Hunting Rogues: Ch 5

***Something a little different today, because giant women aren't the only danger in the Nidings...***

The group moved fast through the trees – too fast for Fraki to stop and consider how terrifying all this was. At all times, in the canopy of the Haval trees they were at least a hundred feet above the ground, and given the way the ground kept rising jaggedly they were only moving higher above the valley. They ran together along branches between the thickness of a country path and a wide road, eyes ahead to avoid looking down, with Libek frequently pausing to boost them over the wide gaps. For the first few leaps, Fraki closed her eyes and shrieked, but she soon got used to being lifted as though carried by Libek’s hand, plucked up from one branch and placed down on another. In this way they soon passed deep into the forest, ignoring Menal’s insistence that they turn back for his brother.

The trees surrounded them in every direction, large enough that there were big spaces between them but nothing like a path for a giantess. There was also no sign of landmarks: they were well inside the Nidings and a long way from human civilisation. At one point, Fraki saw a beetle pass under them as big as a carriage.

She had no idea how much time had passed by the time Coalard called for the group to stop: all she knew was her heart was still pounding and she felt like she’d run out of energy a long time ago. They converged at a wide point where a branch met an immense tree trunk and Libek rested back against it, sighing. She looked pale and her eyes were dark with exhaustion, drained doubly by the use of her magic. Dunn offered her water and meat jerky from his pack, and as he did Fraki realised they had no other supplies, everything else abandoned in that cave.

“A few minutes, that’s all,” Menal said, pacing anxiously. “We have to press on.”

“We have to rest,” Coalard said. “Or you’d serve us all up to that monster on a platter.” He turned to Fraki. “Do you know the way from here?”

She stared back unblinking for a second, before looking out across the forest floor, between the trees. All of it huge and the same. There were no giant footprints to follow now, and they’d long since left Rote behind as she tried to awkwardly clamber into the dense tree line.

“Oh for the Saints’ sake,” Menal huffed, “she doesn’t know shit! She brought us out here on a suicide mission! She –”

Coalard swatted him hard across the ear, powerful as a bear, and the young man scuttled back with a hurt look. “No one forced us. And we ain’t in trouble yet. We’ll get Wanesic back, just keep your head.” Then back to Fraki. “Think, girl. Your people must have some idea where the monster lurks?”

“There’s a cavern by the Gluel Falls,” Fraki confirmed, the final step in the warnings every child in Lewvon was given. “Where the river cuts through the north edge of Haval Forest. But . . . I don’t know where we are now.”

Coalard peered towards the sky through the leaves. “North’s easy enough, at any rate. We keep moving until we find water.”

“It could take us days,” Menal said. “Look at the size of this place.”

“It’ll take what it takes,” Coalard told him. “How much time you need, Libek?”

The mage waved a hand. Too drained even to speak. The recognition of her exhaustion silenced Menal. Coalard gathered them closer together, had them sit and checked their provisions: about enough meat and water to last the group one day. But there were monsters enough to hunt out here, he promised – they wouldn’t go hungry.

They settled to rest, less comfortably and less enthusiastically than they had in the cave, and this time fear kept Fraki awake. She heard large animals moving through the undergrowth far below and realised that anything she could hear at this height must’ve been of a huge size. She closed her eyes and tried to force herself not to think, just to sleep, for the short time they might have, but her thoughts raced. She’d felt something, connecting her hands, after the first success with the bread. Well, success wasn’t quite the right word for making it explode rather than shrink, but it was something. Idly lying there, she linked her fingers again and concentrated. There was warmth between them. Energy, unseen but somehow present in her consciousness.

She’d watched how Libek worked, face blank and mind, no doubt, clear. Fraki had never felt it before, never had an example, but now she recognised the sense of magic at work. A little more practice, she was sure, and she could do it too. She’d use this rest time to help herself focus.

But Fraki was abruptly woken by the branch shaking under her, belatedly recognising the sound of a giantess’s thunderous footsteps. As she sat upright, surprised she’d fallen asleep, a hand clasped over her mouth, and she looked wide-eyed at Coalard as he crouched by her.

“Not a sound,” he whispered.

Behind him, the other three were in tight squats, close to the tree trunk. With their height and the size of this tree, they were hidden well enough from anything moving below. And this time the footsteps were moving back and forth, not directly towards them as they had before.

A giant grumble rose through the leaves, words unclear but the voice familiar. Rote was trudging around, searching, apparently unaware of their position. If it was true she could smell them before, perhaps now they were too high up, their scent carried off on the wind.

Coalard shifted to the edge of the branch to watch and Fraki followed. There was the thundress, three trees away, scanning the branches as she squeezed through the gaps. She looked frustrated, losing her patience, and huffed as she circled another tree. She twisted their way and Fraki flinched back, but kept watching. Rote’s gaze wasn’t quite high enough to see them. And there was Wanesic, dangling bound in rope against her thigh. He looked limp, defeated, but alive.

Rote scanned side to side, then snarled loudly and slammed a hand into a tree. The blow was hard enough to rattle their own branch, and the sound echoed up through the forest, sending birds into flight. Big birds, Fraki realised, looking up as enormous dark shapes burst through the canopy towards the sky. By the time she drew her attention back to Rote, the giantess was marching away, giving up.

