Sons of Evil: Book 1 Book of Dread (23 page)

Praad smiled, then turned
north to resume his pursuit.

For three days since they had
encountered the first giant outpost the companions had managed to continue
their journey undetected. They had worked around two other outposts, and
avoided a half-dozen roaming individuals or groups, their small numbers and
small size, at least when compared to the giants, aiding them in their quest to
remain hidden. As the mountains loomed up, becoming more forbidding and real
each day, they spent nearly as much time moving east as north, hoping they
could pass around the mountains along the shore if they could not find any
obvious passage through them. The geography of the Far North they all knew to
some degree from stories or books, but details were something few humans had
been able to experience firsthand for decades. They were making their way
toward the elves’ home on instinct and, they hoped, some good fortune.

The foothills of the
mountains, and the mountains themselves, were heavily wooded, so they had
plenty of cover as they neared the giants’ home. The Long Shadow Mountains were
true to their name, wide, high peaks that reached breathtakingly skyward, and
stretched from coast-to-coast some hundred miles above Elysium’s Neck. South of
the range the sun was free to cast its light, but to the north the mountains
created a band of shadow that stretched almost unbroken for three hundred
miles.

Luke’s recovery continued
apace, helped along by his youth and the healing arts of both Silas and Barlow.
He had cast aside the sling for good yesterday morning, and the effect on both
his spirits and the quickness of his step was apparent, though no one chose to
comment on it. He still winced when he needed to move suddenly, whether hiding
from an approaching giant or working his way down a step grade, but otherwise
appeared to be in good health. Whatever fatigue the others might have been
feeling from their trials and journey they kept to themselves, none wanting to
complain, and all thinking Luke had gotten much the worse of it.

Seeing the improvement in his
brother was a great relief to Darius, and as the days passed and they walked at
the feet of the imposing mountains, his focus shifted to the great obstacle
before them. Any path that might lead up into the mountains carried with it an
obvious danger—it was certainly created by the tread of passing giants. Even
ignoring that, his eyes could never follow these occasional paths to such a
point that he thought it worthy of possible use; none seemed to lead to
anything nearing a passage through the dense mountains before them. Since none
of the others pointed out one of the paths, he had to assume they had reached
the same conclusion. Seeing no way up and over, he often strained to see ahead
to the northeast, hoping there to spot the end of the range and the flat
horizon of the sea, but such a sight was still likely several days away. His
concern about what they might find there, growing in his mind with each passing
hour and with each path into the mountains that seemed to lead to nothing,
finally made him speak.

“What happens if we reach the
coast and it’s all cliffs?”

“No reason to worry about that
until we arrive,” Barlow replied.

“That’s his way of saying he’s
worried about the same thing,” Silas added.

Barlow answered with a “hrmpf”
but didn’t disagree with his friend.

“Might be an interesting
dilemma,” Adrianna admitted. “If we can’t go over or around…” She added a
shrug, having no other viable option to offer.

“Why do you think there might
be cliffs?” Luke asked.

“Just speculation. The shores
in this part of the Far North aren’t rumored to be hospitable—rocky I’ve heard.
And where these mountains reach the sea… I’m hoping they level out and let us
pass around, but it’s hope only, not confidence.”

“Well,
unless we get lucky finding a way over the top, I guess we’ll know in a couple
of days,” Silas said. “Until then, we might as well keep alert for the giants
and any likely route through this wall of mountains.”

As had been their habit of
late, they camped that night with no fire, flames being all too easy to spot
from the heights before them. Summer was giving way to fall, but even here in
the north the nights were still pleasant, cool but not cold. Cold was something
they spoke little of, but as summer faded and they moved further north it
seemed to stalk them, like a phantom just at the periphery of their vision. They
knew they needed to reach their destination well before winter set in, and
winter came early and hard in the Far North.

*

Like dinner the night before,
breakfast was cold, not very filling, and eaten in near silence. As the sun’s
first rays started to filter through the trees to the east, they set out once
again. They were still within sight of their camp when the sounds of heavy
footsteps and cracking tree limbs were heard, the noise far too close for
comfort. As they scrambled for cover, a large stone giant lumbered down from
the base of the mountains and into a gap in the trees. Any hope that they had
not been spotted was dashed as the giant flung a stone at the tree Barlow and
Silas were sheltering behind. Luckily they saw it coming and leapt away before
the stone crashed into the tree, leaving the trunk a barely-together pile of
splintered wood. Now in the open and exposed, the two men had to choose whether
to flee or attack before the giant grabbed another projectile. Knowing he would
warn his fellow giants of their presence even if they could escape him, they
did what they had to do: they attacked.

The giant saw that they
intended to fight, and that they were smart enough to approach from different
angels so he couldn’t strike at both with one swipe. With surprising agility he
stooped down and scooped up a handful of dirt, pebbles, and other assorted
debris, then flung it at Barlow, using a side-to-side toss to cast the material
across a wider area.

Barlow only had time to skid
to a stop and raise his sword arm in front of his face before he was struck. The
tossed debris did no real physical damage, but it accomplished the giant’s
purpose. Several critical seconds passed before Barlow’s vision cleared and he
could start forward again, meaning Silas reached the giant alone.

The giant smiled even as Silas
raced in, thinking he had already won the day. But Silas was far more agile
than he expected, and his first two attempts to grab the smaller man left him
grasping air. As he twisted and turned, his own bulk shielding his enemy, he
saw he had made a second error. The two men were not the only foes he faced.

Darius and Luke arrived almost
simultaneously on the giant’s right and left, swords ready to strike.

