The eldest Kobold stared across the makeshift camp where the Gnoll that avenged his clan was burying the youngling that the Elf had crushed in his flight.

That same Elf now fed the surviving younglings, 8 in all. They were unconcerned with the Gnoll, and saw no danger from him. But the Eldest knew that the greatest threats were the ones you never feared.

The Gnoll concluded the burial and joined the Kobolds. The eldest stared at him. He couldn't understand why the body wasn't fed to the survivors. "...why bury?" Chirped the Eldest to himself.

The Gnoll looked into the reptilian creatures eyes. "Gnoll way." A wave of shocked chirps erupted from the younglings scattered around them. None had expected the Gnoll to speak.

"H-how you speak!?" The Eldest voiced the question.

"Enchantment. I speak my tongue, you hear yours. You speak your tongue, I hear mine." The Gnoll enlightened the Kobolds.

The younglings were about to burst with questions, but they were raised properly, and allowed the Eldest to speak for them. "...Why Gnoll help us? Other Gnolls kill Kobolds."

"I am not other Gnolls. I only kill-" There was no word for it in the Kobold's chirping hissing tongue, and so it was heard in the Gnoll's own tongue as a guttural disgusted snarl, as if the very word was a vile poison. A hated word. A cursed word. A word that the Gnoll's enchantment translated to the Kobolds with fearful chirps and aggressive hissing whilst showing their mind's eyes images of the human, Elf, and Dwarf that had attacked them. Thus the Kobolds learned a new hated word: Adventurers.

"Kobold thanks you, but why? Adventurers kill us, not you." The Eldest inquired.

"Adventurers kill all not of their great clan. Their clan takes more than it needs. Ruins all it touches, and when we take what we need from them because there is nothing left. They kill us, and curse us for stealing from them." The Gnoll lamented with a pained whimper in his voice.

At last, the Eldest understood. He was eldest because the only other Kobolds were younglings, but without the younglings...he would be clanless.

"...How long...since clan die?" The Eldest asked.

"...Ten winters." The Gnoll replied.

Ten Years Ago

"I KNEW YOU DIDN'T KNOW WHAT YOU WERE DOING!!" Button Mash shouted at Gallus who could only lower his head in shame. The goat that he had thought he was tracking had returned home of its own accord.

Ocellus was trying to reconcile the farmer, who felt responsible for Button's injury, but Button Mash was blaming someone else entirely. "Noooo, I've been honing my trackin' skills since I was 5 years old. Of course this is the right trail. DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA HOW LUCKY WE ARE THAT THERE WERE ONLY TWO GNOLLS!? THEY'VE BEEN SEEN IN PACKS OF FIFTY!!!"

Gallus despised Button Mash, but annoying as he was, he was right. Gallus had been so sure he was on the right trail, and his mistake could've caused a far greater disaster than Button Mash charging into a Gnoll camp unprepared. "...I'm sorry."

Button was about to start shouting again, but then a wooden staff smacked him in the back of the head. "Ow! What in the Serpent's name was that for!?"

"For being a jerk." Bella replied. "It isn't Gallus' fault you did something stupid and got hurt for it. Even if that was the right goat, we should've left the predators responsible to Silver Class Adventurers."

Button Mash contemplated numerous retorts before settling for a dismissive scoff. "Tch, whatever. We still killed the damn things, and have the paws to prove it."

Indeed they did, Ocellus tried to avoid looking at the gruesome trophies held in a dripping burlap sack at the squire's side.

The three Copper Class Adventurers returned to the local Adventure's Guild tavern. As expected, they were berated for challenging the Gnolls, and the local Guildmaster demanded 20 times during the scolding that they ensure him that they had killed every Gnoll present. For their vengeance was infamous on the Road to Hell.

In the end, they were not paid for the Gnoll paws after all, and they would not be permitted to leave the village until the Guildmaster decided that they had learned from this.

Ocellus and Gallus had expected as much, but Button Mash was furious and spent the rest of the day promising to inform his father of this.

Hours passed and the sky darkened. The three grounded Adventurers had settled down for the night...all but one.

The Tavern's crude training ground rang out with the sound of steel striking wood. "Who in the flames does that worthless old fart think he is? I killed those stupid mutts didn't I? Isn't that worth some praise? A simple compliment!? AGH!!"

The training dummy had been stripped of its straw stuffing and was now little more than shredded burlap bound to a wooden cross. And yet, Button Mash continued to lash out with his sword, carelessly blunting it in his anger.

"HA! RA! CRAAAGH!!" An overpowered overhead strike slammed into the wood with such force that the sword became lodged in the dummy.

"Wuh-AAH DAMMIT!!!" Button Mash shouted and cursed as he attempted to dislodge the blade...only to stop when he heard someone approaching him from behind.

The squire whirled around with his hands up on instinct, but he let them fall to his side in dread as he realized what malevolent force had come to visit vengeance upon him.

The sound of flesh striking flesh rang out as Button Mash was slapped across the face. "If you insist on depriving yourself of sleep, do so QUIETLY!!" Ocellus shouted.

"Ow! What was that for!? The shout would've sufficed." Button whined.

