The marsh was quiet again. Too quiet.
From the wall, Kael could see only fog and the faint silhouettes of broken trees. Somewhere beneath that shroud lay the giant's wounded body — and deeper still, the Shaper's true lair.
They didn't have long before it recovered.
Ryn found him near the east gate, crouched over his gear. "The commander's given us six hunters," she said. "Two with spears, three with beastbone bows, one with a hammer big enough to break a siege shield. They'll follow you in."
Kael tightened the strap on his satchel. "Good. We're not coming back without ending this."
Ryn smirked faintly. "You always say that."
"And I've always meant it."
They moved out at first light, the marsh mist clinging low to the ground. Each step squelched in the wet earth, the air thick with the smell of rot. The six hunters kept tight formation, weapons ready.
Kael took point, the connection in his chest a faint, steady thrum — proof the giant still lived. It was slower now, weaker, but he could feel its awareness turn toward him every time the beat quickened.
The further they went, the more wrong the marsh became. Trees twisted in unnatural spirals, their bark fused with scales or chitin. Pools of stagnant water shimmered with a faint, oily light.
They were half a league in when the first attack came.
A ripple passed through the water to their left — then a shape burst up, all snapping jaws and thrashing limbs. It was some kind of eel-beast, but its body was studded with sharp bone ridges.
Kael met it mid-lunge, his knife flashing in a tight arc across the base of its skull.
[C-Rank (Low) | GP: 245 + 15 = 260]
The rush of power sharpened his focus. He yanked the blade free before the beast's body slid back into the water.
"Stay close," he warned. "They're using the water to mask their approach."
Two more came, one from each side. Ryn dropped the first with a bolt through the gills. The hammer-wielding hunter met the second head-on, smashing it into the mud with a single, bone-crunching blow.
They kept moving, weaving through the warped landscape. The pulse in Kael's chest grew stronger, the link tugging him toward a dense cluster of trees ahead.
He could feel it — the giant was there. Waiting.
The ambush came just before they reached the treeline.
Five beasts burst from the fog at once — fast, lean predators with elongated limbs and too many joints. They moved like insects, bounding over the hunters' defensive line in long arcs.
Kael spun, cutting down the first as it landed behind them.
[C-Rank (Low) | GP: 260 + 20 = 280]
Another went for the archer on the left flank. Kael threw his knife in a quick, underhand motion — the blade sank into the beast's neck, dropping it mid-pounce.
[C-Rank (Low) | GP: 280 + 15 = 295]
The hunters fought hard, but one went down screaming under a double strike from two of the creatures. Ryn's crossbow sang again, and one fell. The hammer-wielder crushed the other with a swing that shook the ground.
When it was over, Kael retrieved his blade from the corpse. His breath was steady, but his skin prickled. The link was pounding now, like a war drum.
"They know we're here," Ryn said quietly.
"Good," Kael replied. "Makes it easier to find them."
The treeline swallowed them, and the marsh changed again.
This part wasn't waterlogged — it was dry, but the ground was covered in a carpet of black moss that muffled their steps. Shapes moved in the shadows between the trunks, but none attacked.
It felt like walking into a throat.
The pulse in Kael's chest was so strong now he could almost hear it in his ears.
Then the giant stepped into view.
It was worse than before.
Its wounds had closed, but in their place were patches of hard, crystal-like growths that pulsed with faint light. The roots and bone of its body had fused tighter, and its eyes burned brighter than he'd ever seen.
And it wasn't alone.
Around it stood a ring of shaped beasts — a living wall, each one larger and more heavily armored than the ones they'd faced outside the city.
Ryn's voice was barely above a whisper. "We're not getting out without killing it."
Kael tightened his grip on the knife. "Then we kill it."
The first rush came from the wall of beasts.
A horned brute charged, lowering its head for a gore. Kael sidestepped and slashed its flank.
[C-Rank (Low) | GP: 295 + 25 = 320]
Another leapt over the brute's falling body, claws aimed for his throat. Kael caught its wrists, twisted, and drove his knee into its midsection hard enough to hear ribs crack.
[C-Rank (Low) | GP: 320 + 15 = 335]
The hunters joined the melee, their weapons flashing in the dim light. Ryn's bolts found gaps in armor, the hammer shattered limbs, and the archers peppered anything that tried to break through.
But the giant just watched. Waiting.
Kael knew why — it wanted him closer.
The link between them pulsed with a hunger that wasn't his.
He cut his way through the last of the ring, the hunters forming a rough wedge behind him.
The giant finally moved.
Its arm came down like a falling tree. Kael rolled aside, mud spraying into his face, then surged forward, climbing the tangle of roots along its leg. The crystal growths glowed hotter as he approached.
He stabbed into one — and the giant screamed.
[C-Rank (Low) | GP: 335 + 30 = 365]
Pain ripped through Kael's own arm, but he didn't stop. He twisted the blade, shards of glowing crystal falling like glass.
The beast staggered, and the hunters pressed their advantage, driving spears into its lower limbs.
It roared and swung wildly, smashing two of the hunters aside. One didn't get up.
Kael climbed higher, aiming for the base of its neck. The pulse between them was a storm now, every beat rattling his ribs.
He drove the knife in deep.
[C-Rank (Mid) | GP: 365 + 40 = 405]
The rank shift hit like a surge of lightning — strength and speed flooding into him, every sense sharper.
The giant faltered, its movements slowing.
"Now!" Kael roared.
Ryn's bolt flew, punching through the glowing crystal on its chest. The hammer came down on its wounded knee.
Kael wrenched his blade free and drove it into its skull.
The pulse stopped.
The giant's body shuddered once, then collapsed forward into the moss, sending a shiver through the ground. The link went silent in Kael's chest.
They'd killed it.