Fleas - Songs of the Gnolls I

WORLDS COLLIDE 8.9

The whole army was gathered, like a fist about to destroy the human foundations in one fell swoop. A metaphor Scourge had repeated ad nauseam, perhaps because he wanted to convince himself of it. They waited for nightfall and... nothing happened. If it was true that the Wind Paws had infiltrated, it couldn't have taken them this long. Had they been discovered? Kkelea remembered that this was not the first time they had failed. The situation in the Great Wall had been understandable, because they had been infiltrated for a lunar cycle. But now? The nervousness was palpable. Especially in Scourge, who kept snorting and his fingers clenched tightly on his crossed arms. Kkelea wanted to ask what was wrong, but she didn't dare.

Urkk approached them. His mount was not close by, strange since they were not used to being separated. His expression changed constantly, as did his tone of voice. He also seemed incapable of standing still. When he wasn't walking, his knee would move, or his shoulders would hunch, or his mouth would tighten as if in a spasm. He also exuded a strong odor. Could it be nerves?

"They here."

Scourge looked surprised. Fizkwik and Éwik pushed through the crowd until they reached them.

"What happened? We thought you ran away."

"We did, Scourge, and I am ashemed," Fizkwik said, looking truly sorry. "I lost a son, and the pain nearly stopped my heart. Losing Éwik... it would be too much."

Scourge didn't look angry, but rather relieved. It was hard for Kkelea to imagine what the humans had done to him, not to feel remorse when he killed them, since he was the most innocent of all the rebels. Maybe that was why he identified with Éwik. Scourge knelt.

""Your Majesty, I am sorry if you felt your life was in danger."

"Silence!" The little one shouted nervously, surprising everyone. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to... Another army, coming this way!"

Scourge jumped to his hooves.

"What do you mean?" Kkelea asked.

"As we were leaving, we saw the gate open and several humans on horseback coming out that way," Ewik said. "If they came out so quickly, it's because they knew we were about to leave that gate."

Scourge understood.

"They knew we would send the Wind Paws. That's why they didn't open for us, it was a trap. But how did they know that?"

Kkelea thought for a moment, could it be possible that Fleas was still alive? If so, would he help them? Could she blame him for that? He had been sold into slavery after a life of martyrdom, and she hadn't had the courage to defend him.

"It is possible that one of us is with them," she suggested.

"I suspected as much," Scourge replied angrily. "That bastard always gave me a bad feeling."

Did he already know him, or was he talking about another rebel? Kkelea looked around. Everyone looked confused.

One of the recently arrived gnomes approached and caught their attention.

"We should retreat. Our problem was with the former empress."

Scourge lifted him by his threadbare shirt and exhaled in his face.

"No such thing! Humans are all traitors... All of them..."

A deadly silence spread with Scourge's fury. No one dared state the obvious: they had come too far to turn back, and there was no way the newcomers would understand.

"Tell me, did you kill the humans in your villages, or did you just run away?"

The gnome looked away. Kkelea would never have guessed it, but apparently Helirah did, for she sliced him in two at the waist before Scourge had time to let go. The former slaves screamed in terror. Some began to flee, while others hurled insults and rocks in equal measure. Scourge stepped forward, his innocent gaze lost in the storm of rage growing within him, but Kkelea arrived to quell it. She stepped forward to stop him.

"We cannot be like the humans! If we kill them, we will prove to be what they say we are."

Scourge seemed to regain his composure as the gnomes charged them. Kkelea grabbed her axe, but immediately realized that they were not attacking them, but rather retreating from something else.

"The orcs!" Shouted Scourge, drawing his flaming sword.

The gnomes threw themselves into the pit in droves to escape the orcs, who had formed a semicircle around them and were killing them without mercy. It could not be that they had heard this confession, so they acted for other reasons. To remove any doubt, Kkelea approached Urkk, who was still with them. Urkk was breathing heavily, thick drool, almost like foam, falling from his mouth. His vacant gaze suddenly focused on Scourge. He grabbed his poisoned spear and thrust it at him before Kkelea could stop him. Snarling, Scourge spun around and swung a backhand that stopped just short of severing his head. The orc took advantage of the taurid's moment of mercy and grabbed the spear, ready to plunge it into his chest. Kkelea finally reacted and plunged the axe into the top of his head. The orc screamed in horror and fell. He was still moving when Kkelea pulled out the axe and finished him off. Scourge and she looked at each other in consternation.