"What is your business here?" asked the stranger, pulling out a rune scimitar that looked exactly identical to Mick's.
"I am here to rescue the hostages from the Moss giants," replied Mick. "They are just around that corner."
"I will help," said the Stranger. He suddenly stopped, realizing that he hadn't introduced himself. "Richard."
"Mick," replied Mick. Now that the introductions were over he turned to face the Moss giants again. "We have the element of surprise on our side. We should be able to take on five of them easily."
"Have you ever fought a Moss giant before?" asked Richard curiously. "Despite their size they are still extremely fast. They aren't normally aggressive fighters but given their recent activities there's no telling how volatile and dangerous they will be." Mick nodded in agreement and tightened his grip on his scimitar.
"Let's go then," said a new voice. Mick and Richard both turned around, stunned. They had been so focused on planning their attack that they hadn't noticed somebody else sneak up behind them.
"Glenn," smiled the stranger, watching smugly as the Mick and Richard sized him up. Glenn was wearing a full set of adamant armour and was also wielding a rune scimitar.
"We were just about to attack the Moss giants," explained Mick. "I'm Mick and this is Richard. If you're willing to join us wait for my signal, if not then wait here and we'll be back shortly." Turning back to the task on hand, Mick suddenly dashed around the corner, tightening his grip on his scimitar so that he wouldn't lose it.
It took a moment for the Moss giants to register the sudden attack, but after that they swiftly picked up their clubs and charged to meet Mick, Richard and Glenn. The three adventurers were out-numbered but they were confident that they could take on five lumbering giants amongst themselves.
Mick headed for the first Giant, running past it and slashing viciously at its leg. The giant howled in pain as rune metal sliced through vulnerable flesh, spurting out a pool of green blood. Mick took a second to register the damage of his first attack before charging back at the giant. This time the giant was ready, swinging its massive club towards Mick. Mick rolled forward and raised his shield, taking the brunt of the impact on his arm. The force that was put behind the blow was staggering. Mick found himself dazed from the shock of the blow and was defenceless against the next blow.
Mick could have sworn to seeing a wicked smile on the Moss giant's face as it slammed it's wooden club into his chest – sending him staggering back. He barely recovered in time to dodge the next attack. He shook his head in disappointment as he launched his next attack. He had under-estimated his opponent: something which he would never do again. Mick stood still and waited for the giant to slam its club into the ground again. Instead of blocking the blow with his shield this time, Mick rolled to the side and felt the ground shake as the large piece of wood thundered into the ground next to him.
Thinking quickly, Mick lashed out with his rune scimitar: cutting with all the strength that he could muster in a vicious strike that cut cleanly through the club: cleaving it in two. The giant howled in rage and threw away the useless club. Smiling with satisfaction, Mick re-doubled his attack efforts: running through the giant's legs and lashing out with his scimitar. His efforts were rewarded with more green blood that splattered all over the ground and on his armour. Now that the giant no longer had its weapon it would be much easier for him to finish it off. As the giant lashed out with its fist – attempting to knock Mick off his feet Mick met the attack with one of his own: slicing off the giant's hand before it came anywhere near his person.
This only seemed to make the giant angrier – causing it to become even more irrational. Blinded by bloodlust the giant suddenly charged towards Mick. Mick slashed at its leg again, but this time the giant ignored the pain and barrelled right into him – continuing to run until it slammed him against the wall. The impact of the blow winded Mick badly – causing him to drop his scimitar. Even with only one hand Now that the giant had Mick in its grip it picked him up and slammed him into the wall again. Mick was ready for it this time and kicked off the wall to come back at the giant again – lashing out with a vicious kick. The kick caught the giant in the chest and forced it to drop Mick to the ground.
Gasping for breath, Mick picked up his scimitar again and attacked again – slicing the giant's stomach open with a horizontal slash. The giant looked at Mick with what could only be shock and he was surprised to find that a red wisp of air suddenly shot out of the moss giant's stomach and disappeared slowly – writing in agony. Mick was puzzled – he hadn't expected anything like that to happen when he killed the moss giant. Since the red wisp had disappeared Mick noticed that the Moss giant had stopped trying to attack him and had finally accepted its fate.
Mick should have been glad that he had been able to take down one of the Moss giants – but all that he felt was regret. Normally he had no hesitations about taking the life of an enemy creature that had tried to take his life but this time was different. It appeared as though the red wisp that had just been expelled from the dying Moss giant's body was what was causing them to suddenly act so aggressively towards everyone.
But Mick's thoughtful mood had removed his combat focus. He had forgotten about the two Moss giants that currently were unoccupied. For the duration of the battle they had merely been standing there, watching Mick, Richard and Glenn fight their companions but now that they had seen one of their own fallen they were eager to avenge their death. An unexpected blow from one of them caught Mick in the chest and sent him flying into the wall – winding him once again.
I've really got to stop getting distracted during the middle of a fight, Mick thought to himself as he took a moment to recover, calculating what would be the best move to make form his current position. Both giants were heading towards him now – there was no way that he would be able to take out both giants at once and yet if he only took out one of the giants, the other one would be sure to finish him off. He gave a momentary glance towards his companions and saw that they still had their hands full fighting the other Moss giants – he would not be able to rely on them for aid.
Thinking quickly Mick suddenly charged the giants, slashing at the closest Moss giant's stomach and jumping back nimbly to avoid being crushed to the ground by a giant club. His attack had been successful and he was rewarded with yet another Moss giant falling to the ground. This one landed on its knees and it looked at Mick with such pleading eyes that he had to look away. The look that the Moss giant had just given him was one of utter confusion as though it did not understand why Mick would ever want to hurt it. Could it be that the Moss giants themselves did not realize that they were being possessed until they died?
Now there was only one Moss giant left for him to kill before he could go to the aid of his companions and end this ugly matter. He turned to face the Moss giant and was surprised to find that the giant had picked up the club of one of his fallen companions and gave Mick a look filled with contempt and malice. Gritting his teeth, Mick advanced towards the giant, raising his shield and rolling to the side as one of the clubs came crashing down. He was successful in dodging the first club, but the second club caught him in the side and sent him sprawling backwards.
It took Mick a moment to recover from the awful blow. He checked his armour and was glad to see that there were no dents in the armour – that was the good thing about rune armour: it protected you from nearly any attack. He could feel several bruises beginning to surface though from the repeated blows. This battle was taking a heavy toll on his body and he could tell. If this battle wasn't over soon then he didn't know how much longer he would be bale to keep up this assault.
While Mick was still recovering the Moss giant charged again, delivering heavy sweeps with its two clubs. Mick blocked the blows as best as he could but one of the blows caught him on the arm and the momentum spun his body around. The impact of the blow caused him to drop his scimitar.