“Woah.” Zeke looked at Lil Kip breaking down. Zeke raised his hands as he said, “Don’t cry.”

  Lil Kip did not respond well to the large minotaur approaching him and cried more, running behind a tree to hide. Zeke looked up at him, “Fine. Keep crying for all I care.”

  Zeke waved his hands and went back to the fishing spot. He sat down and picked up his fishing rod, taking the hook and casting it out again. He tried to enjoy the peace and quiet of this day but behind all that noise was sniffling.

  Sniffling, and a child kobold trying very hard, but failing, at not crying. Zeke waited restlessly for the moment to pass. He said to Kip, “You’re scaring all the fish!”

  Kip quieted for a moment, then resumed his sniffling, now sad that his sniffling was also making the fish sad. Zeke suddenly got a pull. He reeled his line back in but all that came with it was a one-toed shoe. Zeke sighed, hoping he could still recover the hook from the leather. He attempted to wiggle it out, attempting to free the barb. He pressed his thumb into the top barb and pushed.

  Kip was settling in behind the tree, wondering where his brothers had gone. Had they really abandoned him? Or were they just continuing to look for him? He was rattled by the enormous shriek of a minotaur that rang out from the other side of the tree. Kip leapt and scurried around in a circle before confirming his hiding place behind the tree. He poked his head out. Zeke was standing there, gripping his thumb. Kip could see the hook through Zeke’s thumb, the barb coming from the other side. Blood was gushing out. Kip hid behind the tree again. He searched through his little satchel, then came out an approached Zeke.

  “Come to finish me when I’m weak?” Zeke asked. Lil Kip waddled up to Zeke and stuck his hands out, beckoning for Zeke’s finger. Zeke presented it. Kip looked down at it, studied it. He approached with a mini wire cutter and snapped the barb off, then he looped the barbless hook through the wound again. Now that Zeke’s thumb was hook free, he was able to take a bit of rag and wrap it around the beast’s thumb. The problem had been solved.

  Zeke felt relieved, “Good job. Thank you.”

  Kip beamed while looking up at Zeke.

  “So… where are you from?”

  Kip didn’t say anything, merely looking up with his large eyes. The minotaur reached into his basket and handed Kip a fish, “Here you go. As a thank you.”

  Kip grabbed the fish and placed the whole thing in his mouth, attempting to swallow it and instead choking.

  “Glahghahahggha!” Shouted Kip as the fish wiggled in his tiny throat.

  “You’re not supposed to eat it whole! Said Zeke as he slapped Lil Kip’s back hard. The fish shot out of Kip’s mouth as he fell forward. “Look at you. You’re absolutely defenseless.” Said Zeke.

  Lil Kip stared up at him, not saying a word.

  “Let’s get you home.” Said Zeke, “I think I know where the Kobold encampment is.”

  A young Zeke and a younger, tinier, Kip walked home. Occasionally, Kip’s tiny legs would fall behind so he would waddle faster to keep up. Zeke took them to his best approximation of where the kobold encampment was. He got close to town and was pointed to the labyrinth which was across the bridge. They reached an impasse with the bridge troll, explaining that Zeke was too new to know the password and did not understand riddles. Zeke got so heated that he threatened to pummel the bridge troll. The bridge troll took out knives but someone else was there and Zeke explained the situation to him. That someone else shared the password and they were on their way.

  Zeke and Kip walked home, eventually Kip’s little legs got tired so Zeke hoisted him on his shoulders for the rest of the way. Deep in the labyrinth was the barracks, and those barracks housed Kip’s kobold family. All the brothers ran around playing and Kip instantly ran over to his mother, no longer tired from resting on Zeke’s shoulders. Kip’s mother thanked Zeke profusely for the help. Zeke said it was no problem and then made his way back to the barn he slept in. It was dark by the time he made it to the barn. He crashed on his hay mat.

  The next day, Zeke was back after work in his fishing spot. There was a tree that always provided him shade. He reached into the tree’s hollow but his hand came up empty. Zeke’s face turned worried as he reached his arm farther in and checked again, “Did someone steal my…” Zeke began to panic. This was a present from Bodhi, and he hadn’t heard from him in weeks. It was not lost on him that Bodhi could be dead. Zeke started to tramp around the entire tree, then checked other trees in case he’d made a mistake.

  Zeke’s frantic search was broken by a squeak that caught his attention. He turned and saw Lil Kip still standing there.

  If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it's taken without permission from the author. Report it.

  “Don’t tell me you’re lost again.” Said Zeke, “Look, I’m a little busy right now, I don’t have time to help, I’m looking for my fishing pole.”

  Kip showed Zeke what he was hiding behind his back. The fishing pole. Zeke snatched it out of Kip’s hands. He examined it to make sure it was in good condition. Upon inspection, Zeke realized it was different. There was a third piece of tubing where the two sticks connected. Zeke bent the rod, it was still pliable, but reinforced. Then he looked at the gizmo that Kip had placed above the handle of the rod. It was a mechanism that kept the spool of fishing line close. He threw the line and it would twirl, feeding more line.

  “What is this?”

  To Zeke’s surprise, Kip spoke, “I used another pipe to give the fishing pole more strength. Now you can catch bigger fish. And since bigger fish are in deeper waters, I made something that let you cast out your line. It lets you throw the line farther, then you can lock it just like this and it’ll stay at that length.”

