The Kobold and the Sorceress - Chapter 1

Chapter 1

Rizzak, chief trapmaker of the Za'kol kobold tribe, lay restless on his mat, his red scales blending almost perfectly with the red wool of the mat's fabric. As chief trapmaker he had the benefit of a hut all for himself. Other kobolds of the tribe had to share and sleep in crowded places, sometimes a score to a single hut.

Rizzak enjoyed the solitude most of the time. He was big for a kobold, at four feet tall, while most of his brethren stood at three feet, and he enjoyed having the space to stretch his legs while sleeping. Most of the time he also enjoyed the quietness so uncharacteristic in a kobold hut, to be alone with his thoughts, designing new and ingenious traps to make intruders on his tribe's territory pay for their affront.

However this day he was having trouble sleeping or thinking straight. The source of his discomfort was his recent trip above, the first of his lifetime, with a party of warriors from the tribe to grab sheep from the outlying human communities.

The trip was a success as far as the tribe was concerned. The humans of this region far north still hadn't been able to devise a way to locate the kobold raid parties. The territory was too wide, with rugged hills allowing many places to hide, and the kobolds always came out from their refuge on the caverns under White Mountain during the night. The humans also weren't used to kobolds or their sneaky raiding practices. Their usual enemies had been orcs, stupid, big and brave, who always fought in the open. The stealthy, wise (some would call cowardly) ways of kobolds still were a puzzle to these people, ten months after the kobold tribe had settled here, after a long trek through the caverns of the Underdark.

But it was during the trip that Rizzak saw, for the first time in his young twenty years, the object of his obsession now: human females. The trapmaker was stunned by how such beautiful creatures could exist, with their long, tall legs and their big, round breasts. They were a pair of lovers, taking a dip naked during the night, thinking no one was watching them, but the kobold's darkvision helped him see it all from more than two hundred feet away. They kissed passionately most of the time, embracing each other so fiercely that they seemed to be a single creature, a beast with two backs. Their pale skin and fair hair reminded him of the white dragons which supposedly made their lairs somewhere up north.

His companions urged him to come back to their lair, and pointed out their clothes, near the river bank, to tell him that these were two female warriors he was ogling at. Their wooden shields, steel swords and spiked helmets proved it so. So he was forced to retreat back to their cavern at the foot of the mountain, with a fire in his loins he couldn't quench.

Kobolds were a full species, able to reproduce with each other. But this desire Rizzak was feeling was not unheard of. Dragon's Lust it was called.

Kobolds were cousins of dragons, or so he had been told. Their religion taught them that their ancestors were a couple of dragons who were tricked by other races (goblinoids, elves, humans, ogres, orcs, dwarves, etc). These races were united in their jealousy of how powerful dragons were, and so they had devised a magical way to transform that couple of dragons in the forms of small humanoids that looked like a mixture of reptile and dogs. The kobolds ever since then had vowed to take vengeance on all humanoid races, to attack and steal from them.

Most of the time, though, they could only steal, since they were much weaker than the big humanoids. But there were still remnants of their dragon heritage within them. Dragons were able to reproduce with almost any intelligent creature. The wyrms changed their shape to do so, transforming into stunning specimens of their desired mates. The evil dragons dominated communities and demanded beautiful virgins as their tribute. Rizzak had heard that even some drow villages in the Underdark were forced to these agreements by shadow dragons. The good dragons, on the other hand, married their consorts and their children usually grew up to become heroes of legends. Some even said there was a human empire in the Far East where everyone claimed a dragon as an ancestor.

Kobolds also were able to reproduce with almost any intelligent humanoid. The offspring of such unions, though, were all kobolds, even if bigger and more ambitious than average (some of the most famous kobold heroes, like Larak the Reaver, had been products of such unions). Size was surprisingly less of an issue than would be at first thought in such sexual relations. Kobolds were very diverse, and their sexual organs' size relative to them were even more diverse, not to mention that their sexual organs (both male and female) oozed copious amounts of lubricant, much more than seen in humanoid races. If the humanoid partner was male, someone of the right size could be found in most tribes, and size became a real issue only with trolls, ogres, orcs or well endowed humans. Even then, if the female was of a mind to get pregnant she could just put the male semen inside her.

