Irrak raised his head and took in a deep breath of the air to discern which way he was supposed to go, however, the same scents that he had felt the days before filled his nostrils, fresh blood and rotting meat. Usually, a gnoll would not give up the chance to eat some carrion in difficult times such as these, but the bodies he encountered were a bit different a certain off-putting stench floated around them, a nearly demonic smell, who knew what would happen to him if he had partaken in the meat of those corpses.

He continued his walk towards the Six Corners, the meeting place where he was supposed to meet the other people that would undertake on this quest. His jaws clenched shut only at the thought of working with people not of his clan, let alone people not from his own species, which he barely tolerated in the first place. However, he needed to work with them if his clan was to survive for another day, even if he did not like the prospect of it.

However, as he walked his ears detected something nearby, something living, considering it was getting closer, though as the creature made itself seen, it was obvious it was not the kind of life he wanted to detect. A large, gaunt bear came out from the bushed in front of him, growling at him. The beast must have been desperate to eat something if it attacked him, though he wondered how come it did not go and eat one of the many dead humans that he could feel the scent of even now, probably the wolves and hellhounds chased it away from prey. However, he shook and focused at his target. Even in this gaunt form, a bear was still a bear, it was still quite capable of killing him if he was not careful enough.

The predator glared at him only for a second before charging at him on all four, it's maw wide open, ready to take a bite out of him. He pitied the gaunt bear, a proud and powerful creature driven to such acts of desperation, it was nearly sad to see it in this state. But he could not die here and feed this predator, the bear was right in front of him, rising on it's two paws, ready to strike at him. However, he was faster than the creature, and by the time the bear started it's swing, Irrak buried his axe right into the proud beasts head, killing it nearly instantly.

Just a moment later, the body of the large bear collapsed on the ground lifelessly. "I am sorry, proud beast, but I must not die just yet, my people need me in order to survive." However, he placed his hand on the beasts chest and spoke a brief prayer. "Gods and spirits of the afterlife, take the soul of this proud beast and allow it's soul to live forever in paradise." With that, he rose to his feet and glanced at the body of the deceased creature for one last time before heading on the road to the Six Corners.

[hr]

As he approached the location, the distinct smell of ashes entered Irrak's nostrils. A raid, someone had raided Six Corners. Could it have been other gnolls? After all, some of the weaker clans were very opportunist, when an enemy was weak, they attacked. He scoffed at the thought, a true gnoll would attack someone no matter if they were weak or at their peak strength. However, as he approached the town, it was quite clear that it was not a gnoll raid. After all, there were still bodies on the ground. When a gnoll raided a village, he cleaned it of every person there, the living would be taken as walking meals and the dead would eaten... bone and all.

The town seemed desolate as he walked through it, however, as he approached, he could sense the smell of living beings and these ones were not animals, though he would rather have the company of animals than humans, dwarves or anyone else. He let out a low growl and approached the nearest of the scents, and from the look of him, he somehow fit the description of the one he was supposed to meet, the wizard Mulad.

"Human, I have arrived!" he growled as he approached the wizard, he had not even talked to him and he could barely suffer his presence already, it would a difficult journey for him indeed.