"Okay!" Serna called out them upon hearing Willow's voice, "Are you ready, Caliaphy? We're going to get out of here."
The Bronze Man smashed a few more undead directly in front of him and threw down some warding runes for a protective barrier, "There's your window, ranger. Take it and get Serna and Caliaphy out of there."
"Now, Serna, drop it now!"
No sooner did the Shield Maiden lower her shield, Prince Willow snatched Serna up under his arm and began to run off with her back the way they came, "To quote Irzen, Lazheros, we are leaving!"
"GO!" The bronze man waited until they were well out of range when he raised his warhammer up to the sky, shouting divine words in draconic. The divine energy filled his weapon and Lazheros brought down the warhammer to the ground with a thunderous sound. All the undead that remained were turned instantaneously. The small village was cleansed of undead completely.
When Willow got clear with Serna and Caliaphy in tow, the Prince set them both down and the Shield Maiden looked back upon what the Cleric had done.
"WOOOOOOW!" Serna gasped with a wide-eyed gaze upon her face, "Now THAT'S what I call putting the hammer down!"
*******
Dragolem took up the right flank position as Danvald and his kin continued to their destination through the valley floor. They passed a large stream along the way and managed to avoid another scouting group of orc riders. Then the ground shook suddenly beneath them and stopped. Danvald and his kin halted for a moment looking in all directions and saw nothing. In fact it was quiet, no wildlife, no birds, nothing. The ground shook again but this time it was further ahead of Irzen and Dragolem. Whatever it was it was large and heavy.
Gimim, Thinbar, and Gruo nodded in unison, "Giant."
"Well, that can't be good," Irzen surmised in a whisper, "Let's go see what we are dealing with but do it quietly."
The dwarves continued onward but a slightly slower pace northeast of their original destination to avoid the giant. After a few hours of running, they slowed down and stopped for a short rest. Danvald pulled out his canteen and took a drink and so did his kin. Dragolem kept watch while they rested for a bit and was about to join them when he stopped in his tracks and looked way up. There standing behind them was another giant, and it hadn't seen them yet. Moving forward silently, he motioned for everyone to be quiet and turn around slowly.
Irzen did not make a sound as he slowly moved his hand to the pommel of his sword.
The dwarves gasped with Gimin clamping his hand over Gruo's mouth, and tugging Thinbar's arm to back away.
Danvald gripped his hammer tightly and picked up a rock with the other. Taking aim, he threw the stone back down the way they came tumbling down the rocky ground creating phantom images to distract the giant long enough for them to get out of striking distance.
The giant turned in the direction of the sound now and left to investigate the movement back down the valley.
Dragolem motioned to Danvald the 'all clear' to move again. Thinbar took the lead now, he was a bigger burlier dwarf with dark hair and beard wielding a pair of axes, he chopped away some of the brush here and there to confuse the giant should it come back this way. An old hunter's trick when looking for big game, or in this case to take down a giant if necessary. By chopping the thicket in clusters any oncoming creature of large size or bigger would get caught in the long five inch thorns lodged in their legs causing extreme pain.
The draconian liked how these hill dwarves were able to utilize the terrain so well to their advantage by adding a few surprises of his own.
Irzen resumed his previous flanking position and allowed Thinbar to take the lead.
The dwarves with Thinbar leading them finally came to a bare spot on the hillside. "There is our entry point."
"Uh, Danvald?" Gimin said looking back the way they came and saw the giant heading their, "the giant is coming this way."
Danvald looked at his kin giving out hand signals to each of them. "Alright lads. Lock and load. This giant ain't going no further. Gruo, you're up!"
Gruo was the little guy for a dwarf being under four feet tall, but size mattered not when he pulled out a horn that was as long as he was tall. From that little dwarf came sounded the long horn loud and long.
Both Dragolem and Irzen had to cover their ears briefly until Gruo stopped and put the horn down. The giant in the distance definitely saw them now and picked up its pace.
Somewhere to the northwest and the southwest horns of just like the one Gruo sounded blew in the distance. The draconian wondered if Danvald's kin would arrive in time to help kill the giant or come too late.
Irzen had his sword at the ready and never took his eyes off of the approaching giant while he spoke to Dragolem, "In case whatever these dwarves are planning fails, you go high on the giant while I go low. Go for his eyes while I'll go for his Achilles tendon. We've got to give our charges every opportunity to escape. Understood?"
"You worry too much for a drow, Irzen. Here is out in the open but the ground is rocky with loose stone other the boulders behind us. Don't forget of the thick shrubbery all around us and the large thick trees off to both sides. Use the area to your advantage. It will give the time we need for Danvald's kinsmen to show with whatever they're bringing." Dragolem gestured to the area they were in, "Go for the eyes? I don't even have to move to cause damage."
Danvald and Thinbar remained on the loose ground while, Gimin and Gruo took the high ground on top of the boulders.
"Don't mistake worry for preparation, Dragolem," Irzen smiled at the Draconic Elemental, "I've survived as long as I have by having a contingency plan for every situation. This one included. I have no problem following their lead. Heck, I would follow you into the Gates of Hell as long as you had a plan and you knew what you were doing."
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