Cold wind rushed against my face. I opened my eyes. We were back. We were still inside the city walls.

  I felt a deep psychological exhaustion. I fell to the ground too exhausted to move. I wished for Nessy and for Brax to come to me, but they didn’t come.

  I heard nearby thuds. The giant. I crawled my body into a nearby bush. The bush had thorns and as I went deeper the thorns sunk into my flesh. With each stride, thorns pulled my skin apart from me and new thorns latched on. I was resolved to hide my whole body into the bush, but my will quickly wilted and I laid there still, half in a bush, my head, arms, and torso pulsing with my heartbeat, bleeding out, in pain.

  Each thud of the giant’s footsteps renewed my dread. I worried for myself. I worried for Nessy and Brax. I thought of my mother. My friends. My home.

  I heard a bird of prey above. There had to be at least twenty large thorns stuck into me. I couldn’t imagine a way to remove myself from the bush without losing a lot of skin and blood. But I couldn’t just lay there and die.

  I felt hapless. Drained. Defeated. I considered trying to shift back. But I deeply feared I would get stuck in that corridor. And even then, the greatest of outcomes was to arrive again in hell. I debated it with myself anyway for quite some time.

  Someone tapped my feet.

  “He’s still here,” I heard Nessy whisper. “He’d smell us if not for the wind. We need to move.”

  “Do not move,” spoke Brax. He began cutting up the thorny bush with his handaxe. And in short order, I was able to stand, slowly, carefully, and step over the battered shrubbery.

  “Come,” Nessy whisper-yelled. Brax helped me up and didn’t let go.

  Nessy walked ahead, crouching, one hand touching the ground as she walked. I found myself unable to move or talk coherently. I peered into the sky and it was brown with stones and straw. I looked at Brax and saw an angel jogging beside him. She had blue eyes, and when I looked into them, her eyes widened. Brax caught my fall. We stumbled along after Nessy.

  Nessy looked back to ensure we were following. We were, but we were so far behind. Again and again, Nessy would stop to feel the earth. It was our chance to catch up to her, but she’d always snap at us to stop walking.

  We eventually made it to the wall. The thuds continued and there were occasional crashing sounds, as if he was demolishing houses for sport.

  I gazed up and watched Nessy scale the wall. She motioned to Brax and Brax motioned back. He helped me walk along the wall for a time, then Nessy was down with us, helping carry me forward too. We made it to a part of the wall covered with overgrowth. We stopped for a moment here in the shade to rest.

  “Watchtower just ahead,” Nessy whispered. “There’s a chance it has a wall walk. It’ll get us atop the wall, out of the giant’s reach.”

  We didn’t rest long. I could see the watchtower. It was still very far away. There was so much empty space between us and it. The thuds were, if anything, getting louder.

  “We have to,” I heard Brax say. But I didn't know what they were discussing.

  I was between the two of them, my arms across their shoulders. They were saving my life. The mood could not have been lower. There was such fear in Brax’s bloodshot eyes. A bewilderment.

  Then I saw him. The giant. He didn’t see us. We kept walking. Nessy’s grip on me was painfully tight.

  There was a roar. I glanced back. He was charging at us. This monster. We ran. I couldn’t think right. I noticed it was just Nessy and I. I kept running. We made it to the stairs, climbed up them on all fours, and crashed onto the floor of the battlements.

  Nessy crawled to the edge and looked down. I crawled too. Brax was fighting the giant. Brax saw that we were safe and he beelined to the wall. Just as Brax entered the wall walk, the giant slammed his club into the wall. Brax joined us, and the giant continued to slam his club against the wall. He cut deep cracks into either side of our wall section. Then he backed up, ran, and slammed himself against our wall. On his third try, he tackled the wall section, knocking it and us over. We tumbled onto the ground and rolled away from the crashing stone behind us.

  The giant gathered up two large rocks and then stood there, in the hole in the wall that he created. He turned his back to us and walked back inside the city.

  We laid there for a while, collecting what rest we could. Then we stammered away into a nearby thicket for cover. This time, without thorns. I heard rodents chewing and felt bugs crawling. I didn't care. It was a notification I was alive, and so I rested.

