After hearing Harley's plan, we spent the rest of the day and all night drinking and celebrating our family being back together.  Eventually even Henrietta made her way out of her tent and joined us. She even managed to find brief but common ground with Harley on the many flaws of men.

In the wee hours of the morning, I retreated to my tent, and my eyes had barely closed when a voice came through the flap.

"Ant. . . I need to talk to you!" Came the voice of Julius.

"Yes Julius. . ." I said with a sigh.

He entered the tent and sat cross legged at my feet.  It was dark so I couldn't really see his face.  Just then I realized that I actually hadn't seen him since I had been back.

"Juliette killed me, didn't she!?" His voice a very loud, very harsh whisper.

"What are you talking about boy?" I asked, playing dumb and putting my hands behind my head.

"Don't fuck with me, Lockwood!" He said,  dead seriously.  "Juliette squished me, and I know that you have something to do with it!  I felt the kind of unnatural energy that you put off inside myself right before my body walked out into the street!  Next thing I know, I wake up in this camp and Juliette has been defeated."

"You want the truth?  Ok.  Yes you died. . . I think.  I don't know how the death goddess did it or how you are here now, but I did watch you walk out into the street and get crushed by Juliette.  But you aren't the only one she fucked with. " 

"Do you. . . Do you expect pity from me?!" Julius fumed, still his voice raising in intensity.  "Anything that happens to you, is your fault!  There is a reason why nobody here prays to the death goddess!  Because they aren't dumb enough to fuck with her!" He finished in a full blown yell now as he left my tent.

I really didn't want to, but I followed him out, knowing everyone was looking now.

"What do you want me to say, Julius? You're traveling with people who fight giants for a living!  I do what I have to do and it's not always the most popular decision." I said, keeping my own voice calm.  

"I'm fine with that!  But if I die, I want it to be on my own terms!  Not walked out into the street and squashed like some stupid, insignificant insect!"

"What's he whinin' about now?" Henrietta asked, taking a swig from a big jug of booze.

"Ant got me killed by the death goddess. . . By Juliette!" Julius complained, confusing himself.

Everyone in the camp looked confused at this point. 

"I don't think dying means what you think it means. . . " Malakai said slowly, as if Julius was stupid.

"Shut up Malakai!" Julius screamed, his voice cracking, as if he were on the verge of tears.

"I'm just saying." Malakai laughed.

"Seriously, what are you crying about?" Henny asked, standing up, towering over Julius and putting a big hand on his shoulder.

Julius glanced around him.  Nobody other than Ant seemed to have the slightest idea what he was talking about.

"No one here remembers Juliette stepping on me in that last fight?!" He demanded, bewildered now.

"Kid, you're becomin' annoying now with this bullshit, ok?" Henny stated, bending at the waist to get face to face with the human.  "I don't know if you are playin' some kind of stupid human prank or somethin', but we obviously don't get it, so just stop."

"And if you ARE serious. . . . Then how much more proof do you need, to realize that you are alive?  I honestly can't fathom that!. . . Like. . . If what you are sayin' is true, then you would be a pancake embedded in the street back there, wouldn't you?   That's pretty basic reasoning. . . Even for a human." Henrietta drawled, tapping Julius on his head as if to make him understand the logic.

He seemed to be mulling over the idea that maybe he had imagined it, and looked to me for some type of conformation.  I kept a  straight face, offering no answers.

"But Ant said-

"Ant is an asshole!" Henrietta interrupted reassuringly, putting a finger to his lips to shush him.

"Ant IS an asshole. . . " Malakai chimed in, nodding and shrugging his shoulders like she had made some super valid point.

"Fuck you, Malakai!" I snapped, feigning anger.  ". . . . But you're not wrong." I finished.

The whole camp besides Julius, Jacob and Harley erupted in laughter.

Julius just glared at me before storming off to his tent.  With a yawn, I returned to my own tent without another word. I settled in and had just closed my eyes when-

"Ant?. . . Ant, are you awake?"

