Kapitel 196: CHPT 196: Ferocious Variety.
Question. The forest was full of questions— never before seen occurrences on this night. In the cold northern forests near SkyHaven, a phenomenon never before seen by man— and most beings of the wild, was taking place under the eerily calming rays of the crescent moon.
What was once a mystery, had been revealed in shocking fashion to Claude. But even the revelation of the mystery itself brought forth a volley unanswered questions. What had he uncovered?
The canine monsters hunting Raider's alongside him— stealing his revenge in broad moonlight, weren't doing so on their own accord. They may not even have been consuming the humans. Not if their every move was decided by being like himself. A Shape-Shifter. The appearance of the middle aged man— looking similar to himself, he was cold and calculating even in the face of battle hardened Raiders. He was used to causing harm and death.
The question was, how on earth was he working with mindless monsters? And how did they understand him?
***
Claude dropped silently from the tree he sat perched on, still unable to speak, still flooded from the inside out with adrenaline.
Ashe stepped out of the darkness and waited patiently, eyeing him in a way of silently saying, "What's our move?"
The rest of the Phantom Wolves emerged after her, flanked by Frosty who looked like he'd never been angrier.
"All canine species have learned to be alarmed by the scent of Gnolls…" Claude remembered.
Somewhere in Frosty's heritage, there's a pure Wolf of earth. And that part of his lineage/dna must've been screaming at him to eliminate or flee from the threat. But, Frosty's never been one to back down. So there was really only one option.
"Don't worry. We'll get them. All of them…" Claude forced out quietly, gaining a satisfied snarl from the pack circling him anxiously.
"[I suppose it would be illogical for me to try and get you to leave this forest now..]"
"I'd rather lose my arms.." Claude replied flatly while his mind moved at a mile a minute, playing back memories of what he and his father read about the Gnolls.
"[Ok. Then let us devise a plan that removes these smelly bastards before they can remove you.]" Arne suggested.
Claude grunted I'm agreement and crouched down to one knee in the dense forest. The pack followed his movements and sat with a gleam of attentiveness in their intelligent eyes.
"[I suggest you play the role you've so graciously chosen as a Night Runner working out of the SkyLight Guild.]" Arne started. "[Be the Assassin. You're already aware of the Lupine's innate ability to stalk and thrive in the shadows. The shadows are everywhere here, Claude. I say you use them.]"
The young Lupine listened motionlessly, working his own theory based off of Arne's suggestion, backed by his own memory of the Monster's tells and abilities.
"These aren't human guards simply working a night shift. They have senses that I'm sure match my own. They'll smell me coming. So I have to set them off, focus their enhanced senses on something else. Somewhere else…" Claude responded while his glowing eyes rose up to meet Ashe who sat directly across from him. Prompting Arne to quickly understand the simple yet effective plan Claude had. It seemed the two weren't the only ones in understanding as Ashe and Cali's tails began to kick up the dirt behind them.
"[Hmmmmm…The Phantom Wolves distract..]"
"….Me and Frosty kill."
***
With the minute details and time for the execution of their plan set, Claude rose up to his full height, faintly steaming and now armed with his sword and a wooden spear almost as tall as himself.
The weapon's ligneous form hinted at how his skill had grown in creating the weapon he was so fond of in all shapes and forms— what started as a simple interest had grown into the beginnings of a skill. This spear in particular had a long handle thickening as it trailed up towards the long spiraling blade that had an unnatural edge to it. The weapon felt perfect in his darkening hand.
"[Remember, this is no Infested Area, Claude. These Gnolls are more than likely at a low Silver level at least. Remain unseen, and if you have to engage in combat, do everything you can to avoid being hit.]" Arne reminded him.
Claude nodded before steeling himself for the violence ahead and heading closer to the clearing. His booted feet sunk into the grass soundlessly, followed by cloudy black and thick large paws for a number of soundless seconds until they could easily see the clearing and what occupied it in the distance through the lush untouched bushes. Now much closer to the base and Monsters, he could smell it.
Fear. If he activated, (Sensory Focus), he could probably see the dark tendrils of the scent spilling out of every crevice of the Raider base and crawling across the grass like outstretched limbs. The limbs had reached him, their dark and foggy aromatic digits drifted into the expanse of forest where he stalked— where he inhaled the energizing scent and grew in power.
The pack of Wolves behind him weren't new to the enticing scent either, barely quieting their snarls and baring sharp shining teeth with every deep inhale. They were ready.
Claude gripped the spear and focused to quell the urge to go mad as his Lupine form fought to breach the surface of his human skin. Black veins bulged and streaked down his arms like slow motion lightning strikes, followed by a growth in muscle and hardening of his skin until he felt like he could shatter the spear into splinters with his grip alone.
He focused his vision on the base, eyeing the weak animal skins stretched from one wooden pillar to the next, forming a sort of circular giant tent that housed the Raiders and at least one Gnoll. He'd have to aim high because he wasn't aiming to kill, they'd have their time. The first part of his plan was meant to avert attention.
