no qualms about it ...

   Thal watched as the argument between Kael and the gnoll became louder and more threatening, unsure of how to act.  True, Kael was the definition of a scumbag, the likes of which the forest had never seen before.  But he was a wood elf, and thereby kinfolk.  He had no qualms with letting Kael be on the karma end of something that was his own doing.  But this wasn't that kind of a situation.  Thal wasn't sure if he could live with himself if he said nothing, regardless of whether or not Kael deserved what was coming to him.

  Against what Lyri would consider a judicious thought, Thal quietly reached into his bag for one of the blue glass beads that she had given him instead of the seeds.  Fitting it into his slingshot, he thought to himself that if he missed hitting the gnoll's elephant sized head, he would deserve whatever happened next.

  He waited, poised to shoot until the argument between the two of them reached a fever pitch to drown out any noise he might make.  Kael and the gnoll were nearly to blows when they both turned away to look at a noise from the other side of the tree.  Now was his chance.  He pulled back even harder on the sling and released his shot.

  What happened next Thal was never able to fully remember.  The bead hit the gnoll just behind his left ear.  As he spun around to confront whoever hit him, there was a sound of a roar from the far side of the tree, out of Thal's sight.  Kael also spun around, but not to confront an unknown attacker.  His eyes were wide with fear, and he ran into the woods to Thal's left, rather than running straight ahead into the waiting ambush.

  The gnolls that had been hiding in the woods around Thal gave their own answering roar and charged forward out of the trees towards whatever was approaching from the other side.  In the ensuing confusion, Thal was knocked to the ground, unconscious, and run over by several of them.  Something that worked in his favor ...

  It was dark when Thal finally regained consciousness, and something heavy was pinning him to the ground.  Whatever it was, it also stunk to high heaven.  After struggling for almost thirty minutes, Thal was finally able to get free of what turned out to be a very dead gnoll.  All around him were more dead gnolls.  He didn't see Kael anywhere, nor did he see what might have killed the gnolls.  They didn't have many enemies that Thal knew of, and in this battle at least, it appeared the fight was one-sided.

  Thal's head was pounding, but he knew he needed to quickly get back to the heart of the forest where the wood elves lived.  And Lyri.  He needed to get back to her.  But the beating his body had taken as he'd been trampled by the gnolls in their panic had zapped his usually limitless energy and strength.  Now he slowly made his way back home, forced to stop every few hours to rest and sleep, always mindful of the danger Lyri could be facing with each passing day.

It's Words for Wednesday again ...