"Yeah right. The way you listen, a Banshee couldn't scream loud enough." The mage countered.

"Alright fine. Just let me get my sword." Button Mash conceded while reaching for his blade.

"Fine, but if you try sharpening it before I wake up tomorrow, I will kill you." Ocellus promised.

Button Mash proceeded to try and reclaim his sword. He had lodged it in a cut he had made earlier, causing the now blunted blade to lodge itself in tight.

"Grr, come ooooonn...you stupi-DAAAH!!" The effort was fruitless, but Button Mash wasn't giving up. He pulled tighter, and tighter...until his grip slipped off the handle and sent him to the ground.

Ocellus rolled her eyes and stepped toward the squire. "Here, give me your ha-" The Mage never spoke another word. A large blue blur slammed into her. When Button turned his eyes to where she had landed, it was too late.

Ocellus choked on her own blood as a young Gnoll loomed over her with a chunk of her throat between its teeth...and its eyes staring right into Button Mash.

The squire stared in shock and horror as the Gnoll crawled to him on all fours. He spared a glance to his sword, but dismissed the notion immediately. Then he saw a pitchfork behind the training dummy, likely used for shoveling hay into the burlap sacks.

The Gnoll pounced just as Button moved out of the way. "GNOOOOOLL!!!!" He shouted as he ran to the pitchfork.

The Gnoll leapt at him again, landing with his front paws on the squire's back this time and knocking him to the ground.

Button reacted quickly, shoving his shoulders as close to his neck as he could. But this didn't stop the Gnoll from digging its claws into the boy's back.

Button Mash cried out in pain while reaching a hand out to the pitchfork. He grabbed its shaft and thrusted it over his shoulder.

Fortune favored him, and he jabbed the blunt point of the pitchfork's shaft into the Gnoll's eye.

The beast yelped in pain and removed his claws from Button's back, but only to grab the pitchfork and pull it out of the boy's hand.

Button Mash turned onto his back to face the Gnoll, expecting his death. But rather than impale him, the Gnoll simply broke the pitchfork over his knee and threw the pieces behind him, snarling in hatred as it did so.

Then, to Button's shock, the beast spat on him, before preparing to lunge at him again. But the sound of a scream alerted the Gnoll to a tavern wench who had seen Ocellus' body, and she wasn't alone. Button's cries had been heard.

A Dwarven Duelist that had been staying at the Guild Tavern charged at the young Gnoll, who decided his opportunity was gone and fled on all fours.

The Dwarf turned his attention to Button Mash. "Are ye alright boy?"

"...they...they're known for their vengeance...they're known for their vengeance." Button Mash said to himself as he realized where that Gnoll had come from, and that it wouldn't stop until he was dead.

Present Day

The Eldest watched the Gnoll rise from his where he sat and turn from the Kobolds. "Where will Gnoll go?"

"Where Adventurers bring ruin." Came the lupine creature's reply.

"....Wait! Please wait." The Eldest cried out, earning the Gnoll's attention.

"Kobold is Eldest now, but Eldest is too young to be Eldest. Eldest cannot keep the younglings alive." The Kobold hissed.

Grimpaw surveyed the creature. He was indeed young, only a year has passed since he was last known as a youngling. He was taller than them by a large margin, but he lacked the muscles of an adult. He would've been a scout in normal conditions. Not a leader.

"...I cannot be your Eldest. But I will bring you to safety." Grimpaw said to the Kobold.

The younglings gave out relieved chirps that they would be safe, but the Eldest had one final concern. "Where we go?"

"I do not know where to find another Kobold den. But three years ago, I killed Adventurers seeking the head of a Gorgon. I was wounded and thought I would die, but the Gorgon repaid me for saving her life, and swore I would always have safe haven in her garden. It is three days from here." Grimpaw told the Eldest.

The Kobold was horrified. All thinking creatures feared the eyes of a Gorgon, and the scaled women were known for their disinterest in the lives of those they petrified for their collection...possibly from their elven roots.

"...H...wuh..." The Eldest failed to voice his concerns, but one of the Younglings was less shocked. "What is Gorgon?"

Grimpaw lifted his upper lip in a lupine smile. "Gorgons are usually terrifying creatures. But Rarity is an honest one. She is truly grateful for my intervention in what would've been her demise."

The younglings seemed to accept this...as did the Eldest. "Three days. Long journey over land."

"Longer still if you are tired. We rise with the sun. It would be best to sleep now." Grimpaw stated before finding an empty space to lie down.

The Kobolds were thrown by this, they slept in the day. But the Eldest ensured that the younglings obeyed the wisdom of the Gnoll. And thus, the first day ended.

Author's Note

Grimpaw's Enchantment makes him as articulate as the individual he is speaking with. I tried to give the Kobolds a broken speech pattern like Gollum or the Skaven, I hope it turned out okay.

While not every chapter will be broken into past and present, I am trying to tell this story in a manner similar to CW's Arrow with Grimpaw taking Button Mash's sword and turning his vengeance to all Adventurers as he battles the final boss (Button Mash's father).

That's all I got to say about this one, I'll see you all next time.