Draft 15 – Updated 28 AUGUST 2026 (C010/D015)
At the far end of the camp, LT, who was leaning back on the paddock fence facing the coffle, became aware of the first wave as gnoll warriors charged into the light of the campfire. He drew his long, curved, single edged sword and was about to launch himself into the battle at the bedrolls when a shout from overhead—“Look to the tads!”—locked him in place next to the children.
Mayhem ripped through the camp. The deputies at the campfire did what they could. Two gnolls fell. Two more were cut. But that did nothing to turn the tide. The deputies, surprised and overwhelmed by numbers, fell quickly before the much larger beasts.
LT watched the overseer die first, cleaved by a machete from his right shoulder through to his left hip. A second gnoll bit down on his throat. In moments, the remaining deputies disappeared in a blizzard of blood amongst a hail of clubs and gnashing teeth.
*****
Hunter knew the camp was lost. Protecting the children was his only concern. Two gnolls broke off from the orgy at the campfire, charging toward LT near the coffle chain. Hunter took them down with arrows—one in its chest, the other in its groin.
The last of these two stumbled to the ground near the children clutching at his crotch and howling. LT stepped over the cowering slaves and dispatched the gnoll with a single chop of his sword.
The deserter fled past Hunter’s position down the slope toward the chuckwagon. He was heading for the river with a gnoll in hot pursuit. Seeing how close they both were to the children, Hunter loosed two arrows into the melee, hoping to hit the gnoll with both.
His first arrow was unlucky and found the coward’s kidney; he dropped to the ground and started crawling for the river. Hunter’s second arrow penetrated his target’s neck, severing the gnoll’s spine and protruding from its throat. The beast expired gurgling on the ground, reaching out for the wounded deputy.
*****
The beast searching for Scout at the wagons quickly found her. As recognition sparked in his eyes, an arrow flashed toward him. His thick skull plate deflected her arrowhead saving him, but the intensity of the blow knocked him back. Its impact watered his eyes.
He never saw the second arrow, but his stubborn death bought his pack a few precious moments, allowing them to swarm into the tents of the sleeping slaves.
*****
The attack on the camp’s opposite flank began moments after the first wave arrived at the fire. The gnoll leader, in the company of two large fighters, emerged from the Beard and bolted past the outhouse, following the paddock fence into camp.
The distance was long, the target was moving, and everwood needles blocked parts of his view. Hunter aimed for the center of mass and loosed an arrow through a gap in the foliage. He immediately reloaded and loosed another.
The first arrow pierced a gnoll in the side of his lower belly and stopped him, grunting, in his tracks. The second arrow struck the leader’s shoulder cap with an audible chink and ricocheted into the paddock where it panicked the nervous horses and set them rearing.
*****
Alerted by the ruckus behind him in the paddock, LT turned to see the gnolls coming toward him. Positioning his two-handed sword low in near ward position, he planted his feet and prepared for the coming rush.
*****
Hunter looked down and recognized the boy’s stance. Broken Chains. Now things were really making sense.
*****
Cries of horror from inside the tents were quickly silenced. One by one, Scout took the bloody gnolls down as they stepped out of the tents back into the firelight.
With everyone now dead on her side of camp, she leapt from the wagon and dashed past the fire hoping to connect with Hunter.
*****
The flanking gnoll, two steps ahead of his leader, charged toward LT, his club raised over his head. As he stepped in close, LT shifted his weight, lifted his sword, gutted the gnoll and stepped past the collapsing corpse.
Stopping his sword overhead in house position, he blocked the leader’s downward strike, absorbed his power and rolled clear of a second strike that just whistled past his ear.
*****
The children tried to run, but their chains held them tight. Some screamed. Some cried. One puked.
*****
Hunter scanned for Autumn and spotted him cresting the rise. As soon as he was in range, the druid dropped to his knees, plunging his fingers into the soil. Hunter descended the everwood moving from branch to branch. He drew his staff and jumped to the ground, landing behind the kid.
“Cavalry’s coming, yo,” Hunter said, sliding in back-to-back with LT. “Get ready to roll.”
“What?” LT parried a club aimed at his face.
“We gonna roll out,” Hunter shouted over the growls and howls of the attacking beasts. “Watch for a gap.”
*****
Scout and Autumn came into range from different angles as the gnolls closed the circle. Scout could not see Hunter behind the curtain of seven foot animals, but she knew where he had to be. She saw that Autumn was on his knees and understood what she needed to do. Two quick arrows sunk deep into a target’s back, dropping him and creating an opening.
*****
The ground at LT’s feet shuddered. The soil began to ripple and churn. “Now!” Hunter shouted, grabbing LT and shoving him through a materializing gap.
LT felt something grasping at his boots, but they rolled free and came up in house position, weapons held high ready to block an attack.
As the snarling beasts pivoted toward them, grasping thistles, grassy tendrils, and thumb-thick saplings snaked up through the soil—entangling legs, slithering through gaps in clothing and armor, binding arms, and encircling throats like bark-armored pythons.
Two gnolls fell and were immediately overcome by the coiling vegetation. One broke free, stumbled during his escape, and dropped to his knees. With a quick downward swipe, LT separated its head from its shoulders.
A second gnoll pulled free and took an arrow to the brain from Scout. Moments later, all remaining gnolls were immobilized and the battle—for the moment—paused.