Following the Advisor

Thudding feet can be heard as the group rush through the doors left open by the advisor who is rushing in her own right.

Clarva--who just barely managed to regroup with the others--is falling behind due to the wounds and exhaustion from the fight, combined with the full on sprint she had to do to get back up to the others. Lani and Terra are trying their best to heal her, but the running is making the process a lot slower.

Kyuala is leading the group's charge, hoping to get to John as quickly as possible. The thought of the Giant Queen using him for... that, sickens her to her core. Not only that, but it actually flares up those feelings of jealously within her. John wasn't just a man she had met one day--well, technically he was--but he was hers. They may not have known each other for long in the traditional sense, but that claiming instinct within her is as natural to the orc as her green skin.

Kyuala's mind isn't the only one focused on getting to their favourite person as the advisor can't help but think of her Queen.

She has been in service of the Queen for as long as she can remember. It's almost as if her life only really started when Chaxar usurped the throne. The first day that Chaxar sat upon the throne, everything that the advisor has done has always been in service of making Chaxar the best queen the giants have ever had. Over a century had passed, and yet, it has felt like they have only just gotten started.

Unfortunately for the advisor, she doesn't quite know if that means they've kept everything perfect for this long, or if they had simply wasted all that time being just like the old guard.

But now? This human comes along, and now Chaxar is acting like he's the only thing that matters, and the advisor can't help but feel hurt. However, she can't quite explain why.

The advisor crashes through another door, just one step closer to stopping her queen from doing something that may have dire consequences for all parties involved.

Another long hallway awaits the group as they trudge on behind the advisor. The group are beginning to get tired, but none more than Clarva. The half-giant's feet are barely getting off the ground as her strides have turned into her practically trying to slide across the floor.

Eventually, Clarva's wounds become too much for her as she drops to the ground, landing on her aching knees.

Lani and Terra also come to a halt as they focused all their energy into healing Clarva.

"Ky! Clarva just dropped!" Amilia shouts as she and Virra also come to a stop.

Kyuala looks back, and sees that Clarva is looking like the arse end of a rotting beast. Everything within her screams to keep going, but the loudest voice within Kyuala tells her that she can't just leave them all here.

Kyuala looks back at the advisor, seeing her get further and further away, but just as the advisor opens the far door, she gets tackled from the side by what appeared to be another giant.

A second giant then steps through the door and looks down the hallway at the group. "Found you." The giant then closes the door behind her before pulling out a massive club.

Kyuala quickly readies her axe as she backs up to the others. "Get Clarva on her feet now! We need to move!"

"And go where?! We can't exactly outrun her!" Virra says as she nocks her arrow.

Amilia then steps beside Kyuala, pulling out her daggers. "Pointy Two's right. We gotta kill the bitch."

"I... can fight." Clarva gets out through gritted teeth as she attempts to stand.

Terra puts a stop to that as she puts her hand on Clarva's shoulder. "You couldn't wipe your own behind in this condition, let alone fight another giant."

"Pretty sure I'd have a better shot fighting a giant than you right now." Lani nervously jokes as the threat of an approaching giant is making the fairy quake like a running washing machine with a brick inside.

The giant continues forward, practically salivating at the chance to squash the group. "I used to squash bugs when I was nothing more than a nursling. This should be fun."

"You both ready?" Kyuala asks.

"Do we have a choice?" Amilia jokes, but the other two agree with her sentiment.

The trio take some deep breaths, trying to recover from their sprint before they begin their skirmish with the incoming giant.

The giant slowly strides forward, planning her first strike as her calloused fingers wriggle around the grip of her club. The immediate thought is to take out Kyuala. Even if she's nowhere near the height of the proud giant, an orc can still be a dangerous foe if taken lightly.

"It's pretty funny. You all just happened to show up on this particular day. If I were to guess, I'd say the fates wished you all dead. Luckily for them, the Cult shall deal with you."

"There's a fucking cult now?!" Amilia asks barely a moment before the giant swings her club down, crashing into the ground. The trio managed to avoid the swing just in time, but the quaking ground shakes them to their core, pun intended.

Kyuala is the first to act, cutting into the giant's meaty calf with a mighty swing. Kyuala's axe thuds into the flesh like a lumberjacks axe into a thick redwood. Kyuala pulls her axe out, roaring as she does before running back to Clarva and the other two, but as Kyuala looks back, she sees that her attack has had almost no effect on the giant.

Next up is Virra who fires her arrow, aiming for the giant's left eye, but it's caught mid-flight by the giant's moving arm as she prepares to sweep with her club. The giant looks down at the arrow, annoyed at the slight pain that she felt for just a moment. The giants face then scrunches into a scowl as she looks down at Virra.

