As they moved through the streets, Kaelon could see civilians peeking at them. From behind walls and through windows, eyes peered in their direction. Finally arriving at the wall they were greeted by scattered soldiers.

  There was no orderly army or composed soldiers. Men ran about, arming themselves with visible fear on their faces. As they arrived the soldiers bagan turning to them one by one.

  It was Kane who stepped up to meet their frightened gazes. He wore a confident expression as he strode forward.

  "Men! A monster wave is coming. We have no time! Your leaders have been chased away and killed along with the man responsible. There is no one but us now! Take your fate into your hands! Resolve yourselves to fight!"

  The soldiers rippled with confusion. The fear some felt only worsened at Kane's words but others were inspired. Looks of fear cleared up and hardened. Soldiers began to move with purpose instead of running around like chickens.

  Everyone quickly began moving. The monks and paladins joined the soldiers in their preparations. Kaelon headed up the wall with Kane, the Abbot. and Arka. Emerging from a stairwell Kaelon could see everything.

  A horde of kobolds, larger than he ever imagined, was running straight at them. In less than ten minutes they would be upon them with a monstrous fury. Kaelon's face paled and his grip on his blade tightened. He turned to Kane with a worried expression.

  "This is not looking good Kane. The soldiers are barely soldiers. How are we supposed to defend this city alone?!"

  Kane looked back at him completely composed.

  "Calm down Kaelon. The situation is bad, sure, but that doesn't change anything. Our mission is still to be here and support them in this attack. All we have to do is kill its leaders and they'll fall apart."

  As everyone put their attention on Kane. he continued.

  "The strategy is the same as before. I intercept the leader and kill it, the rest will fall from there. The only problem is that a horde of this size has more than one leader type monster."

  Kane looked at Arka and Kaelon with a smile.

  "That's were you guys come in. The Abbot and I will deal with the main, and stronger leader. You guys take care of its deputies. Easy enough right?"

  Kaelon's expression turned blank, completely confused.

  "This might be a dumb question but... How do we tell the difference between a leader and a regular monster?"

  Kane burst out laughing ag hus question. The Abbot, however, kindly placed a hand on his shoulder before explaining.

  "It's simple really. Leaders are stronger than regular monsters. They have a sort of aura about them, a naturally domineering spirit that let them order other monsters around."

  Kaelon nodded at his words, understanding the concept. He turned back towards the horde, his expression resolute. It wasn't long befoe the first kobolds reached the wall.

  Immediately arrows came crashing on them, some dropping dead on the spot. Kaelon watched as this cycle repeated a few times. The kobolds ran up to their deathsin droves, but as bodies dropped a staircase was being built.

  Kobolds climbed over their dead with a frenzy, reaching for their prey. Kane suddenly turned to his left. His eyes peered through the horde, spotting a giant kobold wielding a large scimitar. The two made eye contact even hundreds of meters away from each other.

  Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

  A murderous glint appeared in the kobolds eye as he crouched. The kobold was about to jump staright up at him but Kane acted faster. Like a meteor his metallic frame shot at the kobold before it could jump.

  The Abbot sighed to himself before following.

  "I'm too old for this..."

  Kaelon turned to Arka and shrugged.

  "We should get to it I guess. No time to waste."

  Arka nodded with a hardened expression, his resolve clear.

  The two headed down the wall and approached a soldier. Kaelon led the way and began speaking while patting the man's shoulder.

  "Open the gates. Me and my friend here are going out for a nice hunt."

  The man's eyes widened and he stammered back.

  "N-no, what if those monsters get inside the city?"

  Kaelon's eyes narrowed and his grip on rhe man's shoulder tightened.

  "That wasn't a request. Open the gates now. You don't have to open them all the way either. Just enough for us to get through."

  The man trembled in his grip before nodding profusely and doing as he was told. The large wooden gates began opening slowly. The doors split slightly open before stopping.

  Kaelon and Arka stepped through the open gates. Walking through they found themselves surrounded by kobolds and kobold bodies. Immediately they were locked into combat.

  Kaelon's blade turned red as he cut through kobolds like butter. Arka twisted his staff and knocked kobolds unconscious with every move. The two cut through the kobold horde with swift and precise movements.

  Kaelo was finishing off a wounded kobold when he felt a chill kn his spine. He immediately jumped to the side dodging a powerful attack. Appearing out of nowhere was a larger than nirmal kobold. It weilded a spear and sported a long scar down its face all the way to his abdomen.

  Kaelon tightened his grip even further before tushing at the kobold. He didn't hesitate for a second before attacking. His world shrank as his focus narrowed on his opponent. The burning in his chest flared as he rushed ag the monster.

  The two clashed repeatedly, sending sparks flying. The kobold was much stronger than Kaelon, at least physically. It pushed him back often but Kaelon never faltered.

  The kobold seemed to be having fun with Kaelon. It wore a mad grin on its face as Kaelon attacked it repeatedly. It's spear twirled and stabbed at Kaelon in retaliation.

  Kaelon was knocked backwards again, but this time he stayed. Insted of rushing at the kobold, he waited for the kobold's attack. Raising a hand he taunted it with a smile.

  "What? Too scared to come at me?"

  Blood dripped from Kaelon's hands from their clashes. He breathed in deep as the kobold jumped at him. It's maw was wide open in glee and its scimitar flashed with deadly light.

  Kaelon gripped his sword tight as The Breath of Embers reappeared in his head. The kobold was almost upon him when the movements and flashes clicked into place. Suddenly his body moved forward and a name came to mind.

  'First Form: Kindling Spark'

  His blade grew even hotter than before as he moved under the kobold's scimitar. The sword flashed forward and thrust into the kobold. The smell of burning flesh wafted from the wound as Kaelon retrieved his sword.

  Immediately he moved to the next movement. His sword moved with a speed and fluidity that Kaelon had never achieved before. The flaring heat in his chest suddenly flared out, covering his blade.

  'Second Form: Cinderflow'

  A barrage of burning slashes assaulted the disoriented enemy. The kobold left with visible burns and cuts all over his chest. Flames were rising from Kaelon's blade as he approached the fallen kobold.

  He stabbed its head and ended its misery in one strike. The kobolds around them had long been chased away or killed in their fight so Kaelin was left alone. Looking around he took a moment to rest.

  Using The Breath of Embers took a lot out of him. It was like infusing his sword with divinity times a thousand. Not only was it much more powerful but it took more energy.

  'I wonder how Arka is doing?'

  He sighed to himself before rushing back into combat. He kept an eye out for Arka as he cut through the horde. As kobolds fell around him he felt a chill in his spine again.

  Looking around he saw Arka fighting a kobold leader. The two clashed repeatedly but it was clear the kobold had the upper hand. Arka sported various wounds on his body and looked exhausted.

  Kaelon rushed to support him. His sword flared with heat as he infused divinity into it. Sneaking up from behind he delivered a fatal blow to the leader, ending the fight.

  Arka looked at him with a thankful expression.

  "Thanks man, that could've been bad. Damn kobold snuck up on me after I killed another leader."

  Kaelon nodded with a smile.

  "No problem, but now isn't the time to talk. Are there any other deputies?"

  A bloody Kaelon and Arka moved through the horde while making conversation.

  "I haven't seen any other ones yet. Even from a distance."

  A kobold suddenly appeared in between Arka and Kaelon. It crumpled to the floor, dead in less than two seconds.

  "So far there's been three of them. The two I killed and the one you killed. Do you think there's more?"

  Arka knocked out a kobold in front of him before replying.

  "Maybe... I don't know. It is a big horde after all. How many deputies could it need?"