The group rushed the Frost Giants, who were ready for their approach, but not for the dirty tricks that the team was about to pull on them.
First, the appearance of the two snake totems pulled their attention to one side, as fire and venom invaded their bodies, amplifying the pain of the Chain Lightning. Then, once the left flank was distracted, the Spider Golems hit from the back, causing chaos in the ranks before Rae herself was into the right flank of the Frost Giants.
She was laughing as she dodged a long spear that one of the Giants was holding, completely removing one of the two Commanders from the fight, and forcing the formation to spread out, to avoid being in the way of his attacks.
With [haste], the Giant had no chance of actually landing a solid hit on the nimble Bloodbath Spider unless she got closer to him, but that wasn’t her goal. She just wanted the real fighters out of the way while her minions took care of the weaklings.
Then, she got a brilliant idea. A stream of silk wrapped the spear, and with her forelegs, she pulled it free of the Giant’s hands as he lunged forward on the attack. Then she fired her own volley of [Spears] back at him, small spikes that peppered him with heavily bleeding wounds.
[Where is your spear goddess now?] Rae laughed, and Karl felt an ominous sense of attention in the back of his mind, as if they had insulted something that could look down on them from another plane of existence.
[Maybe don’t insult war goddesses?] Karl suggested as Rae hurled mental insults at the enraged Frost Giant, who was finding it impossible to catch her.
[Then I will make him give the pointy stick to our War Cleric and have her teach the Frost Giants how to use one.] Rae retorted.
She whipped the strand of silk, sending the spear flying clumsily toward the clerics.
“Tessa, catch. She says it’s for you, since a Cerro Knight needs a lance.” Karl joked.
Though she was confused, Tessa caught the flying spear, which instantly bonded with her, creating a golden shafted and silver headed spear that looked infinitely more impressive than the crudely enchanted item the Frost Giant had been using.
Instead of a crude metal wedge, the spear now had wide, three sided blades as long as her forearm at the tip, with a hooked crossbar, like a boar spear, to keep it from running all the way through the target.
The spear glowed with Holy Light as she hopped up on Thor’s back and led the Lightning Cerro on a charge into the Frost Giant Ranks with her spear levelled and her shield in her other hand.
The warriors laughed at the sight, but when she thrust the spear forward, and the blade sunk into a Commander Rank Frost Giant to the crossbar, then carried him off his feet with the momentum of a charging Thor, they couldn’t help but be impressed.
The Spider Golems closed on Thor’s flanks, so nothing could attack him as Tessa shook the spear free of her target, and they came around for a second charge.
“It’s a spear, not a lance, you don’t have to run them through.” Bob yelled as the duo charged at the Giants again.
Thor bugled an annoyed response. Running them through was way more fun than just stabbing them. But with quick thrusts of the blade, Tessa attacked the Frost Giants, letting Thor run down the ones he wanted, so she could stab them while they were on the ground.
If Thor was going to remain as a charger, he was going to need some practice. The happy prancing was not at all dignified.
The second charge carried them out of Rae’s side of the battle, while the Ascended Rank Giants scattered and tried to survive the affections of the Spider Golems chasing after Thor. As for actual damage, it might not be the most effective. But as a chaos tactic for breaking an enemy formation, Thor’s method was unparalleled.
The Frost Giants didn’t last much longer, and the next group was still over a kilometre away, on the other side of the ridge, when the last of them fell.
“Check the bodies quickly for other good things. There are more Giants coming. Thor, this time you and Tessa are in reserve. Stay back unless you need to charge to rescue the warriors, but no charging right through the lines.” Karl admonished.
Thor nodded and stomped his feet. He was a good Cerro, he would help however they needed, even if it meant all barriers and no smashing.
[You can come forward and smash them with Tessa if they try to run away at the end.] Karl allowed, knowing it would make Thor happy.
The next group came over the ridge as they were finishing the looting process, and Thor promptly forgot his instructions, and opted to go with Tessa’s motion to charge into battle with the Spider Golems.
Karl realized that he really should have told Tessa as well, to prevent exactly this, but the Stone Golems were on their way forward, and the combination of a rampaging Lightning Cerro and two Spider Golems had taken out the Commander before the reinforcement group even realized that they were in trouble.
Then the arrows from Karl and Ty reached them, sending Lightning and fire into their ranks, while the warriors moved to flank the existing front-line formation. The spear seemed to have an affinity for Tessa, and it adjusted from two to three metres long with a thought as she fought the Frost Giants, giving her the reach she needed in battle, while also shortening enough that she could still stab them when Thor got up close and personal.
Insulting war deities might not be the brightest thing they had ever done, but it seemed to have worked out well for their War Cleric.
Once the battle was over, everyone took a break to refresh while Lotus made them a light snack and some fresh water.
Harry smirked at Tessa as she rested against Thor’s flank.
“You know, you have to be the least cleric like Priestess that I’ve ever met.” He joked.
“You just aren’t around the Red Dragon Priestesses enough. We love to fight, we just don’t often get as many great opportunities as I do. If I was the only cleric in the group, I wouldn’t be able to charge into combat with Thor, I would have to hang back, as the group couldn’t afford to have me injured.
But with two others, including a High Priest, it’s no problem at all if I buff up and head for the front line. During the consolidation wars, many of the Red Dragon Priests fought that way, with healers in the back and the War Clerics up front among the warriors, keeping offensive buffs active and defensive blessings spread through those who needed them most.”
Harry nodded. “The War Clerics have always been a bit nuts, but nobody doubts their bravery. The golden standard for military units is that they shouldn’t retreat until the War Clerics tell them to. If they can last until the Red Dragon’s Clerics think it’s best, then they’ve done all you could ask of them.”
Harry held up a blade, then caused it to vanish into his inventory, coming back as a slightly oversized sword, but still usable single-handed with a shield.
“Nice, nothing too special, but a freezing effect on a Commander Rank blade will serve me well for many years after I get out of this frozen shithole.” He explained.
Bob gave him a celebratory pat on the back. “You can’t argue with that. Once we finish here, freezing the enemy will work much better.”
He had a good point. Once they were outside the Frost Giant Nation, freezing effects were going to be incredibly effective. Most creatures could be easily slowed or encased in ice if the magic was strong enough, it just didn’t affect the Frost Giants and Yeti the same way, due to their Ice Elemental nature.
“How many more groups will we hit today?” Lotus asked as they finished the cleanup work.
Karl shrugged. “I say that we head back just after lunch. We’re going to have to start moving back and forth to get the groups, as they’re not all following the same path, so we will want to be back for an early dinner.”
There were no arguments to that suggestion. They had been sitting for days, and the first day back they had been working hard to eliminate the Frost Giants. An early dinner and a long rest were just what they needed to be ready to target a new region tomorrow.
After all, hitting the same one every time would only cause the Frost Giants to avoid it.
