Essine's captors had paid her little mind since they arrived. They contented themselves to a game of dominoes, quickly speaking back and forth in a growling language Essine did not know. For all the comparisons people often made between kobolds and goblins, the two races were no friends to each other.

Certainly, she'd never had a chance to learn their tongue.

Still, in their eyes, she was just a random kobold in a cage. Why bother guarding her too seriously?

Essine may well have agreed with that, in the time before she knew Coin. Now, however, she was a different woman. She wasn't some snivelling child, and as she sat and stewed in her cage she knew she had no intention of being kicked around like the kobolds had been for many generations.

But, sitting there, she had to ask herself... how would she get out? Her erebite had been confiscated, the bangle suspended on a wall hook by the door. Even with that, her magic was hard to control Without it...

The kobold frowned. She did not consider herself a violent person, even though deep down she felt an anger and resentment to much of the world that she found hard to put into words, but she would need to kill her captors and any others in her way if she was to aid Coin.

After all, she had no doubt he was on the way at this very moment.

She loved the man but he was as predictable as a hungry dog.

And if he was in a blind panic trying to reach her, that meant he was in danger. That... thing that had attacked the mansion was monstrously strong, after all.

Essine took a breath and closed her eyes. Coin would risk it all to help her. And she would do the same for him. That was what love was, wasn't it? At least, the closest a kobold could hope to find.

Still, what could she actually do?

Essine knew how to pick locks but that was only with an actual lockpick. And even if she had one on her, the padlock on the outside of her cell was hardly something she could pick without being caught by her jailers. No game of dominoes would distract them that much. If she were to get out, it would only be if those goblins opened the door for her. Which they would likely not do if she settled for asking nicely.

Sparing a brief glance to them, she recalled how insistent Lord Bleak was that she be kept alive. So, she reasoned, it was in their best interest to ensure she was alive. As soon as she made that thought, Essine smiled to herself.

Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

Suddenly she threw her weight against the cage, which rattled in protest, and let out a long howl of pain. She thought back on many of her kin she had seen dying over the years, those who had been left convulsing with seizures or frothing with plague, and she poured her whole heart into emulating them as she juddered against the wall of her cage.

It wasn't long until one goblin peered inside, but Essine kept frothing and shuddering to sell the act. "Shit," the goblin hissed, snatching a key from his pocket. "That damn freak probably gave her some disease."

Strong hands gripped her under the arms, and she found her unyielding body being pulled out by her two guards. "Feh," the other goblin hissed, "get the shaman. She can cure anyth-"

Essine sprang as she felt herself being rolled onto her back, her whole body igniting in a flash of sickly green light. That deathglow bathed the entire room and sent a chilling rush through Essine's whole body. She scarcely heard the deathly screams of her captors as they died around her, drowned by... sounds beyond mortality.

Down here, in this place, Essine was closer than ever to Sheol. A cold, icy sensation crept through her veins and grippe her lungs.

Eventually the glow died down, an Essine was left lying on her back and panting for breath. She snapped her eyes open, fearful of the things she saw lurking in the darkness of her eyelids. Reality did not look much better, her captors burnt and twisted like used firewood.

"This one can't do that again," she whispered to herself.

Essine forced herself to her knees, huffing for breath. She was out of the cage, but still in her manacles. Well, it wasn't as if her captors wouldn't have taken them off of her. She scanned the room silently, focusing on the heavy steel blades the guards had propped up against one wall.

She moved with care, pressing her back toward one of those obscenely sharp blades. Slowly, carefully, she ground the chain of her manacles against the edge. To her surprise that jet black edge sank into the steel with an almost worry ease, and it took only a series of strokes for her to cut through the binding.

She held her hands up, wincing and shaking them to try and dispel some of the numb pain that lingered in her muscles. The iron bands were still chaffing her wrists, but Essine did not feel comfortable putting her wrists within a hair's breadth of such sharp weapons. She did not want to think about what the goblins were arming themselves with, but she was sure this place was tied to them.

Still, Essine had enough room to at least slip the erebite bangle onto her right wrist, and felt some relief in having the dark stone on her body.

The kobold moved with care and made for the doorway, sniffing the air around her. The scent of goblins was unmistakable, but fortunately she could sense them well in advance and have a chance to hide from any patrols.

Essine wasn't against killing, obviously, but she would prefer to keep the body count as low as possible if she could help it.

Slowly, carefully, Essine pressed through the stone tunnel and sniffed the air. It would be easy to get lost in all this, and the signs posted up by the goblins was written in their alien, angular alphabet.

A great tremor shook the tunnel around her, followed by another and another, with great booms of thunder echoing through the vastness of the catacombs. The walls trembled, and small chunks of debris tumbled from the ceiling above her.

Essine sniffed the air again, her ears flattening against the sides of her head. "Coin," she whispered, hope easing into her tone. Then a chill raced down her spine as a far fouler scent joined his familiar one. The same beast that had attacked the manor and abducted her.

They were up there, locked in combat, and that thought alone had her shuddering with unease.

The kobold set her jaw tight and took off at a sprint, sickly green light threading through her fingertips. Whatever was happening up there, she would not be left out. Coin had come for her, and so she would return the favour for him.

And be sure to make that bastard pay for harming her friends.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.