A singular horn shattered the peaceful silence. Trees shook in the distance as perching birds flew into the sky. “That’s the signal for retreat,” Donivan said, “we must not run into them, though. Gnolls value strength over everything. If the warriors see me like this, they will kill you first, and then me.”

“Don’t fret,” replied Jessica, “we have a route.”

Lucas approached us, “I have a question,” he asked Donivan. “How did you learn to speak the gnoll language? Was it possible once you became a gnoll?”

“No.” Donivan responded flatly, “Actually, I couldn’t speak it at all, but Edward gave me this so that I could carry out his plans.” He held out a necklace.

“Can I see?” I asked. He didn’t show any hesitation and handed the necklace to me. It wasn’t beautiful, or covered in gems, in fact I’d have thought it was a piece of junk metal if I spotted it on a store shelf.

Polyglot’s Teaching

Allows the wearer to more easily grasp new languages

There were no stats, only that description.

“With that, I slowly learned how to converse with gnolls while keeping my distance, as they usually traveled in groups. Eventually I could speak enough to take control and lead them. I’ve left my notes in the chest.”

I glanced over to where Richard was still carrying the chest, but the book had already been stored in my inventory for now.

“How effective is it?” Lucas asked.

“Honestly, extremely. The issue was how little I had to converse with the gnolls. They are extremely territorial and aggressive. Until I took over the tribe, it was survival of the fittest. My inability to speak was enough of a reason to be killed. Only my strength and careful nature allowed me to develop to this point. Try it on.” He passed the necklace to Lucas whom donned it around his neck.

Donivan started to yip and even growl for a moment towards Lucas. To myself and everyone else it seemed like a mindless act of aggression, but Lucas had a thoughtful look on his face.

“Did you tell me your name?” He asked, unsure.

“Yes! I told you my name, the one the gnolls use to refer to me, and while you might not have understood the details, you quickly picked up the gist of what I was trying to say.” Lucas nodded and started to take off the necklace. “I have no use for it anymore.” Donivan held his furry paw towards Lucas as to tell him to keep it.

“I could definitely understand that you weren’t an enemy, at the very least.” Lucas said. Which in and of itself was extremely useful.

“Are you sure?” I asked Donivan.

“Absolutely, you’re my benefactors.” He spoke with complete sincerity. It made me feel happy about our actions that he should see us this way. What an insane turn of events: the enemy boss I had so dreaded was grateful to me.

The conversation of our whole group was cheerful as we returned to the city. While killing Donivan may have seen us get some powerful items among the loot, I felt that we had gotten the best scenario outcome. We had cleared the camp; stopped the co-ordination of the gnoll attacks; and we’d gained a useful magic item. One of us had the potential to learn the gnoll language, and Lucas now had a necklace that would assist in future translating situations such as this one.

“Hold your hands behind your back,” I said to Donivan as we approached the castle walls, “I don’t know if they’ll open the door if they think you aren’t restrained.”

He nodded in understanding and held his hands behind his back. Alan and Richard stood on either side of him with their right and left hands behind Donavan’s back. From someone standing on the wall, it would look as if he was shackled and they were holding the chains to do keep him in check.

“Halt!” guard man atop yelled. His eyes were glued to Donivan and he seemed at a loss for words.

“We are Lazemus’s men!” I yelled back. “Please bring him immediately, we have captured the gnoll leader.”

“…wait here!” He yelled down and then disappeared off the top of the wall for several minutes before returning. “Please wait for Rhugar to arrive! Lazemus is coming as well.”

The wait was a about twenty minutes. Eventually the door creaked open and Rhugar walked out, his face full of surprise at the sight of the gnoll boss, whom was acting incredibly passively.

“He’s under the effects of magic.” Anna said, a quick little lie wouldn’t hurt anyone.

“Good… good!” Rhugar laughed cheerfully. “I was wondering why they retreated so abruptly” He was basically yelling with delight. I could understand why, every moment below that wall was someone’s last, and often was someone he knew. “Come in.” He ushered us.

All of us surrounding Donivan, we walked together until we passed through the barrier and inside. The guards looked at Donivan with a murderous yet fearful gaze. “He’s under the effects of magic. Please lower your weapons,” Lucas said. These words were effective enough: while the guards didn’t lower their weapons, they backed away fifteen feet and allowed space.

