Chapter 7 The Giants

Light was around the corner. It was almost dawn, but still dark out. The lumbering brute closest to me had to be at least four or five stories tall. It was still too dark to make out many details.

I heard one cry out in pain. I glanced in the direction the sound came from. A giant was falling. It was covered in fire-lit arrows and ropes. These elves are not defenseless. The sound it made when it fell was intense. The entire area shook.

I saw another giant further away swing a tree trunk of immense proportions at the ground. The flow of the blunt weapon was streamlined, smooth. He effortlessly took out a dozen dwellings in a single swing. Debris from the victims was beginning to fall around me.

Something fell near me. It was something soft. I looked on in the dark.

"..el.."

A voice? I got closer.

"..elp me.."

A woman in pain. As I closed the distance, I realized she was missing her lower half below her ribs. Blood and innards were seeping out.

I grabbed her hand at the same moment that her muscles gave out. She was dead.

The sun began to show over the horizon. It was lighter out, enough to see the absolute horror on the elf woman's face. She was beautiful. My heart wrenched at the sight of her in front of me.

I placed my other hand over her eyes to close them. The Elders were mostly selfish and scared bastards. This is too cruel a fate for random elves, just trying to live their lives.

"Why are these giants here?"

I thought I had whispered quiet enough that no one would hear but, Atouk heard me and responded.

"My people brought them. We needed a distraction to find and rescue our Princess. I pray to the gods that she is found safe and brought home."

The dots connected. I can see the need for a distraction. But, is this too much? I don't know.

"Mery was found by your people already."

"Master? How do you know about the Princess?"

"They got her out of the prison. I watched it happen. I don't know where they are now. Are the giants your allies? Tell them to call off the attack."

"They are not our allies. My kind attacked one and left evidence pointing at the elves. They are attacking, thinking that the elves attacked first."

I let go of the dead elf's hand and stood up. I looked toward the nearest giant and steeled myself.

I made up my mind. I want to help the elves get rid of the giants before I get out of here. With my newfound strength, I can at least help.

"Mery, she was in a hanging prison cell near my own. I fed her with my own food when the guards refused to give her anything. She will be ok. I'm sure of it."

"Master! I gave myself to you before because of your strength and my selfish desire to live. Now, I give my services to you freely. If what you say is true, I owe you more than my life can give."

He bowed to me a second time.

"These giants, do they have a weakness? I want to help the elves fend them off."

"But, Master! These hate-filled elves imprisoned you didn't they? Why would you help them?"

I began walking toward the nearest giant.

"I'm not helping the Elders that imprisoned me. I'm helping the people of this village that don't deserve this kind of punishment. If you do not want to stay, then you can get out of here. Go to your Princess."

Atouk began following me.

"I can not do that. I am bound to you and will go wherever you go. If you wish to help the elves, then I shall do so too. I fear that, If we survive, I may be caught and killed or imprisoned as you were."

The giants were massive. Still, they looked as though their body mass was smaller than it should naturally be. They were almost boney in the limbs and extremities that were visible.

"If you want to survive, I can give you the order to go back to your home."

He ignored me and continued to follow. The giants wore minimal clothing. I looked like they wore dirty carpets of various shapes and sizes sewn together. The one in front of me had just a loincloth. He had some arrows in him already as some guards were working on wearing him down before backup could arrive.

His feet came into view after I turned a corner out of an alley. I paused and placed a hand on one of the palm-sized rocks that made up the cobblestone corner of the building in the alley. I squeezed with all my might and the rock crushed to dust with ease.

This power still felt unreal. When I threw Mik's cage, I was planning on just ripping off the door and pounding his face in. After he hit the wall, I was half surprised and half satisfied. The job was done.

"Second thoughts, Master?"

"No, I just wanted to make sure of something."

I began to run towards the giant without regard for my safety. Immortality has its perks. I know I can crush with my hands, and throw with my arm, can I punch with as much power?

Atouk was faster than me. He got to the giant's left heel and grabbed on with claws and teeth. I took aim for the right foot.

The giant noticed Atouk's interference and reached down to swat his ankle. Atouk jumped off and grabbed onto the back of the giant's hand. I got a few feet away from the giant's right foot.

I pressed hard with my own right foot to jump at my target in preparation to swing with full power. I missed. Not just my fist, my whole body missed. I flew past the giant's foot and began to roll violently before I was stopped by a wall of the building across the street.

I woke up in rubble. I must have blacked out for a second.

"He's alive?! How among the gods is this possible?"

