Ewtain took a different approach. As he followed the giant, he threw darts from the bandolier that he had kept from the Orc he had fought at the temple. The darts were poisonous, but this creature was orders of magnitude larger than they were, so any effects from the poison were dulled. As the giant approached the archers, Vanya surprisingly ran in front of the other two in what looked to be an attempt to intercept the giant. Vultressant hurled the fire spell that he had started to charge in the hopes of distracting it from the Elf. The prematurely released spell did little, and he chastised himself for wasting the mana. He was upset. He had acted hastily, but he wanted to keep her safe. The distance between Vanya and the giant closed rapidly, but when it was almost upon her, she exhaled upwards towards the monstrosity, and a bluish cloud of air engulfed its head and shoulders. The giant screamed. It was in real agony, and it covered its face with both hands as it slowed to a stop. Ice crystals formed over the affected areas. With her attack complete, Vanya hurriedly ran back behind Taloc and Isla and started casting a spell.
Ewtain took out his sword and stabbed the giant several times while it was distracted by Vanya’s cold attack. That must have been her frost breath potion. Taloc and Isla both drew their swords and closed on the monster. It made a few feeble attempts to attack back, but it had its face covered and was blindly striking the ground. When it finally removed its hand from its face, Vultressant shivered. Its eyes were almost entirely white, save for a small point of black in the center of each, and it had several pointy teeth that seemed to angle inward. He cast bolt of fire when the giant could see again. He aimed at the head, and this time his aim proved true. The bolt struck on its left cheek and ignited some strands of oily black hair that hung over its ear. This was not nearly as effective as Vanya’s attack had been, but at least it was using one of its hands to put out the flames.
Maroftis was back in the fight by the time that the giant had extinguished the flames. Sheathing his sword, he fought with just his claws. He sank a claw into a massive leg and started climbing. Maroftis was now more than eight feet tall, but the lizard stood below the giant’s waist. The giant brought a hand around to slap him off and connected, throwing Maroftis into the side of the mountain. It was certainly better than throwing him off the cliff, but Maroftis slumped over when he ultimately slid to the ground. Vanya started to go over to help Maroftis, but she stopped—likely thinking better about that decision. Maroftis could regenerate, and if she went down, there would be no healing for the others unless they used the limited amount of healing potions.
The giant had slowed significantly, and its health was down by nearly 25 percent. It now altered its attack style from an overhand chop to a sweeping one, swinging its arm in an arc just off the ground. Isla was unable to completely evade one such attack, but she was able to use her shield to absorb most of the blow. Ewtain dove to the ground, and the arm swung just above him. Taloc was less nimble even with the speed spell, and he was knocked backwards. Fortunately, he landed just a few feet from Vanya, who quickly went over and used her healing touch spell on him. Isla and Ewtain were now keeping their distance from the giant and staying close to the mountain wall. They were on opposite sides of the giant, and it seemed unsure as to which one of them it should pursue.
It lumbered towards Isla, and Vultressant sent another spell its way. This time it ducked its head, and the bolt struck the enormous lump that protruded out of the back of its head. While the attack certainly did some damage, it failed to distract the giant like it had on the previous strike. It lumbered towards the downed Taloc and Vanya, who was still trying to heal him. Isla was attempting to slow it, but another arcing swipe caused her to retreat.
Ewtain sheathed his weapons and pulled out two more darts from the bandolier. He threw the small weapons at the back of the lumbering hulk. They embedded themselves into the flesh, but there was no reaction at all from the giant. Perhaps the darts were unable to pierce the hide deep enough to administer the poison, or maybe more poison was needed due to the enormous size of the giant. Vultressant thought that the thing might even be immune to poison. If that were the case, Ewtain was wasting his time throwing the darts. Whatever the reason, it was unfazed and continued towards Vanya and Taloc.
Vultressant stepped forward and cast wind wave towards the creature. Isla was still between him and the giant. Ewtain was behind the monster. To avoid hitting his friends, he aimed the spell at the creature’s head. He miscalculated the angle and hit Isla. She staggered forward towards the incoming giant. Vultressant chastised himself for not releasing the spell at a steep enough angle. On the plus side, the creature stopped. It used its shield-forearm to protect its face from the gale-force winds until the spell ended.
