Chains of the Forest

by Darin Niemann

  Another scream rang out as we ran, though it was quickly cut short. Fearing the worst, everyone sprinted even faster until we passed a small grove of trees into a clearing. There we found Sehas.

  The nobleman’s assistant dangled in the air a few feet off the ground, being held upside down by the biggest creature I had ever seen. It was humanoid and stood at least fifteen feet tall with a muscled frame to match. The pale blue creature wore hides and leathers that looked similar to the dire wolves and other animals we had seen within the mountains. In one hand it carried a giant club that was more tree than weapon.

  The party paused, unsure of the situation. Dendar spoke in an awed, soft tone. “Frost giant…”

  I had never seen a frost giant before but giant was a good description. It was twice the size of the troll I had fought long ago. I hoped that this creature was just as slow.

  The frost giant finally noticed us as it had been inspecting Sehas, wondering what it had found. Seeing us, the giant shouted loudly, causing our ears to ring. Elana abruptly fired an arrow at the hand holding Sehas, not causing too much damage but it startled the giant enough to drop the terrified man. He fell from a decent height, though he seemed to be all right as he scrambled to his feet and ran in a random direction. He had lost all sense of composure and fled.

  Vaughn growled in anger but by now the frost giant glared at us. It roared and heaved its club to smash us. The party split in two, half diving left and the other to the right. I felt the vibration as the club landed, knowing that even a glancing blow could prove disastrous. Recovering quickly, the dwarven brothers wasted no time in charging the creature’s legs. Vaughn and I began to move as well when another arrow from Elana struck the creature in the chest. I was almost to the creature when I noticed that a few yards behind it was yet another frost giant making its way towards us.

  Knowing that fighting even one of these creatures would be difficult, two of them at once would be a death sentence. I simply darted past the first giant to the questioning glance of Vaughn. My hope in engaging the second frost giant was to buy enough time for the others to finish off the first. I had a few moments to glance behind me to see Hafoki diving out of the way of a giant foot. The giant had attempted to stomp him into the ground. Vaughn punished the giant by bringing his sword around with a large sweep that connected with the back of its thigh. It howled in pain bringing its free hand across and swatting Vaughn aside. The big man was knocked off his feet but was beginning to stand when I was forced to pay attention to my own foe.

  I was nearly to the approaching giant when it attempted to reach down and catch me. I jumped, using a bit of wind magic to push me further than normally possible. Soaring over the giant hand and towards it’s shoulder, I brought my steel sword to bear, slicing a good portion of the creature’s eye and cheek. The giant roared and began to flail about, pain making its movements wild as its free hand came up to cover its eye. I let go of my sword as I landed on the giant’s shoulder as best as I could. With both hands now free, I grasped the creatures leathers and furs and I crawled over to hang from its back.

  It dropped its large club in its other hand and attempted to reach for me. As I couldn’t let the creature grab me, I let go. The ground rushed up to meet me from at least ten feet up. Mid-air, I quickly made two long daggers appear and stabbed deep into the back of the creature. It was enough to slow my fall as I made deep cuts in its flesh as I fell. I let the blades dissipate as I dropped to the ground, quickly diving away from the raging giant.

  Roaring, it attempted to stomp me but I had already moved away from it. As I was behind it I could see the first frost giant was beginning to slow. Vaughn and Dendar were attacking the creature repeatedly while dodging blows. Elana had clearly been peppering the giant with arrows. I even saw one in its eye. Frost giants were tough beings to be able to survive such a blow. Answald attempted a cut but Vaughn shoved the nobleman away just in time to avoid a backhand from the giant. In the short glance allowed to me, no sign of Hafoki could be seen.

  The second frost giant found me and charged. I did the smart thing and ran away. Running, I noticed a large boulder nearby, even slightly taller than the giants. An idea forming, I sprinted towards the rock as fast as I could but the giant had massive strides and I had to dive towards the rock to dodge a humongous fist as it smashed into the ground. Swiftly regaining my feet, I escaped behind the other side of the rock. My goal was to use the massive rock to remove the advantage of the giants long strides by keeping the the natural barrier between us.