"And I thought the appearance of a black cat helping was ridiculous."

"I saw his head smashed to a pulp!"

I looked at the guards, some female some male.

"Sorry, I'm kinda new to this."

I scratched my head and went back at it. I decided I would try stopping directly in front of the foot before making an attempt like that again. I ran back at the giant.

Atouk was jumping all over the giant. The giant was continuously missing swatting him by inches. Much like someone trying to swat a fly. The giant stepped back with his left foot. I hope his right stays put. I made it behind his right foot.

In this position, If I hit him hard enough to knock him off his feet, he should fall backward, down the street instead of on houses.

I reeled my arm back then let it fly forward with as much force as I could muster.

The giant foot before me was instantly knocked forward. His left knee buckled and his body was dragged forward by his right leg. Some guards were almost hit by the flying foot and I managed to jump out of the way of a massive giant butt.

The giant's head hit the ground hard. I found my next target. I ran toward the head. The giant's right arm crashed down in front of me after the rest of his body. Unfortunately, it was blocking the way as his hand landed on a house and the arm blocked this entire side of the street.

I decided to try my jumping. My legs obviously had power as well as my arms from my experience earlier. How much power is too much and how much is too little?

"Just try it!"

I thought out loud. I leaped forward with what I thought would be a medium power. I went higher than the giant's body, flat against the ground.

I was happy with that result but, my landing was aimed right at the giant's greasy muddled beard. The landing was soft but gross. As I attempted to make my way out, I found a humanoid-shaped skull entangled in the beard. It was still decomposing a bit. I hope I don't get stuck in here.

I made sure my arms were free of entanglement and decided to try jumping again towards the giant's head. I just hope I don't overshoot the landing. I leaped again with a little less power than last time. My foot was still tangled. It got free at the last second, but my balance was thrown off and I began to flip mid-air.

"Master!"

I heard Atouk somewhere around me but, I lost my sense of direction. I landed on the edge of the giant's mustache and rolled down toward the entrance of his nostril. The moment I realized where I was headed I panicked and reached out to grab anything. I landed both hands on something solid.

My right hand grabbed the right edge of his nostril and my left got something sharp.

Claws. It was Atouk. He pulled me out of my potentially bad experience.

"I am sorry Master! I did not mean to draw blood."

The giant yelled and was beginning to move.

"No time. I need to find a good place to hit him, fast."

"His forehead, giants have thick skulls!"

"Wouldn't that make it a bad place to hit?"

"Normally, yes. With your power, however. The shock of being hit from the front and then hitting his head on the ground could jumble his brain."

I ran towards Atouk's advice. The giant's greasy skin was not making this trek easy. He balanced himself on one hand and began to bring his other to his face. I was almost there. His head was lifted a dozen feet off the ground at this point. His lower eye. The upper bridge of his nose. The center of his unibrow and finally, I was at his forehead. If I did nothing now, I would either fall from the lack of grip on a nearly vertical surface or be flattened with his hand.

I reeled my arm back like before and let my arm reach towards the ground with my fist. It had to have been faster than last time.

I heard a massive crack.

The fleshy surface that my feet were standing on, was instantly gone. The giant's head was embedded into the ground in the blink of an eye.

My hand was in shambles. Before I could finish falling from an instantaneous lack of ground, I could hear cheers from the elves that were fighting before. I looked out and saw that two more giants remained. One was falling like the first one that I had seen, covered in arrows and rope. I then looked for my landing.

Crap. The beard again.

My falling became flying. My direction was changed mid-air by Atouk, who caught me and dragged me toward the dead giant's torso. Atouk let go before we landed. I rolled before I caught myself and stood up.

"Thanks, Atouk. I was not looking forward to that beard again."

"Master. What happened to your hand?"

I raised my hand up and watched as it began to repair itself. Atouk stared on in amazement.

"Are we going for the other giant?"

I started walking toward the last attacking giant and hopped down from the dead one.

"Yup."

The elf guards from the area blocked Atouk and me before we could get too far from the corpse of the freshly killed giant. An elf with decoration approached me.

"A human. I am surprised that you hold so much power. Why do you aid us?"

He must have been the commander of this group.

"I just didn't want to see more innocents killed."

The guard commander looked at Atouk.

"And this black cat. Guards, take him into custody."

I stepped in front of Atouk.

"You saw what I did to the giant, didn't you? He is my servant. Just try to take him."

And just like that, I "own" a second living being. I imagined myself facepalming.

