Carmino

A heavy silence hung in the secret room under the library. Pea was out cold and in a feverish sweat. Joe and Dew were now next to Oza who held Pea Gravel in his trembling arms. Mumal sat in the workshop area waiting quietly and for the somber crew to come out. Oza gazed at the sleeping grey mare with pained eyes. He wasn't sure if she was alright or not, he tried to see what her status was but some magic was keeping him from reviving her. He stood up with a hopeless look in his eye, he always looked to her for advice in trouble but when she was gone...he was lost.

Sebrina suggested they take her upstairs next to the fire place for warmth. The rest of the crew looked at Pea and the dragon with curiosity. They followed her silently and grimly until they reached the carpeted area, Oza gingerly placed he on one of the sofas. He put one of their blankets over her and sat next to the cushioned seat.

"Hey Oza?" Joe asked," Will she be alright...what happened?"

"Oza...don't know. Pea grabbed book, then fell. She won't wake up and looks sick...Oza not see anything like that before..."

"Was she poisoned or something?" Dew asked timidly," Oza you know how to heal things, help her!"

Oza covered his face,"  He can't! Oza can't help, something stopping him...something very strong."

The mule sat paced in a circle, every so often he'd check Pea to see if anything changed. Mumal was the first to look for advice from the library around them. Dew soon after got up to look for some books that may help them heal Pea, while Oza decided to stay at Pea's side in case her condition worsened. Sebrina watched the sleeping grey mare with her ghostly purple eyes. The minutes turned to hours, hours turned to days. Pea seem disconnected, her mind elsewhere while her body sat chilled and helpless. Her friends had no idea where Pea actually was...or more accurately when.

The plains were bright, warm and damp in the mid day sun in the plains outside of Breeze the Patch Batch stood arguing, as they usually did. Summer Sweet demanded they go where Black had told them to go the night before, to the northern part where a Gnoll camp may be. Whip Lash was demanding from Summer about who this Black Berry guy was and why he was so helpful to just Summer. The rest of the group just waited it out, the deer Sly Francis was the first to talk besides the two arguing ponies,

"Are we gonna go after dem Gnoll dudes?" he asked with a cigarette between his teeth," What were they again Zip?"

"I read a book mentioning them once," said the ambiguous unicorn," There some kind of small dog thing...not to much trouble."

Sanchez, Francis and Zip all got up and headed north. Summer flicked her mane as she followed. Lash stamped the tall grass around him and in a short burst, flew up into the air. He held himself above his crew and called out to them.

"Alright, if you all want to get those bloody things so badly I'll scout ahead and see whats out there. See ya!" He flew as fast as he could in the northern wind, his crew followed the general direction on foot.

Lash was furious. Was it towards Summer? No, it was that Berry guy she kept on talking  about all morning. 'Some dreamy' guy she said,Lash pumped his wings harder against the wind. He simmered in the air until his anger was cut short. A stabbing pain shot through his body and he looked at his wing with petrified eyes. An arrow was sunken into his left wing, the ground began to race towards him. On the ground were two figures, the smaller one was walking towards the bigger one.

He could see them clearly now, two gnolls. The bigger one had dropped his bow and held a mace in his paw, waiting. Lash tried to maneuver himself out of the way but he was falling to fast, the gnoll's mace hit him before he hit the ground.

"GEHAHAHR!" the gnoll chortled," Look, look Sparrow! I got 'im! Ya see that?" He danced around the crumpled, dead winged pony.

The other figure was the diamond dog who had seen Pea and her friends go into the jungle castle. The gnoll who was celebrating was the one who had been in the tunnels by Mumal's house. She rubbed her arm nervously as the beefy gnoll waved his arms around, completely full of himself over his shot. She lifted the dead pony up with remorse.

"Lefty, I know this isn't like that Gnook meat you bring sometimes...but do you have to be so...harsh to them?"

Lefty picked up his bow with his bad hand and yanked his prize from the diamond dog with the other. He sneered his sharp yellow teeth," Shaddap, I'm the bigger dog. Don't tell me wat to do!" he hoisted the carcass over his shoulder," I didn't get to ask ya yet...where ya been? The packs was looking for ya the other night."

