Chapter 8

Bromyr gently kicked at the giantess's arm as she lie comatose on the ground. The flames had finally died away and cooled enough for them to approach. He had considered approaching the dead dragon first, but he was honor bound to at least ensure their gallant protector hadn't died. He breathed a sigh of relief as a gust of air hit his face, she was breathing at least.

"So.... That happened." He wasn't sure what to say. He wasn't sure what to do either. The necromancer walked up behind them after allowing his monstrosities to return to their rest.

"This is bad... I've sent a raven to my leader alerting him to what's just happened. She needs a healer..." He ran a hand through his hair, his eyes dark from exhaustion. He was a gangly young boy, barely even a man by Bromyr's reckoning. What were they doing killing for a living? He had to wonder if they were born into it. He had never heard of a giant I that line of work. Not to mention he'd never heard of a giant in the lowlands either, so the bigger question was what was she doing?

"That dragon raked her right across the face sending her into a rage. I've seen giants do it before, especially during the Urradan, or what is essentially their established mating season. Once they're in a rage they go all out until they are destroyed or they win. I'm just glad she won." Floki stepped forward next to Bromyr, a severe frown set into his face.

Floki had been with Bromyr from the beginning, ever since he was just a princeling of no more than seven years of age. While the man's age and experience exceeded Bromyr's own, his loyalty was undeniable. So was his wisdom.

"What should we do then Floki?" Bromyr was at a complete loss. They couldn't shrink the woman and in her current state there was certainly no moving her. She was openly bleeding into the dirt, her wounds were likely severe. Not to mention the dead dragon behind them and the rider who had disappeared in the turmoil and chaos. He wished he had an entire battalion on his hands. And someone to do some research on the corpse...

"We owe this woman nothing..." Floki started, but Grimor cut him off sharply.

"We owe her everything Floki. She literally saved our lives. Without her or her strength that dragon would have crisped us all." Grimor stood just behind the necromancer, his face oddly pale. Bromyr started to worry that he had pushed them too far... They were all exhausted. Beyond exhausted. But he couldn't argue with the boy.

"None of us are healers, and I'm guessing you can't...?" He looked at the necromancer who simply shook his head. Bromyr felt almost sorry for the lad, as her partner he had to be struggling.

"I have no affinity towards the healing arts. I can say the words but... Nothing happens. I can get her to shrink though." He offered a small smile as he said it, walking up to her and laying a hand on one of her massive forearms.

"Truly? How does that even work?" Bromyr cocked a brow, curious. The giants he knew could not shrink, nor would they if they had such a fantastical ability. The boy shrugged,

"As far as I can tell it has something to do with the goddess Hephatus. When she first came to us she was sprouting horns and had a temper to rival a badger. But shortly after she received her mark, she changed. She's got rounder ears, duller hair, and her horns don't show up unless she takes this form. I have to imagine that this is her true size compared to her age. Every year she gets a little bit bigger." He began to utter a few words and in a matter of moments, and with a fairly painful groan, she began to shrink back to her original size.

"Truly your god is a miracle worker. And the spell?" He watched with a growing curiosity, if they were going to spend any significant amount of time together he would likely need to know. Or at least that was the justification he gave himself.

"Our fath... Leader taught it to me. I'm her partner, it's in both of our best interests to know. Surprisingly this is the second time I've had to do this." He chuckled to himself as he reached down and gently pushed her hair from her face revealing the terrible claw marks marring the left portion. Her eyes were closed but moving rapidly beneath her lids. Her breathing was rapid and sweat was dripping from her brow. Bromyr sighed, the demon poison hadn't killed her yet which was incredible. They'd have to do their best to save her life and that meant rushing back to his father and getting into contact with the elves.

"I saw a creek a little farther to the south, if one of you here would kindle a campfire I can get some water boiled up to clean out her wounds." Grimor offered eagerly, though he still looked tired. Bromyr sighed, there wasn't much else to do after all... So he nodded.

"Floki, could you kindle a fire and see if we've got any healing herbs tucked away? If you find any have Rombier mix up a poultice and a drink." He watched as the young necromancer continued to tentatively poke at his partner to take stock of her wounds. There was no denying he cared, his lips would quiver every so often as she would groan and hiss.

He was glad he had asked Rombier to travel with him. The man was younger, much like Grimor with whom he had enlisted with. But Rombier had a skill the rest of them lacked, he was a talented healer. Not one of magical abilities that was true, he couldn't incant a few words and use his glowing hands to fix a slash but he was exceptional at preparing herbal concoctions.

"Certainly my prince. I'll return shortly." Floki bowed before setting off to perform his task. The boy watched for a moment, then turned back to the Hound.

"Thank you for trying to get something prepared for her. I could understand why you might have chosen not to." Bromyr paused, wondering what the appropriate response was. To be honest his father would likely stop talking to him if he knew what they had just gone through. The goddess which he had allowed to be contracted with.

"Grimor is right. She saved our lives, and put her own on the line to do it. I'm certain you and your people are not often asked to do such a thing." Bromyr watched the boy smile a little before he replied,

"Most certainly not. This is a first for us, but Midnight has done something similar once. Sometimes the goddess sees value in having us work outside our normal range. In this case perhaps the cause is bigger than even I can imagine." Bromyr leaned down, observing the woman closer. She had a young face, almost innocent when she was sleeping. What were they like? He had never imagined he'd ever have a good conversation with Hephatus's assassins, let alone get friendly with one.

"You are awfully talkative for a..."

"An assassin? I suppose so. Talia was always the harsh one, she doesn't like to talk with others. Actually she just doesn't like people, especially humans. My job is usually information gathering, people talk to me. I enjoy socializing."

"Even as a necromancer?" Bromyr sat down as Floki returned with some wood in his arms, slowly prepping a fire. The boy turned and eyed him, a frown tugging at his lips.

"Does being a necromancer change anything? It's just who I am. What I am. Just like I'm an assassin." Bromyr didn't have a response, so he stayed silent.

"So that woman's name is Talia?" Floki piped up, he still looked rather unimpressed but the wrinkles in his face had softened some, either with a growing weariness or simply a higher bit of acceptance.

"It's the name we gave her." The boy replied as he continued to slowly check over the woman. Grimor still hadn't returned with water, so they couldn't clean her face. Not to mention Rombier's continued search for healing herbs.

"What do you mean?" Bromyr asked curiously. How did Hephatus get her agents? He had just realized that he never had the forethought to ask such a question.

"Talia wasn't born to the order like some of us. She was found when she was a child. Hephatus claimed her and we had to accept that, but she couldn't speak or read. Communication was hard, I taught her how to talk and read over the years. That's part of why we're partners." The boy shrugged as he leaned back to watch Floki build the fire.

"So what's your name?" This time Grimor spoke, he carried several canteens full of water.

"Nico. I suppose if we're going to be escorting you lot home it wouldn't hurt to get familiar with each other." He reached out to take one of the canteens from Grimor. Floki dug a cooking pan out of their packs and handed it to Nico as well.

"Well, I'm Bromyr son of Baldyr, Prince to the Marimoor kingdom in the Stardust range. This is Floki, my commander. Then there's Grimor and Rombier, they're both about the same age and both are part of my personal guard. That over there is Killo, he's newer to the guard but he's an exceptional smith." He motioned over to Killo who had for the most part kept quiet. He was a typical dwarven man, short, stout, brown haired and brown eyed. His skills were more in the line of creating things rather than surviving, but he needed all sorts of skills in his mission.

"Good to meet you all I suppose. It's as weird for me at it is for you, rest assured." He chuckled along with the rest of the men as he started to boil water.

"How is the woman... Talia? How is she doing?" Grimor asked nervously. Bromyr watched him closely, wondering how he would transition into their ranks, and when he would tell them he was Hephatus's now. He'd leave that up to the boy though, he couldn't bring himself to interject. Maybe it was selfish, but in the end he wanted to keep him as long as he could.

"I... I don't know really. I know she's alive, but that's it. I'm not a medic, or a healer for that matter. I can stich stab wounds and realign broken bones but usually when she's badly injured she takes care of it herself. She's a lot like a wounded wolf, she only ever asks for help if it's dire." Nico explained patiently as he waited for the water to boil. They all looked up as Rombier returned with an armful of small bags, likely each one with herbs in it. He sat with the rest of them, pulling a mortar and pestle from his own bag before setting to work quietly.

"Giants are good healers, at least in the sense of healing themselves. They are a specie of people that pride themselves over their fighting abilities, healing quickly allows them to fight longer and harder. I never imagined one would be in Hephatus's order, or even that the Hound was a giant. Or... Half giant." Bromyr squinted at the woman, wondering what the other half was. Considering her hair color there were only really two options, Diomabe or elf. Her skin was light, so he had to settle on elf.

"What do you know about giants then?" Nico asked as he started to cut a few rags from his clothes. He dipped them in the now boiled water and started to wash Talia's face. Bromyr watched as the cuts were cleaned, wondering how the poison was going to affect her. Giants were also notoriously resistant to poisons, it seemed a demon's poison was no different.

"Not a lot to be honest, which is hard to admit considering they're our neighbors to the north. They visit my father every so often, their patriarch and his guard and granddaughter. I know some about their biology and history. Which is why she's a surprise to me." He waived at the woman. Nico winced as her breath hitched, she spasmed slightly when his rag reached her neck. It was drenched in black blood at that point.

"How are we going to get her to a healer?" Nico frowned, cleaning the rag again as Rombier got up to prepare the poultices.

"We can fashion a stretcher of some sort, then pull it to that nearby town?" Bromyr offered, pointing behind his back. He couldn't remember the name of the town, but he assumed they'd have better supplies and possibly some horses.

"That reminds me!" Nico leapt to his feet before jogging a few feet away from the group. He whistled three times as Bromyr and the other dwarves got up to follow him. It took only a few seconds before there was the distinctive pounding sound of horses hooves. Bromyr's jaw nearly dropped again as a massive horse galloped up. It was an incredible looking animal, a red roan if he remembered his colors correctly.

"This is Talia's horse Jax, we can have him pull her or have someone ride with her to the town. From there I can get some arrangements made with my people back home and get our healer to meet us somewhere." He reached up to grab the horses reigns.

"That's all well and good but what about the dragon?" Floki piped up, motioning towards the massive and quickly decaying body behind them. Bromyr could have slapped himself. How had he forgotten? And about something so big.

"Well... We'll have to leave it. We don't have anything to move it. And frankly I cant get anything to move it. My father would never send men this far into the flatlands and I don't have the money to hire humans." He didn't want to admit it, but it was the truth. They had no way to work with the carcass.

"This is all grand fuckery. I didn't think things would devolve this quickly. Obviously this egg is going to be a big target on our backs... Why not just get it to hatch out here?" Floki grabbed the satchel containing the egg, spilling it into his hand only to cry out and drop it. Everyone paused, watching as it smoked on the ground. Bromyr frowned, why hadn't he felt it if it was that hot? Had the satchel really dispersed that much heat? He reached forward to run his hand just over the shell and sure enough the air was hot. He frowned, wishing desperately that he could know more about dragons and eggs.

"I don't know how to hatch the damned thing, I was hoping the fires of Marimoor would stir it to life... Perhaps the flames of this battle could have..?" It was his only theory. He swore colorfully, just one more thing to worry about. If the egg hatched while they were still travelling it only made them a bigger target. They already had an undead demonic dragon try to fry them, what would come next if the beast did hatch?

"Unlikely. If this was an egg produced by a dragon with a rider, then it will only hatch for its rider. The only way it would hatch now is if it sensed its rider nearby and..." Nico paused, a pensive look on his face. The dwarves watched him like raptors, all to eager know more.

"And what? What do you know, boy?" Bromyr growled, using the satchel to scoop the egg back up and hide it away. Nico looked at him, his eyes dark but glittering like he'd never seen them before.

"I read a book some time ago that said a riders dragon will only hatch in the presence of its rider. And only if the rider could provide enough mana to break the shell. There was a ritual in the old times when a rider would find the egg of its dragon, somehow they'd just know. Once that happened they'd have to 'awaken' the dragon so to speak. And after that the dragon and rider worked in tandem to shatter the shell. The author of the book theorized that it was the gods way of providing a first challenge for the new duo, something to align their minds and spirits before the actual hatching. Today that egg was exposed to an unimaginable amount of mana, when Talia is in her giant form at full strength she can produce... I can't even quantify it. She's got an incredible store of mana. Perhaps it was enough to 'stir it to life' as you've said?" They all remained silent for a time as Nico finished unsaddling the horse and storing the supplies it had on it.

"Could it be that easy?" Grimor asked quietly, his eyes never leaving the satchel which Bromyr had set next to the fire. Bromyr sat once more, digging through his travel bag to find something to eat. He didn't have the answers. He was sweating, exhausted, starving, and completely out of his element.

"If that is the case then, who is the rider?" He didn't speak loudly, instead he stroked his beard pensively and stoked the fire. He would be lying if he didn't say that he had been fervently hoping to get the egg to hatch for him. He wanted the respect it would bring him, the honor, the pride, his father couldn't ignore him then. With a dragon the world became open to you, in ways one couldn't even imagine. But not only that, he could take back the lands stolen from them by the humans. He could force kings to hear his name, to fear it. He could protect his home from the growing darkness enveloping the world...

But he couldn't afford to think colorfully, to imagine all the fanciful things he could do with a dragon because in the end the dragon could hatch for any one of them. Even the bloody assassins. His stomach churned at the idea of one of the two gaining that power. Nico was a friendly boy, but he had his fair share of blood on his hands. Nice didn't equate to good, Bromyr could only imagine the evil that could arise from a necromantic dragon rider.

His heart stilled even more at the idea of Talia getting it however, imagining her at full height with an even larger dragon behind her was enough for him to nearly panic. If she was a powerhouse now, what could she do with a dragon? The answer was that she could bring the entire world to its knees. He shook his head, those thoughts were just as fanciful as him imagining riding a red dragon through the peaks of his homeland mountains. It was nothing more than imaginary musings.

He set the satchel aside and instead set himself to helping prepare bandages for the girl with Rombier who had already set himself back to work. He didn't have time to worry about what could be, so he could at least try to help out what would be. He didn't want the girl to die, that much he knew for certain. He only hoped that they could pull themselves together enough to get out of the blackened hell hole they had created before more trouble could find them.