A/N: I don't usually put these at the beginning of stories but I felt I needed to make a small explanation. This is something I threw together over the past summer after not being able to play my usual D&D sessions with my college friends. The story is not supposed to be based 100% on existing D&D lore, some liberties were taken to make a more original story sperate from my campaign. At the moment this is jus a one-shot made to flesh out three of my PCs, but if this is well received, I might expand on it, but it would be done in a non-chronological order. Anyway, hope you enjoy.
The overbearing summer humidity was briefly relieved by a strong breeze; the resulting rustling of the leaves disturbing the otherwise silent night. Beneath the veil of the treetops a hooded figure made his way through the underbrush, using the sudden noise to mask their own movement. He kept low to the ground, paying careful mind to each step he took as to minimize the noise they elicited, and once the soft sounds of the wind and trees stopped, so did he.
Slowly crouching lower to the ground to avoid causing the leather of his boots and armor to creak, the man quietly took in a breath and closed his eyes. Even with his ability to see clearly in the night, his vision would still be unhelpful in the thick vegetation, so instead he opted for focusing his attention onto what he could hear around him. Minutes passed, and the silence over the forest remained; not even the sound of animals rustling in the underbrush. He took a moment to think on how unusual it was for such a forest to be so seemingly devoid of creatures. In fact, the island as a whole seemed barren of all life beyond the plentiful flora. He'd only been on the island less than a day, though, so it was possible there were animals further inland.
He shook the thought, deciding it was not important at the moment and continued to focus on the noises around them, or lack thereof. More time passed, and still no sound except for the periodic breeze, though he could not shake the feeling of something lurking just beyond his perception. He discarded this new thought like the last, deeming it simple anxiousness at the unusual silence. Deciding he had waited long enough, he stood up and stretched with a tired sigh, dropping his need for stealth and taking a moment to pull down their lavender hood to relieve their head from the heat.
"Why couldn't we have gone north for work? This heat is becoming unbearable," he said quietly to himself as he wiped the sweat from his forehead before turning his attention upward. Judging by the gibbous moon that barely managed to get through the treetops overhead, he could tell his round of watch was over and that it was time to head back to camp.
He was glad they had decided to keep near the shore instead of cutting through the island. From what he could tell the vegetation only somehow became thicker the further inland one ventured. Still, the forest near the shore was still hard to navigate. Getting back to the camp would have been nearly impossible in the dead of night in the thick underbrush, but he was not one who easily lost track of direction or where he was; a skill acquired from years of galivanting across the known world on his own. It wasn't long before he was making his way up a relatively tall hill that he and his team had chosen to camp on due to the higher ground it provided.
Nearing its crest, the dark of the night was suddenly pushed away by a small but steady fire a short way ahead as he passed through a light warding veil put up to prevent the camp from being spotted from a distance. They weren't sure if there was someone or something on the island they would need to stay hidden from, but it was better to err on the side of caution.
The man stopped by a nearby tree just inside the veil, noting the small engraving of a symbol of which the only element he could assign any meaning to was lines radiating out from a point representing light. The rest of the magical seal was beyond his limited understanding, and he had to give small praise to his friend for having not only the idea to use it, but knowing it at all. His knowledge of magic revolved mostly around traps, snares, and one healing spell. Though that was all he really needed in his line of work.
He turned his attention away and continued the rest of the distance to the small campsite. As he approached, he caught sight of the wizard responsible for the veil resting idly against a tree and focused on his spell book sprawled out in his lap. It was hard to tell if he was reading or asleep though, as the pointed hat the wizard wore obscured his eyes.
By all outward appearances the spell caster didn't seem all too threatening. People did not tend to give much mind to kenkus after all, usually due to their small stature and mute nature, but if there was one thing going for a kenku like him it was the crow-like species' ability to perfectly memorize most of what they heard or read. Of course, most kenkus also lacked the ability to have any original thought or even speak—said to be the cause of an ancient curse put upon the race for betraying their god—so they very rarely applied themselves to learn new skills.
The kenku in question though was an exception to the rule, being one of the very few of his kind born without being burdened by the curse. Pair a kenku with the ability to think for itself with the seemingly endless amounts of spells and knowledge available and it was no real surprise they quickly mastered the art of spell casting.
