“What do we do now? The guard is so tight.” Peter was getting worried. After several days of observing the kobolds’ routine, they had found no easy way to sneak into the cave where the kobolds kept captives. Armed kobolds were always patrolling around their settlements, as well as near caves. As time went by, Borin’s chances of survival were diminishing.

Anna and Susan were silent as they didn't know the answer. Until suddenly, an idea came to Anna’s mind. She then asked Susan, “Can you read a kobold’s mind? Maybe we can get some information.”

“Actually… I don’t know. It never crossed my mind,” said Susan.

“I think we should try,” said Peter. “That’s our only chance.”

The three then agreed to catch a kobold using Susan’s needle-blowing tool. They hid behind a tree while waiting for a kobold to come nearby.

Time passed until two kobolds approached. “Shh… They’re coming.” Peter coded Susan. The boy was on standby with a sharp bamboo stick while Susan prepared with her blow dart.

Not long after, the green creature entered Susan’s shooting range. She aimed at the target and blew her weapon. A needle flew fast and hit the neck of that kobold. Within seconds, the creature fell unconscious, confusing its friend. Peter then rushed from his hiding place and stabbed the other kobold to death.

“We have to hide this.” Peter rushed to retrieve the body of the kobold he had just killed and hid it behind a bush so no one could find it. Meanwhile, Anna and Susan pulled the kobold’s unconscious body to a safer place.

“Okay, I’ll go into his thoughts. You guys stay around and let nothing bothers me.”

Anna and Peter nodded together as an answer.

Susan took a deep breath to help her concentrate and cast a spell while touching the kobold’s unconscious body. “Ergisum Provero!” A glimmer of white light emanated from her palm while her eyeballs turned completely white. Susan then entered the kobold’s mind.

Kobolds were apparently intelligent creatures. The one that Susan was being mind-read worked as an iron ore miner. It collected minerals inside the cave and put them in a stockpile. They could process the iron ore and produce iron bars. There was a furnace used to refine the materials they got.

The kobold memory then flashed and moved to another event. It was when it brought Borin into the cave that actually was a mine with long passages. It was like an anthill full of twists and turns. At the end of the long passage, there was a large hall with a prison where Ramos and Gladys were being imprisoned. She saw the figure of an old man with sparse silver hair.

After putting Borin into confinement, the kobold stood guard outside the room. From there, Susan could hear Gladys screaming as Ramos was killed. There was also a conversation between Borin and the old man, stating that he was after Anna in order to strengthen himself and his kobold army. After that, the evil mage would attack the tribesmen and take control of Ethardos.

Next, Susan saw the memory of when her grandmother was captured as a sacrifice. Like Ramos, the old woman was held in a dark prison for several days before being brutally murdered. It was really heartbreaking to see how someone so dear was treated sadistically. A tear then rolled down her cheek.

Next, a dark and damp underground room appeared. Susan could imagine the smell of moss wafting through her nose. The bottom of the room was flooded with water, making a splashed sound as the kobolds walked. They carried a dead body.

Out of the darkness, the kobolds—that had just hatched emerged. Their voice was very noisy, like the barking of small dogs. They then rushed to eat the dead body. In a corner of the room, Susan saw a glowing red ruby submerged at the bottom of a puddle.

The flash of memory then faded and was replaced with the atmosphere by the river. Several kobolds seemed to collect crocodile eggs and put them in a basket. Unexpectedly, the mother crocodile remained still. The eggs were then carried to the mine, down through a long corridor, until they arrived at the hall where the silver-haired old man was. By opening a secret door in one of the rocky walls, a passage appeared. It leads down to a crypt, where the eggs will be hatched. The same dark and damp room as when Susan had seen the body of a sacrifice given as food to the newborn kobolds.

Susan took a deep breath as she returned to her own consciousness. Her eyes turned normal and the light from her palm faded. She had got the information needed.

“What did you see?” asked Peter, right after Susan finished her magic.