Virra is immediately wracked with fear as the giant's gaze falls over her like a spotlight. She calls back her arrow, catching it in her hand. "Uhh... hi?"

The giant growls, eyes filled with fire as she simply stares a hole through the younger sister of the elves.

Amilia decides to use the distraction to her advantage. She runs up to giant's legs before using her literal cat-like agility to get up to the waist of the giant before digging her daggers into the thick skin in front of her.

As the daggers sink into the giant's waist like the fangs of a lion into a wildebeest, the giant lets out a loud groan as she turns her head. Looking down, she sees the cat is literally hanging by her daggers, her body swaying along with the giant's movements.

The giant then feels another tinge of pain, but this time, the pain is in the side of her head.

The giant moves finger to the back of her head, and feels what seems to be a toothpick. She pulls it out and brings it into view, immediately realizing that it's no toothpick, it is in fact, an arrow. Another arrow quickly finds it's way into the giant's cheek after making a U-turn in mid-air.

A few more arrows begin to get lodged in the giant target as Virra uses her magic to make sure the giant can't predict where the next arrow is going to land.

Amilia makes her next move as she rips her daggers out of the giant's waist before leaping down and digging her blades in again. The metal pierces skin and Amilia's moment causes the daggers to rip down, creating two large gashes in the giant's leg, causing the group's foe to roar in agony.

Kyuala decides to rejoin the effort as she runs between the giant's legs. Kyuala then swings as hard as she can, chopping at the giant's right Achilles heel as Amilia drops from the left leg.

Amilia looks over at Kyuala, seeing what her long time friend is doing, and decides to follow suit. Rapid, precise, strikes from Amilia slash at the left Achilles as Kyuala continues to chop at the opposite leg, focusing more on using her sheer strength than speed.

The giant lets out another roar, obviously infuriated of having her torso treated like a pin cushion and having her legs be chopped at like the insides of her legs are hiding diamonds.

The giant swings her body around, trying to catch Virra with her club, but the elf is quick to see the trajectory of the swing. That trick only works for the club however as Virra is caught by the giant's left hand--or more specifically--her left pinkie and ring finger.

The two fingers that manage to catch Virra send the elf flying. She's sent a good twenty or so feet away before crashing onto the floor. Upon landing on the floor, Virra rolls another couple feet before coming to a stop with a groan following a moment later.

Next, the giant swings get left leg back, trying to knock away Amilia, but the cat is too quick. Kyuala also moves out of the way, preparing for a similar attack.

Unfortunately for Kyuala, she underestimated the giant's intelligence as she's hit with the butt of the giant's club which sends Kyuala back considerably less than Virra, but Kyuala's armour manages to take a good chunk of the blow.

Amilia sees that she's the last one left, and rightfully shits herself as the giant turns her attention towards the furred fighter.

The giant goes to grab Amilia, but Amilia runs back between the giant's legs, trying to figure out what in the hells she can do to topple the gargantuan that's currently swatting at her like a fly in a room.

Amilia's mind is running faster than her legs currently, and she knows her legs aren't going to last for much longer if she continues running at this rate.

On the other half of this equation, the giant is beginning to get dizzy from swinging herself around whilst trying to catch Amilia, and after failing to catch the feline for the umpteenth time, she turns her attention over to Terra, Lani, and the weakened Clarva.

The giant smirks, seeing she has a couple of easy targets ahead of her, so she begins to walk forward.

Immediately, Terra switches from healing Clarva to throwing spells at the giant. She uses creates a few blasts of pure magic that splash upon impact against the giant. The magic begins to burn away the giant's skin, but the giant shrugs it off before continue towards Terra.

Amilia sees that Terra is the new target, and her body goes into a sort of overdrive. Adrenaline begins to course through her entire body, determined to protect Terra at all costs.

Amilia's body begins to move on its own, almost as if the switch for autopilot was just flipped, and every movement is calculated. Amilia's posture has also changed, going from exhausted and sluggish to almost stiff and robotic. Even her erratic breathing changes, becoming focused and precise. The perfect amount of air entering and exiting her body with each inhale and exhale.

First, Amilia runs over to the giant's right leg, going for the large wound that Kyuala caused minutes prior. Her daggers dig into the wound as she tried to pry the open cut even further.

The giant roars in agony as she feels her wound being pulled at, and she immediately knows that the cat has jumped back into the fray.

A large hand reaches back, hoping to grab a fistful of fur, but is only left with air. Another attempt at a grab comes up fruitless as well, leaving the giant infuriated that out of all the beings she's crushed over the years, yet she can't even deal with this one fucking catfolk.

