Finally we were back on the road, at full strength, with addition of Darius and Monty, and ready to fight.  By now the buzz of Zahra's girls had no doubt reached any and all civilization and as such, I saw yet another raise in my bounty, courtesy of the giant kingdom.  The only thing saving us from facing wave after wave of giant bounty hunters, was the fact that the human realm was so desolate and deserted now, that any type of leads as to my location were literally nonexistent.  We traveled north in peace.

Being back on the road, it didn't take long for the family feeling to return.  My brother had slowly but surely begun talking to me again.  With 4 females on the team, Henrietta and Harley weren't at each other's throats anywhere near where they had been.  Darius was still refusing to even acknowledge Peter, but otherwise things were peachy.

Pherron was one of the three biggest cities in the north. They were all about 20 miles apart.   It seemed like an unlikely place for Leonara to launch an ambush, but if I had learned anything about her, it was that she had a reason for everything and usually thought 3 steps ahead of everyone else.  Just to be sure we weren't walking into a trap on the way to walking into a trap,  Darius and Jacob volunteered to scout ahead.

They returned with strange news.  Everything actually seemed. . . Fine.  At least up to the first city. Sort of. Even more surprising was that the city was still occupied with humans and functioning as it should.  By now, I honestly thought that Florence would have wiped out all living things in the north and been waiting for her sisters to meet up to consider the extermination complete.

"There is one thing though. . . . "Jacob said, seeming a bit confused.  "There was a giant there."

"Like. . . Destroying the place or. . . ?" I asked, trying to grasp what my brother was getting at.

"No. . . . Just sort of. . . Hanging out?" He struggled to explain.

"Giants don't just "hang out", believe me!" Julius stated, speaking from experience.  A noticeably worried look on his face.

"Oh, what I wouldn't give to go back to the days when a giant was just some common villager causing chaos."  I said, chuckling as I looked between Cassius and Julius.  Cassius matched my laugh, Julius wouldn't even look at me.

"Honestly. . . . I'm not even curious at this point." Peter said, adding his two cents.

"Agreed." Abby said and Henrietta nodded.

"If nobody is in danger, I say we go around and keep moving.  We have bigger fish to fry. " Peter finished, summing up the groups sentiment.

"I guess that's it then." I said, shrugging my shoulders and giving Marcel's reins a flick.

We continued north, bypassing the city and whatever drama was no doubt waiting for us there.  We all had the upcoming fight on our mind.  Pushing hard, we passed the next city just as it was getting dark.  Thinking it safer, we opted to make camp outside the walls of the city in the forest to the west.  We sent Cassius into the city to gather information on whether anyone had seen Leonara anywhere or at least anything suspicious.

He returned several hours later, half drunk and stumbling into camp.

"Well, were you successful, brother?" Peter asked as Cassius gracelessly slumped on the table and everyone gathered around him to hear the news.

"I was. . . . I think." Cassius replied, sort of unsure of himself.  The first thing I found out. . . . there are zero slayers in the city.  And what's more, the giant Jacob mentioned from the last city. . . . She's running security for that town. ."

We all raised an eyebrow at this.  It was legitimately the first time I'd ever heard of a giant protecting a human city for pay.  Not that she would have any chance against the three daughters.  Against marauders or bandits though, it was potent deterrent I suppose.

"2ndly. . . . " he slurred.  "2ndly I heard that people have seen. . . A giantess in the area!  Camping around here somewhere."

"Do they know where?!" Harley demanded, overzealous as always.

"Calm yourself, child." Cassius said, drunkenly putting a finger to her lips.

"Child?!  I'm three times your age!" She shouted, slapping his hand away much to the amusement of everyone.

"Anyway. . . " he said, trying to remember what he was going to say.  "Oh yes!  They have seen a giantess. . But. . . . Her description doesn't match our lovely Leonara unfortunately."

"Do they know how big she is? This far north it could be Florence as well!" Peter asked, staying logical.

"100-110" Cassius replied.

"Definitely not her." Abby said, relaxing and walking away to sit by the fire.

"Well. . . I'm glad SHE seems unconcerned!" Henrietta said loudly in Abby's direction.  " I on the other hand, think it's been a little too long since we killed somethin'!" She declared boldly.

"We will get to Pherron tomorrow! Let's just get a good night's sleep and kill someone tomorrow. . ." Darius suggested also sitting down by the fire.

"You sure you got your soul back, Darius?!" Henrietta shot with a grin. "The Darius I know was always up for a good fight, or a good fuck!" She exclaimed loudly.

The party laughed, hooting and hollering at Darius.

"I just want to be ready is all.  I've spent more time than is healthy, not fighting.  I don't want to let any of you down."

"Awww, that's so sweet of you!" Henrietta fawned, sitting in Darius' lap and wrapping her arms around his neck.  "But don't worry about that.  Nobody else here gives a shit about lettin' each other down!"  Ain't that right Ant, Jacob, Abby, and Peter!" Henrietta hissed her mean spirited joke.

"Are you guys always this obnoxious?" Olivia asked with a sigh, standing up and venturing out into the darkness to get away from everyone.

"What CRAWLED UP HER ASS?" Henrietta asked, standing up and yelling it just about as obnoxiously as she could.

"Henrietta!  Please just shut up, your little sister is trying to sleep over there!" Jacob said loudly, pointing to where Harken was now lounging with her back against a tree and her hands behind her head, eyes closed.

"She's obviously awake, idiot!" Henrietta argued.

"So. . . . You DO acknowledge her as your sister!" Cassius laughed, catching on to Jacob's set up.

"No, I. . . She's. . " Henrietta stammered, caught off guard. "I fuckin' hate all of you!" She said, grinning.  "What did I ever do to you anyway, Cassius?!  I left your name out, didn't I?  You're pretty ballsy for a human, you know that?"

"J just really want to get to the bottom of this family tree mystery!" Cassius said, drunkenly sauntering over to stand between Harken and Henrietta.  He looked back and forth between the two.