The kenku caught notice of him approaching, his cool blue eyes briefly leaving the pages of his book before coming to rest back on them. "Almost didn't recognize you with your hood down, Kira," the kenku commented lightly as Kira came to sit on a protruding stump nearby.
"It's hot out, Asren. My head felt like it was being steamed," Kira complained while running a hand through his shaggy gray hair, trying to get some of the sweat out.
"Didn't see anything I presume?" Asren asked, ignoring his complaint.
Kira picked up the bow he had left before heading out for his round of watch and started to untighten the string. "No, it's completely lifeless to an unnerving degree. Remind me again why we had to come out to this island of all places?"
"Because we owed a favor to the noble back in Stravenward," Asren replied simply, not taking his gaze off what he was reading. "You already knew that though. You just like to complain," he added in jest.
Kira ignored the tease, mostly because it was true, and let out an exaggerated moan as he hung his head back. "Nobles these days really think running errands halfway across the world is acceptable repayment of getting you out of potential imprisonment," he demurred. Despite his grievances, though, he knew full well that not only was it completely fair but even generous of the noble to have them repay such a political maneuver with a simple item quest.
He looked back towards Asren with a flat stare. "How are you not even bothered by the heat?" he asked, both to change the subject and genuinely confused at his friend's seeming comfort. Asren was not only covered in a thick coat of blackish blue feathers, but also a baggy red tunic and leggings and even a scarf of all things. Kira thought for sure that the outfit would be at least slightly worse than his hooded half-cloak, armor, and collared tunic.
Asren shrugged, "Barely notice it."
Kira sighed in slight annoyance as he put down his now untightened bow and rested his head on one of his hands. "I'm sure Lara would agree with me with her thick coat," he remarked, slightly envious of the kenku's comfort. His green eyes glanced over to where he expected her resting form to be, but noticing the stripped black and white tabaxi missing. "I'm guessing she woke up early again and went off on her own watch?" he deduced, inwardly frustrated that the cat could rarely keep to preplanned schedules.
Asren simply nodded, "She left not long before you came back."
"Can't say I'm surprised," Kira responded with a small sigh. After a moment of staring at her belongings, he noticed that among them was her armor, something she rarely took off. He stood and walked over, deciding to take the rare opportunity to examine the armor set without its protective owner around.
He leaned over and picked up the breastplate, quickly noting how light it was for being made of metal. The metal itself was also an unusual black color, with white decorative highlights and seams. Kira could not think of any material that was so light yet so strong; Lara had taken many powerful blows from enemies that would dent most iron armor yet she always escaped with barely a scratch. The mystery only fueled Kira's annoyance with Lara's tight lip about where she had acquired it, or her past in general.
The only real concrete thing he knew about it was that she was an experienced soldier, but that was based mostly on assumptions he made. Her detailed knowledge on battle strategies and combat, the intricate armor and weapon she bored, and offhanded comments about war seemed enough evidence for Kira to feel confident in the assumption though.
He placed the piece back down where he found it and glanced over her other processions, noting that her longsword was missing. It was reassuring to know she had not gone out into the woods unarmed, but it still didn't sit right with him to know she had left her armor behind.
"Guess she couldn't handle the heat after all," he commented aloud, masking his concern with a small laugh.
A moment passed in which nothing was said before Asren spoke up; "I'd worry more for whatever potential creature she encounters out there than for her," he reassured.
"You were always one of the few people who could read me like a book," Kira replied lightly, holding back a yawn as he spoke.
The kenku let out a short chuckle. "It's late, you should get some rest. We have another long day ahead of us."
"I could say the same to you, Asren. That big brain of yours won't be much use if you're half asleep tomorrow," Kira responded as he walked back to his spot.
"I will once I have these scripts memorized," Asren retorted with only the slightest bit of annoyance.
Kira plopped down against the tree where his own belongings rested and covered his face with his hood. "You're not still hung up over that whole Mivren ruins mess, are you?" he asked with feigned nonchalance.
He could not help but feel tired about the constant guilt Asren felt over the dungeon crawl gone wrong that had happened months prior. The kenku blamed himself for Kira nearly losing his arm even though it was more of the ranger's fault for being badly positioned. Besides, even if it had been Asren's fault it wasn't something Kira felt was something to worry over. They got out of the ruins alive and his arm was patched up with the help of some healers in a nearby town. Sure, his right arm still felt a little weaker than it used to since then, but it was nothing he could not handle.
