A Watchful Eye

A roar from both Clarva and Kyuala signals the group to begin to charge forth. Weapons all at the ready, spells charging, fury building, but just as the group are about to unleash their combined attacks, they hear another roar coming from above.

The third roar attracts the giant's attention, but as she starts to look up, she's quickly met with a spear driven into her throat.

The giant tries to let out a noise of pain, but only gargles can be heard as blood begins to escape from her mouth.

Another loud boom can be heard as the giant falls to the ground once again, but this time, she lands on her back and due to the blood spilling from her open mouth, the group are certain the giant isn't getting back up again.

The collective gaze of the group then moves from the dead giant to the person who currently stands atop the corpse.

A centaur stands currently upon the chest of the giant as she removes her spear, a third of which is drenched in sanguine fluid.

Clarva and Kyuala step forward, becoming the front line for the group as they slowly inch towards their sudden saviour.

"Who are you?" Kyuala asks, her hand gripping the pommel of her axe tighter.

"Someone who hates these fucking giants just as much as you." The centaur says as she spits on the corpse beneath her feet. "Now, if you want to get your lover back, then I suggest you follow me." The centaur then hops off the body of the giant and begins making her way towards the door.

The group look amongst one another again, but with the limited time they have, they can't really take the time to vote on a plan as Kyuala begins storming forward with the others following behind.

As they all catch up to the centaur, Virra quickly asks, "So, our neatly timed saviour, what shall we call you?"

There's a moment of hesitation from the centaur. "Just call me Kira."

"Okay then, Kira. How the fuck are we gonna get past this door?" Amilia asks.

Kira doesn't respond. Instead, she opts to show. Kira raises her right hand, which is now freed after taking the spear in her left. Kira's hand begins to slightly glow a golden colour before she rotates her hand to the right.

A golden outline begins to appear around the part of the door that Kira waved her hand in front of. Just as the outline completes, there's a brief second of light, and afterwards, the outline has become an opening that the group can actually use.

"They taught me this magic after they took me. The Queen says I'm not a pet, but she spews more shit than a ratfolk." Kira then steps through the opening and starts rushing down the next hall with the others following suit.

As they're all heading towards a left turn, Karray asks, "So, just to be clear on what we're gonna do, we're heading to the Queen's room to cockblock her from Kyuala's man before chopping her head off?"

"Exactly!" Kyuala responds.

Karray laughs. "This definitely reeks of a Clarva plan! Haha! I missed this!"

The group continue running down the hall, but come to a quick stop as they see a giant fall to the ground, face bloodied to all hell. Just looking at the giant, the group can immediately tell she's dead as they can see the giant's neck appears to have been snapped.

A heavy set of steps is heard, and the group quickly become worried about who is going to appear. If the person approaching is the same person who killed that giant, then what would they do to them?

The source of the footsteps is revealed as the person who emerges from the doorway is none other than the advisor. Her face showing some cuts, preliminary swelling and bruising. Red continues to be the colour of the day, and the advisor is wearing it proudly along with the red dripping from her hands, some of the blood coming from the slain giant and the rest from her own torn knuckles.

The advisor's breathes heavily, obviously trying to get oxygen back into her lungs. She looks to her right, seeing the group plus the new additions on the floor.

"What the hell are you doing with them, horse?" The advisor asks as she stares directly at Kira.

"There's some sort of cult just sprouted up, and from what I heard, they don't plan on keeping anything less than a thick-skulled giant around. Actually, from what I can see, they don't want giants of the ass-kissing kind around either."

"Watch your tongue, four legs. What I do to traitors is nothing compared to what I would love to do to you."

After her retort, the advisor begins walking down the hallway. "Follow me. We're almost to my Queen's room and your... putrid human."

"How many times are we gonna get told to fucking follow someone?" Amilia asks under her breath as they group begin pushing forward once more.

As they're following behind the advisor for the third time today, Karray asks Clarva. "Hey, when were you gonna tell me that Kyuala's man is a fucking human?"

"I haven't exactly had time to. We literally just reunited and the giant got back up, then Kira jumped down and killed the fucker, and now we're following another giant. You're lucky I have breath in my lungs right now, nevermind getting you back up to speed."

"Fair point. But just answer me something. How cute is he?"

Clarva groans as she covers her face with one of her hands, causing her smaller friend to laugh as the friends pick back up right where they left off.

As Clarva and Karray are reigniting their playful banter, Kyuala turns to Kira. "So, what was that about back there? Are you in some sort of alliance with the giants? Because if you try anything-."

"Those big bastards have enslaved me. If I try to escape or resist their orders, they'll raze every centaur village on the continent. Not only that, but they've promised to hunt down someone who I care deeply about. If they are still alive, I would do whatever it takes to keep them safe."

"If you don't know they're alive, then how would the giants find them?" Terra inquires.

"They have their ways. Besides, I'm not the only hunter they have. They no longer just exclusively enslave men for breeding purposes, so any straggler that attempts to fight back is taken and brought to become either a sacrifice... or their executioner." The pain in Kira's voice is prevalent, and it quickly quietens any other questions the group have in their minds.

However, Virra's inquisitive nature gets the better of her, and she can't help but wonder one thing. "Hey Kira, how'd you know where we were? I didn't see you around at the pit."

Kira sighs. "The Queen ordered me to follow you, and if needed, deal with you."

"Deal as in kill, correct?" Clarva asks.

"Correct." Kira confirms.

A silence befalls the group as the realization that Kira was stalking them and could've killed them at any moment leaves them all with understandable distrust for the centaur even if she did save them.

Kira senses the distrust in the air like a bad smell, and decides to speak on it. "I understand if you all don't wish to trust me, and to be perfectly honest, I don't trust any of you either. Unfortunately for me, this may be my only chance to get out from under their thumb, so I'm willing to do whatever it takes to be freed. I require no blood pacts or sworn oaths, all I'm asking for... is your help."

"You'll have it." Kyuala immediately answers, but her tone indicates that there's more to follow. "But only if you swear on the one you love most to keep quiet about there being a second human in this world."

Kyuala condition makes Kira smile, after all, she would do the exact same if the roles were reversed. Kira then decides to do what she believes Kyuala would do in her position. "I swear on her life that I will keep your lovers identity a secret."

"Then our weapons are by your side."

"I understand you smaller races are slow, but pick up the damned pace!" The advisor calls before getting to the final corner.

The group take the advisor's advice and break into a sprint to catch up to their giant guide around the stronghold.

"Hey giganto! Why's this place so fucking big and twisty? You guys never heard of minimalist interior designing?" Amilia asks, obviously frustrated at the amount of time it's taken to get to that final hallway.

Upon turning the corner, the advisor along with the group are met with the sight of two huge, incredibly adorned and fancy doors which signify the entrance to the room of the Queen.

"If you have a problem with our interior design, you may take it up with the spirit of our original architect. For now? Let's just hope that whatever we think has happened... hasn't."

The eight head forward, but Kyuala and the advisor are the two with the biggest yet similar worries.

Kyuala hopes that when they walk in, they don't see John laying there in a pool of sweat or even worse after the Queen has used him for whatever she wanted to do. The thought of John in that position makes her stomach churn, even if she did something similar at one point.

The advisor on the other hand, hopes she doesn't see her Queen in the middle of a round with the human. The thought of seeing the Queen writhing around in pleasure because of such a meagre form of life is... sickening. The advisor would have the others believe it's because she doesn't think any lower form of life should have the utmost honour of laying with the Queen, but she knows that isn't the case.

She just wants to be the one in John's position.

They all come to the door, waiting to hear if there's any noise on the other side. Amilia is a little too excited to potentially hear something, but the quiet in the room bums her out.

The advisor takes a second, wondering if she should knock or announce her arrival, in the off chance that the Queen and John are in the midst of... it.

Anger causes her hands to shake as the thought of the Queen and John makes her furious. So, without another moment of thinking, the advisor slams her hands against the doors and pushes them open.

The stone grinds as the doors are opened by the sheer strength of the advisor.

As the doors open up, the group and the advisor all see that the room is... empty. The advisor rushes in, looking for any signs of the Queen, but all she can find is a butt print on the cover of the bed.

"They were here. This cover has definitely been sat on." The advisor comments as she continues to look around.

Kyuala and the others in the group begin to panic as well upon hearing that John isn't there. Kyuala starts to try and brainstorm ideas on where they could've potentially gone, but all that comes to Kyuala's mind is that the Queen has kidnapped him.

Kyuala runs her hands over her face, trying to wipe the sweat away before feeling a small piece of metal on her ear. Immediately, she remembers the ear pieces that the Seer gave to the group before they set off to Mulvenscroll.

The group haven't had much of a reason to use the communicators as they've mostly been in close proximity with one another despite Terra's ****, but the distance between Terra and the group at that point would've rendered the communicator useless anyway if Terra had been wearing it at that point.

That potential distance between John and the group make Kyuala even more worried, because if the communicator doesn't work, then they're completely in the damned dark.

Kyuala presses on the communicator, praying for this to work. "John, are you there?! We're trying to find you!"

A tense silence fills the air as Kyuala waits for any sort of response. Amilia, Terra and Lani look at Kyuala, realizing what she was trying, but the other four are just very confused.

No response is heard after a few more moments of waiting, causing Kyuala's worry to intensify tenfold as she tries again. "John! Can you hear me?! We're at the Queen's room right now, and we're looking for you!"

"What are you doing, orc?" The advisor asks.

"She's obviously trying to communicate with her lover by some means. I thought you were kept around because you had some semblance of intelligence. Guess I was wrong." Kira says in response, earning a burning gaze staring back towards her.

"Kyuala!" A familiar male voice calls out in the heads of Kyuala, Terra, Lani and Amilia.

"John! Where are you?!"

"Throne room!" John quickly responds before the connection fades out in silence once more.

"They're in the throne room!" Kyuala quickly relays to the others.

"Alright then! Let's move!" The advisor immediately takes off down the hall, but instead of turning the corner, she continues straight with the others following behind.

To Amilia's continued dismay, the eight run through more long hallways, but on this journey, they begin to hear the sounds of battle echoing around the stone walls.

"What in the hells is going on?! Why are giants fighting one another all of a sudden?!" Virra asks.

"Who gives a shit?!" Karray says. "Just means less we have to deal with!"

"Virra brings up a good point! That giant we fought was apparently a part of some Cult. So, did the giants get infiltrated?!" Clarva asks out loud, not expecting to get any real answer.

The advisor usually wouldn't concern herself with the thoughts of beings she deems lesser than the giants, but this has already been a strange day, so why not go with the flow even more?

"We weren't infiltrated, or if we were, this was a decades centuries in the making! The giant I fought has been with this clan ever since she was a nub sucking the milk from her mothers teat. I have no information on any cult existing within giant culture, and I hate being in the dark." The advisor then let's herself get back to normal as she continues on. "That being said, I have no doubt my Queen has already come into contact with the cultists and is currently working on destroying their foolish ambitions as we speak!"

Upon hearing those sickening words, Kira can't help but comment. "I wouldn't be so sure she can handle herself. After all, any warrior would struggle with your nose buried that far up their ass!"

Barely a moment after hearing Kira's jab at the advisor, Amilia also can't help herself as she says, "I dunno about that! I'm always extremely motivated to solve a hard problem when something's shoved in me!"

Amilia's crude retort makes Kira laugh. The weird thing is, the laughter is strangely calming considering they're currently running head first into a potential bloodbath.

"What's the gameplan if there's a herd of them in the throne room?!" Terra asks.

"We clear them the fuck out and get John back!" Kyuala responds.

Karray laughs. "I like her!"

"I recommend distracting them long enough until I can deal with them!" The advisor calls to the others. "And try not to get caught under my boots! These are my favourite pair and I don't wish to wash your blood off them!"

"Just don't get in our way, you overgrown ass-licker!" Kira calls back.

Terra hears Amilia chuckle beside her. "Please don't give Amilia any more material to work with! We need her focused, not horny!"

"That's my secret, pointy! I'm always horny!" Amilia then pats Terra on the ass, earning a small yelp from Terra as she slows down a little, getting a peak from behind at Amilia's curves in her form fitting clothes. Terra quickly pushes forward, the momentary distraction causing her to fall a little behind.

As Terra catches up, Virra notices that her elder sister seems to be a little distracted. Virra then looks ahead, seeing Amilia directly in front of the mage sibling. Some pieces of the puzzle begin to fall into place as Virra believes she's figured out why Terra and Amilia seem so... close.

Uncharacteristically, Virra decides to keep her mouth shut for the moment as they do have some more pressing matters at hand, but makes a note to tease her sibling about it later.

