The Worst Kobold Chapter 40: Chapter 4 - Fire in the Hole!

Read chapter 40 of The Worst Kobold by Thalaas on NovelPedia.

“Red?” No response. “Red, dear?” The motherly voice was sweet and filled with concern. Tenderclaw was looking at her adopted ward’s room, which looked like it had a giant door made of crimson rock blocking it. Except, most kobold rooms only used curtains or sheets for privacy. Installing actual doors into the stone walls was often more trouble than it was worth, and proper air flow in the clan was essential. You didn’t want to cut off your air supply with two inches of wood. Not to mention wood was a luxury ill afforded to be wasted on a simple entrance. It wasn’t like the stuff grew on the wall like glowing moss after all! No, the apparent door was just her boy’s backside. He had used his massive girth to block the door, making a barrier of scale and muscle. Not much could move him if he chose not to move. “Fluke, Ma…” came the whimpering reply. “You may as well call me Fluke. Everyone already is.” “Oh, my dear…” Tenderclaw rested a hand on his thick scaled hip. It had been a terrible couple of weeks for her child. The bully Brick had been pretty badly hurt. Both his left arm and leg had snapped when he collided with the wall. He had also lost a couple of teeth, cracked a few ribs, and had lost a good chunk of scales when he slid across the abrasive tunnel wall. The damage was bad enough they had to use some of the limited healing magic available to ensure he’d fully recover. And even then, Brick would be bedridden for a month, and in casts for even longer. If Fluke had been any older? He probably would have been thrown in the hole for how badly he crippled another kobold. Even then, Tenderclaw had to field some very angry parents about her son, and the fact that the other children started the whole ordeal didn’t matter. She really couldn’t blame them. When your child was lying in a medical bed broken and shattered, you wouldn’t be too sympathetic to the other party. Tenderclaw rubbed her boy’s knee softly, letting him know she was still there. Her son had caused injuries before, and it always devastated him. Sure, many a hatchling had busted a bone in a game, a fight, a dare. But for Big Red, or Fluke, he learned long ago he could cripple someone with a sudden motion. He had injured adults as a mere child with an inadvertent tail swipe. But now, for the first time in his life, he had participated in a hatchling scrap, and the consequences were dire. What didn’t help, was the name Fluke had spread like a cough through the hatchery. From what Tenderclaw had gathered, the bullies had been chanting that horrid name at him before the fight started. Then afterwards, when the other kobolds gossiped about it? They had used the name Fluke when describing him. A name change could happen fast in kobold society, and there was often little one could do to stop it once it took root “Re…,” Tenderclaw grimaced, but decided to listen to her boy’s request for now. “Fluke…,’ The name made her normally nurturing self want to slap that brute Brick, despite his injuries. She knew it was an irrational feeling against a mere boy, and certainly for one in her line of work. But, Fluke was her child, even if they weren’t related by blood. And as powerful and tough as he was, she still felt the need to protect him. “Fluke, dear,” she used her most calming voice. “You can’t spend the rest of your life in your room. You need to come out. You’ve barely been eating.” “Barely eating?” Fluke snorted in disgust. The gust of air from his nostrils cause a small plume of dust to swirl in his living quarters. “I’m still eating ten times more than anyone else! I’m too big! I’m too strong! I can barely move without hurting anyone! I don’t want to hurt anyone anymore.” Tenderclaw heard yet another big sob as he was on the verge of tears again. “I’m the worst… I can’t do anything without hurting people…” “Fluke, please…,” the pink scaled motherly figure continued to rub his knee. “I knew you didn’t want to hurt the boy. Accidents happen. But we can’t just stew in our