I let out a deep sigh.

"Yeah, I'm awake Harley. . . What is it?" I asked, trying my best to hide my annoyance.

"Is. . . . Is what he said true? " she asked, quietly as she fully entered the tent.  "Did you really get him. .   " she trailed off.

". . . . . . "

"Ant?"  She persisted.

"Look kid. . . . . The death goddess is. . . . She can be. . . . Vindictive.  To say the least." I said, purposely staying vague so I wouldn't get my own ass kicked later.

"What happened?" She asked quietly.

"More or less. . . We went to fight Juliette. . . She wanted full control of my body.  I resisted, so she took control of Julius and made him walk out in front of Juliette and Juliette crushed him in front of me. . . " I explained, rolling away from her to show her I just wanted to sleep. 

"Is that going to happen to me?" Harley asked, her voice somewhat shakey.

"I mean. . . . Juliette was in pretty rough shape, so I don't think that-

"I mean will the death goddess try to take over me?. . . Now that I invited her in. . . "

"Not right away. . . . Maybe not at all.  It's safe to say that I've relied on her too heavily in my past.  I didn't listen to the people around me and now my spirit is completely under her control.  You can and should be fine. . . " I replied, actually trying to set her mind at ease.

". . . . Okay. . " she said, lingering for a moment before I heard her leave.

I closed my eyes for the 3rd time and this time sleep came. . . . Unfortunately, so did she.





When I opened my eyes, I was back in Freyja's throne room.   My heart dropped out of my chest.  Someone behind me cleared her throat.  I turned around to see Freya, a towering 150 feet tall, sitting legs crossed on her throne.  She looked displeased.

"Ant, Ant, little tiny Ant. . ." She began.  "Why are you dissuading the girl from me?  I've been your strongest ally, and yet, here you are. " 

"She doesn't need your help.  She is strong enough on her own!" I shouted up at her.

"That is for her to decide, worm!" Freya boomed at me, stomping a massive foot.

She had already snuffed out my will to fight with the last brutal display of power, so I immediately submitted to her power this time.

"I'm sorry goddess!" I cried, falling to my knees and groveling at her sandals. 

She just glared down at me smugly without any movement for longer than I could handle.  I was just about to beg for any type of action when finally she spoke.

"Run. . ." She said, with pep in her voice like she just had a spontaneous idea.

"What?" I asked, confused.

The goddess of death rose from her throne, her sandaled feet encroaching in on my space and forcing me to stumble back.

"I said. . . . Run!" She repeated herself, with an evil grin on her face as she leaned down to get a good look at me and it only took me a second to realize what she planned to do.

Immediately I turned to run in the opposite direction.  Behind me I heard and felt her foot leave the ground.  A second later I felt her shadow above me.  I barely got a glance over my shoulder when I was met with the bottom of her sole and subsequently forced to the marble floor.  Pain erupted through every grain of my existence as my body was pulverized underfoot and the recently familiar feeling of dying overtook me.

I wish it had ended there, but no such luck.  The split second my soul was extinguished, I was put into another body mid run, this time a few yards ahead of the blood stain that squirted out from under her left sandal.  Unfortunately and 100% intentionally, I was lined up perfectly with her next step and I was snuffed out  before I could even process the situation.

Again I was revived and positioned under foot, but this time I was ready.  As soon as my feet touched the ground I jumped to the le-


Again I was revived and positioned under foot, and tried to jum-

I gave it one last attempt before accepting that I was stuck in an inescapable loop, forced to die, over and over. I stopped even trying to run, and she trod over my limp body all the same.  5 deaths.  6 deaths.  7. 8.  9 deaths as she casually strolled down the hall of her throne room.  10 deaths.  Her footfalls continued up into the mid double digits before finally the rhythm was broken and my limp body fell to the floor without a sole to follow.

I layed there with my eyes screwed shut, just waiting for another death, but it never came.

