“Food,” the giant answered.
“Running low on goat?” I asked.
“Not time to piss off the giant,” Lichen warned.
“Trust me, it doesn’t matter if we piss him off or not, he is going to attack,” I said.
“Food,” the giant said again.
“Listen, we have to get him to his knees. Once he is down, watch his fists.”
“What makes you a giant slayer?” Fen asked, pulling his sword.
“I’ve been trained,” I said, pulling out the rope the weaver had given me.
“Food.”
“Yeah, yeah. We get it. You want to eat us, and we’re going to kill you.”
The density of the trees here would be our advantage. Unless he snapped them all off in a fit of rage before we could bring him down. His mobility would be limited, which we needed. He was stronger but slower than all of us, except for maybe Fen and I tied to each other.
“Wren, take Lichen and disappear. Greeve and Kai, take left and right. I’ll take forward. Ara, stay behind me.”
“Are you kidding me?” I fumed. “Greeve, you cleave Lichen into a tree way over there,” I said, pointing. “Wren and Kai can work together and twist this rope around his legs to knock him down. Fen, Greeve, and I will keep him occupied. If we can keep his attention moving back and forth between us, he won’t be able to decide and we’ll have a better chance of not, oh, I don’t know, dying. Once he is down, it’s going to take more than just one of us to take him out.”
“I don’t care what we do, but you two better decide quickly,” Kai said.
I looked to Fen and raised an eyebrow. His subtle dip of the chin was all I needed. I tossed the rope to Wren, she grabbed Kai and they both disappeared.
“You go clockwise, and I’ll counter,” I heard Kai tell her.
Greeve dropped to the ground behind the giant, who twisted back and forth, watching, trying to decide who to eat: Fen and me or Greeve.
I pulled a knife and threw it, but he moved just in time, and I missed him completely. Fen jerked my hand, and I watched as he formed and threw actual fire.
“Magic?”
“You don’t know everything about me either, Princess.”
“Gods, Fen. Don’t forget we are still in the middle,” Wren cried out, knowing we couldn’t see them.
“Watch those fucking flames. Greeve, if you hit me with an arrow, I will kill you,” Kai yelled.
“You could try.”
“Enough chatter,” Fen ordered.
“NO,” the giant roared. “FOOD.”
“He’s going to draw every damn creature in this forest to us. We have to hurry,” Wren scrambled.
“I’m out of rope, Wren. Meet me at his legs,” Kai said.
“Start backing up, Fen.” I pulled on the chain.
He grunted, and I could tell he didn’t like orders. But he did it anyway. Visible again, Wren moved to the side while Kai circled around him until he was close to us. Greeve did the same. As soon as all of the giant’s targets came together, he tried to step toward us but crashed to the floor. I grabbed on to Fen to steady myself. I’d only ever seen half-giants. This guy was enormous. Closer to the ground, I could see the anger on his face as he pounded his leathery fist on the dirt, trying to smash everyone.
“I need both hands for magic, Ara,” Fen warned. “Let me do this.”
