by D. M. Almond
Baetylus’ cackling form slithered through the night, searching for the sleeping mind of the cobold shaman, Burgoth. The filthy little monster rested at the feet of her master, the resident king of the Ul’kor ruins. She was happily dreaming of whipping her minions as they begged at her hairy feet for mercy.
It was a little thing for the Great Crystal to interrupt the dream, much simpler than the suggestions he fed humans. With a thought, the whips morphed into snakes, turning to bite at her face. Burgoth threw the weapon into the fire. After eating her worshipers whole, the snakes slithered away from the flames down a long winding corridor. Chasing them, the shaman could see their shadows sprawled across the walls. The silhouettes were in the shape of two gnomes and one human, all carrying sacks overflowing with shiny sparkly trinkets!
Burgoth snarled awake, bolting upright to call out for her apprentice as she roused the king from his own dreams of a gnome invasion. “Master, we haves some intruders.” Her snake-like tongue flickered with the dire implications. “They are in the old false king’s chambers, trying to steal our treasures.”
The king shoved her away, rolling out of bed and roaring for his men to raise the alarm and alert the city. They had intruders to hunt down.
