Rolfe and Helga were overjoyed with fighting the Ice Giants. They told Jeze that it was an opportunity to face monsters from the stories of their childhood. The passion can be seen on their helmeted faces as they acted like the ancient heroes that slayed the evil monsters. Despite the significant size, strength, and reach disparities, the two Frostsworn warriors were very successful Giant slayers.

"Proven, stay close!" Dunar barked.

The Leader needed to keep the team together to avoid exposing their flanks. They had engaged the charging Ice Giants at the source. Across the flat Tundra was the Safe Zone Portal and other adventuring teams. In between them were the Ice Giants. The Proven took a huge risk on their charge as they were isolated from the Portal and other teams. That did not phase Rolfe and Helga one bit.

"For Glory!" Helga roared.

"Hurrah!" Rolfe responded.

Jeze and Mikal used their Rune magic to keep the team from being overwhelmed, while Dunar, Rolfe, and Helga held the front lines. Mikal negated the Giants' Ice Boulder attacks and Shaped them into a mist. He proved to be the stronger Rune caster and had a smirk on his face. He also grew up with the tales of the evil Ice Giants. Jeze Summoned and Shaped walls of stone to separate their attackers so that the Proven would not be surrounded. This allowed Helga, Dunar, and Rolfe to face two to three opponents at a time. An Ice giant swung a mighty club, and Rolfe deflected the powerful attack to the side with his shield. Helga circled from behind the Protector and chopped the giant's leg off with a powerful swing of her axe. The monster collapsed to the ground, where Dunar stabbed his sword through its head.

"That's three kills!" Rolfe shouted.

"Ya!" Helga responded.

"Stay focused!" Dunar snapped as two more Ice Giants smashed through Jeze's Summoned Wall.

Rolfe and Helga rushed to engage the new threat. Mikal approached Dunar and asked, "Can we keep this up?"

Jeze struck a third Ice Giant with a boulder and forced the monster back. She tapped her Channeling tools and sealed the stone wall. It shook and cracked from the Giants that tried to break it. It would not hold long, and hopefully, it would last long enough for Helga and Rolfe to handle the two that came through.

Dunar assessed their situation. The adventurers by the Portal were not faring well. Only the Spirit Walkers seemed able to face the Ice Giants. The other teams were not as skilled and were suffering heavy losses.

"If we join and help them, more Ice Giants will keep coming," Dunar replied.

"We need to find and kill the Cultist," Jeze growled. She hoped it was Val.

Mikal casually Shaped three incoming ice boulders into water vapor. "Or we can retreat," he stated.

"Don't let Helga and Rolfe hear you say that," Jeze replied.

Dunar stared at Mikal with his gray eyes. Mikal's face softened.

"Look, there are a lot more Ice giants, how much longer can we keep this up? Plus, your arm is not fully healed and we are not at full strength," the Healer explained his position.

"We have plenty more fight left in us," Dunar growled.

Mikal nodded and Jeze grinned. They returned to the battle to push forward toward the purple Rift. It was not much further.

*****

Back by the Safe Portal, the Spirit Walkers and the lower-ranked adventurers fought a half dozen Ice Giants. Things looked grim, Ahanu reflected. His left shoulder that held his shield was dislocated, and he was pretty certain he had several fractured ribs. Leaning on his spear, he slowly rose from his knees. He killed one Ice Giant, and more kept coming. The arrival of the Proven was a tremendous help, but unless they close the Rift portal, more Ice Giants will keep coming.

"We can't keep this up," he rasped.

"Have hope, brother," Rainia replied.

Ahanu closed his eyes as he felt his sister's Vitality Spring spell take effect. His bones mended, and his shoulder popped back into place. Energy filled his exhausted body, but it did little to remove the feeling of hopelessness. Ahanu shook those thoughts out of his head and rushed back into the fight.

The Spirit Walkers were able to hold their own against the Ice Giants, but the lower-ranked adventurers suffered tremendous losses. The frozen white snow was colored red with blood. Broken bodies of adventurers littered the ground along with the larger blue bodies of the Ice Giants. More of the malformed brutes lumbered toward them. A few of the monsters were held off by the Proven, but enough broke through to put the Safe Zone Portal at risk.

