The ogres were sluggish giants and the harpies were bundles of energy in constant motion. That probably was the only reason why the harpies could take them on at all. That left me somewhere in the middle. Or it would have if I hadn't started to channel Mana into the Cat's Grace spell that by now had become second nature to me. I started casting the moment the monstrous creatures answered my challenge. I didn't have time to waste after all. A solid hit with one of these clubs would end my life for sure and no amount of armor I could wear would change anything about that. Not getting hit was my only option. The sluggish monsters became even more sluggish as the spell took effect. The two charging at me from opposing sides were slightly slower than the last one. That one was coming at me head on. I decided to focus on him first.

The steps of the gluttonous giants shook the earth as they came charging my way. I didn't wait for them to reach me though. I charged the one coming straight at me instead. It had its club raised high to strike at me and I went low instead to evade it. I could hear and feel a tree sized club striking the ground behind me as I went into a slide. That slide took me right through the gap in between the ogre's towering legs. I dug one of my feet into the ground to transfer my momentum into a spin once I passed the monster's legs. And using all of that momentum I jabbed my glaive into the beast's thigh where I suspected its femoral artery to be. The giant's skin was tough but blade cut from a wyvern's stinger dug in deep and it had to, to get past a thick layer of fat. As I withdrew my weapon again I was rewarded by a thick spray of blood though.

The ogre bellowed. The bellow sounded more like a sound of unbridled fury than one of pain though. Some of the stories about ogres, that I had heard in years past, suggested that they might just be too stupid to die quickly. That might just not be an exaggeration. The creature would die though. Considering how blood gushed out of the wound in thick spurts there was no doubt about that. I could lead it around in circles until it dropped dead if I had to. First I would have to deal with the other two man eaters though. The dumb brutes had crashed into each other but they were already righting themselves again. I brought my glaive down on the back of the wounded ogre's left foot in a mighty chop for good measure. I could hear the thick tendon snap despite the monster's pained howl.

I started moving again and I wasn't the only one. The harpies were back in the fight as well. One of them jumped high once I was out of the way, to bury its claws into the wounded ogre's neck. Another came in low and went for the tendon on the monster's other leg. The next moment it toppled forward and hit the ground with a mighty crash, kicking up a cloud of dust that was quickly whisked away by the storm. I made sure to stay well away from the trashing arms of the dying monster as I headed for the next one. It saw me coming and charged straight at me again, without any regard for its comrade. With most other opponents my glaive would have granted me superior reach and thus an advantage. Against these giants it barely evened the ground. And parrying their massive weapons was out of the question anyway.

If I wanted to stay alive I had to keep moving. I couldn't even trust my armor to protect me from a hit with a weapon like that. That would only result in me being turned into a bloody mess in fancy scale mail. No thank you. I sidestepped the next club that came hurtling down in my direction. I stepped within the reach of the dumb giant and thrust upwards. The tip of my weapon pierced the ogre's mouth, cut through his tongue and silenced his next bellow then and there. He spewed forth a mess of blood and spittle as I withdrew my weapon and stepped away again to get out of reach once more. With one eye I was already searching for the other ogre to make sure I wouldn't get caught in between it and my current opponent. I needn't had worried. The harpies were keeping it busy at the moment. It was threshing about wildly trying to hit these elusive opponents. Hopefully they wouldn't loose another of their number.

I was about ready to deliver another blow to the ogre in front of me when I stopped perplexed. It was clawing at its face and red tinted foam had replaced the mist of blood and spit it had been spewing forth. And was its tongue sticking out of its mouth? Yes, indeed it was and it was swollen to the point where it wasn't even bleeding all that much anymore. It had turned an disturbing shade of dark purple as well. Obviously it wanted to scream but couldn't. That wasn't all though. Even as I watched its veins, both big and small, started darkening at an alarming rate. Before I could even react its eyes rolled into the back of its head and it dropped unmoving. My own eyes widened and I looked at the blade of my weapon. There weren't any poison sacks connected to it anymore. Could it still be deadly like this despite that? Was it some magical property of the materials used to construct the weapon?

This was troublesome. Sure in a fight, like the one right now, this could come in handy but in general this made the weapon dangerous to handle. The thought that I might cut myself with it had me shuddering. And the possibility that I might accidentally kill someone I cared for was something I didn't even want to think about. I would have to handle it with much greater care in the future. Right now though I had another ogre to kill. Or maybe I didn't. Another tremor shook the ground as the last of the trio of man eaters fell to the ground, part of its throat torn out by a particularly daring harpy, probably Quu'za by the looks of it. Before I had a chance to relax another bellow resounded through the harpy hamlet and I spun around with my eyes wide.

There, at the very edge of the small settlement stood another ogre, taller and all around bigger than the other three. It looked older as well, its thick hide weathered by years of exposure to sun and wind. Its club was studded with numerous pieces of sharp, volcanic rock. And as another bout of lighting illuminated its face I couldn't help but realize that it was beyond furious. The harpies who had just been about to celebrate their victory screeched in fright and ran. I on the other hand stood there and couldn't move. It wasn't that I was unable to move but I was the only thing left standing in between this monster and everyone else. If I ran there was no one else who could stop it. But what should I do to stop this giant among giants? What could I even do?

Should I trust in my glaive although I was obviously not as familiar with it as I should be? Lightning snaked across the sky once more, drawing my attention away from the angry ogre for a moment. It was a dangerous distraction but for a moment it was as if I could hear delighted laughter as the lightning danced among the clouds. An idea struck me as if it was lightning itself. I bared my teeth at my opponent and started to gather Mana even as it roared again in response. Spittle flew through the air around me despite the storm and the distance in between us as I built a spell matrix I had never practiced before. It was as if a divine muse had kissed me. The spell matrix connected the lightning dancing among the clouds with the gluttonous monster across from me.

I triggered the spell. I didn't even have to speak a phrase to do so. For a moment there was only silence and darkness. The next there was a bright light connecting the heavens and the earth. And the thunder sent me flying back two dozen paces. The ogre had no time to scream or even twitch. It burned like the wick of a candle only to be snuffed out by the dissipating storm in the blink of an eye. Blackened bones where all that remained where it had stood even before I hit the ground. I could only lie there on my back and blink up at the stars as the storm that had been raging for days dissipated within a few short moments. I blinked heavenwards as the last clouds disappeared. One last arc of lightning danced in between them before they were gone for good. The thunder that rolled across the land afterwards sounded like laughter in my ears and I decided to join in as well.