Chapter 8

  Andro flicked his wrists up and towards the shaman, one at a time. Two fist-sized spheres of water flew through the air tracking directly for the shaman’s head. The shaman winced his head back just in time as he raised his staff in front of him, his other arm doing a poor job of shielding his long-snouted face. The two spheres of water collided into a strange, blue barrier that appeared just in front of the staff, causing them to dissipate into shrapnel of water droplets around the area. The barrier was curved almost like a shield and was sizable enough to protect the shaman. It seemed to form just above the top of its head and just below its knees. It disappeared as quickly as it appeared, as if the impacts of the two wet spheres gave it visible shape.

  The shaman opened one eye slowly and realized shortly after that his staff had fulfilled its purpose. He gave a crooked smile and gave a loud cry in a language only the kobolds could decipher. The two hooded kobolds pulled weapons from their waists. The one to the right pulled two daggers, rough around the edges but sharp enough to be deadly. The one on the left pulled a scimitar that seemed far too large for such a small creature. Still, he wielded it with ease and purpose. The two behind the shaman began to sidestep warily around in an attempt to flank Andro who stood a only stride’s length from the shaman.

  So-Nobu and Charlie had already drawn their weapons—Charlie with two of her many trusted daggers, and So-Nobu with only one of his two katana swords. Charlie flipped one dagger around in her hand to face the pointed end behind her and raised it to about shoulder’s height while the other stayed pointing forwards down by her waist. She began to walk hastily towards the kobold on her side of the room.

  So-Nobu matched her pace as he held his katana straight out in front of him with two hands on the hilt. His upper body hardly moved as his feet carried him towards the other kobold, blade down by his abdomen and pointed towards his target. His stance was wider, but unhampering as he seemed to float over to the second kobold.

  Andro was shaping his hands and creating another set of water spheres when he saw the third kobold sprint for the crossbow he had lain on the table moments before.

  “Charlie! Eyes Up!” he bounced his focus between the crossbow and the shaman as his fingers twitched and twisted.

  Charlie let her eyes drift over to the kobold who now had the crossbow in his hands and was frantically knocking a new arrow into it. Charlie flicked the dagger in her right hand that was pointed outwards back around, catching the bladed side between her thumb and forefinger. In almost the same instant, she tossed the dagger in the direction of the crossbow kobold, not losing pace or step. The dagger revolved once in the air before diving its blade deep into the left bicep of the kobold. The kobold shrieked in pain as it dropped the crossbow and reached over with the other hand to address the wound. The dagger was deep in his arm and it left him debating for a moment whether he should remove it.

  By the time the kobold looked back up at Charlie, blood now oozing from the fresh wound, Charlie already had a new dagger in hand and was a step away from her original kobold target. She was in full stride now and gripping the second dagger pointed backwards very tightly—this is the dagger she would always strike with first (unless of course she had to throw one at an enemy who was trying to load a crossbow against her). She gave a slight hop in her final step, giving her an even greater vertical vantage as she swung her right arm around, bringing the backwards blade across the kobold’s face. The kobold was able to dodge most of the attack and prevent himself from the potentially blinding strike, but took a large gash on the side of his cheek.

  The kobold had no moment to adjust his stance before a second dagger sunk into the side of his ribs. Another painful cry of agony filled the tavern as it dropped to a knee. Charlie pulled the dagger back out and took a defensive stance, her eyes dancing back and forth to both wounded kobolds. Her feet stayed bouncing lightly from one to the other in the same cadence as her eyes. The kobold who had been stabbed in the ribs gave a menacing growl that gurgled as it did its best to stand back up. The crossbow kobold began to reach into its waistband and pull out a dagger with his one good arm.

  *PLSH PLSH*

  Two more water spheres hurled from Andro’s hands were dispersed into sprinkles as the same blue misty shield appeared before the shaman.

  “Grr…Dammit!!” Andro brought both hands together in front of him, twisting them in unison as if holding a large ball. Water began to swirl and form inside of it.

