"5 potch. It's just fresh out of the oven!" was the happy reply.

The housewife reached to her pouch, took out the required amount, and turned up, only to face a distorted face of what she had heard: A kobold that has returned from the dead. One with green blood flowing out from it's eyes, its mouth fixed in a wide, horrible grin that they said that could open and gobble up kobolds in one bite, its arms twisted in impossible shapes that could reach behind any kobold and catch the unlucky one in a death hug, squeezing out the life of the poor kobold, before eating him/her up completely, even the bones.

Screaming, she ran off as fast as she could, dropping everything else she was holding, from vegetables to her wallet to the shiny crystal ball she bought at a bargain price at the trading house. She did remember to take her purse when she fled though, Sid mused, changing his facial features back to its original form. The shopkeeper behind him slumped to the ground, mumbling incohortly to herself, this being the fourth time in as many weeks that the 'kobold ghost' has appeared to take her steaming hot bread for its own purposes.

Reaching down, Sid helped the poor shopkeeper up. There wasn't any resistance whatsoever, the poor woman having been shocked beyond her senses for the fourth time running. Seeing that she was alright, he carried on to take his 'prizes'.

There was still plenty of bread left on the counter, he noticed. Enough to last him for a week at least. Cheerfully he packed all of them in a bundle, using the tablecloth the shopkeeper used for her counter. But before he could get away from his 'pickings', a sword flashed in front of his face. Irritated at being interrupted, he whirled around to face an armored kobold levelling his sword at his chest.

"Drop that bundle, birdman, and raise your arms! You're under arrest!!" barked the kobold, who obviously high ranking, from the looks of his armor. Sid smiled, and dropped the parcel of bread back on the table. He didn't raise his hands however, but instead grabbed one of the two poles that held up the bread stall canopy. The stall collapsed without the stabiliser, and the shopkeeper could only look in disbelief as her precious stall broke into pieces upon hitting the ground, her emotions completely lost. Scores of kobolds have already came to watch the two people staring at each other, and some helpful ones helped to carry her away from the impending fireworks.

"So you want a fight, huh? A fight it is!" The kobold shouted to Sid, raising his sword to his opponent. Sid did the same without replying, raising the pole up to touch the sword, and both of them withdrew their weapons to their own readying postures.

**********

[Somewhere, TwoRiver outskirts]

Not far off, two people watched the duel with great interest. One of them was a tall figure, complete with robe and hood to conceal any dominant features, while the visibly shorter one also came with a robe, but had the hood pulled down to reveal ruffled brown hair that moved with the gentle wind.

"HE's one of them?" Short asked.

"So it seems......" Tall answered in an angelic tone.

Short grunted, face wrinkled in obvious disgust, but made no more comments, as the two combatants faced each other off......

**********

"Come on, birdman. Let me see how well you do." The kobold challenged, opening his arms wide, as if allowing Sid a free killer blow.

Sid smirked, his lips curled in an evil smile, and tested the weight of the pole. It was a little heavier and broader than his spear, which made the thing a little harder to handle. Not too much to make much difference though. He pointed the makeshift staff towards his opponent in his spear-holding stance, hands gripping near either end of the pole. Then, without any warning, he charged forward.

He lifted up the front end of his staff, and brought it down on the kobold's head, but it was easily deflected by the shield that came up. The impact shuddered through both his hands, but he still managed, without missing a beat, to bring up the rear end of the pole, intending to hit from the bottom. The kobold also reacted fast enough to bring his sword down to nullify the attack, and immediately thrust out his left fist, complete with shield, at Sid's face.

Sid didn't anticipate that attack, but was quick to react to it. He ducked below the fist that came first, and moved the pole to block the small shield that followed. That done, he released his hold on his left hand, and swiped at his opponent's legs by turning a wide arc with his right. The kobold jumped out of the range of the long pole, and settled into a defensive stance.

