BEAR FIGHT - LET'S GO
The Story so far:
Ariel Tempestborn, exiled fey, despised in the lands of her birth - six inches of blonde fury, has never been known for her calm, but in recent years has found peace and a sense of purpose. A warrior and former soldier in the armies of the Avalon Alliance, she now serves the Domain and it's benevolent leader The Tortoise, as Co Chief of Security, alongside her partner Big Bruin.
With a new place and new friendships, eventually Ariel opened her heart to the possibility of love; the lucky man was fellow exile and former knight of Camelot, Tom. For a brief span of years they found happiness with each other, but there are those who have decreed that Ariel should not be left in peace.
These forces murdered Tom and sent his body to Ariel.
Her grief and rage would only allow one response - the breaking of a vow that she had made many decades before. Ariel, with the help of her partner Bruin, would find the one responsible and Ariel would enact a final revenge.
Tracking a lead to Camelot, Bruin prevailed upon the representative King Arthur (one member of the Council of Arthurs) and his ally Queen Gloriana to furnish a list of those who wished Ariel harm. Gloriana, Queen of the Faerie, knowing such a quest would likely result in Ariel's death, gladly gave up the name of the killer.
But she reckoned without the skills and tactical acuity of the fey exile's loyal friend - from Myth Vegas to the Godlands, the duo tracked down the killer and are now prepared to fight any who would seek to defend him...
*
Fnarnir the frost giant laughed. 'Now, tiny bear, thou shalt meet thy doom here in frozen Jotunheim.'
Bruin's hands sipped into the pockets of the outer fur jacket he wore over his natural fur, against the sub zero freezing cold of the realm of the Frost Giants. 'Talk is cheap. You want me? Let's go!'
Moments later a huge ice club swiped the air where the six foot grizzly had previously been - acting nimbler than his bulk would suggest, the black furred bear had dived to one side and now, lurching back up on his haunches he held both fists out in front of him.
'Bah ... thy acrobatics merely delay the inevitable, bear!'
Bruin grinned and poised his thumbs. 'You think I'm an idiot, giant? Well I didn't come here without a gift for my hosts!' Ping. Ping.
The twenty foot giant squinted. 'What foolery is this?'
'I don't suppose you guys have these here. They're called grenades! And I just armed them!'
'Your rocks mean nothing ...' Fnarnir flew backwards as the first grenade exploded into his chest, causing ice shards to fly all around. The second blew out his chest cavity, exposing his inner organs.
Bruin reached inside his fur coat and pulled out two smith and wesson pistols. 'Still think this tiny bear can't hurt you?'
Fnarnir gasped in pain, holding his right arm across the exposed ice of his upper body. 'Cursed interloper; mighty are the frost giants - I shall regenerate my ice shell and prevail. Thou will not defeat me.'
Bruin cocked his pistols and pointed both arms straight ahead. 'You've got it all wrong big guy. I just need to keep you distracted long enough.' Throwing back his head, Bruin ROARED and then starting walking slowly forward, firing.
FEY VS GIANT - PLACE YOUR BETS
Pantagruel, like his father Gargantua was a Cornish giant - they stood thirty foot high, bigger even than their frost giant hosts.
Against this height and weight advantage, Ariel pitted her six inch body and the power of winged flight - she also possessed the internal fey energies common to her race, a power that was hardly overwhelming and mostly used to glow during flight. Some adepts had learned to project their energy into blasts that could stun other fey and small creatures; with bigger foes, the best tactical advantage was blinding your enemy with a burst of yellow-white light.
But Pantagruel was too big to be blinded ... in that way.
Ariel screamed her pain and rage as she slammed into her enemies ear - the force of her supersonic flight speed, was enough to knock him off balance as if a regular human had a sparrow fly into the side of their head. But her speed was unsustainable and Ariel knew she had mere seconds before the expenditure of energy would force her to reduce to her regular speed. And furthermore, her burst of adrenaline would sap her overall strength.
It was now or never. Blade drawn and pointed she weaved like a mortal bi-plane buzzing King Kong, as the enraged giant tried to swat her with his hand and club.
Ariel centered her flight into a dive - the iris loomed large. 'For Tom!' she screamed as she drove her sword into his left eye.
Blood and eye juice exploded, splattering the surrounds, including catching her blonde hair and the brown leather jerkin she wore over green leather tight trousers, which were themselves tucked into black leather boots. On the right arm of the leather jerkin a yellow wide V atop a red curved line denoted the rank of a Commander in the Crimson Cadre of the Elite Fey Home Guard. The left arm was adorned with a green sigil, somewhat reminiscent of a green rose imposed upon a maze. This sigil was the emblem of her clan, now defunct, scattered to the winds, it's members slaughtered, with those few survivors in hiding or re-assigned clan membership after bending the knee to the ruling tyranny.
Ariel hadn't worn her uniform in over four decades, but today she was declaring to the world that, though she was rebel and outcast, she was still a warrior and her birthright still held. For what she knew she must do, she could think of no more appropriate garb.
Pantagruel was screaming in pain - blind in one eye, thrashing about, trying to hit her as she flitted around his head.