As the giant continues to try and grab Amilia like a fly, Amilia begins slashing at the giant hand and wrist before rushing off and following the same pattern again. The giant's right hand and wrist looks like she shoved her hand in a paper shredder more and more with each failed grab.

Amilia's mind isn't working as it usually does. Almost all the time, Amilia has some one-liner, crude joke or sassy remark stored, just waiting for the perfect moment to use it. Currently however... Amilia's mind is empty, and not in the ditzy bimbo way.

The giant looks on as the cat is just making a mockery out of her, but instead of getting angry like she was just moments prior, the giant begins to formulate a plan. She readies her club in her left hand. She isn't planning on using it on Amilia, but she is counting on her to react.

The giant lifts her club up, ready to squash Terra, Lani and Clarva. Even if they've managed to move a good feet away from where they were, they're still in the giant's range. Amilia immediately notices the readied club, and rushes back to the wound on the giant's right Achilles.

Before Amilia can even slice an inch of skin, she's caught between two humongous fingers and pulled to the front of the giant. As quick as she's pulled around to the front of the giant, Amilia is thrown towards Terra.

The elf doesn't have any time to use any sort of spell to catch Amilia as the cat is flung towards her like she was shot out of a cannon. Terra is quickly sent flying back as Amilia crashes into her. The two of them are sent skittering across the cold floor before groans can be heard from their aching bodies after finally coming to a stop.

Lani's eyes shoot over to Amilia and Terra, immediately seeing that they're out of commission for the time being. Unfortunately for Lani, she's the only one left that isn't injured.

"Lani... you need to move. I'll handle the giant. You just fly high and hurt her as best you can." Clarva says through gritted teeth and stifled grunts.

Lani looks at the wounded half-giant, her body wracked with fear about what is about to happen to them. It's at that moment when the fear reaches a peak, that Lani becomes calm. No, she becomes extremely calm. It actually becomes eerie just how relaxed Lani is at that very moment.

Lani flies in front of Clarva before facing the slowly walking giant. Without saying another word, Lani begins to create a ward around her and Clarva. The ward immediately shoots up, encasing the two, but Lani knows that a regular ward is no match for a pissed off giant.

The ward--that is usually pink because of Lani's magic--begins to change, transform, mutate in a way. The see-through pink is slowly joined by slithering lines of purple, lines that can be followed back to Lani's arms. Clarva has absolutely no fucking idea about what's happening.

For Lani however, this is something that's familiar to her.

It may have only been the one occasion, but Lani knows exactly what is happening to her magic. The familiar purple glow immediately brings back memories of the end of the battle against Imoga in Reduna'z Gaze. Lani doesn't quite remember all the details, just that she saw John in trouble, and something snapped. She saw the purple magic begin to exude from her body like a visible scent. The last memory Lani has of that night is her body beginning to change, transform, mutate before it all goes blank.

The ward quickly becomes more purple than pink. The two inside can still see through the darker colour, but it's an obvious change to the keen observer.

The giant--who hasn't really noticed what's happening to Lani due to the sheer size difference--swings her club in a downward arc, hoping to crush two bugs with one blow.

Lani looks up, seeing the club fly through the air towards her and Clarva for what seems to be eternity wrapped in a matter of seconds before coming into contact with Lani's ward.

A moment later, the giant is left astounded. Her eyes have to be betraying her, surely? This has to be an illusion conjured by that mage that is currently crumpled with the cat, right?

No. Unfortunately for the giant, it's no parlour trick or mage's last gambit. Her thunderous swing that has killed so many...

Just fucking bounced off of the fairy's ward.

The vibration that ran down the wrist and arm of the giant shocks her to her very core. There has never been a problem that she couldn't solve by smashing it. But now?

She has just been bested by a measly fairy.

No! She won't stand for that! Her pride and honour as a fearsome giant and a great warrior has been tarnished by someone the size of one of her arm hairs! She cannot let this stand! She will not!

The giant lifts her club up once again, but this time, she grips the handle with both hands. Her eyes burn with fury, her hands tremble with the need to see broken bodies and splattered blood. Her own blood boils at the thought of her being bested by such a small, insignificant creature. A loud roar escapes her mouth, signalling her next attack.

The club is swung through the air once again. This time, everything slows down for the giant. The fear that this might not work is prevalent within her, but as an overly proud giant, she'd bash her head against a wall a thousand times to break through it if her honour was called into question.

The club comes down like a meteorite about to strike the unsuspecting land beneath. The time between swing and impact would only be a second, but the giant's fear turns it into forever.