"This game isn't as fun when you stop fighting." The giantess said down to my pathetic form.

I rolled over on to my back and glared up at her.

"Well why don't you put all the god magic aside and face me straight up?" I suggested, my voice dripping with attitude.

"Does a child bend to the will of her toys, or do the toys stay nice and still and keep their little mouths shut?" Freyja asked, smugly and with her hands on her hips. 

". . . ."

"That's what I thought!" She said, replying to my silence.  "Now. . . I think one more should just about do it. . ."

The giantess raised her foot as high above me as she could, lining it up. Her evil grin had been dialed back to only a sinister smirk now as she gazed upon her prey. 

"I'll be seeing you again soon, Ant." Was all she said, before stomping her foot down and obliterating me.

I woke with a start back in the mortal world to the sound of people packing.  Following suit, I joined Harley, Henrietta, Jacob, Peter, Malakai, Cassius and Julius in loading up for the rescue/ambush mission.  Darius opted to stay back in case Monty returned.  That way he could both get his prayer returned and also lead him to us.


We left shortly after, heading north towards smithburg, one of the many cities that was on the well-traveled northern route that lead directly to the capital.  It was a 2-3 days ride, giving us plenty of time to set up Harley's trap.  

The weather held up and we made good time, stopping only to rest the horses when the need arose but otherwise pushing hard.  We made it to the forests outside the city and prepared.  

"Can you explain the plan one more time?" Julius asked, nervously, looking around.

"Ugghhh!  Fine!" Harley complained.  "So you and Cassius will be blocking the road with this wagon.  The wheel has come off.  When the convoy gets to this point and stops, the rest of will come out of the trees and surround them.  They were only planning on sending 4 or 5 slayers for this, so hopefully they back down and we don't have to kill them.  The-

"I'm fine with killin' em'!" Henrietta interrupted, with a grin.

"Ditto." Malakai agreed nodding.

"I would prefer not too!  I probably know them!" Harley replied, disgust in her voice. 

"You think they will let you live after this?  Fat chance!" Henrietta spat.

"She's right.  If we do this. . . It will essentially be declaring war on both the human realm and the giant realm!" Peter spoke up.  "Ant, you sure your sister is worth all that?"

"Meh. . . " was all the answer I cared to muster.

"Are you serious?!  She's your sister!" Harley shouted at me.  "That's all you have to say!?" 

"I'm the 2nd most wanted man in the world thanks to her only behind the giant kings assasin.  So yes, that's about the nicest thing I can say.  Believe me, we wouldn't be bothering to do any of this if it was anyone else. " I replied, casually.  

"I can't believe you!" Harley huffed, looking between myself and Jacob.

"She used to be one of us, up until she decided to become a kingdom slayer. Maybe now she sees the error in living your life for some manipulative, bottom feeding little worm!" Malakai said, putting in his two sense.

Harley looked amongst all of us and got the same hardened glance in return.

"All of you feel like that?!" She asked, bewildered by our group attitude toward the situation.

Nobody said anything to her.

"We should probably get started" Cassius interrupted, breaking the tension.


[ Everyone was in position.]  All of us slayers up in the tree tops out of view.  Cassius and Julius directly below us with a fully loaded wagon with the front wheel fallen off  completely blocking the road. 


From the cover of the trees, we spotted the caravan we were waiting on.  A large, heavily barred cage was being pulled by a slayer on foot.  It struck me as odd, and a moment later it struck me as to why. .  

The man was absolutely massive.  The tallest slayer I had ever seen.  He had to be all of 13 feet tall.  Too tall to ride a horse for sure.  And he wasn't all.

Walking to the lefy of the cell was a female slayer.  While not as big as the man, she too was bigger than any slayer I had ever seen, measuring in at least 10 feet tall.  To the right, another man, a 12 footer, and behind them, a second woman who had to be 13 feet as well and bringing up the rear was the tallest of them all.  A bearded man who would have been in his 40s in human years standing a whopping 15 feet tall and heavily muscled.


