The hesitation in the kobolds' eyes told Sonder they didn't want to go to the vault.
They were terrified of it.
But they also understood that she wasn't going to leave them without getting what she wanted.
The older kobold swallowed and squared his shoulders. He nodded and led her forward.
"Very well. But we will not step inside. We show you the way, and that will be it."
Sonder didn't say anything. She simply lifted her staff, and the three kobolds flinched as though she had raised a blade.
She paused and softened her grip. "Lead on," she said gently.
They took a narrow hallway downward, toward the back of the building. The walls were cramped, the ceiling low enough that she had to duck. Every few steps, the kobolds paused to listen, fearful that someone, or something, might have heard them.
Finally, they reached a reinforced wooden hatch in the floor of a small basement
Three locks had been bolted onto it, but two hung broken. The third was rusted and loosely latched, as though someone had pried their way in and then, half-heartedly, pretended to seal it again.
The old kobold pointed at the hatch, refusing to touch it.
"The vault," he said.
Sonder crouched, lifted the hatch, and descended the short ladder into a dark room that smelled faintly of metal and dust. She heard the kobolds shuffle at the top of the ladder, too frightened to follow.
She pulled out her sword to give her light, and the kobolds above squeaked in fear.
The vault was… disappointing.
Just a dingy little room.
Shelves sagged under piles of old metal scraps and cracked pottery. Shiny rocks, some probably quartz, some just wet river stones, had been tossed together in bowls. A scattering of coins lay on the floor, as if someone had rifled through them in a frenzy.
Sonder sighed. "This is it?"
Her voice echoed in the cramped space.
She stepped deeper inside, brushing aside dangling chains and leaning over piles of useless things.
The kobolds watched her silhouette shift as she dug through the clutter. Their claws clacked nervously on the wooden floor.
As she searched through heaps, piles, and jars—trash by all accounts, something glimmered beneath a mound of bent metal. She looked eagerly.
Her mind focused sharply, almost hungrily. She hated the feeling, but she also couldn't suppress it.
She searched, and when she took hold of it, it was nothing.
It was just normal glass. There was no power to it.
A surge of anger hit her when she held it.
She moved quickly from shelf to shelf, pushing aside tarnished trinkets with growing urgency.
A metal cup clattered. A bowl toppled. A stack of bent rods crashed to the floor.
There has to be something.
She raked her hand through a crate of dull stones, sending them skittering across the floor.
Nothing.
She grabbed a jar and threw it into the corner. It hit the wall and splintered into tiny pieces.
Her hands shook with fury, and she cried out in frustration.
Sonder exhaled sharply and leaned against the wall until the cool stone steadied her.
Above, all three kobolds peered down through the hatch, full of fear.
Fear of her.
She realized how frantically she had been tearing the vault apart.
Her voice came out strained. "It's empty."