- Text Size +
Warning this story contains adult content so if you’re a minor don’t read it or if adult content involving sex, violence or super powerful women offends you don’t read it either. This story was written with input from Supernaught whose real name I haven’t inquired about.

The author namely me can be emailed or contacted on yahoo messenger at: happiest_in_shadows@yahoo.com . Reviews are welcome


Traveling perhaps the most boring part of her job, Annette couldn’t help but lament as she walked through the forest. The path obviously saw very little traffic as it had several shrubs and other plants growing along it. A few wagon tracts could be seen but they had almost been washed away. Several tree limbs bent or broke when Annette’s chest, stomach or arms pressed against them which were another sign the path was rarely traveled. Had she been a normal person riding in a wagon she would have had to duck.

Annette didn’t bother ducking though neither did she care about the limbs that would occasional brushed against her face or any other part of her body. The fragile plants weren’t nearly strong enough to be worth any note.

A log that had fallen across the road wasn’t even worth her notice that it would have slowed a wagon down considerably or required a person on foot to climb over it. As it was the log shattered the moment Annette’s foot came crashing down upon it. This wasn’t a feat of strength though rather it was a benefit of her weight and that which her armor added to it.

To wear her armor that on the other hand was a true feat of strength one which most humans would have found impossible even without taken into account its’ awkward size. The thinnest points on the gauntlets, greaves and breastplate that she wore were easily 35 centimeters of especially hardened and enchanted alloy. The metal was far denser and stronger then steel even without the enchantment. There was of course the weight of her weapon as well.

Annette stopped for a moment as she came to a fork in the path; after glancing in either direction a long sigh escaped her lips. “Annette you dumb fuck you already forgot the directions.” An aggravated look crossed her face fortunately there was no one around for her to take that irritation out on other then herself. Reaching down she took hold of the locks that served to hold the chains that where used to hold her traveling pack on.

Setting her traveling bag down Annette began to rummage through its contents in search of the directions she had brought with her. A moment later she pulled out an iron case and opened it up. She had learned long ago that it wasn’t a good idea to carry paper items unprotected in her traveling bag. “Fork in the path, fork in the path. Ah, okay here I am and I need to go to the east.”

After taking a few moments to read ahead Annette placed the paper back into its protective case and put her bag back on. Turning her head towards the winding path Annette gave her head a slight shake before she began to wonder down it. Extending her arm out to her she allowed her arm to press into the trees to her side. The natural towers didn’t have a chance against her strength or her size between her own mass and that of her equipment as well as her own walking speed she didn’t even get slowed down.

At least finding her way back to this spot would be easy enough. She couldn’t help but smile childishly as she heard the trees crashing to the ground. Just why did it amuse her so much? Perhaps it was simply in her nature to cause destruction? Of course that wasn’t uncommon she was far from the only person in the world that enjoyed destroying things for little or no reason. In her case the destruction was to relieve her boredom.

Annette listened carefully for the sound of the various animals scurrying away. Some ran because of the actual destruction she was causing others just because of the sound.

Simon grunted with effort as he leaned on the heavy poll while his friends and fellow farmers attempted to push the wagon. They had hit a rut upon their return journey and as a consequence they had become stuck. This was a rather upsetting turn of events but he was glad he had a few people along to help. The four of them had resolved to travel together to town to sell some of their excess crop and see if they could get some new goods.

However, as upsetting as getting the wagon stuck had been what had once been a frustrating experience was quickly turning into a frightening one. None of them knew what it was but they could hear cracking and loud impacts off in the distance. What made things even worse was that whatever was making the noise seemed to be heading towards them. At least the adrenalin might help with them dislodging their wagon. None of them wanted to abandon it after all.

Annette withdrew her arm as she heard something up ahead. She didn’t bother reaching for her weapon or paying much more attention to her surroundings then she already was. From the sounds of things she didn’t believe that it was any threat to her. Indeed whatever it was seemed to be struggling with something already.

Simon felt somewhat better when the noise seemed to stop. At least he did for a little while. As they renewed their efforts to free the wagon though he found himself once again hearing rather frequent impacts those these were different from before. They weren’t nearly as powerful and they were coming in a far more regular pattern. They had thought whatever was approaching them had stopped moving now it seemed that it might have just quit making as much noise.

At last Annette rounded the corner, for a moment nothing happened as the men looked at her and she looked back at them. Glancing down at the wagons stuck wheel her attention shifted back to the men. “Stuck?”

Simon’s mouth had fallen opened the moment the giantess had rounded the corner. As he looked up at her towering form he doubted his head would even be level with her crotch. From his position he estimate that was well over double his height and most assuredly contained a great deal more mass then even that.

Villagers was the dominant thought in Annette’s mind as she had a good idea of what was going to happen next. More then likely the men had never seen a person quite like her, well she knew that they had never seen anyone like her but they may have seen giants before. Of course there reaction often proved to be far worse if they had seen giants then those that hadn’t.

“Run..Run. Run!” Simon muttered as he took off down into the forest followed shortly by his friends.

Annette giggled a little bit she had gotten used to people reacting in such a way to her size that and the fact that most people thought anyone of her scale was a mindless killing machine that lived to pillage. As she watched the men scurrying away she found herself unable to resist the urge to have some fun also she didn’t like that they seemed to believe they could truly out run her.

Simon could swear he heard the giantess foot steps but he didn’t dare look back. Then a tremendous crash resounded through the area and he knew that he could hear the giantess running.

Annette had taken a running start and actually jumped over the wagon. Her massive legs allowed her to easily catch up with the fleeing men in part thanks to their length and in part thanks to their strength being even greater then her body mass would indicate. As she caught up with the first of the fleeing men she reached a hand down and scooped him up in a cradle hold.

Simon heard one of his friends scream out even though fear gripped he couldn’t stand the idea of leaving a friend behind. Coming to a dead stop he turned to face the giantess only to see her massive form leap clean over him.

The fact that one of them had turned to face her surprised Annette on some levels of course it had caused her to nearly plow into him. She dared not scoop him up while he was stopped since more then likely she would end up killing him and that wasn’t her objective at the moment.

Simon watched as the giantess easily caught up with his still fleeing friends. As she reached out and took hold of one of their waste and scooped him up. A moment later she had wrapped him in the arm that had caught her first victim leaving one arm free. He thought more then likely that she could hold another person under that massive arm if she wanted to.

Annette dug her feet into the ground this didn’t stop her right away but between all the mass she was carrying and the speed she was moving at she had built up quite a bit of momentum. Catching up with the second person had put her well ahead of the third. Once she ground to a stop she extended her hand the man as so terrified that he hadn’t even slowed down and couldn’t in time so that he smacked right into her hand.

The impact knocked the wind out of him but didn’t do any serious damage. Reaching down Annette easily lifted the hand into her grasp and arranged him so that she was holding all three of them with only one arm. This only left the man that had actually stopped running. Annette took a few steps forward towards him to see what he was going to do before deciding to break the ice. “Hi. You know it isn’t very nice to scream and runaway when a person shows up?”

Simon didn’t respond right away but took in a few deep breaths. He had just seen how easily she had run down the others and the damage she had caused to the area in doing so. Several trees and shrubs had been destroyed by her massive body and it hadn’t even slowed her down. At last he found his voice. “What are you going to do with us?”

“Well these three I am going to pack back up to the top of the hill. You can either walk back up or I can give you a lift if you want.”

“Um I’ll just walk.”

“Suit yourself.”

Simon waited as Annette walked by and then followed after her. Though he still wasn’t certain what was going to happen next he didn’t see a point in running especially after she had just proven it was a futile effort.

When Annette made it to the top of the hill she proceeded to set the men down as if they were children. She didn’t just set them down on their feet but made them set down as well. “So from the wagon I assume your going to one of the larger towns at the other side of the forest.”

“Yes. Um we were going to try and get some new tools.” Simon hadn’t made it to the top of the hill yet, so he had to raise his voice a bit. At least he thought he needed to raise his voice a bit.

“I don’t think your ox appreciated you running off without her. Are your friends always this quiet?”

“Sorry.”

“You can relax you know I don’t intend to harm any of you.”

Simon didn’t know where it came from bit he felt a slight bit of courage which allowed him to ask. “Then why did you chase us down?”

“Because if I hadn’t who knows when you would have stopped running. You might have ended up lost. That and it was kind of fun I like tag.” Annette bent at her knees so that she could look under the arm. Reaching under it she proceeded to fill around until she found two key support areas and put her other hand under it.

Simon didn’t know what to say as he saw the wagon begin to lift into the air. This massive woman wasn’t even showing the least bit of strain despite the wagon being fully loaded. True she was rather large, standing well over double his height despite that the wagon had quite a bit of goods in it and wasn’t exactly small.

Annette had to be careful not for fear of injuring herself but to keep from damaging the wagon. Giving then ox that had been left behind a slight nudge she moved the wagon forward and out of the ditch before setting it down though she didn’t release yet. “You know what is worse then having your wagon stuck?”

Simon wasn’t certain where this was leading but he felt some what nervous. “What?”

“Having the ox run away with it, why don’t you come up here and make sure it doesn’t?”

Simon moved with more haste making his way up the hill and taking hold of the animal. Uncertain of what was going to happen next he resolved to try and be polite. “Thanks for helping us with the wagon miss.”

“It wasn’t a problem. So what are you hoping to sell?”

“Just some surplus crops, a bit of corn, potatoes and some blankets our wives made.”

“No watermelons?”

“Uh, sorry but no.”

Annette gave a slight shrug. “All well. Listen I am heading towards the town of.” Annette’s face went blank for a moment as if she was having trouble remembering the name. She traveled around so often and saw so many she tended to have problems remembering the names and directions. “Blast it. It is just on the other side of the forest. Do you know how far away it is?”

“What brings you there?” Annette’s face seemed to darken and she suddenly seemed a lot more frightening then she had been before they had even seen her. While she had only shifted her weight in response to his question and moved a little closer Simon got the feeling that he should press that any further and should perhaps answer the question. “It is just an hour or so down the path you are about there.”

“So about fifteen minutes for me, well try not to get stuck again.” Annette gave a slight wave and began to make her way down the path once again.

Once the giantess had made her way far enough down the road that they couldn’t see her any longer he turned to his friends. “So what should we do?”

“Perhaps we should try and get back first so that we could at least have our families move out of the village for a while.”

Another spoke up. “Don’t you think she would be suspicious if we were to suddenly all return?”

“Why? We are just farmers none of us are part of them.”

Simon glanced at his friend as he grew silent even this far from town that didn’t feel comfortable talking about it. Neither did he “Well we don’t really know if she is going to deal with them. Listen I will go back and warn all our families you three go on ahead and see what you can get.”

Annette sighed as she felt her stomach grumbling. These long walks always left her hungry but she was close to the town. Once she got there she felt rather confident she could get something to eat without having to dip into her provisions. Her problem didn’t stem from having not brought enough food. Rather it was because she didn’t care for the taste of what she had brought and hadn’t killed anything fresh for about three days. “I really should have run down a dear or something.”

Glancing over her shoulder Annette could hear the men’s conversation. Perhaps she should have questioned them before moving on after all she knew they were from the town. Giving her massive shoulders a slight shrug she began to pick up the pace.

A group of children playing just outside the village was the first to see the massive woman’s approach. Her bright red armor was the first thing that caught their attention as she was still to far away for them to get a good idea of just how large she was. Of course even without knowing her true scale the sight of a warrior heading towards their small town was quite unusual.

The town was rather unimpressive the only thing it really had going for it was its location and the fact that it wasn’t a very popular place. Poor farmers didn’t have much to tax. Then again while that made it a poor location for legitimate business it made it idea for other activities.

The children continued to watch Annette’s approach until she drew close enough for them to begin to realize just how large she truly was. By this time several adults had noticed her as well and had begun to call the children in.

It was always easy for Annette to tell when she had been noticed. The streets would begin to empty out as people who hide away in their homes or whatever building was handy if they didn’t have a home in town. At times a group of people would come out to confront her and find out just what her intentions were almost as if she was a division of soldiers.

This time no one came to confront her. This wasn’t surprising after all such a small town probably didn’t have much along the lines of a defensive force to protect it. At least it probably didn’t have one that was very considered with the safety of the villagers themselves.

A surprised if not concerned look appeared on Annette’s face as she heard the approach of several lightly armored men. Turning in the direction of the noise she noticed the outfits seemed to indicate they were soldiers except for certain minor details. From afar one might have easily mistaken them though close up it became clear that weren’t part of the actual military. She imagined the man following them a few paces back was a mage.

“You know it probably would have been a good idea to stop me outside of town. If I had intention of causing some trouble you would be a little late to stop that.”

The group didn’t reply right away but a man came forward. “What brings you to our town giantess?”

“Hm I don’t think I want to tell you just yet human.” The scowl on the man’s face told Annette that he didn’t care for her comment.

“My name is captain Lued and I am the head of the defense core for this area.”

“Yeah I guessed as much. Kind of surprising I didn’t expect such a tiny town to have anyone to protect it. So is this the entire core or are they more?”

“That is none of your business now answer my question.”

“Oh and why don’t you make me?” Annette knew she had gotten the desired results when the air was field with the mages chanting and the guards took on a clearly defensive pose. Apparently they intended on insuring she didn’t get to the mage before he had completed his spell. Instead of charging the group though to disrupt the spell Annette carefully listened to the first few syllables and then relaxed.

The air was disrupted for a moment as the mage took aim and released the spell towards Annette. The heat from the fireball was actually enough to make some of the soldiers’ duck their heads and this was before it exploded. Annette didn’t bother trying to avoid the attack but instead held her hand forward and allowed it to smack into it. The mage new some decent spells or at least a decent spell Annette figured but he clearly didn’t have much combat experience. She was standing a bit to close for such a spell that also carried a rather dangerous area affect.

A couple of the men were blown off their heat their eyes browse singed off and light burns on their body. Luckily their armor also included a layer of rather thick leather which protected them from the majority of the heat. However, once the smoke had cleared it was clear that Annette had faired far better then those even in the back despite being at ground zero for the explosion. “You’re new to this whole battle thing aren’t you? Using a fireball spell when your own people are standing so close isn’t exactly the best choice in the world.”

Lued as well as every soldier that could took a few steps back upon seeing that Annette hadn’t even been burned. Drawing his sword Lued tried to appear intimidating despite seeing that she hadn’t been hurt by the fireball, perhaps she was just resistant to magic.

“Resorting to that now? Come on I will give you a free shot anywhere you can reach.”

Lued didn’t know if she was trying to intimidate him but upon seeing that she had left her guard down he decided to go for it. Running to build up even more momentum then normal he placed his hands on the sword’s pommel to get as much force into the thrust he could. He wished he hadn’t the moment the blade met Annette’s skin.

Annette felt the blade press against her skin and come to a dead stop. The blade wasn’t sharp enough and the captain hadn’t managed to get enough force into the strike to do any damage. Judging by the effectiveness of the attack she doubted the weapon was made of the best material either.

Lued started to back away when he felt Annette’s massive hand take hold of his throat and the majority of his head. Looking up he noted a smile that he wished he hadn’t seen. She had been smiling the entire time they were trying to convince her to leave but now she looked plain terrifying. Of course this may have been now she had hold of him.

Annette lifted the captain of the ground so that he was eye level with her. This left his feet dangling three and a half meters above the ground. “Now that you have tested me perhaps I should test you and see how well you hold up?”

Lued allowed his sword to fall from his hands and reached up to take hold of Annette’s wrist. He proceeded to pull himself up as best he could so that all his weight wasn’t pulling down on his neck. He doubted that he men would be coming to help him after seeing how effective his attack had been. Of course it didn’t help that she now had a hostage in a since.

Annette held Lued aloft for a few moments then released him allowing him to fall back to the ground. A cry of pain issued forth from his as his feet made contact with the ground but at least the fall wasn’t far enough to have broken anything. “Now my name is Annette and you would do well to remember it.”

Lued didn’t respond right away instead his attention was focused on the rather intense pain he was currently feeling. When he was able to speak again, “I am Captain Lued I head this town’s watch.” He didn’t bother asking Annette what she was doing here, she had done a good job of showing that she was in control of the situation and he didn’t want to risk her making the point again.

“So would you say that you no everything that goes on in this town?”

“As best any watchman can. We are some what under staffed.”

Annette couldn’t help but smile. He either had been asked that question before or already knew better then to answer yes. “I may have to speak with you later in that case. For now I believe that I am just going to walk around.”

