Aww. . .another glorious day in the kingdom. . . At least it would be if I wasnt just about out of my "magic elixir". You could say I had a small drinking problem . . And I would tell you to shut up!



Sorry! That's just a little joke I like to tell. . . . But seriously. . . It was an ongoing battle between the bottom of the bottle and the distance to the next village. It was a race easily won when I have Marcel with me. Unfortunately I lent him to my brother about a month ago and haven't heard from either of them since. . .

Marcel is a horse by the way. . . I don't say "My horse" because he acts of his own accord most of the time. . . Stubborn bastard. But, none the less. . . I would assess that he is the best friend I have in this vast, vast shithole of a kingdom.

I continued to trudge on towards the next village. Sure, traveling took longer when you avoid the main roads, but that is the price you pay when you are someone like me. . .

Who am I?

The name is Antony. . . Antony Lockwood. Ant for short, though I preferred to be called stranger. It was safer for a man of my race these days.

That race? . . . . Slayer. Short for "giant slayer". If I'm being honest, it always sounded more like a profession than a race, but our true, God given name had been lost to time. Now. . Only slayer. . . And only whispered in the darkest corners at the latest hours.

It didn't used to be that way though. Slayers didn't used to be either direct body guards to the king and the capital, or fugitives from the crown. . . We were heroes. Celebrated throughout the human realm for keeping towns and villages safe. Those were better times.

I suppose you need a brief history lesson to know what I'm talking about, huh?

Alright. . . So in the beginning of time, the gods created 2 races. . Humans and giants. Decidedly similar in every way except for size and strength. Time passed and things were ok, the humans ruled the lands inside the mountain range, and the giants, the expanse beyond.

As you would expect, eventually the giants began to question why they had to deal with the harsher weather and terrain while the humans got to enjoy fertile ground and less severe weather patterns. It wasn't long before they realized how easy it was to ravage a race that barely crests your ankle and soon the world began to swing out of balance as the giants started their invasion.

Humans, given no choice but to flee, were driven out of the valley, past the mountains and into the land we now know as the kingdom. All well and good. . . Except the giants weren't satisfied.

Still they fought the humans. Only this time it wasn't out of necessity. The land the giants had stolen was the most fertile on earth. This time it was out of boredom and sport. Lone giants roaming the human country side for the sake of terrorizing anyone smaller than themselves.

Enter the giant slayers.

As prayer upon prayer about the giant menace reached the gods, they knew they couldn't just stand by and let one half of their creation get wiped out. And so they created a 3rd and final race.

Giant slayers.

Born with the size of man, but with the strength, durability and lifespan of the giants, we were forged as weapons to equalize the world and usher in an era of peace between the races. Every village was under the protection of a slayer, and soon we were loved by the people and feared by the giants.

Long story short, things were good for a time and now they aren't. Under the rule of a new king, all the slayers were forced to go to the capital, leaving the villages unprotected. Any slayer who refused was labeled a traitor to the crown, and had a bounty placed on his or her head.



Finally I saw the next village in the distance. Unexpectedly, it wasn't bustling with villagers like these places normally were. I emerged from the woods, and kept my distance, surveying the area. . . . Not a soul to be seen.

Odd.

Feeling the coast was clear, I walked into the open and into the village. Looking around, it didn't seem like it was deserted, but there was no sign of life anywhere. Although it was unlikely, in the back of my mind I had to entertain the possibility that this was a trap set by a bandit town.


That was. . . . Until I walked to the main entrance of village. What I saw made my stomach drop. It was something I had only seen a number of times before, and every time it had been a message to somebody.

A stone burial.

Giant lore.

A stone burial was one of the cruelest deaths a giant could deal. Basically. . . .a deep hole was dug, either by the giant or in the cruelest cases, the victims. Next, the humans were forced into it. Finally the dirt was placed back in on the live victims and. . .

And the giant proceeds to trample and pack the dirt into place layer by layer. I don't need to tell you what happens to the unfortunate humans, but by the time the giant is done, the ground is packed so hard under the weight, that it becomes like stone.