If the humanoid partner was female, fertilization looked more like what happened with a kobold female rather than their original race. An actual kobold egg would form inside the female's womb and would come out after some weeks, with the baby kobold coming out of the shell after that within days. Depending on the humanoid female's size, she wouldn't even get a stretched belly from the whole ordeal. However, Rizzak had heard that some humanoid females freaked out at seeing such stuff happening to them (apparently humanoid reproduction was somewhat different). Sometimes in the barracks Rizzak heard ribald tales of women who actually learned to enjoy the sensation in due time.

Kobolds could be very cruel to their captives, but they wouldn't usually kill them. Capturing a slave was actually a rare occurrence in kobold communities, since they were weaker than most of their neighbors. But once it happened it was a celebrated event. Kobolds were very organized and established detailed schedules of what the captive should do each day and which member of the tribe could get time with him or her. Normally the chieftain would get most of the time, with the other influential members of the community also having preferential treatment, but each member of the kobold tribe had the right to at least one hour with the captive each year.

Most kobolds viewed sexual encounters with other species only through the lenses of cruelty, as revenge against all they had to suffer through, being relegated to the most barren parts of the world and the ancient slight of having lost their true dragon forms. Some of them, though, had what was called Dragon's Lust, the desire to mate with what was different. A throwback to their draconic past, the individuals who had this affliction would not be interested in mating with other kobolds, becoming obsessed with humanoids. If there already was a captive in the tribe, the only problem this would create would be some friction regarding the scheduling table regarding the captive's use, nothing that couldn't be solved through gauntlets (the ritual duels kobolds used to solve issues that the chief couldn't handle). But if there was none, kobolds with Dragon's Lust would be seen as unreliable. A lot of them would risk the safety of the tribe by trying to capture a humanoid to satisfy their desires with. Such boldness was not usually rewarded by fate, since most of these tribes would draw attention to themselves and be a target for the ire of nearby humanoid communities, who wouldn't react as harshly if only livestock was being pilfered instead of members of their societies.

And this was why Rizzak was restless on his sleeping mat. He couldn't deny his desire to mate with a human woman, but how could he risk the safety of his tribe?

Rizzak's musings were interrupted by a loud noise coming from outside his hut. Lots of voices were raised and he could hear the sound of footsteps running towards the center of the village. "Invader" he could hear some sentries shouting. Could someone have invaded his tribe's territory? Why hadn't any of his traps at the entrances of the cave given any warning?

Rizzak proceeded to cautiously make his way towards the center of the village. He saw other kobolds rushing with weapons ready and armor donned. Warriors or scouts they were, and their instincts would lead them towards reckless decisions. But as chief trapmaker, Rizzak had the luxury, no, the obligation to be more cautious.

Finally, he reached the center of the village. The tribe had made its huts in concentrical circles surrounding a central square in the middle of the cave, where drills and military exercises were made. He remained hidden behind a hut to observe the situation, still cautious about this adventurer who had made it into the village without getting caught in any of his traps.

All of the tribe (more than a hundred individuals) had gathered at the central square, forming their ranks in several shield walls, each one three lines deep. They were all facing the intruder, who stood still at the exact center of the square.

She was the most beautiful creature Rizzak had ever seen.

A human woman, she stood five foot tall, not an impressive height for a human, but she still towered head and shoulders over all the kobolds in the village. Whereas the human women Rizzak had peeped on had skin white as milk and hair the color of honey, this one had the skin the color of bronze and hair and eyes as dark as onyx, her long wavy tresses reaching the middle of her back. Also unlike the women he had seen before, this one wore clothing, which made her somehow more alluring. She wore a short, tightly cut, short-sleeved blue blouse that covered only her breasts and shoulders. She also wore a long, embroidered, pleated blue skirt that stopped just above her curved pointed blue slippers. The whole costume made her arms, lower torso and midriff bare, emphasizing her slim waist and wide hips.

"Kobolds of White Mountain" the woman exclaimed loudly in their tongue, talking with an accent Rizzak had never heard. "My name is Priya Hasaan from the city of Anagabad in the far south. I am a powerful mage trained in the Collegium of Mystical Arts. I am known as Priya the Blue or Priya the Abjurer. I come as an envoy from the city of Agartha. No longer will your attacks and thievery on their allied villages be allowed to go on. I have been hired by the guildmasters of Agartha to remove you from their domain to a place where you'll no longer bother their people, on the island of Fnordøy. I offer you the possibility of going willingly and peacefully to your new home. But I warn you all: resistance is futile against my powers." Having made her announcement, the woman, Priya, crossed her arms under her chest and stared at the nearest kobold shield wall with a look of contempt on her face.

An elderly kobold moved from inside one of the shield walls, his scales and patches of fur having gone gray with age. His back, however, was still straight and his eyes were fierce with hatred. Rizzak had always nurtured a great deal of respect for Malek, the chieftain of the Za'kol tribe, especially for his very unkobold-like courage.

"We don't recognize the authority of any human city over our affairs, nor are we afraid of you, witch!" Malek said, waving his spear above his head. "So you can take your offer and shove it inside your favorite hole! You might be a mage, but we're many, and you're only one. Troops, attack! Plan Orange, let's make a porcupine out of this human with our javelins!"

And obeying his command, the front row of the two shield walls nearest to Malek launched their javelins at Priya, more than two dozen in total. Rizzak closed his eyes to avoid seeing the slaughter of such great beauty, but he soon opened them again as he heard a collective gasp.

All the javelins had stopped mid-air around Priya, who still held only contempt in her eyes. "I warned you that resistance was futile" she said, while withdrawing a white crystal wand, half a foot in length, from a pocket inside her skirt. "I guess I'll have to do this the hard way. But don't worry, I'll try my best not to harm any of you. There's no need for useless bloodshed over this matter. You're going to be relocated one way or the other". And with that Priya pointed her wand at Malek and said "Mass Hold Person". The kobold chief was about to yell another order, but he stopped mid-sentence as he was paralyzed along with all the kobolds in the two shield walls which had attacked the mage. Only his eyes moved, and Rizzak could see his chief was horrified at the situation.

Priya went on, pointing her wand at the kobold hosts and naming her spell, paralyzing dozens each time. Some of the kobolds were brave and tried to launch another javelin volley against her, but these missiles also were stopped in mid-air. Some of them were even braver and tried to attack her in melee. All of them were paralyzed before they even could come near her. Finally, after more than half of the village had been stuck by her spells, the remainder of the tribe panicked and tried to flee in pandemonium.

Rizzak looked at all of this from afar, still hiding behind a hut, but thinking on how to defeat this woman. He had to come up with something, otherwise this would be the end of his tribe. The woman was too powerful to take on directly, he'd have to use his cunning to capture her in one of this traps. He didn't know how she had evaded his earlier traps, but he still had to make an attempt, for the good of the Za'kol tribe.

As Priya paralyzed one of the few fleeing kobolds that were left, Rizzak picked up one javelin from the ground and threw at her from behind. The javelin was again stopped mid-air, but Priya turned around to look at him. He had got her attention, so he quickly hid behind a hut and started running away from her, always managing to put a hut between him and her.

As he kept running he realized that his hunch was right and her paralyzing spell needed a clear line of sight to work. He thanked the god Kurtulmak for his speed and dexterity, as he always was one step ahead of the mage, being able to twist and turn from her eyesight as he led her toward one of his traps.

He had put a pitfall trap near the chieftain's hut, which was where most of the tribe's treasure was kept. The trap was very well hidden and only someone with supernatural senses would be able to notice it. The trap was weight triggered, so a single kobold would not activate it, but a human would. Rizzak would go past it and hope to make the mage fall down on it while running after him, maybe giving him enough time to devise a way to neutralize her magic.

