Thornhold, Brynn, and I rounded the corner in time to see Sean in the fight of his life. He was grappling with the ice giant. His sword rested on a nearby snowbank, and he was in the clutches of the giant, who was lifting him up, reminding me of the T-Rex going after the insurance guy in Jurassic Park. The giant must have been at least twelve feet tall, and heavy as a troll, but it had a different look to it—I could see that by the lightof the moon shining through the clouds to reflect against the snow.
Another moment and the giant would be biting his head off.
“No!” I shouted, racing forward. I ducked around the back of the ice giant and swung, bringing my blade across the ice giant’s calves. Thornhold and Brynn darted over, one to each side of the giant, who was looking annoyed.
He raised Sean toward his mouth, apparently intent on grinding his bones to make his bread, or some other fairy-tale nonsense that was all too graphic in reality. I brought my sword back and—instead of trying to sideswipe the ice giant, I stuck my sword directly into his calf.
The blade was sharp, and it slid neatly into the giant’s flesh, biting deeply.
The giant let out a roar and dropped Sean to the ground. Brynn slammed her hammer against the giant’s left leg, and simultaneously, Thornhold brought his axe to bear, swinging it across the giant’s right leg. The blade cleaved into the giant’s shin, and he bellowed even louder.
The giant kicked, trying to shake us off, and it worked for the moment. Nobody wanted to be in the path of that massive foot. But we had given Sean the chance to pick himself up off the ground and get away.
At that moment, Reggie, Ray, and Alina entered the arena—so to speak—and Reggie finished his spell. I could tell it was magical protection—that cushioned feeling surrounded me; it happened every time I was around a protection spell that had been cast to include me.
Alina’s spell flared, a massive orb of light that blinded me, but it also blinded the giant because he rose, reaching to cover his eyes. And Ray came in, hurrying over to Sean to make certain he was all right.
The giant lurched again, then let out another roar as he tripped over a large boulder.
“Run!” I shouted as he began to waver.
And sure enough, the next moment he tipped and fell right toward the shed.
CHAPTER 64: AFTERMATH
“Get out of the shed!”All I could do was stare as the giant fell toward the shed was to hope that Magdala and her sons could hear me. The giant teetered on one foot, then—as he came crashing down—the roof splintered under his weight.
I prayed that they managed to get out as the giant smashed into the shed. But he wasn’t dead. As he landed, the roof caved in, creaking and splintering in a deafening roar. As we ran toward the shed to check on Magdala, Aisling, and Rupert, the giant stirred. I darted toward the back, Brynn on my heels. We came around just in time to find ourselves staring at the giant’s head. He was awake, looking a little stupefied, but he blinked as he saw us. It was obvious that he was struggling to get free so he could attack us, but he was covered with debris from the roof and at this moment, couldn’t move his arms.
I yelled as loudly as I could. “Magdala, where are you?”
All I could think of was that she and her sons were squashed under the giant’s weight. But then I heard a faint cry from inside. It sounded like Magdala.
“I hear her!” I shouted.
Sean and Alina came running. I glanced back to see Reggie comforting Mavis, who was sobbing; her cries silent but all too apparent.
Brynn joined me. “We can kill him while he’s down,” she said, climbing over the rubble of the back wall. She motioned to me and I joined her. We skirted the giant as best we could, though I watched his arms nervously. He was lying on his side, with his free arm caught in the rubble of shingles and debris. As he struggled to move so that he could leverage himself by pressing against the ground, I tightened my grip on my sword and slashed at his biceps, trying to disable his attempts. Brynn saw what I was doing and joined me, using her massive hammer to smash him in the face.
He let out a strangled groan, and I realized at that moment that I could probably climb over the top of him and slit his throat. I prepared myself, then sprang over his arm, landing atop his side. He squirmed, groaning again, but I held my balance. Thank gods for being an elf!
Brynn watched as I pointed to him, then drew my finger across his neck. She nodded, trying to engage his attention so he wouldn’t notice what I was doing. I swiftly raced up his side and slid down behind him, so that I was facing the back of his neck. As I assessed the situation and my position, I realized that it would be easiest here, where I could see the massive expanse of flesh, rather than try to dig through the rubble that had engulfed his neck and chest area. For once, I wished I had Thornhold’s axe—it would do the job much more quickly, but I didn’t stand around dithering.
I raised my sword and—rather than try to slit his throat—I plunged it into the base of his neck, severing through the spinal cord. The giant slumped, though he was still trying to gurgle out some sort of noise. Then, I took the sword and slammed itdown, point first, into the top of his head, cracking through the skull. A few seconds later, he went totally limp.
Brynn poked him in the face. “He’s dead,” she said.
“Thank gods.” I wanted to sit down and catch my breath, but I knew we needed to find Magdala. I turned around and began to poke through the rubble, dodging a few splinters of wood that were still falling. It was impossible to tell if any one of the three was under the giant—not until we managed to drag him out—but then I heard the faint cry again.
“Magdala? Is that you? The giant’s dead! Where are you? Rupert? Aisling?” I stopped to listen again. And again, heard the faint cry. I followed it over to the corner that had held the butchering table. There, beneath a large timber that had fallen, lay Rupert.
“I found Rupert!” I called. “Someone, come help!”
It was then that I noticed a hole in the wall. It was large enough for someone to have crawled through. I motioned to Brynn to join me.
“Go check out there,” I said.
Without a word, she made her way through the rubble and out of the hole. Meanwhile, Sean and Thornhold appeared. I motioned to Rupert.
