Rageus hated his companions. As they strode through the gigantic trees (before the wall was built, the world contained biomes tat were human scaled and biomes that were giant scaled. Since the walls constuction, the only human scaled biomes that remained were within its constraints) Rageus became more and more agitated with their many shortcomings. He had been told by the king that the best had been selected for this mission, and he knew that there was no question that he was superior to all the rest, but are these other two the best?
Shadow was an incompetent simpleton. He was short, with black bangs hanging down past the hood that obsured most of his face. His eyes were the only thing completely visible, and they were grey and constantly flickering around, as if he did not know what he was supposed to be looking at. He lacked the mental capacity to speak more than a few words at a time, and it was as if he was incapable of possessing any intelligence.
A silent and dumb person Rageus could cope with on his own, but Dunsil was the opposite. He never would shut up. Always he spoke about how he climbed trees way taller than these back home, or of his many romantic conquest, which Rageus found hard to believe. Dunsil was tall and broud where Shadow was short and thin. His belly pushed at his belt, threatening to snap it loose with every breath, and his face was square and wide, with a large, round nose taking up the center of it. His appearance would have been comical if Rageus weren't so infuriated at his constant, useless talking.
Dunsilt was, at that point, in the middle of describing his wrestling match with the largest human alive. "Me arms were locked 'round 'is waist, barely reaching," he said. "I ha' no more strength left, when I saw the face o' the most loverly dame I ever saw. It was 'er looks what gave me the energy to lift him high in the air, then..." His story was cut off by a loud thump that shook the ground.
Without another word, Rageus and the others leapt onto some tree branches high above the ground, then waited. Rageus was watching the ground when he felt his stomach sink. Below them were three giants, obviously soldiers with their weapons, and their size shocked Rageus beyond belief. These were the monsters he had sworn to kill, these gigantic beings whose ankles he would most likely barely reach. Their swords were large enough to slice through a castle, their armor thick enough it would be nigh impenetrable. The branch started shaking, and it took Rageus a second to realise it was him trembling in fear.
Suddenly, he felt a reassuring hand on his shoulder. He looked, and saw Shadow's eyes gazing at him with a calm reassurance, as if saying that he understood Rageus's fear, and that he need not face it alone. Without any words spoken between them, Shadow had gone from a quiet idiot in Rageus's eyes to a calm and thoughtful companion, the kind of relationship only mutual fear could create.
The giants were walking away, and Rageus thought that things were in the clear, but he had always been unlucky. A bird or some other creature moved above them, shaking the branches and creating a racket. One of the giants turned and said to the others "I think we just found dinner." As his eyes scanned the trees for the creature, they glanced over three, small figures. Rageus stared at him, and he stared back for a second, before uttering "What the f..."
The humans had by then leapt from the trees, with Rageus heading towards the giant who spotted them, and Shadow and Dunsilt heading for the others. Rageus unsheathed his blade, adjusted his orientation mid air and prepared to swing all within a second, just like his training had taught him. His momentum combined with the speed of his swing carried his blade through the giant's neck, carving through his flesh and throat with ease. Rageus landed on the ground, and turned to make sure his target was neutralized.
The giant had a look of utter shock in his eyes, which transformed into one of pure terror. He slumped to the ground, grabbing at his neck as if trying the stop the crimson flow. He shuddered on the ground a few times, incomprehensible garbling noises emitting from his torn throat, before he shuddered and was still.
Rageus's blood had been pumping, his adrenaline flowing, but the site before him was chillingly similar to how his father had looked when he had been cut down. The fear in the young giants sightless eyes, who couldn't have been older than Rageus, made him sick to his stomach. He glanced down at his blade and arms, which were absolutely drenched in blood. He couldn't tell if it was his or the giants. Was this corpse the monster he had spent his life hating?Were these giants that different from humans?
The sound of steel slicing through air brought his attention upwards, and he stared emotionlessly at the blade that another giant was swinging towards him. "Well," Rageus thought. "My goal has always been to kill a giant, so atleast I die having accomplished that." Suddenly, a black figure was swooping through the air between him and the blade. There was a sharp clang, and the sword slashed harmlessly into the ground to Rageus's right.