"It's not about…" Asren started to counter, but the words died on his beak. The crow let out a long sigh, and Kira could hear him close his book. "I cannot let my friends get hurt because of a simple mistake," he opted to say instead.
Kira let out a small chuckled in response. "It was three-thousand-year-old runes. It's amazing you understood more than half of it."
He could hear Asren physically bristle. "But I mixed up the symbols for left and right! Those were one of the easiest—" the sound of something rapidly approaching the camp caused him to stop mid-sentence.
Kira was up on his feet in seconds, quickly retightening his bow before nocking an arrow and aiming towards the rustling, inwardly complaining about the poor timing. Asren was just as quickly standing, small sparks of arcane magic already arcing from his talons ready to unleash on whatever burst from the tree line.
"I thought you said you didn't see anything!" Asren whispered with a worried look in his eyes.
Kira narrowed his eyes towards the sounds and slightly pulled back further on the arrow. "I didn't," he hissed back, opting to not bring up that he had felt something while he was out there.
Only a moment passed before a blur of white burst from the underbrush, and without hesitation Kira had let lose his arrow towards it. There was the brief sound of the arrow whizzing through the air towards its target before the sound of metal hitting metal rang through the small area. He watched as his arrow went flying off into the forest before looking back towards the creature who was now brandishing a white longsword that was used to deflect his shot.
"Hold your fire!" came the voice of Lara who was now standing well within sight, her sword still held in a defensive position.
"And there goes a perfectly good arrow," Kira sighed as he lowered his bow; a small sense of embarrassment coming over him from his shot being so effortlessly deflected. Not that he wasn't relieved it had missed his party member.
"Lara!" Asren exclaimed in relief as he dropped his readied spell. "Sorry, you spooked us there. Not like you to be so… loud. Also not used to seeing you without your armor on," he continued with a meek but clearly embarrassed chuckle.
She let out a sigh as she lowered her weapon. "Apologizes, I was… in a rush," she explained swiftly, "It was also hotter than I am used to," she quickly added as she closed the gap to the camp and moved briskly over to her belongings without another word.
As she passed, Kira noticed the small cracks in her otherwise calm composure; her stiffer than normal walk, twitching ears and subtle lashing of her tail. It was unusual to see the normally calm tabaxi so agitated, and the fact she had not elaborated on why she had been in a rush and instead was going straight for what he assumed was her armor only further showed something was amiss. A quick glance over towards Asren showed that he had also picked up on her odd behavior as the wizard was casting Kira perplexed and worried look.
"And what could possibly have you so worked up on this deserted island?" Kira asked in more of a sarcastic manner than he would have liked. Asren glared disapprovingly towards Kira for his poorly phrased question.
Lara stopped, her body stiffening and fur bristling. She turned her head to look back at him, her eyes opening enough to reveal a single jade, slitted orb glaring sharply at him. Her entire face being cast in shadow only helped in selling the poor choice of words.
He held up a placating hand. "Sorry, that was not what I was trying to say. I know for a fact that when you seem worried over something it can't be something small."
She continued to glare at him, though most of the hardness behind her eyes seemed to fade.
"I am also curious as to what has you worried," Asren echoed, grabbing her attention away from Kira. "Did you encounter something out in the woods?"
Lara huffed, seeming to mentally shake off her annoyance before quickly approaching her things. "Kobolds. A scouting party of—from what I saw—seven closing in on us from the south," she explained as she donned her armor before turning back towards them. Her calm and stoic demeanor was back in full swing as she eyed both of them.
Kira could feel his body tense at the revelation. "Kobolds? And that wasn't the first thing out of your mouth because…?"
The serious expression on Lara's face was momentarily replaced with a slight grimace. "I was not… thinking straight, I admit. Being shot at didn't help either," she explained, the momentary sheepish tone being quickly replaced with her usual confidence.
Kira let out a sigh. "This explains the lack of wildlife," he replied, deciding to ignore her shift in blame onto him.
