Renee to the rescue

Tracy suddenly felt the icy hand release her grip and heard a cry of pain behind her. The tall, slender man had been struck in the back of the neck by a small, forcefully thrown rock.

"Look behind you, you fossil!"

Renee's voice cut through the tense atmosphere. Tracy's friends felt their bodies return to normal; there was still fear, but not paralyzing. Tracy fell to the ground, slightly uncomfortable, and, still lying there, turned to the man's figure and began to walk away. From there she saw a redhead, wearing old cargo pants, heavy boots, a white blouse, and worn work gloves, cross the forest terrain and leap to strike the face of the man who had looked back. Disoriented, the man staggered and fell awkwardly to the ground.

"Get out of here, you guys! I'll take care of this guy!" Renee said, her voice not sounding scared, in fact, extremely excited about what she was doing. Tracy got up as best she could, helped by her friends, while the fallen man got up and ran to counterattack Renee.

"What are you? One of the Nevi'im? I thought the ancient prophets had left Earth."

Moradin knew the ancient prophets well, being aware of what they could do with some divine blessing. Some accounts from the Jewish people recount Moses fighting and defeating Satan, as well as Jacob fighting against angelic figures; this would be a good example of a Nevi'im, not to mention the feats of figures like Gilgamesh or Hercules.

"Yes, sure, we can call it nevi'im," Renee said as the girls ran off. "So... are you going to run off and share the discovery with whoever came with you, or are you going to stay for five minutes of fighting, scarecrow?"

"Scarecrow?" the man said, now visibly irritated. "You have no idea who you're talking to, girl."

Tracy and the others now ran without looking back, giving Renee and the man a perfect stage for a fight. The cell phone that had been positioned had been left streaming minutes ago and captured a good part of the fight, although still without sound. Some people who had been promised new videos ridiculing Renee watched with confusion (and even a little frustration) as Renee fought against a man who was bigger and seemingly more agile than her. They saw when the man retreated and ran away, Renee going after him, moving out of the camera's range to restart the fight.

Moradin, despite being limited by Renee's shell, was having a lot of fun. He blocked attacks, planted his feet firmly on the ground, and counter-attacked with powerful punches. How long had it been since he'd had a fight like this? No tension, just a fair fight.

The ice giant, trapped in his humanoid form, still maintained his power. Despite identifying the woman as nevi'im, it was frustrating and irritating to be slowly defeated by a human.

"Pest! Cursed be you, creation of the nine hells! I curse you and your entire filthy city. What god sent you here after Moradin's artifact? Did Pelor come after his friend to cover a larger area for him?"

The confusion in his opponent's eyes didn't faze Moradin; if anything, it increased the excitement of the fight. In a few moments, he knocked the man out and watched him melt into a puddle of water like a snowman in the sweltering heat. He knew it was a powerful guard from the ice giants. That was bad; perhaps they weren't sure of the location of the Brutal Pick, but at least they suspected the city enough to send a strong guard. A guard who wouldn't return. And it's better that he didn't return, especially not with the story of a Nevi'im. The god used magic to produce false clues, something that would make it seem as if many men had fought and defeated the agent who was after the artifact. Little did he know that some people were already sharing a much stronger and bolder, almost heroic, version of his red-haired friend whose body he now also inhabited.