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The three kobolds, Beowul, Lox, and Stenwul ran like the wind as

they approached the site they'd camped at with the smith as their

captive the night before.It

was night again and quite dark but their sense of smell was more than

keen enough to follow their own trail back to where their march had

begun that morning.They slowed to walking speed as they

approached the site but they stayed on all fours to sniff out the area.

 They all circled the remains of their fire

and almost as one they recognized a strange scent that had to be the

boy they were searching for.  They followed the scent around the

camp and then out from it toward a large stand of trees.  As they

got to the trees they found that the scent was extremely strong here."The

sweet whelp was in this spot for quite a long while, my loves.  I

believe we may be in some trouble and will have some explaining to do,"

said Beowul."Yes, my dear," said Stenwul, "the poor whelp must

have followed this far and then hid and watched.  Jake said the

whelp does not know our true nature so he must have wisely stayed

hidden to wait for a chance to rescue his only life's love.""It

is indeed a calamity and a great tragedy as Jex said, my loves.  I

fear for the whelp!  He must have fallen asleep and when he woke he

found we'd taken his sweet love away!" exclaimed Lox."There is

no time to waste, my dears; we must find which way he went.  If he

hid here through the night then he must have left the tracks at the

camp after he woke up and discovered us gone.  Let us go back and

check in a wider circle to see which way he went after that," suggested

Beowul.The three kobolds ran back to the camp site and fanned out to search for more tracks."Here!

 He headed out from here back in a direction parallel to where he

came from.  He must be heading back home!" exclaimed Stenwul."Oh, Great Mother, no!  He would be heading right back into the

clutches of the human army that Jake said wants him dead!" shouted Lox.Beowul snarled and growled viciously."If they have harmed a hair on his head I will eat their hands and feet and shit them back out into their mouths!"Without a word he bounded forward along Neville's trail and the others followed.They

were running faster than they'd ever run before and it took them less

than thirty minutes to reach the spot where Neville had stopped to

witness the burning of his village.The

kobolds all stopped and

stared in amazement at the sight.  All of the buildings in the

town before them had

collapsed by now but were still burning in piles.  It was a

horrifying conflagration that had utterly destroyed the homes of all of

the innocent people of the village."Is there no end to the destruction these creatures will bring down against their own?" lamented Beowul."Indeed,

their soldiers are evil and as much as I love the humans, I do so enjoy

sinking my teeth into their armies," snarled Stenwul."Let us

continue the search.  The whelp's trail does not continue forward

to the village.  He must have seen the carnage and decided to turn

away from it," said Lox."Yes, I have his scent this way my

loves," said Beowul, who had moved off to the left a little and picked

up the boy's scent again.The three tracked the scent over to the corpses of the two soldiers that Neville had relieved of their water and rations."Look

at the injuries on these men.  Their armor has been run through by

sharp swords.  It has to be orcs.  There must have been a

scout party coming to investigate the destruction of the human village

and were set upon by this patrol," said Stenwul."One of the

soldiers has had his armor removed and his shirt taken.  The whelp

must have taken what he needed to sustain himself from these men and he

headed out that way along the mountains back towards the camp again but more towards the mountains this time,"

said Lox as he continued to sniff around and picked up the scent again.Stenwul had tracked the soldiers' trail back a ways toward town and then ran around at random in a wide area snuffling."There

is something else happening here, my sweet loves," he said, "It may bear

further investigation.  I have the scent of many other humans

around the area.  They seem to go off in different directions from

their village.  I can smell more oils and leather from

other soldiers spreading out from here as well and they are fresher so they came out some time after.  I can only assume

it is the poor dear civilians of the ruined village running for their lives and being hunted

