Hello ladies and gentlemen! \u00a0We’ve got a special treat for you today. Almost a year back, we were running writing prompt contests on Tellest before we decided to focus more clearly on the writing and the art of the world.<\/p>\n
But back then, we happened upon Aaron Canton, who delivered to us a fantastic look at gnolls and kaja, and how they behaved with one another. \u00a0It was an awesome submission, and you could see that Aaron really paid attention to details as far as the world went, and we knew that we wanted to include his work in the Tales of Tellest collection, which will be releasing later this year.<\/p>\n
Without any further adieu, please enjoy Aaron’s first story in the Tellest universe!<\/p>\n
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Practical Warrior \n Lothgar stoked the campfire and glanced at the captives huddling on its other side.\u00a0 The tall lagano did not, as a rule, deal with living prisoners; enemy warriors were for killing on the battlefield and possibly eating if they were worthy enough.\u00a0 But this was a special case, and a true warrior was nothing if not ruthlessly pragmatic.<\/p>\n The five kaja on the other side of the fire cringed into each other, each trying to put themselves in the center of the other four.\u00a0 Three of them were mostly unadorned, but two were heavily pierced.\u00a0 One of the latter, a tall female, was only looking mournfully up at the waning moon.\u00a0 The other, a short, stocky male, turned to Lothgar.\u00a0 \u201cPlease,\u201d he mewled.\u00a0 His voice sounded rough and scratchy; the amulet affixed to his neck let him speak and understand Common, but he clearly wasn\u2019t used to it.\u00a0 \u201cWe\u2019ve done nothing to you.\u201d<\/p>\n Lothgar shrugged and glanced behind the kaja, where a half-dozen knolls leaned on their spears and joked in their native tongue.\u00a0 The leader broke off from the group and walked to the kaja that had spoken.\u00a0 \u201cAw, relax,\u201d he said in a coarse, yipping voice.\u00a0 \u201cWe\u2019re not gonna hurt you.\u00a0 Cross our hearts.\u201d<\/p>\n The speaker twisted to look at the gnoll, then immediately twisted away.\u00a0 \u201cWe have given you everything!\u201d he managed.\u00a0 \u201cWe have left you our lands, our gems, our food stores \u2013\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cBut that\u2019s what I\u2019m saying!\u201d said the gnoll captain, clapping the kaja on the back and almost knocking him into the fire.\u00a0 \u201cWhat\u2019s the point?\u00a0 We advance, you run away, we get a few shiny stones and a couple of huts.\u00a0 I\u2019m here to tell you \u2013 there\u2019s a better way!\u201d \u00a0His sneer straightened out into an approximation of a smile.\u00a0 \u201cIsn\u2019t that something?\u201d<\/p>\n Lothgar turned as Salzar, his assistant, slithered into the clearing.\u00a0 \u201cHow\u2019s it going?\u201d asked Salzar in the lagano native tongue.<\/p>\n \u201cThey\u2019re trying the \u2018ask them nicely\u2019 plan,\u201d murmured Lothgar.<\/p>\n Salzar blinked.\u00a0 \u201cAfter capturing them and dragging them here?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI never said they were smart.\u201d<\/p>\n The gnoll leader continued.\u00a0 \u201cSee, right next to your lands is a human settlement.\u00a0 Nice little place, cozy, and just loaded with these warehouses full of food and gems.\u00a0 Problem is, they\u2019ve got these big walls that we can\u2019t break through.\u00a0 But you kaja, I\u2019ll bet you could use your claws to scale those walls like that!\u201d \u00a0He snapped his fingers.\u00a0 \u201cYou help us get in, and trust me, we\u2019ll be most appreciative.\u00a0 Why \u2013 I\u2019ll even promise that our forces will just skip right past you and yours in the future.\u00a0 No more running or hiding! How\u2019s that sound for a deal?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cBut then the\u00a0human\u00a0armies would attack our cluster! \u00a0We can\u2019t!\u201d \u00a0The kaja\u2019s voice was cracking.\u00a0 \u201cWe\u2019ll give you whatever you ask, but we can\u2019t provoke the humans to go to war with us!\u201d<\/p>\n The gnoll sighed heavily in Lothgar\u2019s general direction.\u00a0 \u201cSo unreasonable.\u00a0 But Lothgar, my friend!\u201d \u00a0He spread his arms wide.\u00a0 \u201cYou have something that can help us, yes?\u201d<\/p>\n Lothgar turned to Salzar.\u00a0 \u201cThe mercenaries?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWaiting outside the clearing.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cGood.\u201d\u00a0 He rose and withdrew a large bottle and four bowls from a sack by his tail.\u00a0 He poured the contents of the bottle \u2013 a thick, black liquid \u2013 into the bowls, then put one each in front of four of the kaja.\u00a0 Only the female with many piercings was exempted.\u00a0 \u201cDrink,\u201d he ordered.<\/p>\n \u201cBut \u2013\u201d the pierced male began.