Guided by his bracelet, Kieran made good progress towards the forest. He regretted leaving the goblin corpses behind, undissected, but he still didn’t have the right equipment for a proper examination anyway. Besides, the new quest held plenty of incentive.
Especially the chance to learn more about these ‘gnolls.’
He vaguely remembered gnolls being mentioned in some of his mother’s old myths. They were supposed to be hyena-shaped, humanoid creatures. Depending on the story, their origins varied from demonic infections to simple half-beasts.
Maybe I’ll find some answers in their remains.
Another spark of interest flared in Kieran’s chest. He knew that his research would be impeded by his lack of tools, but the opportunity was still better than anything waiting for him back home.
While it was a bit unsettling to be in a whole new world, beset by monsters, Kieran did manage to appreciate the beauty around him. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d experienced nature unspoiled by human hands. Trekking through the open plains of tall grass gave him a whole new understanding of the peace and quiet available in the natural world. To his surprise, he found himself enjoying every second of it.
When Kieran reached the tree line, though, he paused.
It had been years since he was inside a forest, and even then, it had been with his fellow soldiers. One look past those first trees made him realize that he had no idea how to navigate inside a forest alone. He’d read so many books on the topic, fascinated by the fates of people who got lost in various forests back on Earth. Yet almost none of those survival tips had stayed with him.
Kieran still allowed himself only a brief hesitation before stepping past the tree line. Fear was an emotion he’d left behind long ago. The previous day’s encounter with the sensation had simply confirmed his resolute detachment.
Fear, like all other emotions, clouded the senses. It led to mistakes.
Try as he might, though, Kieran couldn’t shake the feeling of uncertainty once he crossed into the forest. This was nothing like the small patch of woodland where he’d fought the goblins. This was a true forest, vast and intimidating.
Only the bare minimum of light required for Kieran to see made it through the canopy. He found himself automatically placing a hand on his weapon, an instinct he’d never lost from his days in the army. His eyes moved rapidly as they tried to pierce the gloom and keep track of his surroundings.
Kieran found some comfort in the sound of birds and other small animals in the forest around him. The noises were a sign that there was nothing too dangerous in the immediate vicinity.
Before long, however, he picked up on a sound completely out of place in a dense forest: the yips of hyenas.
Turning his gaze down towards his bracelet, he waited for the yips to repeat. He wanted to see if they were coming from the direction he was being pointed towards.
When the yips echoed through the forest again, they first came from Kieran’s left, then quickly after from his right.
“A pair communicating…” he muttered under his breath. “Interesting.”
As expected, the location of the first yip did match the tracking direction on his bracelet. Tightening his grip on his sword hilt, Kieran set off towards the left.
As he continued, the yips kept repeating every few minutes. He quickly memorized the pattern. Silence, then a series of three yips somewhere ahead of him, and a response of five yips in the distance behind. As time went on, Kieran noted the distant yips behind him were getting closer and closer.
He also noted the gradual decrease in nearby birdsong and other animal noises around him.
I guess I’ve found the gnolls… or I’m about to.
The stories Kieran remembered might have disagreed about the origin of gnolls, but they were consistent on one point: these were intelligent creatures. Smarter than goblins, anyway. He would have to proceed carefully.
Another ten minutes passed in constant movement before he finally spotted something. A small wooden tower stood amidst the forest gloom, its top covered in a layer of red fabric. Various markings in orange paint adorned the fabric. At first glance, Kieran couldn’t tell if the markings were functional or simply decorative.
He ducked behind a tree and waited patiently for the tower’s occupant to show itself.
Following the pattern, a hyena-headed creature poked its head out through one of the flaps of fabric a few minutes later. It sniffed around, then let out the same series of three yips as before. Then it waited. Once it heard the five-yip response, which now came from fairly close by, it returned to its tower.
Kieran thought back to the information on his quest screen. These two gnolls were serving as lookouts, posted here by the invading monsters to keep an eye out for enemies or runaways.
And Vahr’Kuhl had ordered him to take them out.
To do that, though, I’ll have to draw the creature out of the tower, he realized. A fight out in the open is my best chance.You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.
He didn’t allow himself to hesitate. Gripping his sword hilt, he stepped out from behind the tree and strolled up to the gnoll’s tower.
“Hello?” he called. “May I speak with you?”
After a few seconds of rustling, the gnoll stuck its head out again, staring directly at Kieran.
“Human? Here?” the hyena-headed monster barked. “Do you have a death wish?”
“As much as Death itself chose me, no, I don’t particularly wish for death,” Kieran replied, leaning his hand against his weapon in preparation to draw it.
The gnoll let out a cacophonous laugh. Then it turned its head to the sky, yipping incessantly into the air. “Want it or not, you will die here, human!”
The gnoll hopped out of its tower. Kieran pointedly drew his blade, even giving it a flourish as he took on his usual stance. The gnoll, to its credit, didn’t seem phased by Kieran’s display. These creatures appeared to be more confident than goblins, at least.
Another series of yips sounded from deeper in the forest, presumably the other gnoll acknowledging the call.
Kieran normally preferred to let his opponent make the first move. But with a second gnoll almost certainly on its way, he decided to end the fight as swiftly as he could.
Stepping forward, he used both hands to swing his blade at the gnoll’s chest.
But the new approach exposed a flaw in his sword work. He telegraphed his attack far too clearly. The gnoll dashed to the side, easily evading the strike.
