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Chapter 4
Terrah moaned and rolled over. She couldn't feel the comforting of another gnolls breathing, she was wrapped up in some kind of clinging fabric. Panic gripped her and she sat bolt upright, eyes wide. Generally speaking, like their wild animal counterparts gnolls tended to huddle together with each to sleep. Separate blanketed beds were only really used when an individual was very ill and was usually under the close watch of the clans medical personnel.
She could smell Firebrand's scent but he wasn't here. Terrah's eyes scanned the dark room, her excellent night eye showing the room in a similar state to when she had gone to sleep, curled up around her friend. Coloured lights and the sound of crowds, high performance engines and thumping music filtered through the small window. There was an odd looking bag sat in the corner of the room. She slid herself off of the bed and sought briefly for her clothes, pulling them on with haste from the neat pile they had rested on the floor. Opening the bag, Terrah investigated, taking an item out with hesitant trepidation. It appeared to be made of some kind of coloured cloth. Firebrand had probably gone shopping again, it was like him. Though she didn't have any idea where he was getting the money from. There was a faint sound of voices coming from the room door, her ears pricked up when she though she heard Firebrand's voice and, someone else? There was some laughing too. She had heard that voice before but couldn't quite remember. The sound was getting closer and terminated in a sharp knocking at the door.
"Yes?" She called out.
"Are you decent?" came the muffled response of Firebrand.
Decent? She gave herself a check over. She glanced in the small mirror up on the wall too. Mane was a bit of a mess but that didn't matter now.
"Well I'm dressed…" Terrah called back listlessly.
She was never good at mornings and even worse when the mornings were evenings. It gave the day a weirdly backwards shape. She stretched and yawned hugely as the door was opened and the light was turned on. The sharp change in light levels caused her to wince instinctively as pupils opened wide to let in every last photon they could get in the previously dimly lit room were suddenly inundated and the retinas bombarded mercilessly.
After a moment of blurred blindness and disorientation Terrah finally looked out to see Firebrand and Maria, the serving girl from the bar earlier. They both carried a few bags.
"Just got up then?" Asked Firebrand.
From a brief glance of Terrah, he got his answer. She glared at him for a moment.
"What's all this?" She demanded. "We're supposed to be trying to re-establish contact with the remains of our shattered clan! Not… not engaging in shopping sprees! Where did you get all the cash to pay for this lot? Did you sell some things? What did you sell Firebrand!" She subsided and looked back at him.
"Well, I was chatting with Maria here" Firebrand indicated the now guilty-looking woman to his side, "and she mentioned that there was a guy around here that would take a look at the silver coin I had. Turns out it was silver and he was satisfied enough to hand over cash then and there for it! By that time the market had been set up and Maria persuaded me to take a look through. In case I see something we would find useful. "
"So you went on a bit of a shopping trip? With money we could use for fuel and food, which is why we came here in the first place?"
Firebrand looked sheepish, shiny things had such a pull on him. "I did get a few bits. But I didn't spend all the money. I got some stuff for you too." He indicated to the bag that was lying on the chair. "I thought maybe you might want to come out and relax for a bit before we head back out tomorrow. Maria says she can do up your hair nicely too. "
Terrah glanced again at the colourful and possibly glittery contents and gave a look at Firebrand.
"Please?" He begged.
The gnoll females expression softened as she gave in. "Oh all right then. But only for a few hours; and we aren't going to drink much."
"Got a deal there!"

Strings of multi-coloured lights hung between and were coiled over the many stalls and shops that lined the town's main street. It had seemed to have been utterly transformed from its earlier appearance of a dreary desert settlement. People thronged the market place and surrounding places. Groups of muscular and sinister folk huddled together, tattoos and chains abound. The enchanting smalls of cooking hung heavy in the gnolls noses.
"It's a good thing you town came when you did. The annual motor rally is one of the biggest events on our calendar" Maria continued. She had been giving them both a brief history Breakrock that had largely gone unheeded. Firebrand was constantly being distracted by various useless and trite merchandise and Terrah was just bracing herself in the crowd and concentrating on not feeling weirdly naked. She had only worn a skirt once before and the feeling of the night air on her legs was unsettling. The top was too short too, but the jacket was nice and she really liked what had been done with her hair and mane. She felt a little vane for it but smiled anyway.
"Motor rally?" Firebrand asked, turning away from a collection of apparent folk art made out of discarded wires and shredded tin cans.
"Yep! Attracts racers from all over. Some of them quite hunky" Maria smiled at a passing man dressed in leather and bits of tire. He was over 6 foot tall and almost as wide with muscle. "Father doesn't like me going out around now but he knows I'll only escape out of the window if he locks me away."
"Racers?" Firebrand asked. "Are there prizes?" A tone came over his voice that Terrah, had she been listening, would have known and dreaded. A scheme was forming in his head.
"Oh yes! Prizes for each race and a big prize at the end. I think they are paying out something like fifteen hundred VitaCorp credits per race and there is a grand prize of a hundred thousand. "
Firebrand's eyes bulged. That was far more money than he could imagine. And VitaCorp credits were valuable, any kind of instantly negotiable currency was. Admittedly they weren't as valuable as some of the other corporate currencies around, but credits were credits.
"And anyone can sign up to these races?"
"Of course! Did you want to see the races then? I find them a bit dull myself but they are a good place for another sort of speculating. " Maria giggled.
"I think that would be a great thing to go and see next. Come on!" he called out to Terrah who had dropped behind a little as she fought down an urge to raise her tail in happiness. She had just bought a hot-dog after losing a protracted battle with her innate fear of everything going on around her and her stomach and nose.

The track was a long, dusty and rough track marked out on the land just outside the front of the town. Crude stands had been set up along the section of the track that passed nearest to the town gates. It was the start of a long straight and had a scaffolding arching over it holding the starting lights. A race was already in progress. Small buggies, some with three wheels, some with four hurtled past the spectators. The high-pitched whine of the engines rose to overrule all other sounds for a moment and then it passed as they whipped off into the dark of the night. A cloud of dust and smoke was washed along in their wake.
The smell of exhaust fumes, dust and the pervasive aroma of night cut through all the outside distractions and hit something deep inside Terrah.
"Your friend's gone again" Maria said
Firebrand stopped in his tracks and headed back over to Terrah who was standing and staring and started to push her along.

They stood at the rail on the edge of the track. Firebrand had no real problems pushing through the people crowding around when he flashed his shiny gnoll teeth a bit. Terrah stood, transfixed while Firebrand cheered and yelled with the crowd at each impressive manoeuvre or horrible crash. The overly enthusiastic commentator whipped the cheers and chants of the audience into something of a storm at the start of a new race or hailing of a winner.
During a quieter moment Firebrand disappeared into the press of people, saying he was off to get something to drink. The gnoll weaved and dodged his way through, there seemed to be a lot more now than there were earlier on. Firebrand had to stop to ask directions a couple of times. He entered the mechanics area where teams of grubby humans and a few sauren were hunched over, half-inside of laying under all kinds of mechanical transport contrivances. The wiz of hydraulic tools and curses of frustration were everywhere. In front of him was a crude hut with a number of sour-looking men outside who looked like their muscles were trying to outgrow their stained shirts.
"Race sign-ups right?" Firebrand offered in a meek voice.
"Yeah, just inside." said one, gesturing a sausage thick thumb into the depths of the cabin.
"Luck you made it now. They were going to close up the sign-ups soon" said his colleague.
Firebrand headed inside.
"I didn't think I'd ever see one of your kind in here." said a deep voice.
There was a long table set up almost across the entire length of the cabin. A large and very well dressed figure sat behind it. Firebrand took note of the "your kind" comment.
"As you have been told, you are somewhat late to the proceedings. There are only a few race categories left to fill. " The figure gestured one heavily ringed hand to a few slips of paper on the desk, most had names listed down them in various degrees of legibility.
"You just sign your name down and get yourself to the track at the right time." He explained, in a manner of one explaining to another a concept that may be alien to them.
Fire brand scanned through the lists of categories and race times, looking for something suitable. He spotted one; heavy trucks, anything up to 5 tonnes. Well their truck would defiantly be there, if they removed a few bits from it first. They had to report for vehicle inspection at 2315 hours. He looked at his watch, it was 2137 now. That gave just over an hour and a half to get things ready. Firebrand quickly scribbled down a name onto the paper and handed it back.
"Interesting. Well then, all I'll need now is your entry fee."
Firebrand handed over an unpleasantly large sum and skulked out. Terrah was going to kill him in the morning, but hopefully her current state of mind would keep her focussed for now.
He pushed his way back through the press of bodies back to the girls. Terrah was absorbed totally in the show at hand, a flaming wreck was currently spinning through the air to cheers and a few boos. He tried to whisper in Maria's ear, but a whisper would simply be lost in the ambient volume so it worked out more as a shout.
"This might be a long shot, but do you know anyone with a garage or a few tools?" he bellowed
"What?"
"Know anyone with a garage?"
"No, why?"
"Damn! I just entered Terrah for a race. We need a place to change our truck up a bit. "
"You did? Wow. Umm, my friend Jenny is dating a Trevor. He's a mechanic. I think I could get him to help out. "

"You guys are only going to be here real quick right?" uttered the strained voice of Trevor.
"Yeah, sure." said Firebrand as he walked into the large garage, "This is perfect." He ran back out and jumped into the cab to reverse the vehicle into a bay.
"Ok then, let's get to work" Firebrand said excitedly, jumping back out again and walking over to a bench to look at the selection of pneumatic tools available.
"I think I know how all this works." He turned to Trevor. "First thing is to lose the extra weight…"
They set to work, removing the large ammunition crates that were their cargo, from the truck. One of the crates seemed a lot heavier than the others, but there wasn't much time to worry about that now. After that the quick-release bolts were undone and the whole cargo bay was lifted off the chassis with the help of an overhead crane. The auto-cannon gave Firebrand a bit of trouble. He couldn't figure out how it was fastened. Trevor had to help him out which didn't leave much time for engine tuning.
"I think its time we get out there" Firebrand said, glancing at his watch and wiping his oily hands on a cloth rag.
Trevor was grabbing a few tools and throwing them in a red toolbox he had pulled out from under a bench.
"It's far from perfect, but we can do some adjustments later" he said.
Firebrand climbed up into the truck and started the engine. There was a slightly deeper, throatier sound to it. Grinning with malicious satisfaction he drove it out of the garage. He stopped to let Trevor climb in after closing down and locking the big shutter doors. The big red toolbox, that was half rust clanged heavily down onto the floor before he climbed up.

