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She ignored his protests, tested the wind a moment, said a silent prayer, then hurled the spear through the air as hard as she could.

You could say a lot of terrible and accurate things about her skills as a soldier, but she knew how to throw a spear.

The blade cut through the rope the ferryman was holding, causing it to immediately go slack and fall free.

With no rope to hold onto to pull the ferry across, the current of the river gradually carried the rest of the soldiers and cargo downstream, where the ferry crashed into the burning remains of the village on the opposite bank, flipped over and sank beneath the water.

Ryle put his hands over his head in astonished amazement.

“That was awesome!” He pointed at the dock.

“Seven! Seven men; one spear.” He gave her a thumbs up.

“Good job. Dad would be proud.” He backed away, pointing over his shoulder.

“Now let’s get the hell out of here while our fearless leader is distracted. ”

Taylor turned to follow him, then stopped. The strange feeling hadn’t gone away yet. It was in her head, telling her that something was going on here that she needed to be a part of. Something was deeply wrong. Something needed her.

She could feel it.

She brushed at her arms, again feeling like unseen embers were landing on her skin or something.

“Taylor?” Her brother called again. “We going or what? Because you’re still crazy, even if you were technically right. But either way, you’re not going to die tonight over some stupid dock and a city of corpses.”

She waved him off. “Hold on, hold on.” Her eyes scanned the area, looking for the source of the mysterious feeling calling to her.

There didn’t appear to be anything out of the ordinary though, other than the two dozen soldiers on the dock to contend with. The Baseland soldiers looked important; their uniforms shiny and new.

Why would they send the VIPs and some random crates across before the troops? It made no sense. You sent the troops first, since they could secure the dock and protect the supplies. But the Baselanders had sent the supplies and commanders first, and there was little to protect them.

Why would they feel safe?

Buggane’s men were within twenty yards of the dock now, swords raised high.

A Baseland officer with white hair turned to his companion and said something. The second man saluted sharply and raced to grab hold of a tarp which covered the largest crate on the dock. Several other soldiers joined in the effort and yanked the fabric free, exposing an enormous iron cage.

Smoke was rising from the darkened interior of the crate, as if it had just been on fire.

Several Baselanders immediately moved away from the mysterious enclosure, obviously terrified. In fact, they were evidently more afraid of whatever they had in there than they were of the Cormoranians, because they had their backs to Buggane and his men.

Something in the cage moved; a dark shape stirring in the smoke and shadows.

The white haired man pointed at it and motioned at the soldiers. The men fumbled with the oversized lock for a moment, but finally succeeded in pulling the heavy door open and then stumbled back in terror.

The door to the cage fell free.

The rustling of chains could be heard above the sound of Buggane’s shouted orders and epithets as his men encountered the first of the Baselanders at the edge of the dock.

The rustling of big chains.

A monster shuffled forth from the darkness, bound by manacles and leg irons, and escorted by a team of soldiers on both sides manning its restraints.

The dark creature towered over the men surrounding it; eight feet of solid muscle.

Maybe more. Its skin was dark and cracked, as if burned, and smoke rose from it.

Its eyes glowed faintly in the gloom of the night; predatory and angry.

The white haired Baselander motioned for the soldiers again, and they dropped the largest of the monster’s chains.

The soldiers dashed away.

The Baselander said something to the creature and held up a baton or staff of some kind above his head.

The creature looked down at its newly freed hands and then at Buggane’s men.

A low growl echoed through the area, as if traveling through the ground itself until the entire street seemed to vibrate and move from the deep sound.

The monster suddenly threw its hands wide and the growl turned into a savage roar.

Some of the guidelines used to control the creature snapped free, showering the area with bits of broken chain links.

The heaviest of the chains were still attached to its wrists and ankles by manacles however, each of which was secured by a link of iron as wide as Taylor’s waist. The monster’s incredible strength caused the heavy metal weights attached to these lengths of chain to fly through the air from the sheer force of its movements, like a wrecking ball.

Ryle watched as the huge weights hit the end of their chains and fell back to the ground with enough force to crack the heavy stone of the street, but which the monster had swung as if they weighed nothing. “H-h-holy shit.” He stammered. “ There’s something you don’t see every day.”

A moment later, the giant bellowed again and erupted into angry flames.

Its roar became all the louder and more terrifying, now filled with hate and pain.

Its huge muscles rippled and seemed to move with the flames, which now coated its entire body.

The fire added to the creature’s height and bulk until it was taller than the buildings which surrounded it. Ten feet. Fifteen. Twenty. More .

It was a living inferno of rage and fire.

And it was standing on the dock where her father had taught her to fish.

Taylor was still too shocked to speak; her mouth hanging open in amazement. She’d never seen anything like it before. It was mesmerizing. Almost… beautiful , in a way. So much power. So much grandeur, all inside one elegant form.

She rubbed at the skin of her arm again, feeling a sympathetic burning sensation on her skin as she looked at the flames racing across the giant’s body.

Buggane’s men stopped in their tracks as well, either as transfixed by the sight as she was, or more likely, too afraid to move closer to it.

The creature had no such difficulty though, and let loose another deep animalistic roar, now all the louder due to its huge increase in size.

Several of the Cormoranians immediately fled the scene in sheer terror and the rest of them covered their ears to shield themselves from the deafening sound of a nightmare made real once more.

She just couldn’t believe she was seeing what she was seeing.

Or that it would be so… magnificent .

“T-t-they have a giant.” Ryle stammered, backpedaling away from it several steps. “The Baselanders have got a fucking giant!!!”