One of the elves decided to interrupt his officer's conversation when he noticed the kobolds ahead of them.

  “Uhm… Sir, there appears to be vermin ahead of us in line.” a hooded elf spoke up, pointing a finger down at the kobolds.

  The officer obviously didn't appreciate getting interrupted, since when he turned around to look at the soldier, he wore a nasty scowl.

  But instead of lashing out at the soldier, the officer opted to look where the man was pointing. And his eyes grew wide when he noticed the 3 small scaled creatures, which then increasingly grew into a frown.

  “Well, well, well, it seems we do indeed have vermin ahead of us in line. Men, it seems we missed a few of them during the last raid, we should take of them before others hear of our failure. YOU, execute these rats for me.” He commanded one of his soldiers, who then swiftly grabbed the hilt of his sword.

  “With pleasure, sire.” The elf responded with a grin, slowly unsheathing his sword as he walked forward.

  Our little friends didn't miss their conversation, however, and they too started to get ready for a fight. Ralk and Nogh unsheathed their short swords, while Raouk simply stood behind them and waited.

  Thankfully, before any fight could unfold, a squad of 8 dwarven guards surrounded the elves and simultaneously lowered their spears, pointing them at the long-eared soldiers.

  The dwarf with the golden embellishments on his helmet spoke loud and clear.

  “This here be the lands surrounding the Jagged Peaks ruled by Stalac the Bold. Under the authority granted to me by the king, it is my duty to uphold public order at the gates. Cease all hostilities immediately, knife ears, or be met by the full force of the law.” his deep voice boomed with great power.

  “You would dare to point your dull sticks at us half pint? We are knights from the Great Woods of Eldran and you would be wise to beg for my mercy, dwarf! Besides, we are doing you a favour by removing vermin from your lands.” the elf scoffed, clearly infuriated by the actions of the guard.

  “What you and your kind do outside our borders matters not to us, elf. But when it is within our borders, all matters are within OUR jurisdiction, regardless of what it may be. So do yourself a favour, return home and hump a tree, you clearly need the relief.” The dwarf replied, spears still lowered, and pointed at the elves.

  “I’ll have your head for this dwarf! You won’t get away with making light of us like so.” The elf hissed.

  “Aye, you might be right. But at least you would finally have a shot to get first place for Best Home Decorator, with my pretty lil’ noggin hanging off your mantle.” The dwarf snickered at the elf as he stroked his thick beard.

  The elven officers’ cheeks turned red as he was overwhelmed with fury, and instantly spun on his heel, flicking his cloak at the Guard as he pushed the spears aside and led his troop back to their lands.

  The kobolds seemed hopeful for a few seconds and lowered their guard, well, only until the same dwarf turned to them with a stern look.

  “Now, how do I deal with you lil’ miscreants? Hm? What is the purpose of your visit, kobolds? And it better be good if you would rather not return from whence you came.” The dwarf said in a calm but intimidating tone.

  Upon hearing the guard, Raouk stepped forward and addressed him.

  “We wish to cross the peaks and move north, possibly to the marshlands, to seek refuge among our kin. We wish to simply live out our lives without suffering another attack that’d slaughter our people again.” the old kobold told the man.

  “The marshlands? Those be lizard lands, not kobold ones, what makes you think they’d actually accept you?” he said with furrowed eyebrows.

  “The might be so, but ultimately, we are all descendants of the great dragons, our scales proof of our shared ancestry. Our chances are much higher with them than out here, among the elves and humans.” Raouk explained.

  “There is some truth in your words… Very well, have you anything to declare kobold?” the dwarf nodded.

  This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

  “We have raw materials and some weapons from those that have attacked us, the owl bear bones in our possession might interest the proud dwarven craftsmen of your city.” the elderly kobold said.

  Upon hearing the words, ‘owl bear bones’ the guard's eyes widened in interest, and a shrewd smile formed on his face.

  “I reckon, I can allow entry of you and your party, but I must ask you.” a moment of pause elapsed before he continued. “Could ye sell the bones to my dear old brother? He works at the Black Mattock forge in the eastern industrial district. He has been on the search of quality material and would pay a pretty penny.” he said.

  “Oh, and of course, tell him I sent you, and that he’ll be paying the rounds tonight, he-he.” the dwarf chuckled.

  Raouk sported a warm smile as he pretended to think it over and nodded at the guard.

  “Why, of course, we need the coins and frankly, we weren’t sure where to even start looking for potential buyers. Thank you for saving us the time, master dwarf.” Raouk said as he went in for a handshake with the dwarf.

  “The name’s Bolim, always a pleasure to meet agreeable folks such as yourself.” he replied.

  “And my name is Raouk, this here is my son Ralk and the last remaining son of the Vikresson’s, Nogh Vikresson. It has been quite the pleasure, Bolim.” the kobold said as they shook hands, a warm smile on both of their faces.

