Important note here, in fact it's so important, you should read it at least thrice. Dahila the White Wolf has never been seen before, as she is a small new addition to the Mutopians, but not one of mine. She is a new character created by my dear friend and fellow fanfic writer, Bloodrayne666, and has yet to have had her (Dahila) debut in her stories. I am using her with Bloodrayne666's blessings, so see this as a sneak peek.
Chapter 34
Dire News Indeed
It was the middle of the night when Tyroth rushed to James' clinic, accompanied by Rose the Lynx. As the two entered the building, they found the chimpanzee together with his wolf assistant, Dahila, working hard on treating the injured forms of Karai and Zaleria.
"What in the world has happened?" Tyroth asked as he laid eyes on the two.
"I'm not sure." James said without looking up from his work. "Rose came in and woke me up by yelling that we had casualties. Told her to show me and fetch Dahila and then you."
"We've just barely gotten started helping them." the white wolf said. "It's not good, but they aren't critical, at least."
"They've still lost quite a lot of blood." said James as he carefully removed an arrow from Karai's arm. "Considering all of these arrows, I can't say I'm surprised. We can save them, but it's gonna take some time, especially for them to recover."
"But how did they get here? Last I heard, they both left days apart and in different directions, so how did they end up together?" Tyroth asked, turning to Rose. "Do you know anything about that?"
"Afraid not." the lynx answered. "I just woke up, needing to use the outhouse, but as I was heading back to my house, I heard someone crying out for help. Next thing I knew, I found these two in the village square. Ran to get James as quickly as I could once I realised what I was looking at."
"That might just have saved their lives." said James. "I'm honestly not sure if they would have survived with these injuries until morning."
"Still don't answer any questions though." said Tyroth. "Like I said, they left at different times, Karai to travel back to the Empire and Zaleria to investigate why some wolves seemed rabid, and at some point after that, they both clearly ended up together, and in battle with unknown foes, before returning here. There's so much that just doesn't add up."
"It the same with the arrows and javelins." said Dahila. "They are so very different from each other. Some are similar to professional quality arrows, while others are more basic, and others still are little more than pointed sticks and bones. If you ask me, it's like they got stuck in a fight between several groups…"
"Or were attacked by one large group that use whatever they can get their hands on. Scavengers of some sort." Tyroth continued. "Makes me wonder if it was the same group that hunted our orc guests."
"The only ones that know for sure are our patients here." said James. "And they are not waking up anytime soon."
"Can't you wake them up, though?" Rose asked. "You have done things like that before, right?"
"If we were back on Earth, then yes, but here and now, afraid not. There was only so much medical supplies that we could, and were allowed to, bring with us. But, with a bit of luck, maybe they will regain consciousness after dawn."
"I hope so." said Tyroth, holding his chin in thought. "As there's little else we can do at the moment, we'll leave you two to your work, but once you've done what you can, I recommend that you send for Devina. Her healing magic will help them recover all the faster."
"Of course."
With a nod, Tyroth left with Rose close behind, leaving James and Dahila to focus on their patients.
"James? There is one thing that I've been wondering."
"And what is that?"
"I mean no offence with this, but why not just let Devina use her magic to begin with? It was the same with the orcs, as well."
"A fair question. It's not that I don't trust Devina, and I know I shouldn't be dismissive of her magic either, especially not with how we had the well back on Earth, but a part of me just don't trust in such things, not entirely. But I am not a fool, I know that healing magic can save lives that I may not."
"Well, I never did think of you as prideful."
"Prideful? No, my dear. More… paranoid, if anything. Let me explain; let's say that a spell heals a wound, but there's still some form of contaminant left in it, dirt or something like those obsidian shards. With the wound completely healed around it, there's no way we can see the potential infection until it has had a long time to grow."
"And that could result in things like blood poisoning. I understand."
"Yes, so I'd rather have doctors, like us, do the most of the work, and then let someone like Devina follow up with some… let's call it touch up, to help the patient recover faster, but only a little at a time, so we have time to spot any other complications and so the body doesn't get any form of shock from the sudden healing, if that is even possible."
"So it's all a form of precaution. And I guess it doesn't hurt to keep your skills sharp as well."
"Very true, Dahila, very true."
The next day, a few hours after dawn, Tyroth was again summoned to James' clinic. Both Zaleria and Karai had regained consciousness, and they were both very anxious to speak to the dragon as well.
The duo was still laying in their beds when Tyroth arrived, with Dahila and Devina overseeing them, as James was taking a well needed rest.
"Glad to see the two of you back on your feet." Tyroth said as he walked into the room.
"If only barely." Dahila said, trying to stifle a yawn.
"I am afraid that we have less happy news though." said Zaleria, and Karai nodded.
"What happened to you two?"
"Gnolls." Karai said, and Tyroth went pale. "We barely escaped with our lives."
"Shit…."
"Gnolls?" Devina and Dahila both asked.
"It's really bad, that's what it is." Tyroth said. "We need to gather everyone, they will need to know, and quickly."
It took about half an hour before everyone was gathered in the village square, and they were rather nervous, for it was clear that something was wrong. They all had the same feeling in their stomachs from when the evacuation of their old home had been announced, and the sudden return of people they thought had left didn't help, not with how rough they still looked.
Zaleria and Karai each sat on a chair in the middle of the square, as they had yet to recover fully, and Tyroth stood with them, a serious look on his face as he stepped forward a bit and spoke with a strong voice.
"Okay everyone! We got a serious situation on our hands! Last night, both Zaleria and Karai returned to us, bringing most dire news! I will let them explain that, but I want no interruptions of any kind! Questions can wait for later!"
