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Bellowing in anger, the hill giant hurled his rock into the gorge. His pets scattered in all directions, just in time to avoid being sprayed with debris as the boulder shattered in their midst. Blizzard cast a wide-eyed glance over her shoulder, then continued across the valley. The wolves rushed after her, regrouping as they ran.
Casting an angry glare at Bria
"Blizzard, go!" she yelled. "Run!"
"Quiet!"
Startled by the giant's roar. Blizzard turned and galloped up the canyon. The angry hunter bellowed again, scattering his wolves once more, and hurled his boulder into the gorge. His aim and range were incredible, for the stone sailed straight down and would have intercepted the mare had she not dodged into a spruce stand at the last second. The wolves sprinted into the trees after her, their howls of frustration echoing through the gorge.
"Stupid, stupid girl!"
The hill giant grabbed another boulder, and this time, Bria
"Wait!" Bria
The sentry checked his throw. "Better than horse?" He cocked one side of his heavy brow. The expression looked more gruesome than inquisitive. "How?"
"I'm your chiefs friend-"
Before Bria
Bria
Still holding the boulder over his head, the hill giant scowled. "How that better than horse?" he demanded. "Maybe good for Noote-not for Rog."
Knowing that the ogres would not allow her much time to complete her negotiations, Bria
Bria
This sent Rog into such a fit of hysterics that he dropped his boulder, almost crushing his own foot.
"All right, then!" Bria
Rog stopped laughing and picked up his club. "Where?"
From the other end of the moor came the clatter of ogre arrows striking stone. Bria
"Those humans!" the giant protested. "Not horses."
"I'll send the horses to you," Bria
The hill giant's eyes narrowed in suspicion. "You not even let Rog eat one horse. Why give him five?"
"Blizzard is special to me." Bria
Rog's lip curled into a disgusted sneer, and the princess knew she had touched an emotional cord. "I'll give you ten horses," she offered. "But you have to say yes right now-and call your wolves off my horse."
"Yes!"
Rog tightened his lips against his yellowing teeth and gave a rising whistle that rang through the canyon. A dozen indignant howls protested the call. The hill giant repeated his summons, this time following it up with a threatening bellow. The wolves yelped, then Bria
Rog tossed his club into the canyon, then sat down and braced his hands on the edge of the cliff. He turned around and carefully lowered himself until he was dangling by his fