They all quickly moved to the side of the room, diving behind a set of dusty, spiderweb-covered boxes as they extinguished their torches.
Thalia kept her strings extended across the ground.
If they were caught, they were toast.
But trying to fight while almost blind would be worse.
It took a few moments before what seemed to be a strange kobold walked into the room.
He was no taller than Thalia, but despite being undead and lacking eyes in his sockets, he was oddly muscular.
Little flames burned where his eyes should have been and moved like pupils as the kobold, wearing nothing more than a simple tan loincloth, turned toward a human skeleton against the other wall.
Much to their collective horror, the skeleton raised a hand and pointed directly at their hiding spot behind the boxes.
A small flame appeared in one of its eye sockets.
Then it whispered in a strained voice.
"Hee. Hee."
The light quickly extinguished.
The skeleton fell limp.
The kobold turned toward their boxes and began to cautiously approach.
"Jax," Liora hissed quietly as the little kobold continued making his way over, "are we jumping out? What's the plan?"
Jax's mind raced.
He waited for it to get closer.
Then he channeled ki into his fist and whispered, "Now."
Thalia lunged out.
Her strings were already on the ground, and as she yanked her hands back, they flew up like a laid net.
They wrapped around the kobold, who writhed and tugged, but failed to break free.
Seeing he was tied down, Liora dashed to the side, her staff already raised.
A blast of circulating wind shot forward, striking the side of the little kobold and sending a wave of dust into the air.
However, where the kobold would have normally been moved, he stayed planted.
His body seemed heavier than it should have been.
Jax lunged in next.
He planted his feet against the little kobold's chest and kicked out.
Bones cracked under the rotting flesh his paws slightly sank into, and Jax bounced off as the kobold leaned over from the force.
Yet despite their assault, the kobold did not react.
No yelp.
No cry of pain.
Nothing.
That only made him more intimidating.
You have used skill Powerful Strike (E).
Party member Thalia has used skill Marionetting Fingers (E).
Zombie Kobold "Grok the Dumb" has been restrained.
Party member Liora has used skill Wind Blast (D).
Zombie Kobold "Grok the Dumb" has taken 30 damage.
Zombie Kobold "Grok the Dumb's" skill Rotting Mass (D) has assisted them in resisting the secondary effect of Wind Blast (D).
You have used skill Iron Fist (E).
Zombie Kobold "Grok the Dumb" has taken 46 damage.
Aiden rushed in from the side.
"Jax, remember, we're trying to spend energy sparingly," he said. "Hold off on multi-skill use for now."
Aiden swung his spear, slashing into the undead kobold.
Two of the creature's fingers flew off when it raised an arm to intercept the strike.
The spear scratched against bone and rotting flesh, but even after all that, the little undead kobold still seemed full of energy.
Selene lunged in from the side.
Her hand grabbed at the kobold's arm, leaving deep gashes that would have been detrimental, if not debilitating, for the living.
For the dead, they were just wounds.
Little Fox slammed her paw into the floor.
A glowing white pentagram formed underneath the kobold, who seemed to writhe under its effect.
Party member Aiden has used item Spear of the Seven Hunts (D).
Zombie Kobold "Grok the Dumb" has taken 38 damage.
Party member Selene has used skill Claws of the Beast (D).
Zombie Kobold "Grok the Dumb" has taken 28 damage.
Party member Beatris has used skill Hexing Curse (E).
Hexing Curse's effect is enhanced due to its angelic pact traits.
Zombie Kobold "Grok the Dumb's" evasion has dropped.
Zombie Kobold "Grok the Dumb" will take extra damage from all sources.
The little kobold turned toward Jax.
Jax braced for an attack.
Instead, the kobold dropped down and held up his hands like a child trying to protect himself.
"Why attack Grok?" the kobold asked in a strained, gravelly, but clearly upset tone. "Grok only does what Grok told… walk in circles. Friends don't attack Grok!"
They all stared in bewilderment.
Jax turned to Aiden.
Aiden returned what Jax could only assume was his own confused expression.
Then the little kobold turned, ripped free of the mana strings holding him, and ran down the corridor yelling at the top of his rotten little lungs.
"Grooooook! HEEEEELP!"
Everyone took a moment.
Then Thalia, Liora, and Jax rushed after the little kobold.
As they did, they heard a voice from down the hall.
