Bloodsword: War of the Leaf

A Glimmer of Hope

Hearing those words, Tev tossed a dark look over his shoulder from where he had skidded to a halt to stand almost directly beneath the crouching giant.  If the fledgling S'ia empire had managed to defeat these things, then why couldn't the Master of the Sword of Blood?  It was that very thought that triggered something deep within the young human's mind.

'This thing cannot be defeated by force alone.  And if I use powerful enough magic to shatter the top of the temple to kill it, I risk killing Kora and the others as well.  But perhaps if I use something small, something this giant won't have any defenses against, I may yet prevail,' he silently mused.  But what would be small enough to penetrate this monster's defenses?

Then it occurred to him.  Perhaps the smallest thing of all: disease.  A blood disease!  'And why not?' he thought as he quickly ran towards the far wall as the giant's attention focused on him.  All he had to do was figure out how to introduce a blood disease into the giant's body before he, or another member of Kora's team got killed.

The rest of the team scattered as he ran, hoping that by splitting up and keeping mobile, the giant wouldn't be able to get a hold of any of them.  And yet Tev knew it was fast enough to catch an azora, who was nearly too quick for the mortal eye to follow.  And strong enough to rip a zhesheraque in half in the blink of an eye.

With that in mind, he kept an eye on how the team moved, attempting to be as random in their evasive running as physically possible.  And for the moment it was enough as the giant's head snapped back and forth in an attempt to hunt them down, its hands outstretched and ready to lash out as soon as it had selected its target.  Judging by how quickly the giant was able to adjust to the multiple targets, Tev knew it was only a matter of time before it caught and killed not just one of them, but all of them!

Knowing he had little time to lose, the human quickly put his plan into action.  First he drew a bow and arrow in the air with a blood-covered finger.  Focused will and a flaring of reddish light later, a bow formed, a beautiful recurve made from a strange sort of red-colored metal.  An arrow made from the same stuff and fletched with blood-red feathers, swiftly followed.

Stringing the bow with a practiced surge of strength, Tev lifted it up and nocked the arrow.  Then, before he drew the string back, he touched the arrowhead with a blood-stained finger, willing virulence and death into it.

That done, Tev drew the bowstring, took aim and released all in one smooth motion, the red arrow leaping away from the bow to dart through the thick, heavy air.  Whirring softly, the missile buried itself deep into the fleshy part of the giant's near leg.

Instantly the behemoth roared in pain, astonishing really when one thought about how large this creature was versus the size of the arrow.  Tev was caught considering that when, snarling in agony, the giant somehow managed to spin around in the cramped space to face him directly.  And, before the astonished human could react, it reached out with a massive hand and scooped him up.

Tev was screaming almost instantly as massive force squeezed him, collapsing the shield he had erected and going straight towards crushing him into paste.  Hearing the human's cry of pain, Joran was the first to react.  Grimly the lean Kensarthi set himself then slung his spear with all his might at the creature's left hamstring, close to where Tev had managed to shoot it with his bow.

But again the giant moved too quickly to be possible, batting the spear away with its free hand before knocking Joran aside with the return swing.  The Kensarthi freeholder was picked up and hurled against a carved stone column by the force of the hand's impact, driven into the stone column with relentless power.

Several bones broken, Joran slumped to the ground, bleeding and unconscious.  Lax grimaced as he saw his friend roughly handled before being knocked out.  Then he too was acting, holding his pike tightly in both hands as he recklessly charged, howling at the top of his lungs.  And just as quickly he joined Joran when the giant swept out with its free hand to knock him into the nearest wall with enough force to break bones and split skin.