Firebrand left Trevor to take the truck through the inspection. Trevor had explained that it was nothing much other than checking the vehicle wasn't carrying weaponry and that it wasn't about to fall apart. And that it fit into the race category.
Once again he found himself pushing through the packed crowed. Luckily it had broken up a bit at the moment. The racing had stopped while the next round was prepared and people took the opportunity to go for refreshments or take care of any business. Again, the Brownian motion of crowds had pushed Terrah and Maria off from the last place he remembered them. They waved out to him through and he made a beeline to them.
"Where have you been?" Terrah asked as he approached.
"Taking care of a few things" he said, uncertainty entering his voice despite his efforts.
"Firebrand, you're looking shifty. What have you done? "
Firebrand looked away slightly and raised his hand to rub the back of his neck.
"I kind of entered you for a race…" he muttered.
"What was that?"
Even though the crowd had dispersed a little, there was still quite a bit of ambient noise. Firebrand was trying to shuffle the words through the sound of people.
"I signed you up for a race!" he burst out. He backed down almost immediately and watched the horrible sight of incomprehension give way to rage in Terrah's face in the few seconds it took his words to register.
"You did what?" she yelled, her hackles rising like sharp needles. "What the hell did you go and do that for?" She stared down at Firebrand, panting and snarling. He could smell both anger and fear pouring off of her in equal measures.
"I… I thought we needed the money." He stuttered, shrinking under her glare. "We could use it to get more than just a bit of fuel. I mean, well, we need some serious welding done and maybe it would be nice to pick up some decent rations." He blurted out, almost all at once. He took a couple of breaths before carrying on. "Besides, you are the best driver in our clan; best in all the clans of the Massiwali plains. You could take these guys to the cleaners."
"Firebrand has been telling me just how good you were out there, keeping away from those bandits. He said you saved your lives back there." Maria said, reaching up to put a consolatory hand on her shoulder.
Terrah carried on glaring at Firebrand for a few moments and then subsided. Her shoulders slumped and she hung her head, breathing slow, heavy breaths and then looked up.
"Fine. Where's the truck?" she muttered, seeming to shrink in defeat.
"It's this way" said firebrand as he led the way back towards the garage area. "I've got a few changes done so it should be ready to go!" his natural cheery temperament coming back into his voice.
The vehicle had been backed into a narrow bay and Tervor was busying himself with final checks. Two big placards with the number 34 had appeared on each side of the cab on a door.
Terrah whipped her head round to face Firebrand.
"Where is the-"
"It's ok, we've got everything locked up tight in a garage, and Trevor here is a mechanic."
A crackled voice came over the loud speaker calling racers to the start position.
"Come on Terrah, beat those guys into the ground!" Firebrand cheered, slapping Terrah on the back as she turned around and climbed into the truck cab.
"Just follow the other racers in, you'll get directed to the start position." Tervor said, "If you get into mechanical trouble come into the pit lane or try and park off the track, someone will come and get you."
"Good luck" said Maria.
Terrah closed the door and started the engine. The merest glint of a smile showed itself as the deep, throbbing sound entered her ears. The others retreated back as the vehicle was shifted into gear and started moving off.
"How do you think she'll do?" asked Trevor.
"I'm not sure. She is a pretty fine racer among us gnolls, but I don't think she has ever been up against real racers before." Firebrand said.
"But you sounded very confident before."
"I still am. I think a lot of these guys are all about speed, but speed isn't everything. To survive in the wild you have to be a smart driver too. And there is no one smarter than Terrah. Says when she gets in the zone the vehicle becomes an extension of her own body."
The racers had lined up and the watchers had returned to their mass huddle on and between the stands. Firebrand, Trevor and Maria squeezed into a space by the track next to the other mechanics and race support people.
"She really didn't seem happy about this Firebrand. You guys going to be able to sort this out after?" Trevor asked.
"Yeah, should be fine once she has had a bit of a thrash out there on the track and we have some nice cash. She's been in a bit of a mood ever since she got this assignment. Normally she is on recon. Has a pretty nice rover that she's customised over the years. Calls it The Daemon. But she was given this truck to drive recently. I think the matriarch knew something might be up and wanted someone competent behind the wheel." Firebrand stopped and looked up at the track as the announcer voiced the imminent start of the race.
The lights lit up and engines began to rev. Red, red, red, green. A great roar exploded out from the racers. Dust and smoke thrown skywards as large trucks and vans set off.
Terrah snarled. She was in position 6 of 8 competitors. Everything was just too slow. Her foot pressed the accelerator to the floor and rocked back and forth, urging more speed out of the lumbering beast. There was a tone to the engine though, something had been changed there, more power was coming through. She was passing into 5th position already. The big, red pickup was drifting backwards next to her. The blinding, choking cloud of dust thrown up by the forward vehicles was making driving difficult. But the other racer's didn't have keen, animal ears. With the windows down Terrah could hear through the dust and get a vague idea about where her prey was, The first corner was coming up, she made a sharp break, turned and pressed the accelerator again, sliding by on the inside of a van, its sides brown with dirt already. 4th place and not a minute in. She grinned a predator's grin.

"Wow, look at that. Does she even know this is only the qualifying race?" said Maria. She was standing on tip toes and trying to see out into the dusty darkness beyond the lights of the podiums. There were the lights of the racers but not much to show who was who. She and a good few other people had watched as she weaved in and out of the competitors before they disappeared off into the night.
Terrah pulled down her goggles as the dust billowed into the cabin. The dim red lights of the racer in front of her bounced up and down with the rough road. There was another corner coming up; light poles marked it out. She made her move and pulled in tight, almost driving into their side. She only caught a gimps of the six wheeled monstrosity as she sailed past it. But the road straightened out and they pulled alongside her. Terrah saw the truck creep forward in her peripheral vision. "Power, power...", the gnoll growled under her breath. Terrah pushed harder down on the accelerator but it was already down as far as it could go. There was nothing she could do. She felt cold defeat creep up her spine as the vehicle passed her. Yet another corner was coming up and she caught up again. He had her on the straights but she was quicker on the turns. On the next one she would have him. There was a hairpin next and she dived in as he swing wide, this six wheels making cornering hard work. The track straightened out again and she once more saw him glide past her. She gnashed out at the air in frustration. Then they were coming back round to the podium again. One more corner. She dived in again but he was wise to her now. He swiped across in front of her. The screech of metal on metal tore into Terrah's ears.
"Argh! Bastard! I'll kill you, kill you!" she screamed as she fought for control, the glance almost sending her into a spin. She got the truck back under control and looked up into her mirror. Just in time she dived across the track to block him. Then she crossed the line, the chequered flag signalling the end of the battle. She breathed in deeply, calming herself. It would do no good to get angry now. She coasted her truck into the pits and parked up next to their temporary garage. Terrah pushed her goggles back up, took one more deep breath and opened the door.
"Hey, that was amazing out there!" Firebrand yelled, hopping from one foot to the other as if the floor was made of hot coals.
Terrah slumped out of the vehicle, dropping heavily from the top step.
"With a qualifying lap like that you ought be set to take the lead in the race." Trevor explained, "You drove like a daemon."
"We need to get this thing fixed before I go out there again." Terrah ordered, suddenly all business.
Trevor looked at the deep scratch along the front. One of the fenders had been bent by the impact too. "Shouldn't need too much work to get this out." he replied, one tradesman to another.
"No, not that. This thing needs a lot more power. What tools have you brought with you?" Terrah didn't wait for a reply but walked over to the tool case and picked out an adjustable spanner. She then climbed under the cab and began working. "How long have we got?" she asked.
"Umm, about 15 mins the announcer just said." Firebrand replied.
"Huh, not enough time for an engine rebuild, but I'm going to look at the gearbox and drive train. Ah, damn. Can you pass me a 12 and a quarter?"
Firebrand shrugged and looked at Trevor who was already rummaging through the toolbox again. Firebrand and Maria left them to it and slipped off.
"I think I need to find a bookies. Know where one is around here" Firebrand asked.
"Oh, there are a couple that always set up under the stands. Follow me."
Maria lead Firebrand through a tangle of people, into the gloomy depths under the podium seating. There were already a good number of would be gamblers littering the place. The bookkeepers were quite clearly visible at the centre of the knot.
"Thirty down on the Marty kid." yelled one punter.
"Sure thing sir, good odds on 'im this round." a flustered-looking helper took the money and hastily wrote out a ticket and handed it to the man.
"seven'y! Are ya sure sir, we're giving pretty poor odds on 'im. Ok, ok, its you're money. Yes sometimes backing an outside chance does pay off."
Another ticket was handed over.
"A hundred and fifty on number thirty four" yelled Firebrand, pushing his way through.
"One hundred an' fifty on an unknown? That was the one that burned through the qualifier right?" the bookmaker asked.
"Yeah it was. And I still want the bet, wait, what's the odds?"
"Thirty four drove pretty slickly but still came up short before any real places. I'll give ya odds of five t' one odds on getting inta third place."
"How much for first?" Firebrand asked.
"First? With the line up we have 'ere? You're game, I'll say that sir. How about twen'y t' one?"
"I'll take that."
Firebrand handed over a thin wad of notes and was given a grubby ticket. He chuckled to himself as he walked away.
"How about you and me go for a little window shopping." Firebrand said, looking at Maria.
"Wasn't that all the money you had left?" she asked, a little concerned.
"Yeah, but I am pretty confident I'll get it back. Now then, there was a comic book shop I want to go and have another look at." he said, leading the way back towards the market.
"But you put all your money down on your friend, don't you want to see how that goes?" Maria picked up her pace to keep up with Firebrand, he was striding quite fast.
"Maria, I just put all our money on Terrah winning a race on a track she has only seen one lap of, against people that we have never met before. I'm not sure I could bare the tension. Now lets go find some distractions before I am overwhelmed with guilt and regret from making one of the most stupidest decision in my entire life."

"Uh, Miss Terrah, they are beginning to call back the racers now." Trevor said after putting in the last rivet of a plate of metal, holding the mangled fender back in place.
"One moment..." came the muffled reply from under the truck.
There was a loud clang, a swear word and then Terrah climbed out and stood up. Her colourful top was stained with droplets of oil. She unconsciously wiped her hands on her skirt leaving large greasy black marks.
"That should give me a lot more power in the higher ranges now. How did you do with the interior?"
"Oh, I think I saved you a good few kilos now. Dumped the extra seats, bunks, gun racks and the bullet-proof glass. I also found a disconnected switch on the dash. Hooked up to what looks like a booster." Trevor explained.
"A booster? Some of these trucks were fitted with them at some point. I didn't think this one was one." said Terrah, curiously.
"Yeah, its a booster. The nitrous tank was bolted under the bunks. Looks about enough for one shot. I hooked the switch back up and taped it closer to the steering wheel."
Terrah climbed back into the trucks now much lighter cab. "Have you seen Firebrand?"
"No, he went off with Maria when we started work on this. Oh god, you don't think him and Marian are... you know?" Trevor looked horrified by his own thoughts.
Terrah looked at him with first an expression of confusion and then amusement as she took in what Trevor had suggested. She began to laugh heartily. "Firebrand? Oh no, not him. He's probably found something shiny and expensive to drool over. Even if that was on Maria's mind she would have a hard time prying his attention away from whatever he has found to gawk at." She slammed the trucks door shut, still laughing.
"Thanks a lot for your help by the way." she called out of the window, pulling her goggled back down over her oil-flecked face.
"Good luck out there by the way. There are three laps you know." Trevor called back.
"Gotcha, thanks again" Terrah waved as she drove off, back to the track.

Terrah was guided into the 4th position on the starting grid. She glanced across at the racer next to her. He was sat, smoking heavily in a matt black pick-up truck. By the looks of it, it had been fashioned from an earth-mover, but with the cab significantly extended and the truck beds height truncated. He caught her staring in at her and puffed out a smoke cloud at her through his absent side window. He the raised his mirrored aviator glasses and made a lewd kiss at her and licking his tobacco stained lips. She turned back to stare ahead at the track, not needing her sharp hearing to pick up his ugly cackle.
Terrah gripped the steering wheel hard, feeling her palms sweat against the patched leather surface. The lights on the overhead gantry had come one, showing red. The other vehicles revved their engines aggressively. She pumped her gas peddle too, feeling the throbbing of the engine flow up through her, shaking the cabin slightly.
The starting girl, all bronzed skin and tight leather and long legs, strode out in front of the racers, flag held high. Terrah could just see her through the large knobbly tires and gleaming metal of the front racers. The roar of the crowd started growing with the growl of engines. Terrah watched the lights and could feel that familiar bubbling in her chest, the excitement of the chase. She licked her lips in anticipation, watching the next line of lights turn on. The roar of the spectators growing as the next line turned on.
"C'mon Terrah!" yelled Trevor, staring through the fence separating the garages from the track.
The flag was dropped, the lights turned green, the crowd exploded, Terrah floored it.
The guy to the side of her waved to the gnoll as he pulled away. Terrah growled feeling the wheels spin.
"Stupid, stupid! Stop being angry, you are making mistakes" she thought. The adjustments had worked, she had more acceleration but she was wasting it in wheel spinning. She eased back on the power and felt grip materialise under her. The wheels gripped and she shot forward, all twelve cylinders pushing her forwards, the sight of that guys  rear end in her face.
"Mitch Sanders" she read slowly, the man had splashed his name across the back end of his truck along with two Northern Union flags, painting him as an irrelevant patriot to a dead state.
Terrah quickly shifted through the gears as she stormed up the straight. The first bend was coming up fast; she changed down and waited until the last second to break. The loose ground shifted under the wheels and the gnoll felt the truck slip. She quickly adjusted for it. Still, the rest of the pack ware bearing down upon her. The next set of corners were coming up, She went round one way and then the other, passing a vehicle, its exhausts belching flames. It had been sitting in second place on the grid. This took her into third place already. Mitch was far out in front. There was a faint blue glow, showing that he was using a booster, gaining more ground. Terrah glanced at her boost button.  Her finger hovered over it. But it wasn't the right time now, it would be wasted. She gritted her teeth and accelerated further, pushing her machine to the limit. The lights of the spectator podium start line and overhead gantry were coming up already. One lap gone, just like that. Iridescent lines shot past in her periphery vision for a moment. The straight was opening up near the start line. Mitch was boosting again. The blue flames licked fiercely from the twin exhausts of his pick-up. Terrah could only watch as he pulled away from her. Again, her finger hovered over her boost button. She would only have one shot with it. She would have to wait for that moment.

