by Eric Vall
I didn’t want to break up the gathering, but the sky had quickly turned to a duskish blue, so Dorinick and I called everyone to attention.
“Well,” the general said with one hand on the hilt of his sword, and his helm propped beneath the other. He took a moment to look over the troops in front of him before he continued. “It’s an honor to lead ye’. And an honor to lead alongside you, Mason Flynt.” He nodded in my direction, and I bowed my head with gratitude. “It’s been some time since I had a troop as promising as this one, but I don’t want that goin’ to your heads. The giants won’t have any trouble bringing reserves this far north, but we’re all we’ve got. So, keep your wits about you, and give ‘em hell.” Then the dwarf motioned for me to join him, and I leapt to the top of the boulder to address the troops as well.
“I know we got a good feel for everything in training last night, but the catapults are gonna change things a lot,” I began. “I want you Terra Mages to keep sharp and do what you can about the debris from the diamonds. Needless to say, we don’t want any of our own people getting crushed.”
The troops nodded their agreement, and Dorinick ordered a group of dwarves to form the shooting line in the brush while the rest retreated to the Warwolves.
I organized the mages into troops and sent most of them to the tree line, and I instructed the ones left to form a line right out in the open at the edge of the basin.
The sky was black when everyone was finally in formation, and I stood in line at the basin’s edge with Aurora at my side.
The Ignis Mage had lit only two torches at either end of the line, in order to lure the giants directly to the battle field, but now we waited in the silent and frigid wilderness.
After several minutes of silence, I heard the half-elf whisper at my side.
“I know you have a plan you haven’t shared with me,” she said, and I dragged my gaze away from the peaks to look at the Ignis Mage. Her emerald eyes were trained on me, and there was an unmistakable challenge in them.
“Why do you think that?” I asked innocently.
She cocked an eyebrow at me, and I smirked back.
“Fine,” I admitted. “I need to figure out where they’re coming from if we’re going to find Deli. It’s not like we can take a giant hostage and decipher the screeches … ”
Aurora furrowed her brow and nodded her agreement. “So, what’s the plan?”
I chuckled and shook my head. “The plan is you’re gonna fucking decimate these giants, and I’m gonna do the same. But if I see an opportunity, I’m gonna take it, and that’s all you need to know.”
She dropped her jaw as I evaded the question, but I just sent her a wink. The half-elf let out a huff and returned her eyes to the peaks.
I counted the seconds slowly and smirked when she only made it to seven.
“Fine,” she relented, but then she turned back to me and narrowed her eyes. “But just remember our deal. You’re not allowed to die, and neither am I.”
I chuckled and laid a kiss on the saucy half-elf’s cheek. “Yes, dear,” I chided.
Then I turned to look over my shoulder and eyed the shooting line in the brush. The two mages who would light the arrows were posted at the ready on either side of the dwarves, and as I craned my neck toward the opposite slope, I could just make out the glint of a diamond on a launching platform. Other than that, I couldn’t make out anything in the darkness, and my nerves eased up a bit as I realized we couldn’t be more prepared.
I returned my eyes to the peaks and shifted my weight to get some warmth in my veins when Aurora nudged me with her elbow. I whipped my eyes to where she pointed, and as I squinted toward the northern peak, I could make out the heads of the ice giants as they rose above a ridge that sloped directly into the basin. I alerted the troops, and the air of the clearing sparked to life with the static charge of the mages. The strength that pulsed through my veins as I sensed the collective energy of the magic around me made my blood ignite, and my heart thrummed in my ears with anticipation as I watched the giants gather on the snowy ridge of the mountain.
First there were three, then three more, and within a few minutes I counted twenty giants swaying in a long line against the night sky. Their hollow eyes were black pits in the center of their jagged skulls, and they watched us like this for several minutes before they began their slow descent. I could see the snow cascade down the rock face, and the basin began to echo with the crunch of rocks and the long, shrill screeches of the giants.
