Life and Death
Sonya's shot rang out, and the giant she had fired at stopped. She fired at him again and he fell. Sonya's second shot was lost though, as Anari Achmed of Hydra and Ron Stone of Sphinx triggered the claymores in front of the two teams.
There were twelve of them; totaling sixteen pounds of the finest explosive the US military ever used, and they all went off together. The explosions sent nine thousand steel pellets downrange, and they tore through the giants, ripping unprotected flesh and wreaking havoc among them.
Almost instantly, the air was filled with the sounds of warfare as M-4s chattered, their lighter sounds punctuated by the strange 'bloop' of M-203 40mm grenade launchers. The deeper roar of M-240b machineguns, pushing six hundred and fifty rounds a minute, provided a steel jacketed storm of fire that cut giants down like wheat.
The giants froze under this assault, so completely unlike anything they had ever experienced, and Manticore used those few precious seconds of horror and shock to reduce the odds facing them.
Sonya was aware that her first target had fallen, but her attention was on the targets still standing. She fired again, and reached for a new magazine as the bolt locked to the rear on an empty chamber. She reloaded and brought the weapon back to her cheek, but held her fire. The surviving giants had fled back to the safety of the wood line.
Less than ten giants made it out of the fire zone, and silence fell as Manticore looked at the carnage. That silence was only temporary as the shock wore off, and injured or dying giants made the acquaintance of pain.
Sonya raised her ring, acting out of reflex. "Team leaders, report status." She stared out at the combat zone, stunned by the violence of Muggle weapons. Thirty-six dead, dying, or injured giants lay out there, and less than two minutes had passed.
"Griffon is green."
"Sphinx is green"
"Dragon is green"
The voices on the ring were quiet, as their owners absorbed the scene before them. Manticore had been training to do this very thing, but all the training in the world doesn't really prepare one for massive amounts of violent death.
Sonya sighed in relief. None of the Hydras were hurt, and none of her people had gotten hurt at all. This scene though, might make the giants turn away from here.
"Hydra one, this is Sphinx one. I have movement in the wood line."
Sonya sighed and raised her ring. "All Alpha point troops, this is Hydra one. Do not waste ammunition, but if you have a shot, take it. Hydra one out."
Sonya took a second to look at the devastation in front of her. She'd been trained for this, but nothing you can do in training could ever prepare a person for the first sight of the aftermath of a battle. Most of the giants were still now as blood loss and shock forced them into unconsciousness, and the moans of the few that could still make sounds warred with the smell of blood and cordite.
Manticore watched silently as the giants grew still, waiting for the next assault, but it was nearly thirty minutes later that they found out what the giants had been waiting for. Clouds appeared over the side of the eastern edge of the valley and moved in with unnatural speed.
The cloudbank centered itself over the valley entrance and the temperature fell sharply. Sonya winced. It seemed that the enemy had at least one Elemental Mage on their side. She sent another order over her ring. "Phoenix, we have a problem. Get your people on it."
Jerrick and the Phoenix team were in fallback positions around the Heart of the World and Chimera. Since they would not be in the fighting, Jerrick was responsible for countering any magic the giants used that was not a direct battlefield condition and he called on his first team now.
Teun Redstone, Anna Righter, and Herman Spelling began casting, with Teun starting her spell just before Anna, and Herman just after Anna. Since all three of them were casting the "summissus ventulus" spell, the round robin casting allowed Anna to add the power of her spell to Teun's, and Herman boosted both of them. By the time the "gentle breeze" reached the valley entrance, it would be closer to a howling wind.
At the valley entrance, a cold driving rain started to fall, and the Manticores took a second to cast "Impervius" before trying to watch for the giants in the sharply reduced visibility.
The giants though, were staying in the woods and the why of that soon became obvious as a lightning bolt struck in the battlefield, and then two more in quick succession.
"Hydra one, this is Griffon one. We need our medic. Griffon four was caught at the edge of the second blast."
Sonya winced, but called the Griffon medic, telling Dorothy McGovern that Brain Crockford needed her, and to come up under the invisibility spell. She called Griffon one back and told him that the medic was enroute.
Sonya frowned as another bolt of lightning struck. Eventually, one of those bolts would hit a Manticore.
"Hydra one, this is Sphinx one. I can stop the lightning, but I need to leave my position. Requesting permission to do so."
