Chapter: 14 Swords

December 1, 2023 3:36 PM

Aviel sighed to herself as she and Sanders moved through the leaf-less forest. Winter had fully gripped the area leaving only the evergreens to give any sort of green to the forest. Most of the animals were now hibernating through the cold winter leaving the only their crunching footsteps through the dead leafs and the whine of the wind through the trees for sounds.

"Don't know why they send us out during these winter months. The Resistance is too busy trying not to freeze and starve to do anything and the animals are the same way. Never anything out here, besides dead leafs and frozen trees," Aviel grumbled to herself as she kicked some of the dead foliage away from her feet.

"Yeah...too damn cold to do any fighting. The only good thing is we don't have to work to stay frosty," Sanders said, smiling to himself about his pun. Aviel groaned at the horrid pun and took a swipe at him, but he managed to dodge out of the way. She didn't bother going after him, she was too damn cold for that.

It was a week since Thanksgivings and the weather had only turned even colder. Both Sanders and Aviel were covered head to toe in some rather heavy winter gear to fend off the cold. Despite Atlanta being far to the South, this winter had been brutally cold. So cold it was supposed to snow sometime tonight, a rare thing this far South. Unfortunately, the snow wasn't here today and they were not able to get out of the last patrol. Which lead to them trudging through the dead forest looking for nothing in particular.

Isabella, who had been making a habit of going on patrols without them, had brought them out to the middle of fucking nowhere for this last patrol. Apparently, the higher ups wanted to do one last search around the outskirts of the city before the snow froze them in. Probably just to appease the growing majority of people who wanted to take the fight to the Resistance. Isabella hadn't been happy about it and Aviel, for once in a long while, agreed with her. Aviel would have liked nothing more than to fight the Resistance to be sure. But she also understood that the chances of them finding any Resistance at this time of year was basically zero.

No, all they would find out here was old bare trees and a cold. The Resistance was always inactive during the winter months, most likely being too busy just trying to survive out here. Command had to know that too which only made Aviel all the more annoyed. This was nothing more than busy work and she hated busy work. Dammit she could be home sipping some hot coco right now while watching TV, snug in her covers...

"How much further till we reach our search point?" Aviel asked, an edge of irritation in her voice. Sanders looked at his wrist unit and tapped a few times at its touch screen.

"Should be right over this ridge a fe-" he stopped as the ground barely trembled and a distant rumble came over the wind. He looked back down at his wrist screen as the rumble came again, this time slightly louder and stronger.

"That's not Isabella," Sanders said as the rumbling continued to grow louder and stronger. Both of them had felt giantess' footsteps enough to know it from an earthquake or explosion. Whoever it was was still a good distance away, but they couldn't see them thanks to the trees and rolling hills.

"Come on," Aviel said as she headed up the ridge to get a better look. Sanders followed her as she headed for the top of the ridge. They both slipped and slid on the loose earth and leaves as they tried to climb the steeper than it looked ridge. Finally, they managed to pull themselves up on top of the ridge and get a more clear look around.

The ridge rose high above the ground, probably a good 6-7 scale stories off the ground. It gave them a good view of the area and rose above most of the hills nearby. Off in the distance, four giantesses were heading nearly straight for them. All of them were in full combat gear: over-sized combat boots, leg flak armor going up to their knees, helmets with HUD visors, and even armored flak gloves. All of them had the crossed sword logo of the Swords on the shoulder of their unarmored shirts. Aviel didn't recognized most of them, but one made a chill run down her spine. Lutice was leading the group.

Sanders noticed her too and looked conflicted about what to do. Something about her always seemed to make him uncomfortable and confused. They had only half glimpsed Lutice a few more times since that day with Manchent, but Lutice had made it obvious she remembered her time in the brig. Those times they had Isabella with them to shield them from her, at least. This time, though, Isabella wasn't here and Aviel wouldn't put it past the bitch to use them to get payback on Isabella. How someone so childish had gotten into the Society was beyond Aviel...

Sanders quickly put away his rifle, hiding it in his large jacket, before moved to head back down the ridge. Aviel was about to follow him when Lutice turned to look almost directly at her. Surely it was just a freaky coincidence, there was no way Lutice could see her from that far awa-. Aviel's chill came back in full force as she remembered they both had their locator beacons on. She WAS looking right at them and would know exactly who she was looking at thanks to the damn beacon and Lutice's HUD visor.

Lutice got a smile that seemed anything but friendly as she pointed them out to the other three. Aviel could hear them talking even from this distance, but couldn't make out what they were saying. She thought of running, but knew it would be pointless now. Even if they did turn their locators off, the four giantesses might scour the area for them and find them or accidentally step on them. Worse, that would have given Lutice an excuse for why it happened. No, there was only two ways she saw out of this. And only one she could actually affect...