After the blast had subsided, the giant clasped its hands together above its head and slammed the ground. A wave of force spread out in an arc in front of the creature, and the ground rippled in tandem with the wave. The effect knocked down Isla and Vanya. Taloc, who was up again after Vanya’s healing, tried hopping over the rolling ground. He avoided the effect but was unable to land on his feet. Without the added speed and agility from the enhanced speed spell, Taloc would not have been able to dodge the attack. When the wave of force reached Vultressant, his protective shield flared blue. The shield absorbed 53 HP of damage, but that meant that it could only absorb another seven HP before it became exhausted. Vultressant started diverting mana towards the shield to increase what was his only real defense against attacks. The shield slowly recharged its defense, but it cost some of his mana.
Taloc stood up yet again and gripped Shadowbane; the sword emitted black smoke. He passed Isla, who struggled to rise, as he ran towards the giant. The giant, unhindered now that the wind spell had dissipated, took up a defensive position as Taloc approached it. Taloc abruptly stopped short and pointed his weapon. Shadowbane grew darker for a split second before it discharged its energy into the giant. Black tendrils entered the giant, and it grabbed its head and let out an anguished howl. The distraction allowed Taloc the opportunity to approach the reeling creature without getting his head knocked off.
Ewtain gave up on the darts, drew his sword and dagger, and ran over to help Taloc. He was behind it and stabbed it in the calf. It kicked backwards, but Ewtain was already moving towards the other leg. Taloc arrived and slashed his sword into the planted leg. Shadowbane passed through the leg just above the knee. There was no wound, but the sword had clearly done some damage. The giant howled again and dropped to its knees, narrowly avoiding falling forward by planting a stabilizing hand on the ground in front of it.
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Ewtain attacked the giant’s legs, but it ignored his efforts. Instead, it sent an arcing swing at Taloc. Instead of trying to avoid the blow, Taloc braced himself. Vultressant sent a bolt of fire at its head, trying to distract it enough to save Taloc, but while his aim was true this time, the attack was uninterrupted. Just before the arm sent Taloc hurling towards the cliff edge, the Ranger activated his sword again, but this time he used it to turn into a shadow. The arm passed right through him.
Vultressant paused his attacks to watch Taloc fly upward. In shadow form, he left a smoke trail like a comet. He stopped and hovered in the air, just over the back of the giant’s neck. A second later, he reverted to his normal state and dropped onto the large hump that sprouted out of the neck and upper back.
With Taloc on the creature’s neck and Ewtain dancing and hacking at the legs, Vultressant had limited spell options. The wind wave spell was out because someone would be hit by it. He was charging up a bolt of fire spell, but that had the best results when he scored a hit in the head area, and he would be forced to aim for its chest. He felt a little woozy, so he checked his mana. He had only 14 MP left, so he put the remaining mana into his bolt and sent it flying. He activated his enhanced mana regen ability to replenish his power. A moment later, he was back to his maximum MP of 440, and this time he prepared his frost spray spell.
Maroftis was heading back into the battle, but he was doing so slowly, and one of his arms hung limply at his side. Before being trapped on Faltoral, Vultressant had regularly watched professional sporting events. He had seen many quarterbacks get up from a tackle with a similar injury. Hopefully that regeneration that Maroftis possessed would take care of the injury, but it might be a while before he could use the arm effectively in battle.
Isla and Ewtain were attacking the giant’s legs as if they were chopping a tree; even so, the giant paid them no mind. Maroftis had even less success. Taloc had the giant’s undivided attention. It was still bracing itself with its planted hand on the ground, while the other was desperately swatting at the back of its neck as if trying to remove an insect. Taloc spent most of his time dodging the creature’s attempts to dislodge him, but he occasionally was able to get a blade hit in. Instead of passing through flesh without a trace, Shadowbane now drew blood as Taloc used the sword to chop at the giant’s neck and shoulders. The creature howled in pain with each strike. Their efforts had reduced the giant to less than half of its health.
Vultressant cast his frost spray spell. He aimed the jet of freezing air and frost particles at the giant’s midsection. Unfortunately, it picked that moment to stand, avoiding the spell entirely. The giant staggered as its damaged knee buckled, but it swayed and maintained its balance. It then started moving towards the mountainside.
