Chapter 9 : A Reinvigorated Dawn.

The break of dawn soars across the mountainous horizons of the Bogro Mountain range that was situated quite a distance, yet visible from the town of Manda. Shopkeepers and street vendors were seen opening up their respective shops and stalls across the streets and the main square, while guards on the walls and at different sections of the town were seen replacing one another for their shifts. It was a prelude to another busy routine for the townspeople.

For the Foreign Auxiliaries, a few parties were seen getting ready their own equipment and preparing food rations for their upcoming hunts in the nearby lands. Diacrao's party was among the masses who were preparing for their hunting routine in the forests nearby, each checking on their weapons, food, and water supplies, and for the casters, each of them took a small glass bottle filled with a green liquid called Ahuenyi which meant recovering potion in the local tongue. It was a potion that recovered the caster's mana and energy should the need require.

"Damn, I might need to get my weapon checked, its edges seem like its chipping off," Diacrao remarked as he inspected the edges of his blade, with noticeable chipping marks that would only get worst if he doesn't get it checked with the blacksmith. "I understand, Dia, Let's hope we are able to get a kill or at least salvage something for money," Aitana replied as she put on her brown patterned cloak. "Alright, are we ready people? let's get going!"

As they had finished preparing, they made their way out from the quarters and found themselves crossing through the town. Diacrao took a look around the townscape, as the veil of dawn curtained its surroundings, some traders were seen opening up their shows while others were already opened and awaiting customers to arrive.

In the past few weeks, he paid little mind to the urban scenery, but today, as he took notice of his surroundings, he had begun to appreciate and marvel at its beauty and its architectural design. The Blend of Swahili, Somalian, and Mediterranean-styled buildings, all built in an organized manner some decorated with vines to enhance the aesthetic appeal, while making way for the river stream flowing down the mountains through a series of canals passing by beautiful bridges overlooking scenic spots, and clean roads that was taken care of by the people who were sweeping and taking out any trash and litters they encounter, while others are seen planting flowers at the side of the road to beautify the scenery.

He can't help but be in awe of the town, and the locals, who really showed that they care of their home, and are willing to do anything, right to the smallest actions, to preserve it. He hoped one day, he could settle in this town after retiring, and maybe, just maybe marry a local woman from this town. But that is a distant dream that he has to work for, and in this dangerous job, it might be unsure if he could make it out alive to see the Mkasi Dream.

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They trekked through the same trail and headed into the forests near the town. It was the same place again, where they had had the misfortune of not getting a proper hunt. Frankly speaking, some of the members have gotten sick of hunting in the same place, notable Conrad and Zemfina, who had suggested a new hunting spot, but their considerations have not been taken seriously, as the other areas were deemed to be much more difficult and the forest was simply the best start to train.

The party gathered around, and Aitana took a stick and she began drawing on the soil. "Alright, let's recap the plan again, Zemfina, you will trek forward and scout ahead to see if there are any potential enemies nearby. If you see any footprints, try following it, but don't go too far, you might risk getting lost and isolated. Conrad, you will be her support, and remember, if you are both spotted or engaged in an ambush, try retreating and if that fails, just yell and we will come after you, understood?" Aitana passed her plan to the team as she scribbled the plan on the soil to provide a visual detail.

"Understood," Zemfina responded, and Conrad gave a nod to her plan, followed by a thumbs up and a confident grin.

"Wonderful. Now the four of us would camp here for a while, but we will keep guard of our surroundings. Diacrao and I would scout around these surroundings to make sure we are clear, Chiasoka and Kadungon, you both will stay here and watch the surroundings, you guys will be our checkpoint. Are we good with this arrangement?" Aitana said as she laid out the next plan of action.

"Fine by me." (Diacrao); "I agree with him," (Kadungon); "We'll make a fancy home right here!" (Chiasoka); "Great, now we shall commence the plan, good luck and god speed! Diacrao you come with me, let us secure the perimeter and see if it's safe." Aitana concluded the planning phase as she then disposed of the stick and picked her staff.

"We'll go ahead. We will come back with any information, hopefully, we don't encounter some gnolls," said Zemfina as she picked up her bow, and signaled Conrad to follow her. "Hey Big mouth, come, I can't be waiting for you all day." She mocked the kneeling Conrad, now flushed with annoyance. "Big mouth!?! Hey, I'll let you know that-"; "Quit it you two! We are depending on you both, now be nice and work together, for now, alright?" Aitana cut the growing bickering among the two and reminded them of their duties.

Conrad was still choked on his anger, but he zipped on it, for now at least, and followed the huntress as they went into the woods. Chiasoka and Kadungon on the other hand took a step back as both of them sat down on a fallen log. "Don't worry! you can count on us, if there is any trouble, we will call for you guys. You guys won't be far right?" Chiasoka asked as she laid down her wooden staff.

"No, we will be securing the perimeter, it will take a while, hopefully. In the meantime, stay vigilant, alright? now Dia, follow me. " Aitana responded as she called in Diacrao to follow her on her patrol, to which he agreed with a silent nod, and followed her, and together they made rounds across the nearby territory, securing the perimeter to ensure no gnolls or enemies lurk.