Shadow then leapt from the blade to the giants head, and plunged his sword through his skull and into his brain, killing him instantly.
It took Rageus a few seconds to realise he was still alive. After resigning himself to death, the relief he felt at being alive made his legs crumple, and he fell to the floor. He glanced around, and saw Dunsilt laying on the ground and clutching at a slash on his leg. Behind him was the corpse of the third giant, sprawled against a tree. "So it was Dunsilt's giant who had almost killed me," Rageus thought, yet he felt no anger. You can't blame a man for getting injured in a fight, and he was still alive. All was well.
He heard Shadow approaching him, so Rageus rolled over and extended his arm. Shadow clasped it and helped him up, then the two of them walked towards Dunsilt.
"What happened," Shadow asked quietly as he helped Dunsilt up in a similar fashion."
"Bloody bastard had a fuckin' sharp necklace, an' it sliced my leg as I swung at 'im," Dunsilt said, then spat at the ground next to him. "Fuckin' dame should be the only ones wearin' necklaces."
The three of them took a few minutes to sift through the corpses, a hard task at their size, and bind Dunsilt's cut, which was thankfully rather shallow, before heading out. They walked in silence for a while, Dunsilt not being so chatty after that fight.
Rageus was confused. His entire life he had seen these giants as monsters, murderers, beings completely different from humans. Yet he had just witnessed them exemplfying a very human trait. Fear. They valued their lives as much as he did, and they bled the same crimson he did. Were they his enemy.
Yes. He knew they still were. Regardless of how humanlike they were, humanity was still trapped by them. Rageus looked around him, taking in the feeling of freedom, of not being confined within walls. This was what he was fighting for, so that every human could experience this. The giants were no longer monsters in his eyes, but they were still the enemy.
Shadow was walking alongside him, and Rageus thought about how wrong his first impressions of him were. He was a highly skilled fighter, capable of killing two giants with ease. He was also extremely reliable, not only comforting Rageus when he needed it but also saving his life. Rageus could now see the intelligence in his eyes, the constant glancing not being because of stupidity. It was as if he was constantly analyzing everywhere they went, checking for vantage points, hiding places and places to jump off of should a fight come. Rageus respected him.
The trio then saw a large, brown mass looming in front of them, so they approached cautiously. They discovered it was a building, gigantic in scale, made of wood and glass. In front of it, two giants, both female, were having a loud argument. One of them was most likely the mother, with long brown hair and a rather plain face. She was taller than the other, and it looked as if she was talking down to her.
The girl she was arguing, on the other hand, was beautiful. She had long and flowing black hair, that seemed to glow like the night sky. Her eyes were bright green, and could easily be seen from this distance. Her lips were large and full, furiously seperating and reconnecting as she yelled. Her nose was a bit too small for her face, but it resulted in her looking more like a lovely girl rather than one of Dunsilt's "dames." Her figure was fit and short, or at least shorter than the other woman. She had rather large breasts, which Rageus admired for a while, as well as a slim waist and wide hips. She was one of the most beautiful girls Rageus had ever seen.
The argument appeared to be heating up as they watched, with the gesutres of each of the giants getting more and more animated. Rageus was about to suggest they move on when the older one grabbed a necklace from the girls neck and flung it towards them. Rageus had no time to react before the giant metal object smashed into him and sent him sprawling to the ground next to it. The pain in his chest was unbearable, he could barley breathe. He saw the older giant walking away angrily from the house, then felt the ground start to shake as the younger one approached. He realised with horror that she was most likely looking for her neckalce, which he was laying right next to.
Shadow ran over to help him up, but Rageus knew he wouldn't be able to walk, let alone run. "GO," he yelled. Shadow shook his head, still coming towards Rageus. "Someone needs to report our mission to the king! Humanities freedom is relying on this! Leave me and go!" Shadow shook his head again, but then realised that the girl was very close.
He looked at Rageus one more time. "Stay alive. We'll come back to help you," he said. Rageus smiled sadly, knowing there was no way they would be able to help him. Shadow and Dunsilt then dissapeared into the woods, and Rageus heard a loud gasp come from above him. He looked up, and saw her kneeling face looming over him, taking up his entire field of vision. Her eyes met his, green as the leaves around them. Then Rageus blacked out.