When the ticking stopped, Magdala knew that time was up. "Saundra, now!"

With a grunt, the corporal hurled a lit fire bomb at the armored giant's feet, forcing it to jump away. When the fire bomb exploded, it set the clearing alight and filled the air with grey smoke. Leaving Saundra to rally the troops, Magdala and Mei used the smoke as cover and moved to flank, Magdala veering left, Mei right. With any luck, the Revenant's armor wasn't thick enough to protect it from Mei's bullets.

Bursting out of the smoke, the giant pointed its crossbow this way and that, searching for a target. When its aim found Mei, Magdala threw a concussive into its face, but although the blast made the Revenant stumble, it managed to stayed upright, and it brought the colossal crossbow around to aim at Magdala isntead. That gave Mei an opening. She fired, and the armored giant began to fall.

Magdala pumped her fist. "Yes!"

Her cheers died when the giant's foot slammed into the ground and pushed it upright again. Then, roaring, it spun around and took aim at Mei, who dove out of the way of the crossbow bolt. As another tree fell, Magdala saw the damage that Mei's shot had done to the giant and groaned. Mei's shot had only dented the armor. To actually penetrate they would have to hit the same spot over and over again, and there was no way the giant would allow Mei to do that. While the giant reloaded its crossbow, it pursued Mei as she raced across the clearing and dodged through the trees, breaking line of sight and keeping just ahead of the giant. Unfortunately, Mei couldn't keep that up forever, and so Magdala moved to help, lighting her last fire bomb and throwing it at the giant's back. The giant howled and dropped to the ground to put out the flames, allowing Mei to escape deeper into the jungle. If Mei's rifle wasn't enough, they had to try something else.

Magdala sprinted back to Saundra and the soldiers. "We have to break that bow!"

Saundra turned around, took in the situation, then gestured for three soldiers to join her. Together, they charged the giant. The Revenant, the fire put out and its wounds disappearing under a harrowing green light, stood up, finished reloading its crossbow, and took aim at Saundra.

"No!" Magdala threw her last concussive at the crossbow, but the giant rolled out of the way, allowing the concussive to explode harmlessly behind it. It grinned at Magdala, but she grinned back as Saundra and the three soldiers attacked the giant. She'd bought enough time for them to close the distance. The giant raised its crossbow out of reach, kicked away one soldier, backhanded another, and headbutted the third. While her comrades distracted it, Saundra slipped behind the giant, leapt, and grabbed the giant's armor. She pulled herself up and slashed at the crossbow, but the giant pulled its weapon out of range, grabbed Saundra, and tossed her across the clearing. Again, it took aim, this time at Saundra.

Again, Magdala entered its vision, her right hand hidden behind her back. "Hey, grey face! I've got something for you!"

The giant's crossbow swung around, and Magdala threw her empty fist at it. The giant ducked and then stared when nothing came out of her hand.

Magdala smirked. "Got you."

Roaring, the giant took aim at Magdala, but a shot rang out, and its crossbow disintegrated into splinters.

Magdala looked for where the shot had come from, and found Mei up in a tree. After waving thanks, Magdala ran to help Saundra to her feet.

"Good." The corporal wiped blood from her lips. "We got that damn bow."

Magdala tried to catch her breath. "Now... we can wear it down. Unless you know how to destroy its armor?"

Saundra picked up her sword. "Don't have to. We knock it down and have Mei shoot it in the head. Repeat until it doesn't get up anymore." She turned to the soldiers who'd helped her attack the giant. "Who can still fight?"

Two of the three soldiers managed to reply. The third, who had been headbutted, lay still on the ground, dazed.

Saundra ran over to her and checked her pulse. "She's alive."

"Good," said Magdala.

Saundra took the soldier's sword and held it out to Magdala. "Take her sword, milady."

Magdala grimaced. "I don't know how to use this."

Saundra gave her a lopsided grin. "It's not hard, milady. Just stick the pointy end into the soft bits."