  When I came to, it was dark. Insects buzzed and hummed. Through the hole in the wall, I saw faint reflections of light off the stone. I woke Nessy and Brax. They could see it too.

  “Let's look,” said Brax.

  “Probably shouldn't,” said Nessy.

  “Who could it be?” I asked.

  “Rovers most likely,” said Brax.

  Nessy nodded, then glanced at me. “High elves.”

  “They'd have food,” said Brax. “What do you say, kid?”

  “Sure.”

  “You two go. They'd hang me.” Nessy handed me her bag. “Offer up to 25 copper for jerky or jam. Sneak a peek first. If it ain't rovers, get out, silently.”

  This novel's true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there.

  Brax and I gathered ourselves and walked over. Once at the wall, Brax peeked in, then shot his head back.

  “Dead giant,” Brax whispered.

  My mouth nearly hit the ground. “Should we leave?” I whispered back.

  Brax took another quick look then shook his head. “I can see my greataxe. Still in his arm.”

  “What killed him?” I whispered.

  “My poison,” Brax whispered. “I'm gonna get a better look. Stay.”

  I watched him enter. He was slow and careful. After a few minutes, he motioned a shrug, so I entered along with him. There were torch lights in the far distance.

  “A friend of his?” a voice behind us asked. We turned to find an elven girl. She had nearly-white blond hair and wore gold armor. “Why are you here?”

  “I misplaced my axe in his arm,” said Brax. “Taking it back.”

  “That’s my kill.”

  “You can have it,” Brax said, stepping forward with his handaxe in hand.

  The elf turned to me. “Will you tell your dwarf to stand down?”

  I shrugged. “It’s his axe.”

  The elf eyed me over. “Where are you from?”

  “None of your business,” said Nessy. She emerged from the shadows where Brax and I had entered from. Brax turned to face Nessy. He clenched his teeth.

  “Always a dark elf.” The elf turned to Brax and me. “I’ll escort you to safety.”

  “You’ll get lost, I think,” said Nessy.

  The elf scowled and pulled a device from her belt, aimed up, and fired it off. A deafening bang and bright flare shot straight up into the sky.

  “Cute,” said Nessy.

  “I didn’t mean to imply you had a choice.”

  “Free roam,” Nessy said.

  The elf shook her head. “Not anymore.”

  I could hear the faint rumble of galloping horses. I looked out and saw elven riders coming our way from the distance.

  Brax turned his back to the elf and walked over to the giant. Brax gave it a good tug, but it didn’t bulge.

  “I forbid you,” said the elf. “I will note you for theft.”

  Brax spat on his handaxe blade and looked up at the elf and spat towards the elf too for good measure. He then carved the great axe out of the giant’s body and shook it off.

  “We’re leaving,” said Nessy.

  “I’ll try to be more clear,” said the elf. “Free roam is not allowed. There are vampires in the area. You will be taken to Lockham and examined there. Then transport will be arranged to your respective capitals.”

  “I’ll slap ya silly with the friendly side of my great axe,” said Brax.

  The elf drew her sword. Brax positioned to fight, but then looked over as the calvary of elves arrived.

  “Axe down!” called out one of the horseback elves.

  “My lord,” the elf called out to a horseman, “these two appear unarmed,” she motioned towards Nessy and me. She turned to Brax. “Please,” she whispered. “Drop it.”

  Brax dropped his axe and spit on it.

  “Line ‘em up,” the elven lord shouted from his high horse. Two elves dismounted near me, one grabbing me, the other grabbing Nessy. They put us on our knees facing the apparent leader.

  “What happened?” the lord asked the elven girl.

  “They settled here last night. Fight ensued. Magic was used.”

  The lord eyed the hole in the wall then turned to face the giant.

  “The giant?”

  “Death by poison. The dwarf.”

  “Those two?” the lord eyed Nessy and me.

  “Just refusals. I told them—”

  “Field session!” the lord shouted, turning his horse in a meandering circle. “Authority on me,” he continued, “lord of land and steward. Wherein a field council thereof: Lorels, Kline, Dorshur, and…” He looked at the elven girl who had found us. “Name?”

  “El.”

