Stormlands ( Book 2 of the Torrent Skies Saga)

Chapter Thirty-Six: An Illusion of Surety, Pt 2

The fighting kept on as Sahn-Raidar pushed forward, and eventually Lugaria watched Agrata leap down from the now empty wall and join the ranks of archers behind the front wall of fighters. He did not fire into the front line, but rather towards the giants and the orcs attacking Lugaria and his group.

Lugaria panted as his blade was slapped into the stones by the heavily battered giant. He caught sight of Auglier, as he and Kura attacked the giants legs, harrowing its every attempt to grasp one of the soldiers. Lugaria righted his blade, and this time he struck true, driving his blade half its length deep into the lower thigh of the raging creature before him.

It stomped its foot, and one arm swung out in an arc, pushing Lugaria back as its angry pinpoint eyes focused on him. Like a child stung by a bee, he thought, gritting his teeth in annoyance. Normally, he knew he would have no problem dispatching these creatures, but their armor and their practice with actual weapons made them a much more serious threat.

He swung again, aiming at the same spot in its leg, and this swing left an arrowhead shaped gash. He huffed out a breath as its balance began to waver, taking the moment to change his balance, and his grip. As the giant stumbled, Kura bit into its other leg and heaved with all her might, as Auglier stuck it across the knee.

It fell forward with a growl and slammed its fists down, clipping Auglier's shoulder and knocking the big man to his back.

Lugaria darted forward, always faster than he looked, with his heavy sword moving from both hands to one, at a perfect angle to strike the giant down. But before he could connect the blow, the giant swatted at him, and flicked his sword from his grasp. He spit the blood from his busted lip, and glanced to his weapon as it skidded across the ground.

The giant grinned and grasped for him again, but its fingers closed around empty air as the words of a simple spell left Lugaria's mouth and he stepped into the stone of the wall behind him. He moved through the stone as if it were water, before he stepped out again and lunged for his weapon.

He heard Kura snarl, as the giant kicked the bear with enough force to send her skidding back, leaving thick furrows in the earth. She whimpered only once, before charging back into the fray alongside Auglier.

The giant was on its knees now, desperately blocking what blows of Auglier's axe it could, looking more and more frantic as every second passed.

Juen'tal had kept the orcs to their backs busy enough that Sahn-Raidar had pushed forward so far that the giant was their only true concern.

Lugaria jumped over the swing of its arm and swung his sword out wide, elbows bent just the right amount. His blade carved across the metal armor the giant wore, but the very edge caught a leather strap, and cut it just as he had planned. He landed from his jump as the armor plating the giant wore slid, exposing its chest.

A hand grasped Lugaria's shoulder and jerked him roughly from his feet. Before he could even see the face of his attacker he pulled a stud free of his armor, and slipped it over his finger. He rolled aside as a bloody hammer cracked into the stone where he had just been, and was to his feet faster than the orc who had grabbed him had anticipated.

He drove his palm forward, and the small knife attached to the metal around his finger drove into the orcs eye, just deep enough to be deadly. He replaced the knife into its seamlessly disguised place on his armor in a smooth motion, and righted his sword grip in time to watch the giant fall as Auglier buried his axe into its chin.

As the giant fell, time sped up once again. Suddenly, Graiden was near him in the hazy color filled smoke of the courtyard, the orcs were pushed back, and Agrata offered him a bloody, tired grin.