They clashed just ahead of me, Katarina’s prosthetic leg intercepting a downward slice from the massive sword. Andes would have vertically bisected me with that blade, if not for Katarina’s interference. She angled her leg to the side as it impacted, deflecting the blade into the ground.

  I took a step back and managed to continue the performance. Katarina punched Andes several times, but he absorbed the blows as if they were from a child. Anger flashed in Katarina’s eyes as Andes swung towards her with the sword.

  She turned her body to the side, dodging the swipe, and jumped, lashing out with her bladed prosthetic. I finished the performance and enchanted her with explosive potential as Wind’s Edge cut a line of crimson across the massive kobold’s upper thigh. He bellowed in anger, thrusting forward with the pommel of the sword.

  I started performing Kinetic Overload again, pouring my remaining mana into Quicken Song and leveling the skill to 6/50.

  Katarina ducked and weaved to the side, lashing out with a quick jab to his elbow. She detonated an explosive charge and Andes roared again as his joint inverted from the impact.

  He leaned in, snapping at Katarina with a maw lined with dagger-sized fangs. She twisted, but wasn’t quite fast enough. He bit down on the edge of her forearm, tearing a chunk of flesh away. Blood poured down her arm, but the wound rapidly mended as she consumed a health potion, jumping backwards.

  I finished the performance, sending the kinetic energy into myself as Andes shifted, hoisting the huge sword in one arm. It was an awkward move. Though he was massive — his muscles had muscles — he was not practiced with the sword. Wielding it with one hand slowed him considerably.

  Katarina saw his attention shift and darted back in, throwing a punch into his stomach. Andes doubled over from the explosive impact as I darted forward. His face was low enough for me to punch, so I lashed out and hit him in the side of the head, detonating a charge of explosive energy. His head jerked to the side, but not as far as I would have expected.

  Katarina followed my punch with a kick, bringing her leg up and releasing a charge as her foot impacted the kobold’s chin. Andes stumbled backwards, dropping the sword and bringing both hands up to cradle his broken jaw. He growled, shifting his stance and charging Katarina. His right hand, the size of my torso and tipped with razer sharp claws, reached for Katarina.

  I punched, aiming for the uninjured arm, which happened to be closest to me. My fist connected with his elbow and I detonated another charge, blasting his arm to the side and destroying his elbow.

  Andes staggered, both arms and jaw hanging limply from his body. His health was deep into the red, flashing. He growled, turning towards me and lashing out with one booted foot. Katarina pirouetted, ramming the blade of Wind’s Edge into his knee and shoving the kick away from me. The noise it made when the blade sank in made my skin crawl.

  The massive kobold roared, shifting and falling to the side. Katarina shifted, pulling the blade free and aiming it for his face. Andres tried raising his arms to defend himself, but both shattered elbows caused them to flop helplessly around.

  His roar silenced just before Katarina wedged Wind’s Edge into his eye and deep into his skull. He whimpered, then made a soft urk sound. He twitched for a moment, then fell back, motionless.

  - Ding! -

  Welcome to level 13! New Stat Points available for distribution!

  “Are you alright?” I asked, stepping around to see her arm. The patch of skin that had been bitten away was slightly paler than the rest, but it was barely noticeable.

  “I’m fine, did you just level up too?” She kicked Andes corpse and it vanished into her inventory.

  “I did. Do you think that sword belongs to…”

  “Before we worry about that, distribute your stat points. You can’t keep forgetting to do that.”

  “Oh, right.” I pulled up my stat screen. “You think I should put them in Endurance again?”

  “Yeah, lets get it to 20, then start working on other stats. That should give you a good solid foundation for your stamina.”

  “What is your Endurance?” I added three points, bringing it up to 13.

  “Wouldn’t you like to know?”

  “Yeah, that’s why I asked.”

  “A lady never tells.” She winked at me.

  “A… what? Why not? It isn’t a big deal.”

  She shrugged, lifting the sword. She grunted. It was taller than her. “I just don’t wanna. What were you saying before?”

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  “Emrys said his daughter in law fought with a large sword. I was thinking that might be hers.”

  “Let’s keep going and see if we can find them.” Katarina stored the sword in her inventory and started walking towards the hall Andes had emerged from.

  Katarina stopped at the door, looked in, and waited for me to catch up. I strained to hear anything ahead as we made our way into the tunnel, but couldn’t hear anything.

  “Something down there lives yet. I can hear breathing.” Encore whispered into my ear.

  “I don’t hear anything.” Katarina softly replied. The tunnel angled down slightly, ending at an open door twenty feet further in.

  I heard the soft sound of ragged breaths as we approached.

  “Three. There are three in the room ahead.” Encore whispered.

  Their dots appeared on my mini-map as he said it. We approached the doorway with slow, careful steps. Katarina stepped in first, hesitated with a gasp, then hurried in, pulling healing potions from her inventory. I hurried into the room after her.

  The room was a hellish larder. Body parts were heaped on a wide table that lined the back wall. The pungent aroma of blood and death filled the room. A corpse lay on a smaller table, partially carved with a massive cleaver laying next to it.