Sonya sighed in relief. If Ron Stone, Sphinx one had been in reach right then, she might have kissed him. "Sphinx one, this Hydra one. Permission granted, but be careful."
Sonya was looking toward the Sphinx positions and she saw a blur shoot out of them. It took her a second to realize that the blur was the "Impervius" spell shunting the rain off Ron as he flew out into the battlefield.
She watched the blur with her heart in her throat, hoping the giants didn't notice Ron. Ron game to the ground near a giant body, one of three that was wearing chain mail as opposed to the normal leather armour. He paused for a few seconds and lifted off again; shooting back the way he'd come just seconds before a lightning bolt struck the body.
Another bolt struck the body, and as the third hit it, Sonya realized that Ron had done something to make the body attract the lightning.
"Sphinx one, this is Hydra one. Good work, although next time I will ask what you are planning. You nearly gave me a heart attack sitting out there."
It was a few seconds before Ron replied, and his surprise was clear. "Hydra one, you could see me?"
Sonya giggled slightly and then looked around, hoping no one had heard her. "Roger that, Sphinx one. The "Impervius" spell makes a blurry shape when you move around."
"I'm not sure if I wanted to know that, Hydra one."
Sonya sobered as she turned back to study the battlefield again. The giants were still trying to force the lightning bolts away from the body, but whatever Ron had done was holding up. After a dozen more attempts the giants stopped using the lightning.
One of them appeared at the edge of the woods and before Sonya could say anything, one of the Phoenix snipers shot him. The shot was still echoing when a breeze started whipping down the valley from the Phoenix positions.
The breeze rapidly picked up strength, becoming a fierce wind that was strong enough to break small branches off trees and send then skittering along the ground. Manticore ducked lower into their positions, protected from the worst of it.
The wind's effect was just as severe on the cloudbank. In less than a minute, it was being pushed toward the woods, and the giant Mage dispelled it rather than suffer from it themselves.
"Phoenix two, this is Hydra one. Tell your wind makers that they did good work and they can stop now."
Sonya was listening to Jerrick's response when she saw another of the blurs leaving the Griffon positions. "Griffon one, this is Hydra one. Status report."
"Hydra one, this is Griffon one. Griffon is amber. Brian is injured slightly, but our medic says he's still fit for duty."
Sonya frowned, on the verge of ordering Griffon four back to the Phoenix positions, and then she reconsidered. The medic had said that Brian was fit, and it would not be good of her to overrule the medic without cause.
Sonya was checking on her team with the link when the giants started using their next tactic. Arcing up from the woods came a magical fireball that started a fire, despite the wet ground. The response was nearly immediate as the closest Manticore sent a stream of water playing over the fire.
Whoever was using the "fusio inriguus" spell had to play it over the fire for several seconds and the giants were able to see where it was coming from, even if they could not see what was causing it.
Another fireball came out of the woods heading for the point where the water was coming from. Ron Stone, who had that sector of the defense, had anticipated that apparently, as an "Expelliarmus" spell knocked it away.
More fireballs came from the woods and Sphinx was kept busy knowing them away from their positions. Sonya raised her ring. Hydra was too far away to help with that, but they did have other options. "Phoenix Snipers, somewhere along the edge of the woods is a giant. Those fireballs are being aimed. Switch to thermal imaging and find him."
"Roger that, Hydra one."
Sonya frowned at the thought of the thermal sights the snipers were using for their weapons. She reached down and pulled out her own thermal imaging system. She started scanning the battlefield and stopped as she got first one, and then three more spikes in the valley.
Leaving the Thermals on one of the spikes, she called the other teams, and asked for a location on all the Manticores as well as Wolfpack. She didn't think any of her people would be out there, and those spikes looked very large, but she was going to make sure.
Sonya got quick answers back from all the linked teams, but Phoenix and Wolfpack, who had to physically check their people, took slightly longer. She got the last report back and nodded. Whoever those four spikes were, they were not friends.
She was about to start issuing orders to her team when she received a call. "Hydra one, this is sniper one. We have three, I say again, three heat sources in the wood line."
Sonya grinned. This was perfect. "Sniper one, share the data with the others. Assign targets and hold visual. Hydra has some targets in the valley, and I want you to fire when we open up on them."
