A new city rose in the wake of the one that had been burned down. The wall around the defeated and assimilated dungeoncore had been turned into a make shift walled camp, and the remaining Wartskin Kobolds had been kettled to it. Mess tables and beds filled the area, and Kobolds were pouring soup from a giant bowl on a wheeled cart.

Mala patrolled his trainee chefs in the makeshift camp, walking along lines of tables full of work. Longback, the Centipede, trailed at his side— it had grown larger than any of the others, and occasionally he caught fearful glimpses at him from other Kobolds. There were at least 200 Wartskin Kobolds here, more than all of the Kobolds in the Clan Below and Tinyfingers put together. It had taken a few days to gather all the Kobolds here, more than enough time for the area to fill with glowing mushrooms that provided the area with dim light.

A wall was rising between the Wartskin territory and the border of Clan Bighorn, cutting them off. There was still a standing force here, though. Kobolds looked between the served food and the distant border, walking the line of the wall. The buildings had been torn down completely, the mud pit dried. Outside the walls dozens of buildings that would serve as houses, kitchens and bathrooms rose.

Mala’s newest trainees ladled out food to Kobolds that approached the table, when a hush came over the crowd. A Kobold with glowing eyes stared down at the assembled Wartskin Kobolds. The Kobolds serving food began turning them away, back to sit on the crowded floor at one of the huge tables. The air charged with tension as Clan Below Kobolds decked in full armor shushed the crowd. Then Mark and Alverost spoke.

“Clan Wartskin! Look around you. You are all that remains of your ancestors legacy!” The Kobold Mark and Alverost possessed raised a left arm in a sweeping motion, as if to indicate the entire crowd. The right arm followed, but it was awkward and disjointed with the first motion. Dropping his arms, the Kobold began to pace along the wall. “Today you have a choice. Your clan lords and the Changed among you had made theirs, and they fell by our hand. Today you all will make the choice as well. You have seen what the Clan Below can bring you. Food, shelter, light, safety. Weigh your options well, for this will be the last meal that we give you that you do not have to earn. Join the Clan Below. Or die.”

“Well, not die. Lets walk that back a bit. You can join the Clan Below and stay here. We need more soldiers, so we can’t exactly promise safety. We plan on conquering the entire of the Hollow.” The possessed Kobold began to ramble. “Anyway, off tangent. If you do not want to join us, we can escort you to one of the other clans.” There was a murmur from the Kobolds in the courtyard.

“Yes, you can try your luck with the other clans! I’m sure that Clan Bighorn won’t rip you to shreds. That clan Longtail won’t scramble you until nothing of yourself is left. That clan Blighteye will welcome the Wartskin!” The Kobold continued.

“If you want to join us, you can walk through this door.” With a flourish, a door opened beneath them, stone melting away into mana. An altar sat on the other side of it, dungeon roots pouring up through it.

“And if you wish to die at the hands of another clan, head through the other.” The Kobold flourished its other arm, and another door opened across the courtyard.

There was a quiet calm in the courtyard for a moment. Some Kobolds looked around at each other, at the Kobold Mark and Alverost possessed, at the two doors. Some looked to the line of food. Some didn’t look up the entire time, greedily downing soups.

Then one Kobold stood. It caught dozens of stares, and it looked around, matching them.

Then it began sprinting for the ‘join’ door.

The entrance was crammed with a dozen Kobolds before it reached it.

Days passed. Despite Alverost saying they wouldn’t, they still fed the Kobolds that remained in the fort’s walls. Not all of them chose to leave through the door to the other territories, simply waiting and deliberating. Eventually, though, almost all of them capitulated. There were less than 10 remaining in the original compound, though a walled city had risen up out of the dirt and muck of Clan Wartskin.

It looked like an entirely different world, populated by glowing mushrooms and traversed by gigantic centipedes. Those had been a particularly jarring addition for the Wartskin Kobolds; they had grown beyond their ranches, rapidly populating, especially now that the farms were constantly being stripped to provide enough food for clan Wartskin.

The area in clan Wartskin outside of the expansive and growing barracks had been turned into a training ground. Axel paced along a line of Kobolds who stabbed wooden spears into training dummies. They wore heavy wooden armor, meant to train and acclimate them to the metal they would eventually wear.

Farther down the line, more than a dozen circles hosted Kobolds who sparred one another with wooden swords. The air was filled with the grunts of Kobolds at work.

Axel paused as he heard a sudden noise. He looked around as a perception came screaming towards him.

“Axel! Everyone! Get to the wall! An attack is coming!” Mark shouted. Wartskin Kobolds looked up, confused, as Clan Below Kobolds ran forward towards the walls ramparts.

A high wall had been erected between clan Bighorn and the new territory of the Clan Below. The dungeon’s domain stretched past the wall to allow sight beyond it, as well as prevent other dungeons from simply building over it.

Even as the Kobolds reacted to the attack, it had already begun, the Clan Bighorn Kobolds rushing forward. Gigantic, elongated Kobold heads peered down from over the wall. Only three of them, but each was tall enough to peer over it. Even now, a new wall was descending from the ceiling to cut off the direction entirely. It was not descending fast enough.

Kobolds ran to join the field, scrambling to put on pieces of armor or struggling to pull arrows from quivers as they ran. A single clan Bighorn Kobold, barely even changed, stepped over one of the giant Kobolds heads, stopping for a moment on top of the Changed Kobold’s head.