  “Kobolds have magic now?” Charlie asked, still bouncing lightly off her feet and watching the two kobolds for their next move.

  *SHTANG*

  The sound of sharp steel crashing into one another rang out through the tavern as the scimitar kobold brought his weapon up just in time to prevent So-Nobu from splitting him in half down the middle. So-Nobu seemed not the least bit worried or surprised as this was exactly what he intended for the kobold to do. With the kobold’s focus completely on holding off the magnificent katana from striking him down from above, So-Nobu swept a foot around the back of one of the legs of the kobold, while his balance remained unwavering.

  The scimitar kobold’s leg came flying out from under him as he fell backwards gripping the handle of his sword for dear life. In a single motion, So-Nobu shifted himself around the side of the now fallen kobold and brought his katana around in a half circle motion down from his shoulder. It came down and through the throat of the kobold and back up to the other shoulder. Not a drop of blood was found on the blade. The kobold had dropped his scimitar immediately and grasped at his throat which was spurting blood furiously. No matter how much he tried to grip and cover the wound, the blood spilled out. All the kobold could do now was produce gurgled coughs and wet gasps of air.

  “They don’t have magic. Unless—” So-Nobu began to speak as he watched his foe slowly squirm toward its death. Charlie cut him off.

  “Unless they possess something magical!” Charlie glanced at the shaman for a moment and saw that he was still holding the staff straight out in front of him. “Andro! The staff!”

  Andro gave a smirk on the side of his mouth as the water within his hands began to sculpt into a much larger sphere. It swirled with an eagerness to be released.

  “Block this you fuckin’ lizard.” Andro began to heave both hands forward, opening them outwards from the base of his palms.

  The shaman reacted in the same instant, slamming the butt end of his staff heavily into the ground. A ripple coursed through the floorboards as if they were made of water and quickly grew in size. It rumbled as it moved around the floors as a giant circle towards Andro, Charlie and So-Nobu. Andro was knocked back almost instantly from the impact as it rolled into his ankles and he fell backwards onto the ground. The large sphere of water was projected through the ceiling just above the space between Andro and the shaman. It blasted through the ceiling, leaving a large hole that carried through the attic and again through the roof.

  Charlie gasped as the earthly wave tremor approached her and she quickly jumped back, still facing the kobolds. So-Nobu quickly faded into a black mist which reappeared near the entrance of the tavern, a few steps behind the shaman. Charlie had made some distance between her and the earthly tremor, but by the time she landed she had to jump again. She leapt forward into the air, clearing the wave of floorboards but failed to factor the fallen chair just in her landing space. She caught her leg on one of its legs and tumbled to the floor as well.

  The two wounded kobolds ran forward with their weapons, splitting themselves between Andro and Charlie who were trying to recover from being knocked prone. The kobold with a dagger still stuck in its left arm sprinted up to Charlie as she was almost to her feet and gave her a heavy kick to her stomach. She grunted and hunched over, somehow maintaining her balance. She barely had a hold on her daggers but refused to let them go. The kobold followed up by lunging towards her torso with the dagger he had pulled. She folded herself over even more, stretching herself as far back as she could from the waist while extending her arms outwards to pull herself as far back from the blade as she could. Somehow the dagger did not penetrate as the kobold was forced to pull it back or lose its balance. It was as if, in some uncanny way, Charlie had become rubber in order to dodge the attack. She was certainly not made of rubber, nor did she know of any spells that could make her so, but thanks to her flexibility and some dumb luck, she managed to prevent a potentially life-threatening blow. Charlie got to her feet and hopped back a bit to regain her posture and composure.

