Clash 1

They were not ready for this. They had never been ready for this.

The young man and his mother were people of the field, not hunters or explorers. They had learned to live with danger, as every proper Felaryan did, but it had always been from the shelter of their little town, not here in the unforgiving open. They thought they could risk such a dangerous journey. That they could reach Safe Harbour. That their life would’ve gotten so much better. They thought they had it in them.

They didn’t. And they were going to die.

By what? An elf, a bloody elf, of all things. They had never heard of elves wandering the area before, and yet there she was, that gigantic she-devil, pouncing from the humid green, catching them entirely by surprise. She had been toying with them all this time, scurrying about on all fours, dancing more than hunting, such a terrifying fluidity from something so unnaturally big.

She had cornered them. In their haste to escape they had strayed from the one path they trusted, and the wench had let them to a trap, a dead-end of raw rock and choking vines. Their horse was mad with fear, unruly, impossible to restrain. The young man could hardly keep both of them from falling, he couldn’t even aim his rifle. Those would’ve been precious seconds, a glimmer of hope for a fight-back, and he couldn’t even get that. His mother was screaming, he was screaming, even the horse was screaming, if such a thing was possible.

But the elf was laughing. Her enormous yet lithe figure twirled and swayed, blocking any possible escape. Her large, light blue eyes were shining with expectation. She grinned, she giggled, she licked her lips. Her voice, melodious yet amoral, praising the gods for giving her such a treat

The two humans backed away, begging, yelling. The elf moved in, reaching out with a chipper smile.

They were going to die, and she was going to enjoy every minute of it.

So much, in fact, that she couldn’t see the dark shape looming from above, waiting for this exact moment.

Grendel leaped, and landed on the elf with all his weight.

To the man and his mother it was hard to say what was more horrifying. Perhaps the monstrous figure of the scarred, brutal squamataur, far larger than even the elf and anything they had seen in their secluded lives. Perhaps it was the earth-shaking thunder of his fall, deep like the hammer-blow of a raging god. Perhaps the sickening crunch made as the elf’s bones snapped and her organs ruptured. Or the blood vomited and spewed in her broken throes, spraying them in the process. Or maybe it was the wail she gave, an once fluting voice turning into the very sound of agony, of a being in so much pain whatever was said didn’t make any sense anymore. Whatever the reason, they were screaming again, screaming like they had never done so before, or thought themselves to be capable of. But it was in this horror that they finally saw their way out, and the blood-soaked horse was already carrying them back to the jungle, darting with mad speed into the cover of the unknown.

And even then the dying elf was trying her best to get them, reaching out with a weak, trembling arm, watching them go with glassy eyes, her throat too filled with blood and her mind too drunk with pain to form anything coherent.

Then large hands clamped on the sides of her head, wrenching in back, and Grendel’s jaws closed on her face.



“Mi….Minalca…”

The young maiden had dropped to her knees, her body shaking with an all too obvious shock. Her eyes were tightly shut, and yet her head kept twitching here and there, like she was following some unseen action. A layer of sweat was starting to be visible in her, her hands gripping her red hair in distress.

“What is it?” A worried voice asked, failing to pull her away from that trance. Sitting right next to the girl was a giantess, vastly taller than her yet acting in the most careful way around her. She was wearing a seemingly tailored top and shorts, and a golden headband with an embedded gem was visible under her short brunette hair. Jade-colored eyes looked down at the girl uneasily

“Is it another predator?” she continued, just as concerned “What did you see?”

“In….in there” the red robed girl finally answered, just barely opening her eyes now “I can’t…” It seemed like it was getting harder for her to remain composed “So much….anger….”

If the giantess was going to keep asking, the racket coming from the fringes of the town stopped her from doing so. If the crashing and trampling of vegetation didn’t alert the confused villagers at first, the exasperated yells for help sure would do the job. And everyone was coming out to look and see when the very tired horse rushed from between the trees, with two equally worn down riders on its back, and all of them splattered with blood that didn’t seem to be theirs. Their pleas only became louder once they realized they had reached their goal

“Heeeelp! Heeeeeelp!! Heeee is coming! The-the-the….the-the-the-the!! Outlaw!! Outlaw!! The Outlaw!!! GRENDEEEEEEEEL!!!!”

The effect was like wildfire. In less than a heart beat the villagers had begun panicking, shrieking, letting themselves be lost in the fear these news brought. The giantess, on the other hand, was completely silent, slowly getting up on the spot. A most uncomfortable freezing chill was creeping down her spine. Grendel…?

“The devil??” The red-haired girl asked out loud, her eyes open so wide one would swear they’d pop out any second “The devil is HERE?” She turned around to look at the giantess, swallowing hard “Jade! What do we…”
“Trisha” the giantess cut her off abruptly, her voice cold and dry, all warmth gone from her expression “Get everyone on the town square. Stay on guard” Then without further words she sprinted off, running straight to the wilderness before them

“Jade!!” The girl shouted at that moment “Wait, Jade!!”

But Jade was no longer paying attention to her friend, as she had already lost herself in the thick forest. Dashing through as fast as she could, pushing the smaller trees out of the way, jumping and climbing other rocks and fallen logs, raising clouds of dead leaves and trampled bushes as she went. Her heart was banging inside her chest, the wind hissed through her ears, her lungs struggled to keep air in…and her mind was a flurry of emotions.

So the rumours she had heard were true then? That terrible a predator did exist? And it was going straight to the Harbour. Could she really stop it?

Of course she could. She didn’t have to think about that.

She had a family to protect