On the opposite side, Lani sees the club pass the halfway point, and she isn't even phased. In fact, she doesn't even care. Just looking at their differing body languages, you'd think Lani was the one swatting away a fly while the giant was the David against a goliath.

Heartbeats are the only time that both sides can count on now as the club is only a few beats away from crashing against the ward.

Five... four... three... two...

As the giant is just about to strike her target, a large boom is heard coming from her left side, just out of her peripheral vision. Just then, the giant's face disconnects from her skull for just the blink of an eye before her skull catches up, recoiling as a huge purplish-pink fist bashes into her face.

Clarva looks up, and her face drops in shock as she sees the giant crumble to floor causing an earthquake-esque rumble as she lands. Dust flies up from the floor upon impact, acting as a brief smokescreen as the ward around Clarva and Lani drops.

Clarva looks over at the giant, seeing that she's definitely out for the count as a fist-shaped red mark has already formed on her face. She breathes a small sigh of relief, knowing that the giant has been dealt with for the moment, even if it's a very brief one.

Clarva then looks down, and sees that Lani is on the floor. The fairy doesn't seem to be ****, but she's definitely spaced the fuck out. Clarva carefully scoops Lani up, bringing Lani up to just below her chest.

After securing Lani, Clarva looks around, seeing both Terra and Amilia are stirring, but are definitely hurt. She can also just see Virra as she looks past the giant, seeing that the other elven sister is also moving, albeit very slowly. She can't see Kyuala however, and the half-giant can't help but be a bit worried.

Just then, through the settling dust, a voice calls out. "So, I go away for a little bit, and you go get some friends and fight the giants without me?! What the fuck, Clarva?!"

The voice is immediately familiar to Clarva. It's a voice she hasn't heard in a while, and it's one that brings her great comfort.

As the dust finally settles, Clarva looks up and sees a small body flying towards her. The body is flanked by two light purple wings with dark purple vein-like lines running all over the wings.

"Karray?" Clarva gets out, her voice almost shaking with disbelief.

"Uhh, yeah? Who else do you know that's badass enough to floor a fucking giant by themselves?" Karray replies as she floats down to her friend.

There's a moment of hesitation between the two, but then Karray looks down at Clarva's amulet. "You kept it..."

"Of course. You gave it to me. I could never get rid of it." Clarva replies as she looks at her much smaller friend.

In Clarva's hands, Lani begins to stir. Her eyes open a little, just enough to see a woman with wings around Lani's size. She swears that she's seeing things, but the pain that seizes her body for a few seconds reminds her that she's not hallucinating.

Lani's eyes eventually open some more, and she can see the flying woman more clearly, and anger begins to build.

The flying woman named Karray isn't a fairy.

She's a pixie.

Lani wants to launch herself up and hit the pixie with everything she can muster. Even thinking about the word "pixie" is enough to make Lani think of her mother and how they still haven't found her yet, but seeing a pixie in the flesh? It makes Lani want to do things she used to deem barbaric and down right evil.

Lani's heart then stops for a moment as she sees that Karray is staring right back at her. However, her eyes are nowhere near filled with anger, in fact, Karray's eyes almost seem filled with intrigue and... compassion?

"No! She doesn't care! This is one of those damned pixie tricks! I won't fall for it!" Lani thinks to herself, that anger within her continuing to boil.

Before Karray can say anything to Lani, the trio are joined by Amilia, Terra and Virra. Amilia immediately asks, "Who the in hells is this?"

"This is Karray. My best friend." Clarva answers.

"Her only fucking friend. I've tried to get her some more friends, but she's so damned stubborn!" Karray says as he jabs her friend in the arm.

"I'm not sorry for being content with having one best friend over a few that aren't as annoying as you." Clarva says. Her face then slightly changes, becoming a mixture of seriousness and worry. "Where have you been, Karray?"

Karray lets out an exasperated sigh as she remembers exactly what happened. "Well, when I left you after you got yourself locked up, I was chased by the fun police. I got away for a bit, but those bastards kept on me like a fly on shit. I got caught and thrown in Third Plane Rock."

"Wait, why were they after you? You hadn't done anything to get on their shit-list as far as I'm aware."

"It wasn't just me. They were rounding up as many pixies as they could." Karray explains. "Apparently, some high and mighty fairy got kidnapped and they're blaming all of us. Probably just using that as an excuse to finally try and exterminate us."

"Bullcrap! She was taken by pixies! I saw the aftermath!" Lani shouts as she flies up from Clarva's hand.

Everyone is shocked at Lani's sudden outburst, but Karray happily fires back. "And who are you, exactly? Last I checked, you fairies love to hide behind your companions and let them do the talking for you."