I saw the new mages shift nervously, and Aurora called out above the noise.
“Remember your training,” she warned.
The ground began to tremble with the weight of the giants as they made it to the base of the mountain, and sheets of snow slid into the basin with them.
I felt the static in the air surge just as a low and heavy creaking sound came from the tree line. Then the low whistle of whooshing air followed, and I looked up as three giant diamonds sailed through the sky.
They met their mark in the skulls of the ice giants, and as they shattered, we broke our line, and flames erupted across the clearing.
The giants screeched at the onslaught, and the Ignis Mages wove through the snow while they ignited the trunks of the giants’ icy legs. Then a great trench wrenched opened beneath them before the first giant could even spew its enchanted ice.
Five giants fell hard into the earth and were engulfed in flames just as another hollow creak echoed through the clearing. The Ignis Mages scattered as the diamonds struck, and shards of ice and jewels glittered in the flames as they fell all over the clearing.
The shooting line ignited the moment they shattered, and I watched as fifteen flaming arrows pierced the bodies of the giants who now flailed and collided against each other before they plummeted into the trench and were swallowed by flames.
A wide grin spread across my face, but a long screech drew my attention from the fight, and I turned to see a line of giants crest the opposite ridge. They descended in a tight line, and their screeches echoed so shrilly that half of the mages clapped their hands to their ears at the sound.
Then a frigid breeze kicked up all through the clearing, and the snow was lifted into a fierce whirlwind. It spiraled as it gathered into a wall of white before it flew at the line of giants and knocked half of them back against the cliff. They skidded uncontrollably down the peak, and I almost laughed at the sight of the confused giants, who kicked helplessly and lost chunks of their legs and torsos against the boulders they met with.
By the time the line reached the clearing, the mages in the trees were ready, and a trench opened with bright white flames arching from the sides to bury them within it.
Shrieks rent the air, and flames flew from everywhere while the giants who hadn’t been caught off guard split their jaws wide open, and the first wall of ice fell across the clearing. It pierced the rocky basin and spread with a vengeance as it bloomed in every direction and made directly for the mages.
I saw Pindor not twenty feet in front of me just as the young mage snapped his eyes to mine, and I didn’t hesitate. I slammed my fist to the ground and felt his magic join with mine instantly, and a trench ripped the earth apart between our fists. It arched wide to encircle the icy bloom, and I watched as the enchanted shards poured into the trench. Before they could reach the opposite side, we pulled a wall from the ground and sent it down at full force. It crumbled and buried the ice in a matter of seconds, and by the time I looked up, the giant who’d hurled the stuff was already engulfed in the flames of Kurna.
The brawny mage wore a toothy grin on his face, and the arch of his flames flashed a searing white. He whipped around and let loose his wrath upon a pair of giants who had risen from their collision with the ground, and I saw two boulders lift at their backs and crash down hard on their skulls, courtesy of Pindor. Kurna let out a devilish laugh as the giants melted down before him, and I raised my eyebrows at the ruthless mage.
Haragh hadn’t been k
idding, he really was something.
But my admiration was derailed by another shriek, and this one didn’t come from the ridge of the mountains.
I turned toward the pass that led us here just in time to see a troop of ice giants emerge from the blackness.
Pindor hollered over the noise, and I extended my hand to find the energy of the young mage already matched to mine. A wall shot from the earth and stretched thirty feet into the sky in a matter of seconds. With a twist of my hand, I tipped the wall and heard the giants shriek in fury as they shattered beneath the weight of it.
Ignis Mages leapt from the trees and were on them the second the rubble settled, and the flames sent the rest of the giants in the pass reeling.
They spewed their ice over the flames, and I dodged out of the way just in time. As I flipped to slam my fist down, I heard a low creak, and another diamond flew through the air and barreled through the line of giants like bowling pins.
Then Kurna gave a vicious laugh and the entire pass ignited, with Aurora and the brawny mage planted at the mouth of it.
