The Weakest Kobold In The Dungeon Gets A Level [Book 1 Complete] Chapter 8: Chapter 6: Creatures Born of Ember and Darkness

Read chapter 8 of The Weakest Kobold In The Dungeon Gets A Level [Book 1 Complete] by KennyTheAwkwardDonut on NovelPedia.

Chapter 6 Creatures Born Of Ember And Darkness Some emotions have a tendency of taking root; these emotions, once planted, are wont to let go. They can grow into rich and beautiful branches that, blossoming with life, stretch towards the bright and warm summer sky. Such is the case with hope. Others, however, may take the form of a twisting vine, taking hold of anything it can grasp onto, and having placed its icy cold tendrils, drain the life from its host. For the first time since leaving home, thoughts that were not his own filled his mind. They only ever left him with more questions, even if the intrusive thoughts always had a point. He knew the purpose they carried with them now. “When did this fear take root?” Nik asked himself, his head resting on whatever sticks and leaves had originally broken his fall. I’ve spent so much of my life on my own, so why is this feeling worse than the physical pain I’m in at this very moment? He couldn't find an answer good enough to satisfy any of the questions he found himself asking. Nor did he know how to make this fear leave his heart. It had set upon him now, like a stalking ghost, that had managed to close the distance to reach him. He had kept it at bay with his daily routines, force of will, and necessity for his own surviving sanity. He’d been left before. After all it isn’t as though he was born into the sunken castle, sole kobold among the goblin-kin. He had spent most of his life there, but there had once been a time long before, a family he could almost recall. Nik was saved from his thoughts, his ghosts pushed to distance, as the soft buzz of fluttering wings returned. Pearl moved with haste and purpose, using a stick to crush plant against rock, and forming a usable, if not ideal, poultice. She smoothed it over his wounds, leaving the frostberries in their place. She placed a collection of leaves covered in a thick and sticky substance over the poultice. Then, taking hold of a strip from his bedding cloths, she tore a length of it to wrap around his torso. Bandaged as well as he could be, given what Pearl had to work with, they went to work on removing the heavy beast from Nik’s pinned legs. Dragging over as large a fallen branch as she could manage, the sprite handed one end to him and shoved the other end under the chimpanther corpse. Together they heaved the thing, and rolled it off of Nik’s legs. With that he was free. It wouldn’t take long until scavengers came, and they were not in the best condition to fight. They needed to move. Continuing their trip through the forest, they kept their eyes moving, checking the trees above and behind for any threat. They had been too relaxed in their travels and just faced a harsh reminder of the dangers this world held. A mistake that could be fatal to repeat. It was almost fatal for Nik already. Pearl could have survived with her speedy and agile flight alone. Nik could stand to use some of the armor like adventurers wore. He wasn’t familiar with any armorers except the goblins who, to his knowledge, didn’t share with others. Not in his experience, at least. Hours passed slowly as they made even slower progress. “Are you getting tired of waiting for me to pick up my pace? You keep bursting ahead and then slowing down,” Nik said. “I am being patient, you’re just moving too slow,” Pearl said in defense of Nik’s accusations. “If I had wings, then I would use them. Since you haven’t offered to teach me, though, I assume there is no skill for that, and I wasn’t born with any,” he snipped at her. “Look, I know you’re injured, okay. I just don’t want us to get caught by evening’s fading light before we find somewhere more sheltered to rest,” she offered as a non-apology. She wasn’t wrong though and he knew it. They were in fact too slow, and the setting sun had dimmed, leaving the forest darkening as the horizon faded to pink and purple hues. It was a beautiful sight, that belied the lethal dangers of the night that it played herald to.