by their own wicked army!""Oh no, the calamity is worse even

than we'd feared!" exclaimed Lox, "the poor whelp's kith and kin are out

here in the darkness running for their lives as well!""We

must

honor our promise to Jake and make his life's love our priority, but we

cannot leave these poor, sweet people in the lurch," said Beowul, "Lox,

my dear, please track the direction of the orcs that killed these

soldiers.  I know that there was a large party of orcs and ogres

who were bound for the mountains to the south of the pass.  These

orcs must have been scouting for the larger party and

they would have quickly rejoined after seeing this

destruction.  Find

them and have them spread out and rescue the poor humans and take them

to safety.  Tell them to be very careful as they approach because

the humans think us all to be vicious, mindless killers.  I need

not tell you what to do with any human soldiers you may find.  I

shall miss you terribly my dear, sweet love, but you must go with haste!"Lox

nodded and crouched to all fours sniffing in a circle around the dead

soldiers and as he picked up the trail of the orcs he bounded swiftly

off into the darkness."Sten, my sweet, let us go and find the poor whelp before anything more can befall him!" Beowul said.The

two sniffed around to relocate the strongest scent of the boy leading

back out into the darkness and they began to run.  They hadn't run

long before Stenwul veered a bit off the trail and stopped.

 Beowul stopped as well to see what the matter was."Oh my,

we must go even faster, my love, and be on our guard.  I have

detected the strong scent of two more soldiers merging with the whelp's

trail.  They have seen his track through the grasses and are after

him!  They may have already caught him by now!" said StenwulBoth kobolds went back to all fours and shot into the darkness as fast as their legs could carry them....Neville

fell over occasionally as the rope yanked at his neck and he couldn't

see where his feet were going due to the sack over his head.

 They'd been walking for only a half hour or so by his reckoning.

 There were only the two men, the officer and another soldier who had

the rope that was tied to Neville's neck.Neville stumbled and almost fell once again."Keep to your feet or I shall drag you the rest of the way by your neck, boy!" growled the soldier pulling the rope."Yes,

we need only ensure that you are still alive when we get you back to

Braddock.  I don't think he'll mind if half your skin is scraped

off from the dragging," warned the officer."Speaking of which, Blackwood, sir, if

Lord Braddock is not concerned about the condition of the boy when we

bring him back, could we not use him a bit here while he's still fresh?

 We likely won't get a chance later once he's in the commander's hands,"

suggested the soldier.Neville heard one man's footsteps

stop, and then the other man's, and a moment later Neville walked into

the back of his captors and stopped."It's

good to see that you

use your head occasionally soldier.  There is officer material

in you I think," chuckled Blackwood, "I would definitely enjoy using

the

boy thoroughly as I did not get a chance earlier.  I shot my load

all over him and made a mess before I got a chance to stick my cock

where it truly belonged, in his greedy cunt."Both men laughed and then one grabbed Neville and pushed him roughly face down on the ground."I

shall use his hole first while it's snug," said Blackwood, "It's been a whole day and it

must have gone back to a nice tightness after the use it got last

night."Neville felt hands push his jerkin up and roughly tear

his breechclout from him.  He heard the rustling of armor and

clothes being partially removed and then two hands grabbed his hips and

roughly pulled his ass upwards.  He then felt a large cock head

begin to press against his anus."I know how much you love this, whore, so I will make it count," said Blackwood.Neville could hear the leer in his voice.Just

as the pressure began to increase and the cock head was about to breach

his anus, Neville heard Blackwood grunt hard, but instead of the cock

being thrust into him it was pulled away and simultaneously he heard

the other soldier cry out in pain and then be quickly stifled.  He

heard the sound of metal scraping against metal a few times and then

heard the bodies of both soldiers fall to the ground.  Neville was

still on the ground with the sack over his head so he had no idea who

had rescued him."Drag the bodies into the bushes and take their weapons, my love, and I will help the boy get free," a voice said."Yes, my dear," said another voice.There

must be two rescuers then.  Their voices somehow did not sound

normal.  They were a little more musical and sweet sounding than

what Neville was accustomed to.He felt hands begin to work at

the rope around his neck and remove it.  Then they began to work

at the cords tying Neville's hands.  His rescuer spoke to him as he worked."Please,