Their actions made me think they would rush Donivan at any moment, and the fact he wasn’t restrained wasn’t known yet. “Can we go to a room?” I asked. I wasn’t sure what would happen if they realized the gnoll leader was completely unrestrained.

Rhugar nodded without a word and rushed us into the waiting room we had been in previously. His eyes went wide as saucers though when he saw Donivan sitting in a chair, with no sign of any restraint on him.

Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

“It’s fine.” I told him before he could even open his mouth.

“It seems I’ve underestimated you,” he replied, “I’d be glad to hear the story but Lazemus will be here shortly.”

“You’ll understand everything then,” I said. He nodded without a word and stood in the corner of the room. He couldn’t take his eyes off Donivan though. I couldn’t blame him.

“Lazemus has arrived!” We heard a shout from a guard outside barely ten minutes later. The door opened abruptly and Lazemus walked inside. As with Rhugar, his expression was severe as he spotted Donivan. It was like a Mexican standoff as Lazemus and Donivan stared at each other.

This hadn’t been planned, but Donivan spoke for himself. “Hi Lazemus,” he bared his canines in what might have been a grin, “it has been a long time.”

“Yo-you, who?” Lazemus could barely find the words. His eyes darted around the room at each and every one of us, anyone who could give him the slightest idea what was going on. No one said anything though.

“I guess I look a bit different than how you would remember me.” Donivan chuckled, which came out as a growl unintentionally.

Lazemus at the gnoll chief with amazement. “…Donivan? Is that you? Can it even be you?”

“It’s me.” Donivan said then fell silent. I could see the tears start to well in his eyes. It seemed as though if he tried to speak some more, instead he would explode into a fit of tears.

“How…? Huh?” It looked like Lazemus was losing his bearing on reality. “What is happening right now?”

“We should leave you two to catch up,” I said to Lazemus. He still hadn’t quite understood exactly what was happening. “I’m sure Donivan will be able to make you understand.”

Rhugar quickly approached me from the side, “Is this okay?” He whispered. I understood his meaning, but this had to happen. Lazemus needed to know the story before Edward could make any move against him.

“Lock this place down.” Lazemus seemed to come to his senses. “No guard can leave.” He spoke to a man at the doorway who disappeared.

“As resourceful as always.” Donivan chuckled. We all quickly left the room and allowed the two to talk.

“Can you explain what’s going on?” Rhugar finally asked me. “Donivan? The man who killed the princess? And he’s a gnoll?”

“He didn’t kill the princess,” Maria corrected, “He is a gnoll though.”

“The war is over.” I patted Rhugar on the shoulder. “The gnoll army won’t return, and that’s all that matters. You spread the good news.” I said.

“But don’t mention him?”

“Right.” Deliver the news that the gnoll leader has been felled and the war is over. It’s time for Rigar to prosper again.

All the other guards were locked down, those rules didn’t apply to Rhugar. He was therefore able to ride off on his horse and we were left to our own devices.

The following two days were extremely busy. Once Lazemus heard the story, we were all taken to the royal palace and testified in front of the king. I expected him to be of bad health, but he wasn’t even middle-aged. It seemed the death of his late wife, and then daughter, had put him so deep into depression his will to take care of himself vanished.

Edward was called as well, and once everything was brought to light, threw himself to the ground and begged the king. “Forgive me. I did it for the Yellow Prince. Your son. It was all an act of loyalty sire.”

But the king had no mercy and in a frail but audible voice pronounced his verdict: death.

Edward was immediately dragged away, pleading for amnesty, for the Yellow Prince. But he was executed in the central plaza outside their adventure hall the same day. The Yellow Prince was not executed, but instead disowned and excommunicated to a neighboring empire. He would live out his life as a normal person, with no hope of ever ascending the Rigar throne.

Donivan received a lighter sentence than I expected. Even though Edward had committed the majority of crimes and initiated it all, Donivan was still an accomplice. He still had waged war against the city, and many lives were lost over the years from those feuds. Despite that, he was put under ‘house arrest’; his new job was aiding the empire as an ambassador to the gnolls, and potentially bringing some good out of the entire situation.