With a nod from Tyroth, Zaleria rose to her feet, using her staff as support.
"Friends, as Tyroth say, we bring news most dire." she began. "Some days ago, Sephie came to me with concerns regarding the possibility of rabid animals, and I left to investigate shortly thereafter. I found several more cases during my time away, but last night, I discovered the source of it all. Gnolls."
To the Mutopians, this said very little, but those native to the world of Ewaros went pale at the mere mention, as did Monalisa, Sephie, and the four turtles.
"Burn my beard…" Ragnir gasped in a low voice.
"Shell, not this shit again…" Raphael muttered under his breath.
"I can confirm this." said Karai, who now rose from her chair, with some difficulties. "Much like the elf, I left a few days ago, to rendezvous with the ship that brought me here from the Empire. I reached my goal last night, only to find the ship destroyed, the crew dead, and a horde of gnolls. I had no choice but to retreat, but they discovered me before I got the chance. I would not have survived had we not run into Zaleria."
"We fought to the best of our abilities to gain enough breathing room to escape, and we barely survived that. Only the use of a Transport via Plants spell allowed us to instantly escape here."
"The danger is not over yet, sadly." Karai continued. "The gnolls are on their way here as we speak. I was able to get a rough estimate of their numbers, and there are several hundreds of them, perhaps even more than a thousand."
While the word 'gnolls' didn't mean anything to the majority of the Mutopians, they didn't need to know much in order to figure out that a hostile force of maybe a thousand or more was a serious threat.
"Okay, I know this is bad and all, but I got a question. Am I allowed to ask a question?" said Rattletrap, and Tyroth nodded. "Just what is a 'gnoll'?"
"I can answer that, if I may, having had personal experience with gnolls." said Ragnir.
"By all means." Tyroth said, and the dwarf walked up to him, turning around to address the others.
"Gnolls are humanoid hyenas, and the way I hear it, they were accidentally created by a powerful demon called Yeenoghu. But that's not relevant, the important parts to know about them is that they have a never ending hunger for destruction and the flesh of sentients, like us.
They are just as savage and feral as they seem, but they have a predatory cunning. Normally, they are just smaller packs, but sometimes, they join together as a horde, allowing them to take on larger targets. When a pack attack, they take what they can carry and retreat, possibly returning later, but when a horde attacks, they descend like a tidal wave, climbing over their own dead until they've killed every other living thing. Then, they feast on all the corpses, sometimes for up to a week, spawning even more gnolls in the process, before moving on to a new target.
You can't bargain with them, you can't dissuade them, the only thing that means anything to them is sating their own, and Yeenoghu's, unending hunger, with us."
"Yikes… I'm sorry I asked…" said Rattletrap.
"We've faced gnolls before, in our… 'augmented' DnD games." said Leonardo. "They are no laughing matter… um, pun not intended."
"So what do we do?" April asked.
"Good question." Ragnir said, holding his chin. "Normally, I would have suggested that we pack up and leave for the capital as fast as possible, but I'm afraid that would be pointless at this point. The road won't put any real distance between us and them until we've gotten at least halfway. If they catch scent of us before then, they can just change directions and catch up with us quickly, since their hunger spur them on."
"So we're all gonna die? Swell." Rattletrap said and tensed up, expecting someone to slap or punch him, but nothing happened, which told him just how serious it was.
While everyone was looking to Tyroth and each other for answers, Raphael looked at his mate and daughter, Mona holding Pandora close and both looking terrified beyond words. He clenched his fists so they shook, he was scared too, but not just of the gnolls, but of loosing those dear to him.
"Then I say we fight." he said, gaining everyone's attention. "If we're all gonna die, then we might as well die fighting rather than fleeing."
"We did fight off the Nordlings, even though the more logical course of action would have been to flee." said Donatello. "You all know I'm far from the most aggressive out of all of us, but I have to agree with Raph on this. Either we flee and have to fight them off while exhausted, or we stay and use the time we have to prepare our defences as best we can. The latter has my vote in this matter."
"I'm all for taking a stand, even fighting against the odds, but this is an army. We can't defeat a thousand enemies." said Sarah.
"You can't, but I might." said Tyroth with a stern voice and determined look in his eyes.
"Honey, are you suggesting what I think you are?" Sephie asked, a hint of worry in her voice and eyes alike.
"I'm afraid so. All my dragon life, I've had to struggle to restrain my strength and powers so I don't accidentally hurt or even kill someone. But that ends here." Tyroth clenched his fists, flame erupting from them. "When the gnolls come, I will not hold back any longer. I will crash into them like an infernal force of nature and unleash such flames that only their ashes will remain."
"Not alone, you won't!" said Michelangelo. "I'll help as best I can!"
"Me too!" Percy chimed in.
"I'm no fighter, but I'm with you!" said Patch. And more and more of the inhabitants followed.
"Then let's prepare our defences and make sure that this will be a fight that the Gods themselves will remember!" Tyroth roared, and the crowed erupted in cheers.
The gnolls might be fearsome creatures, but they would soon have to test their might against the sheer determination of a village that was tired of hiding and fleeing from danger.
This time, the Mutopians would not back down, they would bare their own fangs and claws, and respond in kind.
Just like the last one, it took quite a while to make this chapter, blasted block keeps interfering with my progress. As a result, I'm taking a short break from this story while I work on another idea I have, one that is actually a bit relevant to the upcoming parts of this one.
On a side note, some of you may have read my Roleplaying Gone Wrong story, where the main cast, being Tyroth, Sephie, Mona and the turtles end up in an augmented DnD game, just like Leo said here. However, they have not encountered gnolls there, not yet anyway, that may come another time.
Well, see you some other time. :)