by Bill Albert
Gallif was on her feet in an instant and they took up positions together advancing on the final orc. As they closed in the orc swung its own axe hard and fast keeping them at a distance. Suddenly it stopped and held its axe close. Gallif and Tome stared at it as it looked back and forth at each of them. It made sickening guttural sound as its lips curled and Gallif swallowed hard when she realized it was the closest it could ever come to a laugh. At the same time Gallif and Tome realized it wasn’t looking at them anymore but behind them. On instinct Gallif pushed Tome hard away and jumped back herself just as a giant’s fist slammed down into the cobblestone where they had been standing.
Gallif saw the giant as it attacked again. It was well over a dozen feet tall with huge, muscular arms. It wore ragged clothing that had been stained and torn. Its skin was darker than usual, but she realized it was discolored from so much exposure to the sewage and lack of sunlight. Despite its size there was an air of wariness about it as if it had not eaten or slept well for some time.
It struck again and she dived for cover behind one of the pools. The giant’s fist smashed the pool to pieces and Gallif was covered with sewage water. She cursed as she got to her feet and tried to swing back at the giant but missed.
She glanced at Tome and saw he was moving in on the remaining orc and was working hard to take it out.
The giant was targeting her, and she had to go fast so she crossed the river using the wooden bridge. The giant ran after her and crossed the river in a single leap. It hit uneven ground and became unbalanced for several seconds allowing Gallif to put several deep cuts in its leg. She made a few more attempts before it got itself oriented again but missed.
She looked around desperately seeking something to use to her advantage as the giant came toward her. She hoped Tome would join her quickly or she would lose to the giant.
She narrowly averted a couple of swings and the giant’s fists punched through the air. She cut it briefly in one arm but not enough to do any serious damage. She stepped away to get a better position, but her back hit the wall. The giant was coming, and she had nowhere to go.
She saw Tome down his orc. Without stopping he came running, but he was quite a long way off.
She raised her sword high above her head and waited. She saw Tome crossing the river, but there was still no way he would make it. The giant lifted both its fists and came at her. The first one swiped hard and low and she jumped up to avoid its path. An instant later the second fist came at a striking speed. With lightening reflexes she stepped aside and the fist slammed into the wall. The giant shuddered from the pain of the contact and Gallif swung down swiftly. The blade of her sword made one quick, but very deep cut, into the giant’s arm.
She felt a shiver as the giant howled in pain and she leapt out of the way before the other arm came at her again.
Tome arrived and with a war cry connected his long sword hard into the giant’s side. Out of reflex it hit back at him and he ducked clear. He briefly glanced at Gallif who looked at him and then nodded towards the river. He knew what she was suggesting and stood his ground.
Together, one attack at a time, they started herding the giant to the edge of the river. Gallif rolled on the hard ground to avoid one of the strikes and managed to plant her sharp blade into the giant’s leg. It stumbled and Tome drove his sword into the giant’s chest.
The giant was bleeding profusely. They had just a few more feet to go to the embankment. Gallif made another attack but, this time, her foot slipped on a puddle of the giant’s blood and she dropped to the ground. The giant made a fist and moved to crush her, but she was faster, and the fist cracked into the cobblestone floor. Tome took advantage of the distraction and again impaled the giant.
Tired, bloodied and beaten the giant collapsed to one side. The entire junction shook as its body hit the floor and lay still for several minutes. Neither of them moved nor spoke. They just watched it with their weapons in their hands until the breathing stopped.
Tome went forward and started carefully prodding the body. He was nearly finished when he realized Gallif had not moved for some time. He glanced at her and was surprised to see tears streaking down her face. Her sword was still drawn but her hand was trembling uncontrollably. He approached her and saw her face was pale.
“What’s wrong?” he asked in a gentle whisper. “What happened?”
“We did it,” she said with a gasp and threw her sword to the ground. “We killed a giant.” Her whole body was trembling now, and she could hardly spit out the words. “WE KILLED A GIANT!” she cried and forced herself to turn away.
Tome moved to her side and put an arm across her shoulders to steady her. Her hands were clenched tight and he grabbed them firmly.
“We had to,” he said calmly. “We didn’t have any choice.”
“We killed... I killed...a giant,” she said with a hollow voice. “This isn’t right.”
“Yes, it is,” he countered her train of thought. “It was going to destroy you one way or the other. If you hadn’t moved so fast it would have smashed you with its fist back there. Would you feel different if it were a bear or a snake?”
“A few days ago I was convinced only brutal monsters like aquilus and orcs killed giants,” she said, ignoring him and refusing to make eye contact with him. She was still trembling and sat on the edge of a cobblestone pool with her back to the corpse. “When the orcs attacked the Third Minister I put my life on the line to protect him. Then you tell me giants are killing other giants. Now I have.”
“You didn’t think there were bad giants?” he asked her. He felt bad that it sounded accusative, but before he could apologize she spoke.
