The Worst Kobold Chapter 6: Chapter 4 - Casual Nudity

Read chapter 6 of The Worst Kobold by Thalaas on NovelPedia.

“Please be all right... Please... Please...,” Fluke repeated over and over. He looked down at Griffon who was splayed on an old dirt path. A cold mountain wind around them. No tall hickory trees or foul smelling bogs. Just random stone peaks arching to the sky. Fluke had no idea where he was. He had no idea how he arrived here. Nor did he care. He just needed to get Griffon safe... but there she lay. Her leather tunic was stained heavily, turning the fabric almost black. The worst kobold shuddered. He looked shakily down at his malformed hands. So large. So clumsy. He couldn’t do anything with them. He couldn’t bind her wounds or do anything to help. His hands began to shake and he started to sob. A sudden series of coughs brought him out of his stupor. Then? “What in the darkest depths?!” Griffon suddenly sat up, straight as an arrow. And let out a hissing wince as she grabbed her chest as a burst of pain racked her. “Ah! That smarts!” she said as she took a few more breaths, which hurt more than they should. She calmed herself and took stock of the situation. Alive and no threats. She couldn't ask for a better outcome. She then looked up to her towering friend, who wore a look of deep worry. “Where are we?! Ugh...” she grunted as even yelling to loud caused discomfort. "Where are we?" “Griffon!” Fluke shouted again with a mixture of relief and joy. He looked down worryingly at her as she rubbed her chest. “You’re badly hurt! I… I can’t help you. You took a sword...” Griffon got up gingerly and lifted her leather tunic. A deep expanding purple bruise stretched across the left side of her chest, traveling diagonally downwards to her side right above the hip bone. It intersected with her old scar in a misshapen X. “Ugh..... I definitely bruised some ribs. Hope I didn’t break any....” Fluke bent his head down. Eyes wide in disbelief at the nasty looking but mostly superficial injury. “How... What?” “Griffon leather. From the very monster I got my name from,” she replied. Griffon firmly smacked the leather with her palm. And then winced as she remembered her injuries. “It takes a lot to cut through it. Tough as chain mail and half the weight. Blunted a lot of the blow and I managed to somewhat roll with it. But knocked the wind clear out of me.” The kobold reached around her side and pulled out her leather canteen. It had been torn almost in two. “But my canteen?” she sighed and held the remnants out. A few last blood-red drops leaked out from it. ‘Isn’t made of the same stuff.” She looked a little sheepishly at Fluke. “Don’t tell the CIaws. Was sneaking some elderberry wine ouufff!” she grunted as Fluke wrapped his hands around her as safely as he could, nuzzling her a little with his nose. He could smell the sweet smell of fermented berries on her stained vest as he bathed in the relief of her safety. “I thought you were dead! I... saw them hit you and... And…,” the worst kobold snorted as he tried to find the words. His front hands were so big it was like they made a small hut for Griffon as she was enveloped. “Calm down there, Fluke, sheesh!” Griffon pushed back on the nose. Fluke moved his head back, even as the push turned to a friendly rub on the side of his snout. “Takes more than a squad of elite soldiers to kill this kobold,” she said. She flashed a grin and pointed to herself with a free hand. “But... what happened? I mean.. Where are we?” she asked as she looked around. Taking stock of her surroundings for the first time. They were no longer in the forest. Jagged peaks rose all around them. Scraggly bushes peppered the landscape as a cool wind washed over them. She could tell the air was slightly thinner too from how her breathing was slightly labored. “The Spire Mountain Range? How in the world did we get here? That's days away!” Fluke moved his massive head around in a lazy circle. “I… have no idea, Griffon. I... just remember seeing you hurt and...” He took a step forward and let out a bit of a yelp. There was a su