The Voidbreak Crisis: Part 2; The Rise Of Ak-Dovurak.

1. The Twelfth Clan

The torrential downpour drowned out nearly all noise throughout the town, the sound of the rain and wind beating against the tile roofs overpowering almost every other sound.

Save for the screams.

The dirt roads leading through the town had been reduced to a dense, dull red mud that stuck to everything. She ran forwards as fast as her feet could carry her, her heart pounding in her chest as tears poured down her face. The bandits tore through the roads behind her, slipping as often as she did, their taunts stolen in the downpour. She tried to turn a corner, but her cloth shoes slipped in the thick mud covering the streets. She lost control and slid into a hay bale next to the stables, the hay sticking to her cloths and skin as the bandits caught up to her, drawing their weapons with bloodlust in their eyes. She screamed for help, but her voice was stolen in the rain. One of the bandits lunged towards her, and she cowered against the hay bale, praying for someone to intervene.

And it seemed someone heard her prayers, for as the bandit neared her with his daggers ready and his mouth foaming, something slammed into his side like a cannon shot, and sent him flying into the wall of the butcher's shop adjacent to them. He slid down the wall and crumpled into the mud at its base, and moved no more. She looked up to thank her saviour, and screamed in terror. For instead of a knight in shining armor, there stood a creature at least twenty feet tall, and thick with muscle. It looked just like a man, save for it's gargantuan size. It towered over the buildings in the town, and it's thick leather boots sank into the mud at its feet. The bandits looked over at their friend, and back up at the giant.

"Gentlemen," it said, resting it's staff on its shoulder. It wore simple clothing, made of dense leather. It had no shirt on, only a short cape that covered it's back, tied around it's shoulders. The cape's clasp was possibly the most shocking part of his attire. It was a massive skull, at least three times as large as any humans, but it looked human enough from where they stood. The giant had long, black hair that hung behind its head in a long ponytail. It had hundreds of scars covering its body, some of them wrapping around it's arms and legs several times. It rested it's other hand on it's hip as the rain began to slow down, it's dull roar becoming quieter, leaving only the crackle of the flames throughout the village echoing through the night. The giant had a single ring on it's right ring finger, a simple metal band upon which, in the place of any jewel, rested a human skull.
"What are you?" The girl by the hay bale asked, too terrified to move.

"Oh, introductions. Right. Sorry," the giant said, resting his staff's end on the ground next to him, and taking a brief bow, his long hair draping over his shoulder briefly.
"I'm Saf'thor, from the Twelfth Clan. And you are?" He asked, looking down at the men gathered around his feet.
"Uh..." one of the men said numbly, looking over at the head bandit.
"I'm, uh, Fred?" The bandit leader said, shrugging at his men.
"Mind stating your intentions here, Fred?" Saf'thor asked him, raising his massive staff onto his shoulder again. The staff was at least as tall as Saf'thor himself, and was a foot thick at its thinnest end. It had a skull laid on the top of the staff that seemed to be cast out of a blue steel of some type. It was nearly the exact same size and dimension as the skull that held Saf'thor's cloak together, and had red war paint covering its eye sockets. Fred looked behind Saf'thor to see at least twenty other giants, all of them as tall or taller than Saf'thor, illuminated by a sudden lightning strike on the hill behind him.
"Oh, we were just, uh, making sure the village kn-knew how t-to fight is all," Fred stuttered, feeling cold sweat pouring down his head as he backed up.
"Make sure your friend over there is okay for me, will you? I didn't mean to hit him quite that hard. But in my defense, he was scaring this little lady," Saf'thor said, smiling down at the girl next to the hay bale.

The bandits gathered their friend out of the mud and scampered away as fast as they could. Saf'thor knelt down slowly and offered his hand to the girl next to the hay bale.
"Easy now, m'lady. I'm not here to hurt anyone," Saf'thor said softly. She looked up into his dull red eyes and scampered back from him, leaping to her feet and running away as fast as she could.
"Don't bother, Saf'thor," Ogir'thor said, walking into the village behind him.
"It's hard to believe they've never met a giant before," Saf'thor said, watching the bandits scamper away from the village.
"These settlers have never ventured farther than a few leagues into the Grand Forest. It's not that surprising, son," Ogir'thor said, patting him on the back.
"Pity," Saf'thor said, walking out of the village to follow the rest of his clan deeper into the grand forest.