Lued gave a slight nod and watched as the giantess walked off. While he was fairly upset with how he was done there wasn’t much he could do about it. Still, he couldn’t help but wonder just what she was doing in their little village.

As Annette wondered around she scanned her surroundings for anything that might be worth her attention. She had considered telling the captain just what she wanted with their little piece of a town but resolved to look around and have a drink first. If what her employer suspected was true it wasn’t like they could hide it in a day.

News of the new arrival had already spread throughout the town and people had for the most part cleared the streets especially after the little display with the guards. This was to Annette’s liking of course since it made moving around far easier. She took her time searching the town making note of any building of interest and moving on.

************************************************************************

A few hours had passed since the giantess arrival and other then the encounter with the guards nothing had been damaged unless you counter the rather deep imprints she left in the ground wherever she stepped. The tavern had still emptied out for the large part as soon as the giantess had made her way to the other side of the town. Only those patrons, who were too drunk to care, scared to walk the streets or simply had the nerve remained in the tavern.

The bar tender gave a bit of a jump when he heard a rather loud impact on the roof of his tavern. “Hey I would come in but I don’t think that you would like that.” As she had wondered around the town Annette had made note of nearly every tavern and shop that she had come across. She had finally decided on the tavern that looked the most decent. The establishment was pretty nice for something a small town might offer sadly there wasn’t really anyway she could fit through the door without damaging it. Then even if she did she doubted the owner would like the affect her weight would have on the floor.

“May I help you?”

Annette glanced down at the man who had stuck his head out the window. Instantly she resolved that he must be the bar’s collection agent. His build and scars suggested someone that had seen a few fights probably from regular bar fights to encouraging people to pay up their tab. “Yeah get me about 3 gallons hmm ask the bar tender and see what he has here.”

“I am the bar tender and our selection isn’t very extensive. I’ll read the list off to you.”

Annette was beginning to think the village was turning out to be rather odd. This was the second time she had been surprised. First the guards and now this of course this only gave her more reason to search the town carefully. “Just bring me whatever your strongest drink is. There isn’t a need to read the list off to me.”

“Suit yourself. Though I don’t know if even a big girl like you can handle my strongest at least not three gallons of it.”

Annette gave an amused giggle. “Do not underestimate my constitution just because I am kind of short.” Annette reached into her traveling pack and located a smaller bag. Pulling it out she dumped a few silver coins on the top of her fingers and held them out to the bar tender.

Danlin didn’t have to count the coins to know it was more then what was needed and the fact that she wasn’t simply taken what she wanted despite her treatment of the guards well he had been at this long enough to know she wanted more then just a drink. Taking the money he glanced up at her. “Back in a second with your drink, would you mind using a barrel?”

“A barrel would be fine.”

Danlin gave a nod and ducked back into the bar. A few moments later he re-appeared this time carrying a smallish barrel. He never had much of a reason to make more then a few gallons especially not watered down. Handing it to the giantess he took a seat outside trusting those in the bar not to make a ruckus while he was away. Anyway he could still see through the window incase anyone got some ideas.

Annette resolved to start the conversation. “It seems rather odd that a tiny village like this would have so well armed guards even if they are a bit green. I thought at most you would have maybe one drunken lout wondering around.”

“Yeah it was mostly volunteers until a few months ago. That mage’s appearance was quite a surprise. They aren’t actually from around here you see.”

“Now how can a little town like yours afford such a thing?”

“Oh the town has received a little extra income since a particular gentlemen has moved in. Some people suddenly have a good deal more money to spend. The streets are safer at least. During the day.”

Annette took a bit of a sip from the barrel she didn’t want to risk draining it to quickly. “Huh, when I was looking around the town I didn’t see anyone that could boost the economy that much.”

Danlin rubbed the back of his neck for a moment then glanced around the area. “I guess you’re here on some official business.”

“Just a little, later I need to speak to Lued again.”

“Most of the people around here are just farmers of course they are rumors of things that can be found in the forest.”

Annette gave a nod and waved her hand a bit. “I imagine you have other customers to serve.”

“That I do.” As Danlin left he couldn’t help but be concerned. He was better traveled then most of the villagers and had seen the damage a giant could leave and this one seemed not only smarter then the normal raiders but perhaps because of that even more dangerous. He had heard about the incident with the fireball which had him even more concerned. He didn’t think that a giant could shrug off an attack of that magnitude so easily.

Annette didn’t bother mentioning to Danlin or anyone else just yet that she had been hired by a local magistrate. Apparently they were talk of a rebellion and a well known trouble maker was in the area. Her job was to kill him and anyone who was aiding him. Actually, she had more authority then that as it had been explained to her that the loss of such a minor town wouldn’t be a big deal when they might be harboring a traitor.

Sipping her drink Annette continued to look around. It would be faster to just tear the place apart sure she would probably get a lot of people that had nothing to do with the rebel but it would let her return home quicker. She could question more people of course or she could just wonder around some more.

Of course if she didn’t find the person she was searching for and destroyed the village that might end up in her pay being reduced and Danlin had been nice enough to provide her with more then enough information. She knew most bartenders kept track of local rumors as sort of an occupational hazard. You have a lot of drunken people setting around you then you are going to hear things. Still, he had been unusually forth coming with information.

An amused giggle escaped Annette as the alcohol began to take affect. She always got happy when she had a bit to drink. Of course she had to avoid drinking too much or risk slipping into her temperamental stage.

Danlin would have been unusually forth coming if he had been talking to another little person. Dealing with her was an entirely different situation. Annette quickly finished the barrel off she needed to work a bit more quickly. Probably go speak with Lued and see if any of his men had departed or if he himself was gone.

It didn’t take Annette long to walk to the little building that served as the watch house. The structure was fairly noticeable as while it wasn’t the tallest building in the area it was the sturdiest looking. When no one came out to greet her she gave the rather thick looking door a little tap.

Lued nearly jumped out of his seat when he heard the impact and saw the door bulge inward as if it was going to burst. Several bits of the doors wooden frame splinter and shot into the room. The giantess had been walking around so much that he hadn’t been certain what was going on. Now it seemed she was ready to have another chat.

“Captain I need to have a few words with you.” As Annette waited for Leud to work the heavily damaged door out she dug into her traveling back and removed the same case that she used to store maps. A moment later she brought out another document and already had it prepared when Lued finally managed to pry the heavily damaged door open. “Do you know what this is?”

Lued didn’t respond right away. It took him a few moments to gather his senses enough to realize she actually wanted him to read the paper she was currently holding. “I see so you are on official business.”

“That is right. This little town of yours is suspected to either be harboring or having living near by a particular rebel. I have been assigned the task of hunting said rebel down and came here to get some information. You wouldn’t happen to know anything would you?” Annette shifted her frame a bit so that she was basically leaning against the building and looming over Lued.

Reading over the paper once more a not began to form in Lued’s throat. He knew that Annette had been wondering around the down for most of the day but that didn’t mean she knew anything did it? “Well I would be happy to help you in this matter in whatever way I can.”

“Good then tell me where they are at.”

“Lued’s had felt nervous before now he felt his mouth going dry and his adrenalin licking in. Part of him said to run back into the office but he doubted the stone walls would hold up against the giantess strength for very long. “I don’t know where they are.”

“Yeah, sure you don’t. Where did all your men go?”

“They are out patrolling the town at the moment.”

Annette gave an amused giggle. “You know it is not a good idea to lie to me especially so blatantly.”

Lued grew noticeably pale he would have normally been able to hold himself together better but Annette’s over whelming presence had taken away his nerve at least most of it. This was exactly the affect Annette hoped to have it was the same affect she had on most people when she questioned them. “I..I..”

“I was told that you only came to this little town recently as well. Now I know that a little farming community like this with so little as far as trade goes couldn’t hope to afford more then two or three watchmen and while yours weren’t anything special they were more skilled then this town should have and more numerous. Not to mention the presence of a mage.”

Lued didn’t say anything else. Instead he quickly bolted back into the building and gave the door a quick push. The push wasn’t enough to shut the door but he didn’t have time to see that as he ran threw a side door where Annette lost sight of him.

Annette grinned for a moment. Straitening up so that she was no longer looking through the door way she took hold of the roof of the building. Her fingers easily sunk into the heavy timbers that served for the roof. The heavy lumber didn’t seem to weigh anything as Annette lifted it up and tossed it to her side.

Taking hold of the top of the wall the stone began to crumble when Annette tightened her grip upon it. Her weight wasn’t quite enough to tear the stone apart but her strength made it an easy task. She didn’t bother giving the other wall the same treatment as she walked into the structure. Instead she braced her feet to get more leverage to make up for her lack of weight and allowed her shoulder to push through.

As she continued through the structure Annette continued to tear the roof apart, not so much because it would hinder her movement but because she wanted to see where she was going. The building was only three meters tall so it left a fair amount of her body above the roof line.

Lued could hear the building being torn apart above him as well as Annette’s heavy foot steps. He was currently in the cellar of the building trying to think of a way to get out of his current situation. Hopefully she wouldn’t find the trap door.

Most wouldn’t have the weight to make any noticeable affect or the ears to hear but Annette soon picked up on the sound of her steps. The building has a cellar which wasn’t surprising. Glancing at the trap door and then ground she knew that she wouldn’t be able to fit through that tiny opening but if she made it any bigger the floor might collapse. Shrugging her concern off Annette drew her fist back.

Lued let out a scream when Annette’s massive fist tore through roof of the cellar. Her fist struck with such force that it nearly reduced to the stone to rubble had he been standing under that spot he would have been killed. At the moment that didn’t seem like such a bad thing as he looked up towards Annette’s massive form.

The cellar had even less head room then the first floor. At least she didn’t have to climb down into it though as the floor held. Annette was some what surprised how close she had been to crushing Lued but she didn’t let it show, it would be better if he felt the close call was intentional.

The rocks collapsing inward had stunned Lued and he didn’t have time to back away when Annette’s massive hand took hold of his arm. His scream was perhaps the only thing that could have been louder then the stone when it collapsed as he was lifted through the newly created opening. “I don’t trust this place now that I damaged the floor. Let’s get out of here before it collapses.” Annette didn’t actually wait for a response but carried Lued’s struggling form out of the damaged building.

Trying to free himself, Lued wasn’t thinking rationally as he began to kick Annette in the side while struggling to pull his arm free of her grasp. “Let me go. Let me go you over sized bitch.” The moment the word had left his mouth Lued regretted uttering it as he felt Annette’s hand tighten around his arm threatening to turn his muscle into paste and shatter his bone. Soon his cries to be released turned into nothing more then a high pitched scream of pain.

“Now I am looking for Alex Armzon. I have been told that he may be in this village or located near by.” After she had finished speaking Annette relaxed her grip and allowed Lued to fall to the ground. “You’re going to tell me everything you know about this individual and if you don’t know anything then I am going to kill you painfully. If you lie to me it will be worse.”

Despite his pain Lued could feel his fear building. She hadn’t even left the option of not knowing anything or she had it just meant he would end up dying painfully. “But I.”

“Any information would be useful of course if you can convince me that you don’t work for this individual I may not kill you. Then again I might kill you anyway for acting suspicious and leading me to the wrong conclusion.”

As Lued looked up he noted that Annette was smiling. A smile that seemed not to speak of warmth but rather of how cruel she was capable of being and the pain she was willing to inflict. He could still try to lay his way out of the situation but he couldn’t think of anything that might convince Annette other wise. He was in too much pain and too scared to think of anything that might convince her other wise. “He doesn’t actually live in the town.”

Annette rolled her eyes one thing she hated about such fear tactics was it often got useless information. “I already know that. Now tell me where I can find him. I would be interested to know just why he paid for a watch but I don’t actually care about that. I am here to kill him not find out what he was doing.” Annette grew silent for a moment and glanced towards the watch house. She suddenly felt a slight urge to check the cellar for information but decided against it.

“If I tell you, will you let me live?”

Sure. So long as the information you give me is accurate and if you give it willingly I won’t even have to injure you. And what is coin loyalty really worth?”

“The group you seek is based to the west of the village.”

“Okay you can guide me there.”

“Do you even know what this is all about?”

An amused giggle escaped Annette. “It is about me being paid to take care of a trouble maker. The reason he chose to earn that kind of disfavor is of no concern to me. All I know if that someone really hates me him and they are willing to pay me a considerable amount of money to do away with him.”

“You’re just a mercenary.”

Annette just chuckled and lifted Lued up.

************************************************************************

Annette felt her excitement building as she walked up the wooded path the road was narrow and the forest was dense enough that it would be difficult to get a large force up through it. Whoever was already situated would not only have the high ground but would probably know how to use the terrain better to either hold out or escape. Annette was currently allowing Lued to set atop her right shoulder.

Lued held onto the edge’s of Annette’s shoulder pad occasionally glancing around the forest to see if anyone had spotted them. Of course he knew this was a waste effort she was walking strait up the path towards the strong hold so of course she had been noticed and of course they knew who was riding on her shoulder. She might have spared his life for the information but now he would most likely lose it for his betrayal.

“If you are worried about your comrades you don’t need to be. There won’t be any survivors.”

“You won’t even give them a chance to surrender?”

“The job description said dead only and even if it did offer alive as a chaos. Dead is so much easier. What did you tell the men that you sent ahead?”

“I told them to report your appearance in the village and to tell my past employer about your little display. Blocking the fireball with your hand.”

“So should I set you down now?”

“Huh?”

“I said I would let you live. I believe all the scouts have ran ahead already and that pretty much confirms that you weren’t laying to me. I won’t protect you during any fighting so I thought perhaps you would want to leave now.”

Lued wasn’t exactly to say to her offer except one thing. “Yes.” It was a nervous moment when Annette’s hand took hold of him nearly rapping itself all the way around his stomach. He expected her to just kill him right then but instead she placed him on the ground and continued up the path. Once Annette had walked a few steps he turned and began to run back towards the village as quickly as he could. He wanted to get as far away as possible.

Annette was fairly confident that the information she had received would be correct and if her target had decided to move then Lued wouldn’t be of any help. The walk had left her curious though why he had provided the town with a small defense force. It would draw attention after all considering how out of place it was. Of course the town could have been used for supplies an added benefit to already well protected area.

Now that Lued was no longer riding on her shoulder Annette began to pick up the pace. The walk soon turned into an all out run as her massive strides easily ate up the distance between herself and her target.

Being on the losing side of an attempted rebellion was never a good thing no matter who you were. Even if you were just a foot soldier in the losing side it was a rather dangerous event as several of the men had learned. They had been on the run for some time making use of their small size to avoid battles with a larger force. The entire camp consisted of only 107 men and that was including officers.

Even with their forces reduced to such an insignificant number they were still considered to be a threat though and were still being hunted down. Of course this made since as while they were small in number their leaders had every intention of bolstering that number and make another bid for power. This unfortunately meant those that were in power were trying to wipe them from existence before that could happen.

It seemed that they would have to be moving quite soon though or at least may be. A messenger had arrived from the town were they acquired supplies and told them of a rather strange happening. A giantess had showed up in the town she hadn’t killed anyone but she had done a good job of humiliating the unit stationed there to provide advanced warning and to watch over the supplies that were not kept in the camp. The unit also served to provide false information to those traveling through the town.

Annette hoped that the scouts who had already seen her had alerted the others and they had chosen to go on ahead and prepare for her arrival. She wanted everyone to be there since it wouldn’t be any fun if only a small number of them were waiting for her. When she failed to over take any of the scouts that had run ahead while she was carrying Lued or notice any on the path she felt quite confident that they would indeed be waiting for her especially as the camp came into view.

The scouts had indeed made it back for Annette and it had given everyone time to prepare. What she found waiting for her at the top of the hill was some forty men standing in front of the camp while archers and a few mages stood a ways back. She saw several other melees that were more dispersed though moving. It seemed as if they were trying to get behind her to cut off any path of retreat. Annette stood her ground giving them the time they needed.

It seemed that Annette was the only person who wasn’t nervous about the situation which seemed to make the humans even more nervous. At least until one human came walking out of a tent looking to be middle aged Annette recognized his from the information she had been given as her target.

Alex was preparing to speak with the giantess to see if she could surrender after all surely she hadn’t expected to be so out numbered but she reacted before he could get a word out. He didn’t get the chance to voice his thoughts though as Annette reacted her knees bent and the archers let their arrows fly. Annette’s legs moved with deceptive speed however she had underestimated her opponent. The moment Annette began to move she slammed into something thus stopping her evasion. The arrows found their marks.

