The dragon’s appearance had surprised the group. The reactions varied from fear to reverence. Beivalur felt it was a sign that they were on to something important in this trip to the Dead Hills Mine. Agnese was still uncomfortab le with the idea that they were being watched.

They decided to rest and heal a bit before continuing to the mine. Elrin was quickly recovering with help from Beivalur’s ministrations and Beivalur had healed the wounds he had himself. But they still needed a bit of rest to recover. They took shelter under the nearby rock outcropping and took the opportunity to have a quick meal. They couldn’t stay long, as they wanted to get to the mine before dark.

Ninette was still concerned about the size of the kobolds. Far too large and far too aggressive, and with no magic. How, and why? Ninette was certain these wouldn’t be the last. Agnese, however, had more concern for the dragon. He had felt like they were being watched from the beginning, and this confirmed it. But why? Why would a dragon be following them? His mind snapped back to the task at hand. They needed to get going. “Let’s rest a bit more, but we need to move before the suns drop too far.”

The group remained quiet, even Courtenay. When they had gathered themselves, the group began to make their way back on the road, more vigilant now for any surprises. Topping a low rise in the road, they saw smoke rising just around a bend. Elrin spoke up. “That would be just about where the entrance to the mine is. No one is supposed to be there.”

“That smoke says otherwise” was Agnese’s response. “But kobolds aren’t fans of fire. What in blue blazes is going on here? Alright, we obviously need to figure out who is up there and if they are hostile. I’m going to assume they are given the reception we’ve already received. ”

Elrin offered a suggestion. “There’s used to be another path to the mine. It’s pretty overgrown now, but maybe we can use it to get closer?” It was a good suggestion. Courtenay offered to clear the path with her magics. Agnese, however vetoed the idea. “We clear that path, they’ll know we’re coming. We need to approach quietly without attracting any attention. We’ll let the lad lead the way.”

Elrin was still a little shaken by the dragon encounter. A chance to get back into the thick trees and brush felt just right. “It’s this way.” He led them into the brush, and about 100 paces in, they could see the path, now overgrown with brush and weeds. It headed away from the origin of smoke at first, then slowly bent around. The group was careful to move quietly so as to not attract attention to their movements. After an hour of travel, the trees began to thin, and they could see the source of smoke to their left, right in front of the mine entrance. In the ground was an open pit from which they could see heat rising, lifting the dark black smoke. A cauldron was hels over the pit by a large crane-like mechanism. Mine rails led from on side of the pit into the mine. On the other side, more rails led away from the pit and towards what looked like a storage area. At the entrance of the mine stood two kobolds, looking much like the ones they had fought earlier. They spoke to each other in a hissing, screeching tongue that was decidedly kobold.

“This doesn’t look like an abandoned mine” said Beivalur.

“No it does not.” Agnese was sizing up the situation. “Somebody has ramped up the operations here, and they’re using these big thugs to protect it. I’m guessing this has something to do with the guy who cursed the village.”

“Yes, and that machinery there is a smelting pit” Ninette offered. “They are lilkely bringing crushed ore out of the mine and heating it to extract the minerals. The barrels over there have the minerals used to chemically separate the ore from rock.”

“So what now? They reopened the mine, right? This doesn’t explain what happened to the village.” Courtenay wondered what the plan would be.

“There’s something in the mine that Umbra wanted, and he was willing to destroy a village to get it. We need to get into that mine and find out what was so important for him to go to those lengths.” Agnese was formulating a plan. “First, we need to get rid of the uglies in front.”

“Those guys look at least as big as the ones we met on the road. Got any suggestions?” asked Courtenay.

“We’ll have to draw them out. And hope that no one hears what’s going on and decides to come out. Any ideas?” Agnese queried.

“I think I can help.” Ninette added. “I’ll create a diversion from the area near the road. If I can interest them enough to investigate, you can approach from behind.”

“What kind of diversion?” asked Agnese.

“Leave that to me. Just be ready to move in if they move past the cauldron.”

Ninette drew the hood on her cloak more tightly around her face, hiding it nearly completely, and went back into the treeline, disappearing into the think foliage. The remaining four crouched down behind some rocks, waiting for whatever Ninette was about to do.

While it seemed like an eternity waiting, in a few minutes the group (and the kobold guards) heard a strange sound coming from near the main road. It was something between a screech and a roar. The guards glanced at each other and hissed in coversation. But they did not move. Then the sound came again, this time with the sound of a sword clashing against rock. This got the guards attention, and after a quick consultation, one went to the road to investigate. His bulky frame ambled towards the road as the sound continued. Meanwhile, the second guard took a few steps forward, trying to see what was down the road.