"If you say so." Magdala took the sword.

Another shot rang out. On the other side of the clearing, Mei was fending off twenty Hounds at once.

"By the cup," said Saundra.

Magdala checked the perimeter. The soldiers they'd left there were holding off the fiends, but if any Hounds got behind them, all would be lost. Magdala gestured to the unconscious soldier. "Grab her. We need to reinforce the line."

Saundra's eyes flickered to the giant. "What about that?"

"If the line falls, we won't be able to get home. Let's go."

Saundra's jaw snapped shut, but she nodded, slung the unconscious soldier's arms over her shoulders, and together, she and Magdala led her comrades back to the beleaguered line. Another shot rang out, and Mei joined them.

When they reached the line, Saundra shouted, "Make a circle!"

A sergeant picked up the cry, and the line folded back into a circle that Saundra, Mei and Magdala completed. A wave of Hounds slammed into them. Taking Saundra's advice to heart, Magdala stabbed and slashed at the Hounds' throats and stomachs, occasionally removing heads, but mostly pushing them back so that Mei's axe or Saundra's sword could finish them off. Magdala swung her sword until her arms ached and her breaths were short. Then she looked past the unending horde and nearly dropped her weapon.

She'd known that they were fighting a new giant, not the one that had assaulted the garrison two days before, but until this moment, she'd forgotten that that meant that this giant had reinforcements waiting to be unleashed. The scarred giant, now armored, had joined the fight.

Magdala turned back to the Hounds, kicking one back and stabbing it in the neck. "The other giant is here."

Saundra grimaced. "Oh, well, it was a good fight. Let's make them pay!"

The soldiers roared and got back to work hacking Hounds.

Meanwhile, the two giants waited in the center of the clearing.

***

"What do you want?" asked Huan.

Liraya's eyes flickered to Tiger's mask, a stiff smile etching itself onto her face. "I want to take this one," she tapped her knife against Lord Kalan's throat, "back to my count without any additional fighting, and without losing anymore of my tools."

Huan laughed. "Don't lie. This is the Guardian of the Wall, and the man closest to understanding the true nature of magic. He's worth all of your 'tools' put together."

"Oh?" Liraya raised an eyebrow. "I didn't know that."

Damn it! Huan covered his annoyance with a shrug. "You just... haven't been doing your homework."

"And his apprentice?" Liraya's hands tightened around her knife. "Where the master goes, the apprentice follows."

Huan kept his face blank. "He's just a lackey."

Liraya's eyes narrowed. "He is just a lackey who can cast Ri magic, and he would be very valuable to those I answer to."

Huan crossed his arms. "There's a saying: 'The coin you have is the coin you've got.' Dwayne isn't here. Lord Kalan is."

Liraya smiled. "So true. And you'd be willing to let me take him for a... title?"

"Yes." Huan's stomach knotted. "You said you could grant me one."

"I said I could get you one. You'll have to come to my count and request it directly."

"Your count?"

Liraya's smile widened. "You don't know anything about Vanuria, do you? We don't have a single queen or emperor. We have dozens and dozens of counts all vying for the Abandoned Throne, and with the Guardian of the Wall captured and the Southern Line breached, my count's standing will rise considerably."

Huan hid a wince. A count was nowhere near as powerful as a king. Any title one could grant would be worthless, right?

"With the backing of a powerful count," said Liraya, her eyes watching Huan closely, "you'll have significant privileges and rights, and if you help that count obtain the Throne, well..."

Huan scowled. "Sounds like a lot of work for an 'if'. I'll need something stronger."

When Liraya's eyes slid to Zeya, Huan's sword came up again. "None of that," he said. "If she moves, we're done."

Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

Liraya's shoulders rose and fell in a sigh. "There's money in this too. My count can cut you in on several deals. He always needs fresh muscle and-"

"I'm not mere muscle," said Huan, "and I don't want to follow orders. I just want to do what I want, when I want."