"You're gonna be buried beneath the family tree if you don't shut up and go to sleep, human." Harley threatened casually,  not even bothering to open her her eyes.

Cassius gulped, unsure of whether or not she was actually kidding.  "You two are both so violent!" He complained, more to the whole group than anyone in particular.  "You just can't appreciate the finer points of comedy, crafted over years of steady practice!"

"Shut. . . Up." Harley replied, slightly raising her voice but otherwise unmoving.  Truthfully, she was just joking, but it felt good that at least somebody on the team feared her.

"Fine!  You win this time you insolent little brat!" Cassius huffed, before wandering off into the darkness back toward the city.

Finally things got quiet and I was able to get to sleep.  My dreams weren't plagued by any unwanted visitors this time and I awoke refreshed.  Looking around I think noticed that the fire had gone out, it was still fairly early and dark, and everyone was just passed out haphazardly around the camp.  Knowing we were only staying the night, nobody had bothered to set up tents.

I stood, admiring the morning dew, and walked to the edge of camp between two angled trees and began to relieve myself.   The cold air on my face felt amazing as I chased a spider along the ground with my stream.  The whole thing felt perfect.  Like, even though we were going to face the biggest monster we had fought thus far, everything would be O-

All of a sudden I was smashed out of my thoughts by a giant hand coming down out of nowhere and squeezing me tight enough to silence my scream before it could leave my chest and trapping my arms at my sides, my dick still hanging out and dripping piss as I was lifted up into mornings air.

I never got the chance to see my assailant as I was squeezed into unconscious in a matter of seconds. . . .

I awoke some time later with blurry vision.  When it finally did clear, I saw that I was a couple hundred feet off the ground, suspended from a tree.  My body was inside another one of those steel socks that I first encountered at Juliette's mine and it was wrapped tightly around me, constricting my neck and leaving only my head sticking out.  The rope that connected it was strung over a tree branch.

It was then that I saw my captor.  A serious blast from my not so distant past.

"I see your. . . . Finally awake" Elise said as she swallowed a bite of her breakfast.

This was. . . . Not great by any means but maybe I could work with it.  Elise was a giant bounty hunter around my age that myself and Jacob had worked a few jobs with in the past, taking out human, slayer and giant bounties.  She was originally a wealthy girl from the giant capital who would probably never have had to work a day in her life, but to prove everyone wrong, she decided to become a bounty hunter and leave home.

Flash forward two years, she met up with my brother and myself and a few jobs went well until we decided to go our separate ways with her, leaving her alone in the middle of nowhere with only the clothes on her back deep in giant country.  We had collected the current bounty and left her with nothing.

Now here I was, clearly with the shoe on the other foot I guess.

"I honestly can't believe that worked!" She exclaimed, as she grabbed more food from her kettle.  "You guys need a new watchmen!  It took a little while, but he fell asleep soon after that tall blonde woman quit being obnoxious!  Then I moved in, and just had to wait, perfectly still.  I covered my legs and feet in mud and tree bark and they looked just like trees, didn't they?"  Elise asked, looking at me with a grin.

"Elise. . . . You need to let me go!  I know we've had our differences but now is not the time for this!" I shouted, trying to convince her as best I could.

"Our differences?  You took everything I had and left me to die!" She shouted back.  "What pisses me off more though, is that everyone told me you would do it, and I didn't believe them!"

"You're being over dramatic! You were a days walk from the next city!" I replied, brushing it off.

"Just shut your little mouth for once in your life Ant!  You can't talk your way out of this.  The only difference you can make is whether I beat the shit out of you before handing you over to Leonara later today."

This perked my ears.  Getting to Leonara was technically where I needed to be, but not completely bound and immobile.   Especially not beaten to a pulp either.

"It's a shame I couldn't get my hands on that your brother of yours as well!  In all honesty, I would have picked off anyone I could get from your camp.  You are all pretty valuable now, if I could prove they were from your crew.  But Jake. . . . That's one bounty I would definitely consider hauling in dead!" Elise mused, pointing her knife at me for emphasis.

I said nothing.  Inside my sock, I was struggling against my binds.  She had my wrists and ankles tied, along with being inside the inescapable sock.

"Oh well!  There is always tomorrow I suppose.  If there is anything left of him after you guys attempt to fight Leonara." Elise commented as she stuffed another mouthful of food in.  "Like honestly Ant. . . You two are decently strong yeah, but ONLY decently strong.  Leonara is gonna paint the walls with you!  Why not just escape to that island or whatever that all you humans were going to?  Running is what you do best anyway, isn't it?" She asked, perfectly serious.

"You can honestly be this casual about the end of the world?" I screamed at her, actually getting pissed off now.

"Oh shut up!  It's only the end of the HUMAN WORLD.  I'm a giant! What the hell do I care what happens to a bunch of mice?  My people are living on top of each other in cities and the king refused to take more land from you little pests, even though he's "allowed it" before." Elise countered.

"And you can live with that?" I asked, looking her dead in the eyes.

"Well, I learned from the best when it comes to leaving people in fucked up positions, didn't I?" She replied, perfectly throwing my actions back in my face as she stood up and put her dishes in her pack.

"Elise. . . This. . . This isn't you!" I tried, just saying whatever I could to get out of this as the restraints were holding up much better than I thought they would.

"You know nothing about me! We camped together for a month or whatever, but you didn't ask more than my name and where I was from!"  She spat back at me as she kicked dirt on her fire and stomped out the embers.

"And that really only counts as my name, because it's not like you know where any of the giant cities are anyway, now that I think about it!  You were such an asshole! You and your brother!" She fumed, as she threw the remnants of the camp over her horse.

"We are. . . . But in all fairness, you never asked us if we were or not! You could have asked if we would betray you, and we would probably have said yes, at some point." I bantered.

"You are so full of shit, it's coming out your little ears, Ant!" She replied, with an annoyed smile as she finally gathered me up, untying me from the tree and walking to her horse.

"What. . . What are you doing?!" I panicked, as she tied the string to her saddle and placed me on the seat portion.

