The Worst Kobold Chapter 33: Bonus Chapter - Slightly Meta

Read chapter 33 of The Worst Kobold by Thalaas on NovelPedia.

Shortly after Fluke's return... Fluke Storyweaver was writing down on some paper at his desk in the castle. His penmanship was incredible. It had taken him some time to learn how to grip a pen at first, as he had never had such small and dexterous fingers before. But one thing he had learned as a dragon, ironically, was control. In his previous form? A small twitch of his claws would rend steel. So, he had learned quickly in his life how to apply force just how he wanted. Some days, he admitted, maybe he wondered how his life would have been if he had remained a dragon. Giant, imposing. Where’d he command respect just from walking in a room. “How’s the newest book going, big guy?” Strong arms wrapped around his neck. A soft kiss was planted on the yellow ring on his right horn, before a chin came to rest on the top of his head. She was heavy with her first egg right now, and was spending most of her time in the castle. Soon, she’d have to head back to Jagged Crag to lay it, but for now? Fluke was almost glad she had stopped her diplomatic missions and hunting trips during this stage of pregnancy. Griffon wasn’t as thrilled about having to pause her workload, but the safety of her first child took priority. Fluke just leaned back and sighed, closing his golden eyes tight. When Griffon hugged him like this? He couldn’t care less about losing something as minor as dragonhood. Such a pittance, to what he got in return. “Just a variation on the last story I wrote. The last one was, you know, a dragon who was secretly a kobold. This one is about a mythical, all-powerful hero. The strongest of all the realm. And no one knows the main character, is just three kobolds in a trenchcoat.” That got a loud laugh from the ram horned Griffon. “Sounds a little far-fetched! I mean, I don’t care how stealthy and clever you are. Someone’s going to notice that fast.” “Mmm-hmm?” Fluke bent down and kissed one of Griffon’s yellow fingers on his collarbone. He whispered in a conspiring fashion. “And how long did it take you to learn that one of your childhood kobold friends was a dragon?” Griffon squeezed Fluke’s neck slightly tighter as a bright blush covered her cheeks, making them a cheerful orange. “Fine… you got me there. But, it took you even longer to find out yourself.” she whispered into his ear, before giving it a playful bite. Fluke yelped, pretending to be far more hurt than what he was. “Fine, fine, you got me too!” He wiggled helpless in her strong grip. “I thought you were going to do another book based on Fluke? Not you, Fluke The um… Fluke in the story.” Griffon asked, finally letting go of his neck. She looked back at his assistants. Her author spouse had been getting fairly popular, and he had hired some help. One human and two kobold were mulling around on desks of their own, working on the final copy of Fluke’s first book. “Does feel like some terrible self-insertion,” said one dark brown kobold checking over some of the previous papers. “Putting in some people based on real life? Always a bit risky.” His eyes scanned the papers in front of him with an impressive speed and deep intellect. “Ah Mel, it can be a nice shoutout for people who do all the work.” A human woman was currently working on a small painting of a dragon and three kobold miners. She reached for a fresh brush. A small blue kobold, barely out of being a hatchling, brought over the art supplies. “Thanks, Nutta!” She smiled and reached down, giving the young blue assistant kobold a pat on the head. “No problem, Flar!” Nutta spoke up cheerily. “Happy to help!” The little kobold took the brushes to do a proper cleaning, away from the current piece of artwork Flar was working on. It would do no good to ruin it with splatters! “Anyway, I’m going to go back to Fluke’s story soon. Once I plan out what to do next. I’m debating about either doing the one based on Fluke’s life growing up first, or one with Freckles.” Fluke Storyweaver knew writing about his childhood would b