto wisps of energy, his body trembling from the strain. Tristian and Lapis had just finished throwing blessing after blessing over them, their gods filling the party with protections.

“Stoppp, ssstrong and courageousss Hargulka,” the kobold beside the troll hissed suddenly.

“The more they talk, the more our protections fade,” Lapis warned as the kobold stepped forward.

“Tell me cat, why are you murdering our peoplesss? What have koboldsss and trollsss done to make you kill usss sso?”

Lapis blinked in surprise at being singled out, his hand touching Khemet briefly before he spoke.

“You took someone who meant a lot to these people. You have shown yourself to be dark, evil. We fight death with death.”

Faes let out a low chuckle, noting how the amurrun seemed to forget the two children they had killed. Not that it had been a bad thing; they were loose ends and would have grown up to hunt down their father’s murderer. They were better off dead.

“Borba kills what he does not know, what he does not understand. That is answer, King Tartuk. Death to borba!” Hargulka roared.

A volley of arrows met his bellow, the tiger and dog charging at the kobold as he started casting. The troll roared as they assaulted him, Faes pulling on several souls to empower his next strike. Hargulka lunged at Regongar, the beast flailing at several mirror images of the magus as the half-orc laughed at his assault. Steel met his attempts at murder, lightning crackling over Regongar’s blade as he sliced into the troll, and Faes sent another burning missile at the troll as Lapis and Ekundayo added their bows to the assault.

Healing warmth passed over them all as they turned on the kobold, King Tartuk scrambling back as Hargulka fell under their attack. A day spent perfecting their troll killing techniques left the party unstoppable, Faes pulling his energy into one massive shot at the kobold.

Fire exploded over the reptile’s face, Tartuk dropping to his knees as he held over the burn. His hands fell, his head bowed as the party surrounded him.

“Stop… enough… I surrender…”

“Tartuccio, you will answer for your crimes,” Linzi said sharply, the halfling having a sudden moment of seriousness. “I want to know how you are alive. Cassiel and Amiri slew you, I was there.”

The kobold groaned, holding his head.

“Why are you making me remember? I don’t want to remember… it comes and goes, agony all the while…”

“We are here to bring someone back to life. Why couldn’t someone have brought a kobold back themselves?” Faes frowned.

“He is not a kobold… or he was not, when we first killed him,” Tristian explained. “He was a gnome called Tartuccio, and we left him dead under the old sycamore to the north. Kiba was there, he helped us through the traps.”

“Does it matter? Let’s kill him and be done with it,” Regongar snapped. “Time is wasting.”

“And what of Pitax?” Linzi demanded.

“Pitax… hungry land, hungry king… I sserved him, I remember… He wished for more power, an artifact in Sycamore Halls. I sent it to him… then you killed me…”

The memory was clearly too much for the kobold, and he gripped his head in agony.

“No more… there is no more. I thought once… I save trolls, use them to make kobolds strong. No one laughs at a kobold leading a troll… but their hunger… they wouldn’t stop eating humans… I tried… so hard…”

“You cannot blame the trolls for what you did here,” Lapis pointed out.

“I blame no one but mysself! I found thisss place, I rekindled this forge, taught the trolls not to fear fire… my mistake as much as theirs…”

“You will not escape,” Regongar smirked, standing over the defeated king. “Before you die, tell me, how does it feel to know you led everyone under you to die?”

“Enough Regongar,” Lapis snapped, the entire party startling at the hiss.

Even Faes stared at the amurrun in shock. The cat seemed to be growing a backbone.

“If you were freed from this place, what would you do? Where would you go?” Lapis asked.

“You can’t possibly free him after all the death he has caused!” Regongar snarled.

“The half-orc is right. Monster is monster no matter what,” Ekundayo added.

“You… would release me?”

The kobold stared up at them, hope in his eyes.

“I would go far away, away from humans, from kobolds. I learn from my mistakes, they would never happen again,” he promised.

“This was not the right way. You wanted peace for kobolds, look at Chief Sootscale,” Linzi said suddenly. “He made peace with his neighbours, and he’s living the high life with his kobold tribe. You turned to murder and death.”

“And yet, the truly repentant deserve a second chance,” Tristian mentioned. “Even our enemies can change their ways.”

“If you let him go, either he’ll leave in peace, or he’ll bring another army to conquer this land. Perhaps the Pitaxan army,” Faes said, looking at the catfolk.

Lapis faltered under their gazes, the amurrun setting a hand on Khemet again. He murmured a prayer to the gods, before straightening under his new resolve.

“You will leave these lands and never return. I am not the baron, and I cannot promise you will not be followed when he learns of this choice, but I will not kill those who ask for mercy. Go now. The next time we see you, I will have no choice but to kill you.”

“You… you’re releassing me? Not a trick… I can go free?” Tartuk asked.

Tristian smiled at the amurrun, a shining beacon of joy among the sea of scowls.

“Your benevolence would make Sarenrae proud Lapis,” he said.

“I ssshall go at once…” Tartuk breathed, rising to his feet. “I desire to be forsssaken. No one shall hear of Tartuk the kobold ever again…”

He scurried away, his entire body defeated and broken. Faes let out a long sigh, shaking his head.

“You should have killed him.”

The kobold unsheathed his sword as shapes poured into the camp, Kiba freezing at the sight of the cat and the dark ones. They were finally back, and he breathed a sigh of relief as the group looked at the troll’s corpse in stunned shock.

“Kiba, you killed him?” Lapis stuttered.

“Kiba protected the body, like you asked,” the kobold said proudly.

The half-orc let out a long whistle, kicking the troll experimentally. He glanced at the kobold curiously, finger running over a scorch mark on the troll’s body.

“You did good, Kiba,” Lapis smiled, bowing his head slightly to the kobold.

“He did magic,” the half-orc growled. “He did MY magic. How?”

“Lightning? It is not your magic alone,” Lapis shrugged as Kiba sheathed his scimitar. “He can do whatever magic he has in him.”

“Mmm… You know something cat? Cassiel once said something about a nymph waiting for him in a thicket to the north. Perhaps you should go look into that, since you seem intent on taking his place,” the half-orc said. “You would have to go alone though.”

The tiger walked up to Kiba, knocking the kobold over before his rough tongue began pulling at his scales. Kiba spluttered as he tried to protect himself, a short grunt from Lapis calling him off, and Kiba let out a relieved breath.

“Your tiger keeps trying to eat me…”

“No, he likes you and wanted to make sure you were safe,” Lapis shook his head.

“Oh, does the tiger like the kobold?” the half-orc laughed.

“Khemet likes most of my friends,” Lapis shrugged.

“Khemet does not ‘like’ the kobold. Don’t be disgusting,” Faes scowled at the half-orc. “We need to help the cleric. You need to convince him to talk to the baron before he tries to raise him.”

“You’re raising the body? Kiba doesn’t want zombies,” Kiba said quickly.

“No, not zombies. He is alive again,” Lapis frowned at the kobold. “Go water the horses, we’ll get you when he’s back.”

The kobold muttered quietly, but he wandered off in search of fresh water.