After barrelling through another set of doors--which is also making the advisor question about the strongholds architecture--the eight are on the final stretch towards the throne room.

They're currently running down the hallway that the Queen took when she left with John. To the group, that almost seems like hours ago, but in reality, it wasn't even two hours ago.

Thudding feet echo in the hallway, the sound clashing against the sounds of combat in the throne room just ahead.

Those sounds make the advisor and Kyuala run even faster. The possibility of their respective loves fighting or potentially worse makes their bodies push into a sort of overdrive for the final run.

The advisor braces herself, angling her right shoulder towards the door mere seconds before crashing through the doors.

As the eight enter the room, they are met with the sight of at least a dozen dead giants all around. Some have weapons buried into them, others are just lying on the floor with massive holes in their bodies.

In the middle of the room, the sound of combat is revealed as the eight see the Giant Queen swinging the biggest sword the group has ever seen at a giant who is currently attacking the Queen with a mallet.

The presumed cultist doesn't have a chance in hell as her main swinging hand is chopped off before the Queen's sword slices through her torso like a hot knife through warm butter. The cultist's torso drops onto the floor, separating from the legs that were attached just a moment ago.

The bloodied sword is flicked and the red splatters across the ground, but some blood still drips from the tip of the blade. Following up from the sword, the incredibly muscular left arm of the Queen can be seen with a few cuts and the blood trickling down from them.

The advisor looks at the Queen, and her heart calms as she finally sees for herself that the Queen is still alive and fighting. Unfortunately for Kyuala, she hasn't gotten that luxury yet as she can't see John anywhere.

The Queen looks over at the recent arrivals and let's out a sigh of relief. "Your friends have arrived. You may come up now."

Everyone wonders who the Queen is talking to, but they soon see the smaller frame of John climbing up from the back of the Queen's garb.

"John!" Kyuala calls out, her heart filled with glee as she sees the relieved look on her beloved's face.

"Kyuala!" John quickly slides down the Queen's garb, descending her huge thirty foot body as quickly as he can before rushing across the room.

Kyuala's arms wrap around John as he practically leaps into her arms before their lips meet. The two tighten their grip on the other, making sure that it isn't some illusion.

"Thank the gods you're alright." Kyuala says as the kiss breaks.

"You should thank the Queen for that. She's the one that kept me safe."

Kyuala looks over at the Queen, seeing her and the advisor talking to one another with the advisor obviously gushing over the Queen.

"I'm not sure if I can thank the woman who used my lover as a toy for... you know." Kyuala whispers into his ear, her voice conveying her hurt tone as she tightens the hug.

"I guess you're thanking her then, cause that didn't happen."

Kyuala looks at John's face which is currently smirking back at her. "You two... didn't? She didn't...?"

"Nope. I told you, I was going to stall her for as long as possible. Luckily for me, I said the right thing, and then the Cult decided to attack. Though I suppose, that's technically my fault."

"What do you mean it was your fault?" Clarva asks as the group join the two.

"Well, while I was speaking to the Queen, I brought up the fact that Erya was hearing the Queen speak through the curse. Well, it turns out-."

"Human. I take it from your excited reunion that you are free from injury?" The Queen asks.

John turns towards the Queen, but keeps one arm around Kyuala. "Apart from the motion sickness of hanging onto your back while you're cutting down cultists, then yeah, I'm peachy."

"Good, because this day is far from over for us and your group." The Queen says as she takes a seat on her throne. "I assume you haven't caught them up to speed yet?"

"Got a little carried away and lost my breath before I could." John jokes as he smirks towards Kyuala, making the orc slightly blush.

"Well then, I believe it's time we get caught up with what has happened since we were split apart. Musha tells me that you all encountered some members of the Cult already."

"Who the fuck is Musha?" Amilia asks in her own quaint way.

The advisors face sours and her tone drops from the relaxed tone that she had just moments before the Queen addressed the group. "That would be my name, you insolent furball."

"Oh... I just thought your name was Advisor."

Amilia recieves a elbow in the ribs from Terra, signalling to the cat to shut up for now.

"Anyway, after talking with the human for a bit, he said something that sparked my curiosity. So, I followed the clue he gave me, and I believe we found the leader of this so-called Cult."

"Who is it?" Musha worriedly asks.