Ajabu couldn't help but scoff for the enth time of the day. She didn't want to babysit two foreigners and their masto... musta... freaky elephant, much less receive counsel from them.

But her father had been clear: they were there to help with the gnoll problem.

Unlike most humanoid animals, who by and large were smaller than their feral relatives (even the humongous pachydermians were not that much bigger than ogres), gnolls were larger, with the average being a bit over seven feet tall and averageing three hundred pounds in weight, making them moderately larger than the already big lionfolk. They were also demon-worshipping savages that ate the flesh of both their enemies, and their own.

Gnolls had always been a problem in their kingdom, but one they could take care of, what with most gnolls gangs being undisciplined and easy to scare off. Granted, it wasn't a straight rule, but by and large gnolls lost the fights.

And then one day, it all changed. A band of gnolls attacked a merchant caravan, one well defended, only this time, rather than leaving the moment they met stiff resistance, they fought to the last gnoll. What at first seemed to be an isolated event turned out to be the start of an escalation: larger bands, daring attacks against outposts and even settlements, greater coordination... The gnolls had unified, and more or less declared war on the kingdom. Well, that could not be allowed to stand, could it?

They didn't know where the bulk of the gnoll army was hiding, but they did know the hiding place of a particularly nasty warband: Skull Woods a jungle not far away from the capital. They dared not enter it, both because of the gnolls and the wildlife. Her ancestors had tried to burn it down in the past, but the insistence of the shamans, coupled with the fact the beasts within would attack, stopped any further attempt.

The plan was simple, if rather depending on the Great Spirits to work out: send a smallish force to patrol to where a gnoll warband had been seen, wait for them to attack them, fight them and capture a prisoner for interrogation. The addition of an ugly human, a singing dwarf and their weird elephant might prompt them to never come out, but then, she wasn't the queen yet.

Her best friend, a fair-furred female leopard shaman called Shujaa, rode up to her, a smile on her muzzle as she noticed Ajabu's sour look.

"I don't trust them?"

"Why for? Being foreigners? Mercenaries? Not lionfolk? All three?"

Ajabu grunted. "All three, and not giving me the respect I deserve." It miffed her when that dwarf, Kergek, spoke to her as if she were just a mere commoner, and not the sworn princess of Kibahrdi. Grug didn't even talk to her at all! Just that nigh eternal frown of his!

"Well, what did you expect from a dwarf and a human, who may I also add come from afar?"

Humans were supposed to be smaller than lionfolk, shorter and weaker. But the caveman, Grug, was taller and bulkier than any lionfolk she knew of (even her uncle, a beast of a male, was still a couple inches shorter than him), and strong enough to lift his dwarf friend overhead with just one arm. Admittedly, he belonged to a different race of humans she was used to, but still, never thought a human could be so strong, so muscular, so shamelessly proud of showing off his body with nothing but a loincloth...

Ajabu shook her head. Why did she think that? She barely knew him, let alone liked him!

Eventually, day gave way to twilight, savannah mingled with jungle, and readiness evaporated to exhaustion. Naturally, the elephant and its riders were more or less fresh, although that could've also been due to, well, them being used to crossing entire countries on foot. Ajabu's pride could only pusher onwards so long, and so she ordered a stop.

"We've marched enough this day." She said as the formation stopped, a good chunk of them, except the riders and foreigners, panting in exhaustion. They hadn't expected their princess to drag them around nearly thirty kilometers with their full panoply on. "Tell everyone to set up camp."

The relieved soldiers didn't waste time in setting up a temporary camp for the night. Lionfolk and felines in general, being what they were, didn't really need fire to see in the dark, but they still had need of its warmth and deterrence for unexpected threats. Kergek and Grug helped too, which surprised Ajabu (the elephant didn't, but who in their bright mind would try to force a six-ton beast to do anything if it didn't want to?). She thought they'd complain and moan about anything not related to fighting.

"Well, it turns out they're not entirely useless outside a fight." Shujaa smirked.

Ajabu walked around the camp, searching for Grug to ask him to scout the area, but didn't find him anywhere. He wasn't planting a tree away from camp or anything: the caveman just wasn't there.

Grug had vanished. Just like that.

Understandably angry, Ajabu went to Kergek. The dwarf, who at that moment was playing his lyre for a group of soldiers, looked at the angered lioness with a smile, while the elephant gave her an annoyed look before looking away. Her warriors promptly stood up and bowed, but the dwarf went back to his instrument.

"Oh, your highness. What got you upset this fine evening?"

"Kergek. where did your companion go?"

Kergek pointed  at the treeline. "Into the jungle."

It took Ajabu a couple of seconds to realize what the dwarf just said. "Inside the... jungle? Is he insane?!"

The dwarf merely grinned. "Not quite. He's a ranger, remember? He belongs to a class of men and women who can survive and even dominate the wilderness through force of will... or by killing it, whatever comes first.

"Then why, pray tell, has he done something so recklessly? Doesn't he know it isn't just gnolls that live there?"

"He went inside to see if there were any threats around, both of the furry and non-furry kind. Oh, sorry for that.." Despite that, the bearded midget still smiled.

Ajabu bristled before grunting in resignation. It wasn't like she could truly order them around, she reminded herself. Just then, she felt the call of nature that every creature, intelligent and not, had to follow: she had to piss. Pride and hurry had made her forgo any relief during the journey, but now that she was not riding her body reminded her of that fact.

"If you excuse me..." She excused herself before hurrying to the edge of the camp, between it and the jungle. Making sure that nobody was looking at her, Ajabu crouched.

And then, just as she was about to disrobe herself, her nose caught something, a strange scent she had never smelled before. That she smelled it before she heard it wasn't all that strange, but...

Confused, Ajabu looked up... and found herself staring at the slobbering jaws of a giant. And she had left her spear back at the camp.

Ajabu screamed.