"You guys seeing this?" I whispered in disbelief.

"Super slayers." Harley answered from her perch between Peter and Malakai.

"Super slayers?" Jacob asked, a confused look on his face.

"The king's personal body guards. It started secretly thousands of years ago.  They bred the biggest, strongest slayers from every generation until they got what you see before you." She explained, worry in her voice.  "I was really hoping it wouldn't be them, but it seems that the king is serious about this peace mission."

"Are you going to try to bargain with them?" I asked, weighing our chances in a fight.

"Something tells me that would be a mistake. . . " Jacob spoke up.

"Just let me handle it. . . . Wait for my signal." Harley said, focusing on what was going on below us. 


The caravan stopped apprehensively about 100 feet away from the wagon.  The slayer pulling the cage let it go of it and began to walk to Julius and Cassius.

"Lawrence!  Get back in the caravan!" The bearded man barked.  "We aren't out here to deal with humans!" 

"Relax! It's just a wagon wheel!" The man "Lawrence"  replied, approaching Cassius and Julius as they struggled to lift the heavy wagon and get the wheel on.  The rest of them stayed back cautiously.

"Do you men need a hand? He asked, his tone surprisingly friendly.

"Yes sir!  I've been meaning to get the damn thing fixed and now it broke at the worst possible time!" Cassius said, putting on an acting clinic.

"That's usually how it goes, isn't it?" Lawrence agreed.  "Let me give it a try!"

With that, he knelt, still just as tall as either human, and grabbed the axle of the wagon, lifting it like it weighed nothing.  He took the wheel with his other hand and installed it axle and twisted the nut tight.

Cassius and Julius clapped their approval as he finished and stood up, dusting his hands off.

"There!  Nothing to i-

The man cut his sentence short as a stunned look came over his face.  He looked down to see a razor thin line of blood seeping threw his kingdom slayer cloak.  He reached down and dipped his finger in it, examining it, then staring up blankly at Cassius before his entire torso slid backward off of his legs and crashed to the ground, while his legs remained standing, shooting a fountain of blood. 

The entire forest was dead silent, in shock over what was happening. Nobody moved and the moment seemed to last an eternity before the silence was broken.

"KILL EM' ALL!" came the raspy battle cry of Henrietta, sword already drawn from the prayer she had just halved a man with. 

I don't think that even Lawrence could have picked Harley's jaw up off the ground as we all disregarded her diplomacy and dropped from the trees into full blown chaos.  Julius and Cassius  immediately mounted horses and bolted in the opposite direction to avoid being collateral damage in the fight.

"I got the big one!" Malakai shouted, forever the person to take on the toughest opponent. He had a headstart on the rest of us, and his trademark blue prayer forced the leader and the woman at his side to separate.

The man drew his own blade, a thick two-handed sword with a hand engraved blade.  He easily dodged the attack and returned fire with a gnarly red prayer that dwarfed Malakai's.

Malakai, being headstrong, decided to try to block it, paying the price as it pushed through him like he wasn't even there, sending him plummeting through trees and into the distance.

I chose to attack the woman that was closest to me on the left of the caravan.  A brunette in her human 30's.  I let a quick prayer fly but she quick drew her blade, a plain looking long sword and swinging it downwards, completely smashed my prayer like it was nothing. 

She also returned fire, but unlike Malakai, I decided to get out of the way of the brutal prayer, her giant body propelling it with a force I knew I couldn't perry.  It narrowly missed me as I dove to the side, cutting down a 30 foot wide swath of trees about 150 feet long. 

Immediately realizing I couldn't go toe to toe against her with prayers, I tried to close the distance and make the fight about skill in swordplay.  Getting in tight, I realized just how great the difference in size was between us.  It seemed surreal somehow.  I was used to fighting people I was only ankle height on but this was more daunting somehow as I stood literally about half her size.

We traded blows, looking for an opening  but the longer we went, the more the strength difference became apparent.  She barely seemed to expend any energy as I was battered this way and that.  