"Sanders, don't bother," Aviel said as she went to tapping on her wrist unit. Sanders stopped and turned to see the four Swords all coming straight at them AND looking at them now. He took a large gulp as he moved back over to stand next to Aviel. The rumbling had nearly tripled in intensity and Aviel had to concentrate to even use her wrist unit she was shaking so bad. The noise didn't help either as the soft rumbles were now more like distant explosions. Aviel finished her hail mary plan, finally, and hoped that Isabella or someone was in range.

The four giantesses moved up the surround the ridge. Most of them looked down at them with a smirk while Lutice placed her hands on her hips as she looked down at them. Despite the ridge being rather high up, it barely reached the giantesses' shins. Now that they had moved closer, Aviel could see that the Sword members had written things on their boots. Taunts like: "Tiny crusher", "Death from Above", "Foot of an Angry Goddess", "Beg and it will be quick", and other such slogans were all over their boots, likely to demoralize the Resistance fighting them. Some of them even had little marks in the shape of people as a kill count.

Aviel had to fight to keep her nervousness from showing, but Sanders was not doing quite so well. He was looking up at the giantesses staring down at their tiny forms with a look of barely contained terror and seemed to only be more nervous seeing their boots. His discomfort only increased as Lutice bent down at the waist. Her massive torso blocked out the sky as she smiled down at them in a way that made Aviel anything but comfortable. It was having the same effect on Sanders who was actually staring at Lutice's face rather than her chest.

"Well, if it isn't Isabella's tinies. What are you two doing out here all alone? Don't you know its dangerous out here? So many things that could hurt you," she said her booming voice not needing to use the radio. Her disturbing smile spread to the other three causing Aviel to curse inwardly. Seemed the three of them were more loyal to Lutice than the Society...damn bitches. Sanders managed a half-hearted smile of his own as he looked for somewhere to back up to, but found nowhere to go. Aviel held her ground and keep her face neutral, despite her anger at them abusing their position on fellow Society members.

 "We are on patrol looking for any threats before the snow sets in. If you don't mind, we would like to get back to it," Aviel said into her radio. Lutice's smile faded a bit at Aviel's words. Her smile almost vanished before Sanders jumped in.

"I-If that is alright with you, ma'am. Or if you need something we would be happy to help!" he stammered out. He gave a crisp salute as Aviel turned a glare at him. His sucking up made her sick even if her common sense was screaming at her that he might have just saved both of them. After all, she sure as hell wasn't going to swallow her pride for Lutice of all people, but dammit if they didn't need to.

Lutice's eyes turned to the placating Sanders and her smile slowly came back. She squatted down causing her combat pants to stretch over her vagina and create a giant camel toe nearly right above them. It was too good for Sanders to resist staring until Aviel elbowed him. Lutice didn't seem to mind him staring though, in fact her smile only seemed to get bigger.

"Well, well, it seems the newer scout has more sense than the older one. He knows how to show proper respect to rank and not to piss someone off who could squash him with a finger," Lutice said as she turned a bit of an annoyed look at Aviel. Aviel didn't back down in the slightest and only returned the glare. Lutice was not going to intimidate her.

"What's your name, tiny scout?" Lutice asked as she turned back to Sanders.

"Sanders Cutter, ma'am!" Sanders answered without letting any nervousness get through. Aviel was still disgusted with him, but was impressed he was keeping his fear somewhat hidden. And he was keeping Lutice talking rather than taking out her anger at Isabella on them.

"Sanders Cutter?" Lutice said before getting a pondering look, "Sanders...Sanders...that sounds familiar for some reason. And you look familiar too now that I think about it." Lutice bent down a bit lower as she squinted her eyes at Sanders.

"It...it's probably from three years ago when you saved me from a feral catgirl. I was still part of SWAT back then," Sanders said looking a bit unsure if he should have mentioned that. Aviel looked at him with shock at the revelation that Lutice had been the giantess who had saved him. She had heard the story before, but he had never said the giantess' name before saying the giantess as asked him not to share her name. But...but he had said the giantess had been the kindest person he had ever meet and had been an inspiration to him to join the Society. That sure as hell did not sound like the Lutice that was towering over them.

"Saved you from a feral," Lutice said before she paused as she tried to remember back. Aviel was sure she was not going to remember. She could not imagine Lutice rescuing anyone. It had to be a different Lutice or...or something.

"OH I do remember doing that a few years ago. Yes, I heard that a SWAT team had run into a feral so I came to help and only one of them managed to survive.  So you're that Sanders," Lutice said getting what almost looked like a genuine smile on her face. Aviel was dumbfounded and really had no idea how to react to this. Sanders, though, returned the smile and seemed to relax a great deal.