"I don't care how strong you are, if you defy us, you will be brought down. It will not matter that you helped us kill a giant."

"Helped? I was the one who killed it for you. All your guards did was land a few pointy sticks into the surface layers of his skin. I smashed his skull into the ground with my fist."

If they won't let me be, I'll have to use my trump card.

"I Have consumed the potion of Rage. If you dare defy me further, there may be casualties."

He stared at me for a second. He began to laugh.

"Fool, the potion has been protected for over 1000 years. It is safely where it belongs."

I looked among the guard's faces. Most were laughing. One was not. It was the guard who had been steering the carriage when I was brought from the building where I died. I pointed at him.

"Ask him, he knows more about it than the rest of you."

He began trying to explain that, he could not say anything. I took the opportunity to quietly leave while they all looked at him.

Atouk followed without delay. I have a feeling that the guard who was with me that day saw us leaving and did not stop us. Atouk and I ran through several alleyways on our way to the next target.

"Is it true, Master? That you drank the potion of Rage?"

I glanced at him while we ran.

"Why is it, that drinking the potion is the only option? No, I did not drink it. It spilled on me and got into my open wounds from when I fell on top of it. Does that change your opinion of following me?"

"No."

It was an instant answer.

"If I had never met you and was told that you had drunk the potion, I would fear you. You spared me. You showed mercy for my Princess. You showed concern for innocents. You killed a giant. Not for battle or glory but, to save others. You avoided conflict when you could have destroyed those guards. You are not a bad human. You only solidify my decision to follow you."

We came to a stop at a corner near where the last giant was attacking.

"You have a strong spirit, Atouk. I'm glad you followed me. I think I 'could' have done this by myself but, it feels better when someone has your back."

I think I heard him purr a little. I almost lost my composure to let out a giggle. I held it back.

"I want to try something. It will probably fail but, I want to know what I can and can't do. Can you distract this one, like last time?"

"Anything for you, Master."

He ran around the corner and began climbing the giant's leg, with claws and without hesitation.

This giant was built differently than the last. He was a bit shorter but bulkier. He had muscle on him and more clothing. A loincloth waist with wrist wraps and an unfinished tank top-shaped cover for his chest. His back was completely bare aside from his neck where the front cover was suspended from. His beard was not as long and he had more hair on his head.

I turned the corner and began running at him. I heard some of the elf guards that were already attacking him comment on Atouk. They did not slow their volley of arrows. I hope Atouk does not get hit with a stray arrow.

As I ran toward the giant's foot, I thought over the plan I had. I wanted to see if I could throw this giant. If I only grab the skin, it would probably just tear and piss him off. What if I try to pierce his flesh with a flat open hand and grab bone?

As I finished my thought I found myself before the giant's right heel. I reached back with my arm and opened my hand to make a flat piercing shape. I lunged forward with my arm and my hand went through skin and flesh. I hit something hard. I think I pierced the bone too. That's fine, it gave me a better grip.

The giant let out a howl of pain. Another howl sounded off behind me.

Another giant? I saw Atouk get slapped by the giant. He hit the ground hard. Before this giant could reach down and slap me like a mosquito, I began to pull back with all my might.

I saw a massive army of elves running this way. Behind them was the other giant that I had heard responding to this one's pain. Some of the army had stopped to attack the other giant but, the majority were heading this way.

Just pulling while standing would not be enough for the mass attached to the catch in my hand. I pressed down with my right foot and the ground below compressed under the weight at such a tiny point.

My shoe was crushed below the weight. I had to keep moving to gain momentum. I took a large step with my left foot. There was another depression in the ground where I placed my foot and now both shoes were destroyed.

As I pulled, I added a circular motion bringing weight towards my left and added more steps forward. I felt like a sumo wrestler taking those giant steps.

I got his body airborne.

My arm began to feel like it was going to separate from my body. I held on and reinforced my muscle strength in my shoulder. I pulled harder and began taking faster steps in that circular motion continuously to the left.

I heard elves cry out in disbelief. The giant's loose hand smashed a taller building in the area. My sumo steps were faster. His body swung a full 180, from where he started. I wanted to make sure I got lots of distance when I throw him. I moved faster in a circle until he made a full 450-degree flight.

I couldn't hold on anymore. His weight was pulling at me and if I tried to hold on much longer, I'd go with him.

I tried to let go, but there was nothing to let go of. My arm had ripped out of its socket in its entirety.

I felt the pain but, I was more concerned with where the airborne giant was headed. I looked around before I saw a shadow in the sky. It was well into a sunny morning by this point. I could see him flying at the mountain. The one that the elves village was built into.

"Oh, shit..."

I was worried for a second, but it became clear that he would just barely miss the right edge of the mountain. He flew out into the sea.

I felt the warmth of my blood, seeping down my right side. I looked behind me to see what was left. Atouk was unconscious on the ground. Just beyond him was the elf army. They were no longer running toward me, they were running away from the female giant that came out of the woodworks.

The female giant was just as ugly as the males. This one, like the first, only had on a loincloth to cover its lower half. It had long, messy brown hair and some stubble on the chin. She was swinging her club violently at the ground while running this way. Possibly to avenge the giant I just threw.

Atouk can't defend himself like this. I began running toward his body. Elves had caught up to Atouk's body, but they were ignoring him. One tripped on him, stood up and began running again.

The giant moved faster than I thought. Can I get to Atouk in time to help him? I added some power from my legs to cover more distance. I made it to his body too late. The massive giant club was swinging toward us and there was no way to get his body out of the way without harming him more. I wrapped my left arm around him fully expecting my right to do the same, but it never came. I looked and remembered that my arm was gone. Though it was repairing itself without my consent, I currently had no use for this short stump at the moment.

I crouched down with him and separated his body from the mace with my own when it hit.

The ground began to give out and soften as the mace plowed through the ground with me as its target. It hit my back with such force that the wind was knocked out of me instantly. My grip loosened on Atouk for just a moment. I refused to let go. I grabbed him tighter.

Much like the giant that I just threw, I had not intended to unwittingly go flying above a city today.

I was airborne. There was debris from the surroundings where I was in the elvish city, floating below and around me. I was in the air long enough to notice, my right arm was now repaired down to the elbow. I entirely bypassed the elven city, in the opposite direction of the giant I had thrown.

We were coming up to a coastal cliff maybe 100-150 feet up from the ocean. I could see a beach near the bottom left of the cliff. We can swim there after we land in the water.

Atouk began to stir. I thought we were going straight into the ocean but, we began to lose altitude fast. We might just barely miss the cliff.

No, we 'will' hit the very edge of the cliff. All I was concerned with was, keeping Atouk alive. If I could get a good angle maybe I can slide on my feet for a bit. I lifted Atouk up to my torso as much as I could, to prevent him from hitting the ledge when I do hit.

I braced my feet and legs for a heavy impact. Not enough forward momentum to slide. My legs smashed into the ground. My lower half was crushed up to my thighs before I tumbled forward off of the cliff.

I let go of Atouk for a moment to adjust my fall. This allowed me to get under him so my body can take the brunt of the landing in the water. I pulled him close to me again. We hit the water with a loud slap. It was harder than I thought to swim without legs. My right arm was now repaired up to the wrist and the palm was forming. I took advantage of this and began swimming up with my arms as best I could.

For a moment, I had a fearful thought of sharks swimming in the waters with the blood from my busted-up legs. I looked around first, to the empty ocean. Then, up to the ceiling of water from below. I saw Atouk paddling toward the beach. It looked like one of his hind legs was hurt, but the fact that he was swimming was a good sign.

Almost in response to my previous thought about sharks, I felt my body get tugged backward. I twisted my torso around as best I could. A shadowy creature was dragging me down. It had a sharp grip on one of my mangled legs. I had a slight panic attack.

I was going deeper down. I need air! It's going to eat me. What do I do?

I closed my eyes. I concentrated on what I felt.

My legs felt pain. My ears were under continuously more pressure. My fingers were tingling. My fingers on my right hand. The hand that I had lost. I opened my eyes and looked at my right hand with all its fingers intact.

That's right! I'm immortal!

My fears were wiped away. I turned to look at the creature. The need for air was tightening my chest but, maybe I don't need air? I tried pulling myself close to punch the creature with my strength. It backed away and let go before I could hit it. My punch is too slow underwater.

It swam up and grabbed me again. My legs were repaired down to the knee. I moved my legs in opposite directions, forcing the mouth of the thing open and locking the two of us together. It can't pull away if it can't open its mouth wider than it is now. Instead of a punch, I reached out to it and grabbed it by the nose. I grabbed tight and reached out to its eye with my other hand. I pressed in as hard as I could. It lurched back.

I could hear muffled sounds or cries in the water. I loosened my legs and it let go. It began to swim away. The shadows around the creature seemed to dissipate. Before it was out of sight, I could see a plain old shark swimming away from me.

What were those shadows?