Snow giant

Aru's sudden movement spooked the kids. 

They could only see his flickering shadow in the dim light of the oil lamp.

"Hey! Stop," Suddenly, Para called out.

After Dam, he was the one with the most authority among the group of children. That was why he called out to Aru when he mistook him for someone who wanted to create trouble at night.

But Aru walked away without even looking back. 

Seeing this, Para also jumped onto his feet to follow suit. He wanted to catch the troublemaker who disobeyed him. 

Outside the hut, Aru saw people walking around. They were going into the lodgings and waking up the warriors inside. 

'I am not the only one who noticed the sound.' 

"Ghraammphhh."

Aru could still discern the continuous hum emanating from a distant source. Upon stepping outside the hut, the sound became more distinct, and he could sense the vibrations accompanying the noise.

'What is it?'

"Hey, I said stop." Suddenly, Para came from behind him and pulled his collar. 

 He wanted to say more, but once he noticed what was happening outside, he paused. 

"Hey! What's happening?" He asked Aru.

"I don't know. But can you hear it?"

"Hear what?" 

"The sound, the low reverberating sound." 

Finally, Para also took note of the sound, but he couldn't identify its origin. Despite his talent, his limited experience hindered his ability to recognise the source of the noise.

However, this wasn't the case for everyone. The seasoned warriors were well acquainted with that distinctive sound – it signified the arrival of the migratory animals. The unmistakable noise echoed the response of stone mammoths when they felt threatened.

"I can hear it," Para confirmed. "What is it?" 

"I have no idea. But if I were to make a guess, it's not anything good." Just from seeing the panicked warriors, he could identify that. 

"Good guess…." Suddenly, a person interjected the conversation. 

Due to the unexpected situation, Dam was coming to wake up the children. That's when he heard the conversation between Aru and Para. 

"....And, that's the sound created by stone mammoths," Dam added once he captured the attention of the children. 

"But what can threaten the stone mammoths? They are huge and strong, even my grandpa is not capable of killing them in a one-on-one fight." Para was shocked. 

According to him, the stone mammoths were rank 4 creatures that were even stronger than the snow giants. He couldn't believe that they would feel threatened by anything.

"We don't know. Something like this has never happened before. The stone mammoth along with the other migratory animals is not nocturnal, they were not even supposed to move during the night, much less migrate. Something terrible must have happened.

"Anyway, Para, quickly wake up everyone. We need to move. Don't forget to take your supplies."

"You…" Dam suddenly pointed at Aru.

"Me?"

"Yes, you should also help him."

"Okay," Aru agreed, reassured that everything was under control. Despite the unexpected scenario, the tribe appeared well-prepared to handle it. That was the impression he got from Dam's confidently reassuring words. He felt that there was no need to worry about the ominous sound anymore.

Thus, to complete the task, he entered the lodging.

And it was a simple task considering that the majority of the kids were wide awake. The only difficulty he faced was waking up the fatty Dal. He was sleeping so soundly that even a kick to his buttocks was ignored. 

Aru had to pinch Dal's nose for a couple of seconds and suffocate him to wake up the nasty little kid.

—-

Meanwhile, something else was happening on the other side of the camp.

The leaders of the warriors and chief had a heavy expression on their faces as they looked at each other.

The fact that stone mammoths are moving during the night has utterly destroyed their initial plan. 

They were scheduled to commence their hunt at dawn as the animals exited the mountain pass, heading towards Kurma Lake. The stone mammoths, steering clear of the icy lake, would bypass it, while the smaller creatures scampered across the frozen waters. This location provided the perfect opportunity to avoid the stone mammoths while pursuing the more vulnerable prey.

But all that preparation was for nought. 

Now, they had gathered to discuss the risks associated with the present situation. The stakes were high – if the hunt failed, they would be left without a reliable food source for the winter. They needed to devise a strategy to ensure that doesn't happen. 

But before they could fully formalise an action plan, something happened.

"RAAAAAR…"

A bone-chilling roar came from within the camp.

"What!" The chief ran towards the location of the roar.

—

"ROOAR"

"Thuk. Thuk. Thuk."

"Sleee…"

"Thuk. Thuck. Thuck." 

Aru discerned a multitude of sounds enveloping his surroundings, growing progressively nearer with each passing second.

Heavy footsteps.

Something rustling. 

There was a lot of noise. While some were from identifiable sources, the others were not. It was concerning. Slowly, Aru felt his breathing quicken. An ominous feeling enveloped him. 

Before he could grasp the full extent of the situation, he witnessed dark figures materialising and vanishing near the tree line.

Whatever it was, it moved with astonishing speed. Shadows flickered into view for a brief moment before swiftly disappearing.

"That..." A child pointed to the side, his eyes glazed with fear, and his body barely able to stop shivering.

Aru along with the kids and Dam were moving as a group towards the centre of the camp. But just before they could reach there, they saw something gigantic jump over the camp wall. 

The child was pointing at the giant figure…

"ROOOAAARRRR…" 

A monstrous, animalistic roar resonated through the camp.

There was no doubt in anyone's mind—it was a snow giant. The countless tales they had heard about this fearsome creature helped them to immediately recognize it.

Now, the snow giant stood towering within the camp walls, staring fearlessly at the hundreds of warriors.

Without a moment's hesitation, the giant that was over twelve feet tall and over a ton in weight shook the earth and started advancing towards the southern part of the camp.

"THUK."

"THUK."

"THUK."

Each footstep created a muffled thumping sound as it ran. The disconcerting part was that the direction it was heading was straight toward the children.

Aru felt his chest tighten at the presence of the snow giant. He didn't need to think hard to realise that he had no fighting chance against the monstrosity. Unfortunately, he was right in between the creature and the path it intended to take.