"I'm glad you remembered me, Lutice. If you hadn't shown up when you did I... I wouldn't be here now. And its because of what you told me that I was able to move on from it and keep going on. Thank you, Lutice. Really, thank you," Sanders said looking like he was on the verge of tears. Aviel looked up to Lutice and couldn't believe what she was seeing. Lutice actually looked touched by his words. She opened her mouth to say something before stopping and bending down a bit lower to get closer to Sanders.

"You...you really mean that? You think what I said helped you that much?" she asked looked conflicted about something. For some reason, Aviel was not feeling any more comfortable. Sanders, though, didn't seem to notice.

"Of course I do! You saved my life, Lutice. Twice in a way. I..I probably would have just given up on living without you talking to me and being so...supportive with me," he looked down as his face turned a bit red at having said that. Lutice stared at him with the same conflicted and seemingly unsure look that she had. Her hand began to move out as if to gently pick up Sanders when one of the Swords interrupted.

"Aww, isn't that cute, Lutice. He is so grateful to you and even got embarrassed admitting it. Hehe, maybe you should keep him. I think he would make a good little plaything," the Sword with black-hair suggested. The other two giggled too as Lutice's conflicted look seemed to fade away.

"Lutice did save his life, only right he repays her," another Sword, with blue-hair, suggested. Aviel had a very bad feeling about where this was going, but figured this was some kind of game. Surely they didn't meant that...right? Sanders seemed to have the same thoughts as blushing and backed up a bit.

"You'll have to take up me leaving the Shields with Matriarch Cathrine, I can't really just leave like that. But I'd be happy to help Lutice out with something. Like hunting down some Resistance or finding something she lost or-"

"Or being my slave for life?" Lutice interrupting getting a smile that was anything but warm and welcoming. Sanders' face suddenly lost color as he stumbled back even further. Aviel felt a wave panic hit her as she realized they were not joking. Sweet Jesus they were serious... She tried to think of something to do, but here mind came up blank. What COULD she do against four giantesses?

"T-That's a good joke, Lutice. Kinda had me going for a second. Y-You can't really mean that," Sanders said not sounding sure it was a joke himself. Lutice's smile only widened at his nervousness along with the other Sword giantesses. Realization of what Aviel already knew hit Sanders like a brick wall. They were not joking and there wasn't a damn thing either of them could do to stop them. He shook his head in disbelief as Lutice smile got just a bit more unsettling.

"I don't joke when it comes to repaying debts. Now come here," Lutice said before reaching her building sized hand out to grab Sanders.

"Sanders!" Aviel yelled as she tried to get to Sanders first, but couldn't out pace the massive hand. Sanders reached out to Aviel as Lutice's fingers smashed into the ground around him. Rather than try to pick him up carefully, Lutice just picked up him and the ground around him, her fingers acting like giant backhoes. Aviel watched in horror as Lutice picked up Sanders and the ground he had been standing on, leaving a massive hole where he had been.

Aviel could do nothing but watch as Lutice brought the ball of dirt up to her face. She turned her hand over and blew away some of the dirt off her hand. Aviel was terrifying she would see Sanders flying off Lutice's hand any second along with the dirt, but Lutice seemed to be taking care not to blow him off. Finally, Aviel could hear Sanders coughing over his radio, but couldn't see what was happening from way down on the ground.

"Aww, you got him all dirty, Lutice. He's not going to be a very good slave covered in dirt," the last Sword, this one with brown-hair, said with a mischievous grin.

"Hmm, you're right, Samantha. I guess I will have to give him a bath first," Lutice said with the same smile. She stood back up causing Sanders to cry out in panic at the sudden lurch upwards. She looked around halfheartedly and placed her free hand on her hip.

"Oh darn, I don't see a river or a lake to bath him in. Guess I will just have to bath him the old fashion way," Lutice said with a big grin on her face. Oh God she wouldn't, Aviel thought to herself, but she already knew the answer.

"W-What do you mean by...wait what the hell are you, oh fuck no! Please no!" Sanders said as Lutice brought her hand closer and closer to her mouth. Aviel felt a ping of panic hit her as she realized Lutice was going to "bathe" Sanders in her mouth and with Sanders phobia of being eaten after that feral catgirl incident... She had to stop them or Sanders would undoubtedly say or do something to get himself killed, and she had no doubt they would kill him. Suddenly, an idea hit her as Sanders panicked pleading began to hit a fevered pitch.

"Guess I shouldn't be surprised you Swords have no problem licking dirt off people. I'll be sure to tell Gabby about how you were nice enough to suck the dirt off a tiny," she said in a mocking tone. Just like she hoped, Lutice's hand stopped as she looked down at Aviel. Her smile lowered into a glare as she looked down at Aviel. Aviel had to fight back the urge to flee from the titanic, angry, visage glaring down at her.

