Fight-and-Flight

A second powerful shot cut through the air, this one different than the last. It was a single beam of red lightning splitting reality before it impacted the targeted giant between the eyes. As the body reeled from the force, a secondary explosion triggered, and, with a puff of pink mist, the head was gone.

“Damn right!" I cheered loudly before coughing up blood. "Ack! Whooo!”

As I hollered at the heroic approach, their cart continuing ahead towards the congregation of blood-soaked giants, I realized that they were unaware of the approaching hulk they had missed. My heart dropped as I witnessed the large figure throwing the hill-sized ghillie suit from its gargantuan body in the moments before it began to charge.

Shit! I thought, hand diving into my bottomless bag to take hold of an elixir. Not good!

Popping the cork on the healing potion, I chugged down the fruity contents before kicking off the air and flying as fast as I could towards the flanking creature. With a glance towards the magic pooling in my wrapped fists, I eyed how the fabric had become stained in a mixture of giants' blood and mine. The soaked cloth shimmered in the eerie red glow as I sensed them nearing their capacity after the last several minutes of continual channelling.

Arm cocked back, zipping past the carriage and my allies, I made contact with the giant that had drawn near enough to grapple Rionriv. With a snap, my arm flung forward, connecting against the dense, stone-like sternum of the creature and for a brief moment, I felt my heart drop. My fist struck true, hitting the target where I had intended, though nothing immediately happened. Then, with a burst of magical energy powerful enough to banish the blood covering my hands into a pink mist, the entirety of the giant’s chest crumpled inward.

Like a truck hitting a bollard at full speed, the creature stopped suddenly, its body nearly entombing mine before bouncing backwards. Streams of blood erupted from every opening on its towering face as its vacant eyes bulged outward, threatening to burst. Drenched in a sanguine bath, I rode the giant's chest as it collapsed to the ground, where I waited with primed fist for it to stand back up. But after a long enough period of waiting, observing as its prone body fed the landscape with the draining life essence, I glanced over my shoulder.

Looking back towards the cart, I watched as Aesandoral sniped another giant with the help of Rionriv’s magic. Meanwhile, Sharzin, still ripping on the reins, pulled the horses and carriage into a drift. Kicking up dirt and sliding across blood, she dodged the swipe of a giant before racing back towards me.

“How do you even do that?” I asked the air as I felt the vibrations of something approaching from my blind spot.

With a glance to my side, I realized that the giant was nearly upon me. Eyeing the various spears, swords, and arrows littering the body, this particular beast appeared to have already taken substantial damage from the soldiers. But that wasn't stopping it. After all, this one looked different. It appeared stronger or, at the very least, more resilient. 

Jumping into the air to avoid its charge, I eyed the numerous scars that littered its body. Testaments of the battles it had waged over the years. Battles it had fought and no doubt won. I noted the thick tribal tattoos that stretched from chest to forehead and the specialized armour properly fitted to its hands, feet, and head. Suspiciously, I locked my gaze on the choker binding its neck and the thick leather belts that reached out from it, lining its sides and connecting to the boots, gloves and helmet.

You must be the leader. I thought, noticing the intelligence behind the giant's stare as it recognized me as a threat. You're just a Big 'ol Dommie Daddy, aren't you?

Beginning to float out of the reach of the figure, I watched as it calculated its next move. Unlike the previous assaulter, this one didn’t lunge for me. Instead, it quickly plucked one of the massive swords buried in its thigh and flicked it at me as though it were nothing more than a toothpick. Unprepared for this turn of events, I doubled over as a three-foot-long sword skewered me through the gut.

“Houf—” I exhaled, blood spilling from my mouth as I looked back at the creature priming another projectile.

Immediately stopping my skyward climb, I floated into a defensive stance. This would be my first time trying this recently envisioned maneuver, but there was no time like the present—even if it was while mid-flight and with a longsword piercing my gut. Prepared, I watched as an axe came whirling towards my head. Using some of the arcane power that coursed through my body, I created a bubble of magical energy extending an arm's length past my fingers. The moment the axe broke the barrier, the world seemed to slow enough for me to calculate the spin of the approaching weapon. With a hissing exhale, I reached my hand forward at the precise moment the haft presented itself. Gripping down, I then used the momentum of the projectile to spin me full circle, where I released it back at the giant with a pulse of my magic added for good measure.

