Winter's Crown: Act 7, Chapter 21

Chapter 21

The barely perceptible blare of a horn over the howling wind confirmed Ludmila’s suspicions over the Frost Giants’ intent. She peered up at the advancing blizzard, but the weather had thoroughly concealed the Giants when it had overtaken them. Completing her descent from her high perch above the glacier and back onto its moraine, Ludmila looked over at the other side of the valley, trying to figure out where Merry might be.

She didn’t want to give away her own position by loosing a signal arrow, but, at the same time, she wasn’t sure if her voice could reach the Ranger on the other side. A movement out of the corner of her vision drew her attention. It was a boulder bouncing down the middle of the glacier. Ludmila stopped and looked up the slope as more boulders appeared from the blinding snows.

They can see through that?

Ludmila couldn’t believe it at first, but the Giants’ attacks were unerringly striking down swathes of Undead. The deadly nature of the Frost Giant ambush went up by a degree. She turned her attention to the opposite side of the glacier again.

『Merry, the expedition is under attack. Thirty-one Giants, at least. They were waiting for the storm: it’s going to cripple everyone down there.』

Her vision blurred and she gritted her teeth as the cost of her ability took its toll on her mental focus. Its range had improved with time and training, but it hadn’t improved to the point where she could cast her voice over eight kilometres without significant cost. Ludmila started to make her way back down the glacier along the moraine and, after several minutes, she saw the bright red star of a signal arrow flash up into the sky. It appeared that Merry had placed herself at roughly half the altitude that Ludmila had. Fortunately, the extra range she had put into her ability was enough to cover the distance.

Making her way down the slope as quickly as she could without attracting the attention of the nearby Undead, her mind worked to find any flaws in the Frost Giant ambush. It hadn’t even been recognized as one until it was too late – which she supposed was the point to any ambush – but it had the same inexorable quality as the glacier both she and the Frost Giants were making their way down upon.

Going by the steady progress she observed as she headed out to serve as a lookout, the expedition would be somewhere around the bend of the survey route, putting them roughly five kilometres below the toe of the glacier. The timing of the storm was uncanny, but it probably didn’t matter even if it had come an hour or two later. In the short time since she had started her descent, the drifts forming on her path were already above her ankles, and the snows blowing down from the heights only became more and more severe. The leading edge of the storm had probably already reached the expedition.

The snow would probably be waist-deep within half an hour, turning the expedition’s previously unimpeded path over the bare mountain slope into a treacherous slog. The Frost Giants, being as tall as they were, would have relatively few issues making their way through. In addition, they appeared to be able to see through the obscuring snows of the storm, and their boulders were turned even more deadly by the howling tailwinds.

It was a trap crafted by nature itself, and these Giants were well accustomed to taking advantage of it. A powerful blizzard was the last thing that inexperienced Humans from the lowlands would expect at the height of summer, who came from a place where it rarely snowed even in the depths of winter.

Ludmila stopped and turned around, squinting into the wind to see if she could figure out how far away their adversaries were. She had no hope of seeing them directly, but the boulders were still coming down the icy slope. Swarms of Undead were now turning in unison to run up the glacier. They were close.

『Frost Giants, five kilometres from the toe of the glacier.』

She could only hope that she had reached someone, as she couldn’t see if there was any response from below. Nearby Undead continued to react to the Frost Giants’ presence. She instinctively ducked as a boulder smashed into the ground not a hundred metres distant, blasting a divot into the ice and instantly destroying the dozens of Skeletons and Zombies in its path.

The Giants were too fast. In the time that she had made her way halfway down from where she was, they had nearly closed the distance. It was only a matter of time before one of their hunters would notice her if she kept running down in the open. She ducked behind the ridge of the moraine, pulling a fire arrow out of her Infinite Haversack and nocking it to her longbow.

Ludmila took a quick inventory of her surroundings. She was in a trough between the glacier’s moraine and the mountain face, whose ice-bound heights loomed at the top of a sheer cliff face. There were some boulders, that ranged from her own height to the size of a barn, strewn about that could potentially act as cover. The glacier itself was cracked and lined with crevasses as it reached its terminus. As long as their strides were, the Frost Giants probably couldn’t cross the gaping chasms. Was it something she could use?