Firebrand drooled. He had his large nose pressed up against a glass display box. Behind the glass was a pristine copy of The Explosive Adventures Of Dynamite Dan: Issue 2.
"Hey! Stop dripping on the merchandise!" yelled the stall holder in a gruff voice, shooing him away. He was a round man in his mid-thirties and bustled around for a cloth or something to clean up some of the more moist volumes in the racks bellow the display case.
"How much for that" Firebrand he said, suddenly all business.
"Hah! If you have to ask you really can't afford it my friend. Besides, even if you could I wouldn't sell it to you. This is a true collector's piece; you'll probably just use it as bedding or even worse, read it!" the stall holder chortled.
"But books are for reading" Firebrand responded reproachfully.
"Hah! You obviously don't understand comic books. Now kindly get away from my stall, I want to try and attract some real customers. I don't need a dog thing with arms getting in the way."
"Fine! I don't want to do business with a fat, hairless monkey!" Firebrand turned around and stormed away from the stall. He turned back for a final retort "And I'm a hyena thing! They are more genetically similar to cats than dogs!"
"Whatever!"
Firebrand stalked off back through the stalls. Maria had to almost jog to catch up to him.
"Is that true?" she asked
"Yeah, I think. Someone told me that a long time ago." He sighed, "I guess you heard that then?"
"You did start shouting back there. I was only at the next stall over."
Firebrand sighed again, heavily.
"Look, there is a nice café just round the corner, let's go and have a sit down." She grabbed his forearm gently and led him. There were a number of tables set up outside the cave-like café that was nestled at the base of a crumbling concrete and steel girder building. Firebrand slumped down heavily in a chair at one of the free tables at appeared to be littered with the least rubbish. Maria went inside to buy two coffees. The table was still cluttered with the typical café debris; empty cups, crumbs and soiled napkins. Firebrand dragged one thick finger through a pool of spilled coffee and brought it up to his muzzle. He sniffed cautiously and got the delightful whiff of too much sugar. He licked the finger and savoured the flavour. The, checking that no one was watching, began to lap at the spilled coffee happily.

"Are you blind?" Terrah yelled as the truck out in front took the corner sooner than expected, nearly clipping her front fender. She snarled and hammered forward, recklessly taking the corner and nearly spinning out. She wrestled at the controls for a moment and got her truck pointing in the right direction again.
"That was close. You really have to calm the raging beast if you want to get around this course in one piece." Her rational thoughts said to her, all the while she snarled and frothed to be out in front, running free and only thinking about the losers behind her.
Terrah tailgated the guy in front, competing for second place, bullying him. She stayed on his back, by almost a few inches at times for the remainder of the lap. She got ready as they rumbled down the straight, past the podium and lights again. The gnoll pounced at the first corner, taking advantage of a slight mistake in his judgement and sweeping past on the inside, hearing the horrible sound of metal screeching against metal. She yelled and hollered, wooping like a hyena as she dashed forwards, towards her ultimate prey. The blue flames licked out again, far along the track.
"Damn, how much boost does he have?" Terrah cried out.

Mitch Sanders relaxed. Them boys back at the garage had done a pretty good job. His plan was working beautifully. Just boost so far ahead of the pack that no one could catch up and then sit back and cruse over the finish line. When he first explained this to his mechanics they objected immediately. The engine couldn't take it they had said. The suspension wasn't design for such constant high speed they said. Nonsense! He, Mitch Sanders was the best damned driver around. He could handle it.
He was cruising ahead now. The truck had developed a worrying squeak at the first corner of the second lap but it was nothing. There was enough juice for two more blasts. He would hold onto those just in case.
"Right then." Terrah thought, "This is where things get interesting."
She gripped at the steering wheel hard and licked her lips, setting them in a grimace. The engine growled a little louder as she pressed down firmer on the pedal.
The next lap went by in a blur. She could feel the wheels give slightly on each and every corner as she pushed her vehicle to its limits. She cut down the inside of ever corner as tightly as possible, timed every break to the very last millisecond and thundered down every straight. She viscously snatched at the distance between her and the Mitch guy. There always seemed more though. As she roared up the straight, past the crowd she was just a few meters behind. He must be all out of boost. She laughed cruelly.
Something caught his eye in the rear view mirror. Mitch turned around and saw the battered truck of that crazy gnoll through the dust. "How the hell?" He thought and then hit the booster. He launched ahead, screaming away from his pursuer. He relaxed again as they drifted back off into the distance. Something went bang, and the engine started to whine. Mitch sat bolt upright and tried to look out over the long bonnet, looking for any kind of smoke or sign of sudden failure. There was nothing so he sat back.
Terrah groaned as she saw him pull away again with ease. She thumped the dashboard several times in frustration. What lap was she on now? A placard with '4th lap' on it flashed past at the corner or her sight. How many laps were there? Five. She had to make up the gap again and do it carefully. Hang back until the final moment and swing out in front before he can react.
As before she snatched at the distance, making up time with late breaking and hammering the engine when the track opened up. The gear changes needed pin-point precision to throw every drop of power from the mighty engine down into propulsive drive. She really concentrated, taking in every vibration from the suspension, steering rack and engine and reacting. Her eyes kept locked ahead, eyeing up the track conditions. Her ears twitched and listened out for the engine and the road surface. The gnoll took in all these details and reacted to them with lighting, predatory reflexes. Terrah felt herself enter her zone. The world seemed to slow and everything came easily. The 'Final lap' placard flashed past and she simply took note and pressed on.
Then the moment came. She was mere metres away again, keeping tight on his tail through the slalom-like turns at the back end of the track. Now it was all about the pounce. There was one chance at this. The moment was coming up soon. There was about thirty seconds left until one or the other would cross that line. Thirty long seconds. Ah, now the long curvy corner. She crept closer, sliding into the area of low air resistance in the wake of Mitch's truck. She eased the accelerator, the engine didn't need to push so hard here. It would give her a precious few more horse power when she finally launched forward. The dust and debris thrown up by the wheels of the leading truck was creating a useful smoke screen for Terrah to hide in.
Mitch wasn't happy. Something had gone back there and he was being shaken to the bone. There was a horrible groaning sound coming from the engine too. Those good-for-nothing mechanics were going to have a stern talking to after this. What the hell did he pay them for? That prize money was more or less in the bag though. But something didn't seem right. He could have sworn he had shaken off the gnoll. It was a keen racer, there was no doubt about that. Logically she should have dropped back and made sure to hold the 2nd place position for whatever miserly sum that awarded. But that didn't seem likely. There was little point looking behind him; after this many heavy vehicles had trundled over this ground it was quite broken and was thrown up in choking clouds easily. The finish was just up ahead now. Mitch could see the flag being waved.
Now! Terrah yelled as she yanked the wheel hard, pulling her vehicle out from behind Mitch, hitting the accelerator tot he floor as hard as possible. She punched at the boost button and heard a gaseous emission followed shortly by a explosive roar from the engine. The torque was enough to lurch the whole vehicle sideways. With nimble turns of the wheel Terrah corrected it. She was creeping up fast alongside Mitch's pick-up.
Mitch heard the massive engine behind him and glanced in his side mirror. That damned gnoll was coming up fast on the inside!
"Shit! Not you again." He yelled. Without thinking he just hit the gas and pushed his boost button. Well he had been saving it for an emergency. There was that reassuring acceleration and he felt himself pulling away again. The line was no more than 20 metres away. Then it all went wrong.
Terrah screamed and slavered. Elation had tuned once more into frustration and fury. The jerked and slid forward. But something gave. There was a deafening bang and something critical fired out the top of Mitch's engine. The explosion also forced the truck down on  its already punished suspension, which collapsed. As metal screeched in agony the vehicle lurched to the side. She didn't see exactly what happened but suddenly there was a truck tumbling directly in front of her. Terrah swerved out of the way and felt the ground slip as she skidded. This unfortunately twisted her in a way that made the tires dig into the ground sideways. But she twisted the wheel hard, fighting physics with all her might. Terrah hit the accelerator again just as she felt the truck tipped sideways, launching it into a mid-air pirouette.
There was a moment of silence as the dust cleared. Terrah coughed and unbuckled herself. There was a moment or uncertainty as she checked that she was actually alive and in one piece. Then she pulled her goggled back up to her forehead and looked out of the window. There were a number of large trucks heading towards her at breakneck speed. The thundering of their engines and the cheering of the crowd finally registered. The vehicles parted around her and then she stumbled out of the cab and up to the side of the track. Then she looked back. Her vehicle was facing backwards and Mitch's was laying in a mess upside down. But the important thing was where they were laying. Mitch was climbing and yelling from a pile of scrap a couple of metres on the wrong side of the finish like, while she had landed, facing the wrong way over the other side.  Terrah grinned widely and pounded her fist in the air, yelling and wooping.
"You!" Mitch Sanders was storming up to Terrah. He clutched one arm that hung limply and spat a glob of blood onto the ground. A number of his staff were trying to hold him back without doing anything as insubordinate as touching him. "You are going to pay for this, all of this!" He waved his arm aggressively, indicating the broken truck and apparently the whole race track.
"But first, you" he prodded her forcefully in the chest, "you are going to give ME my prize money."
"Like hell I will! I won." Terra yelled back, still high on adrenaline.
"No. NO! I should have won! What the hell are you even doing here anyway?  Why aren't you off sniffling through some garbage or something?" He was practically vibrating with anger.
"Because I have some pride" she said. It wasn't much of a retort but she really didn't know what to do at this point.
"Pride? Pride?" Mitch questioned, but before he could carry on he was hauled away by a bulky looking race martial. Another came to lead Terrah away. In a somewhat bewildered state she found herself being lead up some stairs and made to stand on a tall pedestal, between two other racers. There was a cheer from the crowd and she found a thick wad of notes being handed to her. Then before she knew it she was being lead back down again and back towards the garages. Trevor came up to meet her.
"That was insane out there!" he said excitedly. "That Mitch guy didn't look too pleased though. Still, you won."
Terrah looked around in quick desperation but saw that her truck had been recovered back to their garage.
"Yeah, I won. We need to get that truck back together now. Where is Firebrand?". The words tumbled out in one go. Her adrenaline was quickly leaving her now and dread and fear were creeping in to fill its place. She didn't like the look of that guy back there. He seemed like the sort to hold a grudge.
"I think I saw him and Maria head off into the market earlier." Trevor replied.
"Crap. Right, take me back to wherever the rest of the truck is. We need to get going pretty quickly I think."
"Umm, sure thing. Are you sure you don't want to stay about for the after race party?" he said as he followed her to the vehicle and clambered in.
"No, I really don't"
The drove off through the thronged streets.

Firebrand listened to Maria drone on. He had quickly became bored when she started talking about her friends and her parents and her bring job as a maid and a hundred other things that weren't really that interesting. He was desperately thinking of excuses to interrupt the none-stop chatter. Luckily his bladder gave him one.
"... and anyway, Anastasia told him that she was going out with Doug. But Doug was already going out with Maisey. But Maisey was going to-"
"Sorry, do you know where the loo is?"
"Oh, yeah, umm. I think it is in the back of the café, on the left I think."
"Thanks" Firebrand got up sharply and wandered into the relative gloom of the cafe they had been sat outside. He had used human bathrooms before and was well versed in their strange devices. He washed his hands under the warm water. He loved warm water on tap. It was a wonderful invention.
There was a long, smudged and cracked mirror that ran the length of the counter two sinks were mounted in. Firebrand stared into it idly as he though about what excuse he was going to use to get them moving from the cafe and back out to more interesting things. The race would be over soon, that would help.
"Firebrand... "
It was barely a breath, barely a sound.
"Electronics engineer, second rank, unit 427!"
Firebrand whipped his head around, hearing the stern, breathy voice.
"Who's there?" He stepped quickly away from the sink, lowering his ears. "Bruge, ma'am?" He'd only ever been addressed by his full rank before by one of the clans higher ups, like the matriarch.
Something glittered in the mirror. A shape began to resolve itself. It seemed to fade out from the details of the room, becoming stronger until-
Fireband took a step backwards and collided with the door of one of the stalls, causing it to slam open noisily. There was a faint figure standing in the mirror. It looked like a gnoll, but it had been torn apart and was held together only with a fuzzy glow. Suddenly lines, curving and sprawling all over its body flared up. The bright green lines shimmered and appeared to drag the pieces of the figure closer together. As it reconstructed itself it became more solid. Firebrand winced as the breathy voice began to shriek. As with the body it became more sold too, seeing to come from inside Firebrand's own head. Finally the cry ceased and he saw it was-
"Lycos?" He looked around him but she wasn't in the room. Or rather, she was only in the room in the mirror. He tried to wave his hand through her, but it just seemed to pass right through.
The gnoll mystic briefly inspected herself. She was still slightly transparent, and the seams of her body parts still showed glowing cracks where they had joined. The lines of her ritual scars and painted patterns shone bright green, seeming to hover slightly above her white fur. Lycos breathed heavily.
"Firebrand. I'm glad I could get to you. You must listen, coporalising, even like this is very draining." She said. There were strange inverted echoes to her voice.
"What? Why are you in the mirror?" Firebrand stammered.
"I'm dead, but I'll explain that later-"
"Dead?"
"Yes, but listen. You must go north. The sauren we were carrying had a unique device. This has fallen into the hands of the bandits that attacked us. They will be leaving to take it to someone. I don't know who but I fear something dreadful will if it reaches its destination."
"North? Where exactly? What happened to the others too? Who else have you sent out?"
"You must head to the Dawning Star. I think there are only about half the clan left, but they are too scattered, I can only faintly feel them. You are the first I was able to successfully contact. You two are the nearest."
"Wait, you said bandits. There were loads of them. Are we supposed to take them all on?"
"I do not know but it is imperative that you try and stop them. I will try and contact the others to assist. This is really taking it out of me, I must go…"
The white gnoll shimmered and faded quickly, the glowing lines hanging in the air briefly before disappearing. Firebrand just stood, dumbfounded.
"Lycos? Lycos?" He waved his hands around where she had been but felt nothing. A cold wash of reality washed in over him, pushing aside all the excitement and distractions of the race, and the market. There was something serious to do now. Something that could very well get him killed. He took a moment, leaning against the sink and staring into the mirror. Had that really just happened? He couldn't be sure now. And what was with those cracks in her body? It looked as if she had been torn apart and pieced back together again like a china statue.
Firebrand shook himself. He ran the tap and splashed cold water over his face. He was feeling a bit better. He moved towards the door and saw Lycos in the shine of the push plate.
"Move it Firebrand!" she commanded, eyes glowing menacingly.
He yelped and dashed through the door. A number of patrons were staring at him as he emerged back into the café.
"Uh, umm, nasty static shock there…" he muttered lamely as he made his way back out to the front.