  The second kobold lunged for Andro who was still trying to get up off the floor. It dropped to all fours and sprinted this way to cover more ground for a moment before standing back up right in front of Andro. Andro did his best to scramble to his feet but was only able to get on one knee as he felt the blade sink into his abdomen. It pierced right through the simple leather chest piece he wore. It was cold and it stung like hell. Andro’s lip curled up and his teeth showed as they clenched tightly together. Andro grabbed the hand of the kobold that held the dagger in his stomach and used it to pull himself up. The blade sunk deeper into his stomach as he lifted himself to his feet and stared into the eyes of the kobold. The kobold’s expression faded from cheeky celebration to genuine terror as he realized that this man was now standing and pulling the dagger further into himself by his own volition. In doing so, it brought the kobold closer to him. The kobold tried to pull away, even releasing the dagger, but Andro’s grip on his hand was too tight.

  Andro continued to push the dagger further in, nearly to the hilt, as he pulled the kobold’s hand closer. His nose was almost touching the snout of the terrified kobold. Andro raised his free hand up to the side of the kobold’s face which was flailing back in an attempt to get away from Andro’s menacing stare. Andro curled his ring and pinky fingers into his palm, while extending his middle and pointer fingers out towards the kobold’s temple. Andro flicked up his thumb, turning his hand into something like a gun.

  “You should’ve listened…Punk.” Andro pulled his thumb down onto his pointer finger as a needle of ice shot through his extended fingers and into the temple of the kobold. The icy needle shot straight through the kobold’s skull, killing it instantly. Andro let it slump to the floor as he took a step back to look down at the dagger still protruding from his belly.

  “Fucked…” Andro sounded more annoyed than injured as he dropped back down to his knees.

  The shaman had not noticed So-Nobu misty step behind him. So-Nobu moved quickly towards the backside of the creature who watched the spectacle of Andro falling to his side, gripping the area where he had been stabbed. The shaman whirled around just in time to see So-Nobu bringing down his sword. The kobold lifted his staff up above his head. He turned it just in time to hold it perpendicular to the fall of So-Nobu’s blade. The sword bounced off the staff, knocking So-Nobu back slightly. The shaman was still unscathed, but he took a closer look at his staff. At the point where So-Nobu’s sword made an impact, there was a newly formed wedge. Small cracks and splinters were produced from the wedge which made the shaman kobold growl in frustration.

  So-Nobu found his balance and resumed his offensive stance (though it was also his defensive stance) with the sword held out at his waist and pointing to the top of the shaman’s head. The shaman moved the staff quickly into one hand, raising his other. His palm faced him as he slightly curled his fingers in. So-Nobu could feel the floorboards and earth beneath him tremble. He jumped to the side as quickly as he could but felt something large grab one of his legs in midair.

  A large hand made of dirt and rock and wood bits formed from the ground and wrapped its fingers around So-Nobu’s leg causing him to fall on his side. Both hands still gripped the blade’s hilt as he began to lift and strike the earthy hand repeatedly. Each strike switched sides, coming down from one shoulder then the other as he hacked away at the giant hand which gave no slack in its grip. The shaman began to cackle which caused So-Nobu to look in its direction. The shaman held his hand now in a sort of angled fist. He twisted the fist and as he did so, the earthy hand mimicked the motion which flipped So-Nobu over onto his belly.

  Charlie watched as So-Nobu was flipped around before resetting her focus on the wounded kobold in front of her.

  “Alright. I’ve had enough of this shit.” She began to turn her body so that her shoulder was now facing the kobold. She held both her daggers at point towards the kobold as he held his out in front of his face for defense. She quickly took a step forward and crouched down with one knee out in front, keeping her back leg extended. She sliced quickly with one dagger at his shin which drew some blood. The kobold winced but stayed standing. She brought her other dagger around as she lifted herself up from her bent knee, bringing her closer to the kobold. The kobold moved his dagger around to block hers from swiping at his other arm as he felt another sting from behind the leg that was just slashed. Charlie had brought the dagger around the back of his leg and slashed his calf good and deep, causing his leg to buckle underneath him. He fell to one knee as he held off her other dagger still. She pushed away his blocking dagger with her own and in the same motion, brought the calf-slashing dagger up to his dagger-wielding arm. She slashed the inside of it between his elbow and armpit, causing him to let out a cry and drop his dagger.

