He was now toying with the chieftain, as he knew giants liked to torture their victims. “Does it not feel good, giant chieftain, to be on the receiving end, like so many of your innocent victims?” Gallanth roared in giant tongue. The chieftain scowled through his pain in a last defiant expression, and then Gallanth struck forward with his huge jaws open. His thirty-six-inch-long fangs sunk deep into the giant’s chest and abdomen; the brute briefly struggled as he left his parting groan and gurgled as the purplish dark blood spurted from its hideous mouth. Gallanth lifted its lifeless body up and spit it to the ground.
Mkel turned and shot another ogre in the side; the explosion tore it in half. Ordin’s hammer fell heavily on a wounded giant’s knee, snapping it back with a sickly noise. Once it fell, he finished it off with a blow to its skull. Lupek thrust his javelin into another giant’s chest after it weakly missed him with its club. It fell back dead as Dekeen’s arrow struck one of the two ogres that was trying to attack Toderan from his back, easily slaying it, while a bolt from Mkel almost took the other ogre’s head off.
Toderan moved in and smote the giant he was facing with a powerful overhand swing that sliced his foe from its diaphragm to its pelvis. A paladin’s smite with his holy sword can be very deadly. The giant reeled back, grasping his deep wound as the dark blood poured out, but then it raised its club and moved to attack the paladin. His club rang down on Toderan’s shield, knocking it from his arm. If it had been anything but mithril, it would have crumpled under the incredible strength of the brute. Toderan then moved to the right, ducked the next swing from the giant’s club, and thrust his sword into the beast’s side between its ribs. The giant screamed and then fell with a dying gasp.
“Excellent job, gentlemen. Toderan, are you all right?” Mkel yelled.
“Just a little sore, that giant hit hard,” the paladin replied with a smile as he picked up his shield and sheathed his sword after wiping the giant blood off of the blade.
“Glad to hear it; take a breath before we go and help the legion. Ordin, I want you to come with me, I need someone to help Tegent watch my back,” Mkel said with a smile, for he knew Ordin only liked to fly on Gallanth, versus a griffon or winged horse. The dwarf smiled, walked over to Gallanth, and started to climb up to the rear seat on his flying rig. “I need a drink,” Mkel said as he pulled the canteen from his flying gear. The cooling crystal-chilled water was what Mkel needed, although a tankard of ale would have been good too. “Thanks for all your help,” Mkel continued.
“No, thank you and Gallanth,” Dekeen said with a smile, “there were a lot of giants, and we would not have fared well against so many.” Mkel gave a quick half salute as Gallanth bowed his head and shook off the injuries from the giants’ clubs.
“Gallanth, are you hurt?” Ordin asked the gold dragon as he climbed up to his saddle.
“I am fine, my good dwarf,” Gallanth replied.
“The fight against the chromatics went well then?” Lupek asked Mkel.
“These demon dragons have incredible strength. That unnaturally enhanced red was almost as strong as Gallanth. I don’t think that we could have handled that wing by ourselves without Talonth and Strikenth. This increased cooperation among the chromatics is also disconcerting, for they were organized and fought with a ferocity that Gallanth hasn’t seen since the Great War,” Mkel replied.
“No time to contemplate it now, I want that Morgathian sorcerer captured after we see his army crushed,” Gallanth said with an angry tone to his normally deep commanding voice.
“All right, my friend, I’m loaded up and Ordin is ready,” Mkel answered his dragon. “Gentlemen, I’ll see you in the air.”
“Hold on, Master Dwarf,” the dragon spoke as he stretched his wings and launched into the air. Toderan, Dekeen, and Lupek then called for their mounts, who emerged from behind the ridge line and landed beside them.
“I was on my last two arrows. Mkel and Gallanth arrived just in time, thank the Creator. We owe them our lives,” Dekeen said to his companions who all agreed as they mounted their flying steeds.