There random milling around of people in the street outside had taken on a more definite direction. There was a rise in noise and tension in the air too it seemed.
"Your friend won the race!" Maria cheered as Firebrand approached the table once more.
"That's great" said Firebrand in a distracted way. He was looking towards the race track where people appeared to be heading. There was something he should remember, but the encounter in the bathroom had shaken him.
"Are you ok?" Maria asked, concern now pouring off of her. "You look like you've seen a ghost."
"Umm, yeah I might have done."
"What?" she asked
"What! Oh, we should probably get back to the garage. If I know Terrah he will be wanting to get the truck back into working capacity as soon as possible."
Firebrand made a few confident strides out but then turned back.
"Umm, where was it again?"
"Oh, it's this way. Are you sure you are ok?" she grabbed his hard and began to steer him back down the road towards the garage.
As they approached the large concrete and corrugated steel building that had been the temporary refitting shop a memory finally kicked a neuron.
"The bet! Crap." Firebrand blurted out.
"What bet?" Maria asked
"Oh, never mind. Listen, I'll be right back. I just need to get something." He said and dashed back the way they had come. He could tell where the track was from here now. He just hoped nothing bad was going to happen. But something told him that he was heading towards something bad. Very bad.
The feeling of impending bad grew as he approached the stand where he had made a little wager earlier. There were a large number of very angry sounding people. People that had not had the pay-off they were expecting.
By shifting this way and that, ducking into any little gaps that opened up he managed to make his way to the front and proceeded to try and catch the eye of one of the very harassed looking men working the counters. There were payments being made, for sure. But there were to the wrong people according the yells of some at the front.
"Rigged! This whole thing was rigged! Mitch Sanders should have won!" cried one purple faced man.
"Yeah! Hey, what are you doing giving out money to him? That should by rights be mine" bellowed another
"Push off, Henry. You never did learn to lose with grace did you?"
A scuffle began to break out. Despite the chaos already facing the bookmakers counter some people were trying to place bets on the outcome.
"What is it you want?" asked a quavering counter boy. Firebrand slipped him his betting slip.
"Make it slowly and quietly." He said out the corner of his mouth.
"Right you are"
The boy went to check the ticket against the books. Firebrand watched as his eye bulged. This was going to be bad. The boy began calmly gathering cash notes, bundles of them. A lot of bundles.
A few keen eyed on-lookers in the proto-mob noticed the quiet but continuous gathering activities of one of the assistants. Their eyes followed them as the put the cash in a bag and handed the bag over to a brown furred shape that slunk off very quickly.
Firebrand walked quickly and calmly down the road that didn't head to the garage. He would got down it so far, look for a handy alley and head down it to get back onto his original path. This would have been fine has a figure not stepped out to block his path down the alley. But that would have only been a minor inconvenience had another figure not stepped out to block his way from the other side of the alley. Firebrand gulped as the two figures began to close in, pulling knives from their pockets. He cursed himself for not having anything more offensive on him than his combat knife. He took it out and readied himself for a fight.
Without warning two leafy vines appeared to spring out of the dirt floor and grow with tremendous speed, one towards each of the attackers. A look of perplexity came over the face of the one Firebrand was looking at as the vine wrapped round his ankle He was still looking confused as the vine then seemed to spasm and shorten, yanking the man off of his feet. A brief yell and a thud told Firebrand that the man behind him had fallen too. He looked around him. Then a glance of white fur in the reflection of a puddle gave him all the explanation he needed. The gnoll made a dash down the alley way, stopping to kick one of the men on the way.
Firebrand hammered on the garage's side door. It was opened cautiously a few inches by Maria.
"Oh, it's only you Firebrand"
She opened the door the rest of the way and let him in. He turned around and slammed the door shut behind him, scrabbling at the bolts to lock it up.
"What's wrong? What happened?" Maria asked, shaken by Firebrand's panic.
"There could be more of them. We should get out of here as quickly as possible." He pushed past her and marched into the main garage work space. The back section of the truck had already been reattached. Terrah and Trevor were working on the rest of the body, bolting back on all the bits they had taken off to save weight.
"There you are Firebrand" Terrah called. "Make yourself useful and start loading the cargo back in the truck. We have to leave quickly."
"Uh, yeah, we really do." Firebrand replied, feeling a little off balance by Terrah's apparent perception of his urge to leave.
"Whats in the bag?" she asked with suspicion.
"Umm, oh, nothing really."
"Well either chuck it away or throw it in the back. Let's get moving shall we?"
Firebrand shrugged and started towards the crates stacked up against one wall.
"Maria, we are going to need some provisions to take with us. Can you get us some stuff from the inn? We need dried things, canned stuff, bottled water" Terrah walked over and tossed a wad of notes towards Maria who fumbled and dropped it.
"I think that'll be enough."
Maria looked down at the money. It would have bought their entire stock twice over. Terrah called out to Trevor, "Trevor, this place has fuel right?" He looked up from what he was doing and nodded.
"Good. We're going to need a couple of barrels. And that wielder and those tools." She pointed out a few other things and thrust out an even larger was of notes. She notesed that everyone was just standing and looking at her.
"Well go on then! We need to move with haste!" Terrah bellowed. They burst into activity.
Firebrand struggled with one box after another, loading into the back of the truck. He was hoping against hope that those thugs that had chased him earlier had not seen where he went. He was also thinking about what he had seen in those reflections and whether he was being watched now. He was lost in thought and looking around him for any reflective surfaces and flashes of white fur. He pulled on another crate in the pile. It was unexpectedly heavy and he ended up dropping it. The crate landed on its side and the lid came off. A vivid green light shone out. There was a high-pitched whine and something started spinning up. Firebrand crouched back, not sure if he should stay or run. The whirring sound reached a steady level and the thing remained motionless. It was an oblong box. Its surface was broken up by recessed channels that weaved their way over the surface in straight lines. Within each channel ran a glass tube with what appeared to be green lightening flickering inside.
Firebrand decided to approach it, feeling that if it was something dangerous he would probably have felt it by now. The oblong had a gloss white finish on its surface. It was bisected across the middle by a thick black line, slightly sent back from the rest of the surface. In the middle of this, on one side was a round on/off button. He could tell it was the power button by the large I/0 symbol embossed on it. Reaching out one finger he gingerly pushed it. There was a click, the electric glow faded and the device went silent. He picked it up. It was surrounded by shredded paper packaging. The thing felt pretty solidly built. On the bottom end of it, on the opposite side tot eh power button was a number of electronic port sockets sealed with nylon covers. He recognised most of them but there were a few odd looking ones and a circular opening that looked as though it connected to another glass tube similar to the ones that ran over it.
He must have stood there for five minutes while he looked at the strange object. They were never told about this when they took inventory of the truck. It was all just small and medium calibre rounds. This looked like a significant piece of kit and something not to be missed from an inventory listing.
"Firebrand! Have you finished with those boxes yet?" Terrah called out impatiently.
Firebrand quickly packed the odd device back into its crate and moved it to the truck.
"Not yet. There a lot of them you know!" he yelled back. He got back to his task. There would be time to ponder it later.
The fuel and tools were loaded up. The truck was hastily patched up in places it had taken damage. There was a muffled knocking against the back door. Firebrand answered it and Maria struggled through with a wheelbarrow packed with boxes and bags.
"There were some men looking for you out there." She said uncertainly. "And my father isn't happy with this."
"Well we are leaving now. No need to worry anyone any more" Firebrand said, unloading the wheelbarrow.
There was a clattering as a fist pounded on the garages front shutter door.
"We know you're in there! Come out with my money!" came a call from outside.
"Oh for fuck- " Terrah leapt down from the roof of the truck where she had been remounting the auto-cannon. She hefted the massive weapon into her grip and marched towards the door. She lent the gun against the wall while she punched the door release button.
Breakhorn was not a happy sauron. He had just lost a large sum in an apparently guaranteed bet. The fact that "a guaranteed bet" was an oxymoron in terms didn't penetrate his thick and heavily scarred head. For Breakhorn beating on someone until they either gave in or stopped moving was the usual way to get money. However Dekiouse, a skittish, skinny sauron who ran bent card games, had told him about the lucrative opportunities in less rough activities. Breakhorn would get to him later. Probably try and get more out of him. For now though, he was going to get his investment back from that fuzzy rat thing. And probably box it around a few times; break a few bones to teach him a lesson.
A number of other shadowy hangers-on had tagged along, hoping to get some loot out of the beating, to join in or just see a good show. The shutter door began to roll up with a clatter and Breakhorn unsheathed a knife that could have put a broad sword to shame. What was revealed by the shutter caused a swift recalculation in everyone's mind. There was, instead of the half-crouching terrified ball of fur they had been expecting, a tall, confident and well-armed fur ball standing there with a glint in her eye. What would happen next would not be predictable by the on-lookers, whose number had grown suddenly as those that wanted to join in decided it would be safer to watch instead. They had seen Breakhorn take a bullet to the head before and it bounce off. The scales and bone on some of its gnarled surface was said to be an inch thick, but this was a big gun.
"Who the hell are you?" Terrah said, surprise and confusion crossing her mind. When you square up to take on someone it can throw you when who you are squaring up against isn't who you were expecting.
"Where is little rat what took my money? They say he come here." Breakhorn slurred.
"What rat? What money?" Terrah said, lowering the weapon as confusion reigned supreme. A look of dangerous perplexity arranged itself over Breakhorn's face. This wasn't going right. The other person should have been huddled in fear or trying to get away, not standing all brazen in front of him. He was getting confused too. When he got confused he got angry. Firebrand poked his head out from behind a tool cabinet to see what was going on, cursing himself for not having any weapon in reach. The large sauren spotted him and charged.
What followed was a brief, yet full symphony of sounds. First the low thud, thud, thud of the cannon, accompanied by the wet cracking sound of bone and meat being punctured. Then came the crackle and tumble of crumbling masonry from the buildings behind. Finally the soprano of breaking glass sang out and faded into the night. There was silence as Breakhorn and an unfortunate individual behind him collapsed to the ground.
"Firebrand!" Terra called out.
He poked his head nervously out from behind a pillar, waiting for the wrath of Terrah.
"Help me get this thing attached. We are going. Now."
Firebrand relaxed hugely now that he knew she wasn't going to yell at him. Well, not about the betting anyway. Then he realised this wouldn't stop her bringing it up again later. He tensed again.