"I don't have anywhere else I can put you were I can trust you!  I know you have been trying to get out of your bonds this entire time.  Unfortunately for you, I know about the little dagger you keep in your boot!" She explained, as she put her foot in the stirrup and kicked her leg over.

"No Elise ple-" was all I got out before her fat ass in her leather pants first engulfed me, then flattened me down into the saddle.

"Get comfy!" She sang to me as she squashed me down and made herself at home on my body. "Admittedly I don't know exactly where Leonara is right now, but some humans said they saw her traveling northwest from where you were camping, so I'll start there!. She explained, before setting out.

I lost track of time fairly quickly, and was endlessly battered by my captor.  In rythm with her horse, her ass would come down to meet me, then drive me down and obliterate me, then lift and the saddle would smack me, bouncing me and the process would start over.

This went on for an eternity, and she was right.  There was no way I could even begin to focus on getting out of my binds like this.  Eventually and mercifully, I passed out.

"Hey! Wake up!"

I blinked, and looked to my left, seeing Elise's giant green eyes focused on me.

"There you are!  I want you to be conscious and mouthy when I hand you over to Leonara." Elise said with a grin.

That was such an odd request.

"I think that is her camp up ahead.  Let's go." She instructed, grabbing me in her fist and leading her horse through the trees to a clearing up ahead.  Just as she got to the edge, a man stepped up to her.  They were about equal in height.

"Stop right there!" He said firmly.  "What's your business here?"

"I have a gift for the princess." Elise said proudly, like she had practiced saying it a million times on the way there.

The man looked down at me and his eyes got wide.

"Stay here." He said to Elise before he walked over to where Leonara was sitting on a fallen log, reading a book. He whispered something to her and her visible eye lit up.

She stood and started walking our way but paused a few steps away and did a double take.

"E-Elise?!  Little Elise, is that you?" She exclaimed with surprise.

"Yes, your highness!" Elise said, incredibly happy that the princess had remembered her.

"What are you doing way out here, child?!" Leonara asked, stepping forward the rest of the way and embracing her in a big hug.

"I left the city to become a bounty hunter, now here I am, with the 2nd most valuable bounty in the world!" Elise exclaimed, holding me up triumphantly.

Leonara only glanced at me briefly before inviting Elise to come and sit with her to catch up.  Elise tied me up, dangling from a tree branch all the way across the clearing but close enough so they could keep an eye on me and joined her as they began to chat and Elise told her of her stint as a bounty hunter, putting extreme emphasis on the point where I abandoned her.

"It seems our little friend has a long history of making enemies wherever he goes, doesn't he?" Leonara commented, sipping her tea.

"She's over exaggerating!" I called, from my spot in the tree.

I flinched as Leonara stood up and walked over to me.  The way I was tied, I was even with her face as her visible eye burned a hole right through me and my heartbeat began to rise.

"You will speak only when spoken to from now on!" She said, her voice forceful and without an ounce of doubt that I would comply.

I. . . I wanted do badly to reply. . . To. . . To spit right in that infamous eye, but. . . . I couldn't bring myself to do either.  I did convince myself that this was all part of my plan but. . . Unless something changed very soon, I was about to be in the clutches of the demon princess of the giant kingdom.

Satisfied with my silence, she turned and sat back down.  Across from her, Elise was slack jawed.

"Holy shit!  That is the first time I've seen him actually keep his little mouth shut!" She cried. "What was that look you just gave him?!  I need to learn that!" She exclaimed, looking between Leonara and myself in astonishment.

"I guess it's just something that I developed from my days of being a bratty little bitch in the castle." Leonara laughed as she recalled. "All the staff despised Juliette and myself.  Grown men forced to bend to the every whim of the kings daughters with just a glare and the promise that there would be hell to pay if they dared defy us. We walked all over them.  Eventually it evolved and now even people who would kill me at a moments notice if given the opportunity buckle when I look at them." She explained, motioning with her head to me.

"That's so cool, your highness!" Elise praised as she finished her cup of tea.

"Thank you!  But I would guess that you didn't come here just to praise me like this.  You're after the Antony Lockwood bounty!  Newly raised no less!" Leonara said, standing up again and digging through her pack until she found a parcel.  She also dug out her official royal seal and in a minute had my official bounty voucher drawn up.

"My guard here will go with you to collect.  I have. . . . Pressing matters to attend to here, otherwise I would take you to get payed myself.  You understand. . ." Leo trailed off.

"Yes of course!  I appreciate the escort, your highness!  But yes, from the way he and his friends were talking about it, today must be the day you go to face them." Elise said as she too stood, and took the parcel from Leonara, placing it in her pack, buttoning it extra tightly.

"Ha!  Hardly."Leonara laughed at the thought.  "Lesson number one, never be where or when the enemy expects you to be. I'm going to make them wait.  It may be tomorrow, it may be a week from now!  Who knows.  I want them to doubt the information they were given.  Question themselves and each other.  Then, at their lowest point, when they are at each other's throats, I'll be there, and I'll wipe them all out." Leonara explained, and my blood ran cold with just how cold and calculating this woman was.

"Are you sure Ant should be hearing all of your plan?" Elise asked, glancing in my direction.

"It's ok. There is nothing he can do now that he wouldn't have already done if he  was capable.  Hell, I could leave him in that tree to starve if I wanted to.  A fitting, anti-climactic end to the hero of the human realm.  Not that many of his friends will survive the fight with me, but even in the off chance that they do, they'd never be able to find him." Leonara stated, so confidently that I almost couldn't fault her logic.

She was right.  There wasn't anything I could do right at that moment. In this moment, my survival really hinged on whether or not anyone actually gave enough of a shit to track me down.  I was pretty sure that Elise had to have left some foot prints somewhere.  That being said, I wasn't actually sure how far she had traveled either when she captured me, or when she sat on me and rode her horse.