"You really need to shut," Lutice started before raising her foot, "UP!" She brought her foot crashing down a few inches in front of Aviel with a force like that of a bomb. Aviel dived to the ground as the earth behind her exploded outwards from the impact. The massive explosive of sound nearly deafened her as a gigantic gust of dirt and debris went flying over her back as she covered her head with her arms. Bits of splintered trees, loose dirt, and pieces of rocks went flying away from Lutice's building sized boot as the earth rocked from her god-like power. Dammit, Aviel wanted it so bad, but not for this. Not to torture people from their own side!

"AVIEL! AVIEL!!!" Sanders yelled through the radio. Aviel groaned as she slowly picked herself up and turned around. The entire side of the ridge they had been on was completely gone, crushed by Lutice's boot. The trees near to it had been bent away from the impact by the sheer force of the impact and animals could still be seen running in absolute terror from her. All Lutice had to have done was move her foot forward two inches and Aviel would have simply ceased to be.

"I'm...I'm alive Sanders...just barely," Aviel answered as she staggered away from Lutice's foot. She glared up at Lutice in utter hate wishing there was something she could do to pay her back. But her weapons wouldn't even dent Lutice's heavily armored boots and she wouldn't be able to climb them since they had been designed to not be climbable. Dammit she HATED being this powerless.

"What the FUCK is wrong with you?! Do you know how close you were to killing Aviel, you psychotic bitch?!" Sanders yelled at Lutice. Lutice's eyes snapped back to Sanders as her face twisted into a look of sheer hatred. The other three giantesses looked just as angry as they all turned to look at the hand Lutice was holding him in. Aviel had no idea how Sanders was holding up being stared down by four titans, but could probably guess. She had to do something or Lutice was just going to crush him like a bug.

"Psychotic bitch....Psychotic BITCH?!?" Lutice boomed out at her hand. Even from the ground her voice was like a sonic boom of rage.

"How DARE you, you little piece of SHIT! Do you know how insignificant you are?! Do you know that I could kill you in more ways than you can count right now? You say you are grateful to me then call me a BITCH!?! I- no I am not even going to dirty my hand with your guts," Lutice said, her voice shaking with rage. Even from this distance, Aviel had to cover her ears from the noise, but managed to keep looking up to Lutice's hand.

She watched in horror as Lutice twisted her hand and a tiny form came tumbling down from her hand. The bitch was going to kill him just by dropping him. She ran forward toward where Sanders would fall, as if her catching him would help, before stopping. There was nothing she could do for him, not a damn thing. She watched him plummet to the ground, helpless to do anything to help her partner. Helpless to stop him from dieing right before her eyes like so many others...

Suddenly, a blur streaked through the air between the giantesses and straight past where Sanders had been falling. The giantesses looked confused as they turned to see a flying figure hovering just out of their reach. A figure Aviel recognized and caused her to nearly collapse from relief.

"I got you, Sanders. Those bad Swords won't hurt you up here," Flonne said as Sanders heavy breathing came through the radio.

"Holy...shit....that...was too....close," Sanders said through gasps of breath.

Aviel couldn't help but smile at the fairy's timely arrival. Her plan to keep her radio on the general channel had, partially, worked and at least brought Flonne to them. However, Aviel quickly realized she didn't have time to celebrate as she was still on the ground and all too vulnerable. She didn't say a word as she took off toward Lutice's foot hoping to have been forgotten and slip past the giantesses.

"I might not be able get to you two, but I can get to that little bitch!" Lutice yelled out. Aviel felt her blood run cold as she tried to turn off her locator beacon before Lutice saw her. She stopped as she looked up to see Lutice staring right at her.

Aviel took off running as fast as she could, despite knowing it was pointless. She had no place to hide and would never be able to run fast enough to get out from under Lutice's foot. The massive boot took off into the air, bits of earth and plants falling off it at it rose. A dark shadow came over the area as Lutice's foot began to fill the sky. Aviel couldn't contain her panic as she began to run like mad trying to get out from under the foot. Dammit this was not how it was supposed to end, she couldn't let it end like this!

So terrified by her approaching death, she barely even registered the ground suddenly beginning to shake and the growing rumble. Lutice's foot began to descend before it suddenly flew backwards away from Aviel. The noise of a gigantic crash of flesh on flesh came booming down like a blast of thunder causing Aviel to look up. Aviel stopped as Lutice's massive form went flying backward and crashed to the ground with a titanic explosion. Aviel was knocked off her feet from the shaking and another blast of air sent her hair flying backwards.

She scrambled back to her feet and looked to her left to see another massive foot near the ridge, only this one was housed in an unarmored shoe. She looked up to see another giantess had joined the group. A giantess that had a Shield patch on her shoulder. It was the first time in a long while Aviel could honestly say she was happy to see her.

"Get the hell away from my scout, Lutice, or I will break every limb you have and leave you here to be found by the Resistance," Isabella said, her voice barely above a whisper yet shaking with rage. Aviel had never seen Isabella so angry before. Her face looked passive, but Aviel had know Isabella long enough to see the rage lancing out of her eyes. It would have been terrifying, normally, but right now it was the most reassuring thing Aviel had seen all day.