  “Alrighty then, boy return to your stations, I’ll be escorting our friends through the gate. No point in having them stand outside anymore now that we know their purpose for visiting.”

  At that, the rest of the guards dispersed and returned to their posts overlooking the rest of the visitors who were still waiting in line.

  “Follow me.” Bolim said as he re adjusted his belt.

  “Are you sure that you won’t get in trouble by leaving your post like this?” Nogh asked

  “I’ll only lead y’all about halfway to my brothers, the guard house is on the way. Besides, I need to inform the higher ups about the unruly elves we just encountered. We don’t like the leaf munchers much, especially when they act like entitled princesses.” Bolim explained.

  “We’ll be in your care, my friend.” Raouk said as they followed the dwarf towards the gate, bypassing dozens of people.

  Their entrance at the gate went smoothly, since Bolim vouched for them, nobody bothered to look through their belongings. Which allowed Perry to enter the city without alerting anyone about his presence.

  Once inside, our little Nogh was starstruck as he saw the insides of a carved out mountain. The massive buildings carved into the rock, the wide open hall adorned with decorations, food stalls, shops, and restaurants. The city within Jagged Peaks was one of the most beautiful examples of Dwarven architecture, as it was a key merchant destination that allowed trade between the North and South of the continent. Creating the perfect conditions for development and cultural enrichment.

  The tall ceiling was full of sparkling gems that simulated daylight within the massive stone corridors. The air was full of magical energy, allowing the crystals to emit light via a complex system of runic magic.

  As the group walked the halls, they encountered a variety of species, from humans to dwarves and even lizardman all living in harmony as they went about their lives inside the mountain.

  Bolim of course, didn’t miss this chance to brag about the sprawling city, and he breathlessly kept telling them about the city’s rich history. He explained in great detail how his great-great-grandfather was part of the team that carved the Great Hall. Which was, of course, the hall they were walking in right now.

  Alas, the guided tour had to end eventually and when they reached the guard house, Bolim eagerly pointed towards his brother’s forge before leaving to take care of what can only be assumed as a bunch of paperwork.

  And that brings us to our group of kobolds standing outside the loud Black Mattock forge, which of course had a massive black mattock hanging out front as a sign, from which it could be identified.

  “Well, let’s not waste any time, and get right to business.” Raouk said to no one in particular as he pushed open the large door under the sign.

  Raouk was instantly hit by an uncomfortable amount of heat as he entered, the forge was full of life as a dozen dwarves hammered away as they worked on weapons, armour, tools and so on. The group stood in the door for a few moments as they took it all in, they had never seen a dwarven forge before, let alone one that was as busy as this. The dwarves would shout as loud as possible to be able to communicate with each other, while others cussed each other out over small mistakes and, of course, there were some that leisurely chatted away about last night's escapades.

  Amidst all the chaos, there was one dwarf manning the counter by the front door, and he looked bored out of his mind. He had a massive jug next to him on the counter top and a neatly decorated stein in his hand, which was probably filled with some sort of alcohol, most likely ale.

  The bored dwarf hadn’t even noticed the group of kobolds enter and was completely zoned out, simply staring at an unfinished sword hanging from the wall.

  Our group had no other choice but to speak with the man as he was most likely in charge of taking care of the customers.

  Raouk approached the counter and cleared his throat, “Excuse me master dwarf, I was sent here by a certain Bolim to sell my material to his brother at the Black Mattock. Would you perhaps know where Bolim’s brother might be?” He asked respectfully.

  The dwarf was caught off guard by the three kobolds that entered without him noticing, and nearly jumped out of his skin as he poured the contents of his stein all over himself as he fell backwards. The kobolds could hear him cussing under his breath as the dwarf peeled himself off the floor. Once the dwarf was once again on his feet, he picked up the stool he had been sitting, setting it down upright once again before sitting down on it again.

  “What d’you say you wanted kobold? You sneaky lizard damn near made my soul escape to the Warriors Hall! Announce yourself when entering a loud forge, for peaks sake, blimey!” The ale soaked dwarf shouted.

  “I said that we were looking for Bolim’s brother to sell him our materials!” The elderly kobold shouted back, loud enough to be heard over the constant hammering that came from the forge.

  “Another prankster eh? Not gonna work this time, lizard, all kinds of people have tried to get our forge to spend our hard-earned money on shit product. Stop wasting my time and leave.” The dwarf replied dismissively as he pointed them towards the door.

  “So you would rather not buy owl bear bones, then I take it. Alright then, I’ll just go to that other forge across the street, they seemed interested.” Raouk bluffed loudly as he walked back towards the door.

  Just as he began pulling open the door, a shout was heard from the back of the forge, and all of the craftsman instantly stopped their work.

  “What d’you say you had for sale, kobold?” a dwarf asked.

  End of Chapter 7

  HeadlessChickenCrew