Drew Este

‘Lucian looks mad,’ Alaric remarked.

‘Wow, you think?’ I said, tapping my dagger on his head. 

‘Hey! You're getting blood in my hair!’

‘Oh nooo, that’s so sad,’

Alaric put on his best death stare but I could tell he was trying not to laugh. He covered his mouth and punched my shoulder. I chuckled and pulled my hood over my head. 

‘Oooooo, I am a sage and I have come to tell you that whoever you punched shall be the end of you,’

‘Yeah right,’ he scoffed, ‘You like me to much,’

‘Try me,’

I leapt up waving my dagger wildly, Alaric followed suit and raised his broadsword. We then proceeded to have the silliest sparring match. I yelled like a wildman and tackled him to the ground. We ended up covered in mud and sweat.

‘I won!’ Alaric yelled.

‘You wish,’

‘Oh yeah?’

‘Yeah,’

‘Then try and beat me!’ I cried.

Lucian Cooper

I should have left with Alex. Wait what am I thinking? I rubbed my temples. Our argument must have really gotten to me. I looked across the plains. Giant carcasses lay bleeding dry on the vast expanse. What was once a marvellous sight now ruined by war. That’s why I’ll never agree with Alex. They caused this. 

More giants would be here soon. We had better get ready. I whistled. A large black bird appeared. It clicked its beak.

‘I know but I’m rather busy,’

It clicked its beak again.

‘No I don’t have worms. Just tell the general we have cleared out the first wave. Ask if we are to proceed or stay in formation.’

He has already ordered you to advance.

‘Very well,’

I nodded to the bird and he flew off. I walked back to the tent. I suppose I’ll have to talk to Raven again. 

Inside Raven was deep into his paperwork. He was muttering to himself occasionally reading out names. I slumped into the chair next to him and moved the piles of paper around him. 

‘You really ought to organise these.’ I remarked.

Raven looked at me and a flicker of worry flitted across his face. His hands were clasped together tightly. I raised an eyebrow. He seemed to still be shaken by our conversation earlier. I tapped the table.

‘The past is in the past Raven,’

‘Ah, yes,’ He nodded slightly and continued with his paperwork. We stood in silence for a few moments. I sighed.

‘Raven we are to move forward,’

‘What?!’ he dropped his pen in surprise, ‘We still have wounded men, this will only serve to cause more casualties. We already lost half our troops!’

‘I know, I’d rather hold back and wait for reinforcements as well,’

Raven groaned and slumped onto the table. I moved the ink pot away before it got knocked over. 

‘Raven we have to follow orders or we will be accused of treason,’

‘I know Lucian but..’

He jolted up suddenly. Raven’s eyes were suddenly bright as if a light bulb had been lit behind his eyes. He smiled. I flinched.

‘Raven what mindless idea have you now?’

‘Lucian if only us five were to go into battle we could have no casualties,’

I stared at him in disbelief. Did he actually think we could win such a battle?

Raven Raptor

It made perfect sense. We could go in and eliminate all chances of casualty and yet Lucian had his mouth agape. Probably contemplating how ignorant I could be. 

‘Raven,’ he said slowly, ‘Do you really think we can take them all on?’

‘Yes,’ I replied, ‘We swept through the giants today did we not?’

‘Raven. The next line of defence is ten times the size. The sheer amount of giants will overwhelm us.’

‘If we can’t do it the troops can’t. It’ll be a death sentence.’

Lucian sighed and nodded. He grabbed a piece of paper and started writing rapidly. Striding out of the tent he called for his carrier bird. I straightened my pile of paperwork and got right back to signing them. 

-

It had been a few days since Lucian sent the letter to the higher ups and we had received their reply. Everything was in order. The expressions everyone wore differed. Alaric was excited, Drew was amused at Alaric's jittering which he called “pre-battle jitters”, William was stone faced as usual and Lucian looked rather nervous which was unlike him. All had their weapons unsheathed and ready to go at any moment. I nodded slightly and we were off. 

Drew Este

Darting through the countryside usually gave me much joy but I couldn't help but feel a little nervous. I didn’t think much of it before but the enemy we were facing was ten times the size. I shook the feeling off. We were elite knights trained in the House of Roan. 

Soon we arrived at the field. Hiding behind trees we could see rows of giants as tall as towers blocking out all sunlight were sharpening their weapons. Their deep guttural voices cut through the otherwise quiet air. I looked at the others. Raven signalled us to start and so we did. 

We leapt at them brandishing our swords. Alaric let out a loud laugh which rang through the nearby woods. Blood splattered everywhere dyeing the grass a crimson red. Giant heads fell and guts flew. Soon the army was halved but we were tired. 

William Cooper

I felt like vomiting blood. My throat was dry. My breathing was heavy. The others weren't in much better condition. The only one still laughing was Alaric. The rest of us had slumped to the ground panting. A wall of grinning faces loomed over us. Alaric turned to look at us.

‘Guys! Come on, there's more giants to beat up here!’ he grinned.

Then it all happened so quickly. Drew was the first to see it. 

‘ALARIC!’ he screamed, his voice hoarse and strained. His eyes were as wide as dinner plates. 

A large foot hovered above him. Its shadow turned the sky black. Alaric looked up in shock but he didn’t move, he could not. It came down with a loud thud and a splat. A wave of red washed onto us. Our faces froze with shock. For the first time in years I was truly terrified. I tightened my grip on my longsword, we couldn’t freeze. We were elite knights.