him, its hammer raised in the air, ready for the downward descent that would crush him. But before it could strike, a young Finarthian warrior flung himself at the giant and stabbed the thing in its thick muscled leg. The blade barely broke the skin, but the attack distracted the giant enough to give Graggis a split second to recover.
As he sucked in desperately needed air, he saw the enraged giant pivot, swinging its huge hammer down onto the boy. Everything seemed to be in slow motion to Graggis as he saw the look of shock and horror on the boy’s face. It was the same boy who had brought the prince and Dagrinal the lances. The monsters hammer slammed into the young warrior, crushing him into the ground.
Graggis roared in anger as he gripped his magical axe. “Now it’s your turn!”
The giant looked down at him with a confused expression on his face, as if trying to understand his words. But the giant’s expression changed to one of pain when Graggis bolted forward and swung his axe in a mighty swing at its unprotected ankle. The attack was so quick that the giant didn’t have any time to respond. In a blur, Graggis went to work on the giant’s ankles like he was downing a tree, and he might as well have been, considering the size of the beast’s massive legs. Graggis’s immense strength, fueled by his anger, drove the magical axe head through tough skin and muscle to stop dead at the beast’s strong ankle bones.
The giant bellowed in pain as it toppled to its knees. As the beast fell, however, it was able to reach out with its right hand and seize Graggis around the waist, lifting him in the air. Though the hill giant’s hands were not able to totally encircle Graggis’s thick waist, its grip was so powerful that it was able to grasp and hold him securely in the air. Even though the giant was on its knees, Graggis was still several paces from the ground. Graggis struggled, but it was no use, the giant’s fingers squeezed harder. Luckily Graggis’s armor was protecting his flesh, but even that was beginning to bend under the sheer power of the beast.
The giant, groaning from the pain in his ankles, brought Graggis closer to his face. “You hurt Toglin, now you die,” the giant growled, its deep voice covering him with breath that stunk of rotting flesh.
Fortunately for Graggis, giants were not too bright. The injured giant had overlooked the fact that Graggis was still holding his deadly axe.
“This is for the boy!” Graggis growled back as he lifted his enchanted axe with one hand. Most men could not wield an axe that size with one arm only, but Graggis was not like most men; he was as strong as dwarven steel, and right now, as angry as a wounded bear guarding her cubs.
By the time the giant processed the angry human’s words, Graggis’s axe had cleaved the stupid beast’s face. The giant convulsed several times before it fell backwards, releasing its deadly grip on Graggis. Graggis landed hard on top of the giant’s chest. He stumbled to his feet and stood tall upon the dead giant’s chest. He reached down, gripped the axe handle, and placed his booted foot on the dead giant’s chin. The axe head was buried deep in the giant’s skull, but he pulled hard and the axe broke free from the grisly wound.
As soon as he had retrieved his axe, he looked up and saw four orcs running toward him. Glancing quickly around him he saw that the fighting had turned to complete chaos; everyone, man and beast alike, was fighting wildly to try and stay alive.
Graggis growled, and yelling maniacally he leaped off the dead giant to meet the orcs. The boy had saved him, and his death had caused a fire to burn inside him, a fire that needed more blood before it could be extinguished.
As the chaos of battle continued, Jonas was rapidly approaching the dark trio on the hill. Tulari’s effortless strides quickly narrowed the distance between them. He drew forth his long bow. From his magical quiver he could draw an endless supply of arrows, another gift from Shyann, one he had realized a few days earlier as he and Taleen practiced their bows one evening before the sun had set. He nocked an arrow, and though he was still some distance from his target, he took