The trench I’d formed swallowed the ice just as a mage leapt over the rubble, and I watched him come down to the earth with the full force of his magic. There was a deep rumble, and a giant screeched as a mound rose up beneath it and sent it flying into the air. When the beast landed, it shattered into a million pieces, and the ground ignited immediately.
The Terra Mage didn’t waste a second before he ran off into the fray, and I grinned as I took in the chaos around me. The heat of battle had always been a phrase I read about in books, but with the flames of the mages flashing from every direction, and the diamonds raining down from the sky, it took on a whole new meaning for me.
I sent two boulders into the skulls of the nearest giants and had just flattened another under a wall when a frigid breeze kicked up again, and I flipped around to see where the Aer Mage sent it. Up on a peak, another twenty giants watched with hollow eyes, and they let out a long, high screech. A good fifteen giants still stormed the clearing, and I sent a sharp whistle toward the tree line. There was a low creak, and a diamond flew through the air to crash against a giant, then two more met their mark to a tee.
I stretched out my palm and threw the debris of the diamonds into the snow on the slopes, then I angled a trench so it would swallow three giants at once. Pindor joined me to bury another under a wall, and as the giants ignited, I felt the wind shift and fly straight up along the peak. The oncoming giants were uprooted again, and I silently thanked the Aer Mage for insisting that she join us.
Watching those bastards skid down the mountain on their icy asses was becoming my new favorite thing.
I laughed outright as three of them collided, and then I ripped the ground apart to catch them in a flaming pit. The ground shuddered under me, and I jumped just as another trench opened up and swallowed a giant I hadn’t even seen behind me. Then I gave the ground a good shake to catch another off balance just as a line of arrows arched above my head and impaled the beast.
Over the crashing and shattering of ice, I heard Aurora’s voice, but as I whipped around to find the half-elf, all I could see was flames.
Then several voices rose up in alarm.
My eyes darted straight to the peaks, and my gut clenched.
I dragged my sights across the hollow eyes and splintered faces I saw there, but the line went on and on. Every ridge of the northern slopes was lined with ice giants who simply loomed there as they watched the havoc below. Then their jaws parted as one, and a wall of ice spewed into the sky from the heights of the peaks. The mages screamed to one another and scattered for the cover of the tree lines, but one mage rose to his full height in the center of the clearing.
“Kurna, run!” I hollered, but the Ignis Mage closed his eyes and brought his hands together with his brows furrowed in concentration.
I bolted for the tree line as the whistle of the enchanted spears grew, and when I turned, Kurna had formed a small orb between his palms. It pulsed and sent sparks flying as it began to turn, and then it started to grow. The Ignis Mage lifted it above his head, and I could see the waves of heat billow out around him, but the orb only continued to grow. Finally, when it stretched and flickered wide above the basin, Kurna hurled it straight into the sky.
The orb spun on its axis as it flew to meet the millions of icy shards that plummeted from the sky. Then the Ignis Mage smiled and threw his arms apart, and the orb exploded like a supernova.
The sound of the explosion clapped against the cliffs like a bomb had gone off, and we were blinded with a light so bright the entire forest was illuminated like the day.
I could see the faces of every mage beneath the trees as they stood in shock of what they saw.
Then darkness fell again, and I blinked hard to regain my sight, but no shards of ice met the ground. A thunderous noise came from the peak, and the ground began to shake. When I finally got my vision back, the wall of ice giants was no longer at the ridge.
They now barreled down the cliff face in half the time, and several mages grabbed hold of the trees to keep from falling.
Aurora leapt into the clearing and was followed by a dozen Ignis Mages, who all joined Kurna at the base of the mountains and sent a wall of flames straight up its side. The giants met with the flames, but they barreled on, and none had melted through by the time they neared the clearing.