  Sure enough, the frost giant followed me around but I was quicker and once again dashed around to the other side. We repeated this once more until I was on the side furthest from my fellow party members. Strangely, the giant didn’t immediately follow me this time and I worriedly thought he had gone to help the first frost giant. Just as I was about to step out and look, the massive boulder began to roll in my direction. The giant was attempting crush me with the boulder.

  Forced to run out of the cover, the giant grinned evilly and was about to run at me when I conjured a black sphere of wind covering its head. Confused at the sudden darkness, it stopped. The giant tried to grab at whatever blocked its sight but I pumped a bit more magic into the black wind to keep the giant’s massive swipes from dispersing it. It was smaller than the wind sphere that I had conjured against the bandits, but the giants flailing caused me to use more mana than I expected to in order to keep my sphere in place. As the giant struggled to regain its vision, I turned just in time to witness the first frost giant fall with a pained groan. Elana had to leap out of the way as it nearly fell on her. Vaughn and Dendar quickly jumped to the creature's neck and landed mighty blows, silencing the frost giant’s wails.

  Elana looked in my direction and shouted a warning. Turning while diving to the side, I saw that the second frost giant had dispersed enough of the black wind in order to see. A massive foot was headed directly towards me. In the split second I knew I wouldn’t entirely miss it with my dive, I used almost all of my remaining magic to create a sort of black shield. The kick landed against the shield but, as it was quickly formed and the giant’s foot had a massive amount of force behind it, it only lasted a few moments when the blow caught me in the shoulder.

  I flew a good ways before rolling to a stop. It took me a moment to regain my breath as my breath had been knocked out of me. I was sorely beaten from the impact and my shoulder screamed in pain but I was fairly sure nothing was broken. I knew what broken bones felt like. My makeshift windshield had softened the blow enough to prevent it from causing too much damage. I was extremely lucky to come away mostly unharmed. The cost, though, was that my mana was dangerously low. I could summon a windblade or two but anything more would be beyond me at the moment. Even magic had its limits.

  As I breathed in the cold mountain air, I rolled to the side and watched as the other members of my party engaged with the remaining frost giant. I could see that Vaughn and Dendar were clearly tiring. Answald was heading in my direction, likely on orders from Vaughn who no doubt wanted him out of the way. Elana continued to pelt the giant with well timed shots from her bow, interrupting the giant as it was about to attack Vaughn or Dendar.

  I needed to get up. Move. Grunting, I pulled myself to my feet. Answald stared in amazement as I stood, surprised to see me standing. I ran slowly at first due to the pain but I ignored it and began to pick up speed. The frost giant’s back was to me as it attempted to prevent Vaughn and Dendar from attacking. It was only a matter of time before one of them was a bit too slow in dodging the giant’s blows.

  Once I was near the giant, I jumped again. This time I couldn’t use magic as I only had enough for a windblade. Grabbing onto the creatures belt, I began climbing as fast as I could towards its unprotected neck. The giant didn’t care for things crawling on its back as it attempted to reach around and grab me. Just as it did so an arrow came and pierced its hand, causing the giant to flinch back. In spite of the situation, I grin
ned. A perfect shot.

  Elana’s marksmanship gave me just enough time to reach the frost giant’s shoulder. In one smooth movement, I stood up and created a long, black windblade in my hands. I thrust it with all my strength into the creature’s neck. As my conjured weapon pierced its neck, the giant stumbled. Suddenly it began to fall forward and I grabbed onto its leathers and rode it to the ground.

  Breathing heavily, I slowly stood up. My mana was completely gone. My steel sword lay somewhere out in the snow. I looked around to see Vaughn and Dendar breathing heavily as well. They looked worse for wear but alive. I spotted Elana moving towards us along with Answald. Neither had injuries at all, Elana due to keeping her distance while Answald hadn’t been in the fray that much. I still couldn’t see Hafoki. As I looked closely at Dendar, I could see silent tears running down his cheeks. I knew then that Hafoki hadn’t made it. The taste of victory lessened, now soured by the loss of the younger dwarf.

