a smudge on a moss covered boulder. The clues were invisible to Jonas, but not to Lambeck, who was the best tracker in Kraawn according to Kiln.
It wasn’t long before Lambeck, who was a good fifteen paces in front of Kiln and Jonas, suddenly crouched, his body tense and alert, and motioned for Kiln and Jonas to stop. Lambeck slowly lifted a hand, drawing forth an arrow from his quiver and silently putting it to string.
Jonas and Kiln followed suit, scanning the countryside around them. They were standing in a beautiful meadow and just beyond them was a small glade of trees into which Lambeck was staring intently. It was dusk and the sun’s rays were beginning to disappear behind the tall Tundren peaks, casting shadows and pockets of darkness within the stand of trees. Lambeck scanned the pine trees for several seconds; Jonas’s heart was beating faster as the tension within him grew.
Then Lambeck motioned for them to follow slowly, advancing into the thicket of trees. As they moved into the glade, Jonas picked up the sounds of guttural laughter and growling ahead of them. He glanced at Kiln who obviously heard the noise as well. The sounds got louder as they quietly made their way through the pine trees. The ground was littered with a soft bed of pine needles that cushioned their footsteps, making their approach perfectly silent.
They moved up beside Lambeck who was squatting down behind a fallen log. The noise was now very clear, sounding like a large group of men talking and laughing, except in a language that Jonas could not understand and in voices that were deep and raspy.
Jonas and Kiln joined Lambeck, following his pointing finger with their eyes through a hole in the tree branches. Below them, in a moss covered clearing surrounded by trees and rocks similar to the ones that they now hid behind, were a group of mountain gnolls sitting around a small fire. Jonas had never seen a gnoll before and he stared at them with wonder.
They were built like men, but much bigger with bodies covered in dark brown fur. Their arms and legs were thick and strong and they stood on fur covered feet with toes capped in wicked claws. Their hands were also human-like, but with longer fingers tipped with sharp claws. Odd pieces of clothing, furs and leather, and miss-matching pieces of plate mail adorned their tall frames.
But it was their faces that held Jonas’s attention the most. Their heads were large and bony, with sloping foreheads and dark beady eyes sunken into a jutting brow ridge. Long snouts covered with short hair gave them a look similar to dogs. Yellow teeth lined their dangerous looking jaws, and the sounds that emerged from the beasts were loud, deep, and guttural. Gnoll features were all very similar and it was hard to tell them apart.
Jonas noticed that most of them carried swords and long crude spears. The ugly creatures brought a shiver of fear to Jonas as he looked down upon them. They were eating large chunks of cooked flesh that they were pulling from a side of beef that was roasting on a spit over the fire.
“What do you want to do?” whispered Lambeck, looking at Kiln questioningly. All three of them dropped down behind the log to quietly discuss their plan.
“There are fifteen of them,” Kiln said softly. “They are eating my beef which gives me reason enough to deal with them. Besides, they are more than likely a scouting party. We must take care of them,” Kiln said, looking at them both, his eyes intense and determined. “Jonas, you ready to test your skills?”
Jonas looked at them both, seeing already that they had made up their minds. “We’re going to attack all of them?” he asked.
“We are. I feel bad though, doesn’t seem fair does it?” replied Kiln with a smile as Lambeck let out a choked laugh.
“We’re just going to kill them?” asked Jonas.
“Jonas, they are gnolls,” Kiln said as if that was enough to condemn them. “They would attack and kill you in your sleep if they could. And it would be you over that roasting pit instead of my cattle. This group probably has orders to steal my cattle and to do reconnaissance on our home. It is a scouting party that is probably going to report back to One Eye with information on how to attack us. We cannot let that happen. It is better to attack