Leon and Riya: How to Raise a Gnoll

Chapter 22

Mu watched as the Witherlings got within range of the archers on the walls.

Mu: Fire!

The archers loosed their arrows, raining them down on the Witherlings that continued to march as if nothing was happening. A few of the Witherlings had their skulls cracked by arrows and stopped where they were while the rest kept moving. As they reached the wall they began attempting to scale it.

Mu: Keep them off the Wall!

As she yelled this she threw a javelin straight into the skull of a Witherling, knocking it off the wall as it was trying to scale it. The rest of the Gnolls on the wall followed suit, throwing javelins and loosing arrows doing their best to keep them from being able to scale the wall. Due to their numbers the Witherlings slowly began to gain ground on climbing the wall bit by bit.

Jahga and her group of Gnolls had been waiting near the training yard, waiting for them to attempt to dig up inside of Fort Stoneholde. After she had heard the fighting begin at the main gate, she could have sworn she heard something odd. That was when she realized that the sound was the Witherlings digging!

Jahga: Get ready! They should come up any time now!

Not long after she had announced that, a bony claw came up from the ground, before several more did the same. Then several Witherlings completely emerged from the ground revealing the tunnels they had been digging under the fort. These Witherlings were larger than she remembered normal Witherlings being, but it didn't matter since they had to be dealt with all the same.

Jahga noticed a pink furred Vulpine emerge from one of the tunnels. He had looked around for a few seconds before he locked his vision in the direction that the dining hall was, where the civilians were being kept.

No sooner had he done that the Witherlings lunged forward, beginning to fight with the Gnolls that were waiting for them. Leiko weaved his way around the fighting, heading in the direction of the dining hall. Jahga, noticing what he was doing, went after him. Just as he was about to reach the door, Leiko heard something behind him.

Jahga: Where do you think you're going!

He was then tackled away from the door and sent bounding across the stone floor of the fort. Upon standing Leiko saw the imposing form of the 7' 10" Gnoll. Leiko then unsheathed his sword and readied his shield. They stood there staring each other down, waiting for the other to make the first move. Then, fast as lightning, Jahga bolted forward thrusting her spear at Leiko. He quickly rolled his left to avoid the attack before swiftly rushing forward and making a vertical swing with his sword. Jahga dodged to the right before swinging her spear level with his head, Leiko used his shield to block the swing but was pushed to the side a moderate amount.

Back with Mu, she had to begin using her halberd to force as many of them off the wall as she could. There were so many Witherlings that it was a monumental task for all of the Gnolls on the wall to keep them from reaching the top.

Back at Gloomfang Citadel Zenkoh had left Riya and Rose alone as she needed to check on something with Thorn.

Rose: I should be the one guarding Dad.

Riya: It's not your place to determine that. Zenkoh knows what she's doing.

Rose: Purth didn't even look that strong.

Riya now had an annoyed look, bordering on angry.

Riya: Rose, you do realize that Purth is a shaman do you not?

Rose: Wait, what? A Shaman? But wouldn't that mean...

Riya: That she can use magic like Maria, yes.

Rose didn't have anything to say to that.

Riya: That would mean that Zenkoh put one of her very best fighters in the room with your father. So maybe you could be just a little grateful? She didn't have to bother sparing anyone to protect him at all!

Rose: But why would she...

That was when she realized that she didn't even know what her father did outside of the time he spent with her.

Rose: Mom, what does Dad do, he has some kind of work doesn't he?

Riya: He does, he used to help train guards for Foxpine, and he currently trains Gnolls for Zenkoh.

Wait, was that why Dad seemed to have no issue with how things are done here. That he was used to how it worked in the citadel? But if they valued males so low on the totem pole why was he given a job to train their future fighters then?

Rose: But I thought males weren't highly regarded here, why would he have that position then?

Riya: Because Zenkoh told the rest of the clan that's how it was going to be and that was all there was to it, not everyone agreed with her decision I'm sure you can imagine but they didn't try fighting her on it because it wasn't their place.

Rose: But...

Riya: Rose, your father is only alive because Zenkoh saved him eight years ago, I had to almost kill myself to get him to the citadel in time for him to survive but she could have simply denied to help him if she wanted to. Clan Deadfang has saved his life multiple times, in fact.

Rose wasn't sure what to say.

Rose: Why wasn't I ever told any of that?

Riya: We never thought it would be necessary to tell you.

Thorn could be heard shouting down the halls.

Thorn: Get ready! The Witherlings are within eyesight!