  I looked away, towards the survivors. Two men and a woman were chained to the walls by their wrists, the shackles just high enough to prevent them from sitting.

  Katarina was pouring a healing potion into the mouth of the woman, Abigail. She was shorter than Katarina, slim with long blonde hair. She wore a set of shining chainmail armor that was covered in blood. One of her eyes was a bloody mess with a long scratch that started up in her hairline, passed through the ruined eye, and ended down near her chin.

  A man hung next to her. He was taller than me. Maybe six and a half feet, also slim with bags under his eyes. He had a long black beard that was graying at the edges and wore a black travelling shirt and leather breeches that had both been torn with claws. His clothing was drenched in blood, his health bar flashing red.

  I glanced over at the second man, hanging from the opposite wall. He was the worst off, missing his entire face. He gurgles, hanging limply. I couldn’t fathom how he was still alive. His health bar flashed red as well, an almost imperceptible sliver. I released the stored charge of Radiant Winds, splitting the orbs three ways.

  Four spheres of glowing energy absorbed into each person. All three people sighed, their health bars rising out of the red and the worst of their wounds closing. Katarina put the second health potion she had been about to pour on Abigail back to her inventory, pulling out a key and undoing the manacles that held the woman.

  Abigail was dazed and fell forward. Katarina caught her with one arm, tossing me the key.

  “That big boss kobold had this on him. Get the other guys down.” She focused on settling Abigail to the floor.

  I nodded, walking up to Danny, who was blinking and looking around the room. His eyes gradually became more focused as I approached.

  “Wha—?” He started to say.

  “It’s alright. Let’s get you down.” I reached up and undid the lock. He stumbled forward, but I caught him.

  “Abby. Is Abby okay?” He asked, looking around.

  “I’m here,” Abigail croaked, coughing.

  “Oh thank the gods.” Danny shifted, sinking down next to his wife and caressing the back of her head.

  I stepped over to the third man, who hung from the manacles, motionless. His face had healed over slightly, but sections of bloody, exposed flesh remained. He was dead.

  “But… I don’t understand. I healed him.” I examined him in disbelief. I reached out and was given the option to loot him. I pulled my hand back as if stung. “I healed him. I watched his health go back up.”

  Katarina stepped close to me, looking at the man. “He doesn’t have a face.” She looked at his body. “And he is really messed up. Look, just about every rib is probably broken. See the blood there? And the bulging? Probably had internal bleeding. Your healing can do a lot, but you aren’t a miracle worker, Chanter. Don’t beat yourself up.”

  I sighed, stepping away from the man.

  “Quick,” Danny suddenly said, shooting to his feet. “That beast will —” he was cut off suddenly as he swooned, having stood too quickly. Abigail stood and helped steady him.

  “That beast will be back any moment! We must go!” His eyes were wide, his pupils dilated.

  “The kobold alpha is dead,” Katarina replied, her voice low and calm. “And I am pretty sure most of the other kobolds are dead as well. Sorry we couldn’t save your friend.”

  “Tomas?” Danny looked over at the corpse hanging from the wall. “Damn. Told him to keep his mouth shut. Brave to the point of stupidity. Just kept insulting that kobold.”

  “His insults distracted that beast. He likely saved me from death or worse by distracting that thing.” Abigail had a hand around Danny’s waist, looking at the corpse with sad eyes. “Thank you, Tomas. Thank you.”

  She whispered the last part, lowering her head for a moment before lifting it and looking at us. “Where did you come from? East or West? Which direction did you travel?”

  “We met your family,” I replied. “On the road. They are safe. We can talk about it more once we get out of this place.”

  “Thank the gods,” Abigail sighed. Danny let out a low keening sound that reminded me of a wounded animal and began sobbing into Abigail’s hair. “There there, we made it.”

  After a few moments, Danny calmed and we made our way out of the fort. A few kobolds emerged from side hallways, but Katarina made short work of them. We were nearing the front gate when she stopped.

  “Oh, right. Is this yours?” She pulled the huge sword out of her inventory.

  “Dragonslayer! Abigail breathed, stepping towards Katarina. “Yes, that is my blade. Thank you!”

  Her eyes misted over with a sheen of tears as she took the sword. The shimmering black core shifted to a light blue color and began to glow as she easily held the sword aloft with one hand. It seemed impossible, the sword was nearly half again as tall as the woman, but she lifted it as if it were a short sword.

  She lifted the blade vertically and brought it to her forehead, resting her head on it and murmuring. It shrank to half its size. She swung it around and affixed it to her back. I didn’t see a sheath or hook or anything, it almost appeared magnetized.

  We made our way back through the keep. The kobolds had either all been slain, or had fled, because we didn’t encounter any more as we traversed the ruins, making our way back to the entrance. Encore hopped up onto my shoulder and assisted me in performing Radiant Winds, which I stored in the Songcache.

  “Your family is right outside!” I turned and pushed on one of the large doors. A vertical beam of sunlight slipped in. I glanced outside. We had messaged Abernathy and let him know we were coming out. The donkeys were languidly pulling the cart around the corner.

  I smiled, gesturing for the others to leave as I held the door open. Abigail and Danny stepped forward, turning their faces up toward the warmth of daylight.

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