Leon and Riya: How to Raise a Gnoll

Chapter 6

Azur was going through a stack of papers when he came across a letter. It was from Leon.

Azur: What could Leon need?

After opening and reading it he sighed and rubbed his temples. Leon was asking if he could come to Stoneholde to give Rose special training.

Azur: Should have figured it was something like that.

When he had first learned about Rose eight years ago he hadn't been the most...receptive to the idea of having a gnoll for a niece. But after seeing her and how she acted around Leon the few times he was at Stoneholde for one thing or another slowly melted his heart. It reminded him so much of his own daughter, he couldn't bring himself to dislike her.

After deciding that he would try to make a trip to Stoneholde to see what he might be able to teach her, he saw another letter. This one was from one of the towns further to the south. Apparently the number of raids that had been happening in that area had been increasing in the past months, it seemed like there was a mercenary leading these raids. The Idea of a mercenary leading bandits or some such in raids isn't what bothered him, it was what the mercenary was supposedly calling themselves. According to the reports the mercenary was calling themselves the Rose Centurion, but that made no sense. The Rose Centurion had disappeared a long, long time ago, so why show back up now?

The other thing that made no sense was that apparently nothing was looted or stolen during the raid, they simply showed up and attacked the town and then left. What would be the purpose of that? According to the report, if there was a fort near the town it was always attacked first before the town, and that the raids had been slowly making their way north.

Now having good reason to travel to Fort Stoneholde, Azur leaves his office to inform his head guard where he was going to be.

Leon was on his way out to the practice grounds, Rose following right behind him. It had been a week since the outburst between the two sisters and ever so slowly Vuth had started to listen to what he was trying to tell her. She was improving at a sluggish pace as she still gave some resistance to what he was trying to teach, but it was progress.

Rose was excited, Her Dad had gotten a letter back. It said that Uncle Azur would be stopping by for business about the guard and what was going on in other cities. She didn't understand why that was so important but it meant she was going to see her Uncle again, so she was happy.

Rose: I hope Uncle Azur will have time to teach me something!

Leon: We'll have to see, it seemed like he needed to tell me about something important. He might be really busy while he is here.

Seeing Rose's expression deflate a little he quickly said something.

Leon: But I'm sure he'll try his best to make time for you!

That cheered her back up a bit causing Leon to sigh in relief.

Just before they had reached the practice ground Mu had caught up to them.

Leon: Oh, Mu. Is there something you need?

Mu: It's Azur, he's at the gate.

Leon: Let him in and send him to the dining area, I'll meet him there.

Mu nodded and made her way back to the front gate.

Leon looked at Rose.

Leon: Go ahead to the training grounds, I'll be there when I am done talking with Azur.

Rose nodded before heading off.

Leon had made his way to the dining area through the various torch lined corridors of the fort, only waiting there for a few moments before Azur arrived.

Leon: I got the letter, what exactly did you mean by strange raids on towns to the south?

Azur: Strange as in they don't take any supplies at all, they just attack and then leave.

Leon had a confused look on his face.

Leon: That doesn't make any sense, why expend the resources to attack if you weren't going to take anything?

Azur: The other thing is that a mercenary seems to be leading these raids.

Leon raised an eyebrow.

Leon: Mercenaries doing something like that isn't that weird.

Azur: I don't know about you but I don't know too many that call themselves the Rose Centurion, In fact the last one that did that disappeared a long time ago.

That made Leon's eyes go wide. Did he hear that right? Didn't the Rose Centurion disappear forever ago?

Azur: No idea what kind of game they are playing at, the one that used to use that name has been long gone.

Leon: Are they trying to use the name because it's tied to someone that was well known?

Just as they were contemplating this information they heard something loud from across the fort. It sounded like a series of high-pitched cackles and giggles, it was the sound that Mu made when she was giving warning to the rest of the fort. According to Riya she is actually speaking in Gnollish and saying something but he had no idea what it was exactly.

When Leon and Azur had made it to the battlements above the front gate they saw that Jahga and Valka were there as well. Looking down they could see something approaching in the distance. Not long after Maria and Irya had arrived as well.

As what was in the distance got closer Maria and Irya both saw something they had hoped to never see again, Witherlings. The disgusting mockery of what a Gnoll should be with its gaunt skin and no eyes was creepy to say the least. Not only that but there was in fact a Vulpine wearing chainmail with sword and shield drawn at the front leading them. They stopped a fair distance from the gate. When the Vulpine in question looked up at the battlements Maria's blood ran cold, they had pink fur!