The giant charged.

Mister Knight and I split, each sprinting towards different sides of the arena.

It took the beast a second to skid to a stop, redirect to face my ally, then charged again.

While it’s attention was off me, I charged another bolt and let it fly. It struck square against the beast’s back, and I could see the electricity discharge across its armor. It staggered, unable to stop itself as it charged shoulder-first into the wall, shaking loose a few of the bricks from higher up and scattering ice dust into the air.

Mister Knight took advantage of the momentary pause to climb up onto the giant’s back and start hacking away at where my bolt had torn through the armor. He got three solid strikes in before the giant recovered and shook him off. He hit the ground and rolled out of the way of the beast’s mace.

It howled and charged again.

I sparked another lightning bolt, but dropped it instantly. My chime fell to the ground as I buried my head in my hand, grinding my teeth to ride through the pain. I’d hit my limit for magical strain, meaning I couldn’t do anything as the giant's charge gained on Mister Knight.

Just as the beast caught up, it raised its mace and swung.

Mister Knight turned and met the beast’s charge head-on.

Just as they were about to collide, Mister Knight hit the ground, sliding beneath the giant’s bulky frame and narrowly avoiding being flattened. The mace slammed down hard enough to rattle the city and crack the stone even wider. At first, I thought it had missed, only to realize the giant had other plans. It used the head of the mace as a weight to keep it balanced as it turned its charge back around toward Mister Knight.

The poor soldier was back on his feet, but couldn’t react fast enough to dodge the second charge. He put his shield up in time to catch the giant’s full strength swing.

The echo of cracking metal filled the air as Mister Knight toppled backwards, head-over-heels. His shield landed nearby, the metal warped and cracked beyond use.

The beast rose on his hind legs, and I prepared my ears for a horrible roar.

Instead, I heard the sound of whipping wind as the beast started to inhale.

I didn’t know what it was planning, but I knew that Mister Knight wouldn’t survive it. I snatched my chime from the ground and summoned my magic again.

Visions flickered in front of me.

I saw my dream. My bedroom in Canterlot. Celestia.

The thudding pain in my head dulled for a moment. Just long enough for me to line up my shot. I loosed the lightning bolt, and it exploded against the giant’s head with a crack of thunder.

I gave a silent cheer.

That changed the instant the smoke dissipated, the beast now had a deep black scorch mark on the side of its head, and I had certainly garnered its attention, but I hadn’t staggered him this time.

He turned to face me and unleashed his pent up breath.

The winds whipped into a frenzy as he howled his icy breath at me. My eyes went wide and I tried to use my arms to block my face, but I couldn’t escape the wall of sheer cold that overwhelmed me.

The icy winds ripped right through my armor.

In under a second, my arms were numb, followed closely by the rest of my body. I dropped to my knees and heard the crunch of ice as I landed. My arms fell limp at my sides, forcing me to face the full strength of his frozen fury.

My mouth and throat dried.

My vision blurred as ice crept over my eyes.

I couldn’t breathe.

Then it stopped.

I looked up to see Mister Knight standing on the beast’s back. This time, he stood closer to the head, plunging his sword into the gap between the giant’s head and shoulders. The beast reached for him, but he jumped down, slashing and stabbing at whatever openings the plate armor gave him, like a wasp, stinging at the giant as it swatted uselessly at him.

Slowly, painfully, I uncurled my hands from my chest. I pulled at each of my gloved fingers, trying to maneuver my numb, shaking hands. It felt surreal, watching my arms and fingers react to my commands without being able to feel them. After a bit of difficulty, I pulled the glove off and tossed it aside. My blackened fingers curled.

With my hand freed, I reached down for my bag, for the warm potion inside.

I fumbled with the buckle. I heard Mister Knight yell, followed closely by the sound of smashing metal as the giant slammed his mace down. I couldn’t afford to lose my concentration now, though. I swallowed hard, but didn’t look up.

Eventually, I undid the buckle and grabbed the orange flask.

One quick swig sent its warmth radiating through my body, bringing some sensation back to my frozen limbs.

I tried to stand, but my foot couldn’t move. I glanced down to see it stuck to the floor with ice. All around me, icicles stuck up from the ground, all tilted toward the wall, protruding from a sheet of ice an inch thick. I twisted around to see the trail of ice continue up the wall. Icicles hung from the overhang, each one several feet long with a razor-sharp tip.

I slipped my potion back into the bag as I yanked my feet out of their frozen trap with a sound like shattering glass. My first step, I felt myself start to slide. I reached out to the wall nearby, using it as leverage to stand.

A savage roar echoed through the courtyard.

On the other side of the courtyard, the giant had finally managed to snag Mister Knight. He held the soldier in one hand like a toy. He cried out as the giant tightened his grip and swung him around.

“No!” I cried out.

I tried to move, but only succeeded at slipping back to where I started.

I tried to call for my magic, but the migraine burning through my head stopped that.

I tried reaching for anything else I had. My axe. My knife.

Nothing.

I could do nothing but watch as the giant slammed Mister Knight into the earth.

From where I stood, I could see that a few parts of his armor buckled under the force. As the giant lifted his mace, Mister Knight tried to crawl away. In his last moments, he turned to me. I hand outstretched toward him, as though I might somehow take his hand from across the courtyard.

A crunch of metal and stone rang in my ears as the mace slammed down.

A spray of blood filled the air.

I started to shake.

My vision blurred.

“Come on then!” I screamed. “What are you waiting for?”

The giant’s head snapped toward me. He lowered himself to the ground and crawled forward, like a cat stalking prey. I crouched down to match him.

I only had one shot at this.

I tossed my axe aside. Right now, it would just get in my way.

The giant slammed his mace and roared before lowering his head and charging again. As I tightened my grip on the wall, I put one foot against it. I started to sway back and forth. I had to be ready.

Watching the beast charge me played havoc with my nerves. Every fiber of my being told me to run, to scamper, to get the hell out of his way. Every fiber but one. One part that knew I had to do this. I found that piece deep in my soul and held tight.

The ground quaked beneath me.

The ice rattled overhead.

The beast closed in.

Twenty feet.

Ten.

Five.

Time slowed as I closed my eyes.

I stepped forward and pushed myself off the wall. I felt my boot lose traction on the ice. Even with my eyes closed, I felt the world tilt before my back hit the ground. The force of my kick kept me moving forward, gliding across the ice.

I felt the ground explode around me as the giant sailed over me.

My thoughts were drawn to a movie Rainbow had shown me once, to a scene where the hero dodged a train by laying between the rails on the track. As the gargantuan beast barreled past me, its arms and legs slammed down inches from me with enough force to shatter the stone floor.

I hit the edge of the ice patch, causing my slide to become more of a tumble.

The world behind me exploded as the giant rammed full-force into the wall where I’d been standing. Stone and ice exploded, covering both of us in dust and snow. I heard a crackle, followed by the sound of splitting metal and flesh.

Dusting myself off, I turned to admire my handiwork.

My plan had worked flawlessly. The giant had landed with enough force to damage the wall, sending a lightning-shaped crack up two or three stories. Between the damage and the quake, the icicles shook loose, raining down on the giant, their needle-like tips cutting through metal and body alike.

The giant laid still, a dozen bloody icicles protruding from his back and head and a growing red puddle beneath him. Before I could turn away, I heard what sounded like a long sigh. I felt a cold wind rush past me.

I hadn’t expected the giant to live.

It tried to pick itself up, but its tired limbs collapsed under the weight, sending it crashing back down into a heap. The blood loss would probably kill it sooner or later, but I didn’t want to take that chance.

Ignoring a cold mist that emanated from the beast’s maw, I stepped forward, putting my boot on its head.

It tried to struggle, but was too weak to fend me off.

The bells on my chime tinged softly as I drew it from my pocket.

Pain split my head. A thick cloud of fog obscured my thoughts.

But beyond that veil, a fire burned.

I thought of my homes.

Of Celestia.

Of Twilight.

My desire to see my homes again swelled. But there was something else.

I thought of Mister Knight, bloodied and broken.

I felt furious.

My teeth ground as I lifted the chime.

Lightning crackled through the gold, sending a shock up my arm and sending a spike through my brain.

I didn’t care.

I tightened my grip and demanded that my body push through the pain.

Blood trickled down the front of my face.

My lighting crackled into the shape of a spear.

I lifted my weapon . . . and paused.

The beast looked up at me. Begging. Pleading. And as I watched, I realized. Behind that wild, feral look, I still spied a spark of humanity. He wasn’t asking me to spare him. He was begging me to finish him.

I obliged, plunging my spear into his head.

The beast finally fell still.

My lightning dissipated. The chime dropped to the floor, landing in the blood.

I heard the whoosh of flame behind me and turned to see a bonfire. Staggering towards it, I touched the blade and felt the flame explode to life. But I wasn’t done yet. I made my way over to Mister Knight’s body.

Most of his armor had been shredded by the sheer force of the giant’s mace. Gathering what little strength I had left, I took his hands and started to drag him closer to the flame. His armor was even heavier than it looked. I probably pulled a muscle trying to drag him, but I couldn’t feel it regardless.

His belt caught on the lip of a flagstone. I gave a hearty tug to pull him free, but only succeeded in pulling his gauntlets off, revealing a pale-skinned, dirty hand. I glanced down at the gauntlet in my hand and tossed it onto his body. Kneeling down once again, I took his hand and started to drag again.

The moment my fingers touched his leathery skin, an image flickered in my head.

A young, red-headed girl, standing at the front door of a log cabin, waving.

With each pull, the image renewed, growing slightly clearer each time.

She wiped the tears from her eyes.

She looks just like her mother.

I dragged Mister Knight to the edge of the bonfire and dropped him. My strength finally failed and I collapsed onto the stone beside him. I had to crawl to my normal spot sitting opposite him.

My eyes closed and I let the exhaustion finally overwhelm me.

Author's Note

Sorry, just a short one for you guys this week.
Work has been something else.