A battle (Because I spent this week playing games, not making them)
The kill was clean and silent. The paper-thin blade of Blackbird’s falchion slid effortlessly through the kobold’s body. The legs went limp and collapsed where they stood, while the torso rolled off the un-railed side of the spiral staircase. Followed by Markus, Eloise, Basil, and Basil’s heads, Blackbird quietly ascended the staircase, poking her head carefully through the battered wooden doorway at the top. Eight kobolds remained - all unarmed, and all still groggy from the early morning. Blackbird felt a friendly hand press on her from shoulder, tugging gently, gesturing her to take a step back.
Basil stepped forward, gripping a spare head with carefully positioned fingers. He wound up clumsily and lunged forward, throwing the head directly into the crowd of the tiny green creatures. Alarmed, they scrambled for their weapons, argued briefly with one another in a foreign language, and then sent forward one kobold to investigate the door. Basil had no difficulty concealing his tiny body behind the stone wall surrounding the door. He gathered up his heads and whispered to them reassuringly, ignoring his allies.
Hearing the steady approach of a hostile creature, Markus took point and revealed himself to the kobold, a gleaming knife held by the blade in his palm. With sharp precision, he flung the weapon forward into the kobold’s shoulder. Wincing in pain, the kobold dropped his spear and reeled back screeching. Markus knew he had spent the element of surprise, and followed his strike with a battle cry to his allies.
Rubeus was the first to respond, dropping down from a hole in the roof above, crushing three kobolds beneath his gargantuan body. Landing in a runner’s stance, Rubeus charged inwards to the center of the room, swinging haphazardly at a kobold who had sprinted far out of his way. The blow missed, leaving Rubeus momentarily exposed and defenseless. The kobold was quick to capitalize on this, and thrust his spear into Rubeus’ side, calling over a friend to do the same.
Horrified by the scene, Eloise bounded forward to meet with Rubeus and protect him from his attackers. Heart racing, Eloise drew a dull knife from below several layers of her clothing, pushing it into the leg of the closest kobold. She awkwardly yanked the knife out and grimaced as the kobold stumbled backwards into his friend. She watched helplessly in terror as Rubeus pivoted on his heel and pushed his greataxe through both bodies in a single swing.
Trying to distance themselves from Rubeus as much as possible, the last pair of kobolds inched around the far end of the room, each wielding rusty shortswords. They were quickly met by Blackbird and Basil. Blackbird parried a swing from each kobold, opening them up to recieve swift, lethal punches from Basil. The three kobolds at the back of the room scrambled to their feet after being knocked to the floor by Rubeus. They barely had enough time to exhale before having a vial of acid thrown at them by Markus. The small glass container shattered on the ground and sprayed them each, leaving behind three eroding corpses.
One kobold remained in the center of the room - a knife in his shoulder and no weapon in his hand, the creature begged for mercy. His beady eyes met with Blackbird’s as she lifted him up, carrying him slowly over to what remained of Markus’ acid. Holding him over the pool of bubbling liquid, Blackbird plainly spoke a few final words to the kobold - “we have no use for you.”