It leaned forward on one leg, squinting over the Clan Below territory. Its head swiveled as it stared out at the group of Kobolds. A Kobold on the wall rushed it from either side, spears stabbing forward—

And hitting nothing, as the arrogant and unchanged Kobold simply disappeared, reappearing behind one of the two Kobolds. Other Kobolds started pouring over the Kobolds head now, heavily Changed.

“Arcana user!” Alverost hissed.

“He’s got magic?” Mark asked. “Archers! Fire!”

Arrows sprayed wildly at all the wall, none hitting as more and more war-ready Kobolds came to join. The Arcanist Kobold simply stabbed his hand forward, blurring like lightning as it ripped into the neck of one of the Kobolds that had stabbed at it.

The Kobold fell to its knees, coughing blood, and the Arcanist simply threw it over the wall. Not towards the Wartskin side, but back out towards Clan Bighorn. It then began leisurely approaching one of the wall’s still standing defenders, the rest swept under the wave of attacking Bighorn Kobolds.

The Bighorn Kobolds had long, lanky bodies, tails stretching longer than even the Longtail Kobolds. Their arms were short and retracted, their heads were elongated, and they had feathers adorning their scales in crests. In fact, the ones with heads above the wall were completely covered in feathers.

The Arcanist Kobold pointed, and the wave of Kobolds surged, snapping at and dragging the wood armored Kobolds.

“Is it a force Arcana? No, he’s too weak for that… he would’ve popped that Kobolds head straight off…”

“Alverost, how do we even fight that thing?”

“I’m trying to figure it out. What kind of magic is it? Strength? It would’ve climbed the wall itself…”

“Its a speedster. Like the flash.”

“Speed! Of course its speed. The weakness of speed Arcana… a rapid metabolism, the inability to stay still… and before rapid movement, they move slower. Surround and destroy him! Go!”

Alverost ordered the Kobolds forward, but it was too late. The clan Bighorn Kobolds, as quickly as they had came, began to retreat, dragging dozens of Kobolds with them. They flew over the wall, jumping down with a total disregard for its height.

The Arcanist Kobold slid down the wall, stopping for just a moment, before disappearing and reappearing a dozen feet away, grabbing a Kobold by the neck of its armor, and then sprinting for the wall. Kobolds sprinted after it, arrows flew wildly, and the raid ended with dozens of dead and abducted Clan Below Kobolds.

“What the hell.” Mark said.

“A raid for food, probably.” Alverost replied. “I doubt that dungeon is capable of helping create food for them otherwise. Its starting to grow more intelligent. Something tells me that wasn’t the first time they’ve done this. But to have two Arcanists here—”

“Two? I thought there was only the one.”

“Yes, they had one, but we had an Arcana spawn as well. Thats an incredibly high drop rate. This entire labyrinth shouldn’t produce more than two a year. And we haven’t even made the decision on assimilating ours.”

“Have you made any progress onto what our arcana does?” Mark asked.

“No. Once we have spare silver to run diagnostic rituals, I can start to guess what its effects will be.”

“No, I didn’t. I’m going to go get to work re purposing the rest of the Silver to the carts. You should get ready too. We need a way to counter that Arcanist.”

Silver stood at the head of a table for the preparatory meeting. Three days had passed since the Clan Bighorn raid, and the wall had been completely sealed off. The clan had made several preparations, which now were laid behind them.

“Silver, does your squad know your duties?” Alverost asked.

Silver nodded, slamming his spear into the ground. “Kill the Arcanist.”

“Splotch?” Alverost asked.

“We will defend the fire carts as we advance with them.”

“I will finish off the Arcanist and absorb his power.” Axel said, unprompted.

“Whoa! Roll that back a little.”

“Why are you so opposed to killing, Mark? It is the most efficient.” Axel asked, curious.

“Its not the killing I’m opposed to! Well okay, some killing is bad, but no absorbing his power! We should wait and see what the best decision is.”

“I agree with Mark, Axel. You should absorb the Arcana safely, where theres no risk. You may be incapacitated by absorbing it.” Alverost replied.

Axel nodded at that.

“Valleria, detail the territory for us.”

Valleria stood, albeit nervously. In the middle of the table was an estimated layout of the clan Bighorn territory. Clan Longtail had bordered it, so Valleria had frequently been in and out of its territory.

“Uh… the territory is a little different than the other clans. Most of the clans base their clan head house at the back, but Bighorn bases theirs near the river, here.” She pointed at one of the buildings. “That will likely be the place the dungeoncore is kept, since, you know, its added to the horde.” She fidgeted nervously. “Well, thats all.”

After that, she rapidly stepped back from the table, scratching the back of her neck nervously.

“This means that, once we pass through the wall, we will be taking a hard right into their territory. This time, the wheels on the fire carts have been heavily reinforced. We will push it directly through the city. You all know your squads.” Alverost said. “Get ready to attack. Clan Wartskin Kobold squads, lead the charge.”

Alverost finished instructing. All around the table, more than a hundred Kobolds stood. Not all of them had metal armor, there was hardly time for that, but there was plenty of wooden armor to go around. Most of them even had metal weapons, or at the very least, they were edged with sharpened metal, no small feat for the time tables they were working with. The dungeon had been almost entirely out of mana for the last few days, even with the new territorial expansions.

Today, the attack on clan Bighorn would begin.