The kobold wrinkled his nose. The stench of human was unmistakable, even among all the other smells of the swamp. He stood still. Listening. Waiting for the human to move and give away its position. A soft sucking noise of something being pulled from the muck betrayed the human's hiding place. There! Mostly hidden behind a broken stump. For an instant his gaze locked with the human's squinty eyes. He could see the close cropped silver hair flash as the human ducked out of sight. It was an older one. Easy prey. With three long bounds the kobold closed the distance. Raising his hammer overhead to deliver a crushing blow to the thin skull of the human, the kobold landed in emptiness behind the rotting stump. The human had vanished. Water slowly seeped into boot prints, and filled the bottom of a small crater surrounded by half melted chips of blackened rock. The human's scent was strong here, but led nowhere. Escaped.