"Roger that, Hydra one."
Sonya opened the link with Hydra and showed them what she wanted. When they were briefed, she called Ron Stone and assigned his Sphinx team the targeting data.
Muggles had long ago found many ways to fight even when you cannot see your targets and Sonya used two of those techniques now. She chose four TRPs (Target reference points, as everyone remembers from Summer training, right?) boxing the four slowly advancing heat sources in. Then she assigned searching fire grids to each team, using those four TRPs as the boundaries of the grids.
When all of the people were ready, Sonya laid down her rifle for a minute and drew her sidearm. Using the thermals, she aimed at the first spike.
She fired, and fired again, not being able to tell if she'd hit the target or not. Hydra opened fire with her, using the link, and Sphinx was just a split second behind them. Geri and Maynard had the 240b machine guns on full auto as they held the triggers down. The two of them were sweeping the target zone with twelve hundred rounds a minute, and simply covering the entire area with lead. Booming out over the lighter gunfire was the thunderous sound of the fifty caliber rifles the snipers were using.
Sonya waited thirty seconds, counting them off in her head, and then called the cease-fire. She aimed the thermals out toward the target zone and sighed. The spikes were much lower now, and not moving at all. She would keep an eye on them, but she was willing to bet that over the next couple of hours, those spikes would simply fade away.
She checked her watch. It was just after four in the afternoon and Manticore had to hold the giants at least until sunset, around 2214 tonight. This would have been a lot easier if they could have done this on Midwinter's night rather than Midsummer's night. The sun would be setting right about now, and she'd be almost ready to turn this over to James.
Then they could pack up and go as soon as the giants were ready to leave. Sonya laughed at herself. She didn't really think James or the giants would simply walk away from this fight, but she could hope.
There was a break in the battle while Manticore waited to see what the giants would do next. That didn't take long. "Hydra one, this is Sniper one. We have multiple heat sources massing in the woods at the 1100 position."
Sonya looked out at the left side of the valley but didn't see anything, which meant the giants were using invisibility. She smiled as a thought struck her. "Sniper one, this is Hydra one. Share your data with the 203 gunners."
When he was finished with that, Sonya called the 203 gunners. "This is what I want you to do," she said and explained her plan.
A few seconds later, all four gunners fired and started reloading as fast as they could, each of them placing five rounds in the woods around the heat sources before stopping. Sonya was not expecting to kill many giants this way, but it would force them back and make them nervous about how the enemy could see them.
She thought about using a few more fear inducing tactics, but most of them required more people than she had. "Wolfpack one, this is Hydra one."
Alexander couldn't key the rings of course, but he could relay to Martin. "Hydra one, this is Wolfpack one, go ahead."
"Can a few of your Rangers get out the back of the valley, and circle around behind the giants in time to do us any good?"
"Not at this time. The nearest pass is over three hours away."
Sonya considered the careful wording and air of suppressed humour Martin had in his voice. "Wolfpack one, how many of your people are out there, and where are they?"
"We happened to have a four person patrol out, and they seem to have circled around behind the giants."
Sonya grimaced. After this was over, she was going to have words with those two. Not as many as she'd like to have, since she did indeed need those people out there, but she was going to give them hell about not telling her they were out there. "Wolfpack one, contact your scout team. I want them to find whoever is in charge out there and take him out after he launches the next attack. I want their chain of command shattered during the attack."
Sonya sent a warning to Manticore that there were friendlies out in the wood line somewhere, and told them to be sure their targets were giant sized. Sonya did not have to wait long for the next attack.
Six giants burst out of the wood line, running for the valley as fast as they could. Manticore tried, but the giants were moving at high speed, faster than anyone except the Borderers thought they could move.
Two of them fell but the others reached the upper end of the valley entrance, past the ends of the Manticore lines. They came to a sudden stop there, as Blade and Eagle stood before them.
"We stand here, and challenge all who would pass." Martin's voice, amplified by the "Sonorus" spell, echoed up and down the valley as Sonya swore.
"Alpha point, cease fire." Sonya glared at Martin and Alexander, even though they were to far away to see it. Those two idiots had just revealed the nature of the enemy to the giants. Until now, the giants had not seen anything but explosions and magic. That had to worry them on some levels, and these two had just ruined that.
