Sweet victory

This is chapter number six out of ten, no further comment required.

Have a good one and remember, if the novel gets like 100 pps by Friday I will do a triple release on the weekend.

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Shortly after my conversation with the captain, myself and my ragtag group of henchmen walked out through the gates once again, this time armed with three worn-out spears and the so-called executioner's ax, they were nifty weapons, when the captain handed them over I felt each one in my hands, just out of curiosity.

My conclusions are simple, the spears are nice, very pokey, the ax is too big, for a human it would be unusable in battle, it is just a long wooden pole with a hunk of sharpened iron at the top, quite unwieldy as I couldn't even swing it due to the weight.

In other words, it does not fit me, but I know someone that it does, namely Vun, in his hands, it looks more like a slightly large hatchet, hope he knows how to swing it, not like it will do much good even if he knows how to tho.

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Shortly after leaving the city, I feel a pull on the connection I have with my summon, it does not seem particularly urgent.

Raising my hand I say in a somewhat hushed voice. ''We will stop here for a second, keep an eye out and lightly tap my shoulders if anything happens, otherwise don't touch me''.

The leading ax-wielding giant, Vun, growls a word from the front ''Understood''.

Meanwhile, the pirate walking behind me while wielding a spear in his left hand like a man would use a walking stick asks. ''Alright Boss well keep an eye out, but what are we stopping for?''.

Closing my eyes I speak one last word before the world switches to purple. ''Scouting''. This should do.

My vision switches and I find myself flying over the clearing, doing circles over the area, taking a look around there doesn't seem to be anything around.

Focusing on the open hole I don't see anything wrong with the ground around it, which means that whatever fell in, did not crawl back out.

Ordering the bird to get closer I only see a slick purple surface over the hole, I did not think about this, but it seems that my vision does not go past the surface of the water, to my eyes it looks like a perfect purple pane of glass, only disturbed by the occasional water bubbles coming from within.

The water level also seems quite a bit higher than before so I can assume that the twice damned Vulnog is inside.

Deciding it's safe enough I tell the bird to start scouting in wider circles around the areas just in case something comes crawling.

Then I very quickly pull back on the connection and regain my human senses. The henchmen are huddled up together around me while keeping watch. They notice my now open eyes and stare at me waiting to see if I say anything.

''It's safe, the path is also clear, it's now or never so let's hurry along''. They did not seem to fully believe my words but they started walking forwards anyway.

This trek is much easier than the earlier one, mostly because a path has been cleared so all we had to do this time is to follow the long ditch through the woods.

The closer we got the more tense everyone became, myself included, after all, I know that the thing is in the water but I don't know if it is alive.

Soon the entrance to the clearing comes into sight, I stop walking hoping my goons will enter first, there's no such luck, the moment I stopped moving they also froze.

How unreliable.

I look at them and put up two fingers to point at the clearing, everyone shakes their heads Vun and Ubam included, I swear ill dock their pay.

As the standstill continues I decide there's no time for this, the longer we spend here the more dangerous it gets. So with a jerking motion, I stretch my hand and grasp the shaft of the closest spear that was being held by one of the new giant goons.

He swiftly let's go and I felt the weight of the weapon pull down on me, how reassuring, not.

Slightly knowing how to wield this I use my right hand to grab the very bottom of the spear and my left hand to grab somewhere around the middle of the shaft, then I slowly tilt it forward until the point is at least a meter in front of me.

Here goes nothing. With the scorching stares of my useless henchmen behind me, I start to slowly make my way to the hole. The first thing I notice is the smell, it was horrible, absolutely horrifying in fact. It reminded me of a combination of clogged sewers and the smell of putrefying bodies like the ones on the city streets. Quite unpleasant.

Slowly, very slowly I inch forward step by step until the inside of the trap comes in sight, what I witness is most unpleasant. The Vulnog lied twisted belly up in the water, it sunk down maw first and its heavy weight must have made it impossible for it to lift its head out of the water, that combined with the rapidly swelling fur must have made it panic so it struggled hard enough to fully do a barrel roll in the water, that's when it must've run out of air and suffocated to death.