The two gnolls worked quickly an efficiently. Within a couple of minutes they were ready to leave. They made brief goodbyes. Fireband, unable to shake the gentlemanly attitude Maria seemed to have assigned him bowed and kissed her hand much to Terrah's annoyance.
Started the engine, feeling herself relax more in the comfort of a running motor and drove out of the garage and down the road. Coming out onto the main street they had to slow to a crawl, it was still packed with people. Eventually they managed to move out towards the town's exit gate. A commotion had been growing as they progressed. Apparently the little outburst had not gone unnoticed, well it wouldn't have. It was big and loud and probably not that clever. Her arms were still aching from the kickback. Maybe the guy didn't deserve it but Terrah was out of patience and he did charge with a big knife when she was pointing a gun at him.
She looked back in the rear-view mirror to see a number of individuals make a rush through the gate but they were called back. She squeezed the accelerator down a little further. No doubt the town guard had been alerted and were not very happy but there wasn't really much they could do about it now. The big lug was probably known to them and they were glad he was not a problem any more. Well that was all over now, though something did still bug her.
"Firebrand!" She called out. There was a muffled reply on the theme of
"yes?"
He was in the cargo bay of the truck changing back into his regular combat gear. Terrah hadn't changed yet in all the activity.
"Why were those guys after you? What money did they want from you?"
There was a sudden silence, as if the changing had paused as all mental effort was focussing on something.
"Well, umm, you see…"

Description
Chapter 4
Terrah moaned and rolled over. She couldn't feel the comforting of another gnolls breathing, she was wrapped up in some kind of clinging fabric. Panic gripped her and she sat bolt upright, eyes wide. Generally speaking, like their wild animal counterparts gnolls tended to huddle together with each to sleep. Separate blanketed beds were only really used when an individual was very ill and was usually under the close watch of the clans medical personnel.
She could smell Firebrand's scent but he wasn't here. Terrah's eyes scanned the dark room, her excellent night eye showing the room in a similar state to when she had gone to sleep, curled up around her friend. Coloured lights and the sound of crowds, high performance engines and thumping music filtered through the small window. There was an odd looking bag sat in the corner of the room. She slid herself off of the bed and sought briefly for her clothes, pulling them on with haste from the neat pile they had rested on the floor. Opening the bag, Terrah investigated, taking an item out with hesitant trepidation. It appeared to be made of some kind of coloured cloth. Firebrand had probably gone shopping again, it was like him. Though she didn't have any idea where he was getting the money from. There was a faint sound of voices coming from the room door, her ears pricked up when she though she heard Firebrand's voice and, someone else? There was some laughing too. She had heard that voice before but couldn't quite remember. The sound was getting closer and terminated in a sharp knocking at the door.
"Yes?" She called out.
"Are you decent?" came the muffled response of Firebrand.
Decent? She gave herself a check over. She glanced in the small mirror up on the wall too. Mane was a bit of a mess but that didn't matter now.
"Well I'm dressed…" Terrah called back listlessly.
She was never good at mornings and even worse when the mornings were evenings. It gave the day a weirdly backwards shape. She stretched and yawned hugely as the door was opened and the light was turned on. The sharp change in light levels caused her to wince instinctively as pupils opened wide to let in every last photon they could get in the previously dimly lit room were suddenly inundated and the retinas bombarded mercilessly.
After a moment of blurred blindness and disorientation Terrah finally looked out to see Firebrand and Maria, the serving girl from the bar earlier. They both carried a few bags.
"Just got up then?" Asked Firebrand.
From a brief glance of Terrah, he got his answer. She glared at him for a moment.
"What's all this?" She demanded. "We're supposed to be trying to re-establish contact with the remains of our shattered clan! Not… not engaging in shopping sprees! Where did you get all the cash to pay for this lot? Did you sell some things? What did you sell Firebrand!" She subsided and looked back at him.
"Well, I was chatting with Maria here" Firebrand indicated the now guilty-looking woman to his side, "and she mentioned that there was a guy around here that would take a look at the silver coin I had. Turns out it was silver and he was satisfied enough to hand over cash then and there for it! By that time the market had been set up and Maria persuaded me to take a look through. In case I see something we would find useful. "
"So you went on a bit of a shopping trip? With money we could use for fuel and food, which is why we came here in the first place?"
Firebrand looked sheepish, shiny things had such a pull on him. "I did get a few bits. But I didn't spend all the money. I got some stuff for you too." He indicated to the bag that was lying on the chair. "I thought maybe you might want to come out and relax for a bit before we head back out tomorrow. Maria says she can do up your hair nicely too. "
Terrah glanced again at the colourful and possibly glittery contents and gave a look at Firebrand.
"Please?" He begged.
The gnoll females expression softened as she gave in. "Oh all right then. But only for a few hours; and we aren't going to drink much."
"Got a deal there!"

Strings of multi-coloured lights hung between and were coiled over the many stalls and shops that lined the town's main street. It had seemed to have been utterly transformed from its earlier appearance of a dreary desert settlement. People thronged the market place and surrounding places. Groups of muscular and sinister folk huddled together, tattoos and chains abound. The enchanting smalls of cooking hung heavy in the gnolls noses.
"It's a good thing you town came when you did. The annual motor rally is one of the biggest events on our calendar" Maria continued. She had been giving them both a brief history Breakrock that had largely gone unheeded. Firebrand was constantly being distracted by various useless and trite merchandise and Terrah was just bracing herself in the crowd and concentrating on not feeling weirdly naked. She had only worn a skirt once before and the feeling of the night air on her legs was unsettling. The top was too short too, but the jacket was nice and she really liked what had been done with her hair and mane. She felt a little vane for it but smiled anyway.
"Motor rally?" Firebrand asked, turning away from a collection of apparent folk art made out of discarded wires and shredded tin cans.
"Yep! Attracts racers from all over. Some of them quite hunky" Maria smiled at a passing man dressed in leather and bits of tire. He was over 6 foot tall and almost as wide with muscle. "Father doesn't like me going out around now but he knows I'll only escape out of the window if he locks me away."
"Racers?" Firebrand asked. "Are there prizes?" A tone came over his voice that Terrah, had she been listening, would have known and dreaded. A scheme was forming in his head.
"Oh yes! Prizes for each race and a big prize at the end. I think they are paying out something like fifteen hundred VitaCorp credits per race and there is a grand prize of a hundred thousand. "
Firebrand's eyes bulged. That was far more money than he could imagine. And VitaCorp credits were valuable, any kind of instantly negotiable currency was. Admittedly they weren't as valuable as some of the other corporate currencies around, but credits were credits.
"And anyone can sign up to these races?"
"Of course! Did you want to see the races then? I find them a bit dull myself but they are a good place for another sort of speculating. " Maria giggled.
"I think that would be a great thing to go and see next. Come on!" he called out to Terrah who had dropped behind a little as she fought down an urge to raise her tail in happiness. She had just bought a hot-dog after losing a protracted battle with her innate fear of everything going on around her and her stomach and nose.

The track was a long, dusty and rough track marked out on the land just outside the front of the town. Crude stands had been set up along the section of the track that passed nearest to the town gates. It was the start of a long straight and had a scaffolding arching over it holding the starting lights. A race was already in progress. Small buggies, some with three wheels, some with four hurtled past the spectators. The high-pitched whine of the engines rose to overrule all other sounds for a moment and then it passed as they whipped off into the dark of the night. A cloud of dust and smoke was washed along in their wake.
The smell of exhaust fumes, dust and the pervasive aroma of night cut through all the outside distractions and hit something deep inside Terrah.
"Your friend's gone again" Maria said
Firebrand stopped in his tracks and headed back over to Terrah who was standing and staring and started to push her along.

They stood at the rail on the edge of the track. Firebrand had no real problems pushing through the people crowding around when he flashed his shiny gnoll teeth a bit. Terrah stood, transfixed while Firebrand cheered and yelled with the crowd at each impressive manoeuvre or horrible crash. The overly enthusiastic commentator whipped the cheers and chants of the audience into something of a storm at the start of a new race or hailing of a winner.
During a quieter moment Firebrand disappeared into the press of people, saying he was off to get something to drink. The gnoll weaved and dodged his way through, there seemed to be a lot more now than there were earlier on. Firebrand had to stop to ask directions a couple of times. He entered the mechanics area where teams of grubby humans and a few sauren were hunched over, half-inside of laying under all kinds of mechanical transport contrivances. The wiz of hydraulic tools and curses of frustration were everywhere. In front of him was a crude hut with a number of sour-looking men outside who looked like their muscles were trying to outgrow their stained shirts.
"Race sign-ups right?" Firebrand offered in a meek voice.
"Yeah, just inside." said one, gesturing a sausage thick thumb into the depths of the cabin.
"Luck you made it now. They were going to close up the sign-ups soon" said his colleague.
Firebrand headed inside.
"I didn't think I'd ever see one of your kind in here." said a deep voice.
There was a long table set up almost across the entire length of the cabin. A large and very well dressed figure sat behind it. Firebrand took note of the "your kind" comment.
"As you have been told, you are somewhat late to the proceedings. There are only a few race categories left to fill. " The figure gestured one heavily ringed hand to a few slips of paper on the desk, most had names listed down them in various degrees of legibility.
"You just sign your name down and get yourself to the track at the right time." He explained, in a manner of one explaining to another a concept that may be alien to them.
Fire brand scanned through the lists of categories and race times, looking for something suitable. He spotted one; heavy trucks, anything up to 5 tonnes. Well their truck would defiantly be there, if they removed a few bits from it first. They had to report for vehicle inspection at 2315 hours. He looked at his watch, it was 2137 now. That gave just over an hour and a half to get things ready. Firebrand quickly scribbled down a name onto the paper and handed it back.
"Interesting. Well then, all I'll need now is your entry fee."
Firebrand handed over an unpleasantly large sum and skulked out. Terrah was going to kill him in the morning, but hopefully her current state of mind would keep her focussed for now.
He pushed his way back through the press of bodies back to the girls. Terrah was absorbed totally in the show at hand, a flaming wreck was currently spinning through the air to cheers and a few boos. He tried to whisper in Maria's ear, but a whisper would simply be lost in the ambient volume so it worked out more as a shout.
"This might be a long shot, but do you know anyone with a garage or a few tools?" he bellowed
"What?"
"Know anyone with a garage?"
"No, why?"
"Damn! I just entered Terrah for a race. We need a place to change our truck up a bit. "
"You did? Wow. Umm, my friend Jenny is dating a Trevor. He's a mechanic. I think I could get him to help out. "

"You guys are only going to be here real quick right?" uttered the strained voice of Trevor.
"Yeah, sure." said Firebrand as he walked into the large garage, "This is perfect." He ran back out and jumped into the cab to reverse the vehicle into a bay.
"Ok then, let's get to work" Firebrand said excitedly, jumping back out again and walking over to a bench to look at the selection of pneumatic tools available.
"I think I know how all this works." He turned to Trevor. "First thing is to lose the extra weight…"
They set to work, removing the large ammunition crates that were their cargo, from the truck. One of the crates seemed a lot heavier than the others, but there wasn't much time to worry about that now. After that the quick-release bolts were undone and the whole cargo bay was lifted off the chassis with the help of an overhead crane. The auto-cannon gave Firebrand a bit of trouble. He couldn't figure out how it was fastened. Trevor had to help him out which didn't leave much time for engine tuning.
"I think its time we get out there" Firebrand said, glancing at his watch and wiping his oily hands on a cloth rag.
Trevor was grabbing a few tools and throwing them in a red toolbox he had pulled out from under a bench.
"It's far from perfect, but we can do some adjustments later" he said.
Firebrand climbed up into the truck and started the engine. There was a slightly deeper, throatier sound to it. Grinning with malicious satisfaction he drove it out of the garage. He stopped to let Trevor climb in after closing down and locking the big shutter doors. The big red toolbox, that was half rust clanged heavily down onto the floor before he climbed up.