Liraya's eyes went cold. "That isn't something that my count can offer."

Huan pushed his right foot forward and put both hands on his sword. "Then we don't have anything to talk about." He slid on Tiger's mask.

Liraya's words tumbled out. "My count can't offer that, but my order can."

Huan pulled Tiger's mask off. "Explain."

"Vanuria has its own magicks, and its practitioners are free to do whatever they wish."

Huan's eyes narrowed. "I'm not a mage. I can't do magic."

Liraya grinned. "We can change that."

A tingle rushed through Huan's body. With magic, I can pull off the most epic jobs. Just having Dwayne's fire magic or Liraya's not alive magic would be enough to break open any vault in the world. Look at what she did with just a few corpses and some time. Huan sheathed his sword. "You have a deal."

Liraya let her knife drop from Lord Kalan's throat. "Good. Then-"

"Huan, she's lying." Sir Marcus strode into the clearing, his sword point aimed at Liraya. "I may not be a mage, but I know bullshit when I hear it."

***

Magdala slashed at a Hound's neck with her sword, but it got caught in the meat of the fiend's shoulder. Snarling, the fiend slid along the length of her blade and reached for her throat. Frantic, Magdala pressed her foot on its chest, gripped her sword tight, and kicked. Her sword came free with a squelch, and the fiend fell back on its haunches, red ichor soaking its threadbare tunic. Before it could get back on its feet, Magdala stood, took a solid step towards the fiend and slashed again. This time her sword decapitated the fiend, and it fell back on top of the pile that was forming in front of her. Wiping her brow, Magdala got back in her stance, ready for the next Hound.

To her left, Saundra stumbled, and a fiend leapt on her, gnashing its teeth, which Saundra fended off by smashing them in with her gauntleted fist. Hollow mouthed, the fiend fell back and howled. Saundra's sword flashed crimson, and the fiend dropped, its head hanging onto its body by gristle.

On Magdala's right, Mei was a storm of ichor and blades. She tripped up one fiend, slashed the ankle tendons of a second with her axe, kicked that one on top of the first, and then decapitated both with a downward swing of her axe.

Glad that her friends were okay, Magdala faced the next Hound, which was already stumbling towards her. Instead of waiting for it to come to her, she charged, her sword raised, but the world went upside down, and she thumped against something hard and slid down to the ground. Tasting copper, she wrenched open her eyes and gasped. The giants had joined the battle. The new giant had fashioned a club out of a massive tree branch, and it and the scarred giant had battered their way through their line. Holding her side and groaning, Magdala got to her feet. Somehow, their little circle had chewed through most of the Hounds, but that had left them drained, distracted, weak. Now had been the best time for the giants to attack.

Magdala found a sword and took a stance. "One more time."

All around her, the Southern Line Garrison groaned, their spirits and bodies broken. But one person heard her.

"One more time." Wiping blood off her mouth, Mei stepped out of the jungle, her eyes on the giants.

A soldier tried to get to her feet, slipped, and Saundra caught her before she hit the ground. "One more time!" she cried out.

More soldiers took up the call and whatever weapons they could reach.

Magdala counted. Out of the twelve garrison troops who had joined her, Saundra, and Mei in this attempt to take down the giant, just five still stood. They would be enough. They had to be.

"My mother will kill me if I die," she said.

Mei stepped up next to her. "Then no dying."

"Yeah, I don't want to deal with Lady Gallus." Saundra removed her dented shoulder armor. "I've heard stories."

In the center of the clearing next to the wreckage of the catapult, the giants both crouched down on all fours, keeping both knees off the ground and bending just one.

The unfamiliar stance chilled Magdala. "Get ready!"

Wearily, the Souran soldiers got into ragged formation just as the giants exploded forward.

"Qeem!"

Chilling the air in their wake, two blue white shapes blasted past Magdala, slammed into the giants, and knocked them back all the way across the clearing.