Annette had just enough time to look up and see three of the arrow heads burst into blue flames. Reaching for her weapon she knew that she would be to slow to draw it but at least now she knew she would need it.

A scream of pain erupted from Annette as the arrows found their marks most bounced off her skin and armor harmlessly however two of them did not. Two of the three enchanted arrows had found her skin and sunk in. The extra penetrating ability the enchantment afforded them had been meant to cut through most armor with exceptional ease. While they hadn’t had as much success with Annette they had managed to bury themselves up to the edge of the arrow head. The third arrow had struck her above her heart but fortunately it had only bounced off her breastplate.

The level of rage in Annette’s bespoke someone that wasn’t use to having to endure pain or being humiliated. As she withdrew her massive broad sword the blade became alight with red and green flames as the enchanted weapon prepared itself. Swinging the sword into the magical barrier that had prevented her from dodging the first salvo the massive blade tore through the enchanted air. A horrific explosion ripped through the area as the mystic energy quickly dispersed.

The archers once again filled the sky with arrows as the mages began to chant. Even those archers who lacked a weapon capable of harming her fired in order to conceal those arrows that could. This time Annette was well gone though before the arrows could strike her. While Annette was upset with the archers who had managed to harm her she knew the ones who were truly responsible for her injury were the mages thus they became her first targets.

Getting to them would require her to get through the warriors that were currently blocking her path for the moment she would just have to deal with the pain from the arrows that had broken her skin.

The first stage of the plan had gone well the magic barrier that had set up in anticipation of the giantess arrival had worked wonders however they hadn’t expected her weapon to be enchanted and most assuredly hadn’t thought it would tear through the barrier so easily. This allowed her to close in on the guards far more quickly then expected.

Over a dozen dead in one blow the first line of defenders were wiped out in a single strike upon Annette closing the gap between her and them. The blade was so massive and her strength was so great that it didn’t need to be enchanted to tear through their comparatively thin armor and bodies. Several in the second column were injured as the green and red flames reached out for them. Those the red touched were burned while those that the green touched seemed to melt.

Annette had swung her blade wide though in order to take out as many soldiers as possible. This had left her exposed at least some thought. While her skin had proven to strong for conventional weapons those with enchanted blades took the chance to attempt to strike her.

Those guards that moved closed enough were met with a weapon nearly as destructive as her sword as Annette brought her leg up. Kicking out with her armored foot it did more then just shatter the ribs of those it struck rather the force of the strike was so powerful that their bodies seemed to disintegrate limbs flying in every direction as three men were struck. The flying limbs and other bits of body knocked several of the guards over.

Those who were knocked down didn’t get a chance to stand again as Annette quickly advanced. Her massive foot nearly covered their entire upper bodies and between her own mass and that of her equipment it easily crushed through them.

As Annette waded through the guards the whole time she could hear the mages chanting and new it wouldn’t be long before they released their spell. The archers continued to fire but she had managed to avoid the enchanted arrow heads for the moment while allowing those that didn’t have the needed power to strike her. Taking hole of one of the guards who was still standing Annette easily lifted him into the air and sent him flying towards one of the mages.

As the guards body moved through the air it was suddenly stopped his screams were drown out but the sound of a howling wind. The mage had prepared a wind barrier to protect him from projectiles as was more then likely the case with all the mages. The winds tore the helpless guard apart. “Open!”

Annette’s attention was drawn towards the sound of the voice. What she saw surprised her. A wave of energy escaping from not one mage but two of them and joining they had used their spells together. She hadn’t been able to focus on the mages as much as she had wanted to so she hadn’t noticed that one wasn’t simply casting a lightning spell while the other cast a earth rather it was two parts of the same spell.

Alex had thought he may reason with the giantess or force her to surrender but she had attacked too quickly. She had reduced the numbers of his men though only by some 20% a decent loss but nothing that couldn’t be replaced and the truly skilled fighters were mostly attacked. He thought it was over when the ground cracked open and a wave of electrical energy engulfed the giantess.

Annette felt the energy rushing over her attempting to paralyze her muscles. She felt the temperature rise and her bag catching fire not to mention the shafts of the arrows that had stuck in her skin. The earth magic and lighting served to create a cycle were the electrical energy repeatedly looped through her body.

A crack of thunder shook the area when the energy finally dispersed at the super heated air was able to cool down. Looking towards ground zero they saw several charred bodies however one thing concerned them.

Annette could still feel the heat from the electrical energy and could have sworn that some of it was still in her armor. The arrows had stung and drew some blood but hadn’t been of any great concern unless enough could hit her. The spell was another story. “That hurt.”

The ground under Annette’s feet shattered as she pushes off of it as hard as she could propelling her massive form as quickly as she could. Turning her sword so that the flat was in front of her she used the massive blade as a shield and battering ram. Despite her surprising speed a few of the soldiers were able to put themselves between her and the mages. She didn’t even bother slowing down but collided with them.

Those who met Annette head on were either knocked aside or worse yet knocked down. First the flat of her sword sent them to the ground and then her massive feet came down upon them. Some of the more skilled guards were able to move to the side and struck out against the giantess those blades that met her greaves or breastplate had their weapon torn from their hands. Their fingers were broken by having their weapon so violently ripped from their hands.

However, a few of the blades did find Annette’s exposed skin striking her legs above her knees where the greaves came to an end or getting her stomach. These were all scratches when compared to the combination attack she had endured a few moments earlier. Once the mages had been taken care of it would be far easier to deal with the archers and the guards.

Alex watched as the giantess forced his men aside or trampled them he had believed that the spell had slain her instead it seemed to have only set her priorities. What made matters even worse is while she did seemed to be injured she was smiling.

Annette easily cleared the gap between herself and the mage before he could utter a complete spell she hadn’t forgotten the shield though or the way it had tore through the guard she had thrown into it. Bringing her blade into an over head position she brought it down with all her strength and weight. The barrier didn’t even slow it down.

Annette felt a wave of relief as she tore through the magic barrier and the first of the mages. They were still others to deal with but at least one major threat had taken hold of. Glancing over her shoulder a delighted giggle escaped her lips as she noticed several of the guards had already positioned themselves between her and the remaining mages. Annette quickly spun around to confront them and to get as much momentum built up as she could all of them seem surprised when instead of charging she sent her sword flying towards them.

The enchanted sword easily tore through every soldier in its path when it made it to the mage for whom it had been intended it not only tore through the barrier but continued moving even after ripping through him.

While using her weapon as a projectile had served for an effective surprise attack Annette was now weaponless and moved quickly to insure they didn’t get to exploit this fact. Several of the men had been stunned by the sudden maneuver and wasn’t prepared for the giantess to land right in their midst.

Annette’s fist covered most of the guard’s upper body and easily crushed through his bone and muscle his armor being reduced to tin foil by the giantess powerful strike. Taking hold of one of the men she figured the remaining mage was protected by a barrier so this time she sent her projectile into the archers. As she tore through Alex’s ranks Annette could help but smile despite the pain she had experienced. This was fun.

Alex couldn’t believe what was happening he had prepared for the giantess by having his mages prepare a barrier spell in advanced and even having them start a combination spell right after she had attacked. The barrier and the spell had both worked and yet the giantess was still tearing his men apart. The most infuriating thing about the whole event was it wasn’t a matter of him being out witted rather the only reason she was still alive and fighting was her strength, endurance and size. With only one well trained mage left the time it would take him to prepare a spell that may harm her would be entirely too long.

Annette’s held her arm up to shield her face as she was engulfed in a wall of flames the spell was incomplete and unfocused as the mage had released it early. While she hadn’t attacked this mage yet she felt confident that would have a protective barrier that she would have to brake through as she had no protection for her hands she chose to attempt to kick the mage with her armored foot. The moment the limb was within a meter of the mage a flame barrier appeared.

Her leg sunk a good one third of a meter through the barrier before coming to a stop leaving the barrier drastically weakened. After yanking her leg out of the weakened flames she got one moment to glance at the mage and realized he was the one from the town earlier. Spinning around Annette once again slammed her foot into the barrier but this time it went through and shattered the mage. “OUCH.”

A few of the archers with enchanted arrows had managed to find their mark once again and Annette felt the painful sting of the arrows. Now that the three mages were gone they were going to be the next to die.

Alex found himself in quite a dilemma the last of his mages were dead and his mother men seemed to only be able to nick the giantess and this only seemed to make her even angrier. He had lost a good deal of his guards which meant she was tearing through the archers even more quickly then she had the mages and they didn’t have anything to protect them. “HOLD.” He was somewhat surprised when the giantess and his men both stopped. “We surrender.”

The look on Alex’s face was priceless when Annette stuck her tongue out at him. “No thanks that spell hurt and so did the arrows I just want to kill you all now.” The moment she had finished speaking one of the archer’s heads popped she had taken hold of him just before Alex had cried out. Her body was already stained so red from blood that it didn’t even seem to add to it and the fight was back on.

“She just wants to kill us?” Alex’s eyes widened with this realization. She had never had any intention of capturing any of his men after all the first thing she had done was attacked them. As Alex stood he could have sworn that behind all the screaming and battle cries of his men he could hear faint giggling as if a young girl was having the time of her life.

************************************************************************

A delighted smile was worn on Annette’s face as she looked at the carnage she had caused while she hadn’t kept track of everything she was fairly certain that she had killed everyone in the camp. A few of them had run near the end of the fight but she had managed to catch up with them. There was only one thing that she was missing and that was the metal case which she had used to carry her maps and other information in. “Blast it.”

The case had been with her on several jobs so she felt confident that it survived the attack. As she sifted through the bodies the blood and gore didn’t faze her at all neither did the blood that had coated her form. Killing people with your hands tends to make quite a mess and Annette had grown use to it. “Ah there you are.” Sifting through some of the charred bodies Annette mentally scolded herself for not checking the spot where the electrical energy got her first.

It was something of an expected relief when she opened the case and insured everything was intact. Sifting through the materials Annette brought out a dagger. “Now for the part of battle that sucks.” After glancing at her shoulder Annette once again resigned herself to the fact that she was going to have to endure some pain. The dagger was too small in Annette’s hands to serve as an effective weapon but it did a very good job of removing things like arrow heads from just under her skin.

Annette was somewhat used to having to remove the occasional arrow head or broken tip of a sword from when her skin was weaker so she was able to keep from crying and was even about to keep her cursing to a minimum as she removed the arrow head. After removing the first she took a moment to inspect it she realized a moment after looking at it that it wasn’t made by one of Alex’s mages.

It wasn’t exactly right to call the arrow heads mass produced but they weren’t to horribly rare. A hunter who was fairly well off may decide to buy one or two for those emergency situations and most armies would give a small unit of very skilled archers the arrow heads. Tapping her head a few times Annette gave up on remembering the exact name of the mage guild that produced and distributed the arrow heads. “At least it wasn’t some roughly made one.” Annette gave the arrow head a slight toss and proceeded to remove the two remaining arrows heads from her skin.

Once the arrows had been removed Annette bleed for only a few moments before the wounds sealed themselves up for the most part. It would take a little while for her to truly heal but she had no need to bandage the injuries. At least her weapon was easier to find then the small carrying case she made use of. She didn’t even bother noticing the corpses of those she had slain with the exception of Alex’s.

After extracting the blade from the ground’s grip Annette took a few moments to inspect the blade. The weapon had a decent edge but it had never had a fine edge. The force with which Annette struck and the objects she tore through simply made that impractical. That said between Annette’s strength, the sword’s mass and the enchantment it more then made up for its lack of a truly sharp edge. Sheaving the weapon Annette only remained in the camp long enough to pick up a few more items namely Alex’s head and a new bag to carry those items that wouldn’t go into her case. As well as to stock up on a few food items for her trip back, those who lived in the town below would be free to loot the remains of the camp and take whatever they wished.

As Annette made her way back down the path she could feel her body already recovering the smaller cuts and burns that she had received during the fight. She had no need to worry about infection unless it was backed by a rather powerful toxin or curse she wouldn’t be affected and she hadn’t seen anything to indicate they were that well prepared.

Danlin had just finished running the last person out of his tavern when he saw Annette walking down the road. She hadn’t taken the time to wash the blood of her hands or legs and appeared to be a monster. The smile on her face spoke of contentment as if she was very proud of what she had just done. A shiver went up his spine as he recalled speaking with her earlier he had thought it best to give her more information then normal when speaking with her now that he could see the end result of her actions he was very glad he had decided to.

Fear was always noticeable and in some cases Annette had learned to enjoy it or be amused by it. At the moment she felt amusement thanks to the fear the towns people were expressing but she had no desire to harm them. True they had sold supplies to her target but if they hadn’t he would just have taken them and moved on. Their decision to cooperate was one of the reasons he had become stationary and much easier to catch.

If they weren’t so scared of her they may even be grateful for what she had done. If it had been a group of knights hunting they would have most likely been caught up in the fight one way or the other or perhaps even punished for providing him with food and other materials. There was also the fact that tomorrow those who worked up the nerve to travel up the mountain path to the camp would find quite a bit of loot if they could stomach wading through the bodies.

They wouldn’t have to be scared for long though as Annette had no plans on staying. At the moment she wants to get out of the town and find a place to wash herself off and bed down for the night.

************************************************************************

Annette let out a sigh as she released the clamps that held her chest plate on while she appreciated the armor’s protection it was always nice to take it off and be able to move freely. Setting the heavy bit of armor down by the river she bent down to remove her greaves and finally removed her gauntlets. Now free of her armor she didn’t exactly feel lighter the armors weight wasn’t enough to truly hinder her but she did feel more flexible.

Now free of her heavy armor the only thing that covered Annette’s body was the chain mail that served as her clothing was the chain mail top and bottom that served as her bra and panties. Her bottom would have normally included a layer of leather as well as the metal links but that had been burned off during the fight. Annette easily opened the links that held the clothing in place and allowed it to fall to the ground.

As she stepped into the water of the river a sigh escaped her lips. While most of the heat from the spell had vanished the cool water still felt wonderful against her skin. The water would have been quite cold and intolerable to most but as far as Annette was concerned it felt cool, refreshing and simply wonderful.

Annette had to wade further from the shore so that went she set down her head was just above the water level. Closing her eyes Annette could feel the rapidly moving water washing away the dirt, grime and blood that had covered her during the battle. Turning her gaze up to the sky she was fairly pleased with the time her mission had taken. A bit more then a week to travel to her destination and she had managed to conclude it the day of her arrival.

It helped that even though she wasn’t a one army woman she could at least be considered a one woman company if not a battalion. Carefully Annette began to scrub the spots where the arrows had broken through her skin. As she removed the dried blood she was relieved to see that the injury had only taken around a day to heal up. The spot was still somewhat sore but that would be taken care of by the morning.

“I wonder how long it will be before those arrow heads can no longer brake through my skin.” As Annette mused to herself she couldn’t help but let her mind drift back to a time when she was smaller and had to worry about such things as minor as regular arrows. Back then she had been worth a platoon at the very best. How grateful she was that those times were so very far behind her.

Slowly Annette allowed herself to lean back and sink into the water. The water loosened her hair and soon it began to flow behind her laying further back Annette opened her eyes once again when her face was submerged. She needed to breath, though not as much as her size would make one think. She liked to take such moments to wonder just when that weakness would leave her as well.

After a few minutes Annette finally was able to convince herself to start cleaning up and not just spend the entire night in the river. She did after all need sleep and she needed to eat something before that. She had been injured and her body would need materials to make up for the materials it had to use to effect repairs.

As Annette cleaned herself off she couldn’t help but notice how her body contrasted with itself. Her skin was soft and almost pale despites its ability to withstand damage. Of course the reason her skin was as light as it was related back to her ability to endure punishment the radiation from the sun simply wasn’t intense enough to cause her to tan no matter how much time she spend in it.

Under her silken skin were horribly strong muscles those in her legs arms and abdomen being exceptionally noticeable. Even whenever she relaxed her body the outline of the muscles in her legs and arms were always slightly noticeable. Of course most didn’t pay much attention to this thanks to her over whelming size. Those muscles in her abdomen though were always noticeable easily separated into six different sections.