The dull thud of another boulder impacting the ice on the other side of the moraine shook the ground. Then another.

Probably not. The Giants would be going around the sides to avoid them. That meant they would run right into her – the boulders that had just cast in her direction were clearing the way of Undead. She quietly made her way down the trough, ducking behind a boulder twice her height and peeking around the other side. All that greeted her, however, was the blowing snow.

She returned behind the shelter of the boulder and took a calming breath. A booted foot stepped down right next to her.

Ludmila dropped her bow. Extending her arm, she called her glaive to hand. Activating Ability Boost as she pivoted to attack, her horizontal Slash sheared into the thick hides wrapped around the Frost Giant’s left shin, cleaving through flesh and bone. The Giant roared as he fell, and the boulder behind her shifted as he grabbed at it for support. The massive being stumbled forward awkwardly, crashing to the ground. Ludmila lunged forward to push the point of the glaive deep into one of his shocked, golden eyes. The blade pulled out as easily as it had entered, and Ludmila unequipped the glaive. She stepped back to retrieve her bow and arrow from the ground.

Heart pounding, she strained her senses for the approach of another Giant. The one that had surprised her gave no sign of its approach. If not for the glaive bestowed upon her by Lady Shalltear, she would have been clearly outmatched. Could she lie in wait for the next giant who came to investigate its fallen comrade? There had been thirty-one in total before the blizzard blew over them, and at least half of them were probably coming her way to avoid the hazards of the glacier.

Several Zombies shuffled over to the corpse of the Frost Giant, belatedly attracted by the disturbance. Ludmila frowned over at them, then realized that she might be harder to notice than she had initially thought. For whatever strange reason, the majority of corporeal Undead that manifested from pure negative energies were Human in appearance; all she needed to do was make sure that she didn’t stand out. The dead Frost Giant might have even assumed she was one of the relatively harmless Undead, thinking he could casually destroy her as he passed.

Ludmila turned her gaze up towards the darkening skies. Perhaps Surshana was looking out for her.

Heavy footfalls fell from beyond the boulder, and the nearby Undead shuffled towards the new sound. Ludmila padded away in the direction of the next piece of cover. From somewhere behind, a massive object cleaving through the air could be heard over the wind. The next Giant was probably not a hunter, given how clearly its actions could be heard and felt.

The Giants’ steps came again, sending pieces of loose ice and snow skittering down the cliff nearby. The Undead were still attracted by its presence, but its pace did not slow. The sound of its weapon striking down the Undead swarming towards it grew closer. Could she surprise this one too?

“「Bonecleaver」!”

Ludmila dove forward as a tremendous crack filled the air. She rolled up to her feet and turned to see that the boulder she was hiding behind had been split in half by a massive axe. A basso voice filled her ears with its amusement.

“Hoh…something actually came out. A Wight? A Vampire?”

Before her stood a male Frost Giant. Fortunately, it was not the large one that had appeared just before the attack commenced, but she sensed that it was still about as strong as a Vampire Bride. If she could get in close, the absurdly powerful glaive would do the rest. She focused her attention on his movements as he casually swatted the dozens of Undead that came after him aside.

“…trying to intimidate me with a Skill?” He said as he took another swing, “If you were strong enough to kill my brother there, I’d hardly think it necessary.”

“A Skill?”

The Giant furrowed its bushy brow and frowned behind its blonde beard.

“Don’t tell me…you don’t even know what you’re doing? Hah! You’re as ignorant as a Goblin.”

Without another word, he stepped forward, axe raised high. Ludmila quickly nocked an arrow, loosing it towards the Giant’s feet. The tanglefoot arrow shattered on impact, affixing the Giant’s foot to the windblown stones with alchemical glue. Her next arrow lit its beard aflame. Partway into her next draw, something struck her from behind, pushing her forward slightly. She looked over her shoulder to find that a Skeleton had struck her in the back. Her attacks against the Giant had revealed her to the Undead nearby.

“「Wind Stride」.”

Her pace quickened, speeding her along as she circled around the Giant. The Undead chasing her changed direction and went to the Giant instead, who was now the closer target. When the agitated Frost Giant reflexively swept his axe around to clear them away, she switched to her glaive and charged forward. The dark, pulsing blade sliced through the ankle of his back foot, then stabbed forward into the other. Ludmila twisted the haft in her hands and ripped out its tendon with a horizontal cut as she withdrew to recentre herself.

