Fleas - Songs of the Gnolls I

WHEN FLEAS BITE THE DOG 7.5

There was a knock on his door. It was Breist, the knight with the golden mane.

"We are summoned to an urgent meeting."

"What is the matter?" Asked Dannke, although he already knew.

"The strange illness that has afflicted Her Majesty and the Captain of the Guard. Moreover, the knights have returned from the front. Or rather, they fled."

"Where are Kris and Yolti? I want to talk to them before the meeting."

"Yolti is resting in the barracks. Kris... he rests forever."

Dannke grimaced. He did not like many people, but he liked those two. Maybe because they had grown up together in the rough streets of Les Iuria. He hurried to the barracks. Yolti lay on a bunk. He looked exhausted, but unharmed. He shook him.

"Dannke, how nice to see you," he said without changing his worried face.

"You were one of the lucky ones. Then we lost. Tell me what you saw, how the savages fight, how many there are and what their weakness is."

"In the end, there were many, for reinforcements arrived from Earth. They are smarter than we thought. They waited for us in a terrain that gave them an advantage. They knew we were headed there because they have winged creatures that spy from the sky. I don't know why, but for a while we couldn't hurt them. I saw one of those winged creatures take three bolts to the head and not fall. Until, in a moment, they died with ease. And their outpost consists of very powerful beings, like dog men or something like that. I saw them from a distance, they were big and very strong. Any technical advantage we had, they overcame with sheer muscle. I was afraid for the first time in my life. Only a few of us managed to escape, maybe twenty, or thirty."

It was hard for Dannke to imagine the hyaenids as powerful warriors. Maybe it was because he had spent too much time with Fleas. He had told him that the males were weaker than the females, and that even among the males he was the smallest and weakest.

"I see. I can't blame you for running away, I would have done the same. Were you called to the meeting?"

Yolti nodded.

"I don't think I will go. In fact, I'll run away from here if I have the chance. I can still hear the cawing as the silence surrounds me...."

"Come with us. They will speak of a strange evil, but it is not so. I will tell you everything. And gather the most loyal."

"What are you planning?"

"It is time to take what is mine. And defend it."

He came out of the barracks and heard a commotion. He saw smoke billowing in the distance. He imagined it was the rebellious slaves still at large. The soldiers had tried to hunt them down, but the old sewers were too confusing for them to find. When this was all over, he would take care of the slaves.

"Soon," he thought.