50 yards away, Jacob wasn't fairing much better against the man who had been closest to him, but he had Peter backing him up, sending out pinpoint prayers to create openings.  To the right of them, Henrietta was engaging the other woman who had been separated from the leader. They also weren't a close match and Henrietta was constantly on the defensive, getting pushed back and away from the rest of us.

Finally there was Harley, who seemed to know the leader of the caravan.  She was on the offensive, but her style was stiff and overly controlled.  Obviously some bogus form of the kingdom slayers.  It was as if she was trying to gain the man's approval, although it took minimal effort for him.  He dodged every swipe she took, without even drawing his sword.  He spoke calmly as he evaded her flurry.

"Just imagine it. . . . " he said, never taking his eyes off of her.  "A three by three cell for you to spend the rest of your days. Only a two inch square of sunlight reaches you, on the days it feels generous enough to shine. A fitting punishment for a kingdom deserter I would say."


Back in front of me, I was beginning to wear down, but I did see a brief opening in her defense, knocking her blade aside with my own, and delivering a heavy punch to her stomach.  She flew back, snapping trees and ending up in the brush about 75 yards away.  

I followed up, charging in but she had managed to stay on her feet and my momentum was extinguished by another horizontal, unblockable prayer.  I lept as high as I could to avoid it, but she had anticipated this reaction and was waiting for me in the air.

I did manage to block her heavy vertical swing, but I payed for it, being smashed down into the ground with a force that honestly felt like it rivaled Juliette's raw strength.  The air was already knocked out of me, so I could only watch as the woman fell from the height she had jumped, and drove her knees into my chest.  While she didn't weigh anywhere enough to crush me, It didn't exactly feel good either.  I counted my blessings as she easily could have killed me then in there.  It was honestly sort of suspicious.

As if she read my mind, she stood up and hauled me up by my shirt, my feet dangling as I was brought face to face with her.

"I bet you're wondering why I didn't just kill you, aren't you?" She asked, but apparently she had no intention of making small talk, because she raised a fist about the same size as my head, and delivered 3 quick punches to my face, only my cloak keeping me from being smashed back.

"That's because I know who you are, Antony Lockwood.  And I think the bounty on your head will be a nice little payday to end this quest!"  She explained, before so generously bestowing 3 more punched into my exposed face and one to my stomach before lifting me even higher, her arm fully extended above her head and slamming me back into the ground in a small cloud of dust.

"But make no mistake. . .While I'm not going to kill you, I am going to beat you to within an inch of your life, then make you watch us finish off any of your friends who are still alive at that point." She continued, again dragging me from the dirt, and this time hurling me with all of her strength at a massive tree.  

I collided with it, and while it was much too thick to snap completely in half, it did splinter and bend, leaving jagged edges protruding while I was sent flipping off into the thick brush yards away.

I was in a complete haze and I couldn't see straight, when I felt a hand grab my shirt and lift me once again only this time I was just set on my feet.  I shook my head to clear it as Jacob came into focus, hiding behind a tree to my left.Apparently he and peter must have found some success because Peter was off assisting Henrietta now.

Jacob motioned to my left, and using the blade of my sword as a mirror, I looked around the tree and saw the woman casually stalking my way about 60

"So this is the great Antony Lockwood hmm? I must admit, that after hearing about you defeating Juliette, and your siege on the mine, and even more recently how you saved that entire city from 15 giants. . . Even I began to believe the hype, you know? Like maybe we did have a chance in this fucked up war.  I even imagined what ig might be like to stand shoulder to shoulder with you on the battlefield." She dialogued as she quietly hunted me down, likely convinced that I was laying unconscious on the ground somewhere.

"But no. . . When I finally get to meet you. . . You're no more than some snot nosed little coward, who hides from his opponent, and relies on ambushes and cheap parlor tricks!" She spat, trying to goad me into giving up my hiding place and attacking her.

