Roland sucked in a breath, bracing for his imminent demise in the jaws of a young giant. Judah hissed and launched himself at the enormous figure's hand.
Hugi yelped as the cat's jaws sank into one of his fingers, and he straightened, flailing his hand trying to shake the assailant loose.
"You mangy beast!" He cried, causing Roland and Lysander to cover their ears.
There was nowhere to run. The edge of the plateau was essentially a cliff face, and could not be gotten down quickly with Judah busy fending off Hugi.
There was very little fighting they could do, but Roland reached for his pack, where the bow and arrows from Haf were yet stored.
Quickly nocking an arrow, he aimed at the irritated young giant, who was using his other hand to pull Judah forcibly off of him, tossing the animal to the side and reaching for Lysander.
Roland hoped Judah was all right, but had no time to check as a great hand grasped his friend.
Aiming for one of Hugi's eyes, he let the arrow fly. He missed his mark, grazing the giant's cheek without leaving so much as a scratch, but already he had a second arrow ready. This one came closer, and lodged in the inner corner of Hugi's eye, in the soft pink area next to his nose.
The young giant howled in pain, and began blindly stomping and kicking in his anger as he covered his eye with one hand.
The ground shook, and the plateau threatened to crumble beneath their feet. The freed Lysander and Roland fled as well as they could to get out of the path of destruction.
A splatter of red marked the snow in front of Roland and he skidded to a halt and glanced up. Hugi had torn the arrow from his eye, and had flung it across the area. It was a nauseating amount of blood, to a normal person.
To Hugi, it was nothing worth even considering.
The Rhone prince nocked another arrow, but was unable to dodge the back of Hugi's hand as it furiously swiped at him.
The bow was swatted away, and Roland was struck into the snow. He thought he might have felt his shoulder dislocate. The pain was intense, and his focus wavered.
Struggling to his feet, he braced himself for a deadly blow from the young giant, but was surprised when none was forthcoming.
Opening his eyes, he saw Hugi's fist raised above him, but the giant's eyes, one wide, one squinting and bleeding, were fixed on a point behind him.
Hugi's parents were similarly frozen, expressions of awe and fear on their faces. Roland realized that it was suddenly far brighter. Had the sun come out in earnest just before it set?
Roland blinked and slowly turned. What was behind him that could affect the giants so profoundly?
He covered his eyes before raising his gaze. He wanted to smile, but the sight was too much to behold.
What appeared to be a wall of fire surrounding the side of the plateau burned with fury.
No, not quite a wall. Hundreds of individual beings of fire. An avenging army of flame hovering silently over the plateau, waiting for the moment to attack.
One floated forward, its light subtly brighter than the rest. A voice sliced through the air, more intense than the booming of the giants.
"You dare to desecrate this sacred place?" It accused.
Hugi stammered incoherently and stumbled backward, landing in the snow before he scrambled towards his mother, who moved in front of him protectively.
"What business have you here? Who are you?" She demanded of the fire.
"You giants have forgotten the agreement made here, so long ago?" The voice held censure. "The death of your own grandfather ensured the survival of the rest of your race."
From the fiery entity, a single flame shot out towards the skeleton. The heat of it melted the snow away to reveal the skull. Its toothy grimace drew strong reactions from the giants present.
"That is… you are Fae??" Jarnsaxa gulped, staring at the skeleton with something akin to awe. "You still live?"
The giantess's eyes widened with fear, and her husband flinched backward. Hugi looked at his mother with confusion.
"We still live and protect this world." The fire answered. "Your people climbed these peaks to beg us for help. We sent you to a new place to live, on the condition that you never return to hurt a human. Your own son has broken the covenant. Do you remember the consequence for breach?"
"It wasn't a good place!" Jarnsaxa defended herself. "The gargoyles…"
"Are mere pests to beings your size. You have survived there many years, but think you deserve better. Will you never learn what the Sorcerer was teaching you?" The voice held a weight almost palpable.
Jarnsaxa looked as if she were being slowly crushed by it.
"I… how can we make this better? Shall we help the humans? Will that clear the debt of my son?" Jarnsaxa asked desperately. "Our race is all but dead! Do not kill him!"
Roland sank to the ground. Lysander looked as if he might faint. Judah limped over, favoring one of his back legs.
"You revoke your allegiance to the Void?" The voice became firmer.
"Yes! Entirely!" Jarnsaxa, who had been standing up to this point, fell to her knees.
"And your kin?"
Jarnsaxa shot a look over her shoulder, and her husband and son immediately and resoundingly agreed.
"We will help the humans. The goblins killed my people. Should they attack here, I will see them die for it." Jarnsaxa promised.
Roland blinked. Could this be happening?
"We are watching," The fire returned to its place in the wall, and with a flash that made Roland cover his eyes, the Fae disappeared.
It had been a startling demonstration of power, unlike anything he'd seen before. He had seen Gwen, alone, in her fiery form, but he had no idea there were so many Fae, nor that they would make such a display.
He thanked the Fae silently, and swore he saw a slight twinkle in the air where the wall had been.
It could have just been remnants of the fiery wall imprinted in his vision.
There was an awkward silence as the giants and humans assessed one another. Judah was licking his injured leg, though Roland hadn't noticed any external injuries.
Jarnsaxa sighed.
"We will leave at dawn." She said, quietly enough not to hurt the ears of the men.
Roland nodded, a little unsure as to how to proceed. Sleeping in the skull of Jarnsaxa's grandfather seemed in poor taste with her so close, but there was no other shelter on the plateau.
He wondered if the cold of the snow bothered the giants after their time living in the tropical jungle, and was about to ask, but knew there was nothing he could do about it either way.
The trio of giants curled up together, presumably to share their massive body heat. It seemed the humans would be ignored until morning.
That was likely for the best. Finn occasionally rolled over in her sleep and collided with Roland. He didn't want to imagine being near enough to one of the giants to be accidentally squashed in such a way.
Shivering as the wind picked up, he tilted his head at Lysander. They had to move, or freeze. Quietly, they made their way to the skull, with Judah following, favoring one limb. The large cat laid down with a huff, stretching and then curling up tightly in a ball. The men spread their bedrolls on either side of him to make use of his warmth.
Roland's shoulder was still very sore, and he performed his tasks one-armed. Gritting his teeth, he joined his hands together and curved his back, stretching forward until he heard a large POP.
With a sigh, he relaxed. It had not been fully dislocated after all. It would be a terrible bruise, but nothing that couldn't be remedied with rest.
Which he was unlikely to get anytime soon. He huddled down next to Judah's soft fur and tried his best to sleep. At least the snow numbed the pain of his healing injury.
Morning seemed to take ages to arrive, between the cold and the howling wind, but as soon as the sky began to lighten, Roland was up and rolling his bedroll into his pack.
Although taking shelter had been necessary, he would rather not have one of the giant's come knocking on the skull to awaken the men.
Lysander followed suit, seeming weary but alert. Judah stretched his injured limb, testing its integrity after a night's sleep.
The giants took a while to awaken, since the men were unwilling to attempt a task that could make the enormous beings cranky. With the sun's rays sparkling on the snow, eventually they stirred. By then, the two men had eaten breakfast of cold rations and Roland had elected to wrap Judah's injured leg tightly in a fabric bandage, as it seemed to be sprained.
The uneasy silence of the night before reigned momentarily as Jarnsaxa got her bearings. Slowly, she focused on the men and Judah, and with a frown she cleared her throat and spoke.
"Let's get going, then."
She stood and stretched, followed by her husband and son, and eyed Judah's bandaged leg.
"Can your pet not carry you? I hate moving slowly."