The Worst Kobold Chapter 37: Chapter 2 - A Scene of Unimaginable Horror

Read chapter 37 of The Worst Kobold by Thalaas on NovelPedia.

Claw Eggminder was a kobold in the twilight of his life. He once had mostly black scales, but a case of vitiligo had caused much of his skin to form large white blotches. One particularly large one covered his right eye in the perfect shape of an egg. It did fit him, as he spent his entire life caring for one generation after another. And though his eyesight was starting to fail, and his legs could only carry him a couple dozen paces, he still contributed to his people. If only in a more administrative setting. He would not trust his crooked fingers with an egg anymore. “So, how is the latest clutch to move on?” he asked as he looked into one of the nurseries. Nursery rooms peppered this level of the clan. Some of them were simple sleeping bassinet quarters, and others were large play rooms where the hatchlings would have play time. The light here was still dim compared to the egg room, but there was more of the bioluminescent moss than before since the hatchlings' eyes were stronger. You couldn’t have candles here obviously. Besides being dangerous around young ones, flames were highly regulated underground. Uncontrolled fires below the surfaces were death traps. Smoke would fill tunnels and choke the air out of the room. So the walls and ceilings would have cultivated glowing moss spread across it. This nursery room contained twenty-three hatchlings, around five to six months old. They came in the usual shades of scales, and each of them had on a diaper made of animal leather. It was a simple room with several simple toys including colored rocks, large ropes, balls, and other forms of stimulation. Most of the kobolds were already crawling on the ground, as kobolds would mature slightly faster than humans for the first couple years of their life. A few of them were already burbling a word or two. “This has been a… interesting batch,” Tenderclaw replied softly. Her left arm was currently in sling right now. There was a mild tear in her shoulder, which had taken her off egg handling duty for the while. An older gentlemen kobold watch one energetic orange hatchling spiraling in a circle trying to snap her own tail. Chasing your own tail is an ancient and honored tradition among the kobold hatchlings. Not only is it an easy and fun way to keep them entertained without effort from their caretakers, it's also a very important lesson in the persistence of your duties. But the most important lesson a young kobold can learn is: When you bite something make sure you know what it's attached to. “I see, I see. Well, let’s go over some of your more notable wards,” Eggminder had sat down on one of the benches built into the wall. They peppered the entire area for parents to come and socialize with their children before they were brought home. “Well, let’s go over some of the positive ones,” Tenderclaw pointed to a horned yellow one. Not only was she walking with the grace of a child twice her age, she was actively trying to escape by pushing a chair up to the viewing window. There was no glass there, it was simply a hole in the wall. Alas, she was not quite as fast as she wanted to be, and kept getting caught before she could complete her grand escape. “The sun-colored one is already quite adept. And clever.” “Yes, I note she waited until the nursemaid was distracted before she made her move. Clever little sprite,” Eggminder laughed a bit. “And an eager explorer already. She’s not content to be confined to such a small room. Not when there is a world to discover, after all. I wager we’ll see her working on the surface, perhaps leading a logging camp?” It was not uncommon to keep an eye out on potential, even at this young age. “Right, then there’s that one,” Tenderclaw motioned with her good hand to a large dark brown male. This one had a sloping forehead, and short horns that jetted out at an angle that gave him a bit of a prehistoric look. He looked almost twice the size of the other children. Well, bigger than all but one. “He’s well in