I continued to watch her close the distance until finally when she was about 20 yards away, I gave my brother the nod.

"Three. . .two. . .one" he mouthed to me silently, before he rolled out from behind the tree to his right.


Jacob charged a rough, blue prayer and sent it screaming toward the woman.  He was spot on accurate.  As soon as he stepped out from behind the tree, the female slayer had spotted him and in a natural and lightning fast response, dodged his vertical prayer, sliding to her left.  Unfortunately for her, while she had easily anticipated Jacob, she had ultimately been distracted and failed to see me energe from the right side of my own tree and conjure up a prayer of my own.

As soon as she had dodged her fate was sealed as her slight movement was enough to bring her directly into the path of my attack.  My prayer screamed low to the ground and at the last moment arched upward.  She didn't even see it coming, and it's always the one you don't see that will get you, my father used to say.  This was the case here as the prayer dispatched her in a second, cleanly lopped off her head, as her body continued in her dodge and collapsed in a heap on the ground.

Meanwhile her head flew up 20 feet in the air, before tumbling into the forest floor with a heavy thud.  Unfortunately, I would never get to know how I stacked up against her image of me now, but they say never meet your heroes.

We hastily returned to the road to find that the others had been successful in their own battles and they stood now in a semi-circle, watching Harken struggle against the enemy leader.  None of us lifted a finger to help.  It seemed as though this was something she needed to do on her own, although it wasn't going well.

By now she was winded and moving slower.  Still she pressed forward but if it wasn't obvious before that he could have killed her at any moment, it was now.  As if to highlight the point, he suddenly countered her, hitting her in the stomach with the hilt of his sword, doubling her over before punching her in the face and sending her smashing through a row of trees.  

This time, she didn't rise and appeared to be unconscious. I was the only one who knew about her deal with the death goddess, and I really did expect her to use that ability now but to my surprise, she stayed down.  It was then that I noticed my sister and her two lackeys walking up from the cage that Cassius had successfully unlocked after doubling back from their escape.

The leader glanced around at his opposition, seeing that none of his comrades had survived.  He looked visibly distressed and his once arrogant attitude faded away.  

"So. . . . This is how the world ends, huh?" The man asked, sheathing his sword.  "I always thought that it would be stupid humans that burned the place down, yet here you are.  Willing to give up the entire realm to save 3 average kingdom slayers. . . . It's. . . Backward, to say the least."

By now, every one of us had hands on our swords, ready to obliterate the man.

"Well I'll tell you this. . " He continued.  "I'm not dying for it!" He exclaimed, swinging his sword and sending a prayer through the dirt causing a massive dust cloud.  When the cloud finally cleared, he had disappeared.

"Were you assholes just going stand there and let him kill her!" Came my sister's voice, cutting through the silence.

And just like that. . . I regretted the decision to save her.

"She. . Looked like she had it under control." I answered as I began to walk away, my companions following suit.  Only my sister went to check on Harken.

"Where are you guys going now?!" The female slayer Olivia asked, as if not wanting to be left behind.

"Saving you was only half the plan.  We head west for a rendezvous with Florence." I replied, none of us really looking to do more than the minimum amount of socializing with our 3 new party members.

"Why. . . Why would you go seeking her out?" The man, Jag stammered.  It seemed he had never regained his confidence after his near death experience in Leonara's clutches.

"You lot are free to do whatever you want." I said simply, as my crew loaded up in our wagons, which were up the road a ways.  We also added the cage to our convoy.  "Although it looks like you could use some food, and clean clothes.

My sister looked down at her tattered clothes.  For as loyal as anyone was to the king, he would throw them to the wolves in a heartbeat and that was the case here.  They had been stripped of all their possessions and only had their swords because the king thought it would be a nice gift to the giants.

Without a word, she jumped on the back of the last wagon as it left.  Her companions hesitated but ultimately joined her and a bigger, better party was formed, ready to take on Florence, the largest living being in the world.