A Giant Problem

I was woken up by a stick poking me in the ribs.

“What are you…”

“Shush,” Hod whispered. “Don’t move.”

He looked like a statue, face turned towards the fire, but his eyes were stuck to something on the other side of the road.

“What is it?” I whispered.

“Something big,” he answered. “I’m hoping it moves on, but if it doesn’t, we need to be quick.”

We stayed still, listening to the rustling and breaking of branches. I slowly turned my head, until I saw the large shade move about in the green. It raised its head, and suddenly I realized it had the shape of a man. It was hunched over, and it dawned on me that it was watching us, like we were watching it. Then, it burst through the bushes, a man of enormous size, a giant, and raised a club of monstrous proportions. I grabbed the spear I had laid next to me, ready to jump into action, but Hod shook his head. I watched in shock as the giant brought down his club on our poor horse’s head, crushing it instantly.

“Hod…” I gasped.

“Don’t. Move.”

“But…”

“It’s hunting,” he whispered. “Don’t make yourself its prey.”

We watched as the giant grabbed the trembling horse by its legs, and threw it over its shoulders. It turned slowly, horseblood gushing over its left arm. Then, I heard a high whizzing sound, and it staggered, an arrow protruding from its chest. It roared, dropped the horse and looked around, before another arrow hit its forearm.

An unknown voice let out a battlecry, and out of the bushes a short figure jumped, flanking the giant and delivering a cut to its left leg. The angered giant turned, and swung its club in the direction of its assailant, who darted away, narrowly evading a quick ****.

“By the gods, welp,” another voice growled. “You’ll see your ancestors soon like that.”

The man whom I suspected was the owner of said voice, strode out of the shadows, brandishing a man-sized claymore, which he held two-handed in front of him, carefully following the giant’s movements.

“Have you no patience?”

The other, a woman, grunted as she ducked to avoid another swing from the giant’s club.

“Let her make her own mistakes, you oaf,” another voice called out, belonging to a tall fiery woman drawing a hunting bow and shooting another arrow into the giant. The beast roared again, wildly swinging his club in all directions. Its head shook, unsure which target to hit as it was sliced and stabbed from two sides, none of them fatal, but painful enough to keep it in one place.

“That’s it,” the man with the claymore shouted. “Keep wearing it down.”

The first woman — dark haired and shorter than the others, so likely an Imperial — seemed to be getting more and more frustrated however, dodging more slowly and swinging her sword more erratically. Her face spelled **** as she jumped forward, thrusting her blade into the giant’s leg. For a moment she laughed triumphantly, before the club crashed through her hastily raised shield, sweeping her aside with little effort. The crunch was sickening as her forearm was shattered, and she fell five paces from the beast.

Now, it had only two opponents to worry about, and since one of them kept her distance, it focused all its attention on the man with the gruff voice and the big sword. He picked up his pace, creating a storm of slices around him to keep the creature at bay, but he was just a man, and even with the help of the archer, he was **** backwards. It came dangerously close to him, and finally, the club and the claymore met. A sharp clang followed, as the shining blade was thrown out of reach. Again, the club was raised, but this time I didn’t wait for it to claim another victim. Against all common sense, I drove the spear into the back of the giant’s thigh. As it turned, angrily, the shaft broke, and I was left with a useless piece of wood. It stumbled towards me, unto the bluff, and I saw its face in the light of the fire. It was almost human. The club was dragged through the flames, throwing embers. I tripped backwards, and heard the river roaring behind me. The giant, bleeding heavily, trudged forward and hoisted his weapon up slowly.

Now.

I dashed forward as it tried to crush me, driving the splintered wood into its groin, causing it to topple over in pain, over the edge of the cliff. It screamed weakly as it dropped down the waterfall, until it split its ugly head on a rock.