They made the patrol not too far away from their man-made checkpoint and checked around the perimeter to see if there were any footprints or remnants of any activities that had taken place in this part. However, as they didn't have the trekking abilities of Zemfina, they only kept it at an amateur's length, just making quick scans before moving along. The patrollers were quiet, they did not engage in chatter, with the exception of quick, softly spoken orders from Aitana, as they did not want to alert any beasts or potential gnolls nearby of their presence, and they tried their best to not make too much noise, but the rustling of bushes prevented them from being too stealthy.

After making a quick round, without finding anything out of the ordinary, both of them agreed to return back to the checkpoint. As they returned, they were shocked to see Conrad and Zemfina at the checkpoint, sharing the information of their scouting journey with Kadungon and Chiasoka. The Patrollers quickly rushed to them as they wanted to get their ears into the topic.

"Aitana, Diacrao! you're back, We just found a jackpot, just a single, poorly armed gnoll who is just having its lunch nearby a river stream. We don't know if it has its friends or if it's truly alone. But let us not stall, we should attack it while its guard is still down. It's not too far from here, I can lead the way. " Zemfina handed out the information to the party, and without further delay, Aitana gestured for her to lead on the way.

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The journey was short, but alas they stood atop a forest slope, overlooking had found the lone gnoll, who was now accompanied by another gnoll, who much like its partner, was having its lunch and is as equally poorly armed, and they were a distance away. The gnolls seemed aloof of their surroundings and were having a hearty conversation in their own tongue, laughing over the subject they were talking about, as they gnawed on the cooked beef that was cooking atop their makeshift campfire while gulping down water from their wooden bowl.

"Alright, there's two of them, but that's alright, they look poorly armed. It looks like they are both occupied. I suggest Birdeye over here to give a clean shot on one of its buddy's heads while we strike on the other guy." Conrad silently suggests his course of action to the party, while teasing Zemfina, to which she did not seem to care, or take it as an insult. "That would sound alright, but I doubt we can get a headshot from this distance, and any closer we might risk exposing ourselves." Aitana expressed her concern over the plan, knowing it wouldn't be too realistic, and besides Zemfina's bow isn't built for a long-distance shot.

"How about we flank them?" Diacrao gave his input to the group, to which Chiasoka agreed to his idea. "I agree with Dia, we could split into two groups and flank them."; "Sounds like a plan, Alright, Conrad, Dia, and Zemfina, you two go on the left flank while the three of us go on the right. Once you are in a good position Zemfina, you take a shot, and the rest of us will spring into action. Are we in sync with this idea?"

Seeing as this might be a decent plan, they collectively agreed, and quickly put the plan into action, with each of them splitting ways and stealthily, descending and taking cover along the dense bushes, to ensure the gnolls would not spot them. They made a few rustles, but the gnolls paid no mind to it as they were deeply focused on their own conversations. This gave the party a leeway to get into their positions.

Zemfina found herself in a proper position and signaled to Diacrao and Conrad to move forward while she stayed put. Both of them nodded, and descended further below, before they reached the even surface, peeking from the bushes as they spied on the gnolls, who were still deeply engrossed in their topic of discussion. "Damn, I didn't know gnolls had a sense of humor, you think they are joking about how stupid humans are?" Conrad asked Dia.

"I wish we could ask them if they didn't have the urge to rip us apart." Diacrao bluntly responded.

From the opposite end, Aitana could be spotted by Zemfina, and her group had positioned themselves well. Seeing as they were ready to spring into action, Aitana gave a thumbs up, signaling that their group was in position. The Huntress took a deep breath and drew a bow from her quiver and drew the arrow from her bow, locking her eyes on one of the gnolls. It took a good minute of concentration before she released the string, and in a quick instance, the arrow traversed and struck the cooked meat atop the campfire.

The gnolls, now startled, dropped their meat on the group and took their weapons, a broken sword, and a spear, respectively, and snarled as they scanned around their surroundings. "Damn it's our time to shine, let's go!" Diacrao shouted as he sprang out from the bush, followed by Conrad, while Aitana and her group simultaneously did the same as well. The gnolls were and had nowhere to go, as there was a river stream and a steep, bushy slope that would be difficult to escape quickly, the gnolls drew out their weapons and faced their enemies.

"What kind of aiming was that!?! You need to be paid for being the worst archer! Now we gotta fight both of them!" Conrad hurled his frustration towards Zemfina, who was visibly annoyed but paid no mind as she drew another arrow to take another shot, but it was too late as both of the gnolls made a charge toward Aitana and her group.

Diacrao and Conrad have to act quickly before the gnolls either escape or do serious harm to Aitana's group as the only tank is Kadungon, who might quickly be overwhelmed and they might injure, or even kill their members. "Quick Conrad, we gotta help them before they get hurt!" Diacrao yelled as he charged in the direction of the gnolls, while Conrad did the same afterward.

Could this battle spell doom for the party, or will they preserve and perhaps succeed in this hunt?