General Daddonan dispatched a land dragon team to finish off the wounded black dragon that had crash landed some distance from the battle. This, along with the two he sent with Jodem to deal with the giant pod, had caused him to delay his order for a final push to break the enemy line. The behirs were falling fast in direct fang and talon fights with the land dragons, but with taking out four from the line, he did not have the strength for an all-out assault. He then called Colonel Reddit through his crystal and redirected his cavalry to head off this new giant threat from the east. He looked into his seeing crystal to view the battle between the Draden Weir crew, and now Gallanth and Mkel, with the giant clan. They let ten of the brutes get through but were in the process of killing the bulk of the beasts. Again he was glad they and the two silver dragons were here, or this battle would have been a certain defeat.
The cavalry commander had rallied his remaining forces, having just defeated Ashram’s cavalry and gnolls. He had almost all of his battalion minus the few that were killed or wounded from the first fight. His horsemen did not suffer very many casualties thanks to their speed and prowess along with the aid of the coordinated attacks by the dragons and hippogriffs. Daddonan then ordered Colonel Ronson to send two more land dragons to aid the cavalry with this new giant attack. Begrudgingly, the land dragon commander readjusted his remaining forces and sent another pair around to the left to join the cavalry to head off the giants. This stretched his forces even thinner, but they still had the upper hand.
As soon as the two land dragons joined the cavalry, they all oriented and charged toward the onrushing giants. They were immediately met with a hail of thrown rocks from the beasts, which seemed to focus on the land dragons; one took two hits, and the other took one. Four of the other seven rocks struck horses, killing or injuring them and their riders. They all continued their advance to rapidly close the distance between them and the giants to give the beasts minimal time to throw their boulders.
The cavalry flanked the two land dragons in their headlong charge toward their enemy. In spite of being up to fifty feet long, the well-muscled land dragons could keep up with horses for a short distance. Once within one hundred yards, they breathed jets of flame, striking two giants and engulfing them in the searing hot fire. The beasts roared as they fell to their knees and then collapsed. Five of the remaining giants managed to throw more rocks, two of which overshot the charging cavalry, one hit each dragon, and another hit a rider, killing him instantly. Two giants were then struck by ballistae spears from the land dragon crews; immediately afterward, they quickly secured the large crossbow-like weapons and grabbed their spears and short bows to prepare for a close fight.
The two groups collided, with the land dragons lowering their heads and delivering well-placed bites on two giants, pushing them to the ground. Two hundred cavalry riders streamed through the attacking giant pod, thrusting spears and lances into the forward giants. The lead brute received almost twenty spears, piercing his thick hide before he fell dead. All the remaining took at least five successful hits each as the cavalry thundered past them, for these horsemen were veterans at fighting giants. The large brutes did manage to hit five cavalrymen in the charge, killing one and wounding four, who were immediately picked up by their comrades and taken to safety.
The giants reeled from the shock of the cavalry charge but managed to regroup and attempt to attack the land dragons. Each dragon was rushed by three giants wielding their large clubs, while the seventh was headed off by a cavalry platoon. The remaining beasts were pulling the multiple spears sticking from them with their free hands. The first giant to reach the side of one of the land dragons was met by the point of a long spear from one of the crewmen along with an arrow in the chest from another. It snapped the spear in half, leaving one end stuck in its shoulder, and struck the dragon in the si
de with a thud against its greenish brown hide.
Another giant met the same treatment on the other side of the land dragon while the one attacking from the rear was hit with dragon’s tail, smashing it in the side and knocking the twelve-foot-tall brute to the ground. The dragon turned quickly to the left and sunk its jaws into the giant’s shoulder and threw it to the ground while striking the other giant with his tail, snapping its neck and killing it. The third giant had gotten up and struck the dragon in the hip with its club, causing it to roar in pain. One of the land dragon’s crewmen hit the giant with another arrow as the land dragon limped back a couple of steps away from it, to gain distance for a counterattack. Just then the cavalry came back, attacking the giant from the rear and finishing it off with multiple spears and arrow hits. The other wounded giant met the same fate.
