Chapter 97: A Big Fight Between Brothers
Stepping out of the cave, Ka’z slowed his pace and looked across the battlefield. The evening light had already begun fading, but there was still enough illumination to reveal the countless footprints covering the ground.
Goblin footprints stretched from the cave entrance deep into the forest, crossing over one another until it became difficult to tell which belonged to the first wave and which belonged to the main army.
Ka’z stared at the scene for several seconds before finally shaking his head.
"I can’t believe we actually killed a hundred of them. That’s actually insane."
Tu’ka nodded beside him, his gaze moving slowly across the battlefield.
When they had first been told that a hundred man army was coming, the number had terrified them. Their entire colony had barely been larger than that, and the idea of an army almost equal to their entire population marching toward them had seemed impossible to overcome. Yet now, those hundred warriors were either dead or fleeing, and Vaal’kor was still standing.
"The cave really helped break them down into small groups," Tu’ka said as he studied the battlefield. "And your traps made it easy for us to kill them in large numbers. If they had been able to bring their entire force against us at once, things would have been very different."
Ka’z nodded slowly.
He knew Tu’ka was right. The cave had turned their numerical disadvantage into an advantage. Every tunnel had become a separate battlefield, and every trap had forced the goblins to fight on their terms. But as Ka’z continued staring at the open ground, a different thought seemed to settle over Tu’ka. The shadow kobold became unusually quiet before turning toward him.
"Do you still want to build a village on the surface?" Tu’ka asked.
Ka’z stopped walking.
The question caught him completely off guard. He slowly turned his head toward Tu’ka, who had also stopped several steps away. There was no teasing in his expression and no hesitation in his voice. He was genuinely asking. For several seconds, neither of them spoke.
"Think about it," Tu’ka continued. "This cave has kept Kong’gong and Tud’or’s generation safe for decades, and today it also kept us safe. If we were living on the surface, we would have been wiped out."
Ka’z stared at him, surprised by how much Tu’ka was saying. He had never seen his friend speak so much in one breath, especially about something he clearly cared about.
The more Ka’z studied him, the more he understood where the argument was coming from. Tu’ka’s expression remained mostly dull, but there was pain buried deep behind his eyes. Tud’or had died on these very grounds. If everyone had remained inside the cave, none of that would have happened. There was no way Tu’ka could look at the battlefield and not think about that.
"Are you really okay living in the cave all your life?" Ka’z asked. His voice was quieter now. "Or are you just afraid?"
Tu’ka’s brows knitted together.
For the first time since the conversation began, his calm expression visibly cracked. He looked away for a moment, seemingly searching for an answer, but Ka’z continued before he could respond.
"If we forever live within the confines of our fear, we will end up living an empty life, and I don’t want to live that way." His voice carried genuine conviction.
He looked toward the forest stretching beyond the battlefield, toward a world he had barely begun to explore.
" I don’t want to spend my entire life hiding underground because we’re afraid something might kill us." He said.
"But people will die if we leave the cave," Tu’ka argued.
His voice remained controlled, but there was growing frustration beneath it.
"We’re not ready to live on the surface. If we had a hundred trained soldiers like the goblins, maybe it would be different. But we don’t even have thirty proper fighters. After everything that happened today, our entire population is probably around seventy."
He gestured toward the battlefield.
"You know how many people we lost today. You know how many people we almost lost. We can’t pretend we’re ready just because we survived one attack."
Ka’z frowned, but Tu’ka continued before he could answer. "And remember, the Ashmork Clan still exists. We defeated their army, not their entire clan. They can send another army."
Ka’z raised his hand, stopping him.
He rubbed his forehead slowly as a deep frown settled over his face. He understood the logic behind Tu’ka’s argument, but something inside him refused to accept it. Every reason Tu’ka gave seemed to lead back to the same conclusion: stay underground, become stronger, wait for the next threat and hope they survived it when it came.
"Would you feel safer with my idea if we could wipe out the Ashmork Clan?" Ka’z asked directly.
"It’s not just about the Ashmork Clan!" Tu’ka suddenly yelled. The sound echoed through the surrounding trees.
Ka’z’s eyes widened.
Tu’ka has never raised his voice. In fact, Ka’z could barely remember ever hearing him shout like this. His purple eyes burned intensely as he stared at Ka’z, and the faint glow around his scales had begun to intensify.
"This is the Evergreen Forest!" Tu’ka continued, his voice shaking with frustration. "We are not the only species here. Today it’s goblins, tomorrow it could be gnolls. After that it could be something else entirely. The point is that we are not alone! There will always be danger!"
"So we should keep hiding all our lives?!" Ka’z yelled back.
His own voice thundered across the clearing.