  The kobold looked up at Charlie who stood over him now. He showed his teeth before attempting to growl at her, but all that came out was wet gurgling and spurting noises as she crossed both daggers across his throat in a fast “x” motion. His face became warped and grimacing as he saw her own face change. As his vision faded, he could see Charlie’s face had become like a kobold’s, mocking his grimaces of agony as he slumped dead to the floor.

  “Charlie! Nrggh…Stop fuckin’ around and…grrmpf…help Nobu!” Andro was still laying on his side keeping his hands hovering near the impaled dagger as he called out to Charlie in pain. Charlie turned to look at Andro, her kobold face now morphing back to the tiefling form she had taken before.

  “Andro, I have a healer’s kit. I can—”

  “No!” Andro continued to huff in pain between breaths. “Help Nobu!”

  Charlie turned to see that So-Nobu was trying to twist himself out of the earthy hand that was now gripping him from the waist down. She noticed the shaman twisting his own fist and beginning to squeeze. So-Nobu let out a wail of pain as he felt some of his bones cracking.

  Charlie began to rush towards the shaman and flung a dagger in his direction. The shaman hadn’t noticed the dagger coming towards him until it whizzed just past the side of his face. A small droplet of blood slowly made its way down his check from just under his eye. He turned towards Charlie who was one final stride away from him, pulling yet another dagger out to replenish the one she had just thrown. He swung his staff around at her as she tried to leap on to his back, catching her in the jaw and knocking her away to the floor. She quickly got back onto her feet and shook it off. The shaman squeezed his fist tightly before tossing it forcefully outwards and opening his hand at the same time.

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  So-Nobu flew across the room and landed near the same corner as the dead troglodyte with the halberd jutting out of its face. So-Nobu sat up quickly and felt a rush of dizziness in his head as he held it in his hand, trying to regain his coordination.

  Charlie leapt once again towards the shaman. The shaman gripped the staff with both hands, one placed slightly lower on the shaft than the other, as he brought the knobbed top down quickly onto Charlie’s head. She fell hard to the ground hitting her chin and landing on her stomach. Both daggers fell to the sides as she hit the ground. She began lifting herself up from her arms, but they trembled beneath her. She was forced back to the ground by the butt end of the staff as the shaman stood over her now smiling.

  “Takesss you alive. He will wantsss you. Have you as hisss vessel…” The shaman began twisting one of his hands into a claw again as the earth beneath Charlie began to rumble. The earthy hand sprung up from the ground and wrapped around Charlie, squeezing her shoulders tightly to her body and bringing her up off the ground (although the hand was still technically part of the ground, but there was no time for semantics in Charlie’s mind).

  The shaman began to point the knob end of the staff towards Charlie’s head.

  “Sssleeep now…” The staff’s knob end began to glow as Charlie started to lose consciousness.

  *CRACK*

  The blade of the halberd that had pierced the troglodyte came down, splintering the staff in two. The shaman jumped back as the glow flashed then disappeared at the same time as the earthy hand crumbled into rubble to the ground. Charlie slumped down with it and groaned tiredly. The black mist had not finished dissipating as the shaman turned to see So-Nobu holding the shaft of the halberd with both hands. The shaman pulled both hands up to his face, dropping the broken end of the staff and shrieking in horror. So-Nobu lifted the halberd up out of the floorboard which it had firmly planted itself just after splitting the staff.

  So-Nobu pointed the sharp tip of the halberd under the shaman kobold’s chin, the axe side of it nearly grazing into its unprotected scaly chest. The shaman put both hands up in surrender and gulped hard.

  “Now, you will tell me what I need to know, or I will mount your head on this spike.” So-Nobu pressed the spiked end of the halberd into the underside of the shaman’s chin causing the kobold to raise his head further up. A cold drop of blood slid its way down the kobold’s throat as it gulped again.

  Charlie groaned and staggered to her feet, dusting herself off as she did so. Her moment of grogginess quickly wore off as she remembered Andro behind her. He was in the same position but no longer making strained grunts of pain. She ran over to him and knelt down by his side.