Her muscular development seemed to contrast quite heavily though with other features of her body. Hefting her breast for a moment Annette was easily a DD cup even for her scale. While it didn’t serve any combative purpose she was grateful for the visual and other purposes they did serve. Her hair was even redder then the blood she had spilled and her eyes were sapphire blue. Her lips were a soft pink and had a pout to them. It was something of shame that few could get past her size other wise they might enjoy the view.

“Blood?” Annette was taken away from her self appreciation when she began to rub her hand between her breasts. “Now when did that happen?” An amused giggle escaped her. “I guess the battle was messier then I realized.”

As Annette began to clean the crimson substance from between her breast her mind turned back to the other functions that certain parts of her body served. Scooting back a bit she moved close to the shore so that the water wasn’t up to her neck but came about mid way up her nipples. Pressing her hands up under her breast she took a moment to get a feel for their weight. She didn’t know what had been going on when her body was made but she was grateful for the little extras even if they weren’t much use in battle and required her armor to be modified even more.

“Well I suppose even a weapon can be pleasant to look at.” Annette let her breast settle back down so that the water was once again moving over and exciting her nipples. Closing her eyes she chose to focus on the sensation. The water wasn’t as good as a pair of hands but it did get her started.

Reaching up Annette began to aid nature a little bit and gently pinched her nipples. As Annette used two of her fingers to lightly stimulate her nipples her other fingers pressed into the surrounding flesh. At times Annette felt tempted to use more force then what she did but for the most part she enjoyed using lighter touches even lighter then what was needed.

It was odd but for all her sadistic habits Annette had never been able to bring herself to permit someone to enjoy her body or rape someone. Most people who actually got to touch her magnificent body didn’t live through the experience since they were most opponents.

Those that did get to touch her and live on the other hand were either taking measurements for modifications to her armor or clothes or they were simply shaking her hand, patting her leg or shoulder in a few rare situations were they were either standing on something or could levitate. That and those that actually got to ride on her shoulder though they were more often then not riding on her armor plating instead of actually touching her skin.

She had no real idea why the thought of allowing someone to touch her bothered her so much while their blood flowing down her arm and all over her didn’t disturb her in the least. Even if she was to force someone to do exactly what she wanted the idea truly repulsed her. It didn’t bother her for any moral reasons she hardly any grounds to claim moral justifications in anything after all so it often left her wondering why not?

Yet the fact that she only used the lightest of touches was a result of what she wanted. Annette wanted to feel another human exploring her body and she used the light touch to at least simulate what it may feel like. The idea of a human climbing over her much larger body his tiny hands rubbing the top of her breast while he was forced to set on his knees to reach them. Annette could feel her body growing warmer as she thought about it.

As Annette’s mind wondered her left hand began to trace under her breast. Pressing up on them she didn’t even begin to use her real strength instead she used roughly the strength equal to what a healthy human lifting with all his might may have. It was enough to cause her breast to lift every so slightly. Annette’s right hand spread out to cover most of the top of one of her breast. She knew by comparison when she had grabbed someone that her hand was about the same length as a human abdomen.

Gently applying pressure Annette exerted a force of about 700Ns to simulate the weight of a grown man. While she did this Annette’s left hand left the underside of her breast and moved down a little ways to about were his feet would have reached if he was laying on her. Her fingers closed on her breast and she began to gently squeeze as if her breast was being hugged.

As her excitement began to build Annette began to shift in the water and a low moan began to issue forth from her. Whenever she would move one hand to a part of her body the other would move along with it the whole time were separated by roughly the same distance. As she slide her right hand along her breast to cup the bottom her left slid even further down to touch on her abdominal muscles and for a few fingers to trace lightly over her lips.

A shudder ran through her body and Annette convulsed lightly. This served to stir up the section of the river bed she was setting on a great deal though the action was light it was quite sudden and her mass gave it quite a bit of energy. Her leg jutted out suddenly easily digging into the ground and tearing up great chunks of stone to move down the river. Despite this Annette didn’t seem to notice as her eyes remained closed. The water had ceased to be a real factor in her enjoyment as her hands continued to explore her body and she focused on her mental image.

Annette’s hand’s slipped lower and finally she began to insert a finger inside of herself for a moment she locked up her head turning upward towards the sky. As she began to move her finger within herself Annette’s right hand drifted down and began to message her massive thighs. The thought that a little lover would have to use one of his arms or perhaps even a leg to stimulate her excited her even more. Two of Annette’s fingers squeezed as much of her thigh as they could while the other three remained in a upward position as if someone’s legs had tried to wrap around her massive thigh.

As Annette grew more stimulated she began to work more quickly feeling her excitement building continuing to move her finger within herself her thumb to came to rest on her clit as if a tiny lover had snuggled his head closer to her while still thrusting his arm within. A loud gasp escaped Annette and she had to struggle to keep control of herself as she felt her orgasm ripple through her body. At last her right hand left her thigh and her fingers dug into the river bed in an attempt to keep from thrashing about.

Trying to keep control of her body even during the peek of her excitement was quite a difficult task for her especially when she was so used to simply letting herself go. However, the restriction didn’t seem to hinder the experience for her but made it more enjoyable helping to make the illusion that she was with someone she whom she wished to share the delights of her body with all the more complete

As Annette felt the final shudder run through her body a contented sigh escaped her lips and she leaned back in the water allowing her head to sink underneath the surface.

************************************************************************

“Looking at the tracks?” An amused giggle escaped Annette as she had just come upon a few travelers that seemed quite focused on a set of imprints that was traveling along side the road. What made it so amusing was they were the imprints she had left when she was headed towards the village. The group had been so engrossed in speculating as to what might have made them that they hadn’t even noticed her approach.

No one had thought much about it when they heard the giantess voice only that it sounded quite soft and feminine. They had however taken a collective jump back when they realized that the owner of the voice didn’t exactly fit the image it conjured up.

Annette bent at her knees so that she was lower to the ground though that meant she still towered over anyone in the group. It hopefully made her seem a little less intimidating.

After a few moments of silence one person finally found the nerve to answer Annette’s question. “Um Yeah, We haven’t seen any like it in quite some time.”

“Yeah I suppose I do leave some unusual foot prints. At least as far as their depth goes. I was wondering if any of you happen to know how far it is from the nearest judicial center?”

“It is just a bit over a day’s journey from here.”

“Hm so I could be there for the day was up. You’re hunters aren’t you?”

“Yes. We were on a journey now.”

“You haven’t seen foot prints like mine in a while. So have you ever seen a giant?”

“Not close up.”

Annette gave an amused giggle. “Well I believe I am making you nervous so I will let you be in your way.”

“Thank you miss.”

Annette couldn’t help but let out a slight sigh as she watched the people walking away. Now she really wanted to end her trip as quickly as possible. While she did have a sadistic streak she wasn’t the stereotyped monster and did like to have conversations. She longed to get back to a place where she could actually speak with someone and they wouldn’t be scared of her. “Hm maybe I should just buy a slave to travel with me and keep me amused. I mean people travel with birds after all.”

***********************************************************************

Annette had traveled more slowly then she should have and when she arrived in the town it was already late. Looking around at the darkened windows the difference between the little town she had recently visited and this one was staggering. While in the village they had maybe been two buildings that were taller then she was this one was filled with them. The ground was paved and as long as she didn’t intentionally stomp or try to leave an imprint none would be left.

Letting out a sigh Annette wondered if she should try and retrieve her payment now even though her employer would be asleep. She wouldn’t have trouble making enough noise to wake him up after all and most likely the guards would cooperate. Then again she could rest for the night. Perhaps she wouldn’t even have to sleep outside the town but could have a place that would be large enough to house her. The rain and cold didn’t have any real ability to affect her. At least not the extremes that nature used but a part of her still liked to be able to look up and see a roof over her head.

Then again she was certain she wouldn’t like the accommodations that would be fitted to her scale. Annette truly detested the idea of sleeping in a stable and had expressed this opinion on more then one occasion much to the distress of the one that had recommended it. She didn’t feel much better about sleeping in warehouses either.

Some movement caught Annette’s attention as she turned to see three guards looking in her direction. Apparently they hadn’t realized what she was until they were quite close now they seem somewhat surprised. Then again it wasn’t very often that a giant would wonder into a town and then be standing there quietly. The men seemed even more concerned when she waved to them indicating that she had indeed seen them.

“Hold on. Isn’t that the one the magistrate hired?”

“Yes that would be me. I was just wondering if I should collect my payment now or wait for morning.”

The three guards seemed to relax a bit once she had confirmed they worked for the same person but they kept their distance. “I believe that he would prefer if you waited until morning.”

“Yeah but I would prefer to get my money now then have to stand around and try to think of where I should stay.”

The guards looked at one another for a moment as if uncertain as what to say. “Um perhaps we could find a place for you to stay?”

“If you try and stick me in a stable or something meant to store animals you are going to regret it.”

“Oh uh we see. Well then I guess you could take it up him.”

Annette gave a nod and proceeded to walk further into the town. She doubted that her final decision would get a warm reception but they hadn’t had the decency to make appropriate accommodations incase she should return at night.

Three guards stood watch at the gate one appeared to be an archer while the others seemed to be spearmen. They all three tensed up as Annette approached the archer going so far as to ready an arrow. Annette gave the arrow head a quick look at let out an annoyed sigh. “I am here to collect the bounty on Armzon so let me speak to your boss.”

The archer appeared to be the one in charge as he was the first to speak. “He has retired for the night. You need to wait until tomorrow.”

“Well then we have a problem since I don’t feel like standing around and waiting.”

“Your and our employer wouldn’t be happy about being woken up in the middle of the night and even less happy if you were to force your way in.”

“I am sure you will get over it and I would recommend you put that arrow back in its quiver. I admit the enchantment on it would do me some harm but unless it is a new model that means it would just string a little.”

Despite Annette’s advice the archer still held his weapon at the ready the spearmen had already move in front of him and readied their weapons as well. “I. I will send a message to wake him up.” The archer glanced at one of the spearmen and indicated that he was to go to the mansion. “You go and tell them that the bounty hunter has returned to collect her payment and is refusing to wait.”

Annette watched as the guard entered a door opposite of the gate and began to head towards the mansion. She then glanced down at the archer and remaining guard. “How many guards does he have patrolling the town and how many are kept to guard his home?”

“The town receives adequate protection.”

An amused giggle escaped Annette. “Of course it does. I guess that means they are at least two times as many guards kept on the grounds of his own estate then those guarding the rest of this place.”

It was only a short while before Annette noticed the guard heading back down the path though he was moving more slowly then he went up. Rather odd since the trip down should have been easier she imagined he had bad news weighing him down at the moment. As he neared the gate he slowed to a walk and even took a few moments to catch his breath. “The magistrate is not to be disturbed at this time. If you should try to force your entry you forfeit your payment and will be tried as a criminal.”

There was a tense moment in the air as the men waited to see Annette’s reaction. Annette smile and moved her head back as if stretching her neck. Her shoulders shifted a few times and her legs tensed up. When her head returned to its normal position and the men saw the grin on Annette’s face they all three turned pale despite the brave demeanor they had been putting on.

A high pitched scream came from the woman’s lips so loud that it seemed as if it would wake everyone in the mansion despite its thick walls a man’s body had came flying through one of the upper most windows a few moments earlier. She had quickly recognized him as one of the night guards.

The two spearmen were in shock. Annette had moved more quickly then either of them could have imagined. Her massive hand had wrapped around the waste of their commanding officer and he had been sent flying towards the manor.

Annette wasn’t entirely certain why she had picked the man up and thrown him like that. There was just something about the refusal to wake their employer while making her wait outside that had really pissed her off. Of course now the situation was quite complicated as she was certain more guards would be coming soon. That meant she needed to kill off the two guards that were already there before anyone could join up with them.

The first spearman to regain some composure readied his weapon and attempted to drive his spear into her stomach she easily caught the spear before it was even close. He felt as his weapon was pulled towards by the strength of the giantess and then thrust back at him. Two high shrill cries echoed throughout the streets one was from the pierced metal being so forcibly pushed aside by the but of the spear the other was from the man who had just had his own weapon shoved strait through him.

Seeing his comrades so easily dispatched the final spearmen dropped his weapon and made a dash for the side entrance of the gate. He had only managed to take two paces before Annette’s wrapped his waste. Her massive hand covered a huge portion of his torso and her fingers nearly wrapped all the way around him. “Just incase the first one didn’t wake you boss up I think I should throw another mass.”

“No wait I…..”Annette didn’t bother waiting any longer and heaved the spearmen towards the manner since he was wearing more armor then the archer had been she imagined he would make a even more significant impact. Resigning herself to the fact that things would just have to be complicated she easily pushed the front gates open breaking the locking mechanism in the process. Light had begun to appear in the windows of the mansion when she had thrown the archer now she could see them all over the place.

None of them knew what was going on. They only knew that there was trouble at the front gate so that was there they were going. There were a dozen of them in all nine front line spearmen and three archers and they would be meeting up with many more at the front gate. The group came to a dead stop and many were thrown to the ground when something very large appeared in their miss.

Annette felt confident that the magistrate had more soldiers on hand them Armzon had at his camp. However, unlike armzon they were currently spread out so she just had to insure that she dealt with the groups while they were still small.

At least three men had been killed when Annette had jumped in the midst of the guards several others had been injured. As she moved to take hold of those that had been the furthest away from the zone of impact and were still standing the only attention those that had been knocked to the ground received was her massive foot coming down upon them individually.

Annette took hold of one of the nearest guards and pressed her thumb to his forehead she only had to exert the tiniest bit of pressure to pop his head off. Taking hold of another she squeezed his armor in until she felt his rubs collapsing inward she let him fall to the ground before he was entirely dead the injury would finish him off soon enough and with his armor bent inward there wasn’t anything that could be done for him even if a healer was handy.

She was careful to leave some of the soldiers with fatal injuries to moan, groan and scream their cries distracting their comrades and helping to hide her true location. It was somewhat amusing but if they had waited until day light she wouldn’t have been able to use this tactic that or if the magistrate hadn’t saw fit to amass such a large amount of property.

Illuminated by the torch light was a sickening sight. Dead and dying men covered the area a dozen or so in all. It was the third unit Annette had dealt with though they didn’t know in what order the units were being torn apart.

He had been woken up shortly after the archer’s body had came crashing through one of the mansion’s windows. Now the magistrate found himself struggling to figure out a conclusion to the situation. “Why is she attacking us?”

“She arrived about thirty minutes ago and was denied access to you until morning and..”

“Why was she denied access?”

“It was late.”

“You idiot go and call the men back to the main house before she kills all of them.”

“Yes sir.” As the man dashed out of the room the magistrate bit the tip of his finger for a moment. This wasn’t good depending on how many of his men she had killed he might not have the needed man power to stop her that would put him in a difficult situation as far as negotiations. If only he had remembered to grant permission to be woken up should she return from her task at night but he had thought his help was smart enough to do that.

Annette heard the bell ringing but it didn’t slow her down in the least. She did however notice that those units that had already made it to the front gate began to return to the mansion and those that had been traveling to it had turned around and were going back to the mansion. Of course this was the most logical decision on their part the reason she had been able to tear so many of them apart and not even make use of her weapon was they were so badly dispersed.

“Use a wind spell to amplify my voice.” The magistrate didn’t even bother glancing at the wizard as he cast the spell he was to busy looking off into the darkness. Some of the guards had made there way back to the mansion but he didn’t know if it would be enough to stop her. He was somewhat grateful for the darkness of night he didn’t like the idea of seeing all the bodies that littered his yard.

He only acknowledged the mage once he had finished casting the spell. “Honored guest my sincerest apology for the welcome you received. Though I wish you hadn’t chosen such a forceful means to obtain my attention I hope that we may stop this blood shed now and complete our business.”

Annette didn’t bother going closer to the mansion but at least she quit tearing the guards apart she had more then enough lunge capacity to raise her voice to the needed levels. “That is fine with me. I like to be promptly paid after all.”

“Yes I can see that. Your payment for killing Armzon is being readied now.”

“Don’t forget my bonus.”

“Bonus? What bonus!?”

Annette giggled a bit when she heard the anger in the magistrate’s voice and he had been doing such a good job of hiding it when they first started. “I was promised a bonus for however many of Armzon’s men I killed.”

“And how many was that?”

“At least eighty seven.”

The magistrate had to keep his temper in check though he was considering ending the negotiations once enough of his men had gathered at the mansion. “And how many of my men have you slain?”

“I can’t really say I wasn’t counting. I think I already killed off six groups of them.”