His crimson eyes flickered violently as his emotions rose. He clenched his fists, trying to keep the Blood element from reacting to his anger, but the faint red glow beneath his scales was already becoming visible.
He could not accept this. He had spent an entire previous life allowing fear to dictate his decisions. He had been afraid of failure, afraid of rejection, afraid of taking risks and eventually realized that he had wasted years of his life because of it. This world was different. Athedal was a world of magic, monsters, adventure and impossible possibilities. He had been given a second life, and he refused to spend it hiding inside a cave.
"I don’t want my entire life defined by fear!" Ka’z snarled. "It’s already bad enough that a kobold’s peak lifespan is barely sixty years. Now you want me to spend all of those years underground?"
"If you want to live outside the cave so much, you can do so!" Tu’ka snapped. "But don’t drag everyone else to their deaths because of your selfish dreams!"
"What?"
Ka’z’s crimson eyes flared.
His body moved forward instinctively, but before he could take another step, Za’r rushed between them and grabbed Ka’z around the arm. At almost the same moment, Ru’k seized Tu’ka and pulled him backward.
"Don’t fight, please!" Za’r pleaded, her voice already trembling.
"Calm down, bro," Ru’k begged as he struggled to hold Tu’ka back. "You gotta calm down a bit."
Neither of them listened.
Ka’z and Tu’ka continued staring at each other with anger burning between them. They had fought side by side for years, trained together, hunted together and survived countless dangerous situations together. Yet none of that mattered in this moment. For the first time, they were not looking at each other as brothers or friends. They were looking at each other as obstacles standing between them and what they believed was right.
"If my dream is too big for you, then don’t be a part of it!" Ka’z snapped.
He pulled against Za’r’s grip, forcing her to stumble forward.
"Those who are tired of this mediocre life can stay on the surface. The rest can rot in hell for all I care!"
"Don’t say that!" Za’r cried.
Her voice cracked as tears began spilling down her face.
"This is what I mean!" Tu’ka shouted back. "Think about the entire colony for once and not just yourself! Think about Tud’or!"
His voice broke when he said the name.
"He died on this fucking ground! If Tud’or couldn’t protect us here, who the hell are you to think you can do otherwise?!"
Silence followed for a brief moment.
Tu’ka’s purple eyes were already filled with tears and Ka’z stared at him, his anger momentarily faltering as he saw his friend’s face. But the words had already struck too deeply, and his pride refused to let him back down.
"I am the fucking chosen one!" Ka’z snarled. "The child of prophecy and the only one in this damn cave who can use true magic! Don’t you for one second think I’m anywhere as weak as you!"
"Guys, just stop it!" Kurg shouted as he came running toward them.
He had heard the argument from farther away and immediately rushed over when he realized what was happening. He looked between the two of them in panic, completely unable to understand how a conversation that had begun as a simple walk had turned into this.
"Please stop," Za’r whispered.
Her voice was broken now, and tears streamed freely down her cheeks.
"Don’t say anything else," Ru’k begged Tu’ka. "Just don’t say anything else."
Ka’z gritted his teeth. He looked at Tu’ka for several seconds before finally reaching down and pulling Za’r’s hand away from his arm. She tried to hold onto him, but Ka’z gently broke free.
"Fuck all of this," he muttered. His voice was bitter and exhausted rather than furious now. "You guys should check the camp yourselves. I’m done here."
He turned around.
"Ka’z!"
Za’r called after him, but he did not stop.
He sprinted into the forest, disappearing between the trees before Za’r could follow. She instinctively took a step after him, but Kurg quickly caught her hand and shook his head.
"Don’t," he said quietly.
Za’r stared into the forest with tears running down her face.
"But he’s angry."
"I know," Kurg replied. "Let him cool down."
For several seconds, Tu’ka stood there silently. Then he turned and walked away without looking back.
"Tu’ka..." Ru’k called weakly.
Tu’ka did not respond.
Just like that, Kurg, Za’r and Ru’k were left standing together in the middle of the battlefield. The evening breeze moved through the trees, carrying away the last scent of blood from the battle, while the distant celebration from the sanctuary continued echoing through the cave behind them.
None of the three spoke.
They had watched Ka’z and Tu’ka grow up together. They had watched them fight beside each other, laugh together and protect one another through countless dangers. They had always assumed that whatever happened, the two would remain inseparable.
Yet now they had walked away in opposite directions.
What had begun as a friendly conversation between two exhausted friends had become the first bitter fight their team had ever experienced. And standing among the footprints of a hundred dead enemies, Kurg, Za’r and Ru’k could not shake the feeling that the battle they had just survived might have created another conflict that would be far harder to overcome.