"Stand to Challenge, or go nameless into the beyond." Sonya sighed. Formal challenge had its place, but not here, not now.
She watched as two of the giants moved up and exchanged words with the two Rangers. After the four of them completed the rituals of challenge, they squared off. Blade's opponent went down quickly, and Sonya cursed the distance, that kept her from seeing the details.
Blade stood by, waiting for Martin's battle to end, which didn't take long, and they turned to the remaining giants. They faced the two giants and performed the rituals of Challenge again.
That was when everything went south. As Sonya watched with disbelieving eyes, both of the giants attacked Martin, in violation of the challenge. Eagle ducked under the sword of his opponent, but was unable to avoid the club of the other giant.
The heavy blow laid him out, silent, bleeding and not moving.
Blade showed the giants the error of their ways as he ran up behind the one that had ignored him and cut the giant across the calves, severing the muscles there and bringing the giant crashing to the ground.
He didn't even stop to check the giant, but ducked a swing from the club wielder and got inside his guard. Blade thrust up with the sword that was his namesake and continued to run, under the giant, before yanking the sword free and spinning around to cut the giant's right leg out from under him.
Blade ignored this giant as well, crossing to Eagle and hauling him quickly out of sight.
Sonya frowned at the second giant. He was curled up on the ground, and even from here, Sonya could hear his high-pitched keening. She thought about what Blade had done. She realized what Blade had done and felt a moment's pity for the giant, until she remembered that he'd broken Challenge.
She shrugged. At least he wouldn't be breeding anytime soon, if ever.
Blade reappeared, walking casually up to the still whimpering giant. The Manticores were too far away to hear what he said, but whatever it was made the giant try to reach for his club even as Blade calmly ran the giant though the eye, sinking his sword deep into its brain.
He took a minute to wipe the blade off on the giant's clothes and turned to the other one.
That giant had struggled to his knees, unable to rise any further with the tendons in both legs cut. "I am Scorned, of the Firestarter Clan."
Sonya didn't need to hear Alexander's reply to that. "You fight well, for a human. I will die well this day." The giant raised his sword and looked at Blade, waiting for him.
Sonya had to admire his courage, if not his honor. He knew that he had no chance here, but he was facing his death openly, and as close to on his feet as he could get. "What do you mean, I need not die?"
Sonya frowned at that. Blade was apparently offering him a way out. "Your offer is accepted." The giant tossed his sword down and lay back down to start caring for his wounds.
Blade caught Sonya's eye and made the hand signals for a medic to rally to him, and Sonya made the call. She had barely finished when she got a call. "Hydra one, this is Sphinx one. You should know, I have a giant in the wood line armed with a flag of truce."
Sonya turned, scanning the woods for the giant. She spotted him, standing at the edge of the wood line with a peace cloth in his hands.
She frowned, hesitating. With any other Clan, she'd simply go down there and see what he wanted but any Clan whose member would break a formal Challenge might ignore the peace flag as well.
As she thought about it, the giant started forward, moving slowly. Sonya made her decision and sent a call over the ring. "All units hold position and fire. Snipers, scan the wood line. Hydra, cover me."
She left the position and moved away from it before dropping the invisibility spell. She went to meet the giant, stopping when they were about twenty meters apart. The two of them studied each other for a minute. The giant was dressed in chain mail and wearing a large sword strapped across his back. "You have captured my son," he said without preamble. "I would know the cost of his return."
Sonya looked back. "I cannot say. Blade is the one that captured him, and the one you must talk to. I shall inform him of your request."
Sonya backed up and flew to where Blade stood over the dead giants, watching the one that was still alive. One of the Phoenix Mediwitches was working on his legs. "How is Eagle?"
Blade frowned. "Bruised, battered and sore. He has several broken ribs and a concussion, but the Phoenix medic says that Mercy will have him up and moving by the time we are ready to leave."
Sonya was relieved it was not worse. Blade's eyes went to the giant patiently waiting. "What does he want?"
Sonya arched an eyebrow, indicating the giant being healed. "He wants his son back, and is asking your price."
Blade looked at the giant behind him and back down the valley at the father. "My price is simple. They both leave, right now and promise to not fight any human that is not in the Firestarter Clan for a year and a day."
Sonya raised her eyebrow at the low request but turned and flew back to the waiting giant. She relayed the terms and the giant frowned. "Blade will not know if we have followed the terms of the ransom."
