7 Servants of the dragon

After a short rest and Checking to make sure no other rats were coming, he tried to retrieve the used crossbow bolt, but it was stuck. Disappointed, Finn moved the two rats to block the entrance back to the hallway so that other rats would hopefully not come after him.

Taking some time to unwrap his bitten arm, he hissed as the pain shot through his body. Two puncture wounds were still bleeding. It looked worse than he felt it was, worried that it would get infected, he took out his leaf collection. It had helped with his headache when he ate one, maybe they had restoring properties. Taking a different one that smelled like cilantro he chewed it up a little then spat it out onto his wound hoping it would help before bandaging it up again and wrapping it in leather. He thought he should probably get it looked at by a professional once he escaped, if he could afford it that is.

After gathering his stuff again, and picking up his weapons, Finn was once again ready to make his escape. Looking down the tunnel, it's smooth walls and ceiling was round in shape, he wondered how it had been made. Seeing a dim light whose source was around a corner he quietly entered the tunnel. It was small enough for him to be able to touch the ceiling if he stretched his hands up, the rock cold and smooth to the touch.

The light source around the first bend was a small mushroom growing directly out of the side of the tunnel. It was glowing with a faint greenish light. Pausing slightly to look at it in fascination, Finn noticed a moth land on its cap. Everything was serene until the moth started struggling to fly away, it was stuck to a thin layer of slime that coated the mushroom. The slime seemed corrosive, as it slowly dissolved the moth into nutrients for the mushroom. Slightly shocked by the cruelty of nature, Finn quickly moved on.

As he continued walking through the tunnel, pausing at every blind corner to check for enemies or monsters, Finn felt his tongue going a bit numb, and his lips started to burn a little. Shortly afterwards, his arm started to feel like it was on fire near his bite wound. Clenching his teeth, he pushed on, hoping to find water so he could clean the wound properly.

Passing by another glowing mushroom, he wondered what kind they were and if they were edible. Not that he was going to try his luck, he'd seen first hand its danger.

The trip through the tunnel was otherwise uneventful, and eventually it opened up into a large cavernous space. Towering stalagmites matched stalactites high above them like the jaws of some ancient dragon. After a moment of wonder, Finn confirmed that they were indeed just made of rock.

Sneaking between the stalagmites, some taller than him, some he couldn't even wrap his arms around. They provided excellent cover for him to sneak his way around. Something he was glad for when he noticed signs of activity up ahead.

Carefully finding a good vantage point Finn took a look at what was happening at the other end of the cavern. He saw a couple strange humanoid creatures standing near a small fire. His first thought was that they looked like they had the face of a dog and might be some kind of werewolf, but quickly noticed that they lacked the fur that usually comes with that. Instead of thick silver or black fur, he saw the light from the fire glint off of what appeared to be scales. They were ugly creatures, their fat, scaled tails moving around as their clawed hands stirred a crude looking cauldron, tossing unidentifiable lumps and bunches of ingredients into the murky boiling soup. Finn was shocked to see the lizard-like creatures so close to the city.

'Kobolds! But what are they doing within the city limits? They should have been driven out after it was found out they were behind the dragon incident that ended in half of the southern market district being burned to the ground.'

Looking again Finn noticed a couple dead bodies near the Kobolds, 'mercenaries from the company' he thought, as he noticed their blood red uniforms, now literally red with blood. Kobolds were a menace, being extremely aggressive towards most races, and usually fanatically devoted to some cult that claimed to be the divine servants of dragons.

The city guard wasn't known for being friendly or lenient, and their policy for dealing with kobolds was like dealing with a rat problem, kill them and find their nest before they spread a disease or in the case of kobolds, before they invite a dragon into your neighborhood.