Contents
17. Thunder
Overview
Giants ambush the Wostran caravan, forcing the slavers to flee and leaving Kinch and Galva in giant hands. As the giants march them east, a devastating aerial strike severs limbs and kills several giants, shattering the cart. Kinch and Galva glimpse a red, fish-shaped craft—evidence of half-giants who can fly—upending the balance of power.
Summary
Kinch dozes in a cage-cart as the Wostran slavers drive their caravan across the steppes. A sudden giant ambush erupts: towering karks burst from buried positions, fling camels, and club Wostrans, scattering the Egalitarians. The slavers flee, abandoning Kinch, Galva, and laden wagons to the giants.
The giants seize the caravan and turn it east toward the Thralls, debating how many camels to keep—some speaking openly of hunger. Kinch and Galva trade grim humor while assessing seven giants, including a young, distractible fair-haired one and a rust-haired female who notes they speak Arvisk. Their captors plan to deliver the prisoners to a chief.
The eighteen-foot leader approaches, questioning Kinch in Arvisk and eyeing his black tongue with suspicion. As tension rises, a blinding flash and deafening concussion rip through the column. The cart’s shade-cloth is blown away, bars are torn free, and a severed giant arm crashes across their roof, showering blood. The leader staggers past, maimed and blinded, then collapses dead; other giants lie slain or flee aflame.
Stunned, bleeding, and fouled, Kinch and Galva realize their camels are dead and the cart disabled, but the broken bars offer a potential escape. Looking skyward, Kinch spots a pale moon-adjacent, red, fish-shaped craft vanishing past a cloud. They grasp that this thunderous attack came from flying half-giants—wielding godlike power that now reshapes their peril.
Who Appears
- KinchNarrator; captured by giants after Wostran flight, survives a devastating aerial strike and glimpses a red flying craft.
- GalvaWarrior companion; steady under threat, exchanges dry humor, is bloodied and shaken by the aerial attack.
- Giant leader (unnamed)Eighteen-foot kark who interrogates Kinch; loses an arm in the blast and dies.
- Rust-haired female giantIdentifies that Kinch and Galva speak Arvisk; part of the escort before the strike.
- Young fair-haired giantSmaller, curious giant who lags to watch birds; marginal presence in the escort.
- BazlWostran with a brass nose; flees with slavers during the giant ambush, shouting a parting jibe.