"It also explains the traps we encountered this morning," Asren added, his worry clear as he cupped his hands over his beak. "I should have made the connection, but those traps were too finely made to be from kobolds, and there is no reason for a colony of them to be on this island of all places…"
"The ones I spotted were wearing metal armor and armed with equally as well-made weapons. This is no normal group of kobolds. Someone is clearly supplying them, maybe even brought them here as cheap guard lizards," Lara added, a slight snarl escaping her as she gripped the hilt of her longsword tighter.
The strangeness of their predicament began to dawn on Kira as he considered everything that had happened so far during their quest.
"I overheard that noble mentioning to his aid that he had heard rumors of a growing threat from the south, and this island happens to be in a strategic location between the two countries. He might have sent us here not because he needed some relic found but because he thinks it's the center of an attack on Viven," Kira guessed, pulling from his past knowledge of similar plots he had been somewhat involved in. "Also would explain why he felt this little quest was fair repayment for what he did for us."
"How confident are you on that, Kira? You are accusing a noble of lying to us and concealing a potential war. That is not something to be uttered lightly," Lara asked him knowingly. Kira could feel her disapproving glare even though he could no longer see her eyes.
Kira was still not sure how the tabaxi had found out about his work involving espionage as it was something he tried very hard to keep under wraps for good reason, but ever since Lara had rarely missed an opportunity to remind him of her strong disapproval of his work. For once, though, he was glad she did know as she was now seemingly relying on his experience to make a judgement call.
"I would need more information, but the information I have right now seems to strongly suggest it," Kira responded a moment later after giving her question careful consideration.
Lara paused for a moment, seemingly in deep thought, before speaking up again. "We will worry about that after we deal with our uninvited guests."
"Technically we're the uninvited guests here," Kira joked in an attempt to lighten the mood.
The tabaxi returned a flat stare before turning her attention towards Asren who had gone back to reading through another one of his books. "Any ideas of how we should best go about this, preferably in ways that keep our presence on the island unknown?" she asked.
The kenku shook his head as he continued to skim his notes. "It depends on if they know exactly where we are. If they don't and we're lucky they will simply pass us and hopefully not run into us until morning. Though it's more likely they already know we're on the island and are looking for us seeing as we sprung a few of their traps this morning and likely left tracks..."
"The scouting party didn't seem to know exactly where we were, merely heading in our general direction. Seeing as the both of you were surprised to hear about them, I'm assuming Kira didn't spot anything while he was out. Based on that we could assume there is only the one scouting party," Lara added to Asren's thoughts in order to help formulate a plan. "But we would be better off assuming we are surrounded. Best to overwhelm an enemy than to assume they are no threat."
"Kobolds aren't known for the sense of direction, only their cunning. Even if they did know where we were it is within the realm of possibility that they would have a difficult time finding us," Asren remarked while pointing to something in his book, notes on kobolds if Kira has to guess.
"We can't assume these kobolds act the same as the kobolds from the mainland. For all we know they were given maps and a compass," Lara responded, irritably flicking her tail. "And even if they are wandering around blind there's always the chance there are other scouting parties out there; one might happen upon us by chance."
Asren let out a moan as he let his head rest on his book. "It wouldn't be nearly as bad a problem if it weren't kobolds of all things! It's like dealing with goblins but the goblins can actually think and plan. Otherwise we could merely hide somewhere and they would likely forget about us," He lifted his head, a flat expression plastered across his face. "Not to mention I am too exhausted to properly handle this."
At that remark, Kira let out a small chuckle. "So now you're concerned with your own sleep."
"While I appreciate the attempts of livening up the mood, Kira, comments such as that aren't helping much with our problem," Asren replied dryly before returning to his notes.
Kira turned his attention towards Lara who was looking right back at him with a level gaze. There was a brief moment where it seemed like she was going to say something disapproving before her expression softened slightly. "Perhaps you should keep look out so we are not caught by surprise?" she offered with a barely noticeable smile before continuing to speak with Asren.
Kira happily accepted the offer. It made the most sense given the circumstances, so he wordlessly walked off and began to circle just inside the edge of the veil. He drowned out his two party members as they continued to discuss all possibilities and different battle strategies that would best work against kobolds, something he was fine with letting them handle.
He was more than willing to admit he was more of someone who followed orders rather than made them. While he could come up with plans on the fly, that was usually only when the original plans went wrong in some way. He put it up to him thinking best under pressure and in the heat of things, but seeing as they were in relative peace at the moment, he thought his attention was better used on listening to everything but the two.