“I knew that not all giants were part of the Giant Lords,” she said. “I knew that some of them had fallen out of faith with their beliefs, but never that far. I believed they were all good in some way.”
“It was a shock to me as well,” he admitted and sat on the pool next to her. “Like you, like all of us, I grew up thinking the giants, not just the Giant Lords, were invincible and would always be that way. We always thought they were better than us and would never turn on each other the way humans, hobgoblins, even dwarves and elves do. It’s a very dark secret they have tried hard to keep.”
“A secret you’ve fought to protect,” she said as she turned to face him. He nodded and she continued. “You’ve killed giants before, to keep this secret.”
“Yes,” he said without a pause. “You may have to again,” he said honestly, “if you decide to continue with me.”
“What other secrets are there?” she looked deep into his eyes as she asked the big question.
“I don’t know,” he said looking back at her. “It’s hard to imagine anything that could change the world as we know it as much as that could be out there.”
“What are your secrets?” she asked.
“What are yours?” he asked back.
She realized that, like him, there were lots of things she wasn’t ready to share. She stood and slowly turned towards the dead giant. She took a deep breath, squared her shoulders to show strength, and then moved towards the lifeless body. Gallif couldn’t bring herself to inspect the body and it took a great deal of strength to watch Tome finish his examination. He finally reported that there was nothing to be found.
“Isn’t that odd?” Gallif speculated. “Nothing at all on this giant.”
“Some sort of spy,” Tome said.
“Probably been living down here for a week or so, too. Nothing to eat and not much sleep.”
“We should check out its lair and see if there are any clues.”
She nodded and together they walked along the river until they got to the northern mouth. Gallif stopped and thought about what had happened and turned to look back at the body of the giant. Out of the corner of her eyes she saw a shadow and heard a swish of something moving quickly through the air. She leapt back to get out of the way of the arrow. Unfortunately, this time her step was off. The arrow
struck the handle of her sword as she jerked her hand back. She lost her grip and the momentum of the strike carried it into the river. Immediately she saw more arrows coming at them from a high arch. Tome grabbed her and they both dived into the river to get out of the line of fire.
They held close to the bank as several more arrows flew overhead and either hit the opposite side or dropped into the water.
“Stay close to the bank,” Tome whispered. “Make it come after us.”
After few seconds the shower of arrows stopped, and silence fell on the entire junction. Gallif listened quietly, hoping to catch the sound of approaching footsteps. Tome was carefully working his way down the river to the bridge. Once underneath it he got a firm grip and started to slowly pull himself up.
As she waited, Gallif felt something floating in the water slide against her side. She looked down and saw the arrow, shorter and thinner than average with five feathers mounted at the tail. She grabbed it and looked at it closer then cursed. It was an elven arrow. She threw it back into the water and started to move upstream toward the cave.
Suddenly they both heard heavy footsteps approaching fast. It was just one set of steps, but they knew it was someone armed with projectile weapons. Gallif had only her knife to fight with and knew it was no match for elven arrows. She heard the thud of the steps change from cobblestone to the hollow sound of wood and turned to see the elf take up a position on the bridge. She dove deep into the dark river as a volley of arrows cut into the water. In complete darkness she felt her feet hit the bottom. She briefly considered looking for her weapon but discarded the idea because of the need to get back to the surface. She oriented herself and pushed away from the wall trying to change her location before she ran out of air.
She stayed stationary as long as she could and finally kicked up to the surface. She gasped for air and was about to dive again when she heard Tome calling her name. She stopped and listened more clearly to what he was saying.
“It’s okay. It’s safe.”
Gallif saw him standing next to the edge of the river not too far from the bridge. She swam to him and he offered a hand to help her out of the water.
“It was so busy trying to take shots at you it didn’t even realize I was on the bridge until it was too late.”
“Did look for clues?”
He said that he had not, so they quickly checked it for any clues but found nothing important. She took the elven arrows and bow and tossed them into the river.
“I suppose the only thing left is to check to see if there is a lair upstream,” Tome said after she had finished.
“I doubt it’s very far,” Gallif agreed. “It didn’t take too long for it to be alerted as to what was going on.”
Gallif squatted down on the bridge to focus upstream into the dark mouth. The odd lighting and colors in the junction caused many distorted shadows and reflections so it was difficult to tell what was what. They agreed there was only one way to find out if there was anything there and, without a second thought, Gallif jumped into the water and started swimming.
It didn’t take very long to find where the giant had been hiding. Once she entered the mouth, she hoisted herself out of the water and into a dry cave. Since he still had a weapon and was trying to keep it clean Tome had to swim slower and was a few minutes behind her. By the time he got there Gallif was going through dirty clothes and blankets.
The cave itself was quite small. At only ten feet deep, ten feet wide, and six feet tall there was no way the giant could maneuver inside in any way other than to crawl. There was a single torch burning on the back wall and the flame was so low it could not have been seen from anywhere other than directly across the water from the cave.
Gallif was tearing through a ragged blanket when Tome lifted himself from the dark water.