<\/p>\n The gnoll leader\u2019s hand shot out and grasped the pierced female by the neck.\u00a0 \u201cOh, we insist.\u201d<\/p>\n Slowly, the kaja that had spoken knelt and began to lap.\u00a0 The others that had been offered the liquid followed suit.\u00a0 For a moment, they made no sound.\u00a0 And then the kaja began to hiss and growl, straining at their bonds and biting at each other.\u00a0 The female who hadn\u2019t drunken squeaked and tried to wriggle away but was caught fast as her companions yowled into the night sky.<\/p>\n Salzar left the clearing and returned a minute later with a quartet of humans wearing armor and carrying swords \u2013 mercenaries from Raleigh.\u00a0 One of them looked around the clearing.\u00a0 \u201cWho\u2019re we fighting?\u201d he asked.<\/p>\n The gnoll leader cut the kaja\u2019s bonds.\u00a0 \u201cGet them!\u201d he roared, shoving them at the humans.\u00a0 And the kaja \u2013 who no longer looked like they were scared or wary or even understood what was going on \u2013 screeched and screamed and leapt at the humans, slashing at them with their claws in mindless, bestial fury.<\/p>\n \u201cNot bad,\u201d said Salzar, watching the kaja fight.\u00a0 One went down, decapitated by one of the human\u2019s swords, but the others didn\u2019t even seem to notice as they savaged the humans.\u00a0 \u201cMy regards to the cleric.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m sure she\u2019ll be glad to hear it.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cOne thing I don\u2019t get.\u00a0 Why are we doing this?\u00a0 Who cares if the gnolls take the city from the humans and get the kaja blamed for it?\u201d<\/p>\n Lothgar shrugged.\u00a0 \u201cMaybe the gnolls and kaja will drive humans out of the region.\u00a0 Or maybe the humans will fight back and kill off the kaja and the gnoll armies.\u00a0 Maybe they\u2019ll wipe each other out.\u00a0 No matter what happens, they\u2019ll all be weaker.\u00a0 Room for us to move in.\u201d<\/p>\n The gnoll leader glanced at Lothgar as the last of the humans fell.\u00a0 \u201cThey\u2019ll do whatever I say?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThey\u2019re animals now.\u00a0 They understand dominance, so as long as they know you\u2019re stronger than them, they\u2019ll follow orders.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cHmm.\u201d\u00a0 The gnoll leader grinned then grabbed the kaja that hadn\u2019t been drugged and threw her at her former companions.\u00a0 \u201cHer too, then! Kill her!\u201d<\/p>\n The kaja mewled in horror, but the others didn\u2019t seem to notice.\u00a0 They just set upon her with abandon.<\/p>\n When it was over, one of the kaja \u2013 the one who had spoken before \u2013 began to prowl towards the gnoll leader, but the gnoll flicked his arm forwards and bashed him over the head with his spear butt.\u00a0 When the kaja got up, it didn\u2019t attack again.\u00a0 It just sat there, tail twitching, as the others joined it.\u00a0 Their faces showed nothing but the rage of beasts \u2013 and the obedience of the most dutiful servants.<\/p>\n The captain laughed in glee.\u00a0 \u201cExactly as promised.\u00a0 Lothgar, friend, we should do this more often.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cAs long as you uphold your terms \u2013 half of all the land conquered using the drugged kaja \u2013 we\u2019ll procure as much of the potion as you could want.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cDeal.\u201d\u00a0 The captain turned to his soldiers.\u00a0 \u201cLet\u2019s go!\u201d he roared.\u00a0 \u201cNew orders to all units \u2013 don\u2019t kill captured kaja.\u00a0 Bring them to me.\u00a0 We\u2019ll process them; in a week, I want an army of these things able to scale the walls of any human fortress in the country!\u201d<\/p>\n When they were all gone, Lothgar helped Salzar put out the fire.\u00a0 He sighed to himself as he moved.\u00a0 This really wasn\u2019t his kind of battle.\u00a0 He preferred physical combat, battling with spear in hand against some other warrior, to all the shadowy dealings and manipulations he\u2019d been tasked with later.\u00a0 It was more real, somehow, to drive an enemy from the battlefield than to manipulate some third party to do it for them.<\/p>\n But, ultimately, it didn\u2019t matter what he preferred.\u00a0 He was a warrior, working tirelessly for the betterment of the lagano species.\u00a0 And he would do whatever it took to meet his objections.<\/p>\n A true warrior, after all, was nothing if not practical.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Hello ladies and gentlemen! \u00a0We’ve got a special treat for you today. Almost a year back, we were running writing prompt contests on Tellest before we decided to focus more clearly on the writing and the art of the world. 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\n<\/strong>By Aaron Canton<\/strong><\/p>\n