A rumble came from Lutice's direction as the Sword member picked herself up. She spit a large wade of blood onto the ground, dying a small patch of woods red, before she spoke.

"You better have enjoyed that cheap shot. Its the only hit you're going to get. Its four against one and we won't leave anything for those Resistance nats to enjoy," Lutice said with a smug tone. The other three giantesses all began to shift and move into combat positions, causing the ground to shake and rumble even more. Aviel had to brace herself near a tree to keep from losing her footing as the five skyscraper-sized women got ready to fight. And she was right in the middle of it.

Isabella looked down at Aviel and motioned with her eyes to her left. Aviel got the message and took off to Isabella's left as fast as she could. Though there was a giantess directly that way, she trusted Isabella knew what she was doing. Aviel was still mad at her, but Isabella would do everything she could to keep her safe. Holding her back or not, Aviel knew she could count on Isabella when their lives were on the line.

Aviel tore through the damaged brush, hacking away at the fallen limbs and trunks in her way with her sword. She pushed her legs as fast as they could go as she scrambled away as fast as humanly possible. She needed to find an open area so Flonne could land and pick her up. The longer she stayed on the ground, the more likely she was going to get killed. And Isabella could only do so much to keep four giantesses away from her.

"You might outnumber me, but you are all used to fighting normal-sized people. I, however, have made sure to keep my hand-to-hand skills from becoming rusty. Allow me to show YOU," she explained in a calm manner before lunging at the giantess in Aviel's way.

Aviel could barely make out what was happening as she stole glances upwards, but managed to tell Isabella had slammed her elbow into the Sword. The Sword stumbled backwards and Isabella pursued, their titanic footfalls causing Aviel to stumble a bit. Aviel managed to keep her feet and keep running as Isabella's right foot stopped a few scale feet to her left. Aviel looked up and watched as Isabella grabbed the Sword by the collar and pulled her forward and to her left. Aviel wasn't able to keep her feet as the Sword's sudden stumbling forward caused a virtual earthquake and she stumbled to the ground. Aviel picked herself up just as the Sword member cried out a warning and both her and Lutice cursed under their breaths. Aviel already could guess what had happened and braced herself on the ground for the incoming earthquake. She didn't have long to wait.

The earthquake was massive causing Aviel to fall flat onto the ground despite her bracing. The explosion of sound completely deafened Aviel and caused everything to go silent save for a ringing in her ears. Trees nearby were shaken out of their roots and branches plummeted to the ground. Aviel had to roll out of the way of a larger one as it smashing into the ground barely scale inches from her. All this destruction and chaos caused by Isabella just throwing the Sword into Lutice and knocking them both down. If Aviel wasn't so consumed with the need to get away from the battle of virtual Goddesses she would be raging with jealousy.

Isabella's idea had worked well enough. She was now between the Swords and Aviel, making Aviel slightly safer. Aviel got back to her feet and began running through the even more twisting woods now that parts of it had been completely shaken apart. She headed straight where she thought the Sword Isabella had tossed was, hoping to find her foot print and the flattened ground it would have made.

"You fucking bitch, I am going to kill you right here and now!" Lutice bellowed from behind Aviel. Aviel didn't look back as she focused on running. She felt more earthquakes shake the ground as the five titaneses began to fight. Isabella's massive figure was still terrifyingly close. One good hit that knocked her off her feet and she would annihilate Aviel. Aviel had to get out of here.

"Aviel where ar-" Flonne began before Sanders cut her off.

"Flonne, shut up!" he whispered angrily into the radio. Aviel felt a bit of fear creep into her as she worried that Lutice or one of the other Swords might have heard that. If they had, it was only a matter of time before one of them came after her to get at Isabella. Worst of all, Isabella could only hold off so many of them at a time. Aviel's fears were made real all too soon.

"Her little speck is still on the ground. Keep Isabella busy while I get her. We can make her watch as we crush her scout," one of the Swords said. Isabella didn't give them any more time to plan, however, as she rushed toward them. Her running steps were enough to shake Aviel's feet out from under her and she tumbled to the dirt again.

Aviel picked herself up and glanced back, but couldn't see what was happening through the trees and rolling hills. She was somewhat glad as the massive earthquakes still crashing through the area and the deafening sounds was more than Aviel cared to experience. It was like listening to five armies try to tear each other apart, only these armies were all one person. Aviel was sure she did not want to see the brawl and have to truly face how powerless and helpless she was.

Aviel was about to run again when a loud rumble sounded off to her left. She looked over and saw a massive boot having crashed down onto a small hill nearby. She looked up and saw the black-haired Sword looking around the area for Aviel. Aviel quickly deactivated her beacon and then dived under some brush to hide. The giantess scanned the area, but passed over Aviel's hiding spot without showing any sign of seeing her. Rather than moving on, though, she squatted down to get a better look and began to look back to where Aviel was. Shit, had the Sword seen she was in the area thanks to her beacon?

