This is insanity, an overwhelmed Kel thought wildly as she shouted orders to evacuate. A carpenter came quickly with the weapon she had requested, and Kel handed him her glaive. She felt almost naked, going onto the field without it, but she needed her extra hand for balance. In any case, she had Griffon strapped to her back and its namesake flying above head, screeching warnings to the coming immortal.

But Quick was barely adolescent. He wouldn't stand a chance against a giant.

She brought two fingers to her lips and whistled sharply. Recognizing the signal, Quick dove to her, scattering all of the civilians in the vicinity (they were leery of him despite her reassurances). His feathers stood on end, especially the ring around his neck that was mostly fluff. His eyes were such a dark copper as to be nearly red, and he was shaking.

Kel put a soothing hand to the mark on his left shoulder and rubbed it; that always calmed him. Once he looked rational again, she turned to the gathered volunteers.

"Giants don't usually attack alone," she said, pitching her voice to reach the furthest man. "There will likely be soldiers alongside him. I have called for reinforcements, but you must defend your city from the enemy! Do not worry about the giant. He's mine."

This seemed to bolster their spirits – the former student of the famed Giantkiller, the equally infamous Protector of the Small was with them. Perhaps they thought Lord Raoul had secretly given her lessons in the art of felling large immortals.

"What is the best defence for a lone knight against a giant?"

"The lance!"

Perhaps he had.

Kel knew that, without preparation, the villagers would only be cannon fodder against even the most basically-trained soldiers. She couldn't assign them to anything but guard duty with a clear conscience.

Target nearly slammed into her, he was flying so quickly and erratically. Quickly, she extracted from him that there were twenty soldiers with the giant. Not a terrible number, if she had even ten trained warriors by her side.

But she would take what she could get. "Archers!" she shouted. "Take the wall, and shoot the soldiers at my command! Do not aim for the giant! Ordinary arrows won't pierce his skin!"

Her heart was pounding, but she kept her face calm, trying to arrange the villagers in a way that they could do maximum damage with minimum done to them.

Then giant and soldiers alike came from around the mountain – sloppy, she thought distantly, they should've sent a scout – and she couldn't worry about them anymore. As she braced herself, Kel wished for nothing more than her tilting saddle, but it wasn't exactly something she carried around.

"Charge."

When Kel had been younger, living in Yaman, there had been a storm that came from the sea. It was horrible, creating waves higher than the tallest building she had ever seen. Maybe it was the moment, but Kel didn't feel like she was riding an avalanche – she was riding a tsunami.

She brought her lance down and leaned forward, her world narrowed to a red, blotchy leg. Her aim was true; her lance lodged in the giant's leg – Kel released just in time – and he screamed, falling backwards. Kel shot through his open legs and turned Peachblossom sharply to avoid injury. Then, almost without thinking, she drew Griffon from her back and cantered forward to slit the giant's throat as he fell. Kel was drenched in blood, though she turned to keep it from her eyes.

Looking around, she saw that the archers had done better than expected. Three were dead, and two injured on the ground. Kel took two more that were fool enough to attack her with Griffon in hand; the remaining ran away. Instead of giving chase, Kel memorized their faces. They had better hope they didn't see her again.

She dismounted, gave one of the injured a mercy kill, and trussed the other up before throwing him over Peachblossom. At least one would meet justice in the courts.

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An: This is my respone to Angelancy's challenge. I'm using her chapter as my prolog. All reviews are most desperatly wanted and welcome. I'll be posting my fisrt chapter ( the one I actually wrote) shortly.

ENJOY