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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Lazybones" data-source="post: 782412" data-attributes="member: 143">Thanks BB, and welcome back!* * * * * Book VIII, Part 9The giant leader, protected by the eldritch magic of the elemental stone, charged toward Lok, while its minions continued to attack the rest of the hard-pressed companions.  Lok stood his ground, trading out bow for axe and shield, all too aware that a second giant, the one that had gotten past Cal, was coming from behind even as the giant leader came from ahead.  There was nothing to do for it, though, but hold; there was nowhere to escape to.  With finality he hefted his axe and planted his feet, choosing his ground with the determination of the dwarven defender.  He did not stand alone, however.  The giant coming up from behind raised its club in anticipation of crushing this apparently unaware foe, but suddenly a huge shape leapt at it from the side.  Dana’s summoned ally, the celestial dire lion, leapt onto the giant, its claws slashing and tearing.  The noble creature was battered, and its right eye was swollen and closed from a smash from the club of its first target, but that first giant was just a shredded heap, never again to torment a victim for pleasure.  The second giant cried out and tried to detach the bundle of claws and teeth that tore at its flesh, without success.  At the same time, the giant leader was distracted by a shrill cry from directly above.  It looked up in time to take a raking sweep from a pair of sharp talons to its face, as another summoned ally, a giant eagle, swept past.  Behind it came Dana, glowing with the light of Selûne’s divine power, her spear driving down before her like a lance.  The giant swiftly raised its own weapon, and the two struck as one, Dana’s spear slamming hard down into its shoulder even as its own blade caught the woman heavily across the torso.  Despite her own magical defenses, the incredible strength of the giant ripped a gaping wound across Dana’s body as the gleaming weapon slapped her aside.  Screaming, Dana lost her grip on her spear and went flying backward, spinning out of control.The giant paused to pluck out the spear, then turned back toward Lok.  As soon as Dana had attacked he had given up his defensive stance and charged, and now leapt to the attack even as this dire foe turned to face him.  Benzan gave ground, drawing both giants after him now, barely keeping ahead of them on the treacherous and uneven slope.  There was no way he could face up to them in hand-to-hand combat; that much was obvious from the way his ribs throbbed from just that one glancing impact.  But on the other hand, these giants didn’t know all his tricks...He ran up a slanting boulder and leapt off, reaching down to grasp the hilt of his sword as he did.  The power came readily, lifting him into the air, high enough so that even the considerable length of the giants’ clubs could not reach him.  The giants hesitated, confused, staring up at him. “Sorry, fellas,” he told them, as he drew and fired.  The first giant, already seriously injured, took two more hits before it bellowed out a final cry of pain and collapsed.  Then he started in on the second. On the far side of the battlefield, Cal’s opponent was trying to find its elusive opponent.  Its exceptional hearing helped it track the invisible gnome’s movements even over the sounds of battle that filled the canyon, but Cal quickly realized that and called up a ghost sound cantrip to cover his retreat.  The giant, frustrated as his club again banged against empty stone, turned to head back to the melee against more obvious foes.  It only managed a few steps before it felt a rush of painful electricity rush up its leg.  Angrily it stomped the ground where it thought the attack had come from, but that only emphasized the pain as its fat foot crashed onto the stone ground. Its frustration grew deeper a few seconds later when it felt a sting in its other leg, and looked down to see a crossbow bolt jutting from just above its knee.  Dana spun around and once again tried to gain some altitude.  That one hit had nearly slain her, and she felt weak as her blood continued to fall in fat drops to splatter on the ground below.  She called upon the healing power of Selûne, which eased the pain, but as she looked down she saw the dire bear, accompanied by the two younger giants, coming out of the cave.  Apparently they had belatedly realized that the flames of Cal’s illusion were not real; even as she watched, they faded into nothing.  She glanced back at the huge giant, now directly engaged with Lok.  She wanted to help him, but knew that if these new enemies reached him while he was fighting that foe...She had to buy them some time.  “I’m sorry,” she said, even as she let out a shriek to draw the attention of the giant eagle to her.  Then she opened her mind to the goddess once more, reaching across the gap that separated worlds.The companions fought their battles around the perimeter of the canyon, but the most violent struggle took place at the center, between Lok and the formorian leader.  This warped and evil creature was the veteran of many clashes, powerful even for its kind, and it fought with a rage that intensified its already considerable strength and stamina.  Lok, in turn, fought with the skill and determination of the expert that he was, reinforced by the spells that his companions had placed upon him.  His strikes were swift, his axe cleaving into the thick legs of the giant, and in turn the displacement power of Cal’s spell enabled him to avoid several attacks.  Conversely, however, the giant’s energy-weapon seemed able to penetrate Lok’s armor with ease, and soon the durable genasi was reeling, blood pouring down his torso from several serious wounds.  