Leon took the lead again, motion them to stay low and moving quietly.
"Kobolds always find caves as their lair, and with that many we will have enough room for four." he whispered, slowly brushing away branches and leaves, careful not to make any loud noises.
He didn't make any more sounds, only the quiet cracking of twigs and leaves beneath their boots.
Mikael felt a tapping on his shoulder, Sophia behind him.
"Wha...?" he began to whisper, but quickly got silenced by a hand covering his mouth.
Her eyes showed annoyance, but also the severity of this situation. She made with her fingers a sign to look to the front, with her other holding up 4 fingers.
'I assume there are 4 Kobolds in front of us?'
He slowly made his way forward, trying his best to balance every step.
When he stood only a step behind Leon, he could also make out their target.
'The entrance! And the Kobolds. But they didn't say they would have weapons...'
There,at the opening of that cave, four small, gray creatures, having a head comparable to a bat, but with bigger eyes than ears, and long, sharp looking nails and teeth.
They were completely naked, but no genitals or any kind of sexual identification was seen.
But their crooked stature together with the wrinkly skin made them a child horror.
They had primitive weapons, only sharp sticks and branches, but that alone made them even more dangerous in Mikael's eyes.
From the corner of his eye he saw Leon make a fist, the eyes making contact to Sophia. He retained eye contact, together with a half circle motion. She didn't respond, but left quietly, taking a slight detour before vanishing in the greenery.
A slight touch on his shoulder, Leon whispered in his ear:" We wait for her, let's fall back for now."
Relatively new to this situation, he didn't object, waiting with his questions till he got the clearance.
They made their way back about 400 meters, before Leon began to speak.
"I send Sophia to scout the entrance, also to see if maybe more come or go. Also they seem to have some weapons. Not that common, but also not unheard of."
"Why are we still so careful? I thought they would be no threat for us, even with double their number."
"True, but should we take a risk if we can maximize our chances? Sophia has the best eyes of us, after all she could make out the entrance even before me. She can make out the numbers of the enemy, and tell us a good time to strike.
Give her some time, she will get us."
Bjorn cut in, also answering:" Maybe somewhat badly expressed, but see it like that: they have weapons, and no matter how primitive they are, a hit on your head, a stab to your calf will hinder you, risk a bleeding or infection, a trauma even. Don't forget, we may have better gear, Intelligence and teamwork, but they still have numerical advantages."
Enlightened again, Mikael resigned himself, leaning against a tree, playing nervously with his hammer.
Half an hour later they heard audible footsteps, and even Mikael thought only Sophia would make herself that present.
"You should be ashamed for your tracking skills." She began nagging, taking out her flask and taking a sip.
"How many?" Leon simy asked, not taking her words to heart.
"At least 20, 30 top, but no one has left their lair for some time, only two groups with some stolen food from Mother knows where. At this time they won't leave. Are at least no night active nasty buggers.
The cave is from what I could see deeper inside, and they vanished around a corner, so at least enough room for 30. Also I noticed no obvious second entrance, so only one exit and entrance."
"Good, but we can manage that. I already have a simple plan, worked previously. So listen..."
Leon explained his idea, and after some questions thrown in by Mikael, to the annoyance of Sophia, they all approved.
After ten minutes of preparation, the four of them returned to the undergrowth near the cave.
Leon made his way forward, fast but barely making a sound. Sophia closed the distance from the opposite side, and when they were dangerously close to the Kobolds at the entrance they began their strike.
In a swift motion, both of them eliminated their targets in a second.
Leon crushed simply the relatively fragile skull of the first, Sophia punctured the throat of the other.
Before the other two could alert the others inside, they were already targeted and engaged in combat, their little brains not able to think to do both, fighting and alarming.
'Thank Mother they are somewhat stupid.' Mikael thought, still hiding in the safety of the vegetation.
After another, short exchange, the bodies slid silently to the ground, supported by the assailants.
The signal for Mikael to group up with them came, and together with Bjorn they came together.
