Leon and Riya: How to Raise a Gnoll

Chapter 31

Leon was in the middle of overseeing the training of Sessa and Vuth. Azur was training with Rose.

Maria: Leon?

Leon jumped. He hadn't been paying attention to anything else so her coming up beside him had startled him.

Leon: Oh, it's just you Maria. Did you need something?

Maria: Did anything odd happen last night? I could have sworn I felt magic of some kind activate but I just couldn't find anything.

Leon was silent for a few moments.

Leon: I did have some kind of weird nightmare last night.

Maria: Weird how?

Leon: I was being berated by myself for being weak and causing trouble for others, eventually it said something that tipped me off something wasn't right though.

Maria was quiet, letting him finish his explanation.

Leon: It said something about Riya only wanting to be with me because she wanted a child, which anyone that knows her would know that she chose to be with me under the impression that we wouldn't be able to have a child.

Maria: Right, and that tipped you off something didn't seem right.

Leon: The other thing is that Riya and Rose told me that they had similar nightmares.

Maria had a look of concentration on her face as she thought. Eventually she broke her silence.

Maria: But if that's the case it would need to be magically induced to target such specific things and then say something so wrong that you were able to catch on.

After a few moments Maria's eyes widened.

Maria: Wait, the Witherlings can dig under the fort! Whatever is causing it could be down there, something like what you described would require a magic circle be set up somewhere nearby.

Leon: Wouldn't going down into those Witherling tunnels be dangerous?

Maria: Definitely. But if we don't want what happened last night to happen again we need to go down there and deal with it! I would need someone to be in front of me and someone else behind me, the tunnel was dug by Witherlings so it should be large enough for a Gnoll.

Leon: If you can keep an eye on those two.

As he said this he pointed at Sessa and Vuth.

Leon: Then I can see if I can find Jahga and Valka for you.

Maria nodded.

Maria: That would be helpful.

With that Leon went looking for the two Gnolls.

While Maria waited for Leon to get back she watched Sessa and Vuth practicing with the training dummies, Sessa was practicing thrusts with her rapier while Vuth was perfecting her skill with a two-handed war hammer. While she watched them she thought about the fact that these Gnolls were being trained by a Vulpine and how odd that must be for them, she also knew that Zenkoh was the one that sent them over here for the training, showing how much she trusted Leon. And she could see why. The two Gnoll children were improving well, and then there is Rose to highlight just how well he can train someone when given enough time with them.

Leon: Maria, I'm back.

Maria jumped, she was deep in thought and hadn't noticed him come back. She saw that both Jahga and Valka were with him.

Valka: Leon said that you need help with something?

Maria: Yes, I need help going into the Witherling tunnels because we suspect that they might have set up some kind of magic circle down there, we need to know if that is true and if not we have to figure out how they are using magic near the fort.

Jahga: Those tunnels are definitely going to be dangerous, but me and Valka should be able to handle whatever is down there!

As Jahga said this she puffed her chest out a little. Valka simply shook her head in embarrassment at her sister.

Maria: Thank you, both of you. Let's get going then, hopefully we can have this dealt with soon.

Upon finishing her sentence the three of them left to make their way to the Witherling tunnels that are under the fort.

Oshka was at her camp deep in thought. What had gone wrong with the spell? She was sure that she had the Witherlings carve the circle correctly. They shouldn't have been able to come out of the haze that the spell puts them in. Well, not unless something is said that is so off that it makes it obvious something is going on anyways.

But that shouldn't have been what happened, what other reason could Riya have chosen to be with Leon other than to use him to have a child, he is too weak and frail otherwise. As Oshka was thinking about it more her eye started to widen in realization. Wait, did she choose to be with a Vulpine...while under the impression she wouldn't be able to have cubs?

She would have willingly chosen to be with a creature so much weaker than herself? The thought disgusted Oshka, Vulpines and other weaker races were nothing more than fodder for Gnolls, why care about them?

But then Rose came to mind, she was so much stronger than was expected. She was able to beat Morga and yet she isn't even fully grown! Was...was it because she cared about him, along with the training he has given her?

The thought of receiving training from a male, let alone a Vulpine, disgusted her even further. Oshka reminded herself why she was doing this and went back to her map of the area; she needed to find other burial grounds to replenish her numbers.