The giants attacking the other land dragon met similar demise, with one being killed by the dragon and the other two finished off by the cavalry’s lances. The last standing giant was surrounded by the cavalry and the land dragons. It looked all around at the dozens of spears pointed at it and the two enraged land dragons. The lead paladin called in its own tongue for it to surrender. The protruding brow crumpled in a brief moment of contemplation. Being very cruel but cowardly by nature, the giant laid down its club and lowered its head in a sign of surrender. The injured beast was then escorted to the rear by the land dragons and the troop of cavalry.
The pod led by the mountain giant moved quickly toward the legion, weapons ready to crush anything in their path. Jodem raised his staff and fired a disruption ray at the mountain giant. The clever giant quickly pulled a smaller common giant in front of him to take the spell blast. The bright ray struck the common giant in the chest, wrenching his thick frame before it went limp. The mountain giant towered over his dead common giant type cousin, standing at least five feet taller. He then shrugged it to the ground with ease—attributing to his great strength, for only thunder giants and dragons were stronger than these creatures. He raised his nine-foot-long studded mace and continued the charge with the remaining six common giants.
When the two groups got to within a hundred yards of each other, the giants began to throw rocks and the land dragons breathed their line fire. Six rocks hurtled through the air as one common giant was struck by the cone of fire, searing him over half his body and killing him instantly. The other land dragon hit the mountain giant’s huge metal shield, which blocked the fiery blast, but both knocked it out of his large hands and partially melted it. Three rocks glanced off the land dragons, with the other three squashing five of the charmed orcs.
The land dragon crews fired two ballistae spears, which struck two of the lead common giants. Both grabbed the shafts and pulled them out of their midsections with roars of pain. As the two forces came together, the land dragons quickly struck two common giants with deadly bites, lifting them in the air and throwing them aside. The charmed orcs moved in and began to attack three of the other common giants with spears and swords. The mountain giant sprinted in quickly and struck one of the land dragons in the head with his mace, knocking it on its side. The four-man crew spilled out and quickly tried to recover themselves as their dragon roared in pain.
The giant raised his morning star to hit the injured land dragon again, but Jodem beat him to the strike and fired a sunburst beam at the evil brute, so as not to cause any collateral damage to the land dragon or its crew. The mountain giant raised his hand, enacting his spell shield and absorbing some of the power of the wizard’s light ray, but it knocked him back several feet as his magic force field gave way, and the remainder of the beam hit him in the chest.
The other land dragon turned to face the mountain giant, who just managed to roll away from its jaws, which clamped down on empty air. Mountain giants were not only incredibly strong, they were also very nimble for their size, making them very dangerous as compared to the common giants or even the ice and fire giants. He moved in and struck the attacking land dragon with his mace, just missing the crew’s fighting carriage. Nimble or not, the giant did not dodge the land dragon’s tail strike, which hit him in the hip and sent him tumbling to the ground.
A common giant then lumbered in to attack the land dragon, only to meet a claw swipe that slashed the giant’s abdomen, forcing it back. The injured land dragon got back up on its feet and shook its head to clear it from the hard hit, with the greenish blood oozing from the wound. Its crew scrambled to get up into the armored carriage on its back. Jodem powered his staff and unleashed a freezing ray at one of the common giants. The icy blast hit it in its upper midsection, freezing a good part of the creature’s body solid, which then cracked and burst. Jodem had used several spells fighting the chromatics and beholders, and he was getting down to his last few before his staff would need to fully recharge itself.
The orcs were swarming two of the common giants, who were smashing one with each club strike, but it was like beating crazed hornets away; they were taking their toll on the large brutes. The remaining common giants were now focused on attacking the land dragons, with the mountain giant sprinting toward Jodem. The wizard quickly waved his staff and created an ice wall that encircled the giant, which it ran into and bounced back covered in an icy frost. Enraged, the creature got up roaring, raised his mace, and struck the twenty-inch-thick wall. It cracked but did not give. As he struck it again, Jodem prepared a spell to greet the angered creature.