"Ri mwe'ut mwe`ut Ri't!"

Two fire balls hit the prone giants who wailed as the flames ate at their skins. Her knees shaking from shock and fatigue, Magdala glanced down at the remains of the two things that had hit the giants in the first place. Her head jerked back. One depicted herself on a horse, the other her little brother Hans. There was only one person who could and would create such a thing, the fact they were made of ice aside.

"Magdala Catalina Gallus, what are you doing chasing after your idiot uncle?" The voice was a lower pitched version of Magdala's own but cut with years of hard earned confidence and harder earned experience. It had woken up Magdala for breakfast, berated her for her academic failures, and lectured her for hours on the responsibilities of a mage.

Magdala's head swam as she turned to face the owner of the voice. "Mother?"

Lady Iona Gallus stood with a panting Dwayne in the middle of the Vanurian forest, dressed in the navy blue robe that told the whole world that she was the Water Sage, the premier Qe mage when it came to liquids of any and every kind.

Magdala had to force her next words out. "H-How are you here?"

Her mother marched up to her. "I was spending some much needed time with your father." She brushed dirt and leaves off of Magdala's shoulders. "You haven't answered my question. What are you doing here?"

Magdala glanced at the giants who were getting to their feet, green light wiping away their burns.

"We don't have time for this," she said. "We have to take those things down."

Her mother's eyes narrowed. "No, we don't. We're going to find your father after he goes and rescues your uncle and head straight back home."

Magdala wanted to believe that whatever crazy spell her mother had cooked up (She could create ice! How?) could push back the giants and give everyone time to retreat back through the Gates. Of course, then the giants would be free to attack Sir Marcus. "Father is good but not that good. If those things get to Lord Uncle first then we could lose them both. We haven't even seen the wraith or the enemy mage yet."

Her mother's hand tightened on Magdala's shoulder. "This is not your place. You should be in school."

Magdala looked around. Saundra and Mei rallying the troops, both the ones that had arrived with her mother and the survivors of the giants' counterattack.

"This is my place," she said. "Here, beside my friends, protecting the realm."

Her mother closed her eyes and muttered something under her breath. "That's just..." She opened her eyes. "We will talk about this later." She glared at the giants. "Apparently, smashing them and setting them on fire isn't enough." She gestured at the pieces of ice. "Qeuiakutem!" The fragments of ice knocked the giants back down again.

Magdala's eyes sparked. "Wow. How did you do that? Can you encase them in ice? What about-"

"Your... friend Dwayne helped," said her mother. Her hands were shaking, the earliest sign of thaumaturigical shock.

Magdala froze, unsure what to do, but her mother glared at her hands and clasped them together.

Clearing her throat, Magdala turned to the other mage. "Dwayne? How did you make ice?"

The Wesen mage grinned. "I pulled the heat out of a pair of water statues your mother made."

Magdala leaned in. "You can do that?"

His grin widened, then disappeared. "That should have worked, but-"

"We have to break their hearts," said Magdala. "If you and Mother can hold them off, then Mei can pierce their armor with-"

"No." Mei raised her rifle, which now sported a bent barrel.

"Damn it." Magdala lowered her head.

"Do you still insist on fighting?" asked her mother, arms crossed.

"We have to." Magdala closed her eyes. What else did she have? More soldiers, her mother and Dwayne's magic, Mei's axe, and... She looked down at her own hands. "I have an idea. Dwayne, did I hear right earlier? You've been studying how to prepare spells."

Dwayne blinked. "Yes, but-"

"Good." Magdala took a deep breath. "Mother, please keep those things back."

Her mother raised an eyebrow. "And then?"

Magdala gave her a half smile. "I have a plan."

***

"I may not be a mage, but I still know bullshit when I hear it," said Sir Marcus.

Huan bit down on Tiger's growl. "What are you talking about?"