  “Andro! Oh shit shit shit. Hang on. You’re going to be ok.” She pulled a satchel from behind her back which had always been tucked behind her. She dug through it and pulled out a square leather pouch which had a single buckle clasp in the center of it. She snapped it open to reveal a couple of syringes and medicinal bottles of different sizes, some gauze and bandaging adhesives and a pocket cloth. She began to pull out a syringe and fill it with one of the small medicine bottles. She gave it a flick before injecting it into the side of his abdomen. Andro winced in pain and clenched his teeth.

  “This is going to hurt. I’m sorry…” Charlie pressed one palm under the knife, covering his naval. She pressed in with the hand and at the same time extracted the blade in a relatively slow, precise motion. She tossed the dagger away and began to layer gauze onto the wound which was now hemorrhaging blood.

  Andro cried out in pain, “Dammit! Scaly shit heads really got me good.”

  Charlie did not acknowledge this as she was desperately trying to stop the bleeding.

  “Nobu, he’s bleeding a lot back here. I’m not a cleric or a doctor you know.” She sounded panicked.

  So-Nobu still held the halberd to the shaman and paid no attention to Charlie.

  “You said you wanted her alive. Something about a “vessel”?”

  The shaman was panting through clenched teeth but did not answer.

  “Answer me, foul creature! Who do you work for?” So-Nobu pressed the halberd more into the chin of the kobold which now began to puncture the skin.

  The shaman winced in pain.

  “Who?!” So-Nobu was angered and growing impatient.

  The shaman gulped once more before slowly churning into a fit of laughter. So-Nobu pulled the halberd back quickly and flipped it around in the same motion, hitting the shaman on the head with the butt end of it. The shaman fell to all fours on the ground and ceased laughing. As the shaman looked up and growled at So-Nobu, the pointed end was right back on him, an inch away from his face.

  “You will answer me.” So-Nobu’s eyes narrowed on the creature.

  The shaman finally spoke, “We make our own sssky…”

  The kobold seemed to smirk at one end of his mouth as a long thin tongue began to wrap slightly around one of the larger fangs in its mouth. The shaman twitched his head up causing the fang tooth to pop out of place and fall under its tongue. It quickly bit down and the faint sound of sizzling came from inside its mouth.

  “No!” So-Nobu threw the halberd away and dropped down to the floor next to the kobold who was now flopping around on its back. The kobold’s mouth wretched open as white foamy bubbles accumulated and poured over the sides of its jaw. So-Nobu hooked his finger and fished around inside the kobold’s mouth for a moment, hoping to find the false, poisonous tooth. The kobold had already swallowed it and So-Nobu pulled his finger back out and stood up wiping it on his cloak.

  The kobold wriggled and writhed as more foamy bubbles sizzled and crept out around the sides of its jaws. Its eyes rolled back into its head as it let out a final bubbly breath.

  “Nobu! I need help here!!” Charlie cried out to So-Nobu as he shook his head in frustration and stepped over to the two of his business partners.

  “The bleeding. I can’t stop it, Nobu. He’s gonna die. Oh gods, he’s gonna die, Nobu!” Charlie’s voice was trembling as she continued to pack more gauze over the wound. Each new white mesh square quickly becoming saturated with the dark, red liquid that would not cease its fountaining.

  So-Nobu got down to one knee on the other side of Andro. He shook his head slowly as worry crept over his face.

  “Charlie I…I am not a healer…” So-Nobu shared a similar tone of panic as it began to settle in that this wound was quickly becoming mortal. Andro’s breathing became staggered as he tensed up once more in excruciating pain.

  Sweat was pouring down his face as Andro began to press his hands over the gauze.

  “No, no sweetie. Don’t do that. We need to be able to see it. Oh, gods Nobu, what is happening? What do we do?” Charlie was frantically pulling more gauze and bandage adhesives out of the medical kit.

  So-Nobu looked on at the wound in Andro’s torso as it continued to pool blood on the ground. He did not know what to say. Tears began to fill Charlie’s eyes as she attempted to lift Andro’s hands and pack more gauze over the bleeding.