The result is A: the bodies are a total loss, as even the remains are unrecoverable as they are embedded in the stone, and B: the giants believe that if the ground is packed in hard enough, even the soul can't penetrate the stone and is forever trapped in the grave. . .unable to ascend to the afterlife.


From the look of it, the victims had to dig the grave, as various hand tools littered the ground amongst the hundreds of giant footprints. In the center of the path, the tell tale grey patch of stone, unmissable to anyone traveling through. The footprints then doubled back the way they had came, West up through the forest towards the mountains.


Hundreds of years ago, as a slayer I would have tracked the giant down and ended his life, but today, that wasn't the plan. I didn't stay to mourn, and instead turned and went back into the village. If all the inhabitants of the villagers were gone, they wouldn't mind me gathering my share of traveling provisions.

Lane by lane, I combed the village, picking and choosing supplies and taking whatever money I could find. I had learned long ago that it wasn't worth dwelling on the death. I had been around long enough to see many human lifetimes and knew that their time was short.

As I searched, the second to last lane threw me a curve ball. The soft ground was pounded with giant prints, all centralized around a small stone hut. In front of the hut door, full water barrels had been stacked up against it, sealing it from the outside.

Each barrel weighed at least 500 pounds, and they were placed 2 deep and four high. I wasn't sure what the giant was trying to keep locked inside, but I wasn't sure I even care. I was just about to turn and leave, when I heard a noise come from the hut.

It sounded like crying.

I knew I should just walk away, but against my better judgemen, I made sure I wasn't being observed, before I easily lifted the barrels out of the way. With the swinging door unobstructed, I pulled it open and stepped back.

A moment later, the head of a dirty faced teenaged boy appeared from the darkness. With the mystery solved, I turned to leave but inevitably I was roped back in.

"Hey! Mister! Did you come to rescue us?!" He called after me, stepping fully from the hut now.

"No. I'm just passing through, kid." I said, holding my hand up in a goodbye gesture as I walked.

"Well did you see anyone else here? All of our parents and the other adults were forced to go to the front gate and we were trapped in there!" The boy informed me and as he did, other dirt covered children began to emerge from behind him. A total of 17 in total.

I took a deep breath, stopped and turned around. I knew I had to tell him. Inform him that likely every adult in the whole town was dead and gone now. I had done that type of thing many times, but it never got any easier

"Uhhh, come here kid. . ." I said, solemnly.

He walked to me cautiously, still looking around for any signs of life.

"The truth is. . . . Everyone who lived here. . . Is gone. . . Dead." I told him, not sugar coating it at all.

He looked like he had mentally prepared for that possibility already and put on a brave face, for what it was worth.

"So. . . She DID kill them then. . . " he said, his head hanging.

As curious as his "SHE" was. . . I had no plans on getting involved with these kids and their plight, so I didn't ask him to elaborate.

"Yeah. . . " was the only reply I gave him.

"I guess. . . I'm in charge now. " he said, lifting his head to look me in the eye.

"I don't know where we will go, but we can't stay here. I don't know if that giantess will come back, but we can't afford to be here if she does. I know I have no right to ask. . . But can you help me get us to the next village to the south?"

And there it was! The inevitable arduous task that would no doubt take me away from my own goals and ambitions. In the prominent days of the slayers, it was an everyday occurrence but now. . .it only seemed to happen when I had places to be.

If the situation was any different, I would have politely declined, but I really didn't want to return to the gods when my time was up, and have to explain why I turned my back on a bunch of kids.

"Ok. Get all of you gathered up. . . And load up those 2 wagons over there. . . We leave in a half hour." I dictated, enthusiasm devoid of my voice.

"Mister. . . It looks like all the horses are gone. . . . Those wagons won't be of much use to us. . ."

"I'll. . . Handle it." I sighed, and walked away.

If I was going to deal with this situation, I was going to need more liquid motivation.


45 minutes later, I was heading back to the exact town I had just left, this time with a wagon train in tow. At this point, it was obvious to all involved that I was not just another human as I drunkenly swaggered down the path pulling not one, but two fully loaded ox carts like they were nothing.

