I am going to ask for a couple days to re-plan the next arc. I found that I really would struggle to write the ideas as I don't really like them very much. I'll be back soon, but wanted to let everyone know. It will be 2 or 3 days maximum. Sorry agian.
####
Teaser for another story I suppose is okay for filling the word count. As a reminder, I am working on two new stories at the same time as this one. Skybound Codex and Will of Giants.
Will of Giant Teaser.
Chapter 1: The First Wake
I have to get back, Grey thought, crouched low behind the tangled brush that lined the edge of his frost-bitten village.
“Don’t let a single one escape!” a voice bellowed, the command ripping across the chaos. A man in gleaming plates stood in the open, his armor catching the firelight like shards of sun, depicting a serpent-like emblem.
Who are these people? Grey’s heart thundered, each beat rattling his ribs as his hand drifted toward the pale-white knife at his waist. The blade wasn’t forged for war, but was a hunter’s tool, meant for carving and dismantling.
He had heard the horns while still in the woods.
Then the clash of steel as he neared.
And at last, the sight of fire licking up the palisade as he reached the village gates.
Inside, the carnage spread before him. His clansmen, wrapped in heavy pelts, lay scattered, their blood soaking their furs as much their attackers’.
Sweat slid hot down his brow, stinging his eyes. The wild glow of burning roofs flickered across his skin, heat smothering the familiar cold he had always known.
“ARRGH!”
A scream tore the night. A clansman he recognized. A man who worked in the smokeries, always seen near the square. He staggered forward before being run through, a polished blade sliding clean into his chest. Grey froze, staring. The weapon was crafted so finely it mirrored the fire, its gleam cruel and deadly.
The sharp stench of ash and iron filled his nose, sour and suffocating.
I have to go… help them.
His fingers shook around the hilt of his knife. A stark comparison to that bright, alien edge, pointed.
There had been quarrels before. Fists raised, tempers lost. But friends would always step in, break them apart before blood was drawn. This—this slaughter, this invasion was beyond unthinkable.
Grey’s grip faltered. His chest constricted as the wails of his people clawed at him. I can’t die here. Not before I reach her.
His home lay on the outskirts. She would still be there. I—I’ll return after… I’ll help after…
First Tyr. His sister.
He spun and darted away, every muscle trembling with urgency.
“HERE!”
The shout cracked the air behind him, and Grey’s body locked.
“There’s another brat!”
A young girl dashed screaming across the clearing, caught in an instant by a giant in plated armor. She was stuffed into a sack, her cries muffled as the rope cinched tight.
Grey forced his gaze away, biting down on the instinct that screamed at him. His mind rebelled, telling him it was wrong, monstrous to leave her, but still, he hesitated. Tyr was all he had left.
The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.
Rustle.
A single shift of leaves at his side. It was enough. Instinct seized him, flooding every nerve with panic. He bolted, racing through brush and trees, his hunter’s training carrying him swift and sure across the uneven ground he grew accustomed to.
Breath tearing from his chest, Grey burst through the tree line. At last, the hut came into view, Wood walls draped with leaves and pelts, a fragile haven from the fire’s glow behind.
His stride lengthened, arm outstretched. One last surge—
Bam!
The door slammed open under his weight. “Tyr—!”
The word broke in his throat.
Inside, a hulking figure turned, knife gleaming in hand. In the corner, a small girl cowered, wide-eyed, pressed against the wall.
“You’re too old.” The assailant’s voice was gravel, clipped and final. Then, like a beast scenting blood, he lunged, abandoning the smaller prey for the intruder.
Adrenaline scalded Grey’s veins. He yanked his carving knife free, hands white-knuckled. His reflexes were sharp, but he had never fought a man before. Never needed to. Until this night, he had hardly even known others existed beyond his village.
Grey lunged, their bodies colliding with a brutal crack. The larger man’s weight drove him down, forcing Grey’s legs to buckle under the crushing momentum.
They crashed to the floor in a tangle of limbs, Grey barely managing to seize the man’s wrist, stopping the blade a breath away from his chest. The stranger, snarling above him, matched his grip, their arms locked in a trembling deadlock.
Grey gritted his teeth as the pressure mounted, his muscles straining against a strength that dwarfed his own. The brute pressed down inexorably, and Grey felt the tremor in his bones.
He knew the inevitable outcome. I’ll lose.
Both arms shook violently, his chest burning with the effort. Hot, rancid breath washed across his cheek, rank and sour, as the mountain of a man leaned closer. Grey kicked, twisted, and scrambled, desperate for leverage, but the stranger’s bulk pinned him mercilessly to the ground.
A guttural growl rumbled from the man’s throat, yellowed teeth flashing as he bared them like an animal. Grey turned his head—
And saw her.
Tyr. Just eleven, fragile and trembling, crawling closer through her tears. Terror quaked in her thin frame, yet behind it flickered a fragile spark of defiance. Her small hands clenched, her lips trembling as though she might act.
No. She’s too small. Too frail. If she tries—
Even if she hurled her whole body at him, Grey knew it wouldn’t matter. The brute wouldn’t even shift. And worse, if she tried, Grey couldn’t predict what the monster would do to her.
“Stay—” he choked, voice strangled as the pressure above him spiked, cutting him off.
What will they—what will he do to her? I can’t let her—no. NO!
Grey inhaled sharply, eyes locking with the beast who pinned him. A thousand thoughts blazed and died in the space of a heartbeat. His choice was made.
With a violent twist, Grey shifted his body to the side. A searing blade of heat tore through his ribs, white-hot agony exploding in his flesh. A scream wrenched from his throat, only to be ripped away with his breath.
The stranger froze, stunned by the sudden shift. Just a moment. One heartbeat, but that was enough.
“ARRGH!” Grey roared through the pain, his arm wrenching free at last. Summoning every shred of strength left in his body, he drove the pale-white knife upward. The point buried itself beneath the man’s jaw.
For a heartbeat, the two stared at one another, both eyes wide, shock mirrored in both.
Swip.
Grey dragged the blade across, ripping it free. A wet gurgle broke from the man’s throat, blood spraying in a hot torrent across Grey’s face as the giant sagged and collapsed atop him.
“NO!” Tyr screamed, stumbling forward.
Grey gasped, chest heaving as the world blurred.
Everything slowed. The ground tilted beneath him, sound twisted and warped, muffled as though blanketed by heavy snow. Black flecks crowded the edges of his vision.
Then the weight above him shifted, and a single shape emerged from the haze. Tyr.
How? The thought flickered dimly. How could she move him?
She was sobbing, lips shaping words he could no longer string together. Only fragments pierced the fog in his head.
“Stay…”
“Sorry…”
“Should’ve told you—Take…”
Something cool, familiar pressing against his chest. Tyr’s small hand, clutching the smooth wooden carving she always wore. A trinket shaped like some unknown beast, the same one she’d had the day he found her wandering alone in the woods.
The warmth of it—of her—anchored him for one final breath.
“Run,” he whispered.
Cold seeped in, quiet, absolute. Darkness swelled, swallowing the edges of the world. The last sound that reached him was Tyr’s voice, shrieking his name again and again into the unreachable void.
###
You can also tell me your thoughts if you'd like. Again, I apologize for the delay. I really don't like the plan I made for the story, and I don't think you would either.