Suddenly, a massive foot kicked the Sword square in the face and sent her crashing to the ground. Aviel had to grab hold of the ground as it shook like a boat in a storm from the impact of her body. She looked up to see Isabella standing over the fallen Sword before whipping around just in time to get smashed in the face by another Sword member. The impact boomed outwards with enough force to cause a gust of wind as Isabella stumbled back, but she recovered quickly. She ducked under the Sword's jab before punching the Sword straight into the stomach. The Sword doubled over and Isabella brought her hands up to smash her to the ground. Before she could, however, Lutice tackled her and they both crashed to the ground causing the entire area to be shaken so bad trees began to uproot.

Aviel was awestruck by the fight. The sheer power and immensity of it was...there were no words for it. Their blows were louder than any explosion and their bodies could cause shock-waves that would make most earthquakes jealous. Her fear and terror were forgotten for a brief moment as she watched Isabella toss off Lutice before jumping back to her feet. The two disappeared into the trees for a moment, but Aviel couldn't help but run forward to a nearby hill to continue watching. She watched in awe as the two giantesses brawled with each other, crushing entire sections of the forest under their feet while blasted the rest with the massive earthquakes they made. Aviel barely even registered that Isabella was beginning to retreat further and further from her while Lutice and two of the Swords advanced on her. All thoughts of how vulnerable she was were gone to be replaced with a need to see this fight's end, and a burning jealously that made her nearly quiver.

"Aviel?! AVIEL WHERE ARE YOU?!?!" Sanders yelled over the radio. Aviel snapped out of her awe-inspired trance as she remembered she was still in danger and so was Isabella. Isabella couldn't fight all out as long as she knew Aviel was still out here. Aviel looked toward the giantess Isabella had kicked to make sure she was down for the count and was glad to see her still sprawled out. She hadn't moved at all and looked to be unconscious judging by her slow breathing. Good, her footprint would be prefect for a place to meet.

Aviel took off straight toward the Sword moving through the even more badly mangled forest. Aviel was having to jump over fallen trees, crushed branches, and under half-fallen limbs as she made her way to her destination. All this devastation...and the giantesses had only fought a few seconds here. She exited the twisted forest and stepped into a newly created "clearing". The clearing was the shape of the Sword's boot and the ground was covered in broken tree bark, crushed leaves, and flattened branches. It was not the best material to be walking on, doubly so with the ground still shaking from the fight, but Aviel made her way to its middle without falling.

"Sanders, I am in the footprint of the giantess Isabella knocked out, hurry!" Aviel said hoping Flonne would be quicker than the still awake Swords.

"Dammit, one of you get back there and stop that fairy!" Lutice booming voice yelled from where the fight still raged. Aviel saw the brown-haired Sword try to break off and come at her, but Isabella managed to trip her and put herself in her way. Unfortunately, her focus on the brown-haired one gave the blue-haired one the opening she needed to zip past her. Aviel watched in horror as the massive woman neared her and looked around in panic for Flonne.

"Flonne, Sanders, where are you?!" she yelled as she started to back away. Some part of her knew it was pointless to run, but she found herself turning away from the colossal woman just the same. She took off running through the flattened brush, but the growing tremors and uneven ground sent her tumbling. She rolled around just in time to see the woman looming over her. She smirked down at Aviel before raising her foot. This time Aviel didn't bother to run, just stared in stunned shock as the mega-sized foot lifted off the ground and settled over her. She watched as it began to race downwards.

Just as it began to completely fill everything, the foot stopped as a loud grunt came out from behind Aviel. Aviel turned to see Flonne standing behind her, straining to hold the Sword's foot up. Her feet were sinking into the ground from the weight, but Flonne was keeping the foot from coming any further down. Her face was twisted into a grimace of effort before she gave Aviel a wary smile. Aviel looked in complete shock at Flonne as Sanders dashed up to her.

"Come on, Aviel, we got to get out of here!" Sanders said as he tried to pull her to her feet. Aviel snapped out of her shock as she realized this was their only chance of surviving. She jumped to her feet and double-timed it along with Sanders back to Flonne.

"What the hell?! You damn fairy, fine I'll crush all of you then!" the Sword said in anger. Flonne's grimace of effort turned into a cry of pain as the building-sized foot began to press down even harder. She sank to one, then two, knees as she tried to hold up the foot. Despite her best efforts, though, she was losing.

"R-Run...please..." Flonne whispered to them as her hands glowed green and a large gust of wind began to blast upward into the foot. Aviel, suddenly, felt very guilty for all the times she had tried to keep Flonne at arm length. She was going to die to protect them and...