As he reached the markings that signaled where the trap was, he heard Priya shouting "Expeditious Retreat!" Rizzak looked back and saw that the mage had become supernaturally fast and caught up to him in seconds, lifting her crystal wand to target him. But Priya's incantation was cut short as they both fell down the pit, all the way to the bottom, ten feet below.

The fall was painful, but Rizzak tried to get up quickly. He was not fast enough, as Priya also stood up in her still supernatural speed. Rizzak noticed that she didn't have her wand anymore (it probably had fallen outside the pit trap), but the wizard was moving her hands and the look on her face was one of annoyance now as she regarded the kobold trapmaker.

Again both of them were caught by surprise as the ground gave way below them. Rizzak's face was even more incredulous than Priya's, as they fell down a further ten feet. His fall was cushioned by some debris, and he realized that he was in a part of the Underdark he had never explored before.

He was in a large rectangular room, one hundred-fifty feet long and one hundred feet wide. Up above he could see, ten foot above him, the ceiling of the room and a fifteen foot square hole of where the bottom of his pit trap used to be, now the only connection to the level above where his tribe had made their village. There were ten columns sustaining the room, in five rows of two. He could see what he supposed had been a door once past, at the far end of the room, but now it was completely blocked by rubble. Piles of rubble as tall as five feet also were present at several places inside the room.

The room's walls were adorned with murals that depicted dark skinned humanoids with white hair copulating in several positions. Near one of the walls there was a stone altar, one of the few features besides the piles of rubble and columns. As Rizzak started to hear the human woman getting up near him, he quickly ran to one of the piles of rubble and hid behind it. He spotted something shiny at his feet and picked it up, realizing it was two arrows made of gold, of the size used by the larger races like humans or elves, with an inscription written in some kind of wave-like alphabet on their shafts.

Priya got up, dusting herself off from all the rubble. She looked at the surrounding area with an expression of annoyance on her face, that soon turned to curiosity as she noticed the kind of room she was in, and then into shame as she saw the murals depicting sex acts.

"Where have you got yourself into now, Priya?" she asked loudly to herself. "It seems like a drow temple, but long abandoned. I hope it is so, no need to face drows now. It'll be a challenge enough getting up there again" she said, looking at the square hole in the ceiling. "A pity I used all my flying spells to avoid the traps near the cavern's entrance. How am I supposed to get out of here now?"

Rizzak realized then that this was his chance. The human woman was distracted, or didn't seem to care about him anymore. She also didn't have her wand. Grabbing one of the arrows like a javelin, he waited until the woman turned her back toward him, and then threw it at her. The arrow went flying and hit her square in the back. To the kobold's surprise, the arrow disappeared in a red explosion. A crimson aura enveloped the woman's form, who screamed in agony and surprise, lightening the whole room in an eerie carmine glow.

Rizzak was astounded at the results of his actions, and didn't realize he had fallen on his butt. He just stared in amazement as the red glow gradually diminished around the woman's form. Priya had fallen forward and was slowly getting up, moaning in pain and shaking her head, as if she was very dizzy. Kneeling, the woman turned her head and looked at Rizzak, her eyes full of confusion. "The kobold? What happened to me?" she asked herself. Then Priya finally saw the other golden arrow at Rizzak's feet. Her eyes got wide as she seemed to recognize the weapon. "A Sacherix arrow? No, this can't be happening..."

At last regaining his senses, Rizzak picked up the remaining arrow on the ground and ran away, getting off her line of sight and hiding in the shadows, behind one of the piles of debris. Humans couldn't see well in the dark, he had to take advantage of that. He stood still, watching her from afar, as he tried to make sense of what had just happened. Were the arrows indeed magical weapons? They had passed through the magical barrier that protected her. The woman seemed to recognize them. If they were indeed enchanted, he had to make the best use of his remaining arrow to defeat her.