  “Bugg Bugga!”

  Charlie and So-Nobu both turned and looked up to see the bugbear standing a few steps away. He was holding a larger pack than the one that Charlie had in one hand. In the other he held a chemistry beaker of some kind. Inside it was a pale, yellowish liquid that had some strange particles of plants floating around inside of it. He held up the beaker and spoke again slower.

  “Bugg. Bugga.” He lifted and extended the beaker out with each word.

  Charlie and So-Nobu shrugged and shook their heads, and the bugbear walked over to them.

  The bugbear sat cross legged at Andro’s head. His furry hand that held the large leather pack was free now since he dropped the pack as he sat, and reached out for Andro’s mouth. His large hand gripped Andro’s cheeks and pried open his mouth. Andro’s eyes stayed shut as his mouth opened slightly. Charlie quickly reached out and grabbed the bugbear’s arm.

  “Wait!” She looked from the bugbear to Andro then back to the bugbear again. The bugbear could see the look of deep concern on Charlie’s face.

  “Bug bugga…” He blinked his eyes slowly as he nodded to his words.

  Charlie released his arm and watched as the bugbear poured the contents of the beaker into Andro’s mouth. Andro instinctively swallowed most of it but coughed up the last bit of it before going back to clenching his teeth.

  The bugbear set the empty beaker down by his side and placed the palm of his large hand over the sweaty brow of Andro. The bugbear closed his eyes and titled his head slightly. He kept it there for a moment as Andro’s breathing began to slow and steady. Andro’s teeth began to unclench and the bugbear removed his palm from his forehead.

  The bugbear then went into his pack which held all kinds of pockets and compartments. He pulled out a syringe which had already been filled with some clear liquid that neither So-Nobu or Charlie could identify without more context. He flicked the tip of the syringe with a single black nail as a few droplets spurted out of the end. He stuck the needle into Andro’s wrist and injected the contents slowly. He pulled the syringe back out and put it neatly back into his pack.

  The bugbear uncrossed his legs and stood up, motioning with his hands for Charlie and So-Nobu to join him. They followed suit and rose to their feet as the bugbear bent down and grabbed Andro under his arms.

  “Bugga. Bugga. Bug bug.”

  The bugbear motioned with his head towards each of Andro’s legs and then to Charlie and So-Nobu as he spoke the words. They both moved around and each bent down and grabbed one of Andro’s legs.

  “Bugga?”

  The bugbear looked at them briefly and then lifted Andro up. Charlie and So-Nobu did the same. They followed the bugbear who did most of the heavy lifting as he carried Andro back through the kitchen and past the curtain. There were a few stairs leading down a short, dark hallway which proceeded downwards. At the end of the stairway they came to a landing and a wall. To the left was a door. The bugbear pulled Andro up slightly and wrapped one arm around his chest, hooking under both of Andro’s arms to free up one of his own. The bugbear was a large creature, slightly taller than Andro and twice as burly (three times as hairy as well), and showed its strength in that moment as it didn’t even seem to phase the bugbear to hold a grown man up with just one arm.

  The bugbear opened the door and switched back to holding Andro with two hands. He proceeded to take them into the room. The room was small—larger than a closet but smaller than an average bedroom. The room was disorderly with scattered pages and books and empty booze bottles all around. A large but derelict bed frame which held a shallow mattress with a few thick blankets tossed atop it, hugged the right-side wall of the room. The three of them placed Andro gently onto the bed. The bugbear walked to the other side of the small room where an old wooden scribe's desk stood. It had papers and bottles scattered all over it as well. Some of the bottles were just from past booze benders, some were filled with strange tinctures and plant concoctions, and some were filled with strange bright yellow liquids.

  Piss. Those bottles are filled with piss, Charlie thought to herself.

