A predator late at night was sneaking up on Gikka. It met, and ran in terror from, the angry claws and teeth of a protective Lilbit. -- Anon Guest
Kobolds, like the Gobelliin, are one of the few species whose destiny is usually to end in a brief and crunchy squeak. There's an awful lot of creatures that view them as food. Including the Kobolds and Gobelliin.
When your entire species is automatically rejected from everywhere and your resources are slim, you don't get fussy about food.
None of this mattered to the lone Dire Wolf creeping up on the camp. It was hungry enough to approach despite the fire, because it smelled live food. The Kobold was huddled up in a big fur, but that didn't matter to the wolf, either. It knew enough to dig for sleepers under their covers.
Quietly, so as not to alert the twolegs nearby, it padded up to the Kobold. It used one paw to pull at the bedding. Silent as the wind.
There was a head. Shoulders.
Then a part of the fur startled up and swatted the wolf on the nose.
Sharp!
Yowling!
It snarled at the surprise, hackles bristling, and got another swat across its nose. The twolegs stirred. One grabbing a weapon. One raising a hand.
It had survived this long by being clever. It knew when it was outmatched, so it went yelping for the cover of the deeper woods. Belly still empty.
Perhaps, it might have better luck taking on a bear.
Gikka fully entered consciousness to see Lilbit all fluffed up, tail bottled, on her furs. Wraithvine quenched hir half-cast spell and began on a different one. Luek, the fighter, leaned on her sword and scabbard.
"Wh'd'f'k?" mumbled Luek.
"Dire wolf," said Gikka. "I told you we should've sheltered in a construction."
"See, oh mighty hero?" Wraithvine had summoned an illusion of recent events. Including the cat being the hero of the hour. "Even the least among us can save the whole of us."
Luek grumbled. "All right. You made your point."
[Photo by Michael LaRosa on Unsplash]
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