Chapter 64 Aftermath
“Get out of the shed!” All I could do was stare as the giant fell toward the shed was to hope that Magdala and her sons could hear me. The giant teetered on one foot, then—as he came crashing down—the roof splintered under his weight.
I prayed that they managed to get out as the giant smashed into the shed.
But he wasn’t dead. As he landed, the roof caved in, creaking and splintering in a deafening roar.
As we ran toward the shed to check on Magdala, Aisling, and Rupert, the giant stirred.
I darted toward the back, Brynn on my heels.
We came around just in time to find ourselves staring at the giant’s head.
He was awake, looking a little stupefied, but he blinked as he saw us.
It was obvious that he was struggling to get free so he could attack us, but he was covered with debris from the roof and at this moment, couldn’t move his arms.
I yelled as loudly as I could. “Magdala, where are you?”
All I could think of was that she and her sons were squashed under the giant’s weight. But then I heard a faint cry from inside. It sounded like Magdala.
“I hear her!” I shouted.
Sean and Alina came running. I glanced back to see Reggie comforting Mavis, who was sobbing; her cries silent but all too apparent.
Brynn joined me. “We can kill him while he’s down,” she said, climbing over the rubble of the back wall.
She motioned to me and I joined her. We skirted the giant as best we could, though I watched his arms nervously.
He was lying on his side, with his free arm caught in the rubble of shingles and debris.
As he struggled to move so that he could leverage himself by pressing against the ground, I tightened my grip on my sword and slashed at his biceps, trying to disable his attempts.
Brynn saw what I was doing and joined me, using her massive hammer to smash him in the face.
He let out a strangled groan, and I realized at that moment that I could probably climb over the top of him and slit his throat. I prepared myself, then sprang over his arm, landing atop his side. He squirmed, groaning again, but I held my balance. Thank gods for being an elf!
Brynn watched as I pointed to him, then drew my finger across his neck.
She nodded, trying to engage his attention so he wouldn’t notice what I was doing.
I swiftly raced up his side and slid down behind him, so that I was facing the back of his neck.
As I assessed the situation and my position, I realized that it would be easiest here, where I could see the massive expanse of flesh, rather than try to dig through the rubble that had engulfed his neck and chest area.
For once, I wished I had Thornhold’s axe—it would do the job much more quickly, but I didn’t stand around dithering.
I raised my sword and—rather than try to slit his throat—I plunged it into the base of his neck, severing through the spinal cord.
The giant slumped, though he was still trying to gurgle out some sort of noise.
Then, I took the sword and slammed it down, point first, into the top of his head, cracking through the skull.
A few seconds later, he went totally limp.
Brynn poked him in the face. “He’s dead,” she said.
“Thank gods.” I wanted to sit down and catch my breath, but I knew we needed to find Magdala.
I turned around and began to poke through the rubble, dodging a few splinters of wood that were still falling.
It was impossible to tell if any one of the three was under the giant—not until we managed to drag him out—but then I heard the faint cry again.
“Magdala? Is that you? The giant’s dead! Where are you? Rupert? Aisling?” I stopped to listen again. And again, heard the faint cry. I followed it over to the corner that had held the butchering table. There, beneath a large timber that had fallen, lay Rupert.
“I found Rupert!” I called. “Someone, come help!”
It was then that I noticed a hole in the wall. It was large enough for someone to have crawled through. I motioned to Brynn to join me.
“Go check out there,” I said.
Without a word, she made her way through the rubble and out of the hole. Meanwhile, Sean and Thornhold appeared. I motioned to Rupert.
“I can’t get the beam off him. He’s alive, though.”
I backed away as the men hoisted the broken beam and dragged it to the side as best they could.
I knelt beside Rupert. He was in obvious pain, and one of his legs was bent in an unnatural position.
“Broken leg. I wonder about internal bleeding,” I added, worried because the beam had landed on the lower part of his abdomen.
“Let me,” Sean said. “We need a flat board—like the door—to carry him with.”
I left the two of them there and went to look at the door, but it had been demolished by the giant’s fall.
It was then that I saw Brynn, leading Aisling and Magdala back to the front of the shed.
Both looked to be in shock. I turned around, looking to tell someone that we needed blankets.
Mavis was skittering back toward the house. I raced over to her.
“Mavis, we need blankets and something flat on which to carry Rupert.”
She nodded, motioning for me to follow her. I raced behind her, back to the house, where she pointed to a board on which they pressed clothes. Grabbing it up, I started for the door again as she began to plunder a closet full of bedding.
Once more outdoors, I carried the board toward the shed, looking up at the sky. It had started to snow again. The afternoon was deepening, and the cold was settling in. Taking a deep breath, I lifted the board again and headed back, hoping we could save Rupert’s life.