boy, you may be alarmed when I remove the sack from your head and you

see me, for I am not human, but you must not attempt to flee.  You

would put yourself in much greater danger if you did.  Know this,

we have saved you from these foul men and it is our intent to bring you

to a more permanent place of safety.  These woods are not a good

place for a boy to be on his own.  You can see I mean you no harm

by the fact that I am releasing you from your bonds.  We mean only

to help you.  We would never harm a civilian human.  It is

against our laws.  Please stay calm and think on my words as I

remove the sack," the rescuer said.Neville's first

instinct was simply to get up and run as fast as he could, but he

realized that so far any attempt to run from danger only got him into

worse.  Perhaps it was time to have some courage and break the

cycle.  They truly did not appear to mean him any harm and they

certainly saved him from a terrible fate at the hands of the madman

Braddock.Neville finally felt his hands get freed and then the sack was pulled off of his head.He

opened his eyes and they quickly adjusted to the low level of light.

 To his surprise, crouched before him was one of the green men

like he'd seen at the orgy.  The man had a smile on his face and a

look of concern in his eyes.  His partner emerged from the bushes

and he looked exactly the same.Neville had been rescued from Braddock's men by a pair of orcs!Both

seemed to have looks of concern for him on their faces rather than any

hatred.  They were both dressed in very fine, long coats of splint

mail.  Incredibly sharp looking scimitars hung at their sides.

 The swords looked capable of slicing through metal.Neville simply lay there on the ground and stared up in stunned silence at his saviors."What

sort of people are these that their own armies mistreat their civilians

so?  He is only a boy for Mother's sake!" said the second orc

in anger."Ease your tone, Tenimo, you will frighten the poor child," said the first orc soothingly."Yes, dear," was all the other said as he approached and stood behind the first.Neville

was in shock.  They seemed somewhat more polite than he would have

guessed vicious monsters to be, and both were clearly male and

soldiers.  Why were they calling each other 'love' and 'dear'?

 What exactly was going on here?He sat up while rubbing at his

wrists and faced his rescuer, who slowly leaned in and helped

Neville to remove his gag.  The orc threw the gag aside and then

rubbed Neville on the head and gave him an encouraging smile."I

am Zebok and this is my life mate Tenimo," he said, "May I ask what

your name is, and why you were out here alone and taken prisoner by your own

people?""I am Neville Hawthorne.  I want to thank you for rescuing

me from those men.  My fate would have been worse than I think you

can imagine at their hands.  I was out here alone primarily trying

to get myself away from those soldiers.  I escaped them with

help last night and have been running ever since until they finally

caught me.""Help?

 Is there someone else out here we need to search for?  The soldiers

didn't kill them did they?" Zebok asked, sounding deeply concerned."No,

he was captured by a group of evil kobolds last night.  I was

not able to come to his aid and I lost him forever when I succumbed to my

weariness and fell asleep while waiting for a chance to go in and get him

out," said Neville."Evil kobolds?  Whatever do you mean, Neville?  Was your helper another soldier?  Was he armed and armored?""No,

he was the town smith.  We were both unarmed and even almost

undressed and completely helpless.  The kobolds were certainly armed and

armored.  They came upon him in the darkness and hit him and

dragged him into their camp and did things to him.""This is

most confusing.  The kobolds are the sweetest and most loving of

all the races, Neville.  They could not possibly have meant your

friend any harm if he was clearly a civilian.  It had to be a misunderstanding.""But I saw them rape him!" exclaimed Neville."I see.  Well,

about that, it is quite possible that they could not resist doing that

given the circumstance, though they were breaking a law to do so.

 If they were alone with the man and he was unconscious they may

have succumbed to their almost uncontrollable desires.  They are a

highly sexual people and they are extreme xenophiles.  They are

powerfully drawn to the human race.  I assure you they were not

raping him but rather making love to him, and in their eyes they were

showing him how much they adored him.  They were not rough with

him, were they?" Zebok asked."No, now that you mention it.

 When I think back on it I think they might have actually been

quite tender.  At the time I was only seeing a rape by creatures I had always

been taught were vicious and cruel so it may have colored my

perception.  Do you really mean to tell me that they are sweet of

disposition?" asked Neville."The sweetest you will ever know.

 You will fall head over heels in love with them when at last you

meet them I can assure you," Zebok said with a smile, "They are my

favorites by far and I love them all very much.  Your face will

positively ache from smiling if you spend too much time with them.