In the darkened alcoves Gargantua, peered outwards, heart racing - he thought back to that time when Sir Tom had encountered him - the little man had been riding in a walnut shell coach and had boasted of his many powers, magic gifts from powerful benefactors including the former Queen of Faerie, mother to King Oberon who was wed to Gloriana, the current queen.
That encounter had led to the giant being placed under an enchantment and vowing eternal vengeance on the knight; but despite grouching about it and a few meetings which relied more on boast and bluster, Gargantua hadn't been foolish enough to follow through on his threats, especially after he himself entered the employ of King Arthur.
But the boy, his stupid burdensome son, had caused all sorts of trouble, leading earlier to their disfavour at Camelot. They had had to retire from court, surviving on mercenary thug work for the likes of Mordred, Bad Merlin, Loki, The Mouse and of course Mistress Morgan Le Fay.
It was the mistress that had persuaded his idiot boy to kill the beloved of Ariel, as part of a long held grudge against the rebel fey. Personally Gargantua suspected Morgan's friend and occasional lover the Norse god Loki had egged her on, for his own reasons. The fact that they had been ordered here to Jotunheim to hide among the frost giants who were related to Loki's natural father, King Laufey, seemed to bear that out.
But though Gargantua was much smarter than his offspring, he was still not intelligent enough to realise that for years Loki had been manipulating the circumstances and emotional states of hundreds of key Mythlands residents, merely for a mix of his own enjoyment and to set up possible pawns for future use in future plans. For you see, Loki always had plans and he had plans within plans and plans for plans he hadn't even fully worked out yet!
As for the bond between father and son, Gargantua could take this Pantagruel or leave him. He had long ago slaughtered all his own dopplers, but there were two or three surviving Pantagruels that he had adopted. The French version was a nice lad, not so dumb, pliable enough to do his bidding. If this'un fell in battle, he would head home, fetch a new Pantagruel and without the taint of this idiot's actions, would reapply for a position at Camelot, where they always needed new muscle.
*
Ariel dodged the club once again and set her speaker amplifier to 80%. 'Avaunt, ye gorbellied beetle wit! Look ye to the skies and see the crack of doom come tumble down upon ye, thou mangy mewling, pribbling onion-eyed clotpole!'
'Don ye talk about my eye, bleedin' pest o a fairy!' screamed Pantagruel, looking upwards as she was above his head.
Gudgeon. I have thee now, thought Ariel, and dived straight into his open mouth.
Pantagruel turned red, gasping, choking and clutching at his throat.
A moment later several of his yellowing front teeth exploded outwards as Ariel blasted at them with her fey light from inside.
Gargantua peered - for a moment he could see tiny hands and then a blonde head emerge from the mouth; then the whole of Ariel was hovering over the mouth - in her hand she held something.
A tiny bottle it seemed, but he could hardly make it out. Had he done so he might have read two labels - the biggest was merely a large S and above that another label read 'DRINK ME.'
In a split second Ariel had popped open the cork and poured the liquid she had gotten from the White Rabbit, down the Cornish giant's throat.
There was another moment, as Pantagruel fell to his knees, and Ariel hovered in mid air - a moment her back was turned, that Gargantua could have used his own club to crush her in mid air and save his son. But he didn't ... the boy was worth more dead, now it seemed obvious that he couldn't kill the fey.
And so Gargantua and all the frost giants, save those few who were watching as Big Bruin stood on the neck of the fallen Fnarnir, shooting bullets into his eyes - watched in awe as Pantagruel began to shrink ... to twenty feet, now fifteen, then twelve and soon no bigger than Bruin and smaller yet, to the four foot size enjoyed by ones such as Mr Toad and The Mouse ... then the size of a human child, and infant.
He ceased to shrink at a little over ten inches and lay on his back. The six inch tall fey landed beside him and stood over him, donning brass knuckles.
Pantagruel's last cognizant thought before Ariel's fist shattered his right jaw, was one of fear and realization of where his actions had led him.
She raised one bloody fist and then the next, smashing down into his face, one blow after another, saying nothing, simply hitting him, over and over until his face resembled little more than a pile of mush.
Gargantua realized his son was dead when the corpse automatically grew back to it's full thirty feet in height.
Ariel ascended into the air, her wings glowing yellow and red, and a white aura all around her - all eyes riveted on her including her partner and the groaning frost giant Fnarnir who saw her as a blur through the regenerating icy corneas of his damaged eyes.
She spoke - her voice amplified to all present. 'Hark ye, vengeance is served and here lies a murdering miscreant. I see thee stand like greyhounds in the slips, and I do tell thee the devil has his due, and though I hath not slept one wink in pursuit of this end, I will fight on if any doth gainsay me, nor shall I rest if vendetta shall it be.'
Gargantua stepped forward. 'Ariel. It is done, an I bear ye no grudge over a rightful killin' o my son, the one what did you wrong. Tom Thumb be avenged and I pray he rests well. Go in peace.'
Ariel nodded and fluttered slowly down into the waiting arms of Bruin.
She looked up into his concerned face and whispered. 'Take me home, my friend.'
The End
This story takes place several years before the start of The Heist and Ariel's appearance in the opener, NEPOTISM.