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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Medriev" data-source="post: 4495340" data-attributes="member: 21864">Chapter 5 - Bonds of Blood (Part 4)The outside of the kobold caves was quiet as the companions drew near but they entered with weapons drawn. No sooner had they done so than two kobolds emerged from the shadows. One gave a single blast on a hunting horn and from elsewhere in the cave, other horns answered.Kobolds came from the darkness to the right and Dau hurled black, crackling energy at them while two more, armed with shields made from dragon scale came from the front. Mandratan began to hurl silver magic missiles from his wand and Audin and Falain burst forward to meet the charge from the right. Behind the kobolds came a burly, battle-scarred goblin armed with a huge battle axe A great tattoo of a skeletal ram’s head marked his face and he wore a wolf fur cloak over a chain shirt. Mandratan knew him and was afraid but he knew Mandratan too.“The sneaky wizard,” snarled Irontooth the goblin. “Come back to join your friends have you?”“Come back for you, I have,” answered Mandratan with a conviction he didn’t feel but then Gila spread a cloud of healing infusion around the cave entrance and strength surged through all six of the companions and Mandratan found himself smiling.A robed kobold next to the goblin raised his hands to the cavern ceiling and uttered a mighty exhortation that spurred the kobolds forward. The kobolds were met with steel and black flame and they faltered quickly. Only the goblin Irontooth came on with any ferocity and he came at Belrin with his axe, slashing and hacking at the dwarf until he bled from several wounds. Audin became a whirlwind of steel, slashing at the kobolds around him and keeping them at bay. The robed kobold priest joined the fray, cackling to himself but then Falain saw a chance. With a mighty swing of his hammer he swept the legs from beneath one of the dragon shield kobolds, dropping it to the floor and then he stepped over it and crushed its skull with his hammer. He laughed his own maniacal laugh then and the kobold priest cowered back as the dwarf came for him. Mandratan unleashed flames from his wand then and the kobolds and their goblin leader were scorched and burned. At the same time, Audin breathed acid on the kobolds around him and as they reeled and burned, he slashed out with both swords and then plunged them into the belly of a kobold, felling it. The kobold priest withdrew from the battle to hurl orbs of flame at Falain but the others faught on. Desperately, Dau loosed a wild blast of dark energy and then charged one of the kobolds, breathing acid as she came. The kobold and the goblin fell back before the onslaught and as they did so, Mandratan uttered an incantation and became a blur of movement. He darted through the battle, rushing out along the waterfall to the right and then he turned back towards the kobolds. Then he began hurling silver bolts at his enemies and they cursed his power.“I need healing,” Falain called out as the goblin struck him with his axe.Gila turned toward him, blew her healing dust over her brother and his wounds closed. No sooner had his hurts been mended than Falain was struck by another orb of blue flame hurled by the kobold priest. He reeled backwards, burned and wounded anew. Behind him, Audin cut down another kobold, desperate to aid the dwarves against Irontooth but unable to reach them. He turned on his last foe as Mandratan readied another magic missile behind the kobold. Belrin struck at Irontooth and retreated from him, drawing back and away. The goblin turned toward Falain and the other dwarf saw his doom. A heartbeat later a fiery orb struck him in the side of the head and he fell at the feet of Irontooth, who sneered. Irontooth roared his anger then and charged at Belrin. His axe swung out and clove open the dwarf’s chest, felling him beside his brother.Audin plunged both his swords into the chest of the last kobold he faced and then looked around, knowing the situation was desperate. Dimly, he felt someone kick his leg and looking down he saw Belrin open one eye and smile for an instant before feigning death once more. With a glance over his shoulder he darted off to the nearest of the rocky walls that divided the cave into chambers.“Hey goblin,” he called out. “Looks like I’m getting away.”“Get him,” growled Irontooth to anyone who would listen.The kobold priests darted around the other end of the wall and met Audin with an orb of blue flame that he dodged. Mandratan looked from the priest to the goblin and with an uttered spell and a wave of his wand he called forth a ball of glowing flame that darted at Irontooth and struck him while burning all who were near it. The goblin roared in anger then and with blood red eyes, it fixed Dau with a terrifying gaze and charged at her. He swung out with his axe and wounded her but then from behind him, the goblin heard a dwarf’s voice.“You’ll find that dwarves don’t drop so easily,” said Belrin and he charged the goblin’s back.Behind Belrin, Mandratan’s flaming sphere struck the last kobold warrior and drove him back against the cave wall and there, Gila struck him with her hammer and felled him. She turned on Irontooth then and struck at him and the great goblin warrior should have become fearful as he was all but beaten and surrounded but his blood rage sustained him and he struck down Dau with a powerful axe stroke. He turned on Gila then but she would not be felled and struck back at the goblin, wounding him again and again until finally, he sank to his knees, still refusing to be beaten. At that moment, Mandratan emerged from the deeper caves having chased down and slain the priest with Audin and at his back came Erlmoor, Dulvarna, Enlishia and Lavren. They were angry and sought revenge and the goblin turned and saw that his doom had finally come.“Kalarel and Mistress of Night, prepare my way,” he called out and then a silvery bolt from Mandratan’s wand seared through the side of his head and felled him.</blockquote>

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