“Nightglade, do you think you can hit that fire pit with a ball of flame?” asked Agnese.

She smiled “Little one, or big bada boom?”

“Give us a bada boom.”

Courtenay pulled a small stone from her hip pouch, holding it in her left hand. She thrust her right arm toward the firepit with an open hand. From it sprung a melon-sized ball of fire. But instead of hitting the firepit, it hits the cauldron, swinging it wildly and sloshing molten ore out and onto the firepit. The momentum of the cauldron stains the support mechanism and nearly cause it to fail.

“Nice shot.” Agnese said sarcastically. “I guess we got his attention.” The kobold had stopped in his tracks, startled by the explosion on the cauldron. He drew a short sword from its scabbard and took up a defensive stance and scanned the area. His attention, however, was refocused when he heard the sound of a kobold screaming in pain. This was the cue for Agnese to take action. Grabbing the crossbow from his back, he took aim at the kobold. He hit the guard squarely between the shoulders. Beivalur used this opportunity to run towards the kobold, who staggered back towards the mine entrance. Courtenay followed close behind, as did Agnese who slung the bow across his back as he got up to run to the guard.

Beivalur reached the guard first, but was unable to dodge the guards defensive swing. A slash across his stomach stopped Beivalur in his tracks. Courtenay, drawing her dagger, leapt towards the kobold, but the knife missed its target, sending her tumbling behind the guard. The guard swung wildly, with a ferocity that seemed impossible for a being of his size, and hit Beivalur, wounding him critically. Beivalur fell to the ground, his chest now gashed open, revealing the ribs.

If the kobold was driven by fury, Agnese was now fueled by vengeance. He charged towards the kobold, sword raised over his head and swung down hard, with a force fueled by anger. The blade struck the kobold in the neck, nearly removing its head in one stroke. The kobold fell to the ground without a sound, a pool of blood quickly spreading across the hard dirt.

“Hey, big man… how do I help you?” Courtenay’s attempt at sounding helpful belied the concern in her face. “You took a pretty big gash there.”

The Mosae spoke in labored breaths. “I… need some time… to heal. Your assistance would be… helpful>”

“What do you need me to do?”

“Can you… create a field… to protect the area…?”

“You mean like a shield?”

“Yes… Just the wound area.”

“Yeah, I can do that. That will help?” asked Courtenay.

“Yes… I need you to… place your hand… on the wound… and cast the spell. It will help.. stop the bleeding… for a moment… to let the healing… begin.”

The thought of placing her hand on the open gash turned her stomach, but Courtenay agreed. “Ok, here goes…” With one hand holding her focus stone she placed the other on the wound, grimacing as it made contact with the warn, wet flesh. She cast the spell and could feel the shield form under her hand. As she did, Beivalur placed his massive hand on hers. She felt a warmth pass through her had and a tingling, almost burning sensation. She wanted to draw her hand away, but he held it there for a few seconds. Suddenly, she felt the skin under her hand moving. He released her hand, and she removed it. When she did, she saw that the skin had closed back up, with a rather bright red scar where the cut had been.

“Wow… that was fast. Squishy and a bit squicky, but fast.” Courtenay looked for something to wipe her hands with.

“Thank you for the assistance, Nightglade.” Beivalur’s voice was already much stronger. “It will take some more healing, but I will live. Unfortunately, I will not be of much assistance for a time.”

Agnese was catching his breath, still panting from his attack. “Well, we won’t have to worry about this guy, at least. But their are likely others. Speaking of which, where’s Ninette?”

As if on cue, Ninette appeared from around the bend in the road. Agnese noted that when NInette walked, it was almost as if they floated over the ground rather than stepped. It was gracerul and elegant. And yet, there was something…dangerous about them.

“The other guard has been dealt with,” Ninette said as they approached the group. “It appears this one will no longer trouble us. Luckily, I was able to glean some information from the other guard.”

“Will we be getting a visit from the other guard?” asked Courtenay.

Ninette responded darkly. “Not in this lifetime.”

“So what did you learn?” Agnese was not bothered about the implication that other guard had been eliminated. He just wanted to make sure they were ready for whatever was coming next.

“The mining operation has been focusing on the yellow powder that we were told about. They do some ore smelting, but it is not the focus of the majority of the operation. These guards are here simply to keep out intruders. Also, they fear something, or someone. Their activity is not voluntary. It is under threat of extermination. But whom, or what, I could not extract.”