Sanders looked about to say no, but Aviel didn't give him a chance as she grabbed him and took off toward the edge of the foot. There was nothing they could do to help Flonne and staying to argue would just get them all killed. She wasn't going to let Flonne's bravery be for nothing. It was the least she could do.

"We can't-"

"YES WE CAN AND WILL!" Aviel interrupted Sanders as she pulled him along. Sanders struggled for a second before turning forward and seeming to accept their powerlessness. They ran over the uneven ground as quick as they could and were just about out from under the building-sized foot when a shadow went flying over them. Aviel turned and looked up just in time to see something flying toward the Sword.

The object hit the Sword square in the face and caused her to stumble backwards, forcing her to bring her foot off Flonne to stop from falling. The object fell to the ground and crashed down a few inches from Flonne. It was a large boulder to Aviel, but only a medium-sized rock to the giantesses. Both Aviel and Sanders looked to try and see who had thrown the rock, but they couldn't see who it was thanks to the trees and hills.

"Oww! Who the- what are YOU doing here?" the blue-haired Sword said. While she was distracted by whoever had attacked her, Flonne staggered up to her feet and began to wobbly stumble toward Sanders and Aviel. She was sucking in big breaths of air and looked completely exhausted from her ordeal. Aviel turned off her radio and motioned for Sanders to do the same as Flonne stumbled up to them.

"Are you alright, Flonne?" Sander said with a worried look. She gave a halfhearted smile as she nodded in response before kneeling, though it turned into a practical flop, down to pick them up. Behind her, the Sword had gotten her balance back and looked down at them in anger.

"Where do you think you're going?!" she boomed out before raising her foot to smash them again. Flonne was quicker, however, and snatched up the Sanders and Aviel before leaping forward out of the way of the stomp. Her wings caught the rush of air coming from the impact and she began flying toward the person who had saved them. She pulled her hands inward and hugged Sanders and Aviel to her breasts.

Now that they were above the trees and hills, Aviel could see who had come to their rescue. She recognized the woman as one of Isabella's Ranger friends, Alice if she remembered right. Alice was still a long distance from them, but was running as fast as she could toward them. A few large boulders were in her hand, ready to be thrown again. Her face was dead set in a stern glare as she came rushing to their rescue.

Aviel had no idea why Alice was here and didn't care either. Her arrival meant the fight was now 2 against 4 rather than 1 against 4 and that meant their chances of escaping got a lot higher. Sanders saw her too and gave her a thumbs up. She smiled back as things finally looked to be going their way.

Suddenly, the world jerked downward and began to spin around as Flonne cried out in pain. Aviel had to grab hold of Flonne's coat as the fairy's hand slipped away for a brief second. Below her was a nearly fifty scale foot drop straight into the forest below. She clung to the fabric for dear life, as Flonne began to roll to her back, still crying in pain. Aviel risked a glance over toward Sanders and found him missing from where he had been. She looked down and saw him trying to keep a grip on Flonne's finger, his legs dangling above the fall.

"SANDERS! FLONNE GET SANDERS!" Aviel yelled at Flonne in panic, but her voice was lost in the wind. And then it was too late. Sanders slipped off Flonne's finger, a look of disbelief on his face.

"NOOOO!" Aviel screamed as she tried to do something for him, but there was nothing she could do. He fell away into the forest and disappeared from sight. Aviel didn't have time to scream out again as the sounds of snapping trees came from Flonne's back. Aviel pressed herself into Flonne and braced for impact.

Flonne slammed into the ground and cried out in pain again as she skidded along the ground a few feet. Aviel had to hold on for dear life as the impact smashed her face into Flonne's, thankfully yielding, breast. The impact left her ears ringing from the noise and her head reeling from the shock. It took her a minute to recover from the impact and push herself off Flonne's breast. Flonne was gasping in pain and crying in between each gasp. A large tree was laying across her, broken in two by her back along with a lot of other debris.

"Ahh, my wings.. my wings..." Flonne cried out in pain. Aviel looked back and saw a large scar dug out of the ground, trees and anything else having been crushed under Flonne. A normal person would have been in a bad way to land on their back like that, but Flonne's wings made the impact much worse for her. Aviel looked around, but Sanders was nowhere in sight. Worse, the giantess was glaring down at them, pulling her hand back from the slap she had landed.

"Flonne, get up. Flonne GET UP!" Aviel yelled at Flonne. Flonne cried and shook her head in pain, refusing to move.

"It hurts, Aviel. It hurts really bad. My wings...I think they're broke..." Flonne cried.

"FLONNE GET THE HELL UP OR WE ARE GOING TO DIE!" Aviel yelled. She looked back to see the Sword girl bearing down on them and moving up to stomp them into the ground. Flonne gasped in pain and looked up at the approaching Sword. Her look of pain was replaced by a mixture of determination and fear. She took hold of Aviel, pressing her back against her breast, and rolled onto her side with a gasp of pain. Her face was streaming with tears as she tried to stand, but staggered back down in pain.