The giant, becoming more
distracted and frantic with each passing second, took a half-hearted swing at
Darius, simply to force him to check his advance, then leapt back several
steps. All four men were closing on him now, but at least he could see them
all.

Unseen was Adrianna, who sent
a wall of force racing at the giant, rather than charging in herself.

The giant took the blow,
showing his massive strength by remaining upright. His brain tried to process
this new bit of information, and even though he had been hit in the chest, he
glanced behind himself, sure that none of the four racing toward him had struck
him. If not for his size it would have been a fatal mistake.

Luke brought his sword down on
the giant’s ankle. His recent injuries stole a bit of the power from the blow,
and the stone giant’s skin managed to blunt the sword’s edge without splitting
open, but the force of the blade hitting above the bone was enough to make the
giant roar in pain. Angry now, the monster swung a mighty hand at Luke, a
glancing blow that sent the youngster rolling several feet down the hill.

Silas went behind the giant
and tried to lever him off balance with his staff, but the giant’s stance was
too firm, and he held fast against the cleric’s efforts.

Silas’ exertions were more of
an annoyance to the giant at the moment than anything else, the pain in his
ankle still too fresh and real. Rather than looking beneath him, he simply
flung his legs out and allowed himself to drop onto his rear end, hoping to
crush his foe.

Silas scampered away with only
inches to spare, but lost his own balance in the process. The sudden movement,
especially the outthrust legs, likewise stopped both Darius and Barlow in their
tracks. Their goal had been to bring the giant down, but now that he had done
it himself, none of them were in position to take advantage of it.

Everyone moved at once. The
men regained their momentum and pressed the attack once more, while Adrianna
sent another spell flying. But the giant rolled aside, forcing the invisible
spell to miss, then found his feet and took six large bounds further up the
slope of the mountain. He bent and grabbed two large stones from a pile he had
made, then turned to fight.

The companions saw the giant
was armed once more, but that only increased the urgency of their charge. Had
they kept their distance, he would simply fire away in relative safety. Only up
close could they hope to defeat the behemoth.

Stone giants that use rocks as
their main weapons do so for a reason. Trained since early childhood, by the
time they are full grown they can hurl large stones with great power but also
with great skill and accuracy. When this giant released the first stone those
closest—Darius and Barlow—couldn’t help but flinch, wondering if they would
have time to dodge. But the stone flew past them, straight at the giant’s
intended target. Still smarting physically and mentally from the shot to his
ankle, the giant had decided the first stone would be tossed at Luke.

In the usual confusion of
battle, there was little thought to following the trajectory of the stone, or
wondering why they had been spared. Hesitation could be deadly, and the giant
had another stone in his hands. Darius and Barlow closed with their foe.

The giant chose the accuracy
of his dominant hand rather than speed, believing he had time before his
attackers could reach him. But as the stone was moving from his left hand to
his right, another spell hurled by Adrianna hit him. To the misfortune of the
giant, the wall of force hit at just the right moment, and the stone, rather
than being transferred cleanly from one hand to the other, was knocked from his
grasp. The stone and the remaining force of the spell bounced off the giant’s
chest, forcing him to stagger back a step. The rock fell to the ground and
rolled out of his reach.

Adrianna didn’t see how
fortunate the timing of her spell had been. She had cast it in desperation,
then ran forward, as if to follow-up on any temporary advantage it might give
her. But she ran on instinct, and not for the giant, but for Luke.

Darius and Barlow reached the
giant before the monster could recover and grab another stone. But they were
checked by his flailing arms, and struggled to find a way to do him any real
harm. Silas arrived, rolling under the giant and behind him, trying to break
the deadlock before the giant could deliver a telling blow. As he wheeled up
and around, he was surprised to hear a scream of pain and rage from the giant. As
he looked up he could see the beast clutching at his eyes, his chin raised as
he let out another bellow, a primal howl of agony.

The bellow went up another
octave as a half-dozen bolts slammed into the side of the giant’s face. All
three men stepped back from the raging monster, the unknown source of this new
assault making them hesitate. They turned in time to see a group of dwarves
working to reload their crossbows, while another group quickly slipped past
them. These raised their axes and flung themselves at the stricken giant. Their
foe, blind and delirious with pain, fell swiftly.

Before the giant even hit the
ground, Silas was moving away from the fight, calling for Barlow to follow in
an urgent tone that brooked no questions. Darius, focused on the swift,
gruesome work of the dwarves, did not take immediate note of his friend’s swift
departure, odd though it otherwise would have seemed to him. He stayed a few
steps away from the dwarves, seeing they didn’t need his sword and somewhat
concerned with the wild way they hacked with their weapons. He was surprised
they didn't hurt one another. Even when the battle lust had faded and the
dwarves calmed themselves, he stayed at attention, his sword out and ready. Just
because the dwarves considered the giant an enemy didn’t mean they’d call
Darius a friend. Wary though he was, there was no doubt the dwarves’
intervention had been timely, and while he would keep his guard up, they had
clearly earned the thanks of Darius and his companions.

“I thank
you, good dwarves,” said Darius, trying to strike a formal tone. “Your aid is
appreciated and shall not be forgotten.” Darius addressed the dwarf with the
longest beard, which hung in two braided cords of fiery red that tickled his
toes. He assumed this one to be the leader, and felt a small surge of pride and
relief as this dwarf spoke in kind.

“You don’t need to be thanking
us for helping once the fighting started. Big oaf had it coming, and you and
yours fought brave and strong. Wish we could have helped sooner, but orders
were to track you, quiet like. Hard to be quiet bringing down one of these
brutes.”

“ ‘Orders’?” Darius asked,
trying to keep his voice level and calm. “Whose orders?”