“Borin and the young girl were still alive, but the other guy was murdered,” said Susan.

Hearing that, Peter felt a little relieved. Although Ramos’ tragic death left a bit of sorrow, at least Gladys and Borin were still alive.

“We have to hurry before he killed Gladys and Borin, too,” said Peter.

“Then how do we get in there?” asked Anna back to the main problem.

“This is very difficult. Day by day, they will get stronger.” Susan recounted the birth of many little kobolds and the figure of a silver-haired mage, who apparently was the mastermind of all this. He considered himself a god and asked for sacrifices from the tribesmen. Now, the mage was after Anna.

Peter and Anna were then silent for a moment. Everyone was lost in their own thoughts. They were in a race against time, but the slightest mistake can risk death. Attacking recklessly would get them caught easily, but staying still didn’t solve the problem at all.

Unable to stand the silence, Anna finally spoke up. “That mage wants me. I’ll be the bait to draw the kobolds away. You guys go into the cave.”

“No! It’s very dangerous,” said Peter. He certainly didn’t want to lose the girl he loves.

“But there’s no other way. I believe you two can save Gladys and Borin.” Anna looked deeply into Peter’s eyes.

“But this is too dangerous!” Peter kept insisting. “If you get caught—”

“Shh… what’s that sound?” Before Peter could finish his sentence, Susan interrupted.

Sounds like a dog growling was heard. As they turned to check the situation, a group of kobolds patrolled in search of them. They seemed to notice the loss of the two comrades.

“Oh, no… we’ll be found soon,” said Susan, panicked.

Not long after, a few kobolds walked closer. As the danger became real, Anna came out of her hiding place. She looked into Peter’s eyes meaningfully, then ran to get the kobolds’ attention.

“Hey! I’m here!” Anna waved his hands to catch the kobolds’ attention.

“W… wait.” Peter tried to restrain Anna, but it was too late. The kobolds had seen the girl and immediately ran after.

As the main target was spotted, the kobold’s settlement was then abandoned by most of its inhabitants. The mage ordered almost his entire army to go after Anna.

“Now or never!” Susan said to Peter, who was still hesitating to help Anna or enter the cave.

“Hurry!” Susan couldn’t wait any longer. She grabbed Peter’s hand, making him have no choice but to follow.

They went past the stone houses where the kobolds lived. There were still a few who remained there. A kobold who saw an intruder tried to attack, but Peter could overcome it. His training with Eric proved useful in these situations. He can dodge swiftly and kill the creature with a single stab of his pointed bamboo. Since he defeated the opponent, Peter got a spear as a new weapon.

After passing through the kobold settlement, the two teenagers arrived at the mouth of the cave. Peter had to kill one more guard before he made it inside.

It was dark and stuffy. Only a few torches hanging on the solid walls, giving a little lighting. In some locations, wooden posts were installed to prevent the ground above from collapsing. Mining equipment such as pickaxes, shovels, hammers, chisels, and ropes seemed to be left around.

They had only walked a few meters when two armed kobolds appeared in front of them. Peter pulled Susan’s hand to cover behind him while he parried the incoming attack. Although previously able to defeat kobolds by relying on the element of surprise, fighting two trained kobolds was a completely different matter.

In no time, Peter was pushed back. His opponent’s quick movements left the boy with no chance to counterattack. On one occasion, a hard blow knocked Peter to the ground. He could do nothing as his enemy raised his spear, ready to stab.

At that critical moment, Susan shot an arrow to kill the enemy and save Peter from death. She drew back her bow swiftly and fired once again to kill the one remaining kobold.

However, before she could even breathe a sigh of relief, another enemy came.

“Watch behind you!” Peter warned Susan. Another kobold appeared from the cave entrance with its weapon drawn. Susan looked back, but there was no time to dodge or draw her bow.

The enemy was too close.

Just when there was no more hope, a spear impaled through the kobold’s body from behind, making it collapse to the ground.

Pogna stood at the mouth of the cave.