The use of the word “extract” was not missed by Agnese, nor by Beivalur. Agnese wondered how had she “extracted” this information. Beivalur, however, had a different thought. He had sensed a difference in Ninette. Nothing evil, or even negative, but a difference. Was the “extraction” some sort of ability?

Agnese thought about their next move. “We made a fair amount of noise. I’m surprised we haven’t seen anyone else come out. Unless they are going to try ambushing us.” He looked around the mine entrance area. “We need to secure the entrance and be ready for attacks. Elrin, are there any other ways in or out of the mine?”

“I don’t think so. But it’s been a long time since anyone was here, especially me.”

“Alright, we’ll have to go with that. So we need to make sure we arent surprised by anyone coming out of the mine. And why hasn’t anything come out yet?” Agnese was getting suspicious that they might be in more danger than he had originally thought. He looked around the entrance clearing, searching for a way to keep the entrance covered while Beivalur regained his strength. “How long do you need to heal up?” he asked the Mosae.

“If I keep movement to a minimum? A few hours. But if I have to fight or run, I will not be able to heal. When the body is wounded, the energy to heal is greatly diminished.”

Courtenay pointed to the trees just off the main road. “Could you make it into those trees?”

“With a bit of assistance, yes.” Beivalur responded.

Courtenay looked at Agnese. “We could set up a small camp about a hundred paces into the trees. From there, we can watch the road and the mine entrance.”

Agnese couldn’t think of anything else. Just then, he heard sounds coming from the mine entrance. They didn’t have time to waste. “Let’s go. These guys’ friends are not going to be happy.”

They helped Beivalur to his feet, and returned to the trees the same way they came in, avoiding the road. They moved into the trees, then back toward the road, keeping the mine entrance in view. As they finally were deep enough to find cover, they saw a large kobold come out of the mine entrance.

The kobold was as large as the guards, perhaps larger; it was difficult for them to tell through the trees. He came out yelling for the guards cursing them for leaving their posts. The cursing grew louder as he turned the corner and saw the fallen kobold. He yelled for reinforcements. They’d be searching for the missing guard and those who attacked. This encampment would not last long.

“We can’t outrun them with Beivalur injured. Looks like we fight.” said Agnese. “Depending on how many come out of that mine, this may be a rough fight.”

Ulrin quickly responded, “Then we fight!”.

“Woah, slow down, tiger. We’ve got a big injured healer here, and they know someone has been here.” Courtenay reminded him.

“My previous method of dealing with the kobold will not work again. We must think quickly.” added Ninette. Before Beivalur could say anything, Ninette added “And we will not leave you here, good Beivalur”. The Mosae was going to protest, but Agnese put a hand on his shoulder and said “No, we will not”.

“We need to come up with a plan, fast.” added Courtney. “There’s more of them coming. Any ideas?”

“They’re going to work together, we won’t get as lucky as we did with the guards. We have to use that against them. We’ll need to corner them. Nightglade, can you conjure up some kind of illusion to trick them into following it?” Agnese asked.

“I suppose I can create an illusion of myself, but it won’t last long. Maybe 5 seconds. Why?”

“We need to distract them and pull them in front of that rock wall next to the mine entrance. If we can pin them there, we should be able to take them.” Agnese was thinking out loud. “But we’ll need to use ranged weapons. Ninette, do you have anything?”

“I have daggers I can throw. But once they are gone, they are gone.” Ninette answered.

“We’ll have to make them count then. How long will it take for you to be able to start that illusion, NIghtglade?”

“Just a second.”

“Alright, here’s the plan” continued Agnese. “Nightglade, you start the illusion. That should move them forward and to the right, in front of the rock wall. We throw whatver we can at them, then move in if we have to. Beivalur, you stay clear and help with healing if you can. Ulrin, you protect him. The rest of us will keep the attack up. If they get the upper hand, Ulrin, you lead them away from Beivalur. Think you can handle that?”

“Yes.”

“Good. Ok, then, let’s do this.”

Ninette, Courtenay and Agnese moved into a position where they could clearly see the rock wall. Agnese gave a nod, and Courtenay began her spellcasting. In a few seconds, an apparition of her appeared farto their right, just outside the treeline. The kobolds did not notice it, so Agnese grabbed a rock at threw it toward the illusion, the sound attracting the attention of the kobolds. They turned and began to move toward the illusion, charging toward it like rampaging beasts. Agnese drew an arrow from his quiver, nocked it and let it fly. It hit the kobold closest to the apparition, causing it to let out a scream. Meanwhile, Ninette flung a dagger at the second kobold. It also struck its target, piercing his leather vest just above the hips.