Sparrow kept her blue eyes from Lefty's one good eye. He glared at her," You're sneaking off weren't ya? Wait'll I tell pops!" He hobled away snickering. Sparrow chased after him and the gnoll only ran faster.

"Come on Lefty," Sparrow whined as he dodged a tackle from her," Dad won't let me eat for a week if he finds out where I was!"

Lefty stopped a few feet away from her, she slowed down up next to him. He had a wry smile on his scarred face," Sooo....where ya goin' off tah, hmmmm?"

Sparrow punched his arm," I'm not telling!"

Lefty gave her a playful shove," Alright, and dat means more food fer me!"

Sparrow kicked back at him, but his stocky legs barely felt the impact. She pouted, arms folded she glared at him," Alright FINE. I'll tell you...I was...was..."

"Sparrow, yer hiding somethin...you seeing some pup I don't know about?" He put his free hand on his hip.

"No, nothing like that...I was going into the jungle-"

"What?" Lefty's voice had an edge to it now," You were where?"

"I was real careful I swear!" the small framed canine said," Honest!"

"There's monsters in there that'd eat ya alive, I ought ta wallop ya upside the head!"

Left was mid swing but what Sparrow said stopped him;" The big stone house...its open!" She flinched.

She squeezed her eyes open and say Lefty with a expression of thought, or the closest he could get to that. He started back to the direction they were before, he had a dopey smile on his lips.

"Ya better not be lying, or dad'll really kill ya!"

"You're not telling him are you?" Sparrow pleaded, tugging on his right arm.

Lefty drew his hand back," 'Cors I'm gonna tell! That old geezer's been trying to get in that thing for years. Hell, even grand pappy tried!"

Sparrow looked around nervously, she thought of the little ponies and the other creatures that may be in danger because of her now. She twiddled her fingers as the two canines walked. She looked up to see her brother gnawing on one of the pony's legs. She punched his arm.

"HEY!" he looked away from his snack," Lefty, you need to save some for the others!"

"Whadda you care? You barely eat meat anyways," Lefty said gruffly as he continued to gnaw away.

He stopped gnawing and began sniffing, Sparrow looked up at him again. Her eyes were puzzled.

"What is it, what do you smell?"

"More vittles," Lefty sighed hungrily," This 'un was with mebbe..." he sniffed again,"...three, four other critters. Let's wait here." He slumped his prize down and looked back at the horizon he shot the Pegasus from. Sparrow's stomach churned.

"We have enough here...let's keep going?"

"Shaddap, I'm hungry and more meat is always good."

Sparrow knew there was no arguing with her brother. She sat down in the damp grass while the sun beamed in the noon sky. The plains were vacant and the grass looked like a vast sea of dull green. Lefty scanned the horizon and spotted four tiny dots in the field. He snickered as he tapped his mace head on the ground impatiently. Enough time passed and their features were almost declarable, the rowdy gnoll was itching to get some more meat. Sparrow folded her arms and smiled slightly.

"You're gonna charge them, aren't you?" she smirked.

Lefty scampered off, kicking up bits of grass as he ran. He yipped a gnoll's infamous hyena-like laugh and his sister distanced herself from the dead Pegasus. He was going to relish the hunt, Sparrow knew it. She made herself comfortable on the grass and dozed off, waiting for him. The diamond dog's mind, however, was more worried about the ponies in the jungle and out there on the field. She never liked seeing things getting hurt but it was in her kind's nature to eat other creatures, Sparrow regretted being a carnivore at times like these.

The Patch Batch were walking unaware of the carnivore racing towards them. They were arguing about nothing in particular until Zip's ears shot up. The unicorn looked around in a panic.

"Dude, whats the matter?" asked Francis," Is something bothering you?"

"Do you hear that?" Zip cried. The rest of the bounty hunters listened to the whistling of the wind and grass. They became nervous when a terrible, gleeful laugh was heard faintly. It grew louder.