Without a word, Mikael laid down some mostly dry sticks, stacking them in a cone shape. In the middle he put some fire starter he got from the bark of a tree, and Sophia put in some oil to let it ignite easier.
Bjorn took out some stones with a weird color, struck them together in a accustomed manner and shortly after the sparks lit up the igniter.
"Faster now." Leon whispered, blowing gently into the flames. Mikael already gathered more wet wood, and Bjorn also had a few thin wooden stick on hand.
'What would these do? Aren't wet ones more effective?'
But when they threw their wood onto the growing fire, he was astonished by the effect these thin branches had, producing almost immediately a thick, dark smoke that smelled nasty.
"Is in your book, study it more." whispered Bjorn somewhat amused when noticing Mikael's befuddled look.
"Get ready, they come out soon." Leon warned, beginning to direct the smoke in the cave with a fan he brought with him.
'Really, what some of these people take with them...' Mikael thought, not having wasted a second looking for something like that. 'Must come from experience. He said he had a plan like that before.'
"Stay close to the client, make sure not one of these Kobolds gets in his proximity."
After 2 minutes the creatures inside began to make noises similar to coughing, shouting some clicking noises. Following were the tapping of claws hitting stone, and after another 5 seconds the first group of them came around the corner. Sophia had readied up her slingshot, loading it with small stones she found before and gathered.
The sound of a hard, fast object hitting flesh was heard, and she quickly eliminated two of the approaching, hitting the third in the eye, but in the heat of the moment that individual still ran forwards, only to get impaled by Leon.
She switched from distance to close combat, as loading, pulling and aiming took more time.
More and more Kobolds emerged, crying in their obnoxious, clicking like language. Upon seeing these weird creatures and their brethren on the ground, they fell into a frenzy, swinging their crude weapons and running at them.
Even with the entrance not being all that big, it still left enough room for many creatures to emerge, even if this means they have to climb over each other.
Leon and Sophia managed to mostly take out the majority of the Kobolds, easily avoiding their weak attempts to injure them. Some even let go of their weapons, returning to fighting with claws and teeth.
Mikael had retreated a bit, leaving some room for the duo but still covering them.
After a couple of minutes with many monsters injured or dead, the remaining began to feel the threat, ignoring these two and running.
Leon and Sophia tho did a great job at hindering their escape, only few managing to flee. And those who got away always ran to Mikael.
Maybe because of his small stature or the tenseness he radiated, but upon encountering him they attacked with renewed vigor.
At first he stiffened a bit, the warped expressions and weird sound coming from these ugly faces making him hesitate, but like last time with the Goblin he knew he had to act, this time not only for himself but also for Bjorn, who stood a bit away to not hinder him.
'Now or never.' He thought, the first incoming creature right in sight.
The weight of his hammer was more than he expected, holding it for some time already making it even heavier, but the sudden danger gave him strength again, and he swung it horizontal in the path the creature took.
He heard the sound of bones breaking, not only the arm he hit, but also the ribs and shoulder. It seems his swing had quite the force, as this Kobold was pushed at least 2 meters to his left, sliding another one before remaining motionless.
He had no thought to waste right now, as another one of them came his way, still having his long, pointy stick.
It soon got into reach for a thrust, and Mikael reacted a moment too late to dodge that, so by reflex he grabbed the incomming spear that had still bark on the outside, feeling some pain as it injured his palm. With his right he swung the hammer upwards, right at the chin the creature downright presented. And as he held the weapon and the Kobold didn't let go of it, it connected perfectly, making it lift some centimeters into the air before slumping towards the ground.
He managed to get a ever so small pause, looking towards Sophia, who was exchanging blows and dodged attacks from three enemys, Leon also dealing with two, another just falling down next to him, the headless corpse on the knees and the mouth open to a silent echo.
'Can't hold a candle next to them.' he thought, his legs already beginning to feel weaker after hearing the audible sound of bones breaking under his strikes like twigs.
But he couldnt relax, as another Kobold Sophia directed towards him approached, red eyed and claw whetting.