A tap on his cheek woke him in the middle of the night. Perhaps one of his brothers was dreaming that he was hunting a rabbit or chasing the moon to where the sky kissed the earth. He sighed, moved away a little, and instinctively rolled over and lay down on the dry grass, on one side of the melancholy symphony of sighs, cries, and grunts that his brothers were singing.
His eyes closed, and he entered that magical world where everything was possible, the closest thing to Eden, unless it was haunted by nightmares. Before him, the flesh of a freshly killed calf seductively invited him to sink his teeth into it. He heard a scream that tore him from his sleep. He noticed that it had sunk its sharp fangs into the paw of one of the biggest cubs. The older one grabbed him by the ear and yelled at him:
"You idiot, now you'll see!"
The commotion awakened the rest of the hyaenids (also called gnolls in the Seasonal Continent), creatures torn between hyena ferocity and human rationality. Soon the cries of the awakened ones became more like grunts and laughter that was not laughter, while the confusion forced them to throw teeth left and right. In the midst of the clamor, a furious growl could be heard from outside the tent. It was one of the hyaenid warriors. Immediately, the cubs fell silent, staring at her with wide, glassy eyes. She looked imposing and extremely large compared to them. It should be noted that female hyaenids are much larger than adult males. And they were all cubs, so the size difference was even greater.
"Do you know the risk we are taking with you here? The night holds dangers, and if we have to choose between saving the warriors or saving you, which do you think we will choose?," the warrior said.
The little ones remained silent.
"Who?," the hyaenid bared her yellow teeth and exhaled through her nose.
"The warriors," the cubs replied.
"Go back to sleep. It won't be long before dawn, and you'll have to work much harder if you want to eat," she turned away, muttering insults as she walked away.
They lay down again. The bitten one looked at him and said:
"The matriarchs are right, you would be no good even as a slave."
YOU ARE READING
Fleas - Songs of the Gnolls I
FantasyIn the middle of the savannah lives a tribe of hyaenids, men half hyena, and what some humans of the Seasonal Continent call gnolls. A small cub, victim of constant mistreatment, sleeps amidst nightmares and lives without desire. Until he meets the...