Priya finally got up, and Rizzak noticed that she didn't seem to be injured at all from the arrow's attack. The skin of her back was still flawless beige, with no signs of injury. She dusted off her skirt and started going to where he had been when he had attacked her. Meanwhile, she talked to him in a very nonthreatening manner. "Mr. kobold? We need to talk. Can you come here please?" Her tone as she said this seemed more appropriate for a business transaction rather than addressing an enemy that had just thrown an arrow at her.

A plan formed inside Rizzak's mind. Using the talents a chief trapmaker needed, he projected his voice to seem to be coming from the other side of the room, away from where he was. "Come out? Ha, do you take me for a stupid goblin? You'd fry me or paralyze me with your magic in an instant!" As Rizzak shouted, he could see that Priya was going slowly towards where his voice was projecting from, turning her back to where he truly was. His plan was working!

"I have several magical arrows to attack you now!" he continued, lying to seem scarier. "I'll defeat you here, in this place, and be a hero to my tribe! You'll regret the day you decided to face the Za'kol kobolds! Do you have any idea of what kobolds do to humans like you? A pity I'll have to kill you with the arrows now. But don't worry, we'll rape your corpse afterwards the same way! And once we return your body to the surface, your fellow humans won't have any way to know in which order we did each thing! How do you like that image, huh? Your body full of kobold semen, being found by your fellow humans? Priya the abjurer? More like Priya the kobold cum bucket!"

Priya stopped as she neared the place where Rizzak's voiced seemed to be coming from. "So, you want to play like this, right?" she asked. "I can play too. How do you think your tribe will react once they find you after I'm done with you? I normally don't resort to violence unless there's no other way, but I have prepared some spells just in case I faced tougher opposition. Spells like ... Acid Arrow!" And as she shouted the spell, she extended her hands towards the place where Rizzak's voice was coming from.

But nothing happened.

"Weird, this usually works" Priya said to herself as she looked at her hands confused. "Well, let's try with another one. Magic Missile! Lightning Bolt! Scorching Ray!" As the human woman shouted her spells and they all failed, her tone became increasingly more desperate and frustrated. After she shouted her last spell name (Ray of Frost), she just stood there, silent, with her hands hanging at her sides. Rizzak took the opportunity of her shouting to get near her, this time carrying the golden arrow like a spear. As he got within reach of her, she turned towards him, her eyes concentrating on the inscriptions on the arrow.

"Oh, that explains it" she said, her tone returning to neutral, like a teacher at school. "A greater Sacherix arrow."

"Silence!" Rizzak yelled. "Now is the time for you to die!"

"Now, now, no need to be so violent" Priya said as she backed away from him.

"Says the one who wanted to attack me with acid, missiles, lightning, fire and frost!"

"That looks bad, I admit it. But there's no reason we can't reach some kind of agreement. I left my gold at my room in the village's inn, but if you let me get back, we could ..."

"None of this!" Rizzak screamed, threatening Priya with the arrow to stress his point. "You either surrender to me, or you die now!"

"OK, OK, I surrender!" Priya said, as her back hit the corner of the room and she had nowhere else to go. "I'll do whatever you want, just don't attack me with that arrow again, please."

Rizzak couldn't believe his luck at having captured the mage alive. Still fearing this could be a trick of her, he ordered "Now strip of your clothes!"

"What?" she asked in an indignant tone. "That's preposterous, the Prisoner Convention of Ludala clearly states that..."

"I recognize no such convention! You either strip now, or I'll gut you with this arrow! I need to see if you don't carry any weapons."

"OK, I'll do as you say" Priya retorted, as she started to slowly take off her small blouse, pushing it over her head. She didn't wear anything under it, so her perky breasts were exposed. Rizzak couldn't help but stare at them, so round and succulent, with the areola and nipples being a dark brown contrasting beautifully with her beige skin.