“Then I will pay you for fifteen of Armzon’s men killed. Since the bonus was for the number of my men’s lives it would have saved.”

Annette’s first instinct was to argue her point or just threatened to continue killing his men until he didn’t have any left. She decided to be a bit more generous. “I want payment for at least forty three after all your men were the ones that stood in my way. Of course I could just killed twice as many of your men as I did of Armzon’s if you have that many on hand and call it even then. I am sure the fun would be worth the money.”

He couldn’t see it or truly hear it but the magistrate couldn’t help but feel that everyone returning to the mansion started moving even more quickly. “Very well.”

“Don’t take to long or I will think you’re trying to set a trap for me since you weren’t initially prepared.”

The magistrate didn’t bother commenting but proceeded back into his mansion and turned towards the mage who had cast the spell on him. The mage quickly dispelled the magic so they could speak in privacy. “How many men do I have left?”

“Perhaps 128 but they haven’t all gathered yet and we don’t have a battle plan.”

“It isn’t enough to be certain anyway.”

“So we are going to just give in?”

“Since when is paying someone what they are owed giving in? While I am not happy that she killed so many of the guards there isn’t many choices in the matter. Even if we could mass enough men to beat her there is nothing to stop her from retreating. Anyway she was still worth it.”

Annette’s eyes easily pierced the darkness unlike the humans’. She was grateful for the edge this gave her and quite happy when she noticed a well dressed man step out amongst the massed soldiers. He had a large satchel with him at least large in human standards. “I hope you don’t mind if I don’t step forward to retrieve my payment.”

The man carrying the sack spoke up only a moment after Annette. “That is quite alright miss I will just come to you then if you don’t mind.”

As the man drew nearer Annette expected him to set the bag down and back away allowing her to pick it up when he continued to carry it though until he was only within arms reach she had to ask. “Now why did you do that?”

The man set the back down clearly glad to be rid of its weight and opened it up to let Annette see inside. “To show you that it wasn’t going to explode my employer regrets that things went the way they did but hopes to at least end things on a pleasant note.”

“He sounded pretty angry to me.”

“Oh he is furious with you but he has also been furious with some other officials that are both equal to and higher than his rank.”

“So he is a man that is used to having to control his anger when the situation requires it. I take it that the bag isn’t trapped in anyway.”

“No miss. It is just a perfectly normal sack with perfectly normal though valuable coins inside.”

Annette bent down and proceeded to pick the bag up while the man had to use both arms to carry the sack Annette easily lifted it with only one.

“Would it be outline of to request that you do not come back here for at least three years?”

Annette gave an amused giggle. “So it is only going to take him three years to get over this? Okay so long as this doesn’t blow up in my face or turned out to be poison I won’t come here unless it is on business and if I am just passing by I won’t even stop by the town.”

“Thank you.”

“Let me make sure everything is here before you thank me.” Annette easily held the contents of the bag in her open hand sifting through the gold coins she didn’t count to carefully just careful enough to make sure she had been paid roughly the right amount she could count it again later. “Well everything seems to be here.”

As Annette turned to leave the man that had brought her payment called out, “Miss the front gate isn’t that way.”

“I know that. Don’t worry I won’t leave a whole in your master’s wall but I am not taking the obvious path out of this place.”

************************************************************************

Annette tapped her foot against the water’s surface as she let out a sigh. It had been a few weeks since the event at the magistrate’s mansion and she was outside of those land’s borders. Now she found herself in an area between that kingdom and another a sort of neutral zone that didn’t belong to either one though at times would or the other would claim it when they had enough strength. “I think I screwed up.”

“Screwed up on what?”

Annette jerked up when she heard the voice she hadn’t heard anyone approaching. “Whose there?”

“What did you screw up on?”

It was easy to follow the sound of the voice but when Annette looked in that direction she still could see who was speaking to her. “Tell me where you are and maybe I will tell you what I messed up on.”

“I am right in front of you.”

“Huh. I can see through magic barriers and illusions so don’t lie to me.”

Annette’s face turned beat red when a cloaked figure stepped out from behind one of the trees. “Invisibility spell? No no there is just a silent step enchantment on my shoes.”

Annette felt like she had stuck her foot in her mouth fortunately while her foot was quite large she had quite a sizable mouth as well. “Who are you?”

“Now, you mentioned answering my question. You will have to answer that if you want me to tell you who I am.”


“I had a disagreement with some of my last employer’s staff when they wouldn’t let me meet him at night.”

“Oh is that all I thought something new might have happened since then.”

“Okay now who are you and add to that what are you doing here?”

“I am a potential employer.”

“A name would be nice.”

Annette let out an annoyed sigh. “Okay how about you leave me alone now? You are beginning to get on my nerves.”

“Come now surely you aren’t going to turn away a potentially beneficial arrangement over a little lip. Incase you still want to know my name is Warren.”

“All right Warren what kind of work are you offering? Though it had better be good or you had better be fast on your feet.”

“I wanted to hire you to acquire some spell components for me.”

“Which would be?”

“Just the blood, teeth, claws and a few other items from a wing dragon.”

“Yeah I can see why those would be hard to come by but why don’t you just hire someone else or buy them out right?”

“Well I need them to be particularly potent which means they must come from a particularly powerful dragon.”

“How powerful are we talking about here?”

“A young adult should be sufficient for my needs.”

“Heh so you can’t just have someone go slaughter a bunch of young dragons that are fresh out of the nest.”

“Yes but at least I know where such a best can be found.”

“How much are you willing to pay for these components?”

“If they are taken from this particular dragon I would be willing to part with five thousand gold coins if money is the only thing I have which appeals to you.”

Annette couldn’t hide her surprise of course the payment brought up another question. “Okay how many people have you sent to their deaths trying to collect that payment?”

Warren gave a slight laugh and held up three of his fingers on his right hand and one on the left. “So far the beast has killed three dragon slayers and wiped out one small group of adventurers. Fortunately they agreed to let me pay them once the job was done so I wasn’t out anything other then time.”

“I take it you didn’t offer such a generous payment to the first people you sent.”

“At the time I didn’t believe the beast would prove so resilient.”

“You’re being surprisingly honest about this.”

“I prefer to have as few enemies as possible while still obtaining what I want. By telling you this in advance you can’t say you were not warned ahead of time.”

“You mentioned some other items. What else would you be willing to pay me with?”

“Well I believe the dragon will provide more then enough materials for my research so I should have enough left over parts to make some interesting bobbles that may interest you. Such as I could use the dragon scales to make you a lighter suit of armor.”

Annette gave a slight giggle. “Well I don’t exactly consider this armor heavy and to be honest new armor doesn’t truly appeal to me.”

“Yes I imagine what you have is more then strong enough for most situations. I could list more items but I won’t be able to make them unless you succeed in killing the dragon.”

“Did you ever try to best it yourself?”

Warren let out a slight sigh and gave a nod. “I tried but the beast is nearly immune to my magic. I knew that as a creature of wind and magic it would be even more resistant to wind then most dragons but I didn’t expect it to be as resistant as it was. Of course that means the wind magic inherent in its physical make up must be particularly strong or unique.”

“Which makes you want it all the more?”

“You are quite right. So do we have a deal?”

“I’ll see what I can do. I will forgo up front payment for the time being. I want to see the dragon first however that also means I have the right to back out if I decide the assignment isn’t worth the pay.”

“I can agree to those terms.”

“So just where does this dragon live? I could use a map if you have one.”

“Here you go.” Warren reached within one of his pockets and proceeded to take out a crystal which he then tossed to Annette.

Annette easily snatched the comparatively crystal in her hand. As soon as she looked at the jewel she noticed it had several arrows cut in to it and one of them was glowing. “I take it you are use to flying where you want to go and not having to worry if there is a road or not.”

“Well my specialty is wind magic.”

“Yeah I figured as much considering your interest in this particular dragon. How am I supposed to find you to collect my payment and deliver the goods once the job is done?”

“I need the components quite soon after the dragon is dead so I will just come to you with your payment.”

Annette looked at Warren for a moment clearly sizing him up as if she was suspicious. “I can’t help but be concerned that once the dragon is dead you will just take the parts and run. You probably know my reputation while I know nothing of yours.”

Warren chuckled for a moment. “Rest assured that I could not remove an entire dragon’s corpse quickly enough to just run away. Indeed I would offer to fly you to the location if you weren’t so sizable.”

“Just how far is this crystal going to lead me?”

“At the moment you only have a few weeks journey.”

Annette cringed for a moment then glanced at her armor as if she was thinking.

“Is something the matter?”

“My armor may not last me that long.”

“Huh?”

“Never mind if it doesn’t last me until I can deal with the dragon I will make due without it. If I am lucky I will find some place to have my armor fixed while I am traveling.”

Warren took a moment to look at Annette the gaze wasn’t one of suspicion though rather there was something else behind it. “Oh I see what you mean. Your body isn’t that of a natural creature.”

“Well isn’t that obvious? I am a giant.”

Warren gave a slight chuckle. “You don’t belong to the same species.”

“I will rest here for a while longer then I will start traveling. I imagine you have a method of locating me since you found me this time.”

“Yes I just have to listen to the wind.”

Annette chuckled as a massive torrent of air engulfed Warren disturbing the trees and nearly everything else in the area. A few moments later the mage was gone though she could still see the funnel of air that had carried him away. “Son of a bitch gets to travel easy.”

************************************************************************

Annette shifted her arm a bit trying to get the stiffness out currently her body was mostly exposed since she had removed a good deal of her armor. Despite this the wind blowing through the mountain range didn’t disturb her. Looking at the crystal that Warren had given her a soft chuckle escaped Annette. “No wonder he pays so much. The trip here alone is a pain.”

Currently a massive cliff stood between Annette and the strait path she had been taken over the last few days. Giving a shrug Annette places the crystal in her back and proceeded to adjust the carrying back which held her armor and other items. Walking over to the cliff she easily dug her fingers into the solid stone and gave the surface a slight kick with each foot. After assuring herself that the rock was strong enough to support her weight she began to climb upwards.

Once she was about half way up the cliff Annette was somewhat surprised when she heard a rather healthy thunder clap shake the sky and seemingly the mountain. “Strange.” Annette glanced around herself while the wind was strong and would have been cold in most being’s opinion there was no sound of thunder or clouds. A particularly strong gust of wind caused Annette to dig her fingers into the rock’s surface even more firmly and reminded her to hurry up.

When she had reached nearly two thirds of the way up the cliff Annette was delighted to see that smoke could be seen over the mountain top. With the sight of the smoke renewing her vigor it only took Annette a few more minutes to scale the mountain what she found though was quite interesting. The settle was expansive that was true enough but the buildings didn’t look like they were build appropriately at least not for people. A huge smile crossed her face once she realized what the settlement must be composed of mostly.

Dwarfs never seemed to show much fear no matter the situation and they most assuredly didn’t show any just because you were larger then them at least the majority didn’t seem to. As Annette strolled through the streets she noted the hearty if short humanoids wondering around a few of them glanced at her but they didn’t seem all that interested.

“Well hello there miss. I hear you came from over the mountain top. You know the road is generally easier.”

Annette turned to find a few well armored dwarfs standing behind her. The quality of their armor and weapons was quite impressive and she was willing to wager the leader had at least one enchanted piece of equipment. “Easier but strait up and over is faster.”

The dwarf gave a slight laugh. “Perhaps in your case just don’t try packing a load of ore up those cliff. So what brings you to our little town?”

“I am hunting for a certain dragon and I was led her though I was hoping that I might find someone who could help me with my armor.”

“Well you won’t find many places with a greater supply of black smiths then here. If you would like I could direct you to a few smiths that may be able to help you out.”

“That would be wonderful. Would you happen to know of any locations that might be able to house someone of my scale as well?”

“Now that one is a might tougher but it doesn’t mean that we can’t. Give me some time to think.” Annette watched the dwarf’s weapon as he tapped the ground a few times. Each time the hammer would touch a spot on the ground a thin layer of frost would appear it didn’t take her long to figure out that indeed the weapon was enchanted and most likely with a potent frost enchantment. “Ah I have it. If you have coin enough there is an inn near the front of the town just the opposite direction you entered from. Now they don’t have any rooms that are particularly suited for you but they do have a nice little building for travelers who don’t have many coins on them.”

Annette gave a slight nod. “So I could just by a few of the bunks.”

“Yes they are other places of course but they wouldn’t be as tidy.”

“Okay. Now where could I find those smiths?”

“Just follow us.”

Annette was always surprised how quickly dwarfs could move despite their short legs it seemed quite an odd contrast. “You must get a lot of unique visitors to not be more concerned about me.”

A slight chuckle came from the group. “We dwarfs know that size isn’t always an indicator of someone’s capability. Of course I will admit that you did concern us.”

“I take it you wouldn’t normally see fit to escort a guest around.”

“Do you want to try and locate the right smiths yourself?”

Annette quickly waved her hands in the air. “Oh no no. Your help is appreciated.” As she followed the group Annette estimated the leader was three fourths the height of an average human which put him well below her knee level and he was the tallest one in the group.

Of course as he had said size isn’t a good indicator of ability especially considering where she was. She knew the war hammer the dwarf was packing would have strained most humans and he carried it easily. Being part of a species that spent a fair amount of their life digging through rocks did that she supposed. “Okay I don’t want to appear ignorant but what are you digging for up here?”

“Well if you assumed we are digging for gold you would only be right if we were talking about the mines original purpose.”

“Huh. I wouldn’t have thought you would stay on at a site let alone have it grow this much if there wasn’t any gold to be found.”

“We mined out all the gold quite some time ago however during our digs we found other useful metals. This mountain is full of iron as well as arcanon.”

Annette stopped walking for a moment as a curious look appearing on her face. “Okay I can’t say I am familiar with that.”

“It isn’t common in the least so we were surprised to find such a rich deposit here we can mind out about a ton every week.”

“Huh?” Annette couldn’t hide the shock in her voice or on her face for a dwarf to talk about a ton in a week as if it was something special was truly bizarre this got a collective laugh from everyone in ear shot apparently they found her surprise to be quite amusing especially when it was magnified so much and made so obvious by Annette’s scale.

“I know that doesn’t sound impressive but arcanon is quite difficult to mine and even here it isn’t common.”

Annette gave a nod and began to walk again. “So what are its properties?”

“Well early on it is remarkably strong and heat resistance a real pain to work with. One odd feature though is that is very receptive to magic and yet resistant to it at the same time.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well for instance a shield made from arcanon is very resistant to magic attacks yet enchanting it is exceptionally easy. It is like the metal sucks up magic.”

“I see and what do you do with it?”

“We have sold some of it to a few mages guild but we need to study it some more before we begin actively distributing.”

“Ah blast it I was hoping you were setting me up for a sale.”

“Oh I may have been. You said you were here to kill a particular dragon or on your way to. Now I don’t know if this is the exact same dragon you are looking for but there is a rather mean one that has been interfering with our supplies. These mines are profitable but it is hard to grow food up here.”

“And you haven’t bashed its skull in yourself yet?”

For the first time the dwarf gave a slight frown. “Well it isn’t from lack of trying but the bastard is hold up in a cave with a very rich supply of arcanon and it seems it has learned to use it to its advantage. The mages that go in find they are unable to cast any spells and enchanted weapons loose their bite except for what they already had.”

“Why have your attempts to catch the beast out side of its cave failed?”

The dwarf’s smile returned apparently he liked the fact that Annette went ahead and assumed they would try that. “It is just to fast. It is a wind dragon after all though there is another odd thing. Its scales are remarkably sturdy which is odd for its kind from how tough they are you would think we were dealing with an earth dragon.”

A bit of a giggle escaped Annette.

“Hm is something funny?”

“No I was just thinking about how we identify and label dragons. I am kind of curious what terms you dwarf might use to separate the various human groups, elfs and perhaps even my kind.”

A soft chuckle escaped the dwarf leader. “Well I have too many for humans to name. Elfs are just referred to as those pointy eared bastards most the time and as for your type it really depends on location.”

Annette rolled her eyes she wasn’t certain if the dwarf was joking but she didn’t feel like asking either. “Doesn’t the arcanon cancel out the dragon’s own mystic nature?”

“Oh if only it was that simple no for some reason the metal seems to enhance its abilities when it is in the cave.”

“How big is it?”

“I would say it is about.” The dwarf glanced at Annette for a few moments. “I would say it is about 30% longer then you are tall.”

“Is it a young adult?”