 There are no people in the world more pleasant than them."It felt

to Neville like the weight of the world was lifted from his shoulders.

 If what the orc was saying was true, Jake was not only safe but

would be well cared for."That is such a relief!  I was

sure they were taking him to their army to share as a meal or worse.

 Now I find they were in love with him?  On top of that, I am

rescued by a pair of orcs who seem more polite than many people I've known,

and who I was also taught are vicious and evil, and who are a loving, mated pair of males?  If what you're

telling me of the kobolds, and what I've seen so far of you is true, then

the only evil people I've encountered in the last two nights of hell

have been human!  It's like my world is turning upside down," said

Neville.The

orc chuckled, "Indeed.  You seem wise and mature well

beyond your years and quite a bit more open-minded than my previous

experiences with humans would have suggested.  You are eloquent

and extremely well spoken as well for such a young man.  I am

truly impressed with

you, Neville, and am most pleased to have made your acquaintance.

 I assure you that most likely nearly everything you've

learned about the races has been false.""I

have heard that orcs are green, kobolds have fur, and ogres are large.

 I feel that perhaps that is the extent of the truth that I've

been exposed to.  The rest of what I've been taught seems more and more to be a complete

fabrication," said Neville.The two orcs smiled at him and laughed."So if the kobolds were friendly, where would they have taken my friend do you think?" asked Neville."There

is a significant battle coming near here.  They would be under rules to take him back to

their main force to keep him safe and to speak with their chieftain to

see if he has any information regarding the human armies that may be of use.""Can

you tell me which way I can go to find the kobold army?  All I

care about is to get back to the arms of my love again," pleaded Neville."Your

love?  You mean he is more than just a friend to you?  I

thought the humans did not allow the pairing of the same gender.

 It would come as a surprise to me if that has changed," said

Tenimo."Indeed, it would be news to me as well and a most interesting and important development," said Zebok."He

means everything to me," said Neville, "He is the love of my life and I

had only just revealed my feelings to him and he to me last night

moments before he was ripped away from me.  Our people do not

approve of the pairing of the same gender.  That is why he only

just revealed his feelings for me.  He'd been hiding

them to protect me.  He is the love of my life and I am his.""Oh

my, you should have said so in the first place," said Zebok, "We take

matters of love quite seriously among our people.  Tenimo, let us

be off.  We will take young Neville here back to our main force at

once!""To your force?  I thought you said they would take Jake to the kobold army," said Neville."They

are one and the same, or at least they will be shortly if they are not already.  The orc

armies were defeated when the humans sacked our city but we pulled out

quickly when we knew our cause was hopeless in order to keep our losses to an absolute minimum.  We knew the humans

would assume we would regroup and move what was left of our forces to

the ogres' main keep to join up with them since they are the closest

and the most powerful of our allies, so we did the opposite and marched

hard and fast to join the kobolds who we felt the humans would strike

at next.  We were within a day or two's march from each other when

Tenimo and I left and ran ahead to take a forward position and assess

the situation here ourselves," explained Zebok."Assess what situation exactly?" asked Neville."These

are military matters and I have perhaps said too much already, though

you would have discovered that much of it when we arrived at our main

encampment.  I would prefer not to discuss these matters any

further if you

don't mind, my dear boy.  Be at ease knowing we are taking you to

our main force, which will be merging with the kobold army or has done so already.  That

is where your love would be taken.  You will be reunited with him

within a day or two, I promise," Zebok said and smiled warmly.The

orc had been crouched in front of Neville as he spoke.  Neville's

heart soared at the news of his coming reunion with Jake and without

thinking he sat forward and embraced the orc warmly."Thank

you so much, Zebok!  You have freed me from a horrible nightmare

and saved my life.  Now you will bring me back to the arms of the

one I love.  You are truly wonderful!  I don't know how I

will ever repay you for this kindness!" Neville exclaimed.The orc put his arms around the boy in a tight hug and patted his back."It

is not a favor that would need repaying, my dear boy," the orc said

warmly, "As I said, we take

matters of love quite seriously and the support of them our duty.