The kobolds stopped, momentarily shocked by the attack, giving Ninette and Agnese enough time for another volley. Both struck their targets, but now, the kobolds could tell where they came from. The bigger kobold gestured in the direction of the party and the three began to rush toward them. Courtenay turned toward them and let loose a fireball from her hands before the kobolds could get more than one step away from the wall. The flaming orb hit the first kobold, setting its skin ablaze, and it dropped to the ground. The resulting blast flashed across the rock wall and the second kobold staggered from the concussion.

Agnese let loose another volley on the second kobold, taking it down. All that was left was the large one, and he was coming fast. He leapt at the group, fangs and claws out. His trajectory took him straight at Courtenay. She quickly moved aside, and he fell into the brush, striking a tree on the way. Ninette struck with a blade-like hand, connecting with the kobold’s neck, punctuated by a distinct crack. It bellowed in pain, wheeling around furiously.

As Agnese is drawing his sword, the kobold leaps again, this time at Agnese, causing him to drop his weapon, and taking him to the ground. Courtenay dared not use magic as she might hit Agnese instead. She drew her dagger and plunged it towards the kobold, but it simply struck his vest and glanced off. But it gave Agnese enough time to raise his sword over his head, and plunge it into the kobold’s armor. The sword cleaved deep into the kobold’s shoulder, and the kobold let out a curse in the kobold’s hissing-filled language. The kobold swung out a claw in desperation, letting loose a loud grunt and narrowly missing Agnese’s face.

Courtenay stabbed at the kobold again, but it was able to counter, slashing wildly. It’s long, sharp claws tore through the side of Courtenay’s vest and shirt, ripping into the skin leaving three rough gashes across the right side of her rib cage. She dropped her dagger, falling backward and stumbled to the ground.

Ninette leapt into the air, delivering a powerful kick to the kobold’s chest, knocking it the ground. It hit it’s head on a rock, leaving it stunned and unable to respond. Agnese took advantage of the prone kobold’s condition and plunged his dagger once again into the kobold, this time, striking dead center on the chest, piercing the kobold’s armor and it’s heart. The kobold’s eyes widened momentarily, and then the entire body went limp.

The trio stood silent for a moment, gathering their breath and listening for any others to come from the mine. The silence was broken by Courtenay, who let out a whimper. “This hurts. A lot.”

Ninette suggested they return to Beivalur and Ulrin. Agnese helped Courtenay to her feet and the three made their way back to where Beivalur and Ulrin were waiting.

“Oatspell, that sounded quite fierce. Is everyone well?” asked the big Mosae.

“No. Nightglade here decided to block a kobold’s claws with her ribs.” Agnese smirked as he responded to Beivalur. Ulrin saw the gashes and gasped. “Those look nasty!”

Courtenay winced. “They feel as bad as they look.”

Beivalur stood up and walked over to Courtenay, examining the wounds. “I believe I can help with these, but they will be tender for a bit. May I?”

Courtenay nodded. Beivalur asked her to raise her arm, and he placed his hand over the wounds. Courtenay winced again, which changed to a perplexed look. “That felt…weird.”

“How does it feel otherwise, Nightglade” asked Beivalur.

“Better. A little sore, but better.”

“Good. Anyone else?” Beivalur looked around. Ninette and Agnese indicated they were fine.

“We need to move quickly. They won’t likely come looking for these guys for a few minutes. But they will come looking.” Agnese looked around for someplace to take cover and allow the injured to continue to heal. Not far, he spied a thick stand of trees that could hide them from the road and the mine entrance. “Let’s head that way. Beivalur and and NIghtglade can finish healing and we can come up with a plan.”

With agrement from the rest of the party, they made their way to the trees and found a small clearing, just big enough for them to set down and rest. Beivalur administered more healing, but he was getting tired and the healing less powerful. “So, Oatspell, how do we enter the mine? These kobolds have proven to be more fierce than I would have expected.”

“I’ve been thinking about that. They’re going to come looking for the others, and I’m going to bet there are more of them than we can handle. Ulrin, is there another way in?”

“Maybe,” answered the young man, “but I wouldn’t know where to look.”

A thought came to Ninette. “How did they get air into the mine?”

Ulrin thought for a minute. “I’m not sure. There was always a light breeze in there, from what I recall”.

“If there was a breeze, then the air had to flow in from somewhere. But where? We can’t just crawl over the whole mountain,” added Agnese.