Firebrand left Trevor to take the truck through the inspection. Trevor had explained that it was nothing much other than checking the vehicle wasn't carrying weaponry and that it wasn't about to fall apart. And that it fit into the race category.
Once again he found himself pushing through the packed crowed. Luckily it had broken up a bit at the moment. The racing had stopped while the next round was prepared and people took the opportunity to go for refreshments or take care of any business. Again, the Brownian motion of crowds had pushed Terrah and Maria off from the last place he remembered them. They waved out to him through and he made a beeline to them.
"Where have you been?" Terrah asked as he approached.
"Taking care of a few things" he said, uncertainty entering his voice despite his efforts.
"Firebrand, you're looking shifty. What have you done? "
Firebrand looked away slightly and raised his hand to rub the back of his neck.
"I kind of entered you for a race…" he muttered.
"What was that?"
Even though the crowd had dispersed a little, there was still quite a bit of ambient noise. Firebrand was trying to shuffle the words through the sound of people.
"I signed you up for a race!" he burst out. He backed down almost immediately and watched the horrible sight of incomprehension give way to rage in Terrah's face in the few seconds it took his words to register.
"You did what?" she yelled, her hackles rising like sharp needles. "What the hell did you go and do that for?" She stared down at Firebrand, panting and snarling. He could smell both anger and fear pouring off of her in equal measures.
"I… I thought we needed the money." He stuttered, shrinking under her glare. "We could use it to get more than just a bit of fuel. I mean, well, we need some serious welding done and maybe it would be nice to pick up some decent rations." He blurted out, almost all at once. He took a couple of breaths before carrying on. "Besides, you are the best driver in our clan; best in all the clans of the Massiwali plains. You could take these guys to the cleaners."
"Firebrand has been telling me just how good you were out there, keeping away from those bandits. He said you saved your lives back there." Maria said, reaching up to put a consolatory hand on her shoulder.
Terrah carried on glaring at Firebrand for a few moments and then subsided. Her shoulders slumped and she hung her head, breathing slow, heavy breaths and then looked up.
"Fine. Where's the truck?" she muttered, seeming to shrink in defeat.
"It's this way" said firebrand as he led the way back towards the garage area. "I've got a few changes done so it should be ready to go!" his natural cheery temperament coming back into his voice.
The vehicle had been backed into a narrow bay and Tervor was busying himself with final checks. Two big placards with the number 34 had appeared on each side of the cab on a door.
Terrah whipped her head round to face Firebrand.
"Where is the-"
"It's ok, we've got everything locked up tight in a garage, and Trevor here is a mechanic."
A crackled voice came over the loud speaker calling racers to the start position.
"Come on Terrah, beat those guys into the ground!" Firebrand cheered, slapping Terrah on the back as she turned around and climbed into the truck cab.
"Just follow the other racers in, you'll get directed to the start position." Tervor said, "If you get into mechanical trouble come into the pit lane or try and park off the track, someone will come and get you."
"Good luck" said Maria.
Terrah closed the door and started the engine. The merest glint of a smile showed itself as the deep, throbbing sound entered her ears. The others retreated back as the vehicle was shifted into gear and started moving off.
"How do you think she'll do?" asked Trevor.
"I'm not sure. She is a pretty fine racer among us gnolls, but I don't think she has ever been up against real racers before." Firebrand said.
"But you sounded very confident before."
"I still am. I think a lot of these guys are all about speed, but speed isn't everything. To survive in the wild you have to be a smart driver too. And there is no one smarter than Terrah. Says when she gets in the zone the vehicle becomes an extension of her own body."
The racers had lined up and the watchers had returned to their mass huddle on and between the stands. Firebrand, Trevor and Maria squeezed into a space by the track next to the other mechanics and race support people.
"She really didn't seem happy about this Firebrand. You guys going to be able to sort this out after?" Trevor asked.
"Yeah, should be fine once she has had a bit of a thrash out there on the track and we have some nice cash. She's been in a bit of a mood ever since she got this assignment. Normally she is on recon. Has a pretty nice rover that she's customised over the years. Calls it The Daemon. But she was given this truck to drive recently. I think the matriarch knew something might be up and wanted someone competent behind the wheel." Firebrand stopped and looked up at the track as the announcer voiced the imminent start of the race.
The lights lit up and engines began to rev. Red, red, red, green. A great roar exploded out from the racers. Dust and smoke thrown skywards as large trucks and vans set off.
Terrah snarled. She was in position 6 of 8 competitors. Everything was just too slow. Her foot pressed the accelerator to the floor and rocked back and forth, urging more speed out of the lumbering beast. There was a tone to the engine though, something had been changed there, more power was coming through. She was passing into 5th position already. The big, red pickup was drifting backwards next to her. The blinding, choking cloud of dust thrown up by the forward vehicles was making driving difficult. But the other racer's didn't have keen, animal ears. With the windows down Terrah could hear through the dust and get a vague idea about where her prey was, The first corner was coming up, she made a sharp break, turned and pressed the accelerator again, sliding by on the inside of a van, its sides brown with dirt already. 4th place and not a minute in. She grinned a predator's grin.

"Wow, look at that. Does she even know this is only the qualifying race?" said Maria. She was standing on tip toes and trying to see out into the dusty darkness beyond the lights of the podiums. There were the lights of the racers but not much to show who was who. She and a good few other people had watched as she weaved in and out of the competitors before they disappeared off into the night.
Terrah pulled down her goggles as the dust billowed into the cabin. The dim red lights of the racer in front of her bounced up and down with the rough road. There was another corner coming up; light poles marked it out. She made her move and pulled in tight, almost driving into their side. She only caught a gimps of the six wheeled monstrosity as she sailed past it. But the road straightened out and they pulled alongside her. Terrah saw the truck creep forward in her peripheral vision. "Power, power...", the gnoll growled under her breath. Terrah pushed harder down on the accelerator but it was already down as far as it could go. There was nothing she could do. She felt cold defeat creep up her spine as the vehicle passed her. Yet another corner was coming up and she caught up again. He had her on the straights but she was quicker on the turns. On the next one she would have him. There was a hairpin next and she dived in as he swing wide, this six wheels making cornering hard work. The track straightened out again and she once more saw him glide past her. She gnashed out at the air in frustration. Then they were coming back round to the podium again. One more corner. She dived in again but he was wise to her now. He swiped across in front of her. The screech of metal on metal tore into Terrah's ears.
"Argh! Bastard! I'll kill you, kill you!" she screamed as she fought for control, the glance almost sending her into a spin. She got the truck back under control and looked up into her mirror. Just in time she dived across the track to block him. Then she crossed the line, the chequered flag signalling the end of the battle. She breathed in deeply, calming herself. It would do no good to get angry now. She coasted her truck into the pits and parked up next to their temporary garage. Terrah pushed her goggles back up, took one more deep breath and opened the door.
"Hey, that was amazing out there!" Firebrand yelled, hopping from one foot to the other as if the floor was made of hot coals.
Terrah slumped out of the vehicle, dropping heavily from the top step.
"With a qualifying lap like that you ought be set to take the lead in the race." Trevor explained, "You drove like a daemon."
"We need to get this thing fixed before I go out there again." Terrah ordered, suddenly all business.
Trevor looked at the deep scratch along the front. One of the fenders had been bent by the impact too. "Shouldn't need too much work to get this out." he replied, one tradesman to another.
"No, not that. This thing needs a lot more power. What tools have you brought with you?" Terrah didn't wait for a reply but walked over to the tool case and picked out an adjustable spanner. She then climbed under the cab and began working. "How long have we got?" she asked.
"Umm, about 15 mins the announcer just said." Firebrand replied.
"Huh, not enough time for an engine rebuild, but I'm going to look at the gearbox and drive train. Ah, damn. Can you pass me a 12 and a quarter?"
Firebrand shrugged and looked at Trevor who was already rummaging through the toolbox again. Firebrand and Maria left them to it and slipped off.
"I think I need to find a bookies. Know where one is around here" Firebrand asked.
"Oh, there are a couple that always set up under the stands. Follow me."
Maria lead Firebrand through a tangle of people, into the gloomy depths under the podium seating. There were already a good number of would be gamblers littering the place. The bookkeepers were quite clearly visible at the centre of the knot.
"Thirty down on the Marty kid." yelled one punter.
"Sure thing sir, good odds on 'im this round." a flustered-looking helper took the money and hastily wrote out a ticket and handed it to the man.
"seven'y! Are ya sure sir, we're giving pretty poor odds on 'im. Ok, ok, its you're money. Yes sometimes backing an outside chance does pay off."
Another ticket was handed over.
"A hundred and fifty on number thirty four" yelled Firebrand, pushing his way through.
"One hundred an' fifty on an unknown? That was the one that burned through the qualifier right?" the bookmaker asked.
"Yeah it was. And I still want the bet, wait, what's the odds?"
"Thirty four drove pretty slickly but still came up short before any real places. I'll give ya odds of five t' one odds on getting inta third place."
"How much for first?" Firebrand asked.
"First? With the line up we have 'ere? You're game, I'll say that sir. How about twen'y t' one?"
"I'll take that."
Firebrand handed over a thin wad of notes and was given a grubby ticket. He chuckled to himself as he walked away.
"How about you and me go for a little window shopping." Firebrand said, looking at Maria.
"Wasn't that all the money you had left?" she asked, a little concerned.
"Yeah, but I am pretty confident I'll get it back. Now then, there was a comic book shop I want to go and have another look at." he said, leading the way back towards the market.
"But you put all your money down on your friend, don't you want to see how that goes?" Maria picked up her pace to keep up with Firebrand, he was striding quite fast.
"Maria, I just put all our money on Terrah winning a race on a track she has only seen one lap of, against people that we have never met before. I'm not sure I could bare the tension. Now lets go find some distractions before I am overwhelmed with guilt and regret from making one of the most stupidest decision in my entire life."

"Uh, Miss Terrah, they are beginning to call back the racers now." Trevor said after putting in the last rivet of a plate of metal, holding the mangled fender back in place.
"One moment..." came the muffled reply from under the truck.
There was a loud clang, a swear word and then Terrah climbed out and stood up. Her colourful top was stained with droplets of oil. She unconsciously wiped her hands on her skirt leaving large greasy black marks.
"That should give me a lot more power in the higher ranges now. How did you do with the interior?"
"Oh, I think I saved you a good few kilos now. Dumped the extra seats, bunks, gun racks and the bullet-proof glass. I also found a disconnected switch on the dash. Hooked up to what looks like a booster." Trevor explained.
"A booster? Some of these trucks were fitted with them at some point. I didn't think this one was one." said Terrah, curiously.
"Yeah, its a booster. The nitrous tank was bolted under the bunks. Looks about enough for one shot. I hooked the switch back up and taped it closer to the steering wheel."
Terrah climbed back into the trucks now much lighter cab. "Have you seen Firebrand?"
"No, he went off with Maria when we started work on this. Oh god, you don't think him and Marian are... you know?" Trevor looked horrified by his own thoughts.
Terrah looked at him with first an expression of confusion and then amusement as she took in what Trevor had suggested. She began to laugh heartily. "Firebrand? Oh no, not him. He's probably found something shiny and expensive to drool over. Even if that was on Maria's mind she would have a hard time prying his attention away from whatever he has found to gawk at." She slammed the trucks door shut, still laughing.
"Thanks a lot for your help by the way." she called out of the window, pulling her goggled back down over her oil-flecked face.
"Good luck out there by the way. There are three laps you know." Trevor called back.
"Gotcha, thanks again" Terrah waved as she drove off, back to the track.

Terrah was guided into the 4th position on the starting grid. She glanced across at the racer next to her. He was sat, smoking heavily in a matt black pick-up truck. By the looks of it, it had been fashioned from an earth-mover, but with the cab significantly extended and the truck beds height truncated. He caught her staring in at her and puffed out a smoke cloud at her through his absent side window. He the raised his mirrored aviator glasses and made a lewd kiss at her and licking his tobacco stained lips. She turned back to stare ahead at the track, not needing her sharp hearing to pick up his ugly cackle.
Terrah gripped the steering wheel hard, feeling her palms sweat against the patched leather surface. The lights on the overhead gantry had come one, showing red. The other vehicles revved their engines aggressively. She pumped her gas peddle too, feeling the throbbing of the engine flow up through her, shaking the cabin slightly.
The starting girl, all bronzed skin and tight leather and long legs, strode out in front of the racers, flag held high. Terrah could just see her through the large knobbly tires and gleaming metal of the front racers. The roar of the crowd started growing with the growl of engines. Terrah watched the lights and could feel that familiar bubbling in her chest, the excitement of the chase. She licked her lips in anticipation, watching the next line of lights turn on. The roar of the spectators growing as the next line turned on.
"C'mon Terrah!" yelled Trevor, staring through the fence separating the garages from the track.
The flag was dropped, the lights turned green, the crowd exploded, Terrah floored it.
The guy to the side of her waved to the gnoll as he pulled away. Terrah growled feeling the wheels spin.
"Stupid, stupid! Stop being angry, you are making mistakes" she thought. The adjustments had worked, she had more acceleration but she was wasting it in wheel spinning. She eased back on the power and felt grip materialise under her. The wheels gripped and she shot forward, all twelve cylinders pushing her forwards, the sight of that guys  rear end in her face.
"Mitch Sanders" she read slowly, the man had splashed his name across the back end of his truck along with two Northern Union flags, painting him as an irrelevant patriot to a dead state.
Terrah quickly shifted through the gears as she stormed up the straight. The first bend was coming up fast; she changed down and waited until the last second to break. The loose ground shifted under the wheels and the gnoll felt the truck slip. She quickly adjusted for it. Still, the rest of the pack ware bearing down upon her. The next set of corners were coming up, She went round one way and then the other, passing a vehicle, its exhausts belching flames. It had been sitting in second place on the grid. This took her into third place already. Mitch was far out in front. There was a faint blue glow, showing that he was using a booster, gaining more ground. Terrah glanced at her boost button.  Her finger hovered over it. But it wasn't the right time now, it would be wasted. She gritted her teeth and accelerated further, pushing her machine to the limit. The lights of the spectator podium start line and overhead gantry were coming up already. One lap gone, just like that. Iridescent lines shot past in her periphery vision for a moment. The straight was opening up near the start line. Mitch was boosting again. The blue flames licked fiercely from the twin exhausts of his pick-up. Terrah could only watch as he pulled away from her. Again, her finger hovered over her boost button. She would only have one shot with it. She would have to wait for that moment.