Ahanu activated the last charge on his shield and deflected an Ice Boulder to the side. He didn't know when he would have time or even if he had the Will to recharge his enchanted shield. But he didn't have the luxury to worry about that as one Ice Giant charged him with a knobbed club. Ahanu deftly sidestepped the heavy attack and countered with a spear thrust to the giant's side. The beast swung his club back around, and Ahanu deflected it with his shield. The force of the blow sent the Spirit Walker Protector sliding back. A flaming arrow struck the giant in the eye, and it dropped its club to hold its burning face with both hands. Ahanu stabbed it through its heart from under the ribcage.

Four more Ice Giants rushed toward the Portal. Tallulah Summoned a pair of spirit bears that tackled two Ice Giants, but Ahanu knew that the stout Rune caster was reaching her limit. Paca blinded the remaining two with a Flare spell from the Sun aspect. Ahanu hefted his spear and hurled a perfect throw that struck one of the blinded Giants in the head. The second thrashed about, unable to see. Fiery arrows thudded into its body from Zena. In moments, the fight was over, and they had a moment of peace.

"Tell the Guild we need Adventurer ranked or higher to aid us," Ahanu told a young man.

"We tried! There are none! They are all scattered somewhere on this floor," the man cried back.

The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

Ahanu turned toward his sister, and she held up her Communication Scroll.

"I already put the word out. All we can do is wait," she replied.

An Ice Boulder crushed the young man Ahanu was just talking to. The Spirit Walker glanced up with horror etched upon his face. Two more Ice Giants were lumbering toward them. Ahanu shook his head. This was too much.

"They just are two Ice Giants! The Proven have engaged with the source. We can win this! We will win this!" Rainia cried.

Tallulah gripped Ahanu by his armored shoulders and gently shook him. She was the oldest on the team and had ventured into the Spire before.

"I have seen much, young warrior, and I know you have more fight left. Let us finish this," the thick Rune caster said.

Ahanu lifted his chin and stood tall. He steadied his shield and spear and rushed ahead to the front as the team's Protector. Ahanu hoped in his heart that they were right and that the Proven will be successful.

*****

"Our target is just up ahead," Dunar promised.

The Proven could see the top of the purple Rift portal just beyond a low ridge. Two Ice Giants climbed down toward them as others rushed on toward the Safe Zone Portal. Helga and Rolfe gleefully engaged the monsters.

"They have become quite good at killing Giants," Mikal acknowledged.

Jeze had to agree and added, "And they have come a long way with Rune magic."

Helga activated the Flame enchantment on her axe with ease and chopped off an Ice Giant's arm. Rolfe tapped his shield to the ground, and vines erupted to entangle the other.

Mikal glanced at Jeze and reluctantly agreed. "I suppose so. Now, we will need to teach them to charge their equipment, because honestly. I'm getting tired of doing it," The Healer growled.

"Enough talking, let's press ahead," Dunar ordered.

The Proven crested the final ridge and saw the Rift Portal blazing before them. What guarded the Portal caused the team to pause.

"You!" Jeze hissed.

Five Cultists stood in front of the Portal. Val sat crossed leg with her eyes closed. She was focusing her Will to maintain the Rift. The other four stood protectively in front of her. One was a dark-skinned man with burn scars on his face. He wore a simple mail shirt with metal greaves and wrist guards. He carried a battered heater shield and a plain sword. The man stepped forward with a grin that showed very white teeth.

"Hello, Jeze," Drake greeted.

A second dark-skinned man readied two swords. He also wore simple armor, and Jeze could see the man's braided hair fall out from beneath an iron helm.

"I knew we would touch steel again," Ozun stated.

Dunar, Rolfe, and Helga's jaws became hard. They have improved much since the last time they faced the Sanguine Blades fighter. The remaining two Cultists looked bored. One had dark hair and pale skin with web tattoos that ran along her face and neck. The other was stocky and reminded Jeze of a rock. He was bald and wore a heavy dark robe with his arms hidden from sight under its folds.

"We couldn't defeat Ozun when he was alone," Mikal pointed out.

Dunar growled, "Not now. You two know what must be done."

Jeze nodded. Their objective was to close the Rift, and that meant they needed to take out Val. The others were just a distraction.

"For Glory!" Helga shouted the war cry.

"Hurrah!"

Without further discussion, the fighting erupted. Jeze and Mikal Summoned and Shaped fists of stone and spears of ice to attack the seated Val. Before the missiles could strike, they were blocked by a thick wall of brambles that sprung from the ground. The pale lady with the web tattoos had quickly Summoned and Shaped them to protect the cult leader. She did that fast! Jeze reflected with some shock.

