The Immortal Kobold

The war was on in full when Xing Lei and his two women emerged from the guest mound, the metallic wall had all but fallen, other than the main and secondary gate four large breaches had been blasted into the metal structure. Wards ruptured sending flame and lightning, poison and death into the areas around them. Alarms rang loudly in the compound as slave armies, both attacking and defending collided.

As the trio ran across the compound they saw all manner of races fighting bitterly. Monstrous or humanoid, neither mattered for all wore slave collars and threw themselves with a suicidal rage at their foes. Xing Lei and Osilliaice were both swinging spears, the lizardess and kobold worked in tandem to keep either fighting force away from their path. The stones at their feet were coated in blood, as death tolls on both sides swiftly rose a veritable sea of blood was washing over the ground. From within and without, drow taskmasters spurred their canon fodder towards their foes, relentlessly churning a meat grinder of death.

Spells were cast with impunity into the masses, explosions, columns of ice or fire, balls of acid and lightning erupted across the compound. Magical darts and forked arcs of lightning answered back lashing across defensive positions as three drow houses finally laid into each other as it was clear the attackers were not together, their slave forces fought each other as much as house Luen was being bombarded. The trio could see a drow levitating above the sea of slave soldiers hurling lances of ice down into the general melee, columns of ice rose around the casters position freezing to death ally and foe alike.

However this air superiority did not last long, mid cast the drow suddenly jerked in the air, a bloody javelin skewering him from back to front, even worse was the length of chain on the missiles end that honked the unfortunate mage from the sky. Were the javelin not fatal enough then the dark elf's death was all the more assured when he fell into the hands of a hulking minotaur who briskly ripped the drow in half.

The cries of death and suffering echoed from all corners of the compound, some languages Xing Lei recognized, more than a few were begging for their lives but it appeared the attacking houses gave no quarter to enemy drow or slave. Rushing into one of the large mounds, Xing Lei guided Osilliaice and Al.u.s.triea upwards, soldiers all around fell like wheat to his spear or Osilliaice's. A few that tried to attack from range were met with a frosty missle cast from Al.u.s.triea's hand. The three working quickly to remove the obstacles from their path as they navigated the maze of passages and walkways.

When they did emerge from within the compound floor was a sea of slaves and drow, all three houses were madly attacking anyone and everyone. Looking into the distance the light of Cheth Rrihinn was flickering weakly, brighter were the lightning strikes and explosions of flame that erupted in those distant slums. While many houses were attacking each other, at least one was attacking the city itself, or was trying to exterminate the poor and homeless at any rate from the magic raining down on the city proper.

Reaching the peak the lift to the noble spire was overloaded, between servants and soldiers Xing Lei could make out the youngest son ordering the operator to take him up, however the operator was trying to point out that the lift was over loaded, there simply was too many trying to reach the security of the ceiling spire in one trip, and even if they rejected all the servants the docking station was on lock down, the elites were threatening to kill anyone trying to get up there on orders from the Matron Mother.

The trio looked at the swarming drow and slaves, Al.u.s.triea turned to ask what they should do now when Xing Lei strode forward cutting into the masses. Drow warriors and slave soldiers alike screamed about attackers but the kobold was already darting amongst their number, his Spear swing left and right, those not slashed by the shining head were bashed flying from the force of his swings. Al.u.s.triea stared watching as the kobold started a wholesale slaughter of drow and slaves alike. Osilliaice hesitated a moment then rushed in from the other side, trapping the mass of bodies between herself and Xing Lei.

Al.u.s.triea gaped, she wanted to reprimand Xing Lei, the drow could be killed wantonly but the slave servants, shouldn't they be shown some mercy? Gritting her teeth she shook her head, was she really going to start questioning him again? For better or worse she loved that awful little kobold and she owed him at least to protect his back when he fought at b.a.r.e minimum. Biting her lip her spells started lashing at the mass of bodies at the center of the lift, tears rimmed her eyes as she started to cut down the numbers that waited for her lovers...

It took no time at all for the two reptiles under the support of Al.u.s.triea's spells to meet up in the middle. Dead bodies laid haphazardly across the lift, the young master had taken refuge behind his body guards when Al.u.s.triea's spells had sliced through the surrounding bodies now faced with the two murderous reptiles covered in blood he was screaming for his men to protect him, to kill the invaders, for anyone above to save him! Ignoring the young wailing drow, Xing Lei and Osilliaice busied themselves with tossing corpses off the lift, a rather ill looking Al.u.s.triea stepped up beside the pair wiping some bile from her lips, while she had helped, she had had to pause at one point and empty her stomache. The wanton slaughter of so many sentient beings assauled her senses.

Osilliaice looked to the trembling guards and the screaming noble behind them, "What do we do with them?"