“Did you find anything?” he asked.
“Not yet. But I’ve realized we were very lucky to take on the giant when we did.”
“What do you mean?”
“That giant must have been very weak from sleeping and living in this space for a while. With only this light to go by its eyesight must have been unprepared for the relative brightness of the junction.”
Tome picked through some broken crates as he said, “I see what you mean. Probably a bit weak from lack of food and exercise. If it would have been fit and healthy we’d still be fighting it. How old do you think these are?”
She tore up the last of the clothes and looked at the stone jar he was holding. There had once been food encased in it, perhaps dried beef or fruit, but it was mostly empty now and gave a rank odor. What remained in the bottom was hard and discolored and she tried to scrape it off with her fingernails. It resisted and she finally gave up.
“That’s got to be at least six days old,” she said.
One of the boxes was unopened and she used her knife to pop open the lid. Inside were several sealed clay jars that had been packed with very fine and very dark black dirt to keep them safe. Gallif sifted through the dirt and pulled out a handful. She massaged it in her palm and then let it sift through her fingers.
“See this?” she finally asked.
“It’s just dirt,” he said.
“No, no, it’s not just dirt,” she ran her fingers through the dirt again as her own senses started to emerge. “It’s not brown or just black like what you would find in most places,” she said. “It’s pitch black. It’s also very fine, like sand,” she told him. “There is only one place that you could get this.”
“The Stack Black Mountains.”
“Yes, this giant definitely came south from there.”
“That is a very big mountain range, Gallif,” he said.
“I know,” she agreed. She pulled one of the clay jars out and examined it closely for any markings. There were a few grooves along the surface but nothing she could get any specific information from. “Is there anything else?”
They searched for several minutes and found nothing of any value in any way.
“I think we should take some of the jars with us,” she said as they were preparing to leave. “It’s really the only clue to where the giant came from and, as you said, it is a very big mountain range.”
He agreed and they took the crate to the river’s edge. They gathered everything else into a heap in the back of the cave and piled the clothes and blankets on top.
Gallif went to the torch and tried to pull it from its socket, but it was held in place. She got better footing and tried again, but it still refused to budge. Tome joined her and each took a tight hold on the torch and pulled. It suddenly came loose and they both fell to the ground together.
She stayed on her back and smiled at him. “At least it came loose,” she said with the still burning torch in her hand.
“I can understand why it took a giant to get it lodged in there,” he said and rose to his feet. He offered her his hand and helped her stand. He took the torch from her and tossed it into the debris as she walked to the river and was ready to leave.
“Let’s get going before the place fills with smoke,” she said.
“Take a look at this,” he said in amazement.
She followed his sight and found a small crevice in the wall where the torch had been. The crevice was no more than one foot deep and only a few inches wide, but there were several bags inside.
Gallif examined the rock surrounding the hole. Sure, that there were no traps she gently put a hand on one of the bags and pulled it out. She heard the jingling inside and opened the bag to find a handful of coins and several pieces of broken gems. She wasn’t an expert at gems, but she estimated they were worth a considerable amount.
“Why was a giant with that much money living in a hole like this?” Gallif asked.
“Not everyone works for free,” Tome said.
Gallif pulled the second bag and found it filled with several pieces of paper and coal sticks. Under the glowing light of the burning debris they examined each paper, but they were al
l blank.
The third, and final bag, held a small figure in it. It was a made of very common stone and carved into a cylindrical tube with rough sides. It looked like it was supposed to be a log or branch of some kind. They both searched it for more hidden compartments but found none.
They put everything into the box of clay and dirt and held it above the water as they floated downstream to the junction.
Once there they quickly started to head out in the same tunnel they had entered. They used some flint that Tome had carried to relight their torches and started walking.
“What do you have to do now?” she asked as they walked.
“I’m going to have to round up some of the local militia and go back into the junction. We’ll have to clean it all out and try and prevent anyone else from finding out what had happened. I doubt that’ll be a problem as it is, after all, a sewer,” he smiled.
“Then, after I have spoken with some of my superiors, I’m going to have to head north to the Stack Black Mountains and look for more information. This is, of course, top priority for us.”
“I can understand.”
“What about you?”
“I’m going to head out for the mountains by afternoon and see what I can find out myself.”
He set down the crate and its contents on the cobblestone floor. He faced her and said, “You don’t have to get involved.”
“I’m already involved,” she said angrily. “I was involved when I heard the Giant Lord cry on Festival Day.”
“You’re young and inexperienced. There are people who are trained to work on things like this.”
“Well, two giants are dead, so you aren’t doing a very good so far!” she blurted out. She saw the sting on his face as he stepped back and deeply regretted what she’d said. He was obviously taking what had happened very seriously and she saw a tinge of guilt cross his face. “I’m sorry. That was terrible.”
“Yes, it was,” he said after a moment. “Those of us who are part of this group have sworn our lives to protect the Giant Lords. A failure like this hurts all of us deeply.”