  “...are party to the field prosecution. Named, the members of this detached unit. Any material objections to the procession, speak now.” The lord paused, but only to take a breath. “Maximum effect per charge one; trespass and murder of one independent giant, refusal of escort for processing, rightful else in service therein. I judicate a field execution. And the members therein say. Lorels?”

  “Stand,” said one elf.

  “Stand,” said another.

  “Stand,” said one more.

  The lord nodded and looked down at El.

  “Ground,” El said.

  The lord hopped off his horse. “El of?” he paused. “Where?”

  “Absinthe.”

  “Absinthe. What of this?”

  “Self defense.”

  The lord scoffed. “This is the giant’s home.”

  “He has no treaty with their kind.”

  “They trespassed and murdered a friend of the queen.”

  “My lord, it’s a Stone Giant.”

  “I render you incapacitated and relieve you—”

  “I contest,” she said.

  The lord's face narrowed. His eyes dimmed. “El contests.”

  “I stand,” said one elf on horseback.

  The lord glared at the horseback elf. “The matter is tabled subject to investigation but granted on a stay basis with default judgment per field statute.”

  El stepped forward. “I—”

  “I’ll have your post for this.”

  “I cite voluntary malfeasance and petition to suspend field judgment in parlay, full entitlement.”

  The lord threw his gloves onto the ground. His face was red with anger.

  “While the dead encroach, we fight each other,” El said.

  “The only dead among us was at their hands,” the leader said.

  “You intend to make that right by execution?” she asked.

  “Enough.”

  “My brother would have—”

  “Your presumption of the dead's desire does not constitute disorder,” the lord yelled.

  “Those two aren’t even armed!”

  “They are of party.”

  “We are of party.”

  “Not anymore. Parcel,” the lord snapped his fingers at a rider wearing brown, “bring this ex-rover and those two trespassers for processing in Claris.” The lord turned to a rider wearing blue, “The dwarf murderer to the Niles high courts.”

  “Lockham is a day away,” El said.

  “Do not speak again,” the lord warned. “Field session closed.”

  We walked apart, each of us separated with a rider in between. Our wrists were bound and hooked to saddle. Our captors were bitter and cruel, tugging at us without cause, switching with leather straps for no reason. We were twelve hours into our trek before we stopped to rest the horses.

  It was at night when she arrived, dear Alice, the cartographer bat. I heard the familiar woosh in the sky and knew. Nessy must have known too. I saw a smile in her eyes. But she didn’t look up or react in any other way.

  The guards were near us, at the fire. We were still tethered to the horses. I heard the swoosh again. What will she do? There were four guards, all capable, still armored, all within reach of their swords. If it were me, I would wait until they were asleep.

  Another swoosh. Could she attack as a bat? Perhaps maul them, or bite them. They were elves though— how could they not see her in the sky? Or hear her as I could? The woosh was faint, I suppose, but why would she risk spoiling her surprise so. I wished for her to stop.

  Woosh. Then a scary thought occurred. What are the odds it was her? Was it not more likely it was some other vampire, eager to pick us apart like chained up animals?

  One guard got up in a hurry and looked around. The others followed. Woosh. They searched the sky without satisfaction and all the uneasiness in the world. Nessy must have read me by my expressions. She had a finger up to her lips and a smile. It was all the reassurance I needed. Alice must be both a bat and invisible. What would she do now?

  Woosh. The guards, sword and shield at the ready, were frantic now. Woosh. One of them placed his sword in the fire, causing it to turn black, then a dull red.

  Suddenly I heard a yelp and the clang of metal. There were only three guards now, a shield laying where there had been one other. There was a distant scream from above and then the sound of a body embracing with the earth nearby. One guard ran.

  I heard a woosh and a scream and a thud. She had gotten the one who ran. Then she came again, taking with her one of the remaining two. There was one guard left alive. It was the one heating his sword. He seemed cool and competent. He brandished his sword around him, deterring her from trying to pick him up.

  The sky was quiet. The guard continued to swing his weapon defensively. His face was tight with tension, maybe anger. As he turned to face Nessy and I, he collapsed onto the ground, Alice was latched onto the back of his neck. He flailed for a time, stiffened, then turned pale. His fire hot sword lay on the ground simmering the dried grass while Alice feasted on his blood.