Firebrand drooled. He had his large nose pressed up against a glass display box. Behind the glass was a pristine copy of The Explosive Adventures Of Dynamite Dan: Issue 2.
"Hey! Stop dripping on the merchandise!" yelled the stall holder in a gruff voice, shooing him away. He was a round man in his mid-thirties and bustled around for a cloth or something to clean up some of the more moist volumes in the racks bellow the display case.
"How much for that" Firebrand he said, suddenly all business.
"Hah! If you have to ask you really can't afford it my friend. Besides, even if you could I wouldn't sell it to you. This is a true collector's piece; you'll probably just use it as bedding or even worse, read it!" the stall holder chortled.
"But books are for reading" Firebrand responded reproachfully.
"Hah! You obviously don't understand comic books. Now kindly get away from my stall, I want to try and attract some real customers. I don't need a dog thing with arms getting in the way."
"Fine! I don't want to do business with a fat, hairless monkey!" Firebrand turned around and stormed away from the stall. He turned back for a final retort "And I'm a hyena thing! They are more genetically similar to cats than dogs!"
"Whatever!"
Firebrand stalked off back through the stalls. Maria had to almost jog to catch up to him.
"Is that true?" she asked
"Yeah, I think. Someone told me that a long time ago." He sighed, "I guess you heard that then?"
"You did start shouting back there. I was only at the next stall over."
Firebrand sighed again, heavily.
"Look, there is a nice café just round the corner, let's go and have a sit down." She grabbed his forearm gently and led him. There were a number of tables set up outside the cave-like café that was nestled at the base of a crumbling concrete and steel girder building. Firebrand slumped down heavily in a chair at one of the free tables at appeared to be littered with the least rubbish. Maria went inside to buy two coffees. The table was still cluttered with the typical café debris; empty cups, crumbs and soiled napkins. Firebrand dragged one thick finger through a pool of spilled coffee and brought it up to his muzzle. He sniffed cautiously and got the delightful whiff of too much sugar. He licked the finger and savoured the flavour. The, checking that no one was watching, began to lap at the spilled coffee happily.

"Are you blind?" Terrah yelled as the truck out in front took the corner sooner than expected, nearly clipping her front fender. She snarled and hammered forward, recklessly taking the corner and nearly spinning out. She wrestled at the controls for a moment and got her truck pointing in the right direction again.
"That was close. You really have to calm the raging beast if you want to get around this course in one piece." Her rational thoughts said to her, all the while she snarled and frothed to be out in front, running free and only thinking about the losers behind her.
Terrah tailgated the guy in front, competing for second place, bullying him. She stayed on his back, by almost a few inches at times for the remainder of the lap. She got ready as they rumbled down the straight, past the podium and lights again. The gnoll pounced at the first corner, taking advantage of a slight mistake in his judgement and sweeping past on the inside, hearing the horrible sound of metal screeching against metal. She yelled and hollered, wooping like a hyena as she dashed forwards, towards her ultimate prey. The blue flames licked out again, far along the track.
"Damn, how much boost does he have?" Terrah cried out.

Mitch Sanders relaxed. Them boys back at the garage had done a pretty good job. His plan was working beautifully. Just boost so far ahead of the pack that no one could catch up and then sit back and cruse over the finish line. When he first explained this to his mechanics they objected immediately. The engine couldn't take it they had said. The suspension wasn't design for such constant high speed they said. Nonsense! He, Mitch Sanders was the best damned driver around. He could handle it.
He was cruising ahead now. The truck had developed a worrying squeak at the first corner of the second lap but it was nothing. There was enough juice for two more blasts. He would hold onto those just in case.
"Right then." Terrah thought, "This is where things get interesting."
She gripped at the steering wheel hard and licked her lips, setting them in a grimace. The engine growled a little louder as she pressed down firmer on the pedal.
The next lap went by in a blur. She could feel the wheels give slightly on each and every corner as she pushed her vehicle to its limits. She cut down the inside of ever corner as tightly as possible, timed every break to the very last millisecond and thundered down every straight. She viscously snatched at the distance between her and the Mitch guy. There always seemed more though. As she roared up the straight, past the crowd she was just a few meters behind. He must be all out of boost. She laughed cruelly.
Something caught his eye in the rear view mirror. Mitch turned around and saw the battered truck of that crazy gnoll through the dust. "How the hell?" He thought and then hit the booster. He launched ahead, screaming away from his pursuer. He relaxed again as they drifted back off into the distance. Something went bang, and the engine started to whine. Mitch sat bolt upright and tried to look out over the long bonnet, looking for any kind of smoke or sign of sudden failure. There was nothing so he sat back.
Terrah groaned as she saw him pull away again with ease. She thumped the dashboard several times in frustration. What lap was she on now? A placard with '4th lap' on it flashed past at the corner or her sight. How many laps were there? Five. She had to make up the gap again and do it carefully. Hang back until the final moment and swing out in front before he can react.
As before she snatched at the distance, making up time with late breaking and hammering the engine when the track opened up. The gear changes needed pin-point precision to throw every drop of power from the mighty engine down into propulsive drive. She really concentrated, taking in every vibration from the suspension, steering rack and engine and reacting. Her eyes kept locked ahead, eyeing up the track conditions. Her ears twitched and listened out for the engine and the road surface. The gnoll took in all these details and reacted to them with lighting, predatory reflexes. Terrah felt herself enter her zone. The world seemed to slow and everything came easily. The 'Final lap' placard flashed past and she simply took note and pressed on.
Then the moment came. She was mere metres away again, keeping tight on his tail through the slalom-like turns at the back end of the track. Now it was all about the pounce. There was one chance at this. The moment was coming up soon. There was about thirty seconds left until one or the other would cross that line. Thirty long seconds. Ah, now the long curvy corner. She crept closer, sliding into the area of low air resistance in the wake of Mitch's truck. She eased the accelerator, the engine didn't need to push so hard here. It would give her a precious few more horse power when she finally launched forward. The dust and debris thrown up by the wheels of the leading truck was creating a useful smoke screen for Terrah to hide in.
Mitch wasn't happy. Something had gone back there and he was being shaken to the bone. There was a horrible groaning sound coming from the engine too. Those good-for-nothing mechanics were going to have a stern talking to after this. What the hell did he pay them for? That prize money was more or less in the bag though. But something didn't seem right. He could have sworn he had shaken off the gnoll. It was a keen racer, there was no doubt about that. Logically she should have dropped back and made sure to hold the 2nd place position for whatever miserly sum that awarded. But that didn't seem likely. There was little point looking behind him; after this many heavy vehicles had trundled over this ground it was quite broken and was thrown up in choking clouds easily. The finish was just up ahead now. Mitch could see the flag being waved.
Now! Terrah yelled as she yanked the wheel hard, pulling her vehicle out from behind Mitch, hitting the accelerator tot he floor as hard as possible. She punched at the boost button and heard a gaseous emission followed shortly by a explosive roar from the engine. The torque was enough to lurch the whole vehicle sideways. With nimble turns of the wheel Terrah corrected it. She was creeping up fast alongside Mitch's pick-up.
Mitch heard the massive engine behind him and glanced in his side mirror. That damned gnoll was coming up fast on the inside!
"Shit! Not you again." He yelled. Without thinking he just hit the gas and pushed his boost button. Well he had been saving it for an emergency. There was that reassuring acceleration and he felt himself pulling away again. The line was no more than 20 metres away. Then it all went wrong.
Terrah screamed and slavered. Elation had tuned once more into frustration and fury. The jerked and slid forward. But something gave. There was a deafening bang and something critical fired out the top of Mitch's engine. The explosion also forced the truck down on  its already punished suspension, which collapsed. As metal screeched in agony the vehicle lurched to the side. She didn't see exactly what happened but suddenly there was a truck tumbling directly in front of her. Terrah swerved out of the way and felt the ground slip as she skidded. This unfortunately twisted her in a way that made the tires dig into the ground sideways. But she twisted the wheel hard, fighting physics with all her might. Terrah hit the accelerator again just as she felt the truck tipped sideways, launching it into a mid-air pirouette.
There was a moment of silence as the dust cleared. Terrah coughed and unbuckled herself. There was a moment or uncertainty as she checked that she was actually alive and in one piece. Then she pulled her goggled back up to her forehead and looked out of the window. There were a number of large trucks heading towards her at breakneck speed. The thundering of their engines and the cheering of the crowd finally registered. The vehicles parted around her and then she stumbled out of the cab and up to the side of the track. Then she looked back. Her vehicle was facing backwards and Mitch's was laying in a mess upside down. But the important thing was where they were laying. Mitch was climbing and yelling from a pile of scrap a couple of metres on the wrong side of the finish like, while she had landed, facing the wrong way over the other side.  Terrah grinned widely and pounded her fist in the air, yelling and wooping.
"You!" Mitch Sanders was storming up to Terrah. He clutched one arm that hung limply and spat a glob of blood onto the ground. A number of his staff were trying to hold him back without doing anything as insubordinate as touching him. "You are going to pay for this, all of this!" He waved his arm aggressively, indicating the broken truck and apparently the whole race track.
"But first, you" he prodded her forcefully in the chest, "you are going to give ME my prize money."
"Like hell I will! I won." Terra yelled back, still high on adrenaline.
"No. NO! I should have won! What the hell are you even doing here anyway?  Why aren't you off sniffling through some garbage or something?" He was practically vibrating with anger.
"Because I have some pride" she said. It wasn't much of a retort but she really didn't know what to do at this point.
"Pride? Pride?" Mitch questioned, but before he could carry on he was hauled away by a bulky looking race martial. Another came to lead Terrah away. In a somewhat bewildered state she found herself being lead up some stairs and made to stand on a tall pedestal, between two other racers. There was a cheer from the crowd and she found a thick wad of notes being handed to her. Then before she knew it she was being lead back down again and back towards the garages. Trevor came up to meet her.
"That was insane out there!" he said excitedly. "That Mitch guy didn't look too pleased though. Still, you won."
Terrah looked around in quick desperation but saw that her truck had been recovered back to their garage.
"Yeah, I won. We need to get that truck back together now. Where is Firebrand?". The words tumbled out in one go. Her adrenaline was quickly leaving her now and dread and fear were creeping in to fill its place. She didn't like the look of that guy back there. He seemed like the sort to hold a grudge.
"I think I saw him and Maria head off into the market earlier." Trevor replied.
"Crap. Right, take me back to wherever the rest of the truck is. We need to get going pretty quickly I think."
"Umm, sure thing. Are you sure you don't want to stay about for the after race party?" he said as he followed her to the vehicle and clambered in.
"No, I really don't"
The drove off through the thronged streets.

Firebrand listened to Maria drone on. He had quickly became bored when she started talking about her friends and her parents and her bring job as a maid and a hundred other things that weren't really that interesting. He was desperately thinking of excuses to interrupt the none-stop chatter. Luckily his bladder gave him one.
"... and anyway, Anastasia told him that she was going out with Doug. But Doug was already going out with Maisey. But Maisey was going to-"
"Sorry, do you know where the loo is?"
"Oh, yeah, umm. I think it is in the back of the café, on the left I think."
"Thanks" Firebrand got up sharply and wandered into the relative gloom of the cafe they had been sat outside. He had used human bathrooms before and was well versed in their strange devices. He washed his hands under the warm water. He loved warm water on tap. It was a wonderful invention.
There was a long, smudged and cracked mirror that ran the length of the counter two sinks were mounted in. Firebrand stared into it idly as he though about what excuse he was going to use to get them moving from the cafe and back out to more interesting things. The race would be over soon, that would help.
"Firebrand... "
It was barely a breath, barely a sound.
"Electronics engineer, second rank, unit 427!"
Firebrand whipped his head around, hearing the stern, breathy voice.
"Who's there?" He stepped quickly away from the sink, lowering his ears. "Bruge, ma'am?" He'd only ever been addressed by his full rank before by one of the clans higher ups, like the matriarch.
Something glittered in the mirror. A shape began to resolve itself. It seemed to fade out from the details of the room, becoming stronger until-
Fireband took a step backwards and collided with the door of one of the stalls, causing it to slam open noisily. There was a faint figure standing in the mirror. It looked like a gnoll, but it had been torn apart and was held together only with a fuzzy glow. Suddenly lines, curving and sprawling all over its body flared up. The bright green lines shimmered and appeared to drag the pieces of the figure closer together. As it reconstructed itself it became more solid. Firebrand winced as the breathy voice began to shriek. As with the body it became more sold too, seeing to come from inside Firebrand's own head. Finally the cry ceased and he saw it was-
"Lycos?" He looked around him but she wasn't in the room. Or rather, she was only in the room in the mirror. He tried to wave his hand through her, but it just seemed to pass right through.
The gnoll mystic briefly inspected herself. She was still slightly transparent, and the seams of her body parts still showed glowing cracks where they had joined. The lines of her ritual scars and painted patterns shone bright green, seeming to hover slightly above her white fur. Lycos breathed heavily.
"Firebrand. I'm glad I could get to you. You must listen, coporalising, even like this is very draining." She said. There were strange inverted echoes to her voice.
"What? Why are you in the mirror?" Firebrand stammered.
"I'm dead, but I'll explain that later-"
"Dead?"
"Yes, but listen. You must go north. The sauren we were carrying had a unique device. This has fallen into the hands of the bandits that attacked us. They will be leaving to take it to someone. I don't know who but I fear something dreadful will if it reaches its destination."
"North? Where exactly? What happened to the others too? Who else have you sent out?"
"You must head to the Dawning Star. I think there are only about half the clan left, but they are too scattered, I can only faintly feel them. You are the first I was able to successfully contact. You two are the nearest."
"Wait, you said bandits. There were loads of them. Are we supposed to take them all on?"
"I do not know but it is imperative that you try and stop them. I will try and contact the others to assist. This is really taking it out of me, I must go…"
The white gnoll shimmered and faded quickly, the glowing lines hanging in the air briefly before disappearing. Firebrand just stood, dumbfounded.
"Lycos? Lycos?" He waved his hands around where she had been but felt nothing. A cold wash of reality washed in over him, pushing aside all the excitement and distractions of the race, and the market. There was something serious to do now. Something that could very well get him killed. He took a moment, leaning against the sink and staring into the mirror. Had that really just happened? He couldn't be sure now. And what was with those cracks in her body? It looked as if she had been torn apart and pieced back together again like a china statue.
Firebrand shook himself. He ran the tap and splashed cold water over his face. He was feeling a bit better. He moved towards the door and saw Lycos in the shine of the push plate.
"Move it Firebrand!" she commanded, eyes glowing menacingly.
He yelped and dashed through the door. A number of patrons were staring at him as he emerged back into the café.
"Uh, umm, nasty static shock there…" he muttered lamely as he made his way back out to the front.