Sanchez loaded his rifle and Zip's horn glowed with a destruction spell. Francis pulled out a knife while Summer drifted to the back. In the distance a figure could be seen, pelting the ground as he ran. Sanchez shot of a round at the figure, a puff in the dirt flew up. The laughing was louder. The creature, who they now saw was a gnoll was closing in on them. The gun toting Llama shot again, hitting the gnoll's shoulder.

The gnoll jumped into the air and swung his heavy mace with glee. Sanchez dodged it by the skin of his teeth, but Lefty didn't care. The brute's body still in motion from the swing, heaved his leg into the llama's side, sending the gunman flying back. Zip blasted some magic at Lefty, it made his muscles twitch quit a bit, he growled at the unicorn.

Sadly that was the last thing Zip saw. The gnoll's mace swung a direct hit on the unicorn's precious horn causing the magician rolling on the ground. Francis was up next, but his knife did little work on Lefty. The deer tried to stab his back or his legs but Lefty was getting impatient.

He grabbed the deer's leg and held him aloft for a moment. Then Lefty flailed his prey on the ground like a sack of apples. Lefty looked around at the meat he just got, he rolled the carcasses in a pile. He sniffed the air again...one was missing. He got his bow out and notched an arrow in the fleeing pony's direction.

Summer was sprinting a full speed, her heart throbbing, her mouth dry and throat burning. Her sprint was short lived when an arrow pierced her back leg, sending her sprawling. She stared shocked at the wound screamed in pain. She also screamed when Lefty bolted at her, yipping his hyena laugh. Before she knew it, Lefty had ran up to and behind her. He reared a leg back and punted Summer like a football in the direction he came. While the pony was in the air he notched another arrow. He shot it and it whistled through the air, stopping in the airborne pony. He danced a dunked jig of pride in his shot, laughing the whole while. He wagged his tail like a pup on his way back to Sparrow, four carcasses in tow.

Sparrow blinked in surprise at the sight of Lefty carrying all of that like a load of laundry. She stretched before getting up. Sparrow plucked the dead Pegasus up and wobbled sleepily over to Lefty. The beefy gnoll giggled to himself. Sparrow groaned.

"So did you have fun?" she yawned.

"Ya should've seen it! I kicked the little one in da air, and while she was up there I got an arrer right in the critter's ribs!"

Sparrow faked a smile as they traveled back to camp. It was a short walk to the camp, the sun was beginning to set and the campfires and leather tents stood out against the dark, flat landscape. As they approached the camp's edge, several young gnolls ran out to see Lefty. The hounded him about splitting the food with them. He tried to shove them off while he headed for his tent. Sparrow lagged behind, eventually she stopped. She looked at the camp then to the darkening land behind her. A small gust of wind blew from the vast horizon, she stood for a few moments deciding weather to go back out or stay at the camp. A deep voice called from behind her.

"Hey there, little sparrow," the voice said. Sparrow turned around to see the speaker.

"Oh, h-hello...Goat Choker!" she yipped sheepishly," What are you doing out here?"

The gnoll, Goat Choker, was massive. He was easily four times bigger then Lefty who was at least three feet taller then Sparrow. Goat Choker had a thick, square face with teeth jutting from his lips. He had a dense coat of chain mail with several pelts stitched together over the metal rings. On his back was a flail with three chains, each with a crude mace ball on the end. His brawny arms were folded as he looked down at the small dog. His pale yellow eyes shown out in the dim light. The burly gnoll glanced back to where her brother was.

"Yer brother caught some haul today, did you help em?" He snarled.

"N-no...you know me," Sparrow said with her arms across her chest," I'm not the violent type..."

Goat Choker shoved his angry face dangerously close to Sparrow's, she flinched like a small child.

"Just be glad that the Shaman is yer daddy, Diamond Dog," he spat," Or else you'd end up like yer poor mammy."

He turned back to the camp laughing a hyena laugh. Sparrow bent double and hugged herself in the grass. She forced herself up and ran quietly in the night. She knew she should tell her father about the castle he had been trying to get into for years , or how Goat Choker treated her. He'd be ecstatic about the castle, but would brush off her domestic issues like he always had. She could tell her brother, but Goat Choker would rip him apart...she just ran off in the plains like she always did. Her run slowed to a jog, then to a walk.