Sonya sighed. "That you leave today may save some of my people as well as your lives and that is good enough for me. Blade is willing to accept your word that you will follow the terms of the ransom."
The giant looked at his son, now standing near Blade. "I give my word not to attack any human not of this Clan, but I reserve the right to defend myself."
Sonya relayed that to Blade with the ring, looking back. Blade nodded his agreement and scorned started toward his father. He stopped and looked at Blade. He bowed slightly and crossed over to his sword. Picking it up, he slid it home in his sheath and started toward his father again.
He stopped as he reached Sonya and his father. "We must go," his father said.
"I have cost you must this day, Father." The two giants turned and started off, but then the father turned back.
"Might I know your name? You have shown skill and wisdom beyond a person of twice your years this day, and it will add luster to my name, to say that I spoke with you this day."
Sonya blinked. "I am Hydra," she said automatically following the formal ritual's rules. "Daughter of Merry and Falcon, kin to Starblade. My teachers are Blade, Enigma and Eagle."
The older giant listened and then spoke the lines of a formal introduction. "I am Night's Child, son of Gambler and Swifttalker. I was trained by Brightmind."
Sonya resisted the urge to ask his Clan. If he was with these giants, but not in the Firestarters, he might not have a Clan, and asking about it would be an insult. "I greet you, Night's Child. May your songs be long and glorious."
"And yours, Hydra." Sonya watched the two giants as they left, turning away only after they disappeared into the woods. She turned away and cast her invisibility spell again, returning to her position.
She checked her watch again. It was nearly seven in the evening and Chimera would be done in just about three hours. There was a great deal of movement in the woods over the next two hours, but none of the giants showed themselves.
With the cooling air and dropping sun had come a light fog that increased the tension level as it blocked the Manticores sight.
Sonya was dividing her attention between the woods and the sun, and missed something. It was a comment from Geri Newson that showed her what she'd missed. "I thought fogs were swirly things, full of movement and shapes."
Sonya took a closer look at the fog. It was very still and not even the light nighttime breeze was making it move. A terrible fear gripped her as she raised the ring. "Alpha point, I want every other weapon trained on the fog, now. Odd numbers, cast "Finite Incantatem" on the fog in five, four, three, two, one, now."
Across the valley, thirteen people cast the spell and all hell broke loose.
The fog was an illusion and the giants had been sneaking up closer under its cover. Already they were as far up the valley as any giant had gotten in the first attack.
There was an instant of frozen immobility on both sides, and then everyone exploded into motion.
The Manticores didn't even have to aim. There were forty giants out there and they were bunched up now, but they were changing that as they spread out hunting the enemy they knew were here.
Geri was holding the trigger of her 240b down, pouring ammunition downrange as fast as she could, while the M-4 cracked. The deep booms of the snipers counter pointed the firing of the 203s, and for an instant, it looked as though this attack would be repelled as well.
Sonya was targeting the closest giant to her, and she was far too close. As the two sides fought, the ritual at the Heart of the World was coming to a close and the magic that had been a constant presence since its arrival was building.
As Mercy and May-ling had already noticed, the Earthstone did strange things to magic in its vicinity and all at once, every spell in the valley failed at once. The Manticores were exposed to the enemy as the giants redoubled their efforts.
The Rangers broke cover to charge into the fight with blades and spells, trying to draw the giants away from the closer Manticores.
Across the valley in Sphinx's area, nine giants cut to the side, trying to flank around. The 240b in Maynard's hands cut two of them down, but it jammed suddenly.
In the deepening twilight, it was hard to see what was happening over there, but Sonya could see the remaining giants at the end of Sphinx's line. One and then another fell, but the rest made it behind the lines where Sphinx couldn't fire at them.
Ron Stone erupted out of his position; firing burst after burst, desperately trying to cover the machine gun nest while Maynard wasn't firing. Three giants went down, and Sonya recognized the motions of Ron reloading.
He raised his weapon and shot another giant, putting two bursts into it before it fell.
Sonya called a warning that would never reach the other side of the valley as another giant loomed to Ron's side, coming out of the deepening darkness. Ron spun and triggered a burst into the giant.
The burst was good, and would kill the giant, but it was just an instant too late, as the giant ran Ron though with his spear.