With a final blow, a portion of the ice wall gave way and the mountain giant stepped out and yelled to Jodem in his dialect, “Wizard, you will now meet your fate.”
“Be careful when you play with fire, for you might get burnt, my overconfident brute,” he yelled back to the giant, casting a fireball at him. The mountain giant attempted to dodge the large flaming sphere that streaked toward him. He was only partially successful, with the fiery blast hitting him in the side as he jumped away, throwing his large frame farther than he expected. He slowly got up, his right side and back smoking from the flames of the spell blast. Jodem was amazed at the speed of the twenty-foot-tall giant and quickly started to prepare another spell to finish him off.
The mountain giant got up smarting from his burns, with a look of pure ferocity across his smudged bluish white skin. He lifted his mace with his blackened arm and limped toward Jodem. The wizard was preparing another spell, but it would likely be too close to being able to cast it before the giant got to him. Just then an icy beam from above struck the giant, freezing him solid as his final deep shout of pain faded, and then he shattered into hundreds of pieces. Talonth quickly back winged and landed beside Jodem. Strikenth dove and hit a common giant with his icy breath, turning it into a frozen statue before it cracked and shattered under its own weight.
“Thank you for your assistance, Talonth,” Jodem nodded to the pair.
“No thanks needed, Master Wizard, your fight with the chromatics earlier and the wounds you inflicted on them greatly helped us in battle. We are just returning the favor,” the large silver responded.
“Your wounds are deep, Talonth, you should retire and tend to them with Aloras salve,” Jodem responded.
“There will be time for healing later, Master Jodem, but for now there are still enemy on the field,” Talonth replied.
“Master Wizard, you know of the dedication of silver dragons,” Lordan yelled down to Jodem with a smile. An audible thud distracted them as Jodem’s charmed orcs finally felled one of the giants, who had killed all but four of the twenty that had attacked him. The other giant had just crushed the twenty orcs that were fighting him, but evidenced by the multiple broken spears sticking from him, and dozens of bleeding sword and axe slashes, they had not died without taking their toll on the brute.
The wounded giant limped over to the remaining orcs and began to swing sluggishly. It crushed one of the orcs with its club, with the other three attacking it with the same mindless ferocity that helped
them kill the first giant. The brute managed to kill the remaining orcs after taking several more hits to its legs and midsection. As it turned, it looked at the silver dragon with an almost fearful expression, which Lordan then hit it with a blast from his lance, finishing it off.
“Those orcs did come in handy after all,” Jodem said to Lordan and Talonth.
“Too bad you couldn’t do that to the entire army,” Lordan quipped.
The land dragons quickly felled the other two giants with almost point-blank blasts of fire. “Gallanth and Mkel just finished off the large giant clan,” Talonth explained as he looked to the east.
“Now is the time to destroy this army,” Lordan spoke up. “Jodem, we will have to work together to cut off their retreat eastward.”
“Gallanth has taken to the air, along with his Weir companions. We must join him,” Talonth added.
“We must also not let this Morgathian sorcerer escape. I will meet you by Mkel and Gallanth,” Jodem said as he closed his eyes and whispered in elvish into the dragonstone at the end of his staff, calling for Vatara.
“See you in the air,” Lordan said, looking down at Jodem and saluting as Talonth took a couple of steps away from Jodem and the land dragons and launched into the air, a cloud of grass and dust rising from the downdraft of his wings.
“Good fight, my little brothers, now take your rest to heal,” Talonth spoke in Draconic to the two injured land dragons as he slowly flew a slow circle above them, who then bowed their heads in response. Vatara swooped down and landed beside the wizard. Jodem climbed onto the flying saddle and nudged the giant eagle to take off.
“Excellent job, Lieutenant; you, your men, and your dragons fought well,” he yelled to the land dragon crew leader as Vatara took off into the air.
Dragon Alliance: Rise Against Shadow Page 42
