Robe

Chapter 31

Rusty ran and ran, following the narrow street as it turned. He spotted a group of Hepsguard up ahead, five visible spear carriers, and called out to them: "Help! There's a big'n'ugly thing chasing me!"

The Hepsguard had no idea what he was saying, but they didn't need to. The Gol'ur-Klem brute tailing him was impossible to ignore.

The brute, meanwhile, stopped at the sight of the guards. This was a group that it had been instructed to kill, so it raised its club into the air once more, and roared.

"Civilian!" the lead called out to Rusty. "Get behind us!"

"What?" Rusty said as he ran past the group, doing exactly he was asked.

"Good! Keep going!" the guard instructed.

Rusty, having no idea what the dude was saying, stopped to watch the guards engage the giant standing at the fork in the road.

"C'mon, you turd!" Rusty called out. "These guys're going to poke you where it hurts, yeah?!"

The creature strode forward, swinging its huge club in great sweeps, slamming the walls. The Hepsguard formed a line, raised their spears, and advanced. Then one of the guards hurled their spear at the creature, azure flame at the tip surging brightly. The brute batted the spear away, sending the weapon flying into the air. But the end of its giant club was now ablaze. The spear did not fall to the ground as expected, either. Instead, it zipped back to the guard who had thrown it, who caught the weapon one-handed.

"Cool!" Rusty exclaimed. It was a neat trick.

The brute was closing space. It would have been within swinging distance, except its club was being consumed from the tip down. The brute continued to swing the weapon nonetheless, flames crackling and whooshing. The Hepsguard backed up, Rusty keeping equidistant as they retreated.

The lead Hepsguard brought his arm back, ready to throw his own spear, when the wall of the building on their left exploded, knocking the entire row of Hespguard down like bowling pins. Rusty staggered as a hail of wooden shrapnel blasted over him. It was like being pelted with a thousand needles.

He quickly regained his footing as the maelstrom subsided, looking to see what had happened to the guards, and, more importantly, where the giant had gone. There was a second brute on the road now, standing over the fallen soldiers, club raised high. The first giant was still there, but its smoldering club was a fraction of its original size. The creature cast the stub aside, bellowing angrily as it did.

The second brute paused, looked at its unarmed companion, then handed its weapon over. Rusty was totally frozen in place. One of the Hepsguard on the ground tried to get up, but the new arrival stepped on the man, pinning him to the ground.

"Ger-har-gra," the new giant said to the one that had been chasing Rusty. It lifted the foot that was pinning the guard, then brought it down hard.

Rusty brought both hands up to his face. "No!"

The creature turned to him, drawn to the outburst. "Gar?"

"Oh, you bastard," Rusty said. His paralysis broke. It was time to run again.

So, he ran, away from the brutes, away from the guards who had tried to protect him. A part of him knew fleeing like this was cowardly, but what choice did he have? What weapon did he have? The giant had squished that poor soldier like an ant!