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Star. Not Swift [Short Story]
Topic Started: Sun Jul 6, 2014 4:34 pm (188 Views)
Swift
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How long had it been since she had seen her home? She tried keeping count of the days, but time had a way of getting away from her. Days blended together when you were being hunted, or doing the hunting yourself, and time spent underground surely didn't help anything. The Anhuet never let up with their assaults against gnoll-kind, always probing for dens, always setting up traps for the scavengers. It seemed that they were obsessed with the destruction of the Velkelab, the largest group of gnolls in the Debon Plains. Any other hobby, any other idea of recreation or relaxation seemed to be abandoned for the sake of killing the underground dwelling dog-people.

The worst part was that they were quite literally the underdogs. They could never get enough of a foothold to even consider retaliation. The extent of their ability to defend themselves was a series of tunnels dug beneath the plains to allow them escape, to let them go from one den to another, if not create new ones all-together. They tried their best to leave peacefully, but there was no help coming for them. The Sunduok had spread rumors to all other surface dwelling species of how wicked and evil the gnolls were, and they believed it, all the surface dwellers looked upon gnolls with fear and hatred for the stories they were told by the lion people.

To make it worse, a little over five years ago they had found the Velkelab's home. Many gnolls died that day. Star had tried getting the message to them as quickly as possible, to warn them of the oncoming hunting party, but she wasn't fast enough. Her love had been the fastest of them all, but his loyalty to her led to his own destruction. She got to live, but he and so many other gnolls died needless deaths.

Sometimes she cursed him, and sometimes she hated herself for thinking in such a way. She knew that he had just wanted her to survive, and that's what Shakatro Kallo clearly wanted, but she took at least a little solace in knowing the cursed weapon was denied the succession of its plans, at least a little bit. If that monstrous crossbow had been the one who wanted such a thing to happen, then surely that would have meant the assured destruction of the Velkelab gnolls at the twisted claws of the Sunduok anhuet.

Since that day, dreams of venturing beyond the reaches of the Debon Plains became dead to Star. Wolk had given his life to assure the safety of not only her, but of the Velkelab. She would be damned if she allowed that sacrifice to be in vain just so she could see some sights. This was her home, this was where she belonged, and this was where she would carry on Wolk's memory.

Though Star could not remember how many days she had been out with the scavenger party as its protection, she did not forget the ways to the tunnel entrances. More importantly, though, she did not forget her wits. The senses she had honed so that no cat-people could sneak up on her ever again. Her ears twitched as she heard the distant rustling, too big to be any small nocturnal critters scavenging for food, and too big for normal beasts to hunt them.

The sky was clear, the air was crisp, and there was no wind, just a sliver of each moon hanging high in the sky.

Her instincts told her it was the anhuet lying in ambush, and so she quickly crouched down, the scavenging party following her lead without a single spoken question.

She gestured to the three gnolls who followed her.

The crossbowman took up position in the tall grass, the rustling barely audible even to the gnolls' sensitive ears.

The sorcerer stayed in place, waiting for the signal to cast his magic, the appropriate words swimming through his mind, his fingers twitching in anticipation of the gestures which would be required.

The scout moved counterclockwise around the entrance, staying far from it but close enough for a ready escape. He stalked just high enough to see above the grass, but not high enough as to give himself away.

Star, herself, made straight away for the source of the rustling, her two swords drawn and humming quietly with the enchantments placed upon them. When she came across the source of the noise, she plunged her blade downward, sharply impaling the ambushing Anhuet through his neck and down into his heart. He gurgled pleas, whether for mercy or for help Star did not know, but the three others in his group jumped up shouting and quickly readied their spears.

Across from them, nearer to the scout, tow more popped up from the tall grass, javelins at the ready, rather than spears. Their arms drew back, but the scout acted quickly. Rather than allowing the pointed sticks to fly at Star, the gnoll scout jumped up and grabbed each of the javelins, forcing the metallic points of the Anhuet into the neck of the other.

The spellcaster stood quickly at the sounds of combat and summoned forth a bright light with which to blind the Sunduok, leaving it in the air for only a moment before switching his focus to casting a bolt of fire, which found its way into the heart of one of the ambushers, killing them before they knew what was happening.

Another from the group of anhuet found himself with a bolt in his head, shot from the crossbowman hiding in the grass, waiting for the perfect opportunity to strike.

The last remaining survivor known to the gnolls, a female anhuet, tried to jab at Star, ignoring the deaths of her comrades in favor of at least a small victory, but that attempt proved moot. At close range, spears were not the better choice. With her short swords, Star had the advantage, and not only did she cut the spear of the cat down to size, but she quickly followed the strikes by severing the arm of her attacker.

Oh, how Star wanted to kill the cat right then and there, but there could have been more Sunduok hiding in the shrubbery. There always seemed to be, whether to help or to return to camp and report the confirmation of the tunnels. The anhuet seemed to breed faster than bugs, making each one of them perfectly expendable for the wants of their leaders, but that was just Star's opinion.

"Star, just kill her!" The spellcaster shouted over the Anhuet's screaming, "We can collapse the tunnel afterwards."

Star hit the cat hard over the head with the hilt of her sword, a better thought passing through her mind as she stopped the screaming.

"Why do that when we can finally do some good?" She asked her friend hiding among the grass, hoping that they were not the only ones to hear her words, "We'll take her with us, and turn the tides of this age-old extermination, we can turn it into a war."

"That sounds incredibly stupid." The scout called out as he stalked through the tall grass, looking to confirm or disprove Star's unspoken worries and hopes.

"Yes, but I'm not saying we do it on our own." She argued, "We can at least take her to the elders to get their opinion. It would definitely be better to give a bit of proof to my idea, rather than just submitting it for their rejection."
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