All it would take was one dodge too late, and that weapon would transfix him...Benzan’s second opponent seemed at a loss for how to deal with him.  Even as its erstwhile companion thrashed out the last of its life upon the rocks, arrows from the tiefling’s bow started to slam into its body with meaty thunks.  Hanging in the air was causing his aim to draw off a bit more with each shot, but the inability of the giant to get to him more than compensated for that.  The giant reached down and pulled up a stone the size of Benzan’s head and hurled it at him, but while most giants were consummate stone-throwers, the misshapen formarians were poor at that art and the stone missed wide.  Finally, while Benzan took a moment to stabilize himself, the giant turned and fled, bleeding from several arrow wounds.  Unfortunately there was no place for it to take cover, as the arrows started once more to follow its flight.  Driven by Benzan’s mighty bow, empowered both by the magical flames that the bow granted to its missiles and the enchantment Dana had put upon the arrows, each shot struck with the force of three hits from lesser bows.  The giant continued to run, although each step grew progressively slower as those hits took their toll. The dire bear roared and reared up as the giant eagle dove at it again, narrowly avoiding the slashing claws as it flew past.  The intelligent eagle was trying more for distraction than for injury, careful to stay far enough back to avoid getting drawn into the bear’s powerful hug.  The two young giants tried to assist, but were of little help at first, too slow to anticipate the eagle’s rapid movements.  Then Dana finished her latest summoning, and a pair of smaller celestial eagles appeared to assist in the fleeting attacks at the evil creatures.  Of course, the giants were in little real danger from the talons of even the giant eagle, but once again they were a bit slow to realize that.  Her summonings complete, Dana drew out the mithral chain from her pouch, and began spinning one end in a wide loop as she dove down lower to join the attack.  Lok was taking a pounding from the formorian barbarian, and while the giant’s legs were a mess of deep gashes, it seemed invincible as it continued to harry Lok.  What was worse, the doughty genasi could already feel Cal’s protective enchantments start to wane, the spell durations only a few short seconds away from expiration.  Time seemed to stand still as the two mighty combatants—one huge, the other not even five feet tall—faced off again, their weapons slick with the blood of their foes.  Then, suddenly, an image appeared in the air between the two, a hovering, female form that the genasi—and the giant, by the look on his face—instantly recognized.  It was the familiar vaporous form of the elemental weird, her body just an outline in clouds of mist, her legs trailing off into insubstantiality below her.  Her face had a look of finality on it as she pointed at the giant leader, at the gem that flared at his throat.  The giant roared in anger and defiance, and with a mighty sweep of his staff-spear slashed through the insubstantial form of the weird.  The blow did no harm, of course; one cannot slay an illusion.  But even though the distraction caused by Cal’s final glamour was just momentary, it was enough for Lok to take advantage. The genasi leapt past the giant’s thick legs, his axe coming up in a powerful arc with his full strength behind it.  The blow caught the giant in the hamstring, slicing skin and muscle and scoring the bone underneath.  The giant cried out in sudden pain, shifting to face the warrior once more, the maneuver unbalancing it as the crippled limb gave out under it.  Down it went, staggering.  It was too strong yet to fall, and it caught itself by jamming the staff-spear into the ground and propping itself up on its good knee.  It might have recovered, given a few more seconds, although it would not be running any long distances anytime soon.  But even as it struggled to rise, Lok came around behind it, and with a final mighty stroke severed the giant’s spine by burying his axe deep within its back.  The giant’s death-cry shattered the mountains, echoing off the nearby peaks.  It struck the surviving giants like a hammer-blow, and even as the sounds faded the survivors broke and fled, seeking escape.  The bear was the only creature not to retreat, still swiping in vain at the diving eagles, still fighting even as Dana blasted a ray of searing light into its head.  Dazed and blinded, it finally turned to retreat back into the shelter of its cave, but it only made it half way before Benzan’s arrows finished it.  The companions gathered in the center of the canyon as quiet returned to the grim battlefield.  Dead giants and the carcass of the mighty bear lay scattered about, and the rocks of the canyon floor were splattered everywhere with great gobs of blood.  Only three of the giants had escaped with their lives, the two adolescents and the one that Cal had been battling on the far flank.  Dana’s summoned allies had returned to their place of origin, the spell that drew them here only of short duration, and the four friends quickly turned toward treating their wounds.  Only Cal had escaped injury, and there had been a few times where the giant’s blind attempts to strike him had missed by mere inches.  “Well, that was something,” Benzan said, breathing heavily as Dana treated his injuries with a healing spell.  His quiver was empty, every arrow now buried in a giant corpse or shattered on the rocks.  Lok handed him the rest of his arrows, while Cal plied his own healing arts upon the battered warrior.  Dana looked around, at the destruction that had been wrought here in the brief but violent battle.  “Let’s get what we came for, and get out of this place.”The others readily agreed.</blockquote>

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