"Alright, is everyone ready?" Asked Sandbar one final time before his party entered the cave.

"Aye, we're ready Elf. Let's just get it over with already." Grunted Limestone. The female Dwarf was clearly dissatisfied with the task at hand, and Sunburst knew why.

The three Silver Class Adventurers had been assigned to clear out a nest of Kobolds: two and a half foot tall lizardmen that were known for hoarding treasure for their nests.

Limestone may have been a Dwarven girl, but it appears even a race as courageous and bullheaded as the Dwarves was plagued by the traditional feminine phobias. Limestone openly despised lizards of all shapes and sizes.

"Would you like me to cast a Courage Enchantment on you?" Sunburst asked her.

Limestone scowled with a heavy blush. "I'm not afraid of the slimy bastards, I just blastin' hate'em. They're disgustin'!"

Sandbar rolled his eyes at the Dwarf's antics. "Kobolds are more likely to run than they are to fight, there's nothing to worry about."

Limestone turned to shout at the Elf this time. "I'm not WORRIED EITHER YOU POMPOUS REED! I JUST HATE HAVIN' TA CLEAN THEIR FOUL-SMELLIN' BLOOD OFF MY BLADES!!!"

A series of faint shrieks and scurrying sounds indicated that the cave's inhabitants had heard the Dwarf's distaste and were already running.

"Well, it's not a problem anymore. So would you please untwist your beard?" Sandbar quipped.

"I'll twist it round yer neck knife-ears." Limestone replied, brandishing her two foot braided beard like a noose.

Sunburst rolled his eyes. He would've thought that this rivalry between Elves and Dwarves would've died out once they had learned how their respective strengths can actually cover each other's weaknesses, as was the guiding motivation behind the forging of Tri Star Kingdom in the first place, but these two seemed to be trapped in the past. Then again, there are still humans that judge one another by their skin.

The argument was broken when a Kobold ran out of the cave entrance with a larger one behind it. The smaller one skidded to a halt too late to turn back, it had almost slammed into Limestone, who was drawing her weapons to retaliate as she let out Dwarven expletives at the sudden charge.

The Kobold turned to run, but Limestone cut it down with a one-handed double-headed ax. Such axes normally served as shields for Dwarven warriors, as they were built to catch or deflect strikes from much taller foes, but it served just as well offensively.

The larger Kobold screeched in outrage, it charged with a crude spear made from a stick and a sharpened rock.

Limestone readied her gladius, as the blade was far better at defending against opponents of equal height than the Dwarven ax.

The Kobold charged blindly, Limestone would've cut it down with a single strike, but Sandbar struck first.

The Elven Nagamaki was a long-handled two handed weapon that could be swung as a sword or thrusted as a spear. A single uppercut cleaved the Kobold and its weapon in two.

"I don't recall askin' for yer assistance Elf." Limestone spat while proceeding into the cave. Giving the dead Kobolds a wide berth and grumbling to herself the whole time.

The two men shared a quick glance that ended with Sandbar rolling his eyes before both men followed after the grumbling Dwarf.

As soon as they entered the cave, Frederick held his staff out above his head. Illuminare A bright flash of light illuminated from the sapphire orb at the staff's head and sustained itself so long as Sunburst focused on the spell.

The frantic scurrying of fleeing Kobolds could be heard from every direction as the sound bounced all over the cave. But Sunburst noticed something unusual about the noise. "Hey Sandbar, shouldn't these echoes be growing fainter?"

"It's possible that this burrow is new. If that is the case, then they may not have had time to dig out their escape tunnels." The Elf answered.

"Which means it won't take long fore the more desperate ones try getting through us." Limestone spat as she readied her weapons.

Sure enough, a small group of five Kobolds came running from the other end of the tunnel with their crude weapons bared.

Sunburst struck first by amplifying his illumination spell in order to blind them, then Limestone and Sandbar rushed them before they could recover.

Sandbar kept his blade low and favored thrusts in order to operate effectively in the cramped quarters. Limestone had no such restraint and simply hacked and slashed and cursed like only an angry Dwarf could when Kobold blood spattered over her hair and beard.

A few meters later, the party of three found the central chamber. As they had assumed, there was no way out. Kobolds clawed and dug at the walls in frantic desperation, those who had noticed the party only did so faster. In the center of the chamber was the nest, a mound of gold nuggets and jewels of all colors holding aloft a clutch of Kobold eggs.