She looked at the open night sky, it was much brighter then the other night. The stars covered the black space and the moon shown like a soft silver sun over the quiet space. The gnolls seemed so far away, yet so close. She reached into her vest pocket and pulled a collar with a diamond at the front. She looked at it then to the one of teeth and bird skulls from her brother, one from her real family...the other from the one she knew. She remembered the faces of the orange white stripped dragon, the grey mare with an orange mane, the little red and blue mare and the big pony  with them...why did their faces stick out so much? She couldn't figure it out.

Sparrow lounged in the tall grass gazing at the stars. She dozed off happily. She heard a pair of feet not to far off, her hears shot up and she sniffed the air quietly. Goat Choker was not to far off...could he smell her? No, she was down wind of him. She didn't want to know why he was out here and didn't care to ask. Sparrow crept low to the ground through the grass, the mammoth gnoll strode past not even looking in her direction. She sighed with relief. A few voices could be heard from his direction and smelled strangers.

"Who's that?" one of them said.

"That's the gnoll I told you about," said the other in a strange accent.

"I could smell yew two from a mile away with all that liquor you've been drinkin'," barked Goat Choker," What are you two out here fer?"

The strange accent called out," Goat Choker, it's been awhile! You living out here these days?"

"Little D?" the gnoll said baffled," I thought you'd be killed off years ago! What can I do for ya?"

Sparrow inched her head above the grass to see what was going on. There were two ponies in coats near Goat Choker, both may have been large but were dwarfed next to the massive hyena beast. The smaller of the two talked to Goat Choker as a master would to a hunting dog, the gnoll's tail even wagged when 'Little D' was talking.

"Choker, I've got a job for ya. Ever heard of sponge?"

Goat Choker put a paw to his chin in thought, he snapped his meaty fingers as a light blinked in his brain," Oh yeah. The chief's boy brought in a bunch of ponies fer eatin' earlier and the one with wings had a bunch of paper with him. None of the pack can read, 'cept the old bastard in the big tent. He said this...'Sponge' critter was worth an ass load of cash."

"Is my friend, is worth money. He hasn't been brought in yet. He's trouble and I'm gonna to need some help."

Choker bust out laughing," YOU? You need help? Oh, that's a knee slapper!" he chuckled more until he saw how serious D's face was. The gnoll stopped laughing and cleared his throat. His eyes twitched nervously," He's really that bad, huh?"

Black Berry butted in," It's scary isn't it? Ol' D here has killed just about every kind of creature on this island and that little shit just ran off, and he's got some pretty girls following him too."

Choker licked his lips," So what the little runt told the pack was right...I'll be dammed."

"They were pretty fine lookin' too..." Black said starring into space. He snapped his look back to Choker," Who? The chief's kid you told us about? What did he say?"

"Yeah, said sumptin about how his little dog sister found the big stone house in the jungle open," He counted on his fingers," and that four critters went in there. One was a pony thing bigger then the two girlies with him. Said something about a weird lizard thing too."

"Lizard? You mean a dragon," Black corrected.

"Whatever," Choker waved a heavy paw in the air," It don't matter teh me. So Lil' D, you want to go catch that little shit?"

The mobster smiled slyly," Yes, bring some of the pack that follows you the most. You'll need it. I'm expecting to meet you and your hunting party at sunrise over in the Pegasus' town, understood?"

Choker stood up ridged," Can do chief! See you at sunrise!" and the gnoll was gone. His burly shape sprinted off in the distance. Black was laughing to himself as the two intimidating stallions walked back to Breeze. Sparrow herd their conversation before they were out of earshot.

"That big ass dog looked at you like a dumb pup!" Black snickered," How'd the hell did that happen?"

"Simple," Dead Eye said dryly," He was a pup in the streets and I told him I'd drown him if he didn't work for the mob. He said yes faster then  a bullet kills a cop," The mobster's hollow laugh was heard clearly from where Sparrow was sitting. She sat horrified but didn't know why. The little diamond dog got up quickly and ran back to the camp to see her father, maybe he'd let her go into the stone house instead of Choker...then again, who said he was going to ask?

TO BE CONTINUED...