Ewtain was the first to recognize the danger. “Taloc! Get off!” he yelled. The monster looked like it was going to ram itself into the rock wall, which would surely send Taloc flying into the wall with the momentum. He had already used the sword’s ability to turn him into an incorporeal shadow, so that method of escape was unavailable to him.
As the giant closed the distance, only a few long strides from the wall, Taloc sheathed his sword and sprang toward the giant’s left ear. He latched onto a few greasy strands of hair hanging by the ear. Though slick, Taloc had no difficulty holding on. Using the strands as a rope, he slid down swiftly, letting go just moments before the giant crashed into the wall. Taloc landed awkwardly, rolling several feet before crashing into the rock wall. The giant quickly spotted Taloc prone on the ground. Acting swiftly, Vultressant fired a bolt of fire at the giant, hoping to divert its attention. The bolt exploded on its shoulder, spraying flames into its face, forcing the giant to shield itself with a hand.
Ewtain made it to the giant a few moments ahead of Isla, and the two of them intercepted the creature, preventing it from easily getting to Taloc. Vultressant spotted Vanya racing toward the others at full speed. For a split second, he assumed she was going to attack the giant, but then he saw she was headed for Taloc. She clutched a blue potion. It must be one of her cold breath potions. Vultressant went back to spellcasting, searching for an opening in the creature’s defenses. Its hand remained near its face, while its other arm swung at Isla and Ewtain below. They deftly avoided its blows, trying to keep the giant distracted until Taloc could get back on his feet. It was evident that they needed everyone's strength to bring the giant down.
Too far away to use his frost spray spell, Vultressant prepared another bolt of fire. He noticed the giant growing frustrated with its inability to hit either Ewtain or Isla. Suddenly, it squatted low and swung both arms toward Ewtain, one from each direction. Vultressant released his charged spell, but the bolt flew high, missing its mark due to the giant’s swift crouch. The bolt struck the top of its hump, causing minimal damage but igniting a small fire amid the thick hair. Ewtain leaped back in a move that resembled a backflip, but the giant’s hands caught his right foot, halting his escape. Roaring in triumph, the creature lifted Ewtain above its head and opened its mouth wide.
Isla hurled herself at the giant’s tree-trunk-sized leg, delivering a powerful chop. She quickly followed with her shield bash special attack, striking the giant hard. Despite the damage, the giant paid her no heed, concentrating on lowering Ewtain into its gaping maw, where each tooth was as long as a short sword.
Vultressant cast another spell, but he knew he couldn’t save Ewtain in time. Maroftis was still too far away to help.
The giant held Ewtain by the foot with the thumb and forefinger of its left hand. Ewtain kicked at the thumb with his free leg, and he also wiggled and swung a sword when he was able to get close enough to strike. He had dropped his dagger, but his short sword was still firmly in his grasp. He might be able to attack the creature from the inside, provided it didn’t bite him in half first. The giant had nearly brought Ewtain to its mouth when the air around its head rippled. It took Vultressant a moment to realize what had occurred. The ice-blue shimmer in the air was from Vanya’s frost breath potion, and he saw her to the giant’s left. Her timing was perfect. The giant roared in agony, dropping Ewtain, who was also hit by the icy blast. Vultressant noticed this attack had dealt significant damage, as the giant’s red health bar dropped considerably.
Ewtain crashed onto the creature’s stomach, rolling until he reached the end. With nothing to cushion his fall, he dropped to the ground with a muted thud. Though the creature was crouched, the height of the fall still inflicted considerable damage. While it beat being devoured, Ewtain’s chances in the battle now relied on Vanya’s intervention.
The giant looked worse for wear; its health bar was under a quarter. Vultressant fired another bolt, followed swiftly by an arrow finding its mark in the giant’s thick neck. His gaze darted around, catching Taloc preparing another arrow while Maroftis joined the fray. Taloc’s arrow ignited with a brilliant glow, transforming into three projectiles mid-flight, all converging on the giant in a dazzling display of his special ability.
Maroftis carried Ewtain towards Vanya, who quickly ran towards them. When she arrived, she administered a healing potion to Ewtain, spilling some of it in her haste. His hood had fallen back, and there was a deep gash just above one eye. His cheek was bright red, and frost crystals clung to the hood of his cloak. The wound on his head slowly started to close. Vanya stayed with him another moment before she drank another breath potion and ran back towards the giant.