 Tenimo and I had dallied a bit too

long

with some friends of ours we ran into here in the forest.  We had

a bit of a celebration.  The two of us were just leaving to start

back to our army when we found signs of someone running headlong

through the forest, and then signs of a struggle.  We could see

that

someone had been captured and was being led away.  We moved to

investigate and followed you here.  We are past due heading back

to the main force.  You will simply be our guest on a short

journey we had planned to take anyhow and you will be wonderful company

indeed.  It will be a pleasure to walk with you.  Let us

proceed."Neville stood and looked around and found his discarded breechclout and tied it back on under his ragged shirt.The

orc looked at him and shook his head sadly and said, "I do wish we had

something better for you to wear.  You are in such a state!  Your

buff jerkin looks like it came from someone much larger.  Someone

who

was killed by an orc I would venture, going by the stab pattern.

 We do get a bit carried away with our scimitars.  You must

tell me the whole story of your ordeal as we walk.""It

is such a relief to know that Jake is safe.  I think I may finally be

relaxed enough to tell the whole thing without being overcome by the

fear I've felt," said Neville."My dear boy, you do not strike me as anything but courageous.  In any case you are quite safe

now with us.  Know well that your life's love is probably already with

the kobold army and being treated better than he's ever been in his

life.  I promise you that when next you see him he will likely be wearing a very wide grin," Zebok assured him....Jake,

Tithan, and Jex had

been running at the best speed that the smith could maintain and they

had finally reached the kobolds' camp from the night before a while after

the first three kobolds had done.  It had not taken Tithan and Jex

long to discern that the other kobolds had run off following Neville's

scent back towards town.Jake

was in extreme distress.  Neville must have assumed him gone

forever; captured by evil monsters and taken away for who knew what

reason.  The boy must have given up and done the only thing he

could think of, which was to go back home and do what he could to try to

help his family.Jake and the two kobolds were now running in

the direction of town to see if there was anything that could still be

done for him, when suddenly they all heard a woman's scream of terror

somewhere well off in the distance back and to their right.It sounded as though someone were being murdered.They all veered right and began to run at speed towards the sound.As they ran they heard the woman scream again, this time much louder.Jake increased his pace and began to run so fast he thought his lungs might burst from the effort....Carvell

Hawthorne ran through the darkness pulling his wife Emma along with

him.  He did not know exactly which direction they were going and

he

didn't care.  He knew they were running in a roughly southerly

direction away from their village.  He needed to put some distance

between them and

Braddock's army.The men had been too drunk already when he'd

returned to the inn to follow through on their threat of using him

more.  They ate their meals and demanded more food.  They drank

until nearly dawn before they finally succumbed and the last of them passed out at the table.Carvell

and Emma finally managed to

slip out the back but it was beginning to get light already.  The

innkeeper was terrified that they might be seen.  The guard at the

door would have assumed the other had remained at the camp to fuck

Neville and thus had not questioned the fact that he'd been left alone.

 There were bound

to be guards coming to relieve the ones at the door of the inn soon

though, and

the other would quickly realize that the boy had never made it to the

army and one of the guards was in fact missing.  It would not be

long before the alarm

would be raised.Poor

Emma was just too exhausted to run for

long as they had both been on their feet for more than twenty four

hours and the last eight or so had been a night of terror.  It was

not safe to run in broad daylight as they would be too

easily seen.  Carvell had found the deepest and thickest stand of

brush and trees he could and they lay down and hid in them, praying they

would not be found.  Emma succumbed to sleep very quickly and

the

innkeeper held out as long as he could so he could watch over her

but he too succumbed and fell asleep.The

two woke in the night less than an hour after their only son had

passed

within yards of their hiding spot unbeknownst to any of them.

 They could see in the distance that their beloved village was

in flames and most of the buildings, including their inn, had

collapsed.  Some were still standing towards the far side of the

village, but they would not be for long as they were fully

engulfed in flames.It simply didn't

matter.  They had their lives and that was the only truly precious

thing.  Carvell was confident in the smith's ability to protect

his son so he knew his entire family was safe and alive for the time being.  The inn had been

nothing more than a carefully ordered pile of wood and could be rebuilt easily enough.  His family was

everything and irreplaceable.Now

that Carvell was able to get his bearings properly

he realized that they'd been running northward straight towards kobold

and orc territory.

