Zeke crashed into the first giant, tearing into it with a herculean swing of his hammer. It hit the stunned creature in the hip, and the impact filled the air with the sound of cracking bones. The giant let out a bellowing roar of anguish as it tried to lash out, but Zeke ducked under the blow, then destroyed the creature’s jaw – and most of its head – with a vicious uppercut with his hammer.
Even as the enemy fell, Zeke raced forward and found a new foe only a moment later. After that, the battle devolved into a cascade of sameness. When one enemy fell, another soon took its place. For his part, Zeke waded ever forward, swinging his hammer with enduring fury. He took plenty of hits of his own, but cloaked in the earth-fueled version of [Triune Colossus], any damage he might’ve taken was blunted. In addition, it only took a quick pulse of [Cambion’s Awakening] to heal the resulting wounds.
Meanwhile, his army progressed by his side, steadily washing over the giants. If it would have been a fair fight, perhaps the hill giants could have resisted. Perhaps they could have even won. But they were being hit from two sides, and by opponents powerful enough to put them down. So, the result was fairly predictable.
Still, the battle was yet to be won, and Zeke knew how dangerous a cornered opponent could be. So, he maintained his focus as he steadily carved a path through the resisting hill giants.
At one point, Zeke would have had trouble matching up against the huge creatures. They were at least fifteen feet tall, and with the girth to match. However, in his colossal form, Zeke could very nearly match them in size. And in strength, he was their superior.
At least until he reached a cluster of hill giants that gave off an aura of power unlike any of the others. Clearly, he’d found the leaders.
One was three or four feet taller than all the rest, and in addition to his moss-like hair, his shoulders were festooned with roots and other vegetation. When he moved, a cascade of dirt and rock fell from his back, almost like he was a walking earth slide. The other four giants flanking him – two to a side – were only a little larger than the foot soldiers Zeke had already encountered.
Without hesitation, Zeke embraced [Hell Geyser], then stomped on the ground. The earth sundered as a crack tore across the battlefield, exploding in an eruption of earth, fire and corruption that enveloped all five giants. But Zeke knew it wouldn’t be enough, so the moment the skill dissipated, he used his newest skill.
Even as the leader broke through the waning column of corrupted flames, bellowing in rage all the way, Zeke used [Shifting Sands]. The moment it took hold, his perception of time slowed to a crawl, and he sank through the earth before rocketing forward. He bypassed the lead hill giant, but only by a few feet. Twisting as he rose from the ground, he forcefully deactivated the skill. Suddenly, time caught up to him, but Zeke’s studious practice paid off as he leaped into the air.
At the apex of his leap, Zeke used [Weight of Two Worlds], increasing the gravity in his general vicinity. Then, he increased his own weight via his racial gift. And finally, he used [Center of Gravity] on the hill giant leader’s legs. The creature stumbled, tipping forward as his feet were yanked out from under him.
By that point, Zeke was already falling. And with so much weight behind him, he quickly reached terminal velocity. His hammer fell with lethal finality, crushing the hill giant’s head. It exploded like a melon, sending blood, brains, and bits of skull flying through the air.
At the same time, the secondary, smaller effect of [Shifting Sands] enveloped the other four giants in a wave of fire and earth that, with them still under the effect of [Weight of Two Worlds], sent them sprawling to their knees. It was at that moment that Pudge descended upon them, his [Netherclaw] lashing out to eviscerate one while he aimed a ball of [Hellfire] at another. It splashed across its body, melting flesh and bone alike.
On the other side, Silik barreled into the other flank, his body wreathed in blindingly white light as he brought his spear to bear. So close, he didn’t bother using skills; instead, the massive kobold ripped into the creature with vicious certainty.
And over it all, the insistent beat of Jasper’s [Rhythm of War] enveloped everyone, bestowing upon them its temporary augmentation.