  Without a word, Dendar left us and moved to find his fallen brother. Vaughn approached me and we watched him leave. I saw Elana try to comfort the dwarven wayfinder but he merely shook his head as he wept over the body of his brother. Answald stood next to Elana, looking sorrowful as they watched Dendar grieve.

  “How did it happen?” I asked Vaughn as we began making our way over to the others.

  He shook his head in regret. “He was slow in dodging one of the giants kicks.” Vaughn sighed. “He died quickly.”

  It saddened me that I would never again hear the excited voice of Hafoki as he rattled on about something he found fascinating. He was—had been—a good companion.

  We let Dendar grieve for a while as the rest of us recovered from the fight. I retrieved my sword, although it took me some time to find it in the thin layer of snow. Elana retrieved what arrows she could, though many had been broken. Nobody could find Sehas who seemed to have disappeared. Vaughn and Answald began arguing, I guessed over the disappearance of Sehas.

  After some time I approached the kneeling Dendar, laying a hand on his shoulder. “My friend, we cannot stay here.”

  Dendar slowly nodded. His tears no longer fell freely, though the trails left from their passing still marred his cheeks. “He needs a proper burial.”

  I squeezed his shoulder in support, “And he shall have it.”

  The dwarf took ahold of Hafoki’s hand and removed a gleaming silver ring marked with a symbol on it. “Our clan signet rings.” He explained as he slid it onto a finger next to a similar ring, though each was unique.

  Then Dendar spoke softly to Hafoki’s body. “Worry not, little brother, I shall bring it home.”

  The dwarf finally stood and I helped him set about gathering what stones we could. The ground was too hard from the cold to allow us to dig so a stone cairn would have to do. Seeing what we were up to, the other members of the party also lent their hands. Even Answald shed a few tears as he placed stone after stone around Hafoki’s body. Eventually the stone mound was complete and we all gave a moment of silence before Vaughn spoke up.

  “It is growing dark. We need to head back to camp.”

  Dendar nodded and we left Hafoki’s cairn behind us. When we returned to camp we found that many of our provisions and Sehas’s pack were gone. After a quick search, Answald found that most of his coin was gone as well. Sehas had taken off with whatever he could carry.

  Dendar cared little as he immediately went to his bedroll, not bothering to eat. Vaughn was furious at the assistant-turned-thief and vowed to kill him if they saw him again. I silently agreed with him. Hafoki had died for him. And he had ran off like a coward.

  We all ate lightly as a good portion of our rations were gone. Vaughn once again decided watch order, although it was unspoken that Dendar wouldn’t have to keep watch that night.

  Chapter 16

  The morning sun found the remaining five members of our party still mulling over the events of the previous day. I took it as a good sign when Dendar ate a decent breakfast. It wouldn’t do him any good to starve himself. As the map stated we were nearly to our goal, there was little point in turning around now. If we did so, it would mean that Hafoki had died in vain. The dwarven wayfinder made no objection as we set off, continuing on our journey.

  The current, mostly flat expanse lasted until around noon before we once again headed through yet another valley. As Dendar had said so long ago, it would be easy to get lost in these mountains. Elana and I had given up scouting ahead. With so few party members left, splitting up would be foolhardy. We did however walk a ways in front of the group, though never so far as to lose sight.

  As we walked, I remembered the shot Elana had made to allow me to deal the finishing blow to the last frost giant.

  “You shoot well.” I commented.

  “Thank you.” She replied

  Despite recent events, I half-smiled. “I should be thanking you, especially for that last shot. It saved my life.”

  Elana smirked then, “One amidst many others.”

  I chuckled. It felt good to be able to laugh even with yesterday’s events hanging about.