There random milling around of people in the street outside had taken on a more definite direction. There was a rise in noise and tension in the air too it seemed.
"Your friend won the race!" Maria cheered as Firebrand approached the table once more.
"That's great" said Firebrand in a distracted way. He was looking towards the race track where people appeared to be heading. There was something he should remember, but the encounter in the bathroom had shaken him.
"Are you ok?" Maria asked, concern now pouring off of her. "You look like you've seen a ghost."
"Umm, yeah I might have done."
"What?" she asked
"What! Oh, we should probably get back to the garage. If I know Terrah he will be wanting to get the truck back into working capacity as soon as possible."
Firebrand made a few confident strides out but then turned back.
"Umm, where was it again?"
"Oh, it's this way. Are you sure you are ok?" she grabbed his hard and began to steer him back down the road towards the garage.
As they approached the large concrete and corrugated steel building that had been the temporary refitting shop a memory finally kicked a neuron.
"The bet! Crap." Firebrand blurted out.
"What bet?" Maria asked
"Oh, never mind. Listen, I'll be right back. I just need to get something." He said and dashed back the way they had come. He could tell where the track was from here now. He just hoped nothing bad was going to happen. But something told him that he was heading towards something bad. Very bad.
The feeling of impending bad grew as he approached the stand where he had made a little wager earlier. There were a large number of very angry sounding people. People that had not had the pay-off they were expecting.
By shifting this way and that, ducking into any little gaps that opened up he managed to make his way to the front and proceeded to try and catch the eye of one of the very harassed looking men working the counters. There were payments being made, for sure. But there were to the wrong people according the yells of some at the front.
"Rigged! This whole thing was rigged! Mitch Sanders should have won!" cried one purple faced man.
"Yeah! Hey, what are you doing giving out money to him? That should by rights be mine" bellowed another
"Push off, Henry. You never did learn to lose with grace did you?"
A scuffle began to break out. Despite the chaos already facing the bookmakers counter some people were trying to place bets on the outcome.
"What is it you want?" asked a quavering counter boy. Firebrand slipped him his betting slip.
"Make it slowly and quietly." He said out the corner of his mouth.
"Right you are"
The boy went to check the ticket against the books. Firebrand watched as his eye bulged. This was going to be bad. The boy began calmly gathering cash notes, bundles of them. A lot of bundles.
A few keen eyed on-lookers in the proto-mob noticed the quiet but continuous gathering activities of one of the assistants. Their eyes followed them as the put the cash in a bag and handed the bag over to a brown furred shape that slunk off very quickly.
Firebrand walked quickly and calmly down the road that didn't head to the garage. He would got down it so far, look for a handy alley and head down it to get back onto his original path. This would have been fine has a figure not stepped out to block his path down the alley. But that would have only been a minor inconvenience had another figure not stepped out to block his way from the other side of the alley. Firebrand gulped as the two figures began to close in, pulling knives from their pockets. He cursed himself for not having anything more offensive on him than his combat knife. He took it out and readied himself for a fight.
Without warning two leafy vines appeared to spring out of the dirt floor and grow with tremendous speed, one towards each of the attackers. A look of perplexity came over the face of the one Firebrand was looking at as the vine wrapped round his ankle He was still looking confused as the vine then seemed to spasm and shorten, yanking the man off of his feet. A brief yell and a thud told Firebrand that the man behind him had fallen too. He looked around him. Then a glance of white fur in the reflection of a puddle gave him all the explanation he needed. The gnoll made a dash down the alley way, stopping to kick one of the men on the way.
Firebrand hammered on the garage's side door. It was opened cautiously a few inches by Maria.
"Oh, it's only you Firebrand"
She opened the door the rest of the way and let him in. He turned around and slammed the door shut behind him, scrabbling at the bolts to lock it up.
"What's wrong? What happened?" Maria asked, shaken by Firebrand's panic.
"There could be more of them. We should get out of here as quickly as possible." He pushed past her and marched into the main garage work space. The back section of the truck had already been reattached. Terrah and Trevor were working on the rest of the body, bolting back on all the bits they had taken off to save weight.
"There you are Firebrand" Terrah called. "Make yourself useful and start loading the cargo back in the truck. We have to leave quickly."
"Uh, yeah, we really do." Firebrand replied, feeling a little off balance by Terrah's apparent perception of his urge to leave.
"Whats in the bag?" she asked with suspicion.
"Umm, oh, nothing really."
"Well either chuck it away or throw it in the back. Let's get moving shall we?"
Firebrand shrugged and started towards the crates stacked up against one wall.
"Maria, we are going to need some provisions to take with us. Can you get us some stuff from the inn? We need dried things, canned stuff, bottled water" Terrah walked over and tossed a wad of notes towards Maria who fumbled and dropped it.
"I think that'll be enough."
Maria looked down at the money. It would have bought their entire stock twice over. Terrah called out to Trevor, "Trevor, this place has fuel right?" He looked up from what he was doing and nodded.
"Good. We're going to need a couple of barrels. And that wielder and those tools." She pointed out a few other things and thrust out an even larger was of notes. She notesed that everyone was just standing and looking at her.
"Well go on then! We need to move with haste!" Terrah bellowed. They burst into activity.
Firebrand struggled with one box after another, loading into the back of the truck. He was hoping against hope that those thugs that had chased him earlier had not seen where he went. He was also thinking about what he had seen in those reflections and whether he was being watched now. He was lost in thought and looking around him for any reflective surfaces and flashes of white fur. He pulled on another crate in the pile. It was unexpectedly heavy and he ended up dropping it. The crate landed on its side and the lid came off. A vivid green light shone out. There was a high-pitched whine and something started spinning up. Firebrand crouched back, not sure if he should stay or run. The whirring sound reached a steady level and the thing remained motionless. It was an oblong box. Its surface was broken up by recessed channels that weaved their way over the surface in straight lines. Within each channel ran a glass tube with what appeared to be green lightening flickering inside.
Firebrand decided to approach it, feeling that if it was something dangerous he would probably have felt it by now. The oblong had a gloss white finish on its surface. It was bisected across the middle by a thick black line, slightly sent back from the rest of the surface. In the middle of this, on one side was a round on/off button. He could tell it was the power button by the large I/0 symbol embossed on it. Reaching out one finger he gingerly pushed it. There was a click, the electric glow faded and the device went silent. He picked it up. It was surrounded by shredded paper packaging. The thing felt pretty solidly built. On the bottom end of it, on the opposite side tot eh power button was a number of electronic port sockets sealed with nylon covers. He recognised most of them but there were a few odd looking ones and a circular opening that looked as though it connected to another glass tube similar to the ones that ran over it.
He must have stood there for five minutes while he looked at the strange object. They were never told about this when they took inventory of the truck. It was all just small and medium calibre rounds. This looked like a significant piece of kit and something not to be missed from an inventory listing.
"Firebrand! Have you finished with those boxes yet?" Terrah called out impatiently.
Firebrand quickly packed the odd device back into its crate and moved it to the truck.
"Not yet. There a lot of them you know!" he yelled back. He got back to his task. There would be time to ponder it later.
The fuel and tools were loaded up. The truck was hastily patched up in places it had taken damage. There was a muffled knocking against the back door. Firebrand answered it and Maria struggled through with a wheelbarrow packed with boxes and bags.
"There were some men looking for you out there." She said uncertainly. "And my father isn't happy with this."
"Well we are leaving now. No need to worry anyone any more" Firebrand said, unloading the wheelbarrow.
There was a clattering as a fist pounded on the garages front shutter door.
"We know you're in there! Come out with my money!" came a call from outside.
"Oh for fuck- " Terrah leapt down from the roof of the truck where she had been remounting the auto-cannon. She hefted the massive weapon into her grip and marched towards the door. She lent the gun against the wall while she punched the door release button.
Breakhorn was not a happy sauron. He had just lost a large sum in an apparently guaranteed bet. The fact that "a guaranteed bet" was an oxymoron in terms didn't penetrate his thick and heavily scarred head. For Breakhorn beating on someone until they either gave in or stopped moving was the usual way to get money. However Dekiouse, a skittish, skinny sauron who ran bent card games, had told him about the lucrative opportunities in less rough activities. Breakhorn would get to him later. Probably try and get more out of him. For now though, he was going to get his investment back from that fuzzy rat thing. And probably box it around a few times; break a few bones to teach him a lesson.
A number of other shadowy hangers-on had tagged along, hoping to get some loot out of the beating, to join in or just see a good show. The shutter door began to roll up with a clatter and Breakhorn unsheathed a knife that could have put a broad sword to shame. What was revealed by the shutter caused a swift recalculation in everyone's mind. There was, instead of the half-crouching terrified ball of fur they had been expecting, a tall, confident and well-armed fur ball standing there with a glint in her eye. What would happen next would not be predictable by the on-lookers, whose number had grown suddenly as those that wanted to join in decided it would be safer to watch instead. They had seen Breakhorn take a bullet to the head before and it bounce off. The scales and bone on some of its gnarled surface was said to be an inch thick, but this was a big gun.
"Who the hell are you?" Terrah said, surprise and confusion crossing her mind. When you square up to take on someone it can throw you when who you are squaring up against isn't who you were expecting.
"Where is little rat what took my money? They say he come here." Breakhorn slurred.
"What rat? What money?" Terrah said, lowering the weapon as confusion reigned supreme. A look of dangerous perplexity arranged itself over Breakhorn's face. This wasn't going right. The other person should have been huddled in fear or trying to get away, not standing all brazen in front of him. He was getting confused too. When he got confused he got angry. Firebrand poked his head out from behind a tool cabinet to see what was going on, cursing himself for not having any weapon in reach. The large sauren spotted him and charged.
What followed was a brief, yet full symphony of sounds. First the low thud, thud, thud of the cannon, accompanied by the wet cracking sound of bone and meat being punctured. Then came the crackle and tumble of crumbling masonry from the buildings behind. Finally the soprano of breaking glass sang out and faded into the night. There was silence as Breakhorn and an unfortunate individual behind him collapsed to the ground.
"Firebrand!" Terra called out.
He poked his head nervously out from behind a pillar, waiting for the wrath of Terrah.
"Help me get this thing attached. We are going. Now."
Firebrand relaxed hugely now that he knew she wasn't going to yell at him. Well, not about the betting anyway. Then he realised this wouldn't stop her bringing it up again later. He tensed again.

The two gnolls worked quickly an efficiently. Within a couple of minutes they were ready to leave. They made brief goodbyes. Fireband, unable to shake the gentlemanly attitude Maria seemed to have assigned him bowed and kissed her hand much to Terrah's annoyance.
Started the engine, feeling herself relax more in the comfort of a running motor and drove out of the garage and down the road. Coming out onto the main street they had to slow to a crawl, it was still packed with people. Eventually they managed to move out towards the town's exit gate. A commotion had been growing as they progressed. Apparently the little outburst had not gone unnoticed, well it wouldn't have. It was big and loud and probably not that clever. Her arms were still aching from the kickback. Maybe the guy didn't deserve it but Terrah was out of patience and he did charge with a big knife when she was pointing a gun at him.
She looked back in the rear-view mirror to see a number of individuals make a rush through the gate but they were called back. She squeezed the accelerator down a little further. No doubt the town guard had been alerted and were not very happy but there wasn't really much they could do about it now. The big lug was probably known to them and they were glad he was not a problem any more. Well that was all over now, though something did still bug her.
"Firebrand!" She called out. There was a muffled reply on the theme of
"yes?"
He was in the cargo bay of the truck changing back into his regular combat gear. Terrah hadn't changed yet in all the activity.
"Why were those guys after you? What money did they want from you?"
There was a sudden silence, as if the changing had paused as all mental effort was focussing on something.
"Well, umm, you see…"