Luckily, we didn't pass any other travelers, which seemed odd but worked to our advantage. We were able to make good time, but only made it about halfway before night fell. We weren't in the best part of the kingdom to be traveling at night, so I decided to pull off and set up camp.


"Alright kid, Why don't you and the other older kids get a campfire going. I'll keep a lookout for the night." I instructed staring off into the darkness and taking a sip of liquor.

"My name is Lucas. . . " He said, letting it hang like he was expecting me to tel him my own name.

"Nice to meet you." Was all he got from me.

He seemed unsatisfied but he left and did what I said.


That night there wasn't much happiness around the campfire. Nobody had any illusion that the village was ok, but that was just life in the kingdom. They tried to keep morale up, but I knew eventually the reality would set in. I didn't really want to think about it.

After awhile, everyone was asleep except for Lucas, who only stared into fire, hoping to find answers or peace. I wasn't sure which.

Soon, came the unavoidable conversation.


"So. . . . What did she do to them? He asked, poking the fire with a stick.

I figured he was old enough to hear the truth, so that is what I gave him.

"A stone burial. . . . If you know what that is. . ." I said, quietly.

He nodded, and hung his head.

"Will you go after her?" He asked, a slight amount of hope in his voice.

I only chuckled.

"Do you know what happens when men go chasing giants? They don't come back, kid!" I said, trying to keep my voice down.

"But you're no ordinary man, are you?" He said, pointing a long skinny finger at me. "You're one of them!"

"I'm afraid I don't know what you're talking about." I said, dismissing him.

"You just pulled two ox carts 15 miles with your bare hands! Plus, you're carrying that sword on your back! I. . . . I know you're a giant slayer. " he whispered.

I let out a low laugh.

"The farmer just kept the cart wheels greased, that's all! And as for the sword. . . It's dangerous around these parts, you know that." I lied, taking a swig.

I knew the kid wasn't stupid, but talking openly about giant slayers was unwise in this day and age.

"Whatever you say. . . " he mumbled, before he turned in and went to sleep, leaving me alone with my thoughts in the night.


The next day I successfully delivered them to the next village, and we parted ways. It was more than a minor inconvenience, but at least I knew I didn't want to go in that particular direction again.

I wasn't actively avoiding giants. . . .but myself and my brother had barely survived the last encounter.

Half the day was shot by the time I finished that quest, but I set out anyway, fully restocked on supplies. That being said, by the time I finally got to the next village, it was pouring rain, and I was more than a little drunk. I stumbled through the streets until I finally found the village's inn.

The inn keeper was an old man and his wife. I took a liking to him immediately, and we drank deep into the night, before I retreated to my room for the night.


I took the sword off my back, placing it beside my bed before I placed another couple logs in the fireplace and layed down for a good night's rest.

That didn't happen.



Sometime in the next few hours, I was jolted awake by the ringing of the town's warning bell. Warning bells were used to signal attacks from either other humans or giants. This was the latter.

In my drunken stupor, I could feel the tremors of something big moving through town and the accompanying screams of humans. I rolled out of my bed, and stumbled to the door of my room. From there I ran as quickly as I could down the short hallway as bits of the walls chipped and crumbled from the seismic activity.

In the pitch black of the night, the onslaught of torrential rain and confusion in the street, I rushed out of the inn to face whatever monster was terrorizing the people. I looked left, then right but I couldn't get an exact fix on where the noise was coming from as I stumbled to stay upright and keep water out of my eyes.


Unfortunately, I didn't have to wait for more than a second before the monster found me. .

From behind, I was hit with the force of 1000 black Smith's hammers. It knocked me to the ground, and pressed me down into the mud. I could do nothing as I sunk deeper and deeper before hitting semi-solid ground. The problem with that was that I was now being crushed.

It wasn't my first time being stepped on by a giant, as it came with the territory but that doesn't mean I liked it. Although, this time I didn't have to endure it for long as I blacked out at the peak of the weight. I only hoped the mud didn't smother me, or the rain water drown me before I could come to.