The Last Wild Master: Chapter 27

By: jungleboy69



Chapter 27: Assessing the Threat



The mountain path was slightly arduous, but the friends were in high spirits. “So, you think gnolls are responsible for the kidnapping?” John asked. “Or at least this Yowler?” “Seems like it.” Damian replied. “It’s quite surprising how well those gnolls have been hiding in these hills for a few days.”

“It’s hard to imagine,” he continued. “many people think that gnolls are nothing more but stupid, mindless brutes, but that’s the real threat.” “They are smarter than people realize but they chose to act more like savages to get people to lose their guard.” he added

“Don’t remind me.” Gretchen shuddered at the memory of the attack. “If Darren hadn’t warned us, we could have been the next victims.” Darren chuckled. “Thank guys,” he replied. “It pays to have good ears.” “Well, maybe you can hear for any signs of the gnolls.” John asked. “I’ll try.” Darren offered.

Darren breathed deeply and focused, listening as best as he could. Soon, he heard the distant sound of cackling. “Guys, I hear them...” He muttered. “They sound close...” “Well, what are we waiting for?” John asked, as they all made their way up.

Sure enough, they found what they were looking for, a small clan of gnolls camped along the edge, surrounding by bones. The gnolls were either eating chunks of meat, whooping at the top of their lungs or fighting amongst themselves. The group hid behind some large rocks

“So many...” Gretchen whispered in horror. “I never seen so many gnolls in my life.” “Disgusting...” Damien muttered as he watched two gnolls brawling over a leg of meat. “Do you see any prisoners?” “There...” Darren replied, pointing to a large wooden cage, filled with some townspeople. “They’re all fine but shaken up.”

“How many are there?” John asked. “About 5 at least...” Damien replied. “We can take them.” “Don’t underestimate them.” Darren warned. “We have to save those townspeople first.” “Don’t worry.” Gretchen offered “Damien and I will distract them while you and John free the townspeople.”

“Alright, just be careful.” John replied. Gretchen nodded and the friends hurried off into opposite directions.



(5 mins later...)

“Grr...” A gnoll growled as he sharpened his dagger. “Me hungry... When do we eat?” He demanded. “Shut up, fool!!” another gnoll snapped. “Yowler wants them alive to offer for the ritual.” “We can’t afford to lose our wages!!” he added

“Oh, commander!!” A third gnoll added, jabbing a clawed finger at the cage of prisoners. “They’re not wages, they’re barely even morsels!!” “Not for you!” The lead gnoll replied, shoving him aside. “They’re for the Blackrocks!!” “Still,” he added, grinning into the cage of frightened prisoners and licking his lips. “they do look juicy though...”

The captured townspeople whimpered and held onto one another, children cried and held tightly to their mothers. “Help!!” A voice called out, making the gnolls look up with glee. “Somebody helps!!” “Looks like we got more offerings for us!!” The lead gnoll exclaimed before turning to two others. “Come with me! You two, guard the prisoners.” With, the three gnoll ran off, brandishing their weapons leaving two more behind.

One of the remaining gnolls grumbled. “No fair, we have to watch prisoners...” The other gnoll snickered as he approached the cage, grinning madly. “Why not we help ourselves?” He asked, leering over the frightened townsfolk.

“What say you?” He asked, before noticing his friend was gone. “Huh, where you go?” “Right here!!” A voice called out and John appeared out of nowhere, impaling the gnoll on his back with his trident and making him scream in pain. “Say good night, monster!!”

The monster howled and collapsed dead on the ground when John pulled out his trident from its back. “You took care of that easily.” Darren spoke up, walking over with a bloody dagger. “I managed to slit the other’s throat,” he added before pulling out a silver key. “This will unlock the cage.”

Immediately, the two friends unlocked the door of the cage and the prisoners came pouring out, thanking them. “Light praise you both!!” One elderly man exclaimed. “We thought we were done for!” “It’s alright, sir” Darren replied. “Do you and the others know your way back?”

A woman nodded. “Yes, but you must stop the gnolls.” She replied. “They have more prisoners along the ridge, and I overheard them they are planning to launch a full-scale attack on Lakeshire!!” “Don’t worry, miss.” John assured her. “My team and I will stop them.”

As the last of the prisoners hurried down the mountain, Jessica and Damien joined them. “Looks like you both got it under control.” Gretchen smirked. “We took care of the other gnolls.” “That’s good, guys” Darren replied, before holding up a scrap of paper. “Anyway, I found this in the gnoll’s pocket.”

Curiously, everyone looked at the note which read ‘You attack from down here! We attack from up here! Meet in middle of humie town! Signed, Yowler, son of Yowler!’ The friends couldn’t help but sweat drop. “Great Exos,” Damien muttered. “It’s like a three-year old wrote this...”

“Never mind.” John explained, seriously. “They may have more prisoners.” “Let’s search the other camps.” He added. “We’ll won’t rest until every last person is saved.” The others nodded and quickly set off to the other camps.