Xing Lei tossed another body off frowning slightly recognizing the body as the mute slave he'd been guided by before, shrugging helplessly he looked over, "We will likely need him to negotiate with the soldiers above." Looking around he noted the operator was absent from his post. "Where did that one go?"

Al.u.s.triea whimpered catching his attention, looking over the operator was slumped against the wall, a dozen ice shards riddled the drow man's c.h.e.s.t with one even drilled into his forehead. Xing Lei sighed rubbing the blood off his face as he looked at the remorseful elf.

"Sorry, guess I got carried away trying to help..."

Xing Lei shook his head, "Leave this sort of thing to us but it's alright, thanks for trying to help."

Walking over to the controls he eyed the crystals that glowed gently on a panel connected to the lift. Touching one nothing happened, but when he touched another the lift lurched a bit. Studying the panel the young master nearby was practically frothing at the mouth. Not only had these three killed everyone else on the lift, the stupid bitch mage had killed the controller! Whimpering into silence a slender ice lance darted between his guards heads and slammed into the wall above the young drow boys head, the sharpness of the ice even going so far as to cut some of his radically styled white mane. Al.u.s.triea hadn't liked the look he was giving Xing Lei.

Silence reigned as Xing Lei got a handle on the controls. Looking upwards the lift slowly ascended, cresting the ceiling and revealing the war zone that was the Luen house compound. The majority of friendly troops had either died or switched sides, the two attacking houses were busy laying into each other. When the lift rose above the docking room missiles of all sorts and sizes whipped around them. Both the young master and Al.u.s.triea screamed, though the formers was of a much higher pitch. Osilliaice and the drow nobles guards took up positions to deflect what they could.

The lift itself suffered several hits and even started to fall at one point when a fireball rocked its underside. Quickly touching crystals Xing Lei steadied the lift and continued their ascent. Now high above they all could see Cheth Rrihinn burning beyond the mushroom forest, likewise other houses in the distance were lit up with explosions or steadily burning under mystical flames. It was quite easy to tell by one and all, it didn't matter who won at this point, only a burnt out husk would remain of which ever force claimed ultimate dominance.

An explosion below tore their attention away from the slag heap that Cheth Rrihinn was swiftly becoming. The compound floor below began rupturing in various spots, molten humanoids bursting from beneath the stones. The young master seeing this laughed wildly screaming loudly, "Hahaha! All you fools underestimate First Brother Calimar! His masterpieces, the magma golems shall burn you all to ash!"

As the young drow laughed hysterically they could all see the flaming, lumbering hulks swiping at the fighting armies. With each swing great swaths of space was cleared, burning bodies were tossed like toys into the air as the half dozen creatures laid into everything around them with abandon. Not even friendlies were spared as the unthinking hulks had one mission: clear all life from the compound floor. Nothing within the walls should breath before they finished.

Laughing wildly the young drow turned and snarled at Xing Lei, "Your turn is coming as well filthy iblith, for switching sides Matron Mother will spend years torturing you and while she's flaying the flesh from your bones this houseless bi-"

The young drows insult towards Al.u.s.triea died in his throat as a mithril spear tip exploded from the back of his neck, the shaft held in Xing Leis hand was steady as the kobold stared at the dying drow. Applying force the young master was hoisted by the spear and launched off the lift. Before he'd gone far one would swear that someone had yelled 'PULL' for as the young drow's body fell, no less than three fireballs swiftly rose from the grounds below to explode against his body. A small flaming sun illuminated the magma golems below stomping into the invading horde, the slave armies and drow over seers were in retreat as the hulking automatons killed whatever they could catch.

One particularly unfortunate slave was struck down by a mini meteor, the flaming missle bursting through the goblin's c.h.e.s.t and creating a small hole in the floor. Slumping to its knees the goblin looked down at what had killed it, a look of confusion on its dying face as it slumped over nearly kissing the burning head of the young drow master, the only part of his blasted body to have survived the fireballs that had incinerated his body and made it to the ground...

High above Osilliaice and Al.u.s.triea looked at Xing Lei, the two laughing at the unconcerned look on the kobolds face as they swept the angered bodyguards from the lift as well. Al.u.s.triea looked to him and smiled, "And what was that Xing Lei?"

Xing Lei shrugged putting his attention on guiding the lift upwards, "He wanted to slander my woman, he paid the price."

The lizardess and elf chuckled looking to each other and then like Xing Lei watched the destination getting closer and closer. His mate wiped down her spear and glanced over, "So what do we do about them then?"

Xing Lei glanced upwards noting the armed warriors ready for the lift to dock and smiled lightly, "Aggressive diplomacy at its finest of course."

Al.u.s.triea glanced up, "Oh really Xing Lei? What are you going to offer them to let us in?"

Xing Lei rolled his shoulders as his eyes focused on one waiting drow in particular. The frowning face of Burryna stared death down at him, she looked like she was about to eat his flesh and drink his blood. Smiling to himself he answered softly...

"Their lives."