“That would be my guess. By the way why are you seeking to kill that dragon you mentioned? From your questions I assume they are the same one.”

“It seems quite likely. I am a mercenary you see and someone is paying me very well to kill that dragon and retrieve certain body parts. Well the body actually.”

“Even the scales?”

“Yes. Why is that a problem?”

“Blast it. No it isn’t a problem that is if you are the one to kill it.”

“Ah you wanted to find out why its scales are so strong?”

“It would be wonderful to study them what is this fellow offering to pay you.”

“Sorry even if you offered to pay me more I couldn’t accept it. I try to hold myself to my word.”

“Well I don’t like it but I can’t say anything bad against it. Nice to see you hold yourself to your word miss. Well it seems we haven’t introduced ourselves yet. My name is Durin and what is yours?”

“Annette. I am pleased to meet you.”

“Well even if you aren’t willing to let us have that dragon’s hide. We would appreciate you ridding us of it and while you may already be employed to do so I am thinking that we could offer you an extra incentive.”

“Some of the arcanon?”

“Yes. We could part with the same volume of arcanon as in your armor.”

Annette couldn’t but smile. “Now you have me wishing that I wore full body armor. I don’t suppose you would be willing to let me have the same weight as my armor?”

Durin gave a slight laugh and shook his head. No. No. I can’t say having the dragon killed is worth that. When I said arcanon was light I meant it.”

“Okay. So what other terms do you have?”

“Only that you deal with the dragon quickly I would prefer if you took care of it right away but I imagine you want to have your armor adjusted first and to be honest I recommend it. With that said here we are.”

Annette glanced to her side. They were currently standing in front of a massive building with black smoke wafting from the smoke stacks as if they were trying to kill the sky. “Here?”

“Yes.” Durin walked over to the massive doors and proceeded to slide them open as he did Annette could hear the clicking of several gears no doubt put in place to make opening the door easier and help with locking it down. Still she imagined the massive doors took a fair amount of muscle and Durin did it easily enough. Instantly the two of them were assaulted with a wave of heat.

“I noticed this town felt far warmer then it should there is no wonder why now. You have giant furnaces everywhere.”

Durin didn’t respond right away but took a moment to shield his face from the heat until he adapted. The dwarf proceeded to stroke his beard as if checking for something. “The furnaces are running a little cool today.”

“Why do you say that?”

“None of the hairs on my beard were singed just then.”

Annette gave an amused chuckle and followed the dwarf into the massive building. A few dwarfs gave them a quick glance but didn’t seem concerned especially seeing that Durin and a few others were with her. “I know you said you were taking me to a place that had the equipment to work on my armor but isn’t this over kill?”

“Well I did say I wanted that dragon killed soon.”

“Just what is your rank here?”

“Captain of the defensive corpse of course we double as the offensive as well.”

“Durin what brings you here and who is your friend? She is a tall one.”

Durin turned towards a rather stocky dwarf that was approaching. Annette could tell he spent a lot of time near the surface due to the condition of his skin. “This is Annette and I believe she will be helping us with our dragon problem.”

“Ah that is wonderful news.” Annette wasn’t quite certain how it happened but a moment later she was learned over with the dwarf shaking her hand. Well he held her massive hands between both of his and moved his entire arm up and down while Annette didn’t have to move much at all. “So what brings you here then?”

“I need to have my armor resized it doesn’t fit me any longer.”

“Ah well then let me take a look at it and I will give you an idea of what is going to cost at the time needed. Since you’re going to be ridding us of that dragon I will even give you a discount hmm or rush the job your choice.”

“Thanks but what makes you so certain that I am up to the task.”

Durin gave a slight chuckle. “The same reason I offered you the job you look about as stout as a dwarf and there is a lot more of you.”

Annette giggled and proceeded to flex one of her arms showing off her massive bicep. “Thanks.”

The black smith gave a quick nod. “What is Durin offering to pay you?”

Durin answered for Annette. “The same volume of arcanon as is in her armor so you are to take detail measurements.”

The black smith seemed a bit surprised this. “That dragon has your beard in knots?”

“That bastard dragon is hold up in one of our caves and it just happens to be the riches in arcanon. Not to mention it keeps attacking supply caravans.”

Annette didn’t bother asking whether or not the dragon had been there before or after the Dwarfs moved in. It was common knowledge that once the dwarfs decided a mine was theirs it didn’t really matter who the previous owner was and it took quite a sizable force to convince them other wise.

The smith gave a nod and turned his attention back to Annette. “Well then may I see your armor?”

Annette gave a nod and bent down and removed the heavy chains she was using to carry her armor on her back. She intentionally held her breastplate and greaves up before setting them down in order to give the dwarf a better idea of just what he would be working with. As she laid out the pieces of equipment the smith proceeded to examine each one of them while repeatedly glancing up at Annette. “I was going to say there is no way this armor would fit you but it seems it was designed with that in mind. These links are meant to make the armor easily expandable aren’t they?”

“Yeah but I sort of outgrew the last link a few weeks ago now it hinders my movement too much to be worth the protection it provides that and it is painful.”

“So it only took you a few weeks to outgrow this armor? My you are growing fast I don’t imagine you’re a normal giant.”

“Nope.” Annette kept quiet as the dwarf continued to look over her armor. When he moved to lift it up she started to help him but he stopped her by calling out to his assistance.

“Hey get over here and hold this up for me.” Only two dwarfs answered the call one female and one male. A moment later they proved that was all was needed as each one took hold of a shoulder guard and held the armor so that it was standing up as if Annette was wearing it. Annette had to keep herself from laughing as the side latches were opened up and the head smith actually entered into her armor. “So does everything expand proportionally?”

“Yeah so you can use that as a guideline for the adjustments.”

“You do realize that these links leave quite a few weak points don’t you?”

“Yes, but it was either that or deal with the pain of my breast constantly being crushed.”

“I really don’t like the idea of modifying this.”

“How come?”

“I could do a better job and considering what you are going to be fighting you don’t really need any weak points.”

“Can you guarantee the armor you designed would be stronger then that suit of armor there?”

“I can assure you that not only will its’ over all strength be greater but the weak points will be less vulnerable.”

Annette glanced at Durin for a moment who grinned. “He is one of the best smiths we have.”

“Okay but if it isn’t stronger you can forget me paying for it.”

“I wouldn’t expect any other deal.”

“So what are you going to charge me?”

The smith took a few more moments to look over Annette’s armor. “Well a work on this scale is going to cost you around 200.”

Annette’s eyes widened her current suit of armor had only cost around 50 gold coins at least she believed. It had actually been given to her so she wasn’t certain. “What kind of strength increase are we talking about here?”

“At least twenty percent all around and I would say I can increase the strength of the jointed areas by at least sixty percent without hindering you.” It was fairly obvious that Annette was far from thrilled from the price however he wasn’t willing to lower it.

Annette brought her right hand up and bit down on her thumb for a few moments. Warren was paying her an awful lot to kill the dragon and the dwarfs had offered her something that was perhaps even more valuable so if she succeeded she would be able to easily justify the expense of her armor upgrade but then again if she could best the dragon without the improvements she would save quite a bit of money. “Fine two hundred it is.” Annette was grateful that she had kept a good deal of the money she earned from dealing with Armzon with her.

Durin had to resist the urge to be overly nosey as he heard the sound of coins rattling. He like most dwarfs had worked with gold and other metals long enough to recognize them just by the sound they made when they were shaken up and he could tell that bag was quite full and the majority of the coins at least were gold.

“Would half now be sufficient?” Annette would have normally paid in full right away and just took her refund if she wasn’t happy however this town was different from most others and she didn’t relish the idea of having to try and fight her way out. Then again they weren’t likely to try and short change her if they wanted the dragon taken care of.

“That will be just fine.”

While Annette didn’t like handing over the money she did find it amusing to see how the dwarfs reacted as she counted out ever gold piece. She had never been able to understand why dwarfs had such an interest in gold especially since it didn’t seem to be their favored form of currency. At least they didn’t like using it to pay for things they would gladly accept it as payment. “There you go.”

The smith had clearly been counting as Annette handed it out though it seemed likely he would end up counting it again. Durin chuckled as the smith began to leave. “Hold it now. Just when do you expect that armor to be finished? The lady has a dragon to slay after it is done.”

“And what about my old armor?”

“Oh. We would like it if you left your old armor here so we can take some measurements.” The smith stopped for a moment. “Sorry I guess I got a little over zealous. Please wait there while we take some measurements to find out just what the scale should be built to. I will be sure to make this new armor easy to adapt to your growing size as well.”

*********************************************************************

“6.91067 meters tall.” The lead smith called down to his assistance as he stood a top a platform. “So you were just 5.5 meters tall just over three months ago?”

“Yeah you can imagine why I couldn’t wear my armor anymore.”

While they would be keeping her old armor they had resolved to take some additional measurements. Extending her arm out strait Annette allowed them to not only measure the length of her arm but its width. Her legs were also measured both tensed and relaxed. It was some what amusing since it took two of the dwarfs to measure the distance around her leg accurately. “Well you seem to be holding proportional to the measurements we took from your armor. I believe if we section your armor correctly we can make it last you until you are nine meters tall perhaps even ten.”

“That is impressive and it would keep me from having to by new armor for a while. Hopefully by then I won’t need its protection any longer.”

Durin had stuck around apparently he was acting as Annette’s watch dog at the moment but she didn’t mind. It was nice having him escort her around town and now that he had hired her he had a vested interest in making sure she was up to the task. “I have been thinking. Would you mind sharpening this ladies sword as well? It looks a might duel.”

Annette glanced towards her weapon for a moment. “I don’t know if it would be worth the trouble the edge isn’t going to hold for very long.”

Durin waved his hand. “That may be true but how often do you know your going up against such a formidable opponent.”

Annette let out a sigh. “I should have not let it be so obvious how much gold I am packing.”

Durin gave a slight chuckle and turned towards the smith. “Why don’t you do this one for free considering you already have the armor?”

The smith gave a nod. “Sure thing and don’t worry you will be getting your money’s worth.” Annette glanced at her sword for a moment in all honest she didn’t like the idea of leaving her armor and weapon behind this seemed to be noted by the others in the room. “Your armor is going to take a lot of attention so why don’t you take your sword with you and come back in two days?”

“That is all the time you need?”

The smith looked at the armor for a moment. “It is hard to say I will have to call in some extra hands but that is fine busy is good.”

“Okay.” Annette easily lifted her weapon back up and placed it on her back.

“Very well now that is settled how about we find a place for you to stay?”

“Yeah I would like to rest for a while.”

************************************************************************

“I wasn’t expecting this.” Annette looked around the massive room for a moment the roof was roughly eight meters tall which meant she could actually stand up so long as she stayed near the middle at least. Several beds had been cleared out to make room for her to lie down. Durin and the hostess stood a ways back watching Annette look around.

The hostess took a step forward. “Well if we are going to house someone we might as well house them properly.”

The room was oddly pleasant especially since it was meant for those that couldn’t afford one of the better rooms. “I am surprised how clean you keep this place.”

“Just because we aren’t in a mine doesn’t mean we don’t work hard. Of course keeping these rooms is easy.”

“You don’t get many guests this high up do you?”

“No. These beds are mostly for the men that are hired to transport supplies up the mountain they are about our only regulars and we appreciate the service they provide so I make sure they get a good nights rest before going back down.”

“Why does this place have such a high roof though?”

The hostess turned her head a bit. “Well it used to be a store house you see.”

Annette gave an amused laugh. “No wonder the floors are strong enough to support my weight. I rarely get to but when I do get to go into a building I have to worry about the floors giving way especially as I grow larger.”

Durin couldn’t help himself. “Have you always been growing so quickly?”

“No. I only started a few years after becoming sentient and learning how to use my body.”

“Became sentient?”

“Yes I wasn’t actually sentient when I was first born.”

Durin gave a slight shrug and seemed satisfied with Annette’s answer. “Well if you want to look around town feel free. I have other task to attend to now.”

“Thanks for taking the time to show me around.” Once Durin had left Annette turned her attention towards the hostess. “Is the dining area large enough to handle someone of my size?”

“I don’t think it would be. However, I would be happy to bring your food to you. You paid enough for a royal sweet after all which includes room service.”

************************************************************************

The town was a rather odd place the majority of the buildings didn’t even come up past Annette’s crotch yet they were some that were massive even compared to her. The residence didn’t show the least bit of fear around their new guest despite their short stature. Of course dwarfs were generally full of behavior that one would consider odd. A conversation with them could often start perfectly informal and reasonable however one wrong word could and often did result in a broken bone.

Annette grinned as she arrived at one of the buildings that did indeed dwarf her. Currently a massive of amount of heat was radiating from within the structure resulting in the vicinity around the building feeling as if it was set in the desert rather then high atop a frozen mountain peek the doors were flung wide in order to allow better ventilation.

“Ah. You’re just in time. I was about to go and find you.”

Annette was somewhat surprised when the smith she had met the previous day poked his head out of the door. “Find me for what? It hasn’t even been twenty four hours since you began working on my armor.”

“Yes but I realized after you had left that we had forgot to ask you a few questions and take some additional measurements.”

“What are they for?”

“The leggings and sleeves to your new armor as well as a shield.”

“Huh? I didn’t ask for leggings, sleeves or a shield.”

“My dear when I make armor I don’t only make half a suit. Now come on in for those measurements.”

Annette didn’t really know what to think or how to argue against the dwarfs request so she followed him into the forge. “I have been meaning to ask. Are all these furnaces fueled by coal?”

“No. Most of the furnaces are fueled by a mixture of fire and wind magic. After all with most metals heat is heat and using coal on them would be a tremendous waste of a resource we have difficulty getting up here.”

“I was wondering how the smiths can afford to heat the entire town. So are you a mage as well as a smith?”

“No at least not in any real since of the word. I know how to make an item easier to enchant but that is about the limits of my knowledge. Take a seat over there.”

Annette gave a nod and walked over to a scaffold that had been set up a rough seat had been placed next to it. “Should I keep standing?”

“For the moment while we get your legs measured.”

“Just what are you doing with the armor that you would need these measurements? It is going to be adjustable isn’t it?”

“Yes but you want it to last as long as possible don’t you? Also you can take your old armor back we are done examining it.”

Annette gave a slight chuckle. “I may end up seeing if I can sell it to someone for scrap if this new armor is as good as you made it out to be.”

“That can be arranged I can’t say we could offer you more then what its weight is worth since well you are the only one that would find such armor to be practical.”

Annette gave a nod. “Yeah that is true but before long it will be too small for me. Would you mind if I left my armor here until I reach a decision?”

“That would be fine we have plenty of storage space well so long as you have decided by the time the dragon is killed.”

“Will do.”

************************************************************************

“So you are going to be joining me?” Annette was currently slipping on the first layer of her new armor the chain mail leggings and shirt were a bit odd in her opinion and wouldn’t served to protect against very precise attacks thanks to its layout but that was fine while it wouldn’t served a human very well it was best for Annette.

Durin gave a nod. “I have a score to settle with that dragon well me and a few of the others are going to be joining you. We want to insure the dragon dies.”

“Is that whether I live or not?”

“Yes. While I do hope you will be coming back alive along with the rest of us that is a distinct possibility. We must insure the beast dies this time.”

“You mentioned earlier that the reason you never attacked in mass was because the dragon was using the arcanon in the mines to amplify its abilities didn’t you?”

“Yeah and to be honest we did attack in mass once. The beast filled the majority of the mine with electricity by running its attack through the arcanon. We lost too many men that day to let it happen again.”

Annette glanced down at her leg when she felt a hand patting the outside of her leggings. “This armor should protect you from that it is insulated so the electricity should be directed around you and not into you.”

“What? Is that the reason you insisted the armor be a complete suit?”

The smith didn’t answer her question but gave her some more information. “We only have a few warriors that can wear the armor needed to protect them from the electricity. It isn’t so much because of the weight but it is bulky and makes it difficult move and to fight in.”

Durin glanced up. “A few men and I have been training to make use of the armor but well it is still hard to fight in. Your armor is already thick enough and you have been using it for a while I reason.”

Annette was tempted to comment she would avoid stepping on any of them but she knew better then to refer to a dwarf’s height in such a manner. As she finished the first layer of armor she picked up her chest plate as well as its back component and began to put it on she then retrieved her sword and placed in its sheath on her back. “I swear it still feel unusual to have my blade so sharpened.”