"Ok. ." Elise replied, surprisingly not underestimating me I guess.  She turned and threw her leg back over her horse

"Thanks again Elise!  The kingdom owes you an even greater debt of gratitude and I will see to it that you are handsomely rewarded when I return." Leo called to her departing countrymen.

"Elise. . . . .ELISE!" I screamed as she disappeared into the distance, leaving me with this woman who had single handedly killed one member of my team and caused irreparable damage to at least 4 others.

I unconsciously held my breath as she walked past me and sat back down.  She began reading again like I wasn't there, glancing up every few moments to check her surroundings.  Other than that, it was uneventful for the next hour and a half.

"Can you just hurry up and kill me already? I asked, directly breaking her rule, purely out of boredom at this point.  "Or are you trying to break me mentally with boredom?"

She casually glanced up from her book, giving me a look of mild annoyance I had seen many times as a child.  The way an older sister looks at her pest of a little brother.  I have to admit. . . It pissed me off a little bit seeing it now.

"I'm not going to kill you.  Why waste such potential?" She asked, flipping the page and continuing to read.

"Potential?" I asked, confused.

"Yes, potential.  I'm told that you personally. . . . Associate with the goddess of death herself." She stated, more telling me than asking me.  "So why not put that to the test, hmm?  See how close to death you can get. . . Or if you can even die!" So many things I can learn from you!"

"So wouldn't have made more sense just to go back to the giant realm with those two? I asked.

"It may have been wiser, but they are more inconspicuous without me.  As I'm sure you saw for yourself, though you chose to cower in the trees, that I have more than just slayers who would love to see me dead." She admitted, taking a sip from her canteen.

"You think they won't come for you up here?" I asked, just making conversation as a means to better understand my enemy.

"They very well might!" She shrugged.  "But I guess if they were true warriors, they wouldn't have been taken alive to become slaves in the first place, now would they?" She asked, passing the question back to me.

"Sometimes you do what you need to do to keep others safe, I suppose." I countered.

"From what I've seen, that seems to be your logic, yes." She agreed, side nodding.

"It doesn't apply to you?" I asked, irritated by her arrogance at the matter of survival.

"Oh, it does." She replied sort of snarkily..

"But? . . . " I asked, knowing there should be more.

"But. . . I'm the second biggest living thing in the world.  I can wreck an entire human city in a few minutes. I just find that often "Doing what you have to do" is just a blissful illusion.  You simply think that it's your choice, but in reality I can take what I want from you, regardless of how hard you try to fight me.  I only allow you to have a choice because it's what my father would have wanted in some situations." She explained, somewhat arrogantly but also just truthfully.

"Like you did to Peter?" I spat, making the connection.

"Exactly!  Although that was a mistake I will admit." She said, flipping another page.  "My sister and I could have easily beaten him to within an inch of his life, then just tortured him until he gave up all the slayers secrets or died.  But why waste the time and energy when just telling him you'll kill his family will suffice? I believe. . . .maybe someday I'll reach the point where I can't sleep at night because of the things "I've had to do" so any extension I can buy is accepted."

"So you HAD to eradicate an entire race of people. .probably two, in the name of a past his prime giant?"  I asked, just letting words fly now.

"My father was an unfortunate happening, but if you must know. . . That didn't have much effect on the decision to start clearing you people out.  It's just kingdom expansion really." She stated, coldly.  "Besides, I think slayers are more than fair game."

"We only exist because of the greed of giants, or did you forget that?  Humans can be crushed and abused by you giant scum, but as soon as somebody comes through your turf and kicks your teeth in, you suddenly get all sensitive about it," I asked, my voice at a cocky shout now.

"It's not the fact that we do it, but the question of what you little worms are going to do about it?  Hmm?  Look what me and my sisters have proven already! As soon as any giant who can handle a sword comes to town, you slayers get pounded into the ground beneath our feet just like every other race. At some point the gods just need to let this world run it's course, you know?  We naturally dominate, so just let us be."

"Why don't you ask Juliette how that turned out?" I asked, just looking for any way to hurt her now.

"Hmm. . . . Maybe I will! The very next time I go back to the castle.  And you can ask . . . . Your loudmouth friend that I absolutely flattened in one step!" She said in a way that sounded like a genuine suggestion.

She had me there.

"Fair enough." I admitted.  "I just want you to know, we aren't letting you escape like Juliette did!" I added.

"It all comes back to the illusion of choice Antony Lockwood! Even if you were a part of the fight, you couldn't stop Juliette from escaping.  When you're crushed into tiny pieces, you won't be able to stop me either.  All you slayers are. . . Is a human's illusion of choice.  Just like Peter's family."

"You're confidence is awe inspiring honestly, but Juliette didn't begin the battle with us, thinking that she would be running for her life a few minutes later either. " I said, countering.

"Make no mistake. . . . Intend to make all of you pay dearly. . . But don't for a moment think that I'm underestimating you.  That being said, let me ask you something." She said, standing up and walking over to me.

"Go for it." I replied, flatly.

"What's your end game? Let's say you and your friends manage to kill both me, and Florence.  Then what?  The entire giant kingdom will crash down on you and you will be obliterated in seconds.  There is no scenario here where the humans keep their kingdom." She said, tilting her head to look at me.

"You may not be underestimating our fighting ability, but you are definitely overestimating the amount of fucks we give." I answered.  "We are weapons.  You giants may very well wipe us out, but we will live on as legends!  The rugged bastards who slayed the two biggest giants ever!"  I can live with that." I said, proudly.

"Pfff! Who will even remember you when all the humans and slayers are dead and gone?" She asked, huffing and walking away.

"I bet your mother will remember us!" I said, twisting the knife.  "Fuck, every giant in the world will know of us!" I declared."

This struck a nerve, and I observed her clench her fists momentarily. She took a deep breath through her nose, shot me the death glare then walked back to sit down.  She didn't even reply to me.

"And I think you are forgetting one major element to this whole thing as well." I continued.

"And that is?" She indulged me, begrudgingly.

". . . . . The gods don't like you." I said flatly.

