The forest shook with the echo of screams.

  Steel flashed. Wind howled. Flame roared. Water surged.

  The hunters of Kolma moved like phantoms through the battlefield — six warriors, honed and precise, cleaving through the first wave of kobolds like wheat before a scythe.

  The ambush was successful and the kobolds were in panic. Normally kobolds were hard to deal with, as they were as cunning as wolves for example, but the difference was that kobolds were cowards. They always hunted in numbers even for a single prey, so now that they were being hunted, most of them simply tried to run away like chickens without heads.

  Talmir was a blur.

  He ducked and spun, slicing kobolds in half from meters away. His blade, wrapped in wind, curved through the air like a silent whisper. One kobold managed to dodge — barely — only to find Talmir already behind it, his body vanishing and reappearing with a gust of pressure.

  A single strike. Headless.

  Across the ridge, Ulmak soared through the trees, hurling fireballs that burst like thunderclaps on impact. Explosions rocked the backlines of the kobolds, scattering them. Even when they dodged, the blast radius tore limbs and sent burning fur flying. He swept above, circling like a hawk waiting for the right time to plunge.

  Obin was a juggernaut.

  Stone encased him like a thick armor. He barreled into groups of kobolds with unstoppable momentum, fists cracking bone and sending bodies flying. When a spear jabbed his side, he barely registered it — the hardened stone absorbed it. Still not wanting to give them even an inch, he dove straight into the dirt, burrowing underground with the whole golem, reappearing only to crush them with his hands.

  Sera was fire incarnate.

  She danced through enemy lines, sword blazing. Every slash left trails of flame that licked at flesh and bone. When surrounded, she inhaled — then exhaled fire in a wide arc, roasting four kobolds where they stood. The fire wrapped her like a cloak, making her presence too hot to approach.

  Above them all, Tolk stood in perfect rhythm.

  Perched near the treeline, he drew his bow again and again — almost never missing. Arrows rained in clusters, bending just enough with his wind magic to dodge past his allies and strike the kobolds.

  They scattered every time they heard the hiss of his drawstring.

  And Darnel —

  His body wrapped in water, forming a massive golem with long, octopus-like limbs.

  Each strike took out three enemies at once, crashing through bone weapons. His limbs dragged kobolds off the ground, encasing and suffocating them mid-air before tossing their limp forms aside.

  The battle was going well.

  Too well.

  Until the second wave came with a strong howl.

  They crawled from the collapsed cave in numbers — kobolds shrieking in fury, rallying in twos and threes, surrounding the hunters. The ambush had cost them many, but they still had around twenty. The panic was gone, replaced by fury and strange confidence.

  Obin shouted as he tossed two half-dead kobolds aside. "They've stopped running!"

  "They've regrouped," Talmir muttered, slicing through two at once. "Form a line —"

  Then suddenly a howling roar cracked the sky.

  Lightning split the cave entrance wide open.

  A blur shot down from the cave mouth — faster than anything they'd seen. Claws digging into the soil, eyes glowing violet.

  The kobold alpha. A mutant.

  Its fur was pitch black, unnaturally smooth, and crackled with arcs of electricity. Its claws sparked with energy, and its body rippled with power far beyond any normal kobold. Its eyes locked onto Talmir — calculating, cold.

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  The second it showed itself, it was already behind Talmir.

  Talmir spun to defend — but it was too fast. The alpha slashed at him in a flash of lightning, claws extended, electricity bursting from the strike across his back.

  It sent him flying.

  Talmir grunted, thrown through the air. He crashed into a tree hard enough to splinter it.

  "TALMIR!" Ulmak shouted.

  But luckily Tolk was close and reacted just in time — he channeled wind between Talmir's falling body and the tree, softening the impact.

  Talmir groaned, conscious but dazed.

  The kobolds howled — emboldened. Their alpha had come. Their attacks became sharper, more coordinated.

  The alpha reappeared behind Darnel. He roared and turned, swinging the full weight of his golem toward the alpha. Water surged — but it grinned at him.

  Electricity exploded from its limbs. The water shuddered, crackled… then exploded.

  Darnel was also sent flying back, steaming and charred. He landed hard on the ground. He gasped, his magic shorted out.

  "Bad match… I guess," he said, coughing up blood and falling unconscious.

  Sera surged forward, fire spinning around her. "Then switch, you idiot!"

  She and Obin flanked the alpha — one fire, one stone.

  The alpha fought like no kobold ever had. It dodged Obin's hammer-fist, redirected Sera's flame with raw speed, and even launched lightning bolts in short, explosive bursts. But this wasn't a fair fight — it was three against one.

  Meanwhile Tolk held the rest of the kobolds back with volleys of arrows.

  Ulmak descended like a meteor.

  Fire wrapped around his legs as he dropped from the sky, slamming into the alpha with explosive force. The impact shook the battlefield. Dirt and sparks flew. The alpha screamed in pain as its flesh burned.

  Ulmak didn't let up — he grabbed its head and forced it down.

  But the alpha in turn channeled all its electricity toward Ulmak, shocking him and dazing him for a second.

  Before it could finish the job, Sera kicked it away, fire wrapped around her feet, propelling the kick while also burning it.

  Obin cast stone walls in front of Ulmak, Talmir, and Darnel to shield them quickly, then joined Sera in the fight.

  Suddenly, from looking like a surefire victory, the situation devolved into disaster, with two heavily injured hunters.

  Tolk joined them up close now as well because he was out of arrows.

  The only good news was that the alpha was also heavily injured now, so Obin and Sera were pushing it on its back legs.