“There’s our route,” Coalard pointed, a fresh set of footprints cratering the forest floor. They all watched the enormous woman’s back as she shoved off through the forest. “Libek, are you rea –”

A fearsome squawk pierced through the trees, as loud as it was terrible, and Fraki winced sharply enough to almost step off the branch. She snapped her gaze up to a colossal shadow sweeping overhead, flitting between the leaves. It screeched again, announcing its assault.

“Greatbird!” Dunn shouted, drawing his huge sword. As he readied it in a two-handed stance, the others ran behind him.

Standing unsteadily, still not fully recovered, Libek said, “We need to get lower. You first.”

Fraki saw the mage was looking at her, and wanted to protest, but the creature burst through the leaves and chaos followed. She scrambled back into the tree, Libek at her side, as a bird as large as a house landed on the branch, flapping colossal wings whose wind gusts thrust them back. It stretched its neck forward, a monster partly like an enormous crow, but with unfeathered patches and slender, snatching arms reaching from its torso. Its head, bare and almost humanoid but with a big beak, snapped towards them and screeched. Dunn took a swipe with the sword to fend it off.

“Go!” Libek commanded, shoving Fraki. She shrieked as she fell off the branch, in a deadly free-fall, but only dropped a few metres before the mage buoyed her back up. From there, she shot through the air, a short distance across to the branch of the next nearest tree – not much lower but at least a good leap away from the bird. Fraki tripped as she was released and turned to see the greatbird snap at Dunn. It caught his sword in a beak twice his size and wrenched it upwards, lifting him off his feet – he let go just in time and rolled across the branch as the bird flicked the blade away. It padded its claws quickly closer, but flinched as a tiny-looking arrow struck its neck. Menal, crouched further back, hurrying to reload his bow as Libek pushed Coalard to one side. He jumped and the mage focused on carrying him safely down.

“Look out!” Fraki yelled as the greatbird surged forwards. Wings spread and beak open, it bounced over the branch with such force that all the mercenaries were thrown off, Coalard and Menal jumping clear but Libek and Dunn caught in its gust. The group scattered into the air and fell either side of the branch as the bird snapped its beak after them, just missing Dunn.

Fraki rushed to the edge of her branch and tensed at the drop, an inch from falling. She watched all four mercenaries tumbling down; Coalard hit a branch and spun off, Dunn smacked into a giant leaf. About halfway to the ground, Libek managed to right herself and slowed to hover in the air, arms spread, and a second later Coalard slowed, then Dunn and finally Menal as he plummeted past. They continued dropping, as Libek audibly strained, arms shaking. She carried them down to the forest floor, so far down they seemed tiny to Fraki, then the mage collapsed.

The men picked themselves up unsteadily, patting themselves for fresh weapons. Their instincts were faster than Fraki’s, who hadn’t noticed the bird swooping down after them. She cringed as the black beast smashed through the lower branches and glided low to the ground, claws up and nasty arms out. Coalard dived out of the way as it passed, just missing being snatched. As he rolled through the mud, the bird turned and came back, screeching angrily. He had barely got upright when one of the creature’s clawed hands caught him around the waist and lifted him off the ground. It carried him with it to a chaotic, noisy landing, feet tearing through leaves, to bring it looming horribly over Libek.

The mage twisted on the ground, trying to recover enough energy to stand, and had just turned to it when the bird pecked down. Fraki caught herself from screaming as Libek was plucked up by the monster’s beak and the bird threw its head back. The robed mage kicked her legs as the beak opened and she slid inside. In one fast, vicious motion it gulped her down whole, then flitted its head to search for the others. Coalard punched at the claws that held him, shouting madly.

There was a heavy thud, and another, in quick succession, and Fraki realised it had been building up, not just the thumping of her frightened heart, but an even bigger creature approaching. A giant shape moved through the trees and the bird squawked in anger, lifting with a big flap of its wings. Not fast enough, it was too big and slow to rise – Rote burst through the trees with her hands outstretched and snatched the animal from the sky, one hand catching its chest and the other its throat. It flapped and struggled for only a brief moment before the giantess wrenched its neck to one side, then the monster went immediately still.

Rote lifted the limp body and Coalard slipped as its grip slacked. He tried to push out and jump, but the giantess grabbed him before he could. Closing her fist on his chest, she tossed the bird aside to crack against a tree and fall to the ground, then she scanned the forest floor.

A fast movement skittered around a tree trunk, Menal making a dash. Roke took two strides to catch up and reached around the tree. She came back up with the young man kicking from her hand, which made her chuckle. Then she turned the other way. Dunn was running, much slower, in the other direction. Rote casually poked out her bare foot; it only took the touch of one huge toe to throw him flat on his face. She pressed the toe down to hold him in place as the barbarian struggled to pull himself free.

“Where’s your floating magician?” the giantess asked, looking between her captives. They kept struggling with hostile sounds, so she made up her own mind. “Gone. Or you wouldn’t be here. Poor little things, don’t you know the Nidings is dangerous?”

She passed Menal across to her other hand, slipping one of his legs under the fingers grasping Coalard, so he fell to hang upside down, then she lifted her foot off Dunn and crouched. As he tried to run again, she grabbed him.

“Had a busy morning, didn’t we?” Rote said as she rose and trod back through the trees. “Let’s get back to my place and fix lunch.”

Fraki watched in horror as the giantess left with her full team struggling uselessly in her grip. She was a hundred feet high with no way down, alone now in a land of man-eating monsters.

***And on that note, we'll have a little break for this one next week, it being Christmas! We'll return to the Nidings first thing in 2024!***