Leonara was well and truly pissed now.  She immediately stood again, and stomped toward me, getting right near my face.

"THE GODS. . . " She barked in my face.  "Will get what's coming to them." She finished, incredibly calmly and with a pleasant smile to the point where my body went cold from the sudden and extreme contrast.

"You plan to fight them?" I asked, with a mild interest considering the death goddess had me by the balls at this very moment.

She gave me a sly, and surprisingly cute wink before she turned and paced away.  If I wasn't before, I was 100% convinced now that she was completely out of her mind.

"Don't concern yourself with my plans or ideology, Ant.  Just rest up.  I need you in tip top shape to teach me all that you can!" She said, condescendingly, like my mother.

I was about to tell her off, when I felt an odd sensation. . . . The presence of a god.  I wasn't expecting any visitors here, so feeling him was a pleasant surprise.  Behind my back, I felt the ropes begin to slither and release, dropping to the bottom of the sock, followed by the ropes around my ankles a moment later.

"What was that?" Leonara asked, her eyes narrowing at me as she stalked back toward me.

"What was what?" I asked, feigning confusion.

"A god. . . . A god was just here a moment ago." She stated with 100% confidence as she looked all around her as if expecting to see something.

"They are probably curious to know "what is coming to them. ." I replied, using her exact words against her.

She moved her face close to me again, inspecting me.  I prayed she wouldn't check my binds.  I wasn't free just yet, but I had more of a shot now then I did have a moment ago. Thankfully she was satisfied and walked away without checking me.

A second later, I felt the tight knot around my neck loosen as well, the god of mischief lending his favorite son another small assist.

I knew I could escape now, but the timing had to be right.  Too soon and she would be all over me and without my sword, I had zero chance of escaping, let alone defeating her.  I had no idea when she planned to sleep. . . . Or if she even slept. . .

"The gods can mind their own damn business!" She spat, hiking her shoulders and clenching her fists.

"What do you even have to complain about anyway?" I asked, genuinely curious.  "You're rich royalty.  Like why even fuck around in the human realm at all?" Just go home and have some slave feed you grapes while you lounge around all day. " I added.

"You know nothing about my life." She replied, coldly.

There was an awkward moment of silence before I broke it.

"Well. . . . Are you going to tell me or. . . " I asked, like I would ask a friend.

"What?" She demanded, slightly confused.

"Are you going to tell me about your life?" I asked, genuinely now.

"Are you serious? No!  Why would you even ask that?" She answered, shaking her head and scrunching her face.

"Why not?" I asked simply, somewhat enjoying her reactions.

"Because you're. . . . We. . . " she began, becoming flustered.

"Look. . We both essentially kill people for a living. . . . Just tell me why you do it.  It doesn't need to be weird or whatever." I coaxed, using my convincing gas lighting voice.

"I DO NOT kill people for a living, thank you very much!" She shot back at me, an offended look on her face.

"Well. . . Not for a living, because you are filthy rich, but I would say on a fairly regular basis and to great effect." I compromised, grinning.

"Will you just shut up about it!" She snapped, causing nearby birds to fly out of their trees.

I was silent  for a moment. . . . Before I started back in.

"Look Leo. . . . Can I call you Leo?" I asked, with fake caution.  Her nostrils flared and I knew I was well and truly under her skin now.  "We may be adversaries, but that doesn't mean we have to be enemies!" I stated, hoping she would believe something similar to that.

"Like. . . I know you and your sister's were. . . Are. . the biggest and last children of the giant king.  So he must have been pretty proud that his daughters are the biggest giants ever." I stated.

"Yes, daddy was SO proud of us!" She spat at me, sitting down on the log again.  "And do you know what he did when he found out how big our size was projected to be?" She asked, rhetorically.  "He had us trained, day and night. . . . Until we were no longer sweet, innocent little girls, no!  Now we were weapons, to be brought to bear against our enemies!" She fumed, clenching her fists.

"Hmm. . . For somebody who doesn't want to be a weapon, you sure do have a penchant for fighting, don't you?" I replied, sarcastically.

"Ha!  This was really nothing but a little tantrum for us.  You should have seen Juliette when she was younger!  She was a true terror.  She'd mercilessly crush any human or slayer she could get her hands on around the castle.  My mother would get so pissed off that all of her human slaves would be squashed.  And that was even before we were old enough to visit the human realm with our father on trade missions.  We would sneak away at night, and just pulverize any cities that were unfortunate enough to be found by us." Leonara said, briefly getting lost in the memory.

"Holy shit!  You should have seen Julie's face the first time a slayer showed up!  I swear she pissed her pants!  Flo nearly died protecting her!" Leonara exclaimed,  chuckling.  "My dad was so mad that we weren't aloud to leave the castle for 3 months after that!"

I remained silent.  This. . . . Was a bit odd honestly.  I mean. . . I had had a conversation with a giant before, even convincing them to leave a city without drawing my sword, but this was nothing like that.  If I no idea who this woman was, we could have been two. . . Acquaintances sharing stories around a campfire or something.

Don't get me wrong, I still intended to cut her completely in half with the mother of all prayers, but at least I knew. . . . Maybe she wasn't just heartless killing machine. I mean. . . Here she was just peacefully trying to read a book.

It was in this lull in the conversation that we heard a human sized horse and rider came galloping down the road.  Leonara made no effort to get up, and it was apparent that the man was expecting to see her there as he rode to her feet and dismounted.

"Your highness. ." He said, kneeling before her and planting a pathetic kiss on her boot.

"What do you have for me?" She asked, barely paying him any mind.

"The slayers are camped out outside of Pherron now, as expected.  The civilians are still there as well though.  They haven't made any attempts to fortify the city or evacuate it.  I'm not sure what they are waiting for." The man said, an obvious amount of fear in his voice.

So this was one of the infamous spies that I had heard about that Leonara supposedly deployed.  Not a bad idea.  He was definitely unassuming enough.

