By bolgerjc
As they were talking several ogres came out from behind rocks and launched themselves at the pair of giants in front of them, but Sir Garrett intercepted them with a slash from his blade killing two of them. The swing of the third’s club struck hard into the shield of the paladin, but it felt like the swing of a child with his new found size and strength. Determined to end the attack quickly he swung his blade into the throat of the third ending it’s threat.
Several orc bowmen watched from a nearby hill in shock as they debated what to do next. Sir Garrett expect that they had been told to target the female giant, and some if not all her companions would be working with them. The orcs fled the sight of an angry giant charging towards them, not willing to risk fighting an extremely powerful armored giant. Deciding to test his new strength he lifted a boulder and threw it crushing several of the orcs.
“I don’t think I got all of them,” Sir Garrett said. “We have some witnesses that this ambush failed. We need to get off this path, and come up with a plan.”
“I know of someone who can help us but she is many days travel from here even at the size of a giant,” Sir Garrett said. “Are you willing to take this risky quest? I believe we can help your people if we undertake the journey.”
Lady Brana pondered what the human had said to her, “Yes, I will place my trust in you.”
“We are going to free the Queen of Ice.”
The eyes of the frost giant widen at the words because she had thought the ancient dragon of ice had died long ago. It had been a terror to the people of the north with a fearsome appetite for the flesh of frost giants. She remembered shuddering at the tales her Grandmother would tell her, it had been a long time before she could stop herself from racing to obey the commands of her parents when they warned her the Queen of Ice would come for her if she failed to do as they ordered. She had eventually come to the mind that it was a legend from long in the past, but this human was telling her there was a great deal of truth to the legend.
“You would free my people by having them killed!?!” Brana asked, the fury starting to rise in her.
“We will make a deal with the creature,” Sir Garrett explained. “She was trapped by my order over a thousand years ago. She may even be dead, but a dragon with that much power doesn’t die quietly in a cave. If she is dead we can collect from her treasury enough money to pay several armies to free your people from the danger they are facing.”
She was still very frightened by the idea of the Queen of Ice being freed but she nodded her acceptance of the idea. They could at least look to see what had happened to that creature of legend. She wondered about the treasure the creature had collected over the centuries. It might be possible to collect some long lost artifacts of her people from the dragon’s treasure. If she did it would make her a hero of her people, but dark thoughts enter her head as well.
The Queen of Ice was an easy target on paper but the truth was likely to be far different. This creature probably had the intelligence and cunning of centuries and dragons were known to grow stronger with age, not weaker. What secrets of magic lurked within the lair of this legendary monster, only the confidence of the paladin helped to calm her fears.
He was handsome for a human, and he was much kinder and more gentle than the male frost giants she had known who only seemed to be concerned with their battle prowess and not what the good they could do with it. Sir Garrett often talked about the good he wanted to do for his people, and the peaceful future he was working towards. She was afraid she was starting to like him more than she should.