"I'm the daughter of the fairy who got kidnapped! So you better watch your mouth, you pixie piece of shit!"

Karray is impressed with the fire from this fairy, but Lani's words finally register in her head as she begins to laugh. "Hold the fuck on... you're Luna's kid? So, how are you a p-"

"Keep her name out of your mouth!" Lani cuts Karray off as her anger begins to transform from purely verbal into physical as her magic begins to build up within her.

The others also begin to see the magic travelling through Lani's veins, and quickly, Terra grabs Lani and moves her away from Karray as Clarva does the same for her friend.

"Lani! What has gotten into you?!" Terra asks, seemingly worried about her friend.

The bright pink magic begins to slowly fade from Lani's veins. "She's a pixie! For all we know, she was involved in taking my mother!"

"And how do you know she was? Listen, I can't begin to understand how much hatred you must feel right now, but you cannot blame every single pixie. She just saved our lives!"

"No! She saved Clarva's! We just got lucky!" Lani spits back. Soon, she realizes who she just snapped at, and guilt begins to set in. "Terra... I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to-"

"It's okay." Terra reassures. "But listen, even if Karray is just here for Clarva, if she can take down a giant like that, we could really use her."

Lani sighs. "You make a good point. But I do not trust her whatsoever."

"You don't need to. If Clarva trusts her, then that's enough for me."

On the other side of the hallway, Clarva is currently looking at her friend. "Karray! What the fuck are you doing?!"

"Hey, don't blame me! The prissy princess is the one who started it!"

"Doesn't matter, you should've known a fairy would've reacted the same way no matter the situation!" Clarva scolds, but not for the reason Karray thinks.

The pixie's fire continues burning. "And what the hell are you doing with them anyway?! Why are you even here?! And why the hells are you so banged up?!"

"First, I'm with them because of a deal I made. Secondly, this deal was my best chance to get my ****. Thirdly, I entered the pit and won so the mage over there could fuck shit up, and she definitely did that."

"You entered the fucking pit?! Wow. You really are as dumb as you look right now." Karray say, completely believing that Clarva would do such a stupid thing.

"And what about you? You're the dumbass who got caught and thrown in prison!"

"Literally got chased for like nine days straight, C. You know how fucking exhausting it is to run for nine days without so much as a tinkle break? Newsflash, it fucking sucks!"

"You know fine well I know what it's like to run for days on end." Clarva sternly replies, causing Karray to wince after she finishes.

"Shit... C, you know I didn't mean it."

"I know you didn't." Clarva says, easing off her pissed tone. "But listen, this shit with that fairy over there, you have to cut it out for now."

"She started it!"

"And I'm finishing it!" Clarva takes a second, regaining her composure. After she lets out a heavy exhale, she continues, "Lani over there, is the fairy of another one of their group. He's currently distracting the Giant Queen, so we need to get to her before she finishes with him."

"Holy shit. You seriously brought a guy up here? Clarva, you know what happens to-"

"He agreed to it, alright? I know it wasn't the best plan. It was the only way the Queen was going to agree to the elves request to remove the curse from their sister."

Karray is shocked. "The curse? That curse?"

Clarva nods her head.

"Shit." Karray says. The pixie lets out a sigh as she rubs her temple. "Alright. I guess we're finishing this fucking thing then."

"Remember, play nice." Clarva says, earning a less than thrilled *hmph* from Karray.

As the two head back, they see Amilia, Terra and Virra helping Kyuala to her feet. Kyuala wipes the dust off her armour as she looks at Clarva and the recent arrival.

"Who's this?" The orc immediately asks.

"This is Karray, my best friend. She's the Lani to my John." Clarva responds, hoping Kyuala accepts her explanation.

There's only a brief moment of hesitation before Kyuala says, "Did she do that?"

"Fuck yeah. I can still feel the sting in my hand." Karray says with a proud smile.

Another brief moment of quiet happens before Kyuala speaks again. "Alright. If she can take down a giant, she comes with. Now, let's get a fucking move on and get John back!"

Just as the group take their first steps back towards their goal, the giant from before begins to wake up.

They all stumble back, readying themselves for another battle, but this time, they're all ready to clear a path right through her.

The giant gets to a knee, looking at the group as she cracks her jaw back into place due to Karray's colossal punch dislocating it. The fury in the giant's eyes is about as obvious as a wildfire in the night. The murderous intent on her face is almost frozen on her face, looking more like a mask than an expression.

The group look amongst one another, seemingly agreeing on a joint attack. After all, the giant couldn't kill all of them, right?