"I imagine they are expecting a trap.  If I remember correctly, a few of their party survived one of my ambushes, so it's only natural that they are leery of this." Leonara explained, finally regarding the man.  "Did you speak with any of them? Were you followed?" She demanded, looking the man over.

"No your highness,  I only observed the few I could pick out." He replied, his eyes glued to the ground.

"Good." Was all that Leonara said, her gaze returning to her book.

The man stood there awkwardly for a moment before he had the courage to ask.

"What. . . . Will you do next?" He stammered.

Her blue eyes again shifted to him, and he became visibly uncomfortable.

"You need not concern yourself with my actions, human.  Just go home and wait for me to send word." She stated, coldly staring him down.

"I just thought-" he began but Leonara silenced him.

"You shouldn't be thinking at all.  Just do as you're told, and stay out of my way.  Unless you want me to pay that little village of yours another vist?" She asked, her tone somehow absolute.

"No, your highness!  I just. .   No, your highness! He babbled as he turned and scampered to mount his horse.

It was just then that I felt a tug on the rope that was dangling me in my personal prison. I craned my neck to see what was happening but I couldn't see who was hoisting me upward, smoothly and slowly so that Leonara wouldn't notice.  Unfortunately, someone did notice.

"Your highness!  The man shouted as he ran back to her boot, tapping on it frantically.

"Didn't I. . . Just tell you to leave? "She questioned, feigning confusion.

"Yes! Yes your highness but-

"Why. . .   Are you still here!?" She demanded, clearly irritated now, and the power of her voice made the man's knees buckle and he collapsed over her boot.

He only pointed in my direction just as I was making it up to the branch where my rescue party was stationed.  Who I found waiting for me, was the last person I expected.

"What the hell are you doing here?" I asked as I was finally able to shimmy out of the sock and move my sore limbs again.

"Just returning the favor for you saving us earlier!" Olivia proclaimed, handing me my sword that she must have managed to steal back, just as Leonara looked over, noticing us, and standing up.

"I thought you said you weren't followed!?" Leo asked, giving the man at her feet a death glare.

"Look Leonara, please-" the man began.

"Excuse me?" Leonara interrupted, raising an eyebrow to the tiny human beneath her.

"I'm so sorry!  Your highness!" He corrected himself, but it was too late as her enormous boot left the ground and began to drift over him.  His eyes got massive as he realized what she planned to do.

"Please no!" He shouted, as he made a desperate run for his horse but it was too late.  A second later, Leonara snuffed him out like a cigarette, giving his pathetic remains an arrogant twist into the dirt before turning her attention back to us

"We need to go!" I said as I turned to jump down through the branches, but Olivia caught me by the arm.

"I'm done running!" Was all she said, as she clutched her own sword and faced Leonara, who had drawn her own sword and was slowly walking across the clearing, about 20 giant steps away.
"We owe it to our friends to take her on!" She finished, a different look on her face than I had seen on her ever before.

I only nodded, and prepared for a fight.  We had the advantage of trees for cover this time, so with some miracle we might be able to take her down.

"Throw me" I said to Olivia, holding my hand out.  She didn't need to be told twice, grabbing my hand and hurling me down towards Leonara, who had closed another 5 steps, the tip of her sword inches off the ground in her right hand in an open stance.

Her face was neutral.  More concentration than anything else as I tucked into a ball, hurtling toward her as I summoned a prayer.  The blue energy followed my roll, becoming like a giant saw blade as I released it.

It ripped through the air, perfectly on target but then something unexpected happened. We witnessed the first difference between how Leonara and her sister went about a fight.

I expected her to block.  To assert her dominance over us by straight overpowering my prayer, but at the same time, leave an opening  for Olivia to follow me up. . . But that wasn't what she did at all.  Instead it was much more simple than that.

She stepped aside.

She sidestepped all that potential killing energy like it was a stranger in the market, never even breaking stride on her way towards us.  It continued on, obliterating the log she had just been seated on.  As for me, I continued on as well. . . . Right into a problem of my own as my momentum carried me right into Leonara's path.

The millisecond my feet touched the ground, I threw all my strength into stopping, stumbling forward toward her feet.  Anticipating this, she timed it so that her very next step was a long lunge and would have crunched me under her boot, and she was spot on, but I managed to regain balance at the last second, and I ended up so close that my hands braced me on her boot tip.

Seizing the opportunity, I lifted my sword to stab through her boot, but before she was ready for me, jabbing with her own sword just over the toe of her own boot to skewer me.  I blocked it, getting shoved back 30 yards in the process, but before I even knew what was going on, her other boot was surging forward in another lunge. I knew there was no stopping it, and no taking it, so I did the only thing I had time for, diving to my right and out of the way just as her foot thundered to the ground with a small cloud of dust and chunks of earth.

I had barely even hit the dirt, when I was immediately covered in the shadow of her other boot, rising to stomp me into mush.  Leonara was relentless in her mission to crush me and I knew this time I wouldn't be able to leap far enough to make her miss again.  All I could do was angle my sword upward to give her a nasty surprise when she flattened me.

Her foot reached its peak in slow motion,  seemingly hanging there for an eternity, and had just begun to descend, when suddenly it stepped back, and I just managed to see her block a prayer from Olivia.

Following up, Olivia sent down another horizontal prayer from her tree top position, but Leonara used her sword to deflect it, causing it to veer right and take out more trees.  Switching it up, Olivia launched a vertical attack, forcing Leonara to step away from her position on top of me and I stood, sending my own prayer curving up and in but Leonara swung her sword across her body, successfully parrying it while also kicking up a wave of dirt in my direction, covering me and causing me to turn away.

Olivia launched another attack and Leonara just managed to duck underneath this one.  She lifted her head, scowling at Olivia.  She decided to leave me alone for a moment as she stalked Olivia now, her sword in her left hand and low as she marched toward the tree.  Olivia sent down another vertical slash, but it was obvious she was running out of energy, and the attack had no zip to it.  Leonara side stepped it easily, before picking up speed.