Unfortunately, there was no magical potion to restore his humanity. While Edward had managed to have him transformed, his subsequent catching of shamans had never borne fruit on undoing the transformation. It even came to light that Edward had been snatching orphaned children for experiments, and those missing children had risen into the hundreds over the years.

“You have done a magnificent service to this empire.” At the end of a long day, the king addressed our group. “I was originally going to reward you a fief and noble titles, but Lazemus has informed me that you are not from here, and have no plans to stay?”

“Yes, your highness,” Lucas said, “we are merely passing by.”

He was right. While for Rigar this was an historical moment, in the grand scheme of things, I felt this experience would only be a minor section of our journey.

“That is unfortunate, as great warriors such as yourselves are hard to come by. In that case, I only have this to offer as a reward.” The king held up a red and sparkling gem. “It was my late wife’s, but I no longer can bear to hold it anymore.” He paused and turned to Lazems. “Lazemus, I am sorry. I have let this kingdom nearly fall to ruin.”

A royal guard walked carefully towards the king and bent to one knee. His hand carefully pulled a box from somewhere within his wardrobe and presented it to the king. From a side glance I could see the beautiful silky fabric that fluffed over the edge like an overflowing cloud when he opened it.

With a moment of hesitation, the king placed the gem carefully inside and gave a nod. The guard stood and then presented Lucas with the box, except not with nearly as much care, “Please cherish it well, as the king did.” Lucas passed it to me.

“Nonsense!” The king laughed, “It is merely a rock, use it as you see fit.” He then turned to Lazemus, “We will be returning to a regular meeting schedule. For now, I will take my leave.”

“I will arrange it your highness.” Lazemus bowed as the king walked out. His royal guards scurried away behind him leaving only Lazemus and us in the room. “Donivan wishes to speak with you.” Lazemus put a hand on my shoulder, “You will always have a home here.” It might have been the only true sign of emotion Lazemus had shown during this entire fiasco.

“I hope you’ll honor that.” I said half-jokingly. I didn’t know if returning to this dungeon would put us in this same timeline, or something else entirely. If Earth was ever that bad, any refuge we could find to survive might be a consolation.

He smiled in response, “My guard will see you to Donivan.”

“This is goodbye then.” I said, “May we never see each other again.” Earth would never get to that point? Right? I almost couldn’t convince myself of it. He nodded in understanding and took his leave, his step a bit more energetic than before.

Donivan met us in his ‘cell’ which turned out to be a regular room in a secluded part of the castle. His punishment was merely a lack of maid service, as the discovery that the king housed a gnoll wouldn't be well received. “It’s good to see you again,” he said.

“I’m a bit conflicted on that one,” I confessed. “Lazemus said you wished to see us?” I asked before he could retort.

“Yes, I’ve talked to him and confirmed pretty much everything you said.” He pulled a pamphlet that had been tied with a string from a top his desk. “Take it.”

I didn’t hesitate, as if it was what I suspected it was there was no need for modesty. Feeling the old parchment in my hands made me excited, and without any decorum I ripped the string and opened it wide.

It was a map: a map of the mountain range past the gnoll encampment, and on it was a single marker. “There is your portal,” he said. “I feel this makes things even.”

We had spared his life and escorted him safely back to the kingdom, making sure he met Lazemus, and even putting us between him and potentially dangerous guards. Still, we truly were even now. “Absolutely!” I exclaimed happily.

He nodded, “I understand the desire to want to be home.”

With the route to the portal in our hands, we could walk out and off into the sunset right now if we wanted to.

I opened the door to the hall and hid my excitement from my companions as long as I could. “I… have a map to a portal out of here!” I yelled. The little hallway exploded as everyone hugged the nearest person they could find in celebration. Jessica embraced me with a deep kiss and when we separated I could see the excitement in her eyes. Something that I hadn’t seen in some time.

“We can go home,” I said to everyone. “Let’s leave tomorrow morning.” It wasn’t a good idea to take the trip and arrive on Earth at night. We didn’t know where the dungeon would spit us out.

I had wondered if Maria or Anna might object to leaving. This pocket dungeon offered more safety now than Earth did. But it seemed both of them were just happy to be getting out of here. “We will room at the barracks tonight. It’s closer to our exit.”

“The barracks?” Maria groaned out loud. Jessica smiled at me, as if to comment, Here we go…