The Path of Giants by B.T. Narro (best novels to read .txt) 📕

Gourfist threw his head back, whipping me higher into the air than I’d been in a long time. It sent me far above and over the castle wall.

I came down fast into the courtyard, but I caught myself with dvinia and landed on my feet.

I was about to yell for Hadley to run, expecting her curse couldn’t possibly last this long. But then I saw Gourfist take off into the air. I was right about the curse—he could see again, and I had never witnessed him this angry. If the spear was still stuck in his head, it was hidden from view.

He landed on the parapets, ignoring the screaming archers as they ran away, Aliana included. With his pointed look at me, I realized I was out of options.

Gourfist hopped down from the parapets so that he was right in front of me. I had no weapon as I backed away, and soon I was bumping into the inner wall of the courtyard. Gourfist closed in on me. If I had to guess his thoughts, he was deciding on the most painful way of killing me.

Something landed in front of me so hard that dust rose up in a cloud, blocking my vision for a moment. Souriff was standing stoically in front of me when it cleared.

“Looking for me, brother?” she asked, a hint of fear in her tone.

Gourfist let out a beastly roar. It felt strange to see it come from the face of an eagle. The power threw me back, but the demigod of dvinia stood her ground with her cloak whipping.

“You’ll have to catch me first,” she said as she took off faster than any bird.

Gourfist beat his wings, slow to match her speed.

She led him back toward Curdith Forest, soaring away so fast that I soon lost sight of her. Gourfist shrank and shrank, and soon the castle walls blocked my view of him.

It didn’t matter. I knew this was over, at least for me and the people of Newhaven.

Hadley was running back into the castle, another of Gourfist’s feathers in hand. She stopped in front of me as she panted. “Are you all right?”

“I am.”

She smiled as she ran to me with open arms.

I wrapped her up and held her close. I didn’t want to think about what might’ve happened to Aliana and the archers, and even perhaps myself, if she hadn’t been brave enough to run out of the castle and blind the beast.

By the time we let go of each other, the rest of my peers were rushing out of the keep. The king was close behind them.

“I’m sure Souriff will see that Gourfist tires himself out,” Nykal said.

“That was incredible!” Charlie said. “Jon, you were magnificent!”

I ignored him for the moment as I showed the king a dark look. “There are dead out there, sire.”

He nodded. “Guards, make sure it’s safe. I’ll be out there in a moment to speak to the people.”

The retinue of guards rushed out through the portcullis. The king eyed me.

“I don’t know why Gourfist awoke or came here specifically, but your bravery is to be commended, Jon. Without your assistance, I’m sure many more lives would’ve been lost and the destruction of the city would be vast.”

“I’m not sure I would be standing here if it wasn’t for Hadley’s curse,” I made sure to mention.

“Yes, we saw that as well.” The king turned to Kataleya. “I’m expecting that you’ll no longer have any doubts about her loyalty.”

“No, sire. She’s one of us.”

“Thank you, Kataleya,” Hadley said.

I noticed Aliana staring off in the direction Gourfist had gone.

“Can you sense anything?” I asked.

“How did you know?” she said.

“Just a feeling. What is it?”

“I’m not sure how to describe it. It’s like I can feel his anger, even now that he’s many miles away. But he’s also so very tired.”

Hadley asked, “You can feel that from others?”

“No, only from him. I don’t know why it is.”

“His mana must be that powerful,” Charlie suggested. “I’m not sure he can even be killed. Jon, what happened to the spear you drove into his head?”

“It still in there as far as I know.”

A guard ran back into the courtyard and gave the king a hand signal that it was safe for him to come. The king took a moment, however, to address us.

“I’m going to see what I can do about those who lost their lives, homes, and shops. I still expect all of you to ride to Koluk as soon as you’re ready to leave. Aliana, you’ll see to it?”

“Yes, sire,” she said.

The king met his lone guard in the courtyard and hurried out of the castle.

“We should be leaving,” Aliana said. “But I understand if some of us need extra time after what just happened.” Her gaze roamed down my torso with lifted eyebrows.

I noticed that everyone was looking at me, most of their gazes traveling down my bare chest. Even Reuben and Charlie seemed fixated on my appearance. Normally, I’d find it a little uncomfortable, but my heart was still racing as if this fight wasn’t over.

“We’re sure he’s not coming back?” I had to ask.

“He must be going back to sleep soon,” Aliana said. “I could feel how tired he was becoming while fighting you.”

Nobody made any movement. I figured they were still as stunned as I was. I felt my pants loose around my waist. I looked down and saw that my belt had been burned past the point of holding my pants up, and my pants were singed around the waist with one large hole near my hip, my underwear showing. This was probably part of the reason everyone had been staring at me.

I gave a sigh. “I keep losing clothing,” I told the group. “I just need a moment.” I made my way toward the apartments, feeling the force of their gazes on my back.

I didn’t really care. It was Gourfist that worried me. I expected the king would get to the bottom of