The next morning, everyone took a leisurely shower, courtesy of the free use of cleric magic, and then checked all their equipment after breakfast while they mentally prepared themselves for the day.
Hawk was sent out to scout, and he hadn’t found anything for the first twenty kilometres, so the start of their journey should be an uneventful one.
They didn’t waste any time getting Thor hooked up to the wagon so that the Golems were free to fight while he protected the casters in his cart. It was connected with relatively weak spider silk, strong enough that it wouldn’t break during use, but weak enough that Tessa could easily slice it with a wave of her spear if Thor needed to be cut free during battle.
This way, he was the only one walking, and everyone else could rest in case of emergency. It was the most efficient method that they had come up with so far, and Thor was delighted with his new toy.
[How far is it to this hiding hole for the Frost Giants?] Hawk finally asked after lunch.
He hadn’t seen a single living thing all morning, just snow, snow and more snow. Plus, the temperature was dropping even further with every hour he travelled, and it was putting him in a terrible mood.
[From the location on the map, about a hundred kilometres from the ash. So, about the same as from the lines to the Dwarven Village. When you see two rivers meet, that will be where the cave is.] Karl replied.
[When we’re done, I’m burning this entire country to the ground just to make it warm again.]
Thor plodded along, periodically looking back to see if everyone else was having as much fun as he was. There wasn’t anything to bother him today, he just got to pull his wagon around, and nobody tried to rush him.
Only an hour before dark, Hawk sent back a report that, for the first time that day, was not about the easiest route for the cart.
[There are human bodies over here, and they are in armour. They might have something important on them.] He reported.
[Are we near the cave? How far is it to the spot where the rivers meet?] Karl replied, just to be safe.
[Thirty more kilometres. Their math sucks. But I can see it, and I can see the Giants in the distance.]
This location was entirely too far for humans to be inside the Frost Giant nation. If they were in armour, they weren’t prisoners of the Frost Giants, so they must be another scouting team that had been sent in.
“Hawk found bodies ahead. They’re in armour, so there is a chance it was another Elite team.” Karl reported.
[Twenty of them in total. Three in white robes, two in red, the rest are not clerics.] Hawk amended.
“Yeah, almost guaranteed they were an Elite team. Hawk says that there are five clerics, including two war clerics, among the twenty bodies.” Karl added.
Everyone grimaced as they heard the news, but he was right, they might have important information on them. If nothing else, they could load them in the wagon on the way back out so that they weren’t left here for the Frost Giants or monsters to eat.
That seemed like the least that they could do for them once the threat was dealt with.
[Is there any sign of what attacked them? It might lead us to a second group of Giants.] Karl asked Hawk.
[Nothing. It’s been snowing down there, and the footprints are all gone.]
Thor led them toward the site of the attack, while Hawk circled in the sky, waiting for any sign that the Frost Giants were still nearby.
They shouldn’t be too far from where they were supposed to find that Cave, but he hadn’t seen it yet. All that was out here was deep snow, deep enough that Thor had been avoiding going over hills, as it would drag on the bottom of the wagon and make it hard to pull.
Thor pulled to a stop next to the bodies, and Karl got down from the wagon with Bob and Harry. They would check the bodies while the others waited on guard. With no sign of what attacked the group, there was no telling if this was actually a frequently travelled path, where Frost Giants might come across them while they were searching.
Not that they didn’t trust Hawk’s scouting ability, but he could only be in one spot at a time.
Karl made his way through the bodies of warriors and mages, all of which were showing signs of losing a fight against the Frost Giants. There were missing limbs, massive crushing damage from clubs, and general carnage.
Karl felt his stomach turn at the scene, and tried to forget the fact that these were all Ascended and Commander Rank Elites only a few days ago at the most.
He had been in battle a relatively long time, but not like this, not with these massive casualties.
It was horrifying to think that an entire group could be wiped out like this. There were twenty bodies, so the chances are that none of them had managed to escape to warn the army about the situation or threat that they had met.
Karl was about to turn back to the cart when he noticed a slight puff of warm breath from one of the bodies. Someone was still alive here, but not by much.
He whistled, drawing the attention of the others, and made a waving gesture toward the legless body that Tessa immediately guessed meant healing.
A golden glow surrounded the cleric an instant before Lotus’ area healing surrounded the entire area. But only the one body glowed with healing light, it was too late for the others.
Once the survivor had some time to heal, Karl knelt beside the body and brushed some of the snow off the man’s face.
“High Priest George? What the hell are you doing here?” Karl asked softly.
The man’s body didn’t move at all, but it was still glowing with healing light, repairing the damage done.
George’s eyes opened weakly, and he silently mouthed a word.
[Trap]
Karl stood up and drew his blade, surrounding himself with a layer of [Flaming Body] in addition to the [Refreshing Lightning] that he always kept active.
That seemed to trigger the trap, and from all around them, Frost Giants burst up out of the ground, showering the area in rocks and snow. They were surrounded, and the bodies were bait for whichever human group came next.
The warriors and the Stone Golems circled the wagon, while Tessa cut Thor free. The Frost Giants hesitated, but not like they were afraid, more like they were waiting for something.
The side of a hill collapsed, and a massive female Frost Giant strode out of the previously buried hiding spot.
{Look what I have caught. Stupid sentimental humans.} She spoke with a heavy accent, in a booming voice that somehow made her feel larger than she was.
And she was not small. She towered over the Commander Rank Frost Giants by an entire head, and Karl was hardly more than shin high on her, his head didn’t even reach her waist.
Karl saw Bob nod in his peripheral vision. They would hold off the ambush while Karl took care of the leader.
[Rae, guard the wagon. Thor will be sad if they break it.] Karl instructed.
“Well, there is no point in waiting, let’s get to it.” Karl shouted up at the Royal Rank Frost Giant.
Rae appeared on the wagon, and called her Spider Golems in to ambush the Frost Giant lines as Karl leapt forward with the two-handed blade flaming in his hands.
{Puny human, I will enjoy eating you.} The leader laughed as she moved with astonishing speed and blocked Karl’s attack.
Frost and fire clashed as the magic on their blades met, sending Karl sliding backwards as he lost the test of strength.
Using [Shred] layered with [Flaming Body] Karl hurled three fast arcs at the Giant leader. A twist of her blade blocked two, while one cut a gash in her side.
Blue blood dripped down her torso as the Giant roared in rage and the encirclement closed on the group, stomping the bodies of the unfortunate group who had come before them.
Ice magic was building around them, then fading as Remi used [Blizzard] to offset the leader’s identical skill. She wasn’t nearly as strong, but the Royal Rank Giant couldn’t focus on the skill with Karl attacking her, and the snow was merely blinding, cutting visibility to under ten metres, making it hard to even see her head when he retreated between engagements, but not damaging his barriers.
If she had only been bigger and faster than the others, this fight might not have been so bad, but she was fast, and even with Agility bracers on, Karl was struggling to keep up.
