Severin’s laughter filled their ears. “I can see invisibility, you fools!”
Yeah, but your minions probably can’t. And without them, you’re just a spell caster floating in mid-air without a tank. Without a moment’s hesitation, she turned and ran around the black building. To her left, the fire giant was climbing up while the first of the trolls had just reached the top of the stairway. She didn’t know where Lefty had gone, but she couldn’t worry about him now. He had his job to do and she had hers.
Just as she had predicted, the fire giant didn’t even look at her as he ran past. So she scooted around the side of the black building and kept her back to the wall. The trolls, too, ran past her, filing around her as they surrounded the building. Deftly, she stepped between a pair of the hairy monsters, careful not to touch either of them. She then ducked behind an overturned statue that had once been a troll. Thank the Lady for Narene and her ability to leave little petrified victims to hide behind. Now she just had to figure out how to stab her ex-fiance in the throat.
That, however, was going to be easier said than done as Severin had just elevated himself to the very top of the cavern. She watched as his hands, still glowing with black flame, made a signal in the air and then, a half second later, the ceiling erupted in a series of explosions. By Yanar, we’re all going to die. Her ex-fiance had just cast meteor shower.
She had been waiting for this spell. Every high-level spell caster boss used it. Usually, they waited until things got dire. Like if they were dropped to zero hit points and then did the regenerate thing, after which they popped back up and cast some big spell to catch everyone off guard. But I don’t think Blake is creative enough for that.
So as the soccer ball sized rocks fell from the ceiling, Calista did the only thing she could do. Get out of the blast zone.
Her [fly] enchantment still active, she leapt into the air and flew as fast as she could. She swerved, ducked, and dodged as the flaming rocks streamed past her, impaled trolls, exploded against the ground, and sent shards of rocky shrapnel flying into the air. Troll after troll died beneath her as the flaming meteors ripped through their hairy bodies, shredding through armor and bone as though they were nothing more than paper. She got lucky. Only a few bits of shrapnel struck her armor and only one punctured her skin, a little grey piece of rock that hit her in the cheek. Flying, she soared over the third and second levels and then landed near the very edge of the third. When Lefty appeared beside her, she breathed a sigh of relief.
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“So that was awful,” the mage said.
“Yeah, he totally destroyed his entire …”
The words caught in her throat as she turned around to see the fire giant take a running leap off the second level and land not twenty feet from them with a thundering impact that shook the ground.
“… horde.”
The colossus reared back as he prepared to bring his axe down in a mighty blow, but in an instant, Lefty and Calista both took off into the air again. They split, left and right, as the axe came down between them and smashed into the ground.
“How the hell can he see us?” Calista cried.
“Your ex must have cast see invisibility on him,” answered Lefty.
Now clear of the giant’s axe, Calista opened her H.U.D to check the timer on her [fly] enchantment. Thirty-two seconds. The meteor shower was almost over. She circled around and, just as the spell wore off, landed on the bridge that spanned the length of the first level. No stairway or ladder led up here. She would be safe, relatively, for everyone except for Severin.
At least, that’s what she thought.
Seconds after she landed, the fire giant rushed over to the bridge and began hammering away at the pier directly below her. As the bridge shook beneath her, she suddenly found herself very angry. Alright, enough running away from this asshole. I’m not a level 99 Delver for nothing.
Taking care that she was directly above the giant, she took a deep breath to steady herself. She then grasped the Emberblade in both hands with the blade pointing downward, raised it above her head, and leapt.
The giant, not anticipating this*, never looked up. So as she fell through the air, Calista was able to perfectly line her sword up with the back of the giant’s neck. From there, it was a simple formula of pointy blade plus velocity equals force versus the resistance of an unarmored giant neck, in which the former won out quite decisively.
A moment later, Calista hung from the back of the giant as she watched the giant spit blood out onto his flaming beard. With a gurgle and a gasp, the colossus swayed, swooned, and finally collapsed on its side as Calista released her blade in mid-fall, did a flip for style points, and landed like a gymnast.
*(footnote) Giants, and fire giants in particular, are an arrogant and cruel race who consider themselves evolutionary superior to all other humanoid races. As evidence, they cite their size, physical superiority, and ability to consume their humanoid brethren. In fact, standard humans are considered something of a delicacy among some of the more discerning giant tribes, especially the sea giants who will often go to great lengths to hunt down lightly guarded passenger or slave ships to acquire their next meal. However, what giants don’t understand about the other humanoid races is that nearly every one of them (excepting goblins, troglodytes, and certain breeds of orc) is more intelligent.