“Well don’t worry about that. From out past experience with the beast by the time you’re done hacking through its armor your sword will be plenty duel.”

Annette rolled her eyes. “That is so encouraging.”

A slight laugh came from Durin. “Well I am going to go and slip into my armor as well me and the others will be waiting for you at the main gate.” A slight giggle came from Annette. “What is it?”

“I just thought that I don’t even know if this is the right dragon but I do know the guide stone was leading me in this direction and from the information you gave me I am willing to bank on it being the right one.”

“Well if it isn’t it just means you will have an easier kill later.”

************************************************************************

Annette always felt restrained when she was in full armor a part of her liked showing off her legs and arms after all so she doubted that she would continue to wear the complete suit for long after the dragon was killed despite the protection it offered. Of course she couldn’t be certain that she actually needed the protection but the memory of the lighting and earth fusion spell that had hit her several weeks past had not faded from her mind. Of course that hadn’t been the first time such a thing had happened to her but it was the most recent and it was painful.

Durin turned as Annette approached the front gate and he instantly caught site of the grin that formed on her face he had a good idea of what she was thinking. “Damn it I know we look silly in this stuff but do you have to have such a large grin. How I despise this armor.”

“Are you really going to fight in that? It looks like..”

Durin interrupted Annette before she could finish. “Yes I know it looks like the dragon could just roll us out of the cave. This is embarrassing enough though without you grinning or any of you.” Durin turned his attention to a few of the other dwarfs that had come to see them off.

Annette glanced around and was fairly amused to see that everyone who looked at the group of nine dwarfs seemed quite amused and Durin’s obvious annoyance with the situation only made it more amusing even for the other dwarfs. The other eight who were wearing similar armor seemed grateful that it covered everything including their faces.

Durin had already resigned himself to this fate he knew how most would react when they saw the armor considering how impractical it was for most situations but that didn’t make the situation any easier on the dwarf. “Can we just get going?” Durin turned and began to make his way to a cart due to the difficulty traveling in the armor they were going to ride as far as they could.

A chuckle came from Annette. “Why didn’t you just wait to put on your armor?”

“Because we don’t have time to put it on once we are at the mouth of the cave believe me this stuff is very hard to get on.”

Durin’s response prompted Annette to take a better look at the armor. “It seems your armor has an awful lot of bolts in it.”

“Those are just the ones you can see. We can hardly even swing out weapons vertically in fact most of our movements are limited to horizontal swings and thrust.”

It was becoming very clear to Annette why the dwarfs hadn’t killed the dragon themselves yet they had quite a difficult situation with the cave disrupting the spells of their mages and the only armor that provided the needed protection hindering their movements so much.

***********************************************************************

Annette could have sworn she was just picking up solid lumps of metal as she lifted the dwarfs into the air one at a time to deposit them on top of a steep ledge the mountain was a moderately difficult climb under normal conditions however considering the armor they were forced to wear it would have been a trying horrific experience for the dwarfs. The wagon had carried them as far as it could and then been forced to stop.

“I wonder why the dragon hasn’t poked its head out to see what is climbing up i..the mountain.” Annette remembered just in the neck of time that as far as her companions were concerned the mountain was theirs.

“Oh we have tried to lure it out and kill it then it was the closest we have ever come and ever since then it has just been waiting for us to come into the interior of the mountain where it has the largest advantage.”

A bright flash of light lit up the entire mountain even more brightly then what the morning sun did and a horrific thunder clap resounded throughout the area. “Huh? I take it that was the dragon. That was an awful lot of energy.”

“That wasn’t the dragon that was the blasted beast using the arcanon to magnify its energy and running it through the entire mountain.” Durin voice showed that he was quite upset with this little display. “It does it to remind us it seems.”

As Annette and the group continued up the slope she had to ask. “How many did you lose when you tried to storm the mine?”

“I would rather not talk about it. Suffice to say even without this mine we wouldn’t normally have any empty storage space past a week. However, since we had to pull other dwarfs from the mines to serve as guards there has been a slow down.”

Annette quickly resolved that Durin’s response was a sufficient answer and continued to lead the way up the mountain not so much because she had more initiative then the dwarfs but because their armor slowed them down. Instead she would often stop and help them up them anything that would have been to trouble some. She tried to keep this to a minimum as each time she could have sworn she could feel the dwarfs’ annoyance at having to receive aid.

When they finally reached the top Annette took out the crystal that Warren had given her and let out a sigh. “Well either this is the right dragon or they are living together.” A crackling sound took Annette’s attention away from the crystal as a bright light built within the cavern a moment later she and the nine dwarfs were all engulfed in the electrical energy. It only last a few moments but it was long enough to make Annette grateful for the armor. “That would have hurt are you okay?”

“Yeah we are all fine. To be honest you should worry about yourself we had more time to test and design our armor after all.”

Annette gave a slight shrug and began to lead the way into the mine. The moment she placed her armored foot upon the ground she was surprised by the sound of the cling. “This isn’t stone.”

Durin walked around one of Annette’s massive legs. “The walls are lined with arcanon this one vein has more in it then the rest of the mountain combined at least that we know of.”

“How did it get hollowed out?”

Durin didn’t respond right away as the group was once again swallowed up by a wave of electrical energy once the energy had faded enough so that he could speak he did. “We have no idea.”

Reaching her hand up Annette ran her armored fingers against the roof for a moment. She detested having to wear armor on her hands since it didn’t let her really feel what she touched but after the two electrical waves there was no way she was taking it off. There were claw marks all over the walls though not were very deep actually Annette doubted that any of them were deeper then a fourth of a centimeter.

“Be careful of its claws that may not seem very deep.”

“But that is very strong material I know. I was just thinking that it was odd that this place is large enough for me to stand up in. If this was mined before your arrival it must have had an even greater wealth of materials.”

“We’ll know if it has been mind before once we get further in.”

Giving a nod Annette continued to lead the group further into the cavern. As she did she couldn’t help but wonder when the dragon’s next attack would come. She doubted that it would be using another electric attack at least not by running it through the arcanon. “How smart is this particular dragon?”

“As smart as any its age I suppose. If you were hoping for something so stupid it couldn’t even speak sorry but it has mocked us more then once.”

“Fuck.”

“Agreed.”

Continuing further in Annette expected that the cavern would start closing up instead she found that it only served to get larger the deeper they went. This gave her more room to move but it also meant the dragon would have more room to move and it was a type that specialized in speed.

“These walls have never been mined at least not by any method I know of.” Durin broke the silence with his announcement.

Annette didn’t bother commenting but guessed this was the furthest they had ever been in. At last they came to a truly massive chamber which sadly had openings all over the place. The loud clink of the groups armored foot steps made her regret they hadn’t padded them as while the dragon would have most likely known they were coming at least they would have been able to listen for it better. The light creek of metal could also be heard every time anyone would move.

“So that is how you made it so far into my layer.” An amused voiced called out from the shadows and seemed to enter into the room through several tunnels.

Not one panicked the only thing that happened was Durin signaled for the other dwarfs to branch out. Annette reached behind herself and finally took out her weapon the whole time bracing herself for the dragon to attack while she was busy drawing it. She wasn’t disappointed.

The dragon had snuck around the group by making use of the multiple tunnels in the area it had simply been using the echo the tunnels allowed for an echo that it had learned a long time ago and had time to practice. The creature was somewhat surprised by Annette’s appearance and even that the dwarfs had made it so far until it had looked upon their armor. It was obvious to the beast that the dwarf’s movements were hindered by the armor and Annette was the key threat so it wasted no time in attempting to remove her when she reached for her weapon.

Annette unlike most creatures her size was far from slow and despite the dragon’s relatively silent movements she had been expecting an attack. Though she felt more then heard the dragon’s approach she was able to turn and drive her free hand into the dragon’s skull.

The force of Annette’s fist impacting with its head was truly astounding while the dragons size and charge had granted it a great deal of momentum the force from Annette’s punch was more then enough to cancel out its momentum and send the dragon backwards. Once Annette saw that her opponent was dazed she wasted no time drawing her sword.

The punch had both shocked and stunned the dragon but it was still aware enough to hear Annette’s weapon being freed from its sheath. His bread of dragon was meant for speed and agility. The great beast quickly twisted away from the blade and lashed out at Annette with its tail.

A curse escaped Annette as her blade struck the walls of the cavern a horrific ringing and scraping went through out the cavern both from her weapon striking the wall and the dragons claws upon the ground. Even this sound was eclipsed a second later as the dragon’s tail caught Annette in her exposed side the tough armor caved in against the dragon’s strike though it was kept from deforming too much by the incredibly strong layer of muscle that rested beneath. Annette attempted to bring her weapon around to strike the dragon but by the time she had the dragon had already changed positioned and retreated back into the tunnels.

Annette was far from happy from the results of her punch she had expected her punch to fracture the dragon’s skull at the very least considering the amount of energy involved when the two forces collided instead the dragon had only seemed dizzy and it had recovered so quickly. Then again the dragon wasn’t happy with the lack of results as far as striking Annette in the side went.

The dragon wouldn’t retreat from its’ layer at least not yet. Annette knew that much since at the moment they were pretty much even once the fight became truly intense though should she gain the upper hand she knew she would have to finish the dragon off as quickly as possible as while the beast were known to be territorial and despise being driven from their layers they wouldn’t defend them to the death at least not in most cases.

Annette knew another attack was coming when a gentle gust of wind blew through the tunnels so gently that had it been out in the opened one might have never noticed it. A high pitched whistle echoed throughout the tunnels as the dragon burst out from one of them clearly under the affect of a spell meant to accelerate its speed there was no way to prevent it from striking its intended target so Annette didn’t bother trying.

The dwarf resist the urge to scream as it felt the dragon’s claws tearing through its armor instead of instinctively screaming in fear the dwarf chose to ram his weapon into the dragon’s claw with as much force as he could manage. The blade of his axe hardly even left a scratch while his armor was torn apart like wet paper despite the futility of the attack the dwarf was able to slow down the dragon’s motions.

The dragon felt a sudden twang of fear even as he tore through the dwarf’s armor as the dwarf chose to take hold of his claw and slow down his movements. Tearing through armor and nearly anything was something the dragon found particularly easy its claws having soaked up some of the arcanon however it hadn’t expected the dwarf to grab hold even as its weight came crashing down upon the short but sturdy warrior.

A horrific clang rang throughout the area both as the dwarf struck the ground and Annette moved into a dead sprint realizing what the dwarf had done. The dragon’s moment of victory turned to horror as it struggled to force the dwarf to release its claw with one leg impeded so there was no way it could move in time. Annette’s blade came around and struck the dragon in its side not only being driven by her considerably strength but having all her momentum behind the strike.

The force of the impact was enough to drive the dragon back though it was to late for the dwarf everyone even he had known that when the dragon had struck him and with the arcanon disrupting any magic within the cavern they hadn’t bothered to bring a healer.

Durin would feel pain for his kinsmen later but for the moment he felt rage and hope that Annette had managed to kill the dragon the force of the impact was enough to send the dragon flying against the far wall.

Moving quickly Annette attempted to close the gap between herself and the dragon’s downed form planning to insure it stayed down this time she was not pleased at all when the beast scurried back to its feet and swung its tail at her what made her even more concerned is she didn’t see any blood.

While being punched by Annette had hurt and even dazed the dragon the beast could have sworn it felt her sword strike right down to its bone despite this it hadn’t managed to make through its scales having lived so long in the mines the mystic nature of the dragon and arcanon seemed to have fused together to not only makes its attacks exceptionally powerful and claws undeniably sharp but its scales were just as strong as the arcanon itself if not stronger. Spinning around to gain momentum the dragon attempted to strike Annette with its tail once again.

Dragon’s scale was likened to armor often enough that most expected it to be dragon however as Annette blocked the dragon’s tail with her weapon she was truly astounded as she felt the force of the impact run through the blade threatening to teat it from her hands she had brought dragon’s before true most have been smaller but a few had been larger and they hadn’t put up nearly as good of a fight as this one was. As Annette fought she resolved to quit worrying about her weapon and began to attack even more viscously to insure the dragon wasn’t able to retreat back to the tunnels.

Durin was uncertain as to just what he should do at the moment while the dwarf didn’t like to have his lack of stature pointed out there was no way he was going to get near Annette and risk being trampled on by her or the dragon.

A few of the others had moved to where the other dwarf had fallen as if to confirm that he was dead perhaps the most upsetting thing about the situation is that the armor which allowed them to get so far into the mines now contributed to their lack of ability to help Annette and to the death of his friend had the armor not been so cumbersome Durin could move quick enough to join into the fight and his friend most likely would have dodged.

They had told her that the fight was going to dual her weapon and Annette had believed them but as she struck the dragon repeatedly she couldn’t help but feel the situation was somewhat preposterous the blows that she had landed would have normally cleaved a dragon of its scale in half and she had struck the great beast repeatedly.

As the dragon fought with Annette the rational side of its mind began to slip away and its attack became less coordinated but more frequent while her weapon didn’t seem able to tear through its armor her attacks did hurt and she was landing so many that it couldn’t retreat from her. The two combatants were so caught up in the fight that neither of them noticed the cracks that were beginning to appear in Annette’s weapon.

Annette’s eyes widened in shock as with a horrific scream her blade shattered the majority of the weapon braking away leaving her holding the hilt and a pathetic peace of blade the happening was so unexpected that all were frozen for a moment. Unfortunately for Annette the dragon was the first to recover from the shock and lunged for her.

It had been nearly a year since Annette had felt something sink as deeply into her muscles as the dragon’s teeth did while she had responded in time to move her arm to shield herself that meant the dragon sunk its teeth deep into it. As the dragon tasted Annette’s blood it felt its victory was near until her voice sounded in its ear. “LET GO!” Annette’s massive fist struck the dragon in the side of the head the force of the impact forcing it to release her though it caused its teeth to tear yet more of its flesh.

It wasn’t the first time she had experienced pain and indeed it wasn’t the worse however to have her weapon be broken and then the lizard bite her was truly a humiliating experience for Annette and she had never learned to cope well with humiliation.

Durin could have sworn that Annette’s armor seemed to expand outward especially those around her arms and legs just before she had struck the dragon. Dwarf’s as a species has developed rather sturdy yet reliable ear drugs to endure the constant sound of mining but also to be able to notice the subtle sounds that indicated danger. Yet Annette had struck the dragon with such force that even his ears had been left ringing.

When Annette had first punched the dragon it had to deal with the energy of its charge and the energy of her first colliding with its head her second punch hurt even worse then that one despite lacking the energy of its charge and unlike the first time Annette didn’t give the dragon time to recover as her massive leg slammed into its side.

She had broken her weapon against the dragon’s scales yet her punches seemed to have an affect upon it. As Annette drove her leg into the creature’s side and heard a hiss of pain escape it she had a better understanding of just what had happened. The dragon’s scales had somehow become fused with a good deal of arcanon making them far stronger and nearly impossible to cut through however the muscle underneath those scales was no stronger then they would have normally been.

It had at first seemed that the dragon was all about immune to Annette’s attacks now that she was no longer use her weapon this was quickly being proven false. With every strike the dragon felt itself being driven back until it was pinned against the cavern walls. The entire mine seemed to ring with each strike Annette landed as her fist impacted the dragon’s body which then impacted the cavern wall which held it pinned.

As Durin watched the fight he could hardly hold his excitement back he wanted to rush in to help Annette but felt she had it under control at least until he noticed her gauntlets. The metal that protected Annette’s fingers was currently falling away thanks to the force of her strikes and while it seemed she was getting the advantage of the dragon he noticed some trickles of blood beginning to run from her knuckles. Fortunately the resounding impacts served to remind Durin of where they were which gave him an idea.

Annette was determined to kill this dragon especially after it bit her and caused her to shatter her sword it had been a gift to her and while she could have the blade remade the enchantment it contained was most likely gone and while she couldn’t cast spells herself she knew that it would be difficult to have the weapon imbued with the same power it had before hand.

The dragon could hardly believe the level of pain Annette was currently inflicting upon it had it not been for the arcanon in its scales she would have reduced it to a paste by now. Despite the fog of pain that currently clouded the dragon’s mind the creature did manage to come to a realization the armor that once protected Annette had been damaged meaning its electric attacks could now harm her. There was a brief moment when the dragon seemed to glow and then its entire body seemed to light up.

This was a first for Annette all the other dragons had to at least open their mouths or cast a spell to use any form of magic attack this one seemed to be running the energy throughout its entire body.