Olivia dropped to a knee, panting as she caught her breath.  It was short lived, and her eyes got wide as she witnessed Leo running toward her.  She still had the high ground technically but the tree was only a meager 100 feet taller than Leonara was, and to us it was a thick, sturdy tree, but in comparison, it wasn't much more than a mature sapling to her.

As such, she put her hands out and tackled the entire tree, snapping the trunk at the base, and crashing to the ground in a massive cloud of dirt and a swirl of leaves.  I couldn't even comprehend what I was seeing in the chaos. Everything was still for a moment,  before Leonara stood up, silhouetted in the dust.  I knew that Olivia likely survived that but only if Leonara hadn't landed on top of her.  I didn't know what condition she would be in, but I prayed she was ok.  I knew I couldn't do this without her.

I was snapped back to reality as Leonara turned and began walking back toward me, each footfall filled with the crack of tree limbs snapping like toothpicks beneath her boots.

This was bad.

I was at a massive disadvantage out in the open with no support.  I wasn't about to try to fight her and run out of energy myself, so I turned and sprinted for a large tree across  the clearing.  I could hear her footsteps behind me and feel her closing the gap as the ground began to quake and threatened to knock me off rhythm.

"Where do you think you are scampering off to, Ant?" She asked, baby talking me.

I was just about there now, and blindly hurled a sloppy prayer behind me to buy me some time.

"Oops!  You almost got me, little one!" She exclaimed, giggling.

I really didn't give a shit that she was taunting me.  We both knew that I was no match for her one on one, so there was no illusion of pride here as I made it the base of the tree and continued, my sprint turning my energy vertical as I used my strength to propel me up the trunk.  Still, I could feel her closing the gap but I knew all I had to do was get to the branches.  At about 100 feet I was covered in shadow once again, just another 60 feet to go.

"Oh, come here!" I heard from over my shoulder and I didn't even have time to look back before I felt fingers snake around me, and tighten, completely trapping me in her fist.

I was pulled away from the trunk, my legs still kicking, and I squirmed as hard as I could but she had me.

"Here, let me help you!" She said happily,  like she was talking to a child.  A moment later I found out what she was talking about as I was reared back, before she punched forward.  He fingers loosened at the last second, getting out of the way as she forcefully smashed me into the tree trunk with an open palm.

A pained groan was all I could offer as the wind was knocked out of me. In my mind I was able to focus on every single ounce of pain as bits of tree bark dug into my skin from head to toe. Leonara gave me a brief twist, before pulling her hand back, her fingers once again wrapping around me tightly, tearing some bark off the tree as she did, leaving a bare spot that was roughly my shape.

"Come on, you can climb!" She said, her voice actually managing to capture enthusiasm and encouragement as she drew me away from the tree.  Not that I could do a damn thing to stop her, but I knew exactly what she was doing and I got it a moment later.

I closed my eyes as again she punched forward, plastering me into the trunk again.  Now I was seeing stars as my entire body shut down momentarily as chunks of bark busted off of the tree.  My entire front was scratched to shit and my cloak was torn now.  I felt the pressure of her palm leave my back, but this time I was firmly embedded in the bark, and I remained there after her hand was completely removed.

"Perfect!" Leonara exclaimed, clapping her hands like an excited little girl. "Tell me though," she continued as I felt a tug at the back of my cloak, and I was suddenly dangling from her fingers in front of her face.

"The death goddess" she said, putting away her sword and using her free hand to lift my chin with a finger.  "Just how. . . . Broken. . . Or close to death do you have to be, before she makes an appearance?" She asked, flicking her finger at my side, causing me to spin pathetically.

In anger, I swung my sword at her wildly but didn't manage to accomplish anything but earn a girlish squeal from her as she pulled her hand back just in the knick of time.  She replied to my hostility with a brutal flick to my stomach, which caused me to go into a coughing fit.

"My sister told me specifically that she broke every single bone in your body, and you were still able to stand up and attack her, with significant power.  That sounds incredible!" Leonara explained, as she moved her free hand in again and this time she wrapped her long, pale fingers around my arm, immobilizing my sword in her grasp and releasing my cloak to let me dangle from just my arm.

"While I don't intend to break every bone in your body, I do think you are still in too good of shape to see any type of transformation yet." She said, studying me for only a second before out of nowhere, she violently snapped her wrist.

My body was rag dolled and I let out a scream as a white hot wave of pain went through me and my newly broken arm.  She remained clutching it, as she looked me over for any type of change.  I only gritted my teeth, and reached behind my back and underneath  my cloak to where I kept my trusty 6 inch blade.

I pulled it out and immediately jammed it to the handle into the side of her thumb.  I had to give her props. . . I honestly expected her to drop me, but instead she only flinched like she had pricked her finger.

"Is that so?" She asked coldly as her death gaze bore a hole through my forehead.  A split second later, she snapped her wrist again with the same ferocity as the first time, and somehow it felt even better on my already broken bone.

This time the pain wave was so intense, I vomited, spewing a spray of Cassius' cooking 150 feet to the ground below. My body hung limp in her grip.

"Why don't we see how much YOU like it!" She hissed as she pulled the knife out of her thumb with her free hand and began to move it towards me.

With my arm still in her hand and beyond damaged, all I could do was use my free hand to push her away, but I was no match for her and her giant fingers pushed right through my defense until the dagger point made contact with the shoulder joint of the arm I was currently hanging from.  Unfortunately, she didn't stop there, continuing on to my blood curdling screams as she drove it all the way in with just her thumb like a little thumb tack.  It pierced out the back and that's where it remained, as she continued to glare at me.

I. . . Had nothing to say this time.  I was thoroughly beat and I didn't think the death goddess had any interest in helping me out at the moment. She was probably watching from somewhere and delighting in my suffering.  Fucking whore.

"So this still isn't enough?"  Leonara asked, questioning the entire situation. "Do you see now why I despise the gods?  They are just as content to let you suffer as they are to lift a finger to help you!" She huffed, angrily.