Even before Kieran fully completed his swing, the gnoll raised its own weapon, a nasty-looking bone axe. The creature lashed out, striking at Kieran’s hip. Kieran expected the retaliation and turned on his heel. The axe missed him, but only barely.
The two fighters took a moment to steady themselves, eyes locked and weapons at the ready.
The break didn’t last long. Kieran lunged forward, poised to stab at the beast’s chest. Yet he didn’t mean to follow through. He was betting on the move to draw a reaction from his opponent.
Kieran’s gambit paid off. The gnoll raised its axe defensively, braced for a blow that would never come.
As soon as his foe’s defense was up, Kieran’s sword flashed down and stabbed at the creature’s legs. Before the gnoll could realize what was happening, Kieran had already pierced its thigh twice.
The gnoll yipped in pain and surprise as it adjusted its guard. Kieran’s third blow was aimed to strike at the thing’s bone, but the gnoll’s axe intercepted it and threw Kieran’s arm to the side.
Both combatants staggered briefly. The gnoll struggled to find its balance with a wounded leg, while Kieran had difficulty recovering from the sudden shift in momentum.
The sound of yipping echoed again through the nearby woods, closer and closer.
Kieran knew he had very little time left before the fight turned into ‘two versus one.’ That was a bet he wasn’t willing to make.
Adjusting his strategy, Kieran extended a hand towards his opponent. Then he tugged on the strand of energy flowing from his bracelet and called on Chilling Touch.
A ghostly hand manifested in the air above the gnoll.
Before the creature could react, the hand reached down and clasped onto its head. The gnoll cried out in pain. Ice formed where the hand touched, quickly spreading to cover the creature’s skull.
The gnoll fell lifeless, its now frozen head shattering into hundreds of pieces when it impacted the ground.
Kieran watched with fascination as frozen skull fragments and brain matter scattered across the forest floor. Here was a means of death he had never encountered before. He couldn’t wait to examine those pieces, to investigate the effect of extreme temperatures on —
A wave of cold crashed through Kieran’s chest. He doubled over, gasping as ice crackled through his lungs.
The sensation faded as quickly as it had appeared. But it left Kieran feeling drained, as if he’d been battling for hours.
His bracelet pulsed once against his wrist. The chill felt like a warning.
Backlash, he thought wearily. Chilling Touch is powerful, but it comes with a cost. Guess I’ll have to use it sparingly.
Another series of yips reached Kieran’s ears, dangerously close. He heard rustling in the undergrowth.
Kieran turned towards the sound just in time to see a second gnoll leap out of the forest’s gloom, claws and fangs bared.
Reflexively, Kieran dodged to the side, but his lingering weariness made him too slow to dodge the attack entirely. One of the creature’s claws caught him across the shoulder. The strike tore through his robe and left deep gashes in his skin.
Ignoring the sudden onslaught of pain, Kieran turned on his heel and stabbed his sword down towards his adversary with both hands. But the gnoll was still riding the momentum of its leap. It scrambled forward on all fours, successfully evading Kieran’s blow. Kieran felt his blade sink a few inches into the ground.
Still, he didn’t allow annoyance to creep into his heart. There was no place for emotion in battle. Or exhaustion.
Without wasting a second, Kieran pulled on the sword with both hands, struggling to free it. The gnoll slid to a stop and turned towards him even as Kieran stumbled backwards, weapon in hand.
Kieran kept his eyes glued to the creature. He could tell the gnoll was bracing itself for another leap. Using the moment before the attack, Kieran called on his power to cast Mend. He gasped again as the connection in his mind strained, drawing on his already depleted energy. Still, the wounds on his shoulder did close, albeit much more slowly than before.
I’m running out of time, he thought. Better take a risk.
Kieran dropped into a low stance, one hand on the ground while the other held his blade close. When the gnoll finally leapt towards him, Kieran summoned all his waning energy and dashed forward, copying the technique of tournament sprinters to propel himself under the gnoll.
Kieran stopped when the beast was at the apex of its jump. In the same motion as his dash, Kieran turned on his heel and stabbed upward. He felt his weapon sink into the gnoll’s flesh, then rip through the beast’s gut as its momentum carried it past Kieran.
Kieran failed to hold onto his sword, but that didn’t matter. His foe was dead before it hit the ground. Blood and gore spilled onto the forest floor as the gnoll’s body crashed down and slid a few feet, Kieran’s sword sticking out of its belly.
Breathing heavily from the exertion, Kieran knelt by the dead gnoll to retrieve his sword. As he reached for the hilt, a screen popped up:




Quest Complete
Reward: 300 essence




Dismissing the screen, Kieran glanced at the organs spilling from the gnoll’s body. They were far too damaged for him to learn anything. The remains of the beast killed by Chilling Touch were even worse. Those icy fragments would be impossible to dissect, especially without the proper tools.
Frustration suddenly welled up inside him, boiling through his gut and scalding his lungs. For the first time in many years, Kieran felt the urge to scream.
He held it in with the last of his remaining strength.
You are alone, he reminded himself. In a new world, inside a vast forest. Not the place for a tantrum.
Instead, he pulled his sword from the corpse and began cleaning it in a patch of grass.
“One day, I will learn something from these bodies,” he hissed, his voice drowned in the forest’s gloom. “But today is not that day.”