"Come on Flonne, you can do it! Just ignore the pain!" Aviel urged her on. Aviel wished she could do more for the giant fairy, but she was too small to do anything. Just like she had been too small to- NO, she didn't have time to think about him, she had to save herself and Flonne first.

Flonne gritted her teeth as she staggered forward a step and then another. Aviel could feel the rumble of the giantess' footsteps getting closer, but couldn't see her pressed up against Flonne. Flonne looked back and whipped away her tears as her pace turned from a staggered walk to a staggered run. She began to simply smash right through any waist-high trees in her way rather than try to avoid them.

"That's it, Flonne, keep running!" Aviel said as their pace increased. The heavy rumbles of the giantess seemed to get a bit further away as Flonne went into a full out sprint. Aviel could feel and hear her heart beating away as Flonne pushed her already injured body to its limits. Aviel turned to look forward and saw Alice running full force toward them, as well. They just had to keep away from the Sword a few more seconds and then Alice would be able to save them.

The rumbles behind them, however, picked up in intensity and volume. The giantess was running after them now and there was no way the much smaller Flonne could outpace her. Aviel looked back and caught the briefest glimpse of the giantess' foot as it slammed down behind them, causing Flonne to nearly tumble. The giantess lifted her other foot to crush them and Aviel felt a spike of terror hit her. Suddenly, another rock went flying past them and hit the giantess again, this time in the chest. She stumbled back from the impact and cursed out loud, having been knocked off balance again.

Aviel looked back forward and saw Alice throwing rock after rock at the Sword after them as she keep running toward them. The rumbles behind them stopped as the Sword was forced to shield herself from the rocks raining down on her. Flonne made the most of the short window and keep her sprint going. The rocks bought them just enough time to run past Alice and to, relative, safety.

Flonne's pace slowed as she turned to look back at the two giantesses, gasping for breath. Alice ducked under a clumsy blow by the Sword before delivering a nasty uppercut to the Sword's jaw. The Sword stumbled back from the blow, but didn't back down as she charged back in, nearly tackling Alice to the ground.

"Run!" Alice ordered them with a harsh look. Flonne snapped out of her stupor and began to rush off before coming to a stop again. She looked at her empty hand and got a terrified look.

"SANDERS! NO I hav-"

"NO FLONNE, we can't go back!" Aviel yelled up at her.

"B-But Sanders!" Flonne said with a look of horror on her face. Her pain seemed to have been completely forgotten in favor of fear for Sanders safety.

"I know, but how do we find him? We can't go back for him, Flonne. We would be putting ourselves, Alice, and Isabella in danger if we do. And how do we escape again with you being unable to fly?" Aviel responded. Flonne looked at her with a pleading look, but Aviel did not waver. They couldn't go back for him, even if she wanted to do nothing else but go back for him. It was just too dangerous not just for them, but Alice and Isabella. They couldn't fight all out as long as their tiny charges were here.

Flonne began to cry again, but didn't argue. Instead, she slowly turned away from the fight and began to run again. Aviel had to fight back tears of her own as she knew she was probably dooming Sanders. But what choice did they have? All she could do, now, was make sure they were safe.

She turned to look forward and saw a large hill to their right. She pointed it out to Flonne and the still bawling fairy made her way to it. Aviel could still hear the massive footsteps of the giantesses. Aviel could just barely see the form of the Sword Isabella had knocked out slowly rising to rejoin the fight. She was even more sure now that running had been the right choice.

They made it to the top of the hill and then cast one last glance back toward the brawl. Isabella and Alice had joined together now and were fighting back to back against the four Swords. For now, they were holding their own, but it was still too chaotic to tell who was really winning. All the girls were bruised and bloodied from the brawl and looked to be wavering. Their movements and blows echoed out like thunder even from this distance. The area around them was completely destroyed and nothing save a few large rocks were still standing. And Sanders had fallen right into the middle of that...

"Let's go, Flonne. We need to hide in case one of the Swords decided to use us as hostages," she said. She didn't mention the possibility of Isabella and Alice losing, the fairy was distraught enough. Flonne nodded and headed down the hill, sniffing as her tears still came out. Aviel sighed to herself before wrapping her arms around two of Flonne's fingers in the closest thing to a hug she could give the giant fairy. Flonne looked down at Aviel in surprise at the gesture before giving a halfhearted smile. She gently wrapped her fingers around Aviel to "hug" her back as they headed down into the valley.

    Weather Report for December 3rd:

High: 34 degrees
Low: 25 degrees

WARNING: Winter advisory is in effect for all of Atlanta.

95% chance of snow. An inch or more expected. All citizens are advised to stay indoors and keep warm. Shelters to provide cover and heat are open, please see a Society representative for information and directions to nearest shelter.