Priya seemed to notice Rizzak's eyes. She covered her beautiful breasts with one arm. Razzek was about to complain, but stopped as she began to take off her skirt with her free hand. Doing so with only one hand required her to shake off her hips, to make the skirt fall off once she had untied all the strings holding it at her waist. The spectacle of her swaying hips and pretty, smooth legs being shown made him forget about anything else at the moment.

When all of the skirt had fallen, Priya took off her pointed slippers easily, using only her feet to do so. She then turned her head sideways, using both arms to cover her breasts, with her cheeks burning red and avoiding to look Rizzak in the eyes.

The kobold saw that the human woman was still wearing something, a small, triangular white piece of clothing covering her crotch.

"Take off that too" he commanded, using the arrow to point at the remaining clothing.

Priya's cheeks turned even redder, as her arms stopped covering her breasts and she had to bend over and use both hands to slide the white piece of clothing down her legs. For a brief moment Rizzak could see her crotch, hairless except for a small neat vertical line of dark hair. Priya quickly used one of her hands to cover it, with her other arm being used to try to cover both her breasts.

Rizzak admired her beautiful naked form. Even with her arms covering parts of it, he couldn't help but drool at her perky breasts, her flat stomach, her wide hips or her smooth legs. After taking his time ogling her, Rizzak ordered "Now tear four short strips of clothing from your blouse and three long strips from your skirt."

"What?" Priya asked, again indignantly. "Do you have any idea how expensive a silk lehenga or choli are? Not to mention how difficult it'd be to find silk here. Why would you want me to ..."

Rizzak interrupted her by prodding her body with the arrow. Priya looked fearfully at it, stopped complaining and picked up her skirt and blouse, tearing strips from it.

"Now turn around," Rizzak demanded "drop to the floor on your belly and put your hands behind your back together." For a wonder, this time Priya did this all without complaining, probably still fearing the golden arrow.

The kobold picked the strips of clothing with one hand, put the arrow under his left armpit and then sat on the human's round butt. He controlled his first instinct to admire it, and instead pointed the arrow at the nape of Priya's neck, holding it steady with his left hand. "Move and you die," he hissed. With his right hand he used three of the four short strips of clothing to tightly tie first her wrists together, then each of her ankles separately and then the three long strips to connect the three knots together behind her back, leaving free half of the long strip connected to her wrist. His expertise as chief trapmaker helped him tie difficult knots with one hand. Rizzak gave a few tugs to the free part of the long strip and smiled as he saw the prisoner's legs contract each time. With this form of bondage tie, he could control how free her lower limbs would be, allowing her to walk slowly when he wanted to or to make her completely paralyzed, depending on his whim and how tightly he pulled the controlling strip.

Having secured his prisoner, Rizzak asked her "Why do you fear the arrow? What are the powers of a Sacherix greater arrow?"

Priya gulped first, but quickly answered, again in a tone that seemed more appropriate to a teacher in a classroom "Sacherix is a drow goddess. Her arrows are made by drow clerics, who are always female, to put drow wizards, who are always male, in their places. If a drow wizard gets too proud of himself, starts talking back to the females, the drow hit him with these arrows. The first hit takes away their magical powers, turning them back into ordinary people. The second hit takes away the magical power from their soul. They'll be reborn in the Great Wheel of Life, but as a non-magical user in the next life. This is why I fear the arrow. It shocks me to lose my powers, but I'll do anything to still be able to use magic in my next reincarnation".

Satisfied with her answer, Rizzak picked the last piece of clothing Priya had removed (the white one that was covering her crotch) and the last short strip of clothing. He stuffed the white piece of clothing inside his prisoner's mouth, much to her muffled protests, and then tied the strip behind her head, making a makeshift gag. Now the mage wouldn't be able to use her hands or her voice to summon any spell, and also wouldn't be able to cry for help or hit him.

Finally feeling secure, Rizzak sighed in relief. He put the arrow under his belt, like a sword, and then started to drag his prisoner to the center of the room, pulling the controlling strip, right until they were under the hole where they had fallen.

Continued in Chapter 2

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