She moved back around to recover her bow and carry on down the darkened slope. A boulder smashing into the cover ahead of her cut short her escape.

“Leaving so soon?” A woman’s voice called out.

Ludmila turned to find that the largest Giant had caught up to her. Behind him and to his side was a female Giant, who was hefting another boulder in her palm.

“This one’s no good, Sigurd,” she said. “As weak as the kids we sent out last week.”

Sigurd scrutinized Ludmila from where he stood. At a mere glance, Ludmila could tell that this fight would be impossible – even more impossible than fighting a Death Knight or a Death Warrior. The huntress behind him was well above Adamantite, as well. These were the powerful Frost Giants that the Adventurers had been warned about.

“It’s her weapon, Sigurd!” The Frost Giant on the ground shouted towards them, “A spear, or something – it’s more powerful than a Frostreaver! She’s nothing without it!”

Ludmila glowered at the Frost Giant, who was continuing to swat away Undead after being crippled. In hindsight, she should have finished him off.

“That so?” Sigurd raised an eyebrow, hefting a two-handed axe that looked like it was made from shimmering ice, “Plunder usually comes after a challenge, but who am I to complain?”

The eight-metre tall Frost Giant strode towards her. His steps effortlessly kicked through the two-metre tall snowdrifts, shaking the ground as he went. Unlike the other two Frost Giants she had fought, he was encased in midnight-black plate armour with no clear gaps to exploit.

“Wait,” Ludmila said, “I’m–”

“Not interested.”

Still under the effects of Ability Boost and Wind Stride, she danced backwards from Sigurd’s advance. The Frost Giant followed her around with an unbothered expression. Drawing a fire arrow, she loosed it directly at him. His axe shifted slightly to block her attack. The arrow shattered. Its content splashed over the axe blade and ran down the handle, but did not ignite.

She barely spared a thought for the odd occurrence, reaching for a tanglefoot arrow in a bid to at least slow his momentum. She released the missile as he stepped onto a snow-free section of ground. The arrow shattered, but the alchemical glue passed through his foot. The sight was reminiscent of the spell Lady Shalltear had cast to free Ilyshn’ish from her entanglement.

A Freedom effect…

“Petty tricks won’t help you here,” Sigurd told her. “Embrace death like a true warrior.”

She looked all around them as she eluded the reach of his weapon. The huntress was yawning to the side, her disinterest in the ‘fight’ plainly clear. Ludmila found it hard to believe that Sigurd did not possess the means to close distance with her. Going by Ilyshn’ish’s description of their culture and the way he carried himself, it was as if he was saying ‘unworthy’ with every step. One did not use Martial Arts or Skills to crush a bug.

They made another round, with Ludmila releasing arrows all throughout. Sigurd deflected all of them with his axe, and even the lightning arrows failed to take effect. She peered up through the storm at the mountain above.

Ludmila reached into her Infinite Haversack, retrieving three large glass arrows. She increased the distance between herself and Sigurd. She steeled herself with a strain from her favourite hymn and raised her bow.

Surshana, Lord of Judgement, unleash Thy certain death!

“「Sounding Shot」!”

It was a simple ranged Martial Art that the expedition Rangers had to learn. It had no additional offensive power, as it was developed to send arrows over an exact distance. The Adventurers used it to loose their signal arrows high into the air so they could be spotted by distant observers.

The three glass arrows streaked up into the sky, ignoring the vicious winds. Sigurd snorted.

“Brynhild.”

“Got ‘em.”

The huntress cocked her arm.

“「Intercept」!”

With a grunt, Brynhild hurled the boulder in her hand. Everyone stopped to look upwards, tracking its course. The huntress’ attack hurtled into the air, curving in mid-flight to smash each of Ludmila’s arrows in turn. The concussion arrows erupted in sequence, unleashing a rippling bang that could be heard clearly over the wind.

Was it enough?

It was. None of them would escape this.

As the loud crack of collapsing ice filled the air, Sigurd and Brynhild frowned down at her. Ludmila offered a serene smile in return.

“Very well – let us embrace death.”