Every fight consists of a series of small victories and defeats. Each victory brings a boost of confidence, while each defeat plants a seed of doubt. The skill and speed the pale lady demonstrated had planted a small seed of doubt within Mikal and Jeze. It harshly demonstrated to them the levels of skill that exist in this world and that the spider web tattooed lady was clearly a highly skilled Rune caster. But, the odds were still in the Proven's favor. Val was occupied, and that left her four teammates against the five Proven.

Drake and Ozun wasted no time and surged forward. A combination of factors from the Proven being tired from fighting Ice giants and the sudden aggression from the two swordsmen had caught the Proven off guard. They stumbled back, and their formation cracked. Ozun scored a cut to Helga's wrist, and Drake smashed his shield into Dunar, which caused the Leader to fall backward. Rolfe barreled forward to break up the advantage. Mikal healed Helga, and Jeze's sharp eyes spotted the stocky-robed cultist as he tried to sneak around to attack Mikal. She knocked him clean off his feet with a boulder.

The ebb and flow of combat consisted of tiny wins and losses. Jeze felt good about that small win, but it was immediately followed by a loss as she was encased in sticky webbing. Jeze was trapped, and before she fell to the ground, she saw that it was the pale lady who cast the spell. The Spider aspect? A subset of the Nature aspect? Jeze wondered to herself.

Helga landed a mighty blow that sent Drake stumbling to the ground with his helmet knocked off. As Jeze struggled to break free from the webbing, she saw the glazed look in the captain's eyes. Dunar was holding his own against Ozun, and Rolfe charged the Rune caster with the spider tattoos. The pale lady tried to wrap Rolfe with webbing and vines, but the giant Frostsworn was surprisingly agile and avoided all of her attempts. Helga joined Dunar against Ozun, and Jeze was able to cut herself free. They were winning!

Dunar fell back with a sword gash across his throat, but Mikal immediately healed him as Helga forced Ozun to retreat with aggressive, offensive attacks of her Dane axe. The pale lady dodged Rolfe's spear thrust but yelped in pain as her face was smashed by his shield. Jeze rose to her feet and saw her opportunity. Val was undefended. Jeze launched a boulder at the seated cult leader. Victory was within their grasp!

"Fools!" Val cried.

Her eyes flashed open, and she chopped downwards with her hands. A thin, shimmering line appeared in the air that split Jeze's boulder in half. They were so close. Val grinned madly as she completed whatever it was she was doing. Ice Giants emerged one after the other from the Rift Portal behind Val. There were too many! Jeze's heart sank.

A swarm of silver wolves and a hail of flaming arrows rained down upon the Ice Giants. All eyes turned to see that the Spirit Walker team had arrived! Victory was still within reach! Jeze charged after Val with sword and axe in her hands. As she ran Jeze formed glyphs to Summon and Shape the Earth aspect into stone fists.

An Ice Giant stomped in front of Jeze and swung a massive club at her. Jeze dodged the attack, and the massive weapon smashed into the ground. Jeze ran up the club, and the Ice Giant tried to grab her, but she jumped over its hand to run up its shoulder and slid down its back. Jeze continued her charge as Val completed glyphs of her own and Summoned flaming spheres to float around her. The two exchanged Rune spells. Jeze launched stone fists, and Val unleashed her exploding fireballs. Jeze weaved in and out of the explosive attacks as her Stone fists thudded painfully into the Cult Leader. Val fell to one knee. Jeze kept her charge and readied to plant her axe into the blonde lady's head. Drake smashed Jeze from the side with his shield and sent the teenager tumbling along the ground. She rolled quickly to her feet with a snarl. Victory was so close!

"Behind you," Drake said with a smirk.

An Ice Giant swung its enormous club at Jeze, and she tried to dodge it but failed. The blow sent her through the air, and she felt her bones crack and break. Her ribs were fractured, and her left arm was shattered, but she still held her weapons! Dizzy, she rose unsteadily to her feet. Mikal could heal her, but she found him some distance away lying on the ground! What? Standing over the Frostsworn Healer was the stocky man in the dark robe. In his beefy hands was a wicked curved blade that dripped with blood.

"No!" Jeze cried through bloodied lips.

The pain consumed her, and she stumbled to her knees. Jeze couldn't move. Her head hurt, and her body was broken. The ebb and flow of battle swayed away from victory.