He stopped in his tracks when he heard a snapping off on the other side of the magical barrier. Every hair on his body stood on end, and he found himself surprised how such a trivial sound made his blood run cold. Whether the veil rendered him invisible to whatever may be on the other side or merely made it seem like he was in the dark Kira didn't know, but he wasn't about to risk anything. Kira shook himself from his momentary paralysis and swiftly moved behind a tree and readied another arrow.
He stood still and kept his breathing shallow to minimize the noise he made, and he was thankful his party members had the awareness to keep their conversation quiet enough for him not to register it from where he was. He stared off into the barrier from behind the tree, light from the campfire uphill casting shimmering ripples on its otherwise smooth surface, and focused all his attention on listening for another crack.
The forest was once again silent, but this time the silence did far more than merely unnerve him. He knew for a fact there were creatures out there, and he was sure there was one there on the other side. Every fiber of his being told him that. Kira hoped that Lara and Asren had come up with a viable plan because as far as he was concerned their time was up.
As if to confirm his gut feeling, a scaled hand carefully reached through the barrier, and once it was sure the veil wasn't killing it the red kobold walked fully though it. It was momentarily blinded by the light of the campfire, but it didn't have time to adjust before Kira fired his arrow. It pierced straight into its chest, and the kobold let out a pained bark before stumbling back through the veil. There was silence for a moment before rustling and angered chattering erupted on the other side. Kira wasted no time turning back and running back to the camp.
"Time's up. I hope you two have a plan," Kira pressed as he came into view of the others. The two of them were already standing at the ready, seemingly having already heard the commotion.
"We hold the high ground," Lara stated firmly, swinging her longsword to her side for emphasis. "And take advantage of their weakness."
"And that weakness would be?" Kira asked as he readied another arrow and but his back to them.
Asren smiled confidently. "Light."
The kenku then recited a spell Kira did not recognize, let alone understand. The otherwise invisible part of barrier overhead glowed a soft blue before the boundary rapidly shrunk down and the campsite was cast into shadows. The crackling of the campfire was still audible near them, though, and Kira quickly deduced that Asren had surrounded only the fire with the light warding spell.
"We wait for them to surround us, then I will drop the barrier fully," Asren explained further.
"Blinding them completely and putting the odds in our favor." Kira finished, a small smile growing on his face.
"Heads up you two," Lara called, drawing their attention to the slowly gathering number of kobolds on the edge of the campsite.
Lara had been right to assume they had been surrounded, because from what Kira could tell there were at least twenty kobolds now encompassing their camp. He could see why she had been worried about these kobolds as, like she had said, they were fully adorned in military grade iron armor and weaponry. He took a small reassurance that none of them had an arrow sticking out of their chest, meaning he had at least lowered their numbers. Even if by only one.
"Listen well, lizards. You have one chance to turn back now and leave with your lives," Lara yelled out to the amassing kobolds, her voice unwavering and strong. "Otherwise we will not hesitate to cut you down where you stand."
Her demand was met with a wave of hissing from the kobolds, and Kira was surprised they hadn't charged at them then and there with how riled up they looked.
"They certainly do not sound happy," Asren noted worriedly as sparks of electricity began to form in his palms.
"Well, I did kill one of them, or at least severely injured it," Kira remarked as he pulled back on his arrow and aimed it toward one of the more beefier looking kobolds.
"Well I wish you had mentioned that before I said we would spare them," Lara grumbled, but kept her composure nonetheless.
A kobold stepped out from the rest. Kira assumed it to be the one in charge of the group based on its larger size and distinctly darker colored armor. It stood still for a moment; all the other kobolds eying it as it stared back at Lara with a deep scowl. It then raised a sword directly towards the group before saying something in their language which Kira could only guess was a retort to Lara and a call for attack as the rest of the kobolds began closing in.
Kira had to resist the urge to let lose his arrow on his target. "Let's hope this works."
"It will work, I'm sure," Asren responded in a welcomed confidence.
Lara braced herself, holding her sword at the ready in front of her. "No turning back now anyway. For them that is," she added with a small smirk.
"Just looking forward to some sleep after this," Kira joked with his own smile, despite the situation. He wasn't worried for his party; they had been through worse and come out the other end fine enough, and they would continue to do so.
He only felt bad for the kobolds.