“DRIVE IT AGAINST THE SPOT THREE METERS TO YOUR RIGHT! EVERYONE ELSE GET OUT OF HERE” Durin called out to Annette at the top of his voice in hopes the sound would reach Annette’s ears despite the sound of the constant impacts. The other dwarfs only gave Durin a quick glance before beginning a slow retreat back out of the cavern they had an idea of what he was planning and had no desire to be around if they were right.

Annette heard Durin’s words despite her anger and while she didn’t know exactly what he was thinking she imagined he must have an idea at the moment. Taking hold of the dragon she slammed the creature up against the spot Durin had mentioned just as it released the energy it had been building up. The dragon’s entire body lit up and the energy ran throughout the cave walls engulfing everyone within. The dead dwarf’s body was assaulted with so much energy that it was lit incinerated while Annette soon found the electricity running through her body.

Durin realized that Annette wouldn’t last long under the current conditions fortunately had had a plan and she had already started the first step. “NOW DRIVE IT INTO THAT SPOT.”

Annette let out a scream of pain but she was still able to force her body to function drawing her fist back she put as much force into the punch as she could not only using her arms to hammer the dragon but also making use of her legs. If it hadn’t been for the pain she had to endure with every moment inside the cavern she might have noticed that the walls were actually beginning to shudder with each impact.

Durin kept a close eye on the wall Annette had the dragon pinned against the top of the mine silently muttering under his breath. “Come on. Come on. Give way dam it.”

The dragon wasn’t managing much better then what Annette was the beast could taste blood in its mouth and unlike before he knew that it wasn’t the giantess’s but rather it was his own blood he tasted it took monumental effort on the beast part to keep up the constant assault it just hoped that the giantess would give before she managed to damage his internal organs to badly.

“JUMP BACK.”

This was the one time Annette thought Durin must be deluded fortunately the first rock that hit her in the head was relatively small but lined with arcanon more then enough to get through the protective covering and Annette’s own thick skull. Her leap was unspectacular thanks to the electricity running through her muscles but it got her far enough back to avoid what came next.

For a moment the dragon thought that Annette had fallen so it was confused when it looked up to see her still standing confusion was replaced with blinding fear and panic as it felt the wall and a good deal of the roof just above them coming down on top of him.
Annette hated how sluggish her body felt as she dashed towards Durin and extended her arm.

Durin felt like a team of horses at full gallop had been let lose with a rope which he was attached to and the slack had just ran out then Annette snatched him off the ground and began to dash for the exit. He was grateful the giantess had remembered to take him along for the trip other wise he wasn’t sure that he would be able to escape the collapsing mine.

“So how much of this place is coming down?” Annette called over the roar of the rubble.

“I have no idea.” Durin regretted his choice of words when he felt himself accelerated once again. As he was being carried he found himself trying to listen for the roar of the dragon or some other sign of its condition.

Warren wasn’t sure what had occurred when he first saw the dwarfs leaving the cavern. He had been observing Annette for quite some time watching her progress through a scrying crystal and had even come to watch first hand when she had journeyed with the cavern. As he heard the rumble and saw the massive giantess dash out of the mine he realized what had happened.

Annette took in a few breaths of air and checked behind her half expecting to see the tunnel collapsing to her surprise the only thing she could detect was the distance rumble of settling rocks. “Well I guess the collapse wasn’t that bad.”

“Nope it shouldn’t take more then a few days for us to remove the rock. Would you put me down now?”

“Sure.” As Annette bent to set Durin down a slight cry of pain escaped her lips and she ended up dropping the dwarf a meter.

Durin let out a slight huff as he hit the ground but wasn’t harmed he was concerned however when he looked up and noticed Annette was clutching her side. “Are you okay?”

“No my entire body is hurting. I have to..” Annette didn’t finish but took hold of the latches that held her armor on when she found that they had been welded closed she didn’t hesitate for a second to snap the metal apart she didn’t even try to slip off the protecting covering underneath her armor but proceeded to shred it.


Durin and everyone present understood why Annette had been so eager to remove her armor. Her body was currently sporting several sever burns. A loud gasp escaped from Annette as she felt the cool air of the mountains running over her skin. When she looked down at her body though her eyes widened in shock. “Those are some pretty server injuries. I think we best get you to back to town and get you a healer.”

Annette didn’t respond right away but seemed to need a few moments to think. “It has been a long time since I was injured this badly. I’ll be fine but I would appreciate it if you have a few doctors in town.”

“Why would you want to see a doctor? We have true healers after all.”

“Magic isn’t very effective on me no matter what type it is. Unless their healing spells are exceptionally powerful they will be even less effective then standard medical treatment.”

Durin was fairly surprised by how calm Annette seemed. “Aren’t you in pain?”

“I am in more pain then I have been in a long time.” Annette was distracted when she felt a breeze rush by and felt a familiar presence.

Warren slowly glided down however he didn’t land as he wasn’t certain of the dwarfs at the moment. “I see that you met the dragon.”

Annette wasn’t sure what Warren was there to talk about but decided to cut to the chase. “Yeah and I will fetch the body when I am not injured.”

Warren glanced towards the mine. “Perhaps I could go retrieve it.”

Durin didn’t give Annette time to respond. “I suppose you are the one that hired this lady to slay the beast. Be that as it may this is dwarf territory and you haven’t obtained permission to enter these mines.”

Warren glanced towards Durin for a moment then the mines. He had forgotten himself for a moment. “My apologies I meant no disrespect. I simply wanted to recover the corpse as quickly as I could.”

Durin took a few moments to size Warren up. “Well unless you’re a good stronger then you look that won’t be happening any time soon.”

“Why would you say that?”

Annette who had been silent up until now let out a sigh and began to walk back towards town she was to sore to stand around and listen to the conversation she spoke as she walked away. “The dragon is trapped under several tons of ore and from what I know magic doesn’t work in those mines it would take me less time to heal then it would take you to dig that dragon out.”

Warren let out a relieved sigh. “Ah. I didn’t mean to seem harsh earlier but I feared that you had buried the beast and had no intention of retrieving the body.”

Annette chuckled a bit. “Well I may ask that you use some of the money you offered me to pay the dwarfs to dig it out.”

Durin gave a shrug. “Well we have to clear the way regardless but we must proceed carefully. Let us discuss this more in town.” Durin didn’t bother saying it but he wanted to get Warren away from the dwarf’s mines.

***********************************************************************

“Are the funeral plans going well?”

Durin smiled over at Annette as he entered the room he didn’t bother saying it but he was glad she noticed the death of his comrade. “They are going as well as possible. We plan on retrieving the body first.”

Annette’s entire body was covered in burn medicine and bandaged up quite well while she was currently lying in inn which she had spent the previous night. “So how are your negotiations with Warren going?”

“Fairly well there is just one factor that we haven’t been able to resolve yet.”

“Namely just what your price is going to be.” Warren walked into the room shortly after Durin. “After all I did offer money or certain items.”

Annette grinned. “I want some of the dragon’s scales from you Warren in particularly those scales on the stomach. Also I would like at least two claws and three teeth from the dragon.”

Warren let out a relieved sigh. “Is there anything else? I admit that is going to decrease your payment by a considerable amount but there should be some left.”

A large grin formed on Annette’s face seeming to indicate she saved the best for last. “I want you to share the results of your research with the Luvarians at least the data you uncover about how the scales fused into such a unique material.”

Warren was openly surprised by this request. “That is quite a request. Mages don’t tend to share their secrets. I don’t really know if it is worth it. Why would you want me to share such information with them?”

Annette gave an amused giggle. “They already know about it.”

Warren blinked his eyes a few times. “How?”

“Because I am one.”

Warren’s surprised only showed for a moment then it made since. “Of course, bodies like yours don’t just come along after all. Not only is it strong but your resistance to magic goes far beyond what is normal that and you have grown since I last saw you. You’re going to let them research the body parts you asked for aren’t you?”

“That is the idea I believe it could benefit me and them.”

Warren grew silent for a long while as he considered this information. “I can’t deny you the body parts that you requested however I can’t agree to share my research without an exchange.”

“Which would be?”

“That an equal information swap is conducted.”

Annette gave a nod. “Okay. I’ll leave that up to the mages then once I contact them.”

Durin had been surprised by Annette’s admission but had kept quiet until she and Warren had spoke a bit. “I have to voice my concerns. I won’t back out of my agreement to provide you with the arcanon promised but I haven’t exactly heard good things about your group and I am concerned what attention you might bring to this town.”

Annette’s attention now turned to Durin. “The Luvarians aren’t as bad as they are made out to be. We are just conducting a business.”

Durin gave his head a slight shake. “Well we have an agreement though I make no guarantee we will sale.”

“That is fine. It will take a while anyway but once I heal up enough to leave and retrieve my payment I will make sure they contact you.”

************************************************************************

Annette smiled as she made her way down the forest noting how things appeared slightly different from when she had first gone through. She was currently carrying a rather large case containing both the arcanon that the dwarfs had given to her and the body parts from the dragon. Perhaps her constantly changing perspective was one of the reasons she had so much trouble with the directions. After all when she had first arrived to deal with Armzon she only stood five and a half meters tall. Now she stood a full eight meters tall causing a decent shift in perspective.

At least her longer legs would see her home more quickly then before that and because she didn’t plan on making any stops. It had been six months now since she left her home and she was eager to get back to it. Of course she regretted that the speed of her travel meant she wouldn’t have time to stop and test just how much her abilities had increased along with her height. That was her dominant thought until she stopped on the road.

Annette never had been the type to look behind every tree or rock she didn’t have to be that worried thanks to the strength of her body. Despite this she felt like something was amiss in this particular spot. A sudden release of magic got her attention and a smile formed on her face as she realized she had stepped right on a trap spell.

“FIRE.” Issued forth from the surroundings and the sky was filled with arrows. Annette began to sprint the moment she heard the words her massive legs easily tore through the enchantment which a few months earlier may have had a chance to hold her however between the increase to her strength and resistance to magic as well as her increase in mass and height she found it to be a easy task just to brake through.

Annette let the large case fall from her hand once she had pulled free from the trap. Turning her head she took quick stock of the arrows that had hit the ground. Each one of them was enchanted though it wasn’t all the same enchantment some burned blue while others had wisp of green floating from them. She recognized the symbol on each of the arrows as well. “The bounty on my head must be getting large.”

The warriors began to emerge from the woods as Annette spoke the vast majority of which were armed with spears it was a good choice as far as weapons went but Annette felt their choice of clothing was lacking. There armor wouldn’t hold up against one of her strikes so having it slowing you down was truly a waste. It was something of a disappointment to see that they didn’t want to speak or even threaten her but she would get over it and live unlike all of her hunters.

The archers prepared another volley of arrows though they didn’t risk firing just yet. She had already proven that she could out run the arrows given their normal flight time it was unfortunate but unlike most opponents Annette was as fast as she was large. They would need to wait for her to make her next move and then attack. They had hoped that the trap spell would be able to restrain her but that hadn’t worked.

He felt as is if his arms would be torn off when the giantess suddenly dashed towards them and smashing his weapon away. As his weapon was torn from his grasp the warrior glanced up to see that she hadn’t stopped advancing instead she proceeded to charge right through and on top of those directly in front of her. Annette had grown large enough over the past few months that she didn’t truly need to nock her opponents down to step on them as her foot came crashing down on the still standing soldier she couldn’t help but feel a slight rush.

Having to nock her opponent down was to acknowledge his existence to not even have to show them such consideration was truly thrilling as far as Annette was concerned. Though she still felt the need to insure they didn’t get to ram one of their spears into her.

The archers were horrified to see how quickly the giantess had just ripped through a few of their men. They had been studying the giantess activity for some time and had hoped they developed a suitable plan for dealing with her now they weren’t so sure. If the soldiers couldn’t slow her down then it would make landing a shot on her nearly impossible. That didn’t stop them from firing though.

Annette could have dodged the arrows that were currently heading towards her easily. They were the same type that had been used on her before. She didn’t do that though rather she gave into the urge to test how much stronger her body had become. Instead of dodging she used her arm to shield herself from the arrows.

The archers had already readied a second set of arrows as they expected Annette to avoid them When she stopped and held up her arm as if she was shielding her face they were truly perplexed all their information reported that the arrows should be capable of braking through her skin yet she wasn’t trying to avoid them any longer instead she had come to a dead stop.

It was like stinging rain when the arrows finally hit her skin. Annette felt the tips push into her flesh a slight bit of pain and then she felt them falling to the ground leaving her arm tingling to some extent. A huge smile was revealed when Annette lowered her arm to inspect it. The extent of the damage the arrows had done to her arm amounted to little red spots.

“FALL BACK!!” Cut through the area as the bounty hunters’ leader called out. Instantly each member began to take a different position. Those warriors who were closest to her moved to prevent Annette from pursuing those that were further away while the archers didn’t move very far from their position but readied themselves to provide support fire.

It took Annette a moment to respond she had been so over come with the revelation that their arrows couldn’t do more then sting that she hadn’t even noticed they the call for them to retreat. She only noticed when several began to fall back at once. Looking to the group that had put the greatest distance between her and them she didn’t even pay attention to the spearmen that were trying to block her path but charged strait through them.

It was their job to delay the giantess as it was their job to safe guard the retreat of their allies during any engagement when it was called for. This meant their unit had the largest amount of casualties during a retreat but it was part of the job. This willingness to die had saved many lives in the past and indeed had saved many of their own lives as well. This was the first time they failed so utterly.

Annette felt the spears press into her skin the sharp points attempting to cut through. Then she felt the warriors arms give away as their spears were pushed back the points lacking sufficient penetrating power to brake through. At last she felt their bodies’ pulp as her feet came crashing down atop of them. She was truly grateful now that she hadn’t had her armor repaired other wise she might have resolved not to take any risk and simply avoided the arrows.

They had been retreating as quickly as they could so that their fellows could fall back soon after. They were horrified when the giantess was suddenly amongst them despite their best efforts. Those that had the time to notice were even more shocked to find that her feet and a good deal of her legs had been stained red already.

As Annette swiped her arm through the group of retreating bounty hunters she felt as if she was running it through water. The speed, mass and strength of her arm allowed her to simply splatter the men instead of sending entire bodies flying through the air the force was so great that clouds of blood and pulverized human remains went to the air instead of solid bodies.

“FULL RETREAT!” The moment the words cut through the air what had once been an orderly and timed retreat broke into a full blown panicked retreat. There was no way that any of their weapons were going to slow the giantess down. This had been the first time that the command had ever been issued but it was followed as perfectly as such an order can be. Every man dispersed from the group each one choosing as different of a route as possible from the others.

A wave of disappointment ran through Annette as she noticed the soldiers scattering. There was no way she could catch up with each and every one of them now. Of course that wasn’t going to stop her from trying. It was something of a shock then when Annette felt several light stings as multiple arrows hit her back. Turning her head she noticed a group of some three archers and two warriors still standing. A slight giggle escaped Annette as she wasted no more time in chasing after their comrades.

“GET BACK HERE.” The group called in unison as they attempted to pursue the giantess. While it would mean certain death for them they had resolved to stand and distract the giantess for as long as they could even if that was just for a couple of seconds. They heard her laugh though and saw her take off in the direction of the majority of their retreat comrades. She had no intention of letting them distract her rather she had chose to ignore their attacks and kill those they had intended to protect.

She had thought that they had made a mistake wearing armor as heavy as they had when the fight first began. Now she was certain of it. The heavy metal wasn’t just slowing down their retreat but it was also making them exceptionally easy to track.

It was easy to tell just how close the giantess was to you even without the sounds of destruction she generated with every movement. She made no attempt to go around trees or shrubs but pushed her way through them with seemingly no effort at all. The sounds of destruction she caused weren’t the worse part though rather it was her laughing.

Annette couldn’t contain her laughter as she tore through the little people she always got this way when ever she realized just how much her abilities had increased and after dealing with the dragon it was nice to deal with some opponents who had no chance against her.

**********************************************************************

A loud cry of frustration echoed throughout the forest the five that had been left now set on the road watching as the giantess walked off. They had rained down every arrow they had atop her and it hadn’t even slowed her down. Rather she seemed to find the fact that they had tried so hard to save their comrades to be amusing. Now they and perhaps a few others were the only survivors. They couldn’t tell which one was more humiliating the idea of running away or that their efforts having not affected her at all.

End chapter 1
You must login (register) to review.