Twice as fast and hitting equally as hard, the axe impacted with the giant’s eye, digging in and causing the beast to release an enraged roar. As blood poured down its face, I wouldn't have time to relish the feat I had just accomplished before the creature went into a rage. Gripping more weapons, the giant leader began to throw them at me by the handful, all the while remaining oblivious to what was approaching. There had been a reason I had targeted the right eye, blinding it to the charging threat. 

Remaining in my defensive stance, it cost me nothing to deflect the projectiles that came at me. I held the assault, distracting the beast long enough to watch as an overcharged arrow pierced the air. Connecting with the giant’s knee, an explosive blast sprayed pink mist into the air as it severed the gargantuan leg and sent the creature to the ground.

"Fug yeah, sweep that leg," I cheered, coughing up blood the moment I relaxed my stance. "Oh shit, right. I'm impaled..."

Without wasting another moment on bleeding out, I removed the sword from my abdomen in a way that would make Megged proud before tossing the blade to the ground. As the blood poured from me, I rested my hand over the wound and healed it enough to seal the puncture. That was when Sharzin, once again driving the carriage, steered around the giant’s reach and made her way in my direction. Seeing the remaining giants now rushing to their leader's aid before directing their ire towards the fleeing vehicle, I knew it was time to go.

“Great shooting!” I complimented Aesandoral and Rionriv as I landed atop the carriage before looking over at Sharzin. “Nice driving!”

“I think the caravan is gone,” Aesandoral reported to me quickly. “What do we do now?”

“I vote run and shoot anything chasing us,” I replied, pointing loosely in the direction of the next checkpoint on the road to Gildhaan. “There are just too many of them for four of us with no support.”

“Agreed.” The sisters spoke in quick reply before turning their attention back to the charging figures.

“Did you happen to find the two other people?”

“Yeah, an elf and a dwarf from cart five,” Rionriv responded. “They’re pretty shaken.”

“I’ll chat with them. Just keep your eyes open on the sides and front. More giants could still be lying low, waiting to ambush."

"Yeah, we know that, Iz," Sharzin remarked from the driver's seat. "Not all of us were given flight spells."

"Well, shit," I growled, glaring at the driver. "Sooorrr-reee for trying to be helpful."

Climbing down the side of the carriage and entering the breezy interior, I glanced at the two figures. Their faces were now as pale as snow, with the dangling half of the dwarf's cigar missing, and the elf's greasy hair dishevelled by the wind.

“Hey,” I spoke softly, but still loud enough for them to hear. “You okay? Do you have any injuries that need healing?”

The pair remained quiet, shaking their heads as they stared blankly into their laps.

“Okay, that’s good. Listen, my name is Ishara, the Ruby Oracle. You're safe now. My friends and I will protect you.”

This seemed to stir something in both of them as they turned and looked at me.

“Th-THE Ruby Oracle?” The elf stuttered. “I-I knew you were familiar! We're indeed saved!”

“I’m sorry, what?” I asked, confused by the sudden show of support. "I mean, like, thanks for the praise, but that was a quick turnaround. Do I know you?

“A few nights past, we were graced by an elvish woman with emerald eyes, the Daughter of Thantossa. She came to us in our darkest hour and said to place all our money on you in the fight. She must have been an angel from the Emerald Pantheon itself. We almost didn’t believe her, but then—you gave us what we needed to escape our terrible situation and find a new life out in the world.”

“You met Aes?” I replied, furrowing my brow before yelling up through the hole in the roof. “Aes! Can I get you in here for a second?”

Muted thuds marked the archer's descent before, a moment later, Aesandoral slinked down the side of the carriage and looked in through the open door.

“What’s up—oh, hey, I thought it was you guys!” She said with a smile. "What brings you here?"

What were the chances? I thought, shaking my head in disbelief.

"Okay, so you do know them?"

"Yeah!" She said with a smile. "We met at the fight. Did you guys go all-in as I recommended?"

