The fateful night started out like any other. Derek and his wife Agnes were sitting in front of their fireplace, sharing stories and letting the storm pass. The occasional crack of thunder echoing from the night sky above, lightning casting hazy shapes into their dripping windows. In the small village they were the only ones awake at these late hours. Them and the noisy herd of sheep that the local farmer kept sheltered close by. 

“Why does Peter insist on keeping the sheep so close to the village? They’re so loud!” Derek joked with a hint of annoyance in his tone. 

“Well it’s better than having to go on a small journey just to get to your workplace. Can you imagine if our shop was outside the village?” 

“That’s true, who would even go shopping there anyways? I would be a travelling merchant.” Derek agreed. “I’m fine with you right here, with me.” Agnes smiled and gave him a kiss. “I’m not happier anywhere else.” Before either of them could say anything else the animals outside began to panic, accompanied by the sound of a loud crash. Derek ran over to the window to see the roof to the animals pens torn off, with the animals nowhere to be seen. 

“Is it a Wyvern?” Agnes asked him, and Derek denied. “Doubtful, they don’t usually fly in this weather.” 

“Then what do you think it is then?” She asked. “I don’t know, just stay inside.” Derek grabbed a sword mounted on his wall and cautiously left to investigate. There was not a single trace of the animals, just proof that they were there in the form of tracks littering the inside of the muddy pen. The fence was broken so he looked into the forest ahead to see if there was any trace of the missing livestock. 

It was extremely dark and the rain obscured the forest even more but he could see something moving in the trees, he wouldn’t have noticed if he wasn’t looking. He walked forward expecting to see perhaps a pig. That was when lightning lit up the sky and gave a brief flash of light into the forest. For a short second he could see a massive shape emerging from the trees, massive and feminine, hunched over with a sheep in its mouth. 

Every human in Pastia would know what was happening here and so did he. He was standing a mere 50 ft away from a giant. Out of all the dangerous creatures that existed within this place, none were as feared as the giants, they are human in almost every possible away except the fact that they range from 100 to 300 feet tall and eat almost anything that moves, having a special taste for humans like Derek in particular.  

His blood ran cold and the sense of security the sword gave him now vanished, it was now only in his hand to give him false hope, it was a thin piece of useless metal in the face of the greatest threat any human has ever known. He hadn’t been seen yet but he still felt like he was being hunted. He slowly and quietly moved away from the forest and walked home. The wind didn’t help at all with hearing where the giantess might be and he could only guess she was still in the tree line, lightning flashed the forest once more but the she was gone, just an empty clearing devoid of both the animals and the giantess herself. 

He let out a sigh and laughed to himself in relief, the wind however, felt different behind his back. Instead of the usual gusts of cold wind this wind felt warm and it wasn’t natural, it felt rhythmic, back and forth...

...in and out. 

He couldn’t move, he was petrified. He could hear something heavy creaking against a nearby house and the giantess holding back laughter, she was toying with her prey, he had no escape and they both knew it. With a quick moment of courage he spun around to see the massive green eyes staring into him and a wide smile bearing pearl white teeth, in any other context he would’ve been in awe at this woman’s beauty but in this context he didn’t care what she looked like, he was going to die.

He turned around and ran as fast as he could but he felt his legs being pulled and he fell flat onto the ground below, he was lifted off the ground and up to the giantesses face. He was now sobbing and his tears got lost in the rain pouring down his face. “Down the hatch little man!” The giantess said followed by a cruel laugh that vibrated through his ribcage. “No please! I have a wife! Dont do thi-“ he cut himself off with a scream as the giantess carelessly threw Derek into her slimy mouth and swallowed him whole. 

Agnes watched through the window of their house and had to cover her mouth to stop from letting out a scream. Tears flowed freely from her red face both from utter terror and the pain of her loss. The giantess looked into the window and Agnes quickly hid under a table out of view from the window. Heavy thuds rapidly approached the house and a booming laugh shook the glass and only muffled whimpers came from Agnes now. “Ready or not here I come!” The giantess cooed playfully, this was all a game to her. A sick twisted game that already left an innocent woman a widow and soon to join her husband as the giantess did horribly at hiding the fact that she knew exactly where Agnes was. She prepared for a giant hand to shatter the glass and carry her away to be devoured but she could hear yells coming from outside. The loud stomps of a giant who didn’t care about hiding or about stealth. 

The cruel giantess that ate her husband was now screaming in pain and was silenced with a loud slam. Agnes left the house, looking at every corner for the giantess but stumbled across the body of the titaness, her head having been bashed in with a Boulder. “These people aren’t food, fucking scum.” An unfamiliar voice boomed dropping a bloody Boulder onto the ground. This new giantess looked at Agnes who then cautiously stepped back about to run. “It’s ok. I’m not going to hurt you.” She reassured. “Do you have a sword?” Agnes nodded tearfully and picked up Dereks sword from the ground. Shakily handing it to the giantess who she had no reason not to trust at the moment. “Thank you, you might want to look away, this will be a bit gross.” 

The giantess held the relatively tiny blade over the corpses stomach, picking away at it with the sword until it’s contents spilled out onto the ground. Derek laid covered in acid and barely conscious on the ground and Agnes rushed over to him, cradling his head in her arms. “We need to get you to a healer quick!” She yelled worriedly carrying him to a nearby house. When she came out the storm had cleared, the dead giant was gone and their saviour disposed of the bloody Boulder. Now that the moon was shining down Agnes could finally get a better look at her. 

She seemed to be around 200 feet tall and she was wearing a thick leather tunic, no doubt dragon hide. Her eyes were brown and so was her hair, which was tied up in a pony tail.  “Y-you saved me. You saved my husbands life. Why?” Agnes asked up at the mysterious giantess. “Well you needed help didn’t you?” This answer baffled Agnes. This is not what she knew giants to be. “What’s your name?” Agnes asked as the giantess began to turn around to leave. “Excuse me?” She asked not expecting Agnes to want to know her name. “You saved my life I at least want to know who to thank.” Agnes replied. “My name...well...I can’t tell anyone my name. Call me Artemis.” 

"Another village saved, another monster slain." Artemis whispered to herself as she used the sword to carve a tally mark into her breastplate, over her heart, alongside 15 others, now 16

It didn’t take long for word to spread. Every tavern in Pastia was chattering about this unusual hunter within the following week. Some thought she had a hidden agenda of some kind and that she was just like the others. Most however knew that a powerful giantess like herself would have no need to go to such lengths to kill or subjugate humans, which meant that if she really was like the others she had some other motive. Either way, the giants who have been terrorizing and killing without any threat to their power finally had something to fear, because no matter how much magic, strategy or powerful weapons humans use, 

Nothing kills a giant faster than another giant.