Zukki tried his hardest to hide his breath. There was no need, as it was raining heavily enough to mask both his appearance and any sounds he made from the caravan. Though that feeling of caution that he refused to let go of still lingered. In the back of his mind, it festered, refused to let go. It made him shake. That feeling alone would be enough to give away his position, but it was already too late for that. For inside the caravan lied a sleeping giant. Metaphorically, of course.

In reality, she was not giant, nor was she asleep. But she could smell and hear Zukki since the moment he was in the caravan’s range. Aida just hadn’t said anything yet. Though she was having doubts. Should she tell the caravan leader of her kind’s presence, or should she wait for them to set her free? Would they really trust her? What if they weren’t successful, and she had decided not to tell the caravan captain, would she be killed? The leader knew of her keen smelling ability, but did she really?

“Hiah!” the captain shouted, whipping the reins on her horses. “Hiah!” Her steeds trudged on through the muck and the rain like titans of steel. They neighed and they whinnied without relent. Really, they could sense it too. The gang of kobolds that lied in the oncoming ditch. Still, the captain was blind to this fact.

“M-master,” Aida piped up, shuffling in her cage. She spoke to the leader in a hushed tone of voice. “There are peoples ahead. In the ditch on the left.”

The captain turned her head to Aida, smiling. “Thank you, Aida. And please, do not call me ‘Master’. I have a name.”

Such kindness was foreign to the young kobold. She already began to appreciate her decision in telling the leader. “Yes, Miss Yula.”

Miss Yula ceased her rein snapping and “hiah”-ing with a long, drawn-out “woah”. The horses that stood before her all responded in the same way. A hard stop, firmly planted their hooves into the mud. She set the reins aside, and with shuddering limbs, she heaved off the front of her carriage.

Aida watched as she slowly trudged through the mud, her body hidden under a giant coat. She vaguely recalled humans growing more feeble with age, and Miss Yula was no different. Yet there was still something about her that felt off. She walked like an old woman, used a hilted sword as a cane, and she talked like an old woman, kind and gentle. She even ate like an old woman, refused to eat tougher foods. Yet she did not do old-womanly things with her limited abilities.

Zukki could see her coming now, but he knew she couldn’t see him. “This is just some old lady,” he thought. “What could she possibly do against all eight of us?” But Zukki was not known for being wise. Miss Yula was. 

It broke even the rain’s heaviness as she drew her sword from its sheath. It produced a metal pang unlike any other blade could produce. Again, she still used the sheath itself as a cane, holding the blade outward. “Alright, you lot. Come out where I can see you, and I promise I will make it easy.”

Mixed koboldian laughter broke out from beyond the fog, and the pouring rain. Despite Yula’s discovery, Zukki now felt confident in himself, and the abilities of his brothers. If this was the best those humans had to offer, then his job had just become much easier.

“Fine. If that is how you want to play, then we will play together.” In a flash of her blade, Miss Yula vaulted over the sheath and into the ditch. All Aida could see beyond the pouring rain was the spatterings of kobold blood, which Yula painted the road with. Mixed koboldian screams and a single human voice populated the air like birds on high. From within her cage, Aida cried. She huddled up in the fetal position, her tail coiled up over her shoulder from between her legs.

Only one kobold ran from the group, and that one kobold was Zukki. At full sprint, he ran with his back up straight. The kobold had dropped his sword back in the ditch, and so he lacked defenses. Not that they would have helped. Out of the ditch leapt Miss Yula. No more are the kobold screams. She had killed every last one of them, and Zukki was not ready to accept his fate. He had one mission in mind, and it was his duty to complete that mission.

“Princess Aida!” He screamed. “Hang on! I’m coming!”

Aida herself winced at the thoughts that filled her mind. She wanted nothing more than peace amongst her people. Before her capture, she was set to marry a rival tribe’s prince within the next week. It would have united the two tribes as one, and made the same peace she strived for. Though the humans had another plan for her. A mere travel apparatus. A slave. A scaled rat in a cage.

Zukki hopped up onto the front carriage, grabbed Aida’s cage and lifted it over his head. Though as she tumbled around, Aida caught sight of Yula, who stood up there with them. In one quick sweep, Yula cleaved Zukki in half. The cage which contained Aida fell off the caravan, as did Zukki’s torso. 

As she stared into his dead eyes, the princess could not help but sob. This was going to be the rest of her life. No more family. No more future. Just this. Only this. 

Yula peeked her head over the side of her carriage, then looked down at Aida. “Are you alright down there?” Such care in her voice, and the kobold royal knew it was false. The most false words she’d ever heard. Was she alright? Of course she was not alright. She had just witnessed her brothers murdered before her very eyes. A sight that someone as pampered as her was never meant to see.

Aida did not respond.