With a grumbling exhale, he centered himself— not only relaxing himself, but the pack as well.
In one fluid motion, he raised right hand and shifted his body so his left shoulder faced the base. The majority of his— growing, weight sat comfortably in his back foot— his right foot, loading up the energy to heave the spear at blinding speeds. He wanted the impact to knock everyone in the clearing into a state of shock. He willed it.
Unseen by him, twisting spirals of Wild Magic rose up from the ground to soak into his legs and imbue his body with the strength of the untamed.
The spear shuddered in his grip as he raised his left arm to balance his weight. Now there was only one thing left to do.
FWOOOOM
In the blink of an eye he shifted forward, pressing all of his weight down into the soles of his left foot and with its built up momentum— and his own power, the spear was thrown at incredible speeds.
The wooden bolt blasted through the bushes and over the grass until it emerged from the forest and sailed over the surveying Gnolls heads. It continued its high speed pursuit after alarming the Monsters and ripped through the weak tented walls of the base on the first floor.
THUNKKkkKK!
The spear crashed into an exposed wooden column inside the base, ringing out across the clearing loudly, causing the Gnolls to snarl and spin around to face the base while the Raiders inside yelled in fear. The WereWolf near the door jumped in a panick and raised his hands to his sensitive ears with a snarl.
Following Claude's spear throw, The Phantom Wolves gathered and took off to the right, running and barking loud enough to grab the attention of the Gnolls.
They moved through the green mess as one collective black cloud, using their shadow manipulation abilities to fluidly shift forms and alter their size to confuse the Gnolls. One second they were watching a pack of smokey Wolves leap and dash through the forest, and the next they were watching a giant hairless monstrosity stomping through the dark.
"More problems….how fitting. DISPOSE OF THE INTERRUPTION!" The WereWolf spat at the Gnolls.
The Gnolls barked an odd sound of understanding before taking off into the forest, weapons raised and ready to cut down whatever monster they thought was attacking them.
Claude was halted for the briefest of moments as he watched, "Can they understand him…..completely?" He thought before the sound of the large group of Gnolls loudly entering the forest snapped him into motion.
He ran the opposite direction with Frosty, sprinting around left.
They silently darted through the forest in search of the Gnoll that was forced to watch the back. Their first target.
Claude focused his senses and his link with Frosty, syncing them up perfectly as they ran to allow them both to notify one another if they noticed something. After making a full circle around the back of the base, they realized it wasn't needed.
The Gnoll stood near a tree ahead of them with its weapon held tightly and hackles raised beneath its broken and rusted vest of armor while it looked out towards the sound of struggle at the front.
Their plan was working.
Amongst the distant sounds of paws sprinting through the grass and loose armor shifting over the sickly bodies of Monsters, the Shape-Shifter and PitWolf closed in on their target.
Instead of slowing to a silent jog, Claude maintained his speed and raised a glowing green left hand towards the alerted Gnoll.
As the Nature twisted and grew, Claude spoke mentally to Frosty, causing the PitWolf to speed up past him effortlessly and veer off out of sight.
Now alone, he closed his freehand into a first. Just as the Monster resembling a Hyena— with its clipped round ears and spotted uneven fur, noticed someone approaching, the thick branches of the tree it stood under reached down and coiled around its massive upper body.
The muscle fibers in the Gnoll's hairy chest and shoulders bulged with the animalistic effort it brought forth to attempt escaping. In the process, it's hideous black lips peeled back to reveal thick snarling incisors.
Claude didn't slow down and sunk his sword through the Gnoll's unbelievably thick neck that abruptly blended down into hulking traps above each shoulder.
The blade slid through its unprotected neck all the way to the base of his sword, bringing him face to face with the hideous Monster. It continued snarling and snapped its thick yellowing teeth at him, flinging chunky globs of frothy spit.
The Lupine snarled back at the creature, baring his teeth beneath the mask as they violently grew into sharp canine points that stretched his pink gums while he twisted the blade in the Gnolls throat.
The Monster's Hyena-like dark orangish brown eyes widened in response to the white hot pain of having its throat slowly blended to bits.
Adrenaline in the face of life or death charged the animalistic creature like a battery, giving it a boost of feral strength that it used to tear through the wooden binds.
"GRASH!"
SHRIP!
With Arne's warning of their power, Claude entered this fight being hesitant, and prepared.
He leapt up and slammed his foot into the chest of the 7ft tall Monster, pushing off and away from it while also gruesomely ripping his sword from its throat.
He just barely missed the wind cutting slice of its claws.
He landed unevenly and rolled backward to absorb the impact. When he rose back to his full height. The Gnoll was in the midst of charging armed with a machete and its ferocious might.
Before it could move, something to the right of it blasted out of the foliage to attack. Only discernible by its cool blue eyes.