  Cresting the next rise, Elana and I looked down to see a massive valley displayed before us. The size of it was incomparable to any of the numerous valleys we had previously encountered. In the distance down below lay a vast, ruined city made of stone. It was surrounded by a broken up wall and a river from the mountains snaked through much of the town, ending in a small lake within the city. We had made it. Elana and I turned towards our companions who still trailed us a short ways.

  “We’ve made it!” I called.

  Answald, Vaughn, and even Dendar picked up their pace to joined us as we stared out over the wide valley spread below.

  Answald’s eyes lightened from his darker mood while Vaughn merely appeared relieved. Dendar looked interested at the sight but it was clear to all that the death of his brother still weighed heavily upon him. He watched nearby in silence.

  “A lost city…” Answald breathed in awe. Being able to say that he was one of the first to discover a long lost civilization would no doubt cause endless glee for the carefree nobleman once he returned home. I nearly shook my head at the tales he would spin to any who would listen.

  Vaughn grunted at the rest of us, “No sense in standing here forever.” And he began his descent into the valley. He looked over his shoulder, “And keep your eyes peeled. Who knows what resides in such a place.”

  At the implication of potential enemies, Answald lost some of his excitement, though he still had a dreamlike expression on his face. Dendar merely thumbed his axe blade with a gleam in his eyes. I think Dendar might be the only one hoping to encounter foes within the valley. Elana and I glanced at each other before we nodded and followed.

  The valley was a good distance down below. The snow disappeared as we traveled deeper into the valley while the cold became less intense. About halfway down the slope we discovered an old, time-ravaged road. Whoever had been living within the city had attempted to build a road out, but hadn’t gotten far. I wondered what could have happened to the inhabitants of such a vast city, causing me to place a hand on my sword. As Vaughn had cautioned, I kept an eye out on our surroundings during our descent. My vigilance was for naught as we arrived at the city mid afternoon without hindrance.

  The area where the gate should have been was simply a yawning opening. The ten foot high stone wall still stood, albeit it was crumbling and covered with wild vegetation. The entrance, likely wooden doors, had long ago rotted and drifted away throughout the years. A stone arc, partially crumbled, had fallen from its place above the entrance. Symbols had been carved upon it that were unfamiliar to me.

  I heard Dendar whisper as the five of us gazed upon the archway. “The City in the Valley.”

  Elana raised an eyebrow in surprise, “It is dwarvish then?”

  Dendar nodded staring at the stonework with eyes, the scene before him evidently keeping his mind away from his brother’s passing. “This is an o
lder way of writing that goes back to the time of Namunri. He was the brother to King Dhurmuth. It is said that the two argued and the clan was divided. At least a third of the clansmen followed Namunri and left, never to be heard from again. Many assumed they died in search of a new home. But now this...” The dwarf scratched his beard as he thought about what this lost city could be.

  “What sort of argument could cause such a rift?” asked Vaughn.

  Dendar shook his head, “None remember the reason, it happened thousands of years ago.”

  Sticking together, we advanced beyond the archway into the city. Stone buildings lined the ancient road we took, some appearing to be aged by time while others appeared crushed as if by a massive force.

  Answald started to head into one of the less damaged buildings before Vaughn stopped him. “Let us make sure no enemies are near before we search for treasure.”

  Reluctantly, Answald nodded. We explored as a group for hours, scouring the broken city for signs of life. Aside from wild vegetation or a few harmless animals, none were found. At one point we encountered a wide circular area in the heart of the city. Many roads, including the one we came in from, lead to this place.

  Vaughn concluded, “The market stood here.”

  We also came upon a large pile of rubble to which a road lead straight towards. It had at one time been a large building, perhaps a palace or something similar. It would be impossible to search beneath the huge piles of rubble. We all decided that treasure would have to be found elsewhere.

  As the daylight was beginning to fade, we chose the least damaged building near the market and made camp for the night. With the city being made for dwarves, the taller members of our party had to duck slightly to enter. The insides, however, had ample space. Dendar commented that dwarves originally lived in massive caverns under the earth and thus most of them preferred high ceilings.