"If the freaks are smart, they'll just stay out of our way." Limestone snarked as she proceeded to the nest, unfurling a burlap sack as she did.

Limestone nudged and rolled the eggs out of the way with her boots before scooping up large handfuls of treasure into her sack.

The other two joined her, but as they approached, Sunburst stepped on one of the eggs.

Startled by the sound, he looked down and reacted in disgust at the plainly visible embryo that he had flattened in the chest area, resulting in a gory mess.

A piercing shriek announced a vengeful attack. Every single Kobold, eight in total, lunged towards the Adventurers.

"AW SHITE!!" Shouted Limestone as she swatted away the first attacker, only for another to latch onto her sword arm and bite her.

The Dwarf only cursed louder, as Kobold jaws weren't strong enough to cause real damage. However, gaps in their teeth collected small strings of flesh from their food, giving them an infectious bite.

Limestone shook the creature from her arm and knocked it to the ground before stomping its head in. Sandbar had beheaded one other and Sunburst was holding his own against another...the rest had all fled.

"Damn things, the adults were sacrifisin' themselves so their children could make a run fer it. Must've thought we planned ta exterminate'em after ya stepped on their egg ya clumsy oaf." Limestone jibed.

Sandbar scowled at her before kicking the Kobold that was attacking Sunburst. The three Adventurers surrounded their last opponent. It hissed and snapped, but ultimately turned and fled.

"Go on! Get outta here ya bastard!" Limestone shouted after it.

"It chewed on my staff." Sunburst whined.

"Ah, it doesn't matter. Yer magic stick is still werkin fine." Limestone said dismissively as she and the others resumed their true mission.

"Say, how many more of these damn things will we need ta raid fore the banks have enough ta guarentee payments fer all the Gold Classers at the front?" Limestone asked.

"Two more." Sandbar stated.

"Ah, seriously? An' there are no other Silver Classers ta do it for us?" The Dwarf groaned.

"Of course there are...that's why we only need to do two mo-" Sandbar stopped talking and dropped the sack he was filling with precious gems. Drawing his Nagamaki as he whirled around to face the narrow entrance behind them.

The other two Adventurers knew the Elf well enough to know that he had heard something approaching them. They turned to face the threat, believing it to be more Kobolds coming from the cave...they were wrong.

The battle ready Adventurers seized when they realized who was not entering the cave, but had just emerged in the central cavern, trapping them as they had trapped the Kobolds, Grimpaw: the Adventure's End.

Grimpaw was a vicious Gnoll with a terrifying reputation as a beast that actively hunts and kills Adventurers. Two things identify the beast in front of them as the very same Gnoll. First, his namesake. One of the blue-furred Gnolls arms had black fur all the up to his elbow. Second, Grimpaw was the very first Gnoll to ever be recorded using weapons beyond its fangs and claws. The beast was armed with a simple sword, believed to be taken from his first kill.

Terror gripped the Silver Class Adventurers. Grimpaw hadn't surfaced in a month, and he was last seen on the other end of the Road to Hell. To have gotten so far without being spotted showed this creature's experience in evading detection. It was no wonder Sandbar had only just noticed him.

The Adventure's End looked from the Adventurers to the Kobolds lying dead at their feet, then he raised his heckles in a snarl and tightened his grip on his sword.

Limestone gulped, but nonetheless kept her biting tongue. "What? Were they friends of yers?"

The beast answered with a snarl as he charged. Limestone and Sandbar ran to meet him while Sunburst amplified his light spell in an attempt to blind the beast...what happened next was a swift series of events that Sunburst barely had time to process...before his end.

In the instant he realized what Sunburst was doing, Grimpaw shut his eyes and relied on his ears and nose to pinpoint his foes.

He met Sandbar a split second before Limestone, and that was enough for the beast to parry the Elf's Nagamaki and slash across his eye.

Grimpaw moved past Sandbar while he was reeling and screaming from the loss of an eye and swung his blade almost straight down at Limestone. The Dwarf countered by thrusting her ax forward, catching the blade at the base of the hilt and halting its momentum.

Unfortunately, Grimpaw had faced Dwarves before and was familiar with this technique. He had deliberately swung with his sword slightly angled so that the blade would spin onto its side, he then gripped the sword properly and swung horizontally. Throwing Limestone's ax-arm across her body and spun away from her, sprinting towards his first target: the Mage.