After taking a moment to talk and explain the current situation to them, Aesandoral and I climbed back atop the carriage, joining Rionriv on lookout. As Sharzin continued to push the horses, fewer and fewer giants pursued us until all that remained was our broken cart racing across the countryside.

We had officially escaped something much bigger than us once again. And, as the adrenaline began to wear off, that was when my body decided it was time to pass out.

—ooo—

My fingers clicked away at the keyboard as I detailed the lore of the giantkin in preparation for the upcoming war. I marked out villages across the map that hung on the wall before me, eying the final stages of my world intensely. And, as I tied down the last piece of thread connecting the pathway that the giants would take on their migrations to the holy site of their people, I heard the stiff floorboards faintly groan from the hallway.

With a twitch of my ears, I listened to the soft steps approaching me from behind before long, dark arms draped over my shoulder. Exhaling a relieved breath, I leaned back in my computer chair, shifting backwards into Dierdra's embrace. Soft lips pressed forward, meeting my temple with a delicate kiss before the woman rested her chin on my shoulder.

"Whatcha working on?" She softly asked, her head pivoting to look at the map. "Looks like one of those conspiracy boards. Do I need to alert Cee-Sis?"

"Please don't," I replied, shifting my head to catch a side glance of my girlfriend. "I kind of like living in Canada and would prefer to stay."

"Luckily, I like having you here, too." She said, before looking my way to give me a peck on the lips. "So, you made this map too?"

"Yeah."

"Anything you can't do?"

"Mostly everything else," I responded with a chuckle, only to receive a smack on the back of my head. "Owww, what was that for?"

"You know I don't like it when you say things like that. You're good at a lot of things. You just need to have faith in yourself."

"Mmm, faith, yeah. Triggered."

"Tahvin," She growled, peeling herself away from me and marching to the chair I had added to the side of my desk. "I'm serious. God has a purpose for everyone."

"Could we not, Dier?" I said, rolling my eyes and turning to face her. "You know I love you, and I'm all about you having your faith and belief and all that. But I don't want that 'God has a purpose for you' spiel if that's okay. God didn't move my ass to Canada, I did."

"And how do you explain us meeting when we did? That night."

Grumbling, I sighed and looked away. With a thorough examination of the map, I tried to forget Madi and the pain she caused me. I knew that wasn't what Dierdra was trying to bring up, but even after two years, it still hurt.

"That night?" I responded, subconsciously rubbing at the scar over my heart. "Cosmic chance. A dice roll. A natural twenty. Monte Carlo odds, pure and simple..."

"Yeah, okay, sure. But for both our lives and the odds of the events that pushed us to the same game at the same moment. Where you saved me from returning to an abusive relationship after I saved you from—"

Dierdra bit her tongue, drawing quiet as I tried to disassociate from the conversation.

"I'm just saying..." She eventually continued, carefully dancing around the topic. "Life is more than just patterns and statistics. There is a purpose. A meaning. Something greater than you and me the guides us forward. And if you can't see it, then one day it sneaks up on you—"

"Hey God," I interrupted. "Feel free to sneak up any time and end this conversation, big man."

"Tahvin!" Dierdra scolded me, gently swatting at my arm. "Karma is a thing. And if you're not careful, one day it'll get you. So don't say things you wouldn't want God to hear."

"But if He is Almighty, shouldn't He already know the things I want to say? Checkmate, karma. Checkmate, God."

"Tahv—" Dierdra suddenly hissed, doubling over as she held at her stomach.

"Dier!" I panicked, quickly swivelling her way and touching her arm. "Are you okay? Is it your Crohn's?"

"It-it's fine." She spoke through gritted teeth. "I'm fine. I'm fine. Just a little pain."

"No, no, that doesn't look like a little pain. You should rest..."

Standing, I quickly moved behind Dierdra to help her up and out of the room. As I put her to bed and went off to get the heating pad and a glass of water, I couldn't help but think about what she had said. Her beliefs concerning God and karma. About how I had asked God to end the conversation, and then it suddenly stopped.

"Dumb," I muttered to myself as I closed the tap on the faucet. "It's all just a coincidence."

With a final shake of my head, I wandered back into the bedroom where I planned to comfort Dierdra until she fell asleep.