"Grok, what is all the fuss? Why are you wounded? Did you trip into the weapon pile again?"
The voice was less raspy than Grok's and sounded feminine, like the sort of scolding an older sister might give if someone did something stupid, like run into a wall and start crying.
"F-Friends attack Grok!" the little kobold wailed as he rounded a corner. "They wouldn't listen to Grok! Grok got beat up by, like, twenty friends!"
He flashed his hand, now missing several fingers, then turned left and kept running.
Thalia held up a hand.
"There is another one down this hall," she said. "This one seems more bone than flesh. Probably a skeleton."
Thalia reported it calmly.
Liora and Jax turned back to Aiden, who had a hand on his chin.
"Let's form up in this room," Aiden said. "Their main advantage is making us come to them. Let's try not to let them have that as much as possible."
They all quickly moved back into the room and faced the doorways, ready.
Jax strained his ears, trying to pick up any sounds nearby.
As he waited, he heard what sounded like a conversation from down the hall.
"What do you mean you got jumped by twenty friends? There's only three of us."
The voice from around the corner was rather guttural, like someone with a cold, but at the same time, it had a pitch that seemed high for what Jax imagined of a necromancer.
After a moment, footsteps came around the corner.
As they approached, the sound of conversation made everyone tense.
"What do you mean you were attacked by friends?" the voice said. "I also need to remember to teach you how to count properly again."
The speaker rounded the corner, holding a torch.
They were short.
Even shorter than the kobold from before.
Their scales were ashen in color, and they seemed to be looking back down the hallway, maybe toward Grok or the source of the other voice, as they spoke.
Yet the moment they rounded the corner, the party exploded into motion like a well-coiled spring.
Thalia's cords flew out, grabbed the ashen kobold, and yanked the small gray kobold toward them.
Their head whipped around in surprise.
Liora's staff shot forward.
A blast of air caught the kobold in the leg, causing them to spin through the air with a cry of pain.
"W-Why are you atta—"
The kobold stopped and raised their arms.
Jax had the shot.
He could take it.
But as he prepared to move, he paused.
The little kobold flew past him and landed with a painful yelp on the stones.
The others looked at Jax in confusion.
Then, from around the corner where the gray kobold had emerged, three other figures appeared.
One was the zombie kobold from before.
The second seemed to be the skeleton of a kobold, bow in hand and arrow nocked.
The last was a small green spectral cat with long fur.
"See?" Grok said, pointing a finger toward them. "Twenty friends. But they attack a lot. They hurt Grok, and now Gak!"
The skeleton held their bow, though they did not draw it back.
"You dumb-dumb, those aren't friends," the skeleton said. "Those are adventurers. You were supposed to warn us if you saw any."
The little cat ran forward and passed through the wall, reaching the small gray kobold's side as a green aura surrounded Gak.
"See?" the little gray kobold said, gesturing to the undead. "We're all friends. These are my friends!"
"Jax," Beatris asked, looking between the kobold and him, "what's the plan here?"
Jax stayed silent for a moment, thinking through his choices.
Then he turned to the gray kobold.
"You are in a dungeon said to be occupied by hostile necromancers," Jax said. "Since you are showing no signs of hostility, that means you have a choice here."
The little kobold stared at him.
"I can have some of my party members guide you to the dungeon entrance, where you will be detained. If you are proven innocent of any of the previous deaths in this dungeon, you will be released."
Jax's voice lowered.
"Or I can count you as hostile and kill you as part of this dungeon quest."
This is stupid, Jax.
This is a liability, Jax.
You are putting your team at risk, Jax.
The thoughts ran through his mind, but Jax stayed quiet and looked at the kobold, waiting for an answer.
The little kobold adjusted himself into a kneeling position.
"O-Oh," he said, "we would very much like to live and be friends!"
Jax turned to Aiden.
Aiden nodded.
They all stepped aside and allowed the undead to pass, though the skeleton gave them a glare on the way by.
Aiden led them toward the entrance.
Jax listened until he heard the sound of Aiden leaving with the kobold and the undead.
As he waited, his mind began to race with possibilities.
Were all these necromancers bad?
Should they give them all a chance?
Was there really only one super bad one?
To push the thoughts away, Jax shook his head and whispered to himself.
"One down."
He looked into the dark hall ahead.
"Eight to go."