Although feeling relieved, Susan was stunned by Pogna’s presence.

“What brings you here?” she asked coldly.

“It… seems like I’m worried about you. I’m sorry,” said Pogna in a regretful tone. “Since that night, I felt so bad for thinking about sacrificing Anna. I became more worried as I found out you went to the forbidden forest the next day.” Pogna was then silent for a moment.

“I don’t know if the time is right or not, but I don’t know if there will be another chance.” Pogna took a deep breath as he seemed to muster up his courage. “Well… it seems… I love you…”

No word was spoken as a response from Susan. Their gazes met at the same frequency and their heart seemed to understand each other.

A second later, Susan smiled and walked slowly toward Pogna and hug him tightly. “Thank you… Thanks for coming back, and thanks for being honest about your feelings… I love you too.”

Pogna then returned Susan’s hug and they were dissolved in silence and the warmth of feelings that melted into one.

“Err… I think we should hurry.” Peter broke the silence.

“Oh… yeah, sure.” Pogna had just noticed Peter, who was there all along.

Susan released her hug, then took arrows from the kobolds’ dead bodies. The arrows can still be used for other times. “Let’s go!” said Susan. She felt like new energy was injected into her soul.

Along the way down the hall, Susan shared the information she got from reading a kobold’s mind. The fact that the god would destroy the village after he got Anna and become stronger made Pogna feel even more guilty for thinking about sacrificing Anna. In his heart, he was determined to defeat the evil mage.

Now the three of them had penetrated further into the dark mine alleys. At every certain distance, there was a larger room for the miners to rest. It wasn’t difficult for Pogna, Peter, and Susan to defeat the few remaining kobolds.

Even though the mine meandered like a maze, they could find their way into the jail by reading the kobold’s mind they had stunned. Everything seemed to go smoothly until suddenly, Susan stepped into a trap. It was a thin piece of wood covering a hole. Not having time to react, she immediately fell down. Pogna jumped, trying to catch Susan’s hand. However, he wasn’t fast enough. Pogna just grabbed the air and fell along with his lover.

“Ouch…” Susan moaned as Pogna’s body fell on her.

“Sorry…” Pogna hurried to his feet and helped Susan.

“Where is this?” Susan asked, rubbing her sore waist.

Seeing his comrades trapped in a room about three meters below, Peter shouted, “Wait a minute, I’ll get a rope.” He remembered there were mining equipment left around in the hallway nearby. The boy then rushed off to pick it up.

Moments later, Peter returned with a rope in his hand. “Hold this!” He said and threw the rope down.

“You go up first!” Pogna helped Susan climb the rope while Peter was holding it.

After struggling hard, Susan finally made it to the top. Peter rushed to pull the girl’s hand. They then sat down exhausted, leaning against the solid wall.

“You’re quite heavy,” said Peter spontaneously. Susan answered with a small elbow on his waist.

“Hey! I’m still here!” Pogna shouted after Peter and Susan had rested for quite some time.

“Oh… Yes… Sorry…” Peter hurried to his feet and threw the rope again. However, before Pogna could grasp it, a pebble flew past Peter’s head. The boy turned to look for the source and found a group of kobolds rushing in. Five more pebbles were fired, causing Peter to let go of the rope in his grip while shielding his face.

“Ouch…” He groaned in pain as the small stones continued to hit his arms, legs, and stomach. Peter sat in his place, while Susan could only curl up to protect her head. Some parts of their bodies were bruised by the stones that kept being thrown.

There was nothing they could do until the kobolds ran out of ammunition. Peter then peeked out from behind his hand and saw his enemies approaching. During that critical moment, he caught a glimpse of Anna, bound among the crowd of kobolds. Shortly after, a heavy blow struck his head, knocking him unconscious.

The kobolds tied Peter and Susan, then carried their two new captives through the hole where Pogna was trapped.

Oh, no... what should I do? Pogna muttered to himself. He was now the only hope as all of his friends had been caught.