Fippy's Odyssey

By Ferrel

Chapter 2 - The Raid

Shrouded in darkness, the Qeynos Hills were silent and empty. Fippy slept soundly under a tree, dreaming of tomorrow's attacks. Without any sound, a dark figure crept up upon the sleeping gnoll. Nudging him softly, the figure whispered, “Fippy wake up. Hurry and get up! I found something very interesting.”

Blinking and clearing the bleary haze, Fippy's vision focused on Lisika the rogue. He asked quietly, “Bbbaaark?”

“I've found a secret tunnel into Qeynos! It's a well that leads to the fountain in the city's center. Let's hurry while it is still dark.” She whispered. Grabbing his paw, Lisika pulled the gnoll to his feet and tugged him along behind her.

Soon after, two figures could be seen sneaking across the Qeynos hunting grounds. As they approached the wall, Fippy rallied any gnoll pops he passed. Within an hour, a large pack of small bodies ran along behind the bigger gnoll. Lisika crept along the wall, skillfully touching the bricks for the secret entrance she had found earlier. Fippy, with his pack of gnoll pups in tow, followed closely behind. Finally finding the right spot, Lisika pushed the trigger and the wall silently slid open. Revealed to the raiders was a dark room with a well.

With the way open, the horde of small gnolls poured inside. Once all had crept within the wall, Lisika closed the passage behind them. As they crowded around the well, Fippy instructed, “Swim down into the well and you should end up in a fountain. Once you get that far, spread out and attack!” With his orders in their minds, the gnoll pups lined up by the well and got ready to dive in.

As each pup was about to dive into the water, Lisika scooped it up and kissed it on the cheek. She murmured to each, as they protested, “For good luck.” As the last pup dove in the water, Fippy moved to the side of the well and was about to dive in. Lisika stepped into his way and whispered, “Don't get killed Fippy. For me?” He only nodded and then blushed as she kissed his nose. Moments later, Lisika stood alone in the secret room, hoping that the gnolls would not get hurt.

When the first gnoll pup emerged from the fountain, he looked around him. South Qeynos was dark without a sound to be heard besides the fountain's gentle lapping. Quiet yaps began to fill the air as more pups surfaced in the water.

Hearing the noise from his post at the docks, one of the bards wandered over to see what was going on. Just as he reached the fountains edge, Fippy surfaced. Seeing the bard, Fippy pointed and barked, “Don't let him warn the others!”

Eagerly, the horde of gnoll pups poured from the fountain onto the surprised bard. Before he could shout a warning, he fell under the blows from the numerous tiny fists. As the bard went down, all of the pups piled on top of him. Fippy motioned at the dog pile, “That's enough, there is more work to be done.” Pulling the pups off and dividing them up, Fippy pointed out various shops and homes in the square. “Burn them!” He barked.

Rushing into the homes and shops, the packs of pups pulled the occupants into the street. Binding and gagging the citizens, the mob went on to set torches to the buildings. Fippy growled in approval, “For years you've raided my home, now feel the wrath of Blackburrow! Bbaaark!” Rushing off with a pack of pups, he helped them set more of the town alight.

As more of south Qeynos burned, the citizens began to become aware of their plight. Guards and citizens ran quickly from their homes and formed bucket brigades at the docks, unaware of the gnolls moving in the shadows. No one noticed a straggler occasionally disappeared from the crowd.

Yapping and barking with delight, the pups began to betray their own hiding places. Fippy, ever vigilant in his leadership, tried to quiet them. As best he could, he herded the unruly horde back towards the fountain.

“Gnolls! In the city!” Shouted a guard as he caught sight of the retreating pack. Many others turned to look and growled in rage. “They did this!” Shouted one man, just as another passed him a bucket. Leaving the bucket brigade, some of the guards drew their swords and headed towards the square.

At the fountain, Fippy was pushing the last gnoll pup into the water as he heard a weak yap behind him. Skippy, one of the smaller pups, was still by the burning fletcher's house, doing his best to get to the fountain. Leaping from the fountain's edge, Fippy ran toward Skippy and scooped him up into his arms. Turning around, he darted back toward the safety of the fountain, blinded somewhat by the wiggling pup in his arms. Nearing salvation, Fippy let a sigh of relief escape him. Without warning, a large guard jumped in front of him and shouted menacingly, “You will not evade me Fippy Darkpaw!”

Stopping so abruptly, Fippy almost slid right into the guard's blade and ended up on his back. Lifting his sword high, the guard prepared to end the life of the larger gnoll. Pushing Skippy out of the way, Fippy prepared himself for the sword to fall on him.

Just as the guard was about to bring his arm down for the killing blow, Fippy was blinded by a flare of light, which seemed to explode from the guard's eyes. With a loud groan, the guard fell to his knees and then over onto Fippy.

When his vision cleared, Fippy could make out Lisika standing behind the guard, her serrated stiletto in her hand. She pushed the guard aside with her foot and offered Fippy her hand. “Hurry up Fippy! It is time to go. You've done plenty for one night. Lets get you home.” Taking her hand, Fippy again said nothing. He simply followed her into the fountain. Shortly after, they were all back in the Qeynos hills, safe from the guards.

From their spot on a hill, Fippy could see the town burning. He smiled to himself and then over at Lisika. “That will teach him.” He barked.

Lisika nodded slowly and whispered, “You've got to be more careful though Fippy. It could have been you who died tonight.”

Fippy softly patted Lisika's hand. “Not as long as I have you to watch my back. Thank you for saving me Lisika. It must have been hard to kill someone who was more like yourself then I.”

Lisika just shook her head. “Perhaps he wasn't so like me. He kills innocents just because they're different.”

Fippy smiled and scooted closer to Lisika. All night long they sat on the hill, watching Qeynos burn.

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