Frosty had been lying in wait for this exact moment, learning to wait and observe fights for the right openings— not always when the opponents back was simply to him, but when they had extremities exposed, unbalanced weight, or stood in a state of distraction focused on something else. Such an opening presented itself when Claude split from the Gnoll. The PitWolf wasted no time and let his nose guide him to the horrifying scent of the creature.
The PitWolf exploded from the bushes and leapt at the Gnoll, missing its throat and instead latching onto the armor protecting its body. With his massive weight, he dragged the monster off balance as gravity pulled him back to earth. While this happened, he exaggerated his movement by locking his jaws around the shoulder strap of the Gnoll's chest piece and yanking his head down to the ground with a snarl.
"grrRRRSH!"
WOO!
Thud!
Claude watched while Frosty moved as a blur, blasting onto the Gnoll and yanking it off its feet to land back first painfully.
The Gnoll yelped soundlessly, lacking any air in its lungs from being slammed so violently. Instead of going to defend, it swung the sword in its left hand at Frosty.
Swoo!
Frosty dashed out of the way.
The Gnoll recovered quickly and rollled over, preparing to lunge at Frosty as an armored Monster on all fours.
Before it could take off, a sound of flesh tearing emanated from behind the creature, followed by the tip of a sword ripping through its forehead like Claude's spear ripped through the walls of the Raider base. Effortlessly.
Shhhlck!
Shlck!
[+125 EXP]
"[Yep. That's definitely more than we're used to.]"
"More or less…" Claude agreed when a sudden sound of footsteps caused him to spin around and peer deeper into the dark forest. He didn't have to look far.
The two eyed eachother for a brief span of moments, both caught by surprise in the midst of executing their own jobs. Once the creature saw the dead Gnoll beneath Claude, it dropped the unconscious Raider it was carrying and pulled the giant club from its belt in preparation for battle.
Claude eyed the monster, immediately noticing its difference when compared to the Gnoll he just killed. In the short moments before battle, he took in a number of things, eyeing the creature both as someone who had extensive knowledge on Monsters and as someone who'd fought them routinely.
The Monster a few dozen feet from him was without a doubt, a Gnoll, sharing both Canine and humanoid characteristics. Only instead of looking Hyena-like, this one looked more dog-like. It's head was short and thick, much like it's dense and meaty snout. Long drooping jowls on each side of its face failed to hide the long razor sharp canine points. They peeked from under the dark colored lips that raised in the crude beginnings of a threatening snarl.
Short grey and black fur shimmered over its muscular build— leading Claude to believe the Monsters adopted the build and muscular placement of the canines they used as vessels for their children.
Where the hyena-like Gnoll he killed had short legs and a hulking upper body with arms to match— like a Hyena. The Gnoll facing him was the epitome of stocky. Sporting normal length limbs lined with sinewy muscle, veins and a midsection resembling the thickness of a tree trunk. The Gnoll he faced must've ripped its way through the belly of something like— if not, a Wigen Mastiff/War Mastiff.
"eeeuuuggRRRrr…" The Gnoll let out a menacing growl from the hollows of its stomach while each short pointed ear at the top of its head flattened and its jowls sloshed, tossing spit to the grass between them.
Claude rose to meet the yellow eyes of the 7ft tall Monster, causing it to growl louder in response to the challenge. The Lupine returned the feral sound with Frosty followed by them both settling into their fighting stances.
"[Remember, you have to stay moving. Don't he an easy target.]"
Claude soundlessly acknowledged Arne's reminder, hoping the three stat points he just pumped into his Agility stat would give him any sort of edge.
The Gnoll made a roaring bark sound that shook the trees as it sprung into action, dropping the unconscious Raider from its shoulder mid charge.
It's stomps were like repeated thuds across the floor, thundering closer and closer to Claude. A steady reminder that he was facing something that could smash him to pieces in his current form. A steady reminder that he could die very easily tonight, allowing two things to happen in response.
He losses his shot at revenge— he fails to keep the promise he made to the angelic soft hearted Healer, Brenda. A promise he made to them all. The promise to not let the Raiders do what they did to them, to anyone else. And lastly, the WereWolf. If he died here, whatever the WereWolf was planning while commanding the ferocious Gnolls could reach success.
And whatever his plan entails, is bad news for everyone. There was an unsettlingly unhinged and ominous nature about the man. Hunting Raiders, but leaving loot, gear and weapons while he continues to roam the wild, testing the humans like lab rats. Whatever the WereWolf was after, it was shrouded in wolven madness.
AUTORENGEDANKEN 
_Avatar0FFury_
_Avatar0FFury_ Hey thanks for reading! Let me know what you think of the Gnolls so far. Thanks for the powerstones frenandoi, alex99, Deadra606, WarriorWolf, krissch_, twm0909, Ominous_Reader, omeroford, Amith_Sydney, TheLucidParagon, AnabelleXP and Arameus!
Wöchentlicher Energiestatus
-- Power-
Rangliste 
-- Power-
Stein