"I. . . In their defense. . . I wouldn't. . Be suffering if you would just hurry up kill yourself already!" I replied, struggling with the random rushes of pain.

"That's true." Was all she offered as her free hand moved down and grabbed on to my leg.  "But I really don't understand why you won't just summon her!" She continued as she sort of absentmindedly played with my leg.  I could feel that at any moment she would twist or break it and I held my breath in anticipation.

"It's not fair that you already showed my sister!  All you little pricks always give her everything she wants just because she flashes some cleavage and giggles a little bit!  It's so pathetic!" Leonara complained as she continued to just fiddle with my leg.

"Either break it or leave it alone! I shouted at her as she toyed with me.

This surprised her a little as she gave me a strange look but ultimately did stop and just held my leg between her fingers. I felt the pressure on my captured limb increase, and she seemed to be focused on it now.  I could only let out an involuntary scream as my bone neared it's breaking point until. . . .

We both felt it at the same time.

I was more than used to it by now, but Leonara had a panicked look on her face as she turned to face the tree she had completely obliterated to she Olivia emerge from the snapped branches, her eyes glowing green along with a green aura.

The death goddess.

Almost unconsciously, Leonara released my leg and held me to her right before dropping me like trash.  I plummeted 75 feet to the ground below, landing in an unmoving heap.  Next she drew her sword as she just focused on the god-infused slayer before her.

Olivia swayed gently back and forth momentarily before she went rigid. . . . Then went on the attack.

With only one hand, she sent a towering diagonal prayer towards her enemy.  Leonara timed it perfectly, performing the trademark pirouette parry, but the force of the attack actually threatened to knock her off balance this time.  She planted her lited foot and was actually slid back by the force, if only an inch or two.

Olivia didn't wait for a counter attack, waving her sword again and again as two green slashes blazed toward Leonara, but Leo did successfully dodge the first attack and deflect the second off to the right.  While the power level was closer now, Leonara did still have a strength advantage here.  She didn't seem to be struggling, but it wasn't as effortless as it was before.

Leonara did seem to be hesitant to push her attack though, as she watched Olivia just stand there, swaying in the wind, unnaturally.  Her grip tightened on her sword as she prepared an attack of her own.  She was just about to take a step when Olivia lashed out again.

This time, she wound up her body then sent herself into a fast spin.  She prayed from within the spin, sending massive, deadly rings surging outward.  Finally with this attack, Leonara finally showed some emotion, as her eyes got wide and she actually had to turn and run from the attack. Using her long legs, she sprinted away from the ever expanding ring of energy as it cut trees in half.  She darted in and out of them, covering massive distance with her strides,until eventually the attack lost steam at greater distance and that is when she counter attacked.

Never breaking stride, she arched around and headed back toward Olivia, who had come to a stop and was just standing idle, swaying back and forth in the death goddess' trance.  Leonara picked up speed, closing the distance fast and hurtling over some fallen trees while straight trampling others.  Olivia responded, throwing out a barrage of prayers, but all were ineffective, either straight up dodged, or deflected just enough to keep her pace up.

With a final dodge, Leonara burst through the clearing, sword raised above her head.  She broke from her sprint, planting her feet, sliding to a stop like an ice skater and using the incredible momentum of her body to swing her sword down on Olivia.  The devastating result was like an asteroid hitting the ground, causing a shockwave and rain of dirt and rock that knocked me back a few feet and I wasn't even near the epicenter.

Even with the strength of the death goddess coursing through her veins, Olivia couldn't withstand the blow and was blasted back.  Her body smashed into the trunk of a large tree and became embedded, while also splitting the tree vertically.  Any normal slayer would have been completely obliterated with no trace, and even the death goddess seemed to be overwhelmed by the sheer brutality of the attack, at least while bound into this particular vessel.

The more times you invited her in, the more of her own strength she could use.  Since this was Olivia's first time, she was limited, and had to go well beyond the safe limit to even hold Olivia's body together.  It was apparent that every bone in her body had shattered from the impact, but still she twitched unnaturally under the death goddess' influence as the uncaring goddess tried to force her to get up.

Halfway across the clearing,  Leonara stood completely still, just studying Olivia, her sword still at the ready as she breathed heavily.  She was honestly surprised that the slayer had taken that attack and remained "relatively" unscathed.  That blow would have shattered the weapon of a full blown giant, and if not for Juliette's superior craftsmanship, her own weapon wouldn't have held up to it.

Yet here was this woman, obviously catastrophically injured, but still arguably conscious and able to move.  And it seemed like every moment, her movement became a little more normal.   Leonara knew she could just kill her if she wanted to, but she also just wanted to see if the slayer could make a full recovery.

Everything was still and quiet for a full 10 minutes before finally Olivia managed to dislodge herself from the splintered tree, landing on her hands and knees on the ground.  Leonara eyes widened as she watched the woman stand slowly, and begin to sway, just as she had been before.

"That truly is incredible!" Leonara breathed, quietly.  "But having seen the full extent of the goddess' power, I have no more use for you, at least.  Antony Lockwood is still coming with me, but you can finally join your fallen friends in the afterlife, knowing you fought honorably." She proclaimed, matter of factly.

Olivia said nothing, but lifted her sword, which was now chipped and slightly bent.  Leonara herself was still on guard and ready for the next attack.  Olivia began to charge forward, a steady stream of horizontal attacks being released but it was immediately obvious  that they had nowhere near the previous ferocity on them now.  Leonara chose to block them, not struggling in the least, as the seemingly random attacks gently drove her to her right.

It was then that Olivia had a sudden burst of speed and passed right by Leonara, heading straight for me.  She reached out and grabbed me, throwing me over her shoulders and sprinting for the trees.  Fortunately, they had all been cut down and the ground was a mess of branches and leaves.  Leonara followed but she soon lost sight of the two slayers in the chaos.  She continued to search for about 20 minutes, but ultimately gave up wasting her time.  It really made no difference because she knew where they were headed, and she was going there now too.

It was time to confront Ant's entire party, and whipe them all out once and for all.