 He felt that would be too dangerous so he risked doubling back a

little while heading further west and south now that it was dark enough

to move around unseen.  His intent was to make a wide circle back

past the ruins of the village and well away westward and then southward

and then take refuge along the base of the mountains to

the south for the time being.  Their progress was slow as Emma was

having difficulty moving through the trees and brush in the darkness.

 It had been some time since they'd woken and they'd been pushing hard and already

they were getting exhausted again from their headlong rush through the dark forest.Carvell's decision to move around to the south had turned out to be a bad one

in the end.  Braddock, in his anger over the loss of his captives,

must have ordered his men to search the woods.The innkeeper and

his wife continued through the forest in the dark and as they rounded some

trees they almost ran right into a pair of soldiers."Halt!" demanded one of the soldiers.Emma

screamed.  Then she and the innkeeper both turned and ran from the

soldiers as fast as they could.  Emma tripped and fell.

 Carvell turned back and went down on one knee to help her up.  The two

soldiers were almost upon them."Move and I'll throw my axe at the woman's head!" the soldier ordered while he pulled his axe and brandished it.The two realized they were caught and Carvell dropped his other knee and sat back on his legs and waited for the end.As the soldiers approached them a blur of movement came from

the right.  Carvell barely had time to focus before he realized it

was a kobold!The

creature leaped high through the air swinging a

mace.  The soldiers did not even see him coming silently at them

from high in the air to the side.

 As the kobold arced towards them his mace came

down on the first soldier's helm with

enough force to cave in the side of it deeply and the reaction from the

solid hit started the kobold turning in mid air.  There was no

doubt the skull

inside the helm was in worse shape as the soldier instantly began to

fall in a

lifeless

heap.  Even as the first man was falling the kobold was still

hurtling

downward towards the second soldier and he continued to turn as he

came in front of him and his jaws snapped shut on the man's

exposed throat.  The kobold kicked his hind legs around in the

direction of his spin to accelerate it and he tore the man's

throat from his body in a spray of blood.  The kobold hit the

ground and

rolled once onto his feet and turned back to face the soldiers and spat

the flesh from his mouth and snarled menacingly.The

second soldier's lifeless body, with blood spurting from his torn open

throat, hit the ground just shortly after the first soldier with the

caved in skull, and the kobold stood and turned to face the two humans

with gore and blood dripping from his razor sharp teeth.Emma

screamed again and fainted.  Carvell Hawthorne knew their end had

come.  He was unarmed and this kobold was clearly a vicious killer.  He lifted his unconscious wife into

his arms.  He wanted to be holding her when the kobold finished

them both.Just as the innkeeper was beginning to resign himself to his fate the kobold did something most unexpected.He

whined a few times and went down on the ground and rolled onto his back with his paws in the

air exposing his belly like the submissive pose a dog would take before

its master.  He held that position for a few moments and then he

spoke."Please

do not be afraid, my dear man.  My name is Lox, and I intend only

to help you and your people to get to safety," said the kobold."You......what?" asked the innkeeper, eyes wide and mouth gaping."You

are in danger out here, my dear, as you have already seen.  I was on

my way to track down a force of orcs and ogres that are in the area and bring

them back to assist in the rescue of your people but I heard your poor,

dear wife scream and I diverted here," explained Lox."Orcs and ogres?  You intend to rescue us?  Why?" Neville's father was truly confused by this.Lox

rolled back to all fours and then stood up and stepped back a couple of

paces with his forepaws out to his sides and palms forward to show he

was no threat."You are the kinfolk of the sweet, wonderful man Jake and his life's love Neville are you not?" he asked."Neville?!  What do you know of my son?" asked Carvell now really becoming confused.Why

would a kobold know the name of his son and the town blacksmith?