Sid seized on his initiative, and ran forward once more, bringing the pole to bear with his opponent's chest. The kobold simply skipped out to his right, and jabbed his hilt onto Sid's cheek. The blow stopped Sid in his tracks, but he managed to catch the next blow aimed at the other side of his face, and instead retaliated by butting the staff against his opponent's chest.

Both of them moved back to their original positions after that round, and crouched into their respective defensive postures, the kobold rubbing his sore chest; Sid spat out a gobble of blood from his cut mouth.

"Not bad for a defensive grip that can attack from both sides, Wingman, but how will you deal with THIS?" the kobold rushed forward, his sword pointed straight at Sid's body. Sid easily side-stepped the attack, but was caught by surprise when the kobold stopped halfway past him, and swung his sword instead.

The side-step had already moved his centre of gravity, and Sid wasn't fast enough to change his pace. The sword bit deep into his right thigh, and Sid could do nothing as he jumped away, grimacing when he landed on his injured leg. Blood was flowing profusely from the deep wound, and Sid ripped off his shirt to bandage the open cut. His adversary surprisingly didn't make a move while he was doing that, and Sid felt a little respect for the law-abiding kobold.

If he was standing on one leg only, Sid didn't show it. He gripped his staff even tighter, and both of them charged at each other at the same time. The kobold's sword and shield caught the staff in a vice grip, but that left the kobold's guard open. Sid capitalized on that, and using his left knee, rammed it fully on the kobold's solar plexus. The resultant "Oof!" and the shock of the impact staggered the kobold, freeing Sid's staff, which he used it to great effect, smashing it between the neck and left shoulder blade.

Sid jumped back after that, partly due to the fact that he had been puttung his weight on his injured leg all the while since the kick, and partly because his opponant was also injured, and he wanted to return the favour given to him earlier on.

Both of them were panting heavily now, each with his own injury. Sid's blood had soaked though the makeshift bandage, the whole leg now red with blood. The kobold was holding his left shoulder in great pain, but still had the strength to snarl at his opponent.

"The next round will be your last, wingman!!" The kobold roared, running forward, swinging his sword down at the same time. Sid, without much strength to move around, had no choice but to defend the swing with the pole, and the one after that. The kobold swung his sword time and again, and Sid kept getting pushed back by the incessant hammering.

Finally the kobold ran out of breath, and stopped for a moment to catch his breath. Sid seized that chance and used his body to knock the kobold off-balance, and using the leverage, slammed his staff straight across the winded kobold's chest.

Without any strength to carry on, the kobold knelt down after being pushed back, and could do nothing as Sid dropped the pole, took the bundle of bread, and flew off, his bleeding leg dripping blood as he passed through. The kobolds who have been watching the entire exchange from a distance ran up to help him, some bandaging his broken arm, others picking up the pieces of what was once the bread stall.

"Are you all right, Master Boris?" One of the bystanders asked.

"Yeah, enough to walk back by myself, thank you." Boris replied in a muted tone. He thanked the kobold who bandaged his arm, and walked back to his house.

As the crowd dispersed, no one, in the midst of all the fevered conversations, managed to hear the anguished cry of the bread stall owner......

**********

"Is he really the one? Short asked in a sacarstic tone, stomping on the ground in impatience and disgust, as they watched Sid flew back to his hiding place.

"The stars never lie, young one, and you should know better than that." Tall replied in a very cool tone.

"Yeah, whatever." snorted Short, still unbelieving.

Tall gazed at the compatriat for a moment, and produced a small crystal. All it took was a moment for Short to realize what it meant. Short looked up and Tall just nodded, a small smile lining the face.

"Me!? Why me?" Short demanded.

The frosty look that greeted Short cut off any other complaints which might have come out, and it was more than enough to satisfy his questions.

"Very well......" sighed Short."I'll look for a way to get it done."

Short took the crystal from Tall's hand, and dissappeared after a short inchantation. Tall sighed as well, and turned to face the setting sun. The flames of something burning in the far distance could be seen from Tall's position.