  The bug bear was searching through some of the small drawers that stood over the table portion of the desk. As he did this, Charlie and So-Nobu looked around and took in the elements of the room. Given the disorganized nature of the room, and the foul smell to boot, they deduced rather quickly that this bugbear lived here. A hermit from the looks of it. A haphazardly, alcoholic bugbear hermit who apparently dabbles in something related to botany and/or alchemy.

  Their thought processes were interrupted by the bugbear clinking glass together as he shakily mixed contents from two beakers into one another. Back and forth the liquids swished and mixed, changing from a transparent mint green to a phosphorescent orange. The bugbear held it up close to his eyes to examine the contents carefully. He then brought the opening of the beaker up to his nose and sniffed it deeply. His face began to contort as his eyes twitched and his head vibrated. He gave a quick shake of the head before giving a firm nod towards the beaker in affirmation.

  He carried the beaker over to the bed where Andro lay on his back. His eyes were closed, and the sweating wasn’t as bad now, but the wound was still bleeding. The blood had started to dribble onto the blanket under Andro as he lay there. The bugbear began to peel away the layers of gauze which had stuck to the wound. Andro winced slightly as the gauze was lifted away. The bugbear then started to tilt the beaker of orange liquid over the open wound but stopped himself.

  “Bugg…” The bugbear looked carefully around the room, as if searching for something.

  “Bugg Bugga!” He pointed with his free hand towards a thin, rectangular wooden peg laying on top of a few pieces of old scrap paper on the floor. It looked as though it had broken off of a piece of furniture, but it was hard to tell which furniture piece given the current state of the room. So-Nobu walked over and picked up the small wooden peg and held it out to the bugbear. The bugbear put up his hand and shook his head. He pointed to Andro. So-Nobu looked at the bugbear with mild confusion. The bug bear pointed to his own open mouth, which hosted more than one of those large, fanged teeth that made his lips stick out, and mimed a biting motion. So-Nobu nodded solemnly.

  “I understand. Charlie.” So-Nobu looked at Charlie and beckoned her over to Andro with a tilt of his head. Charlie walked over and knelt on the bed, leaning herself against the wall and taking one of Andro’s hands in her own. So-Nobu placed the wooden peg in Andro’s mouth which he instinctively held with his teeth. So-Nobu grabbed Andro’s other hand.

  The bugbear looked briefly at both So-Nobu and Charlie, nodding to them both. They nodded back. The bugbear began to pour the orange liquid over the open, bleeding wound. Andro’s teeth bit down hard on the wooden peg as his hands squeezed Charlie and So-Nobu’s with intensity. He flailed about for a moment as he let out a muffled scream. The contents poured out over the wound which began to bubble intensely.

  Andro’s flailing eventually stopped as he passed out. The bugbear stood back up and returned the beaker to the desk. Charlie massaged her hand which now stung a bit from the tight squeezes Andro provided. She stood up and walked over to the bugbear.

  “Thank you.” She said to the large creature. The bugbear looked around for a moment, unsure of what to say. He settled with nodding his head. He reached down around the back of the desk, fumbling his hand around before finding a large, corked bottle. It was filled with some sort of brown liquid. He popped the cork off with the sharp, black nail of his thumb and took a big swig. A couple of dribbles caught in his hairy beard which wrapped under his chin like a strap. He did not wipe his face before offering the bottle to Charlie.

  Charlie hesitated for a moment, looking over at Andro who was now breathing normally and no longer hemorrhaging blood, and then grabbed the bottle. She took a large swig and gave a quaint burp, covering her mouth as she did.

  “Oh jeez. Excuse me.” She sounded startled, but took another swig before handing it back to the bugbear. This time she winced a little at the strong taste of whatever strange brew this booze provided. The bugbear turned to So-Nobu and held out the bottle.

  “Bugga?”

  So-Nobu did not hear the bugbear as he stared deeply at the bubbles foaming and popping around Andro’s wound. The vision of the kobold shaman’s foaming mouth flashed in his mind.

  What was it he said again? “We make our own sky”? So-Nobu continued to replay this in his head over and over as he stared deeply into the foaming bubbles.