  Slash after smash, those two worked wonders with their teamwork. Still, it wasn't enough, as Tolk couldn't hold the rest of the kobolds back forever, and he was in danger of being surrounded.

  The alpha's pelt sparked once more, its muscles rippling in its legs. It charged at Sera, managing to kick her away from Obin.

  Now that it had breathing room again, it went for Obin, and while the matchup against earth was bad, Obin was by far the slowest. Nearly teleporting behind his back, it drove its hand toward Obin's skull.

  But then at the last moment… Ulmak, recovering from the daze, predicted its movement. Seeing that it liked to attack from behind, he waited for it to choose a target and prepared to counter.

  Once it went for Obin, Ulmak pushed all of his power toward his legs. A fire stream erupted from them and propelled him forward almost as fast as the kobold was.

  "Gotcha, you bitch!"

  A fireball erupted point-blank against its skull.

  An explosion occurred.

  When the dust cleared a few seconds later, the alpha lay twitching, its head and upper body burned so badly almost no flesh remained — only bone.

  Obin approached it, not taking any chances, and crushed its chest with a final stone-covered stomp.

  Silence.

  The remaining kobolds — maybe eight — fled or tried to. Tolk and Sera put them down cleanly once they fell into the traps.

  Sera checked the others. "Quickly, take out the potions," she said as she rushed toward Talmir.

  Ulmak took out a potion and gave it to Darnel. "Are you alright?"

  "Yeah, it's just a scratch," said Darnel, standing up, grunting and coughing up some blood.

  "And you, Tolk?"

  "I'm fine."

  "Obin?"

  "Fine."

  Ulmak walked over to Talmir, who was sitting against a tree while Sera fed him the potion, blood on his back and on the ground under him. "You alive?"

  The potions could stop the bleeding to some extent, but internal injuries and heavy wounds were a problem.

  "Barely," Talmir managed to say, coughing up a lot of blood.

  As Sera administered first aid, Ulmak said, "You're lucky to be alive, man. I fear that Saldia is going to kill me though."

  Obin then emerged with the five rescued captives — bruised, tired, but alive. Some even went on their knees, thanking them.

  A few crates had survived too — some dried food, tools, and a sealed parcel marked for Kolma's smithy. Not much, but better than nothing.

  They made a stretcher for Talmir out of bark and branches. Tolk and Ulmak would carry him while Obin helped Darnel.

  After hours of walking back, they managed to return to Kolma.

  The guard Tom, lazily chewing a stick of mint root, stood up straight when he saw the group. Once they got close, his face fell at the sight of limping forms and a bloodied Talmir.

  "By the gods… what happened to you?"

  "A mutant kobold. Haven't seen anything like it yet," Ulmak said dryly. "Now if you'll excuse me, I'm tired and they need medical attention, so call Father Pella."

  Tom gawked. "And Talmir lost?!"

  "Yes, Captain Obvious," Ulmak said quickly. "Now if you'll excuse us." He rolled his eyes at Tom.

  Tom looked them over. Bruised. Soot-stained. Tired and bloody. But still… victorious.

  He stepped aside, tapping his spear. "Welcome back. I'll call for Brahm."

  And Kolma's best walked through the gates — wounded, bloody, and tired. A sharp reminder of how dangerous it can be out there.

  Once Tom rang the bell twice — the signal that Kolma's hunters had returned — the village began to stir.

  Within minutes, families and friends gathered at the gates. Relief surged through the crowd as the wounded appeared but were still breathing. Loved ones rushed forward, tears and tight embraces all around. It wasn't the first time hunters had returned injured… but this time it had clearly been close.

  Those whose injuries were minor — bruises, shallow cuts, or exhaustion — remained behind with Ulmak and Brahm for a debrief. The rest were directed toward the Dawn Church, where Father Pella was already waiting at the steps with two apprentice healers and a flask of glowing tonic.

  Ulmak stood near the stone well by the square and turned to the group.

  "I'll handle the briefing," he said. "Return your gear. Get healed and get some rest."

  Before they could scatter, Brahm stepped forward. His expression was firm — but proud.

  "You came back alive," he said, looking over each of them. "All of you. That's good, and I'm proud of you. Good work, lads."

  He then turned toward the traders and called out their leader with a hand signal.

  No one spoke, but the nods that followed were full of quiet respect.

  Each hunter removed the special spatial ring Brahm had entrusted them with.

  One by one, they returned the rings, as well as any armor or weapons borrowed from the town's emergency stockpile.

  Then they dispersed — some heading home, others toward the church, where Pella had already begun assessing Talmir's back with a tired frown and glowing palms.

  Back in the guild hall, Brahm sat in the meeting room as Ulmak laid out the report.

  He started from the very beginning:

  The late caravan. The initial tracks along the road to Lupos. The absence of wagon debris until Hollow Ridge. The kobold trail. The cave. The traps. The alpha.

  Ulmak kept the report clean and systematic — no exaggeration, no glorifying. Just facts.

  When he finished, Brahm leaned back in his chair.

  "You did well," the chief said. "All of you. And you made the right call, even when the numbers shifted. I'll take the trader's testimony as well — but I trust you."

  Ulmak gave a small nod. "Thank you, old goose. I'll go hide from Saldia now."

  "Haha! Oh yeah… good luck."

  Outside, the square was slowly clearing. The crowd was dispersing. The rescued merchants were now being guided into the church — their faces pale, but safe. Except the leader, who had to stay with Brahm.

  The village was a bit shaken.

  The wounds. The blood.

  But mostly glad, as the hunters had survived.

  Except for one — Saldia. Trouble was brooding on Talmir's horizon, as Saldia was quickly approaching the church, furious and worried at the same time.