Aleister followed Gilmore and several villagers over to the town hall. Gilmore filled him in with more information along the way.

A subspecies of gnolls that equated to gnolls plus. No, those were just the gnoll pack leaders. Thalls were leagues greater. So he needed to add a couple more pluses to that.

Thalls carried much more strength, constitution, intelligence. The total package.

They were even larger, standing tall at nine to ten feet and weighed up to six-hundred pounds. Their savagery and bloodlust instinct—sharper. Their demonic blood—purer.

Thick fur covered their entire body and provided yet another layer of protection on top of their strengthened viscera. However, their biggest advantage was their demonic weapons. Raw, chaotic, demonic energy converted their tails into a flail. The heads of other conquered beasts, as requested by the gnoll princess—Rreilze. The more heads on the flail, the stronger the wielder. On top of this, certain rituals could enhance the weapon and grant them even more enchantments, boosting its strength once again.

“I felt like something was up, but this? I did not expect,” Gilmore said. “Such a high ranking demonic beast in such a isolated location is odd.”

Branne nodded in agreement, his tone much less cheerful than moments before. “Our village is note equipped to handle such creatures. We’ll need to evacuate everyone out as fast as possible.”

“Yes, a dangerous undertaking in itself,” Gilmore said. “We can now only hope that Captain Cyrne and his squadron are close and will arrive in time before the situation spirals out of control any further. Or hope that the villager is mistaken and they aren't Thalls.”

After reaching the town hall, Aleister helped Gilmore and the rest in explaining the current situation. The plan had been to first send out a small scouting party in advance past the northern gate. Then once there, the villagers would leave in separate directions in groups, family with family, neighbor with neighbor. Moving as one large group would attract too much attention, and it was just far too slow.

Upon delivering the news that staying within the town was unsafe, most of the villagers grabbed their families and belonging, and ran. No doubt, the village chief, the symbol of power and responsibility, still being missing did no favors.

Ryellia looked at Gilmore as he walked out of the mayor’s office.

“Almost,” he said, looking back down at her.

“Hm? What’s not ready?” Aleister asked.

Gilmore paused for a brief moment. “It’s hard to explain and now is not the appropriate time.”

“Take Mitre and run,” Ryellia said, staring at Aleister.

“But what about you and daddy?” Mitre asked after staying silent for so long.

Ryellia bent down and hugged him. “Mommy and daddy will be alright, we promise. We just have something to take care of, ok sweety?”

Aleister had a bad feeling. Tonight felt similar to five years back. Since then he underwent a drastic transformation as he grew older, stronger, wiser. Yet, the more things changed, the more they seemed to stay the same.

Ryellia turned her gaze back over to Aleister and hugged him, too. He didn’t know how to act, but as she stepped back, she also gave him a stern nod.

Gilmore said, “Don’t worry, we’ll be fine. However, you won’t be if you stay here any longer. Now, go.”

Aleister picked Mitre up on his back and ran towards the north gate. He looked over his shoulder multiple times and if not for the chaos of the villagers running around, tonight would have seemed like any other. No buildings collapsed, no land set on fire. Even then, as he and the other villagers ran, there was an absence of screaming or sounds of panic. All he could hear amidst the chaos was the gentle summer night wind and flow of the river.

He buried down the bad feeling he had, and continued to run, choosing to believe in the fact they would be okay. After all, the mystery of the village chief's disappearance along with what Gilmore couldn’t explain, he hoped that it was some secret magic weapon that could kill the Thall gnolls. Or if not, at least by enough for Captain Cyrne to arrive.

The two of them arrived at the northern gate. Unfortunately, the gods did not favor him, nor the rest of the village tonight. In front of the gate, several villagers engaged in combat with a nine foot tall monstrosity as the rest fought with the smaller gnolls. Behind him, ashen smoke billowed throughout the sky. Damn*.* It appeared that the gnoll pack split up at some point. The other villagers realized this too, and the ones that couldn’t fight hid and prayed to Lillium for their victory and safety.

“Do we just sit here?” Mitre asked in a hushed voice.

Aleister shook his head, not sure. He didn’t know how strong the Thall was. All he knew was that the one in front of them wielded a flail with two skulls. This proved he killed and triumphed over two other beasts just like him. And even though the villagers had suffered no injuries from it, it couldn’t be weak.

The Thall gave off a faint aura of blood thirst, creating a small red layer around it. Just looking at it made Aleister’s heart to skip a beat. The aura, along with its attitude, made it seemed like it was just toying with the villagers in front of him. It knew it was the superior being, and it acted like it. The villagers in front of it were nothing more than livestock or a wild animal, and it was the hunter. The aura also seemed to embolden the surrounding gnolls, making them appear larger, deadlier, and more vicious than before.

He knew that the two of them couldn’t stay here. The longer the fight went on, the lower their chance at survival. The Thall seemed to enjoy the fight and struggle for now, but who knew how long until it became bored, or knew it needed to kill and consume as fast as possible in order to not get caught by the military guards inbound. He paced back and forth, deep in thought, as minute after minute passed by.