The first warning came at dawn.
Kael woke to the sound of bells — not the slow, ceremonial chimes for a Guild change of watch, but the frantic triple-peal reserved for only one thing: an incoming beast surge.
He was already out of bed and strapping on his gear before the second set of bells began.
Ryn was at the window, crossbow in hand, staring toward the east wall. "It's them," she said.
Kael didn't need to ask who. The link in his chest had flared to life the moment the bells started, a deep, steady thud that wasn't entirely his own heartbeat. The giant was moving again — and it was close.
They reached the street as the city's defenders mobilized. Guild hunters, militia archers, and a handful of hired mercenaries poured toward the wall, shouting orders over the clatter of armor and the hiss of oiled bowstrings being drawn.
The east gate was a massive slab of reinforced oak bound in steel, flanked by two squat towers bristling with ballistae. Beyond it, Kael could already hear the distant rumble of something heavy moving through the marsh.
Ryn jogged beside him, loading as they ran. "We can't let it reach the wall intact. If that thing hits the gate at full speed—"
"It won't," Kael said grimly. "We'll stop it outside."
The wall stairs were crowded, hunters pushing past each other to get a look. Kael forced his way to the front and looked down into the fog-laced marsh beyond.
They were coming.
The giant was at the center of the formation, its wounded leg dragging slightly but not slowing it enough. Around it moved at least two dozen smaller beasts — some familiar shapes from their last fights, others warped into stranger forms. A pair of hulking quadrupeds carried crude siege shields on their backs, deflecting the first volleys of arrows from the wall.
Kael's pulse hammered with the giant's, the connection making the ground feel like it was shaking even when it wasn't.
The Guild commander barked orders from the tower. "Ballistae! Load for heavy penetration! Fire on my mark!"
The first bolts were massive things — iron-tipped shafts thicker than Kael's forearm — and when they launched, the sound was like thunder. One struck a shield-beast square in the shoulder, punching through the plate and dropping it instantly. The other ricocheted off the second shield's angled hide.
The giant didn't flinch.
Kael pushed through the line to the stair down.
Ryn caught his arm. "You're not going out there alone."
"Wasn't planning to."
They left through the smaller postern gate, the kind used for quick hunting forays. Two other hunters followed, both veterans armed with spears tipped in beastbone. Their expressions said they knew exactly how bad this was going to get.
The marsh air hit Kael like a damp blanket, heavy with rot and mist. The sounds of battle above faded behind them, replaced by the crunch of mud under boots and the distant, rhythmic crash of the giant's steps.
The smaller beasts reached them first.
Two wolf-like shapes lunged from the mist, their hides bristling with jagged spines. Kael met the first with a low slash that opened its throat.
[C-Rank (Low) | GP: 225 + 20 = 245]
The other went for Ryn, only to crumple under a bolt through the eye. The veterans took down a third beast that had tried to flank, driving their spears through its ribcage until it stopped twitching.
The marsh fell quiet again — for about five seconds.
The giant emerged from the mist like a mountain walking.
Even wounded, it was a wall of moving earth and bone, its eyes glowing in rhythm with the pounding in Kael's chest.
He stepped forward, the connection tightening. Feel me, you bastard.
The giant tilted its head — not much, but enough to make Kael sure it recognized him.
Then it charged.
"Scatter!" Kael barked.
They dove aside as its arm swept down, smashing a section of marsh into a crater. Mud and water sprayed high, raining back down in thick globs.
Kael rolled, came up running, and leapt onto the creature's trailing leg. His knife sank into the root-flesh, the link flaring with a spike of shared pain.
The giant roared, spinning to shake him off. Kael clung to a twisted branch-like spur until it slammed into a tree, snapping the trunk in half and hurling him into the mud.
Ryn's bolts peppered its upper body, one finding a gap near the shoulder joint. It snarled — an almost human sound — and ripped the bolt free.
Kael staggered to his feet, mud dripping from his coat. The veterans were circling, stabbing at the smaller beasts that swarmed to protect the giant's legs.
He charged again, this time aiming for the wound in its shoulder. Stonehide hardened across his forearms as he vaulted up its side and drove the knife deep. The pain lanced into his own shoulder, but he gritted his teeth and twisted the blade hard.
The giant lurched forward — straight toward the wall.
Kael realized too late that it wasn't trying to kill him here. It was trying to drag him into the city's defenses, where the link between them would make every heavy hit against it a blow against him.
"Ryn!" he shouted. "It's going for the gate!"
She didn't hesitate. Her next shot wasn't at the giant — it was at the thick roots under its wounded leg. The bolt hit deep, and the beast stumbled, giving Kael just enough time to drop free before it crushed him under its bulk.
Above, the ballistae fired again. One bolt buried itself in the giant's upper torso. It roared, and Kael felt the impact like a hammer to his ribs.
He doubled over, coughing blood.
The link. It wasn't just his damage echoing in it — it could share the damage from others if it wanted to.
The giant had learned.
The walls loomed close now, and defenders rained arrows and bolts down at the advancing beasts. The smaller ones fell in clusters, but more kept coming, their bodies shielding the giant's advance.
Kael forced himself upright. "We end it before it reaches the gate!"
The veterans glanced at him like he'd lost his mind, but they followed as he sprinted for the giant's side.
Ryn's bolts cleared a path through the smaller beasts, and Kael leapt for the same leg wound he'd cut days before. This time, he didn't just stab — he climbed into it, using the tangled roots like handholds until he reached the joint.
He could feel its pulse through his palms. His own heartbeat was matching it perfectly now, each thud a shared rhythm.
Kael slammed his knife into the joint's core. The pain almost blinded him, his own leg screaming in agony, but he kept twisting, sawing at the thick cords of root until something gave with a wet snap.
The giant buckled. One knee hit the marsh with a splash that shook the ground.
"Now!" Kael roared.
The ballista crews didn't need telling twice. Three massive bolts slammed into the giant's head and upper chest. It howled, staggering back.
This time, the pain didn't hit Kael. The link had gone slack.
Ryn's voice cut through the chaos: "Kael, out of there!"
He dropped from the leg wound just as the giant toppled backward into the marsh, crushing a cluster of its own smaller beasts under its bulk.
The survivors scattered into the fog.
Silence fell over the marsh, broken only by the groan of the city gates opening. The commander strode out, scanning the battlefield.
"Report!"
Kael wiped mud and blood from his face. "It's down. For now."
The commander's gaze was hard. "For now isn't enough. That thing comes back, and next time it brings more, we won't hold this wall."
Kael looked toward the fog where the giant had fallen. "Then we go to it before it gets the chance."