Liraya's smile turned stiff again. "He's just superstitious. All Sourans are when it comes to Fo magic, real magic."

Sir Marcus circled, his eyes never leaving Liraya. "Sure, but if you could create mages whenever you wanted without some sort of sacrifice, then every Vanurian would be a mage, and Markosia would be yours."

Liraya let out a shrill laugh. "As if it were that simple! The process takes months to complete." Her eyes met Huan's. "And only the most worthy are accepted."

Huan's breath caught. "What's the process?"

Liraya stepped closer to Huan. "We pull a mage's corazón de magia out of her and put it in you, giving you her powers."

Sir Marcus's sword flashed in the sun. "What happens to the mage?"

Liraya shrugged. "Survival is possible, but likely we would have to discard the remains." She caught the way Huan's lips curled. "This procedure is only done on our worst enemies. We are not monsters."

Huan stepped back from her. It sounds too good to be true, but I can't stay here anymore.

"Huan, you don't have to do this." Sir Marcus was inching towards Liraya and Zeya. "It's just me, and no one else, so if you help me bring her down, I won't speak a word of it. I stake my honor on it."

Liraya spread her hands wide. "In Vanuria, you would be free with so much power at your disposal. More importantly, no real Vanurian count allows Tuqu interference in their lands."

Sir Marcus scoffed. "She's promising you a world without consequences, a world that doesn't exist. Even if you run to Vanuria, the Emperor's men will chase you down and get his due, but Sou- we can protect you. We can-"

"I don't need your protection!" Huan threw his hands up. "I don't care about this stupid kingdom. I just want to live my life my way."

Sir Marcus's eyes flickered to Huan.

"Fo'iki'veem'it!" Dark green light jetted out from Liraya's outstretched finger and hit Sir Marcus in the chest, and with a gasp, the knight dropped to his knees.

"No!" Huan threw his sword at Liraya, its blade catching her in the shoulder. She dropped, but Zeya was already closing in for the kill, sinking two knives into Sir Marcus's chest.

Huan screamed, and Tiger's mask came up onto his face. The beast rushed forward and delivered a hard punch to Zeya's face that sent her spinning out of the clearing. Tears streaming down his face, he knelt over Sir Marcus, hoping that he was still alive, but the knight's blood stained chest didn't rise and fall, and his wide shocked eyes didn't blink. Tiger screamed the knight's name, but Sir Marcus lay still. To his right, Zeya burst out of the undergrowth and threw three knives. Ducking the blades, Tiger dove for Liraya, grabbed his sword, wrenched it out of her shoulder, and pressed its edge against her throat. "Don't move."

Zeya froze, her eyes furious.

Huan pushed Tiger away. "Heal him," he said to Liraya. He shouldn't be dead. He was annoying and cheesy and earnest and he shouldn't be lying there bleeding and dying and I don't want to owe him. He jerked Liraya towards Sir Marcus. "Do it."

Liraya grimaced from the pain. "He's dead."

"No, you can fix him. You can fix those corpses, you can fix a living person!"

Liraya laughed, the motion causing Huan's sword to draw blood. "Death is final. Even a heathen like you knows that."

"No he... he can't be..."

Huan faded.

Tiger returned. "Then swear to me that you'll get me the power I deserve if I let you heal yourself."

A small smile flickered on Liraya's lips. "I... swear."

The thief, still cowering in a corner of his own mind, caught the pause. She's lying.

His heart sinking, Tiger placed his blade over Liraya's heart. "Don't lie to me. Give me what I want."

Liraya's grin widened. "I can't. No one can. Not even the gods who walked this world so long ago could."

"You must be able to!"

Liraya's smile disappeared. "Zeya, Fo eh-"

Tiger drew his blade across her neck and she collapsed.

What did you do? Huan retreated deeper into his mind. She was... She was...

"A hindrance." Tiger straightened up. "She des-"

A kick to the chest sent him flying.