《Campfire》


 Chapter_1 - Birth

    He awoke, a general feeling of warmth and a sense of claustrophobia confronted him. He could not see, barely being able to smell and hear. A faint crackling sound hung in the air. He tried to stretch out, yet his limbs moved weakly and contacted a smooth, hard surface that prevented him from reaching further. He tried again, using his other hand, in a different direction. Once more, he hit the surface.This time however, he felt the surface crack ever so slightly. Encouraged, he pushed with all of his might against the fracturing surface, until it gave way, sending him sprawling outwards onto a cold, harder surface.


    Instantly , the crackling grew far stronger, becoming a roaring to the new, sensitive hearing he had. Moreover, a slight sobbing could be heard nearby. He blinked, clearing viscous liquid from his eyes, allowing him to see. As he righted himself using his short, scaled arms and legs, he saw the source of the sobbing. A short kobold woman, a scarlet slash across her chest oozing blood, sobbed in the corner of the room in which he was born. It was quite clear, even to him, that she was going to die. She looked up, spotting him for the first time, afterall he was only about half a foot tall.


    Koiganax, as he was now called, watched as his mother died. He wasn''t sad, afterall he was a monster and therefore had limited emotions. The life in his mother''s eyes faded, and her head drooped. He looked around, in the other corner, a small fire crackled, the source of the roaring. He seemed to be inside some sort of cave that had been expanded for the use of the kobolds who seemed to inhabit them. Koiganax, however, couldn''t figure out why his mother had died. He turned around to face the corner behind him, where he had hatched. There were multiple other eggs, however they had all been broken, violently it seemed. Unhatched kobolds were strewn around the nest, dead. It was at this point, he heard a sound. An alien language sounded out from outside the chambre he was in.


    The author''s narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.


    "Waltheof, check the side-chambre over there, I think I heard something."


    "Yes sir." came a second voice in response


    At this, Koiganax hid, he did not know what it meant, but it was likely that whatever it was had killed his mother and his siblings. Awkwardly skittering into the nest, as he was newborn, and struggled to walk properly. He hid himself partially underneath his egg and played dead. Since they had missed his egg before, it was likely they would miss him again. As he lay there, trying to keep his breathing to a minimum, a huge figure walked into the chambre, ducking underneath the low archway, giving a cursory look around the room, he turned and left the room.


    "Nothing sir, just that dead kobold and those eggs we crushed" The man named Waltheof stated.


    "Good." replied the other voice "Right men, lets leave"


    Still hidden underneath the egg shell, Koiganax watched as roughly 2 dozen silhouettes passed by the entrance to the chambre and, seemingly, left. Terrified, Koiganax remained hidden in his birthnest for over an hour


    [Congratulations, you have survived birth. Processing character information...]