A moment later, the rest of the kobolds and freed slaves swept over the survivors, and without their champions to bear the brunt of the attack, the giants’ lines soon buckled. After that, the slaughter commenced. On one side, the centaurs continued their own attacks with the ferocity of ancestral enemies. And on the other, Zeke and his kobolds tore through the back lines with feral fury.
The end was inevitable, but still, the giants fought with enviable persistence. None surrendered. And no quarter was given. For his part, Zeke slipped into the same mindset he’d developed when fighting hordes of zombies and demons. He pushed his conscious thoughts to the back of his mind, favoring his well-earned battle instincts.
And like that, the battle wound down until, at last, every last giant had been slain.
Zeke let the head of his hammer fall to the blood-soaked ground and looked around. Every battlefield inevitably ended up looking like a charnel house of horrible things. However, with giants as enemies, Zeke felt like he was surrounded by mountains of mutilated corpses. His shoulders sagged at the cost.
The hill giants were enemies. They had established that much with their actions. Still, Zeke regretted that their slaughter had been necessary. Even more than that, he was dreading the war to come. Because he knew, after seeing how the hill giants had fought to their very last breath, that they wouldn’t stop after a single lost battle. If anything, it would only serve to encourage more atrocity.
“Maybe Trucker was right all those years ago,” he muttered. Regarding the Jotuns back in the Radiant Isles, the alchemist had deemed extermination the only viable course. He’d done so by rendering them completely infertile, ensuring the extinction of their race. When Zeke had learned of it, he’d been horrified that Tucker had gone so far. But since then, he’d learned that giants were fundamentally incapable of living in peace. They raided. They killed. And they enslaved. It was part of who they were.
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“What?” asked Pudge, who looked just as exhausted as Zeke felt. His fur was matted with blood, and he’d taken more than a few superficial wounds. He had access to a diluted version of Zeke’s [Cambion’s Awakening], but it was weak enough that it was really only useful as a fatigue deterrent. Over time, it could hasten recovery by a fair amount, but it certainly wasn’t comparable to Zeke’s own skill-empowered regeneration.
“Nothing,” he said. “Just wishing this wasn’t necessary.”
Pudge cocked his head to the side, then said, “They’re enemies. It was always going to be like this.”
That much was certainly true, and Zeke couldn’t really argue with his companion. At that moment, Jasper shoved his way past a fallen giant. The dark elf bore no wounds, but his hair was slick with sweat, and his shoulders sagged with inevitable fatigue.
“Everyone okay?” Zeke asked, rolling his shoulders. Already, [Cambion’s Awakening] had banished his own exhaustion, and it had begun to heal the few deeper wounds he’d sustained. None were serious, but they still hurt.
“Define everyone.”
“You know what I mean.”
Jasper sighed, sheathing his rapier. “None of the core group was injured,” he said. “But we lost almost a hundred kobolds. A few of the former slaves, too. Even more were hurt. Most of them are already back in the tower healing in the Crimson Springs.”
A hundred kobolds. It didn’t seem like many – not considering the odds – but to Zeke, the cost was still too high. Inevitable. But too high nonetheless.
Over the next couple of hours, Zeke used his looting power on the giants. He didn’t think they had anything particularly valuable, but he’d once been tasked with obtaining giants’ toes for a quest, so he couldn’t afford to forego looting. It was a distasteful activity, and one he wished wasn’t necessary, but he accepted its necessity regardless. And soon enough, he’d made his way across the battlefield, where he found the centaurs celebrating their victory.
Their camp was rudimentary, with huge, hidebound tents with supports made of the bones of some unidentifiable animal. The centaurs, meanwhile, were busy drinking and dancing – a curious thing, given their equine nature – around an enormous bonfire. It took Zeke a few moments to recognize that fire for what it was, but when he did, he let out a small gasp.
“It’s a funeral pyre,” he muttered, having let [Triune Colossus] dissipate. He turned to Jasper, who was walking to his right, and asked, “How many of them died?”
“More than we lost,” he said. “Many, many more.”
Zeke sighed again, then gestured to his companions. Only Pudge and Jasper had accompanied him as he looted the giants’ corpses; meanwhile, Silik had returned to the tower to organize the other kobolds.