 How would he know of the smith's love for the boy?  Why is

he being helpful?  It was all a bit strange and he began to wonder

if he was hallucinating in the final moments of his life.  Perhaps

the soldier had thrown his axe and it was now firmly lodged in Carvell's

skull and he was simply having a bizarre vision as he died."Neville is your whelp?!  Oh my, what a strange coincidence," said Lox.Just then Jake, Tithan and Jex came crashing

out of the trees and stopped dead in their tracks at the sight before them.Everyone stared at everyone else in stunned silence for a moment."Jakobson!  Why are you here?  Why are you with kobolds?  Where is Neville?!" asked the innkeeper.Jake's face became a mask of anguish as he approached Neville's father."I am so sorry, Carvell; I have lost him," he said."Lost him!?  I trusted you with my son's life!  How could you lose him?!" the innkeeper demanded angrily.Jex

felt he had to intervene and he moved in front of Jake and slowly

approached the angry innkeeper while bowing low and presenting his open

forepaws palm up."Please,

my dear man.  I understand your anger but I must tell you that it

is my fault that your whelp is on his own and it is in no way the fault

of your sweet friend!  My name is Jex and I

mistook Jake for a threat and I incapacitated him, not knowing he'd

been charged with guarding your whelp's life!  Please, do not be

angry with him!  He is not at fault in the least!  I came at

him from behind and there was nothing he could have done to prevent

it!  Please, do not blame your friend but rather turn your wrath on me where it belongs," he lamented.Carvell began to calm down and he realized he had spoken too hastily."I

have just seen what one of you is capable of when you decide to attack.

 Lox here saved my wife's life and my own in a most efficient

manner that those soldiers could certainly do nothing to prevent," said

the innkeeper, "Please accept my apology, Jake.  I spoke without

knowing the facts.  I can see your own anguish over your mistake,

Jex, and I shall try not to hold it against you either if you swear to

help me find my son again.""Jex,

Tithan, we tracked Neville far enough to see that he is still alive and

he had run off back along the mountains in the direction of our

advancing army.  The whelp was wise enough to turn away from the

destruction of his village and head northward.  He is moving away

from the danger and has had

much time to put some distance between himself and the human soldiers.

 Beowul and Stenwul have gone after him at their best speed.

 They will find him

and keep him safe.  There is no longer any need for concern my

dears.

 We discovered signs of an orc scouting party who were part of a

larger contingent of orcs and ogres heading south along the mountains

and I was tracking back to their location to bring them back

here to assist with the rescue of the humans from their evil soldiers.

 We need to bring the whelp's sire and his sweet wife with us to

the orcs and enlist their aid to help us rescue the rest of the poor

people of

Jake's village!" explained Lox.Jake asked, "Carvell, is this true?  Did the townsfolk manage to escape?"The

innkeeper nodded, "I wasn't sure until now but it sounds like they did.

 I had no time to check when Emma and I saw our chance to escape.

 After you and I parted last night I stopped and informed Nestor Billings of our danger and asked him

to organize a quiet exodus of the people.  It seems as though he

succeeded.  They were to scatter in the woods in order to be

harder to catch.""That

is good news, though it will also make

them harder to find and get to safety, but if anyone can find them all

quickly in the dark it will be the kobolds," said Jake, "There is no

time to

explain in full, Carvell.  I can only ask that you trust me when I

say these kobolds, all kobolds in fact, are very kind and no threat to

civilians.  They are willing to help us find our people and take

them to safety.  It may be hard to believe but please, you must

trust me.  The orcs, kobolds and even the ogres are no threat to

us.  They will protect us with their lives against Braddock and

his men.  We need to go with these kobolds and find the orcs as

fast as we

can.  There is no time to lose if everyone is still out running in

the woods in the dark and Braddock's men are out here."Carvell

Hawthorne was completely taken aback.  The other races were going

to protect them all against the human army?  He did not know what

to say.

 His wife's safety was paramount for the moment though and he

certainly trusted his lifelong friend.He nodded firmly and he took his wife into his arms and lifted her up.Lox

yipped and then moved off toward the trail of the orcs he'd been

following to the south and the rest of the party followed him.Jake took up the rear and as he ran he became more and more concerned as he wondered what might be happening to Neville.He prayed silently that Beowul and Stenwul would suddenly emerge from the darkness with Neville smiling between them.