There was no sight of the bait, it must've been underneath the thing.

Very carefully i tilt the spear tip downwards and stab at the beast exposed neck, there is heavy resistance as if I'm trying to pierce wood but the thing doesn't even twitch as the crude iron tip enters its body.

Seeing this, a feeling of ecstasy take me over, hot blood starts coursing through my veins, my heart is beating at a thousand miles per hour.

I've actually done it, I've somehow killed a beast of legend, it may be common in this world but where I came from its as rare as a dragon, in other words, I've slain a metaphorical dragon!

A bit too excitedly I bellow to my lovable goons. ''Come over quickly, it's dead!''. They hesitate seeming to still doubt my words, and as I prepare myself to continue, Ubam steps forward followed shortly after by Vun and the other giants.

As the trap comes into their vision they let out a collective gasp and their eyes change, from suspicious to excited, similar to how mine did.

''Hurry up and move the thing, we need to carry the body to the city''. the giants spring into action with some of them kneeling next to the hole and staring closely at the carcass while others still seemed somewhat hesitant to approach it.

I push the shaft of the spear into the hands of the closest giant then I say it in a still loud voice. ''Use the spears to push it up out of the water then pull it with your hands, you should be strong enough to do it are you not?''

They acknowledge my words and one of them positions the iron tip on its belly as if to skewer it, i swiftly stop him.

''Don't ruin its hide!'' I say. ''It will make a fine trophy''. I'm not that much into hunting or trophy keeping but this one, this one I will keep.

What follows is an exercise in futility, my minions cant push this thing out of the water, it's much too big and heavy, try as they try they have no proper leverage to pull it out, they tried everything, pulling it out by its bony appendages, pushing it with the spears, trying to roll it over for some reason, nothing worked.

''We may have to just leave it here''. I say dejectedly. ''it's not wise to stay here for long''.

Things never go as planned do they, sigh, there's nothing I can do about it.

Hearing my words the giants stop trying and also seem somewhat sad, their grunts that is, became lower and longer, as if disappointed.

As everything seemed to be over, my trusted guard, the eighty-year-old giant does the unexpected.

He walks over to the hole looks straight down and takes the plunge. his large body sinks in the freezing cold water filled with blood and feces.

The surprise was evident as the clearing became eerily quiet, the only sound was the swooshing of water as Vun moved underneath. It takes no genius to figure out what's going on so I quickly point my hand to the hole and say loudly.

''Get into position, Vun is going to push it from underneath, it's now or never, grab a foot each, two of you grab the head''. They dash towards their positions and extend their large muscled hands in order to grab hold of the beast.

It does not take long until it starts trembling and lifting itself ever so slight, must be Vun pushing it from underneath.

Slowly ever so slowly it rises out of the water until most of its body is visible, at this point the giants let go of its appendages and struck their hands underneath hauling It up.

With a great show of strength, they throw the three meters long monstrosity over the snow-covered grounds.

All is great except one thing, Vun is still stuck in the water, thankfully his head is just over the water level, mostly due to the Vulnogs fur absorbing so much of it.

''Help him out''. I tell the huffing giants. Soon, Vun is out of the water, and he looked positively dirty and freezing.

His face shows no change but one thing gives his state away, namely the trembling in his beard. While his rough face did not show any apparent signs of weakness, the trembling in his jaw caused the long beard to vibrate, it is quite a sight.

''Hurry along. grab the thing and haul it up, Ubam you give your cloak to Vun''. The exhausted giants start moving again, all five of them go over to the Vulnog and lift it up, they position it over their shoulder and carry it as if it was a palanquin.

Ubam did as I told him and handed his dry leather cape to Vun who took it while handing his own soaking wet cape to Ubam.

He looked questioningly at me while carrying the vile curtain.

''Ditch it Ubam, there's no time. Actually no, use it to cover the hole, secure it with some loose stones''

It does not take long for my goon squad and I to leave the clearing, everyone is moving swiftly with the thrill of one more kill making us forget about the cold water, the infernal smell, and the rough terrain.

I can almost hear a choir of angels singing in my head.

And it's sweet, sweet, sweet victory, yeah!