“Come on,” he said. “I need to meet with Rasa.”
After that, the trio navigated the celebrating centaurs and quickly found their way to the largest tent. It was a massive affair with a peaked roof and multiple guards stationed at the entrance. The guards hesitated for only a few moments before letting Zeke and the other through, but it seemed that his exploits in battle had been noticed. None of the centaurs wanted to anger him.
And that was fine by him. He hadn’t set out to engender fear, but he would accept it if it made life easier. In any case, Zeke stepped through the tent’s gaping entrance – it was sized for the massive centaurs, after all – and strode into the tent. There, he saw the Mistress of the Herd surrounded by a half-dozen other centaurs.
Zeke approached, and the conversation cut off the moment he drew near. However, he did catch a few snippets about survivors.
“Good,” said Rasa Tamaki, the Mistress of the Herd. She dipped her head, continuing, “You and your people have acquitted yourselves well. Our alliance will continue to bear fruit, I am sure.”
Zeke returned her nod with one of his own, then asked, “Were there any escapees?”
“A few,” she acknowledged. “They fled toward the mountains where we cannot follow.”
“Why?”
“Our hooves are ill-suited to the terrain,” she answered. “We can traverse the mountains well enough, but we cannot fight a battle in the mountains. For that reason alone, the threat of the giants has persisted for more than a century. We fight, and even if we win, they can always retreat where we cannot go.”
Zeke nodded. It made sense. Horses weren’t exactly known as mountain-going creatures, and even if the centaurs were better-suited to that sort of terrain than their forms suggested, it would still be difficult for them to fight in such conditions. And in battle against foes like giants, even the smallest disadvantage could quickly snowball into a rout.
It was probably the reason they were so desperate to form an alliance with Zeke and his people. They weren’t natives to the mountains, but due to their physiology, they could traverse the terrain with some degree of ease. The same couldn’t be said for the centaurs, and as a result, the value of the alliance was quite skewed in Zeke’s favor.
They needed him far more than he needed them.
But it wasn’t the time to push that. Instead, he asked, “What if we could make things easier?”
Below the prominent ridge of her brow, the centaur narrowed her eyes and asked, “How?”
“Do you know anything about kobolds?” he asked.
She admitted that she didn’t, then asked what he meant.
“They are diggers. They can go through solid rock as easily as I can dig a hole in soft ground,” he explained. “And I have thousands at my disposal. So, here’s what I think we should do.”
With that, he explained the plan that had been germinating in the back of his mind since the very beginning. It wouldn’t be easy, and it would require quite a bit of forethought, but if he pulled it off, there was a chance that he and his people could seriously undermine the threat posed by the hill giants. At worst, they could show the raiders that their safe haven wasn’t nearly as protected as they’d once thought.
Rasa and the other kobolds listened intently, then agreed to offer whatever support they could. However, Zeke knew that, if his plan was going to work, it was going to be up to him and, more importantly, the kobolds to see it through to the end.
Once everything was set up, Zeke left the tent, and then, the celebrating centaurs behind. After traversing the corpse-strewn battleground, Zeke returned to the gate that would lead him to the tower. Upon passing through and into the Entry Hall, he met with Kianma, who informed him that they’d only lost a few wounded. The triage camp had worked according to plan, but the crimson springs could only accommodate so many. As a result, a handful of seriously wounded kobolds had died before their injuries could be healed.
It was expected. And by all rights, Zeke should have been thrilled that their casualties had been so few. However, he still lamented every loss.
“You can’t save them all,” Eveline pointed out, her first real conversational contribution in quite some time. She’d remained silent during battle, and it was only recently that she’d given voice to her own thoughts.
“I know.”
“But you don’t like it.”
“I don’t.”
“You just have to accept it, though,” she pointed out.
He sighed, but he didn’t respond. The kobolds were his responsibility, and every death weighed heavily on his shoulders. But before the war was over, more would fall. He just hoped it was worth it.