Mages were deadly foes to non magical creatures...especially those that fought alone, but Grimpaw knew it would take the Mage time to cast another spell. He wouldn't get that time.

Sunburst didn't even try to cast another spell. After he finished processing what had just happened, all he could do was try to put his staff between himself and the Adventure's End.

Grimpaw's sword cleaved the staff in two, and a follow up strike severed the Mage's head.

Grimpaw spun with the strike to face the other two. They made an effort to intercept the Gnoll before he could slay their Mage. In light of their failure, the Elf came to a halt and tried to survey his options...the Dwarf did not.

"YOU MONSTEEEEEERRRRR!!!!!" Limestone shouted as she charged the beast and lashed out with her sword and then her ax.

The idea was Grimpaw would parry the sword and be struck by the ax. What happened was the Gnoll parried the sword and kicked Limestone in the head at the same time, knocking her to the ground and snarling at her.

Then, to the surprise of the Adventurers, the Gnoll spoke Common. "You rob from innocents, slaughter those that resist, and claim me the monster?"

Before either Adventurer could respond, Grimpaw slashed Limestone's throat with his sword, severing her beard in the process.

The Adventure's End left the Dwarf to drown in her own blood and stalked Sandbar. The Elf kept his Nagamaki held in a defensive position as the Gnoll began to walk around to his right.

Sandbar realized that Grimpaw was trying to cut off his escape and sprinted towards the cave's exit. Grimpaw charged him and the warriors met in a clash of steel. Kieran used the full length of his Nagamaki's handle to put as much momentum into the swing as possible, and as soon as the weapons struck each other, the Elf ran.

For any other duelist, exposing your back to the enemy was a death sentence. But Elves were among the fastest creatures on two legs and could outpace true wolves.

That didn't stop Grimpaw from trying. Sandbar heard the Gnoll give pursuit as he backtracked the Kobold mine.

Tearing out of the cave and descending from the mountain it adorned, Sandbar made for the woods. If he managed to escape Grimpaw, he would be sure to inform the Adventurers' Guild so they could send Gold Class Adventurers to hunt him down.

As soon as Sandbar broke into the treeline, he realized too late that he had ran upon the surviving Kobolds. The last adult that they had allowed to run stood between Sandbar and the young ones, his spear raised.

The foliage beside him was too thick, going around would slow him down. So the Elf leapt into the air over the Kobold, landing on one of the smaller ones with such force that he felt its fragile bones break beneath his feet.

The Kobold shrieked in pain, and its kin mirrored the cry for bearing witness to the sight, but one cry rang out louder than the others.

Sandbar had attempted to resume his flight, only to cry out himself as a stone spear pierced his lower back.

The adult Kobold had thrown it at the Elf, but it hadn't pierced deeply enough to slow him down. But the Kobold wasn't finished.

The little ones had scattered and left nothing between their guardian and his foe, and while the Elf was stunned from the sting of his spear, the Kobold charged and leapt at him and wrapped his arms around the Elf's legs while biting into his hand.

Sandbar cried out in pain and sought to dislodge the Kobold, but his Nagamaki wasn't meant for such close quarters, or for reaching behind the user.

Finally, the pommel of the Elf's weapon connected and knocked the Kobold off him. Sandbar turned and raised his blade to fend off the Kobold...but Grimpaw had caught up to him.

Sandbar blocked a beheading strike, but the Gnoll was a much stronger swordsman, and the force of his swing pushed back the Nagamaki's blade and allowed the tip of Grimpaw's sword to slash the Elf across the face.

Sandbar backpedaled and tried to run again, but the Kobold had recovered and grabbed his spear, still barely lodged in the Elf's back, and drove it deeper.

This was the end of the Elven warrior Sandbar. He fell to his knees as Grimpaw drew back his sword and removed the Elf's head.

Miles from the Kobold nest, a lupine howl could be heard upon the wind. And all who heard knew that Grimpaw, The Adventure's End, had added to his tally once more.

Author's Note

I have a few more chapters already that I'll be changing up and adding later, but this'll do for now.

As I said in my last update for Dark Humor, be as merciless in your criticism as possible. I want to every typo and plot hole before I try to make an official novel out of this.