The Worst Kobold Chapter 24: Chapter 19 - Kobolds Should Be Neither Seen Or Heard

Read chapter 24 of The Worst Kobold by Thalaas on NovelPedia.

Fluke was situated in front of the gold and silver orb once more. It hovered motionless as it always did. The only sort of movement coming from it, was the elvish runes glowing off and on with a light blue tinge. The massive dragon looked down at the protecting orb. Down. His entire life he was always looking down. Physically that is. Everything was so small to him now. Enough stalling, Fluke thought to himself as he raised a massive hand. I need to do this, so I can get my friends and leave. Something still troubled him. The sphere was powerful magic, there was no doubt about it. But it filled him with a creeping dread. But that didn’t matter. His only concern was Ember and Griffon. He would rescue them. They’d be safe. And for once in his life he’d be the hero. The dragon stuck one long black claw forward. The second to cross the invisible barrier, a stream of white energy leapt out at it. It latched on the end like a blood sucking leech. He held it there for a long second before pulling it back. The claw was still there. It didn't instantly evaporate. But if he stared he swore it was a snick smaller. Like someone had ground it down with sandpaper. He had been warned what would happen, but to see it in action. “I’m opening that thing now,” He declared to the humans behind him. There were only a handful of them. King Falcon, Morcant, four soldiers. A token amount of protection. There was no point really in having any guards. If Fluke decided he wanted them dead? There was nothing anyone could do. The dragon took a deep breath. The force of his inhalation sent dust and random papers flapping around like wounded ducks. He paused for a brief heartbeat, and jammed his left hand in fast. The orb answered with angry tendrils that completely wrapped around his arm like medical bandages. The light semi-blinded Fluke as he groped for his target. The first swipe missed the orb completely and slammed on the floor. Chunks went flying up to be instantly gobbled up by the destructive magic. The second grab latched on to the top of the orb. Fluke suddenly let out a howl of agony. Pain? He realized… he never truly felt pain this deep before. Not that he could recall. Boulders and blades bounced off him like rain. Even that one time he had impaled himself on that sword? There was some pain… but in hindsight it was more of an irritation, a pin-prick. Now he believed he had fainted more from the shock, more than anything. This? Was far worse, and only increasing as the magic began to shred the very scales off his hide. Fluke continued to push forward, but the lid of the orb fought to keep itself in place. It was pure agony, akin to sticking your hand in molten gold and forcing yourself to keep it there. The protective scales were burning off fast enough the raw skin under was being exposed. Fluke wanted so badly to pull back… but… they had his friends. They had Griffon. His arm began to crackle with blue energy. Lightning rippled from it and smashing angrily onto the orb as the dragon strained. With a beastly howl he yanked up hard and wrenched off the top silver half. The magic instantly stopped. Fluke dropped the lid. It fell to the ground along with the bottom gold section. Each of them shattered into what looked like fine sand without the slightest sound before the dust itself evaporated into nothingness. “Gah!” Fluke flung himself back when he was done to the far side of the room the moment his task was done. The entire cavern rocked as a section of the wall cracked and collapsed under his thrashing. Tears of pain filled his eyes as he looked at his front arm. A few blue sparks crackled along what was left of his scales. Once, Potbelly had hot oil spill on his arm while cooking and it left a nasty burn that took weeks to heal. The flesh looked exactly like that now. He had half expected there to be smoke, but there was not a wisp. The scales were just gone. Even his claws were half-chewed away. Any longer… and I would have lost it. Even as