  “This is gre-”

  “I took the idea from the cranks that power the moat. It was really easy once I found the right part that-”

  Kip had barely said a word to him yesterday, but for the next hour or so, the little kobold would not shut up. Zeke sat back down on the fishing rock of his as Kip demonstrated how to toss the line. Zeke turned the lock of the spool off, gave himself some extra line and tossed it as far as he could. The line went far enough to wade into the deep end, and Zeke made sure to string a piece of oyster innards inside of it, lots to catch a big fish. Zeke started out at the line that had sunk to the bottom part of the deep. He let Kip’s constant yapping wash over him as he waited patiently, now drowning out what young Kip was saying.

  There was a tug. A large one. Zeke grabbed and pulled, “Holy heck!” Zeke yelled, “We got a live one!”

  The rod bent tremendously but the reinforced tubing allowed Zeke to hold court with the fish, twisting his body as he and pulling the rod, allowing some give, and pulling again. Kip joined in, grabbing Zeke’s shin and helping pull with all his might. Zeke looked down and smiled at Kip, laughing at the boldness. Zeke was able to pull in a double-decker daggertooth. One of the biggest the lake had ever produced. It wriggled on his line. He cut it and broke its neck. Having a successful kill.

  “Hey! We did it, buddy!” Zeke said as he stuck his hand up. Kip smacked his hand in response, “Since you helped, what say I give you a piece of this?” He took a cleaver and sliced it in half in one stroke. He handed it to Kip.

  “Now, that’s still a big piece so be car-”

  “Glahghahahggha!” Kip was once again choking from having shoved too much in his mouth at once. Zeke rolled his eyes, this time with a smile and patted Kip so hard he stopped choking.

  “Thank you, sir.” Said Kip politely. He started chewing on the ends of his raw fish.

  “Sir was my dad’s name. And even then, it wasn’t his name, it was just what I called him. You can call me Zeke.”

  “Zeke.”

  “What’s your name?”

  “Kip.”

  “Nice to officially meet you, Kip,” Said Zeke.

  “Nice to meet you, Zeke.” Said Kip.

  “Kip, Why were you lost here yesterday? What happened?”

  Kip looked down, sad, “I guess I was playing Hide and Seek with all of my brothers. I guess they left or whatever because they were all back at the house when you walked me to mom. I don’t know, I guess they forgot or something.”

  Zeke nodded as he listened to the little twerp ramble on and on. Then Kip looked up at him and said, “Sorry.” for no reason.

  Zeke reached down and petted Kip, “Guess you’re pretty good at hiding, hu, Lil Guy?”

  Kip smiled. He nodded his head.

  “Prove it?”

  They became friends after that day. Kip and Zeke’s favorite game was hide-and-seek tag. Zeke stored his pole back in the hollow of the tree, but mostly would spend most of his time playing. Fishing became second to hide and seek. They would go around the different parts of the forest. If Kip’s mother allowed it, would even try some of the different floors. Kip was available as long as they made it back by sundown. They played most in the labyrinth, Kip’s favorite role was the hider. Zeke’s favorite role was the seeker.

  Once every two weeks, there would be a section of the labyrinth closed off to intruders for the farmer’s market. They would turn the interlocked walls so that instead of being able to pass through, there would be extra dead ends to create a temporary plaza for the market. Kip’s mother liked to get cheap fruits and vegetables from other floors. She let her all her kids roam free, but Kip and Zeke were playing a vicious game of tag.

  Zeke barreled through the markets, turning at corners and peeking through stalls. He looked through a cart that sold icicle carrots, where he saw the earthen-red squat tail of Kip under the tarp of a fortune teller who could predict what creature you were in another life. Zeke smiled. He crept down as low as he could, and crawled on all fours as he approached. His horns were just high enough to sweep the icicle carrots off their shelf. They shattered as they hit the floor, almost giving Zeke away. Zeke noticed that the wriggling tail didn’t move. He reached out and pulled it, screaming, “Boo!”

  But he looked at it, strangely. It was… just the tail. The tail was still wriggling but it was attached to a mechanical ball. He looked at it out of curiosity when he heard Kiip behind him.

  “Ha-Ha!” Kip said, pointing, “Tail Bomb!” And turned tail (the real one) and ran away.

  Zeke laughed as he chased after Kip, “It’s not a bomb if it doesn’t explode, dummy!” Zeke said as he ran after Kip. Unfortunately, Kip evaded his grasp again in the market. He looked around, checking under carts and tables and even asking if he could peek inside people’s wagons.

  Smiling, “He brought his a-game today,” Zeke said. He turned the corner and bumped into Bodhi, holding his helmet in one hand, “I was told you were making a ruckus here.” Said Bodhi.

  “Bodhi!” Zeke, “It’s an honor, sir.”

  “How about you salute when talking to a lieutenant in the Dark Lord’s army, son?”

  Zeke saluted, but Bodhi waved his hand to dismiss it. Zeke hugged Bodhi, “What are you doing here, sir?”

  “I came to see you, Zeke,” Said Bodhi, “Were it peace time, I’d take you for eggs again. But today, I’m afraid not.”

  “What do you mean, sir?” Zeke asked.

  Bodhi let out a long breath, “It’s the war, son. Pack your bags, we need your strength.”

  If you can't wait until Tuesday... read the next chapter

  Follow To Earn A Bonus Chapter:

  Touch Azami's Hand To Read 6 Weeks Ahead: