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Pidge clambered over yet another snow-covered hill as she tried to keep pace with Lance. He was already several yards ahead of her, on the lookout for signs of the giant they were currently in pursuit of. They had been tracking it since mid-morning, following the trail of large footprints it had left in the snow. A storm had set in around an hour ago, so it was becoming much more difficult to continue their trek through the mountains near the border between Dawnstar and Winterhold.
“Maybe—maybe we should stop for a short break,” Pidge suggested through her panting as she managed to catch up with him. Her feet were beginning to ache, and they hadn’t stopped to eat anything of substance apart from some jerky that she had in her pack.
Lance ignored her. He was crouched down in front of a track that was slowly being filled in by the storm. While he was distracted, Pidge scanned their surroundings, keeping a wary eye out for any signs of the giant. Aside from the monstrous footprints it had left in the snow, there had also been the carcass of a cow a couple of miles back, lingering at the side of the road.
“I think this one is alone, at least,” Lance finally said, running his fingers lightly along the edge of the footprint. The snow had been slowly dying down, but it was difficult to see more than fifty feet in front of them with any kind of clarity. The clouds had also completely blocked out the sun, making the atmosphere gloomy.
“Does it have a mammoth with it?” Pidge asked, leaning over his shoulder to look.
Lance shook his head. “I don’t think so… I haven’t seen any prints.”
It was as unusual as it was rare to see a giant without a mammoth to tend to. However, Pidge chose not to comment on it as Lance stood and they continued on their trek. Even with the snow dying down, Pidge still kept hold of Lance’s gauntlet as they walked, stepping in his footprints in order to make it through the snow more easily. Losing one another in the mountains between Winterhold and Dawnstar would quickly spell disaster, especially in giant territory.
Pidge was iffy enough about them taking on a giant together—she didn’t want to think about having to attempt it while alone.
They walked like that for what was probably around thirty minutes—in that time, the snow had abated somewhat, to the point where it was only a mild annoyance. Pidge was still freezing, though, and she was beginning to wish she had chosen better armor. Perhaps something warmer at the very least, rather than her standard leather.
“Do you smell that?” Lance asked suddenly, stopping at the side of the road.
The stench of a giant camp reached Pidge’s nose a moment later. She barely managed keep from gagging at the scent of rot and musk lingering in the air. It was unlikely that the giant had moved for some time, given the strength of the smell—perhaps it was waiting out the storm.
“Yeah,” she managed, eyes watering. “Yeah, I smell it.”
Without another word, she drew her daggers and continued along the snow covered road, footsteps somewhat muffled by the snow. Lance followed her this time, keeping one hand on Pidge’s shoulder while he drew his bow off his back. The snow was even deeper off the road, but not so deep that Pidge couldn’t bolt if she needed to. However, it still was a hazard, only increasing the risk of injury and death by giant’s club.
Then, a low groan came from a grove of trees across the clearing, followed by the heavy footfalls of the lumbering giant and its club scraping across the ground through the snow. Both Lance and Pidge quickly moved to hide in the shadow of a sizeable boulder. The giant took no notice of them as they peered over the top of the boulder, and Pidge could make out its form as it moved slowly through the underbrush, crushing bushes and sticks as it moved around. It had a small fire going, with embers burning low, as the snow had snuffed out most of the flames.
“Last chance to turn back,” Pidge said, looking at Lance. “It hasn’t spotted us yet.”
“Oh, please,” Lance scoffed. “We can take it!”
Pidge rolled her eyes. “Do you have any kind of plan for this?”
Lance’s shoulders fell a little at that, but his grin didn’t fade. “Not really, but—”
Pidge sighed, rubbed her hands against her forehead. “You wanted to come after a giant and you didn’t think of a plan?”
“Well…” Lance began, tapping his chin thoughtfully. “Why don’t you cast invisibility on me and then—and then I could sneak around and get a few hits in before it realizes what hit it!”
She was willing to admit that it wasn’t a horrible plan. Illusion spells were kind of her forte, so it was a sure thing that she wouldn’t botch it. Visibility was minimal at best right now, so it was doubtful that the giant would notice small footprints being created in the snow. However, invisibility wouldn’t mask the sound of Lance moving through the snow, so it would also be a good idea to cast a muffle spell.
“You’ll have roughly a minute, so—” she began, but Lance cut her off before she could remind him to be careful.
“And while I’m doing that, you can try to get in close to get the killing blow!”
Pidge quirked an unimpressed brow. “Really, you’re going to let me have the killing blow?”
“I got the last one…. and the one before that, and the one before that as well,” Lance said, grinning and winking at her.
Pidge snorted and began casting the spells. The hum of magic was only a short sound, and the giant didn’t appear to have heard it, as Pidge could still hear it lumbering about over the wind. She watched Lance’s footprints disappear around the rock before she climbed up onto the rock itself, brushing snowflakes out of her face in an attempt to try and spot the giant. It was still in the grove, but it didn’t appear to have noticed Lance moving through the snow—even though he wasn’t doing a very good job of hiding his footprints now that he knew he had invisibility. As they were downwind, it was unlikely that the giant was going to smell either of them.
Then, she heard the sharp twang of an arrow, and the giant grunted as it was hit in the back of its shoulder. Slowly, it turned and hoisted its club up onto the opposite shoulder as it tried to locate its attacker. Due to firing the arrow, the spell she had put on Lance had dissipated, and he was now visible again. Pidge could see him nocking another arrow and preparing to fire before the giant had a chance to retaliate. The giant roared, brandishing its club, and she had assumed that this was because it had spotted Lance—it took her all of two seconds to realize that the giant had noticed her instead.
Pidge barely had time to curse herself for staying out in the open, when in her haste to get away, she fell from the rock and into the snow below. The giant’s club struck the rock where she had been only a moment before with a resounding crack that left a ringing in her ears.
“Pidge!”
Lance’s shout came from the other side of the clearing, but the giant ignored him. It was more intent on getting to Pidge as it slowly moved around the rock. Pidge felt the ground shake under its feet, and she hissed as she scrambled to her knees, head still spinning from the fall. She dug around in the snow, trying to find her daggers, but only managing to grab one before she was forced to abandon the search.
“Lance, shoot it!” she snapped as she darted out from behind the rock, barely managing to escape the giant’s grasp. She took off across the clearing, with the giant in pursuit—if she could just make it to a tree, damn it—and she screamed as she ducked under another swing of the giant’s club.
Another arrow sailed passed the giant, and Pidge looked over her shoulder just long enough to see it nick the giant’s ear. However, such a minor injury failed to get the giant’s attention away from her and onto Lance. He lined up another shot as she skirted around a nearby tree. The tree groaned behind her as the giant narrowly missed her again. Then, she slipped on the snow, and the couple of seconds it took for her to regain her footing were enough for the giant to seize her and lift her off the ground.
“Lance, I said shoot it!” Pidge shouted, struggling to get free. One of her arms was pinned at her side and unluckily for her, that hand was the one that held the only dagger she had managed to find in the snow. Her heart leapt into her throat and she struggled to keep her breathing even as the giant lifted her fourteen feet into the air without any trouble. Up close, the giant smelled just as bad as its camp and she nearly vomited from the stench alone.
Through her watering eyes, she noticed that Lance had repositioned himself and was aiming another arrow. He managed to land a hit in the giant’s upper arm, and the giant flinched. It was enough of a distraction for Pidge to wriggle free from its grasp. She hit the ground, becoming half buried in the snow as the wind was knocked out of her. Shivering violently as the cold sapped heat from her, she struggled to push herself back up onto her feet. For a moment, she just wanted to curl up into a ball until her head stopped spinning, but then she heard Lance cry out in surprise and the sound of the giant’s club striking the ground.
All she could make out through the snow was Lance firing another arrow—striking the giant just below the collarbone—and bolting off to find some cover. A surge of protectiveness overcame her reluctance to continue fighting—not that she had much of a choice—and even as her muscles ached and screamed in protest, she managed to push herself up to her feet.
Her footing was shaky as she rushed across the clearing, tightening the grip on her dagger as she neared where the giant had trapped Lance and was trying to reach through the underbrush to get him. Pidge leapt onto the giant’s arm, and scaled to its shoulders before it seemed to realize that there was a person on its back. By now, the giant was covered in arrows, and its movements were far more jerky, but it hadn’t gone down yet. It snarled at Lance, fingers digging into the dirt as it failed to snatch hold of his ankle.
When he next fired, he managed to hit the giant in the eye—it howled in pain, and reared back, nearly throwing Pidge off. It felt like it was through sheer force of will that she managed to hang on to its shoulders. Digging her feet into its back for traction, she flipped the grip on her dagger and drove it into the giant’s neck. Blood gushed from the wound, but Pidge held the dagger there until the giant went limp and fell forwards into the snow, taking her with it.
She rolled off the giant’s back into the snow, out of breath and shaking violently. A chill settled across her body as the adrenaline of battle wore off, and she looked down at her gloves. They were stained with blood, and the snow around her was no longer a pristine white.
“Pidge!”
She looked up again as Lance raced across the clearing. He dropped to his knees and drew her into a tight hug, asking if she was okay. Before she could even utter an answer, however, Lance immediately started checking her over for injuries.
“I can’t believe you climbed onto its back, Pidge!” he said, frowning at her. “You could’ve gotten seriously hurt!”
Pidge gave a tired scoff. “I thought you said that I could have the killing blow…”
Lance opened his mouth to retort and then almost immediately closed it again, seemingly conceding the point.
“Besides, I killed it,” Pidge said, pushing herself shakily to her feet. She stumbled a little bit, and Lance rose to his feet to steady her. “And then I saved your ass,” she added, throwing a satisfied smirk his way.
Lance frowned, slinging her arm over his shoulder. “I could’ve handled it.”
“You were screaming like a baby,” she retorted. The pain in her head was beginning to fade, but she still was glad to have Lance to lean on as he led her over to the side of the road. The snow was less deep there, and she could sit more easily without sinking into it while Lance cleaned up the site and retrieved proof that they had killed the giant.
“I think we can agree to have no more ill-advised giant hunts in the dead of winter—” Pidge said tiredly, “Sound good to you?”
“Yeah,” Lance agreed as he lightly turned her head to the side to check her over for injuries. He motioned to his nearly empty quiver where it sat on the ground beside them. “I can only afford so many arrows.”
She flinched slightly as his fingers grazed a cut she had gotten on her cheek. Upon noticing her reaction, he uttered a soft apology, and moved onto her arms, checking for anything that could have been sprained.
“How much was this bounty worth again?” she asked, trying to distract herself a little bit from the ache that was settling into her bones. “You never told me.”
Lance was silent for several moments, and stilled entirely. “Uh…”
“Lance?”
It was not nearly enough.