Something was wrong.
Even before the man stumbled into the tavern and spoke with Aldred, Lander could feel something wasn’t right. The natural hum under his feet was pulsing. He couldn’t explain what he felt but the ground always had a certain ebb and flow. Most people never noticed it but Lander had grown in tune with the natural forces under his feet. The pulses got louder as Aldred excused himself from the room and as the cold night air blew in from the door Lander stood up and took a deep breath, closing his eyes. He focused on the air, mentally parsing apart the smells.
Snow.
Smoke.
Wolf.
Mud.
And then he smelled it and his pulse quickened. No, it couldn’t be. Not this far south. It was the smell of high altitudes, of goats, snow and mildew. It smelled like a mountain. It smelled like a giant.
He was sure of it now. The vibrations through the wooden floorboards were undeniable. Step. Step. Step. He looked around, not sure what he should do.
Esterfell was not a large town and did not have a Dominion military presence. Their small militia would do little to stop a mountain giant. A well-aimed pitchfork would hardly pierce the thick, leathery skin and getting close enough to use their swords would be a fools errand. He looked around at all the people gathered in the room. They had to move. Now.
“We have to−” was all he managed to say before the wall of the inn exploded in a shower of wood and brick. Lander dove toward the far wall as a large boulder came to rest just before the bar. People screamed. Every stranger that had gathered all dove for cover and were now regaining their bearings. Lander jumped to his feet and looked out the giant hole.
Aldred had dodged the boulder as well and was lying on the ground with his sword. Past him were the giants, definitely more than one.
This doesn’t make any sense, he thought. They were a days ride to the foothills of the Jagged Peak mountains and another days ride up to where the giants made their home. Why were they here? Giants usually don’t leave their lands, unless something forced them out. Lander shivered at the thought of what a giant would be afraid of.
A few of the others had began engaging the lead giant as Aldred had regained his footing and charged at the monster. His blade did little damage and Aldred himself was caught in the grasp of the giant. A blood-curdling roar ripped through the night air and Lander could see the giants teeth glistening in the lantern light of the inn. Other than the flicker of light, the giants were barely visible in the moon-less darkness as clouds had filled the sky.
Lander looked around the inn. Behind the bar was a confusion of fear and debris. A stack of ale barrels had toppled over and one of them was broken and leaking onto the floor. He had an idea.
Running over to one of the barrels he drove his sword into the top of it, piercing the wood. His muscles strained as he hoisted the barrel onto his back with the foul-smelling liquid pouring out behind him. As fast as his legs could move he ran out the hole in the wall and made a large arc around the first giant, trying not to slip in the freshly snow-covered ground.
He ran into the darkness and behind the remaining giants, circling back around to where the others were gathered. He dropped the now-empty barrel and jumped into the inn, grabbing one of the lanterns off the wall. He knelt down and removed something from his satchel. It was a small vial of oil.
Lander held it into his hands and focused all of his energy into the object. It felt red hot in his hands and then ice cold. After the infusion process was complete, he emptied the vial into the lantern and ran back outside. He threw the lantern through the air, toward the back of the giants.
“Everyone watch yourselves!” Lander yelled as the lantern found it’s mark, exploding in a small red fireball and igniting the alcohol on the ground. The whole area was washed with light as the wall of flames traveled around the perimeter of the giants. Infused by Lander, the flames burned larger and brighter than regular flames and created a wall of fire that startled the giants and left them unable to escape. If it was one thing that giants were not fond of, it was fire.
“That should keep them here until we can deal with them!” Lander said, readying his sword. “We can pick them off one by one!”