The Ignis Mages fell back to reform their line, and diamonds flew through the sky. They were followed by a pack of flaming arrows, then another right behind that. A trench ripped open at the base, but only five giants were pulled in. The others cleared the gaping hole with a bound of their trunkish legs, and when they landed, they split their jaws and let loose on the clearing.
Shards of ice spewed across the mages, but they ignited their palms just in time to form a wall of flames to engulf it. Walls shot up from the mountainside to halt the oncoming army, and several giants were crushed beneath them, but others braced themselves and broke through.
They were learning quickly, and as another diamond flew over my head, I looked up to see the ridge had filled with the next line of troops.
“Holy fuck,” I breathed.
They didn’t bother to watch us this time. These giants descended as quickly as they’d arrived, and I lurched forward to scale a large boulder near the center of the clearing.
Flames flew around me, and the earth shuddered with the strength of the Terra Mages and the weight of the giants, but I closed my eyes against all of it and held my hands outstretched. I felt Pindor join me from somewhere in the chaos, and I focused my mind on what I sought to do. I sensed the young mage waver, but then he rejoined me at full force, and my arms began to tremble with the effort I demanded from them.
I heard a hollow crack split the air, then it grew deeper and louder as a rumble joined with it. I opened my eyes and strained to hold my circuit. Flames flashed all through the clearing, but I looked past all of it to the mountainside above us.
The snow dropped in sheets, and giant boulders broke free and began to roll down as a wide black fracture broke open the belly of the mountain.
The tremor rocked through the mountain and sent the thundering giants to their knees. They slid and collided as they fell into the black of the massive hole, while others were thrown clear into the air and swallowed up as they landed amongst the torrent of rock and snow.
I clenched my jaw and braced myself as I channeled my magic to slow the avalanche, but the strength and speed of it was more than I could match. I could feel Pindor’s strength begin to fail as well, but suddenly another joined our circuit, and then several more. I didn’t know which mages they were, but they formed in a force field against the avalanche, and the tide of rock was thrown into the sky and soared clean over the clearing.
I heard the distant trees that crumpled under the mess, but every giant that had covered the mountain face was gone. I saw the Ignis Mages had kept up their front on the battlefield through it all
, and diamonds still coursed through the sky to shatter the skulls of the giants.
The mountain gaped with an eerie smile above me, but the effort of ripping the rock open drained nearly every ounce of my magic. I stumbled to my knees and breathed heavily as diamond dust fell all around me, and my vision went bright with colors.
After a few moments, I forced myself to rise, and as I looked once more to the ridge of the mountain, my eye caught on a figure.
A single giant stood half concealed by the ridge, but its hollow eyes scanned the clearing as it hovered in the shadows. Then the giant disappeared behind the peak, and I saw my chance. I whistled for Bobbie, and she shot from the trees and wove through the mages and around trenches to come to my side.
I mounted her quickly, and she lurched forward just as someone landed on the seat behind me.
“What the--” I started and whipped my head around to see Pindor covered in sweat.
“What’s the plan?” he hollered above the crashing of the battle around us, and I was floored by the dedication etched into his face. I didn’t think I’d ever met anyone who took the buddy system so seriously.
But I was damn happy to have the kid with me.
I kicked Bobbie into action, and she peeled off into the trees.
“Help me with this terrain!” I called over my shoulder, and we joined a circuit as we scaled the edge of the mountain.
Bobbie roared against the steep grade, but she took a course up and around the ridges that brought us straight to the peak exactly where I’d seen the giant disappear. We halted at the ridge, and I scanned the expanse of mountains in front of us. Snowy cliffs rose and fell in every direction, but my eyes fell on a dim figure that lumbered over the rocks.
Bobbie knew right where I wanted her to go, and as she growled over the terrain, Pindor and I threw boulders aside and softened the sharpest rocks. The giant continued and didn’t look back, and I was grateful for the howling wind that ripped through the air at this altitude. I could feel icicles forming on my beard and brow, but I gritted my teeth against the frigid wind as the giant began to descend over the far side of a mountain.