The Endless Hunt
Chapter 7
xxxxXXXXxxxx
I actually started writing this approximately three hours after writing chapter 6. I'm on a roll!
xxxxXXXXxxxx
Lothian, 'The Shieldless', champion of Forossa, stared this newcomer in the eye. He had an aura of doom around him, this man… no, not a man, this… being, was old. Very old.
He too was old, forty-seven, ancient by the standard of Forossa, where your average life expectancy was twenty, maybe thirty if you were a great warrior. And Lothian was a great warrior. A champion of Forossa, a hero amongst men. But this man, he was something else.
Lothian appreciated violence, it was the perfect vent for a mans darker instincts, but this man, he didn't seem to feel anything. He was powerful, but he was also like a machine, no emotion filled his blows, he did not strike in rage or in sorrow, but in the name of killing, in the name of blood being spilt.
Lothian dodged another swing of a giants meaty fist, before uppercutting with his mighty axe, the giants jaw being split in two by the ferocity of the blow. He ducked another blow from the same giant, this time hammering his axe downward, splitting the top of its skull, killing it instantly.
His warriors were strong, no doubt. A sense of pride filled him as they began to shout their number of kills, adding one every time a giant fell to their blade. The numbers were varying, but mostly numbers like six and seven. Several had achieved up to twelve.
He himself had accomplished twenty-four, and he roared "Twenty-five!" after finishing off another giant. Several of his men looked at him disbelievingly, but he wasn't lying. He looked back at the warrior.
The knight was carving up a small group of giants at once, expertly dodging their blows and stabbing or slashing, taking down one…two…three…four…five… Lothian stopped counting after that.
"How many have you killed, mate!" He shouted over the battlefield, directed at the strange warrior.
The man didn't turn for a second, before spinning on his heel and shouting a reply in a deep, terrifyingly powerful voice.
"Ninety-Four!"
Lothian shook his head in disbelief. That was impossible! No lone warrior could… and then the knight was picked up by a giant eagle. Huh.
'Oh well.' He thought to himself as he tore apart another giant. 'I just need to kill sixty-nine more.'
xxXXxx
Velstatd, The Royal Aegis, smashed downward with his mace, crushing another giants skull. This was the forth time he had had to kill a giant who threatened his king. The soldiers were barely holding the line. The Forossans were holding the western flank, and the Melfians were fairly successful in pushing the giants back to the east of his position, but the fort was under heavy bombardment.
Then the knight arrived, and everything changed.
The man fell from the sky, his arrival heralded by an eagles call and his enormous greatsword falling from the sky, splitting the ground and sending out a shockwave that threw back several soldiers. He grabbed the blade and turned to face the army.
Velstatd raised his hammer, ready to fight back, before the knight gestured for the army to follow him as he charged. Velstatd was shocked. This fool was charging the giants? Was he mad?
Then the man started to fight.
His first swing decapitated one giant and severed the hand of another, that same giant then being impaled by the same weapon. He turned and kicked another in the chest, he almost seemed to be floating… Velstatd looked closer. He was floating! He was levitating almost a foot off the ground!
The army watched this in awe, before a massive roar emerged from the ten thousand strong force as they charged, vaulting over makeshift palisades, crossbow fire filling the sky as the knight whirled around amidst the giants, little more than a blur of death, killing beast after beast, seemingly untouchable.
Velstatd roared and leaped through the air, landing amidst the front rank of the army as he led the charge, raising his hammer over his head and bringing it crashing down upon the skull of a giant, cracking its head open in a blast of brains and blood.
He saw the knight turn and look at him, before another giant obscured his vision. He smashed the offending foe out of his way before rushing to the knights side, as the giants closed ranks around them.
They fought back to back, The Pursuer and The Aegis, one a killer of men and the other a guardian of kings. The two of them seemed immortal, killing giant after giant, tearing apart all who opposed them, until they reached the beach and turned, realising they were separated from the main army.
The knight looked at him, and Velstatd looked back. Then they heard a roar that filled the air and struck terror into the hearts of all the humans who heard it. The roar of the Giant Lord.
They looked each other in the eye. This would be the decisive kill, and they would need to cooperate. They both nodded at the same time, and then turned to face their foe.
The Giant Lord was enormous, even for a giant, nearly twice the size of a normal giant, and was in the midst of climbing the fort walls.
"How are we to reach him?" Velstatd asked as he gestured to the crown wearing monster.
The Pursuer merely held up a hand and whistled.
The Eagle lunged downwards and grabbed the Pursuers shoulders, as he grabbed Velstatds hand. The Eagle took off, effortlessly carrying both of the knights to their destination.
Velstatd dropped first, landing on the fort ramparts while heaving his hammer over his shoulder as The Pursuer fell to the ground, drawing his sword. They nodded to each other once more before charging, roaring a unified battlecry.
The Giant noticed them too late, as Velstatd swung his hammer in an arc, splitting the bones in its leg, but its rock hard skin held it up. It swung its sword, but The Pursuer caught the blow on his shield and let the blade skid off, before stabbing it in the shin, his blade piercing the skin, the beasts ancient blood spewing forth from the wound.
It roared in pain before stabbing downward toward Velstatd, who leapt back to dodge the blow, before jumping forward, swinging into and breaking the blade, sending one half spinning away as the other half remained in the Giant Lords hand.
The Pursuers eagle dove in with a screech, pecking and slashing with its talons at the beasts head, as it roared and tried to swat it out of the air, successfully hitting it with his off hand, and the bird fell to the ground as The Pursuer roared in anger, slashing with his blade at the giants injured leg.
The sword made several cuts before the Giant Lord stomped, the Pursuer once again catching the strike on his shield, then it was a clash of strength, the Pursuers augmented strength pushing against the size of the Giant Lord.
Then Lothian happened.
The Shieldless hero smashed the beasts leg aside as it roared in anger, stabbing downwards at the knight of Forossa. He rolled away from the blade, before throwing his axe, the huge weapon spinning through the air, smashing into the Giant Lords head and toppling the tall, thin creature as Lothian charged, pulling his axe from the sunken pit that was its face, smashing down and down until it stopped moving.
He stopped and looked at The Pursuer.
"One-Hundred." He said simply.
xxxxXXXXXxxxx
Damn that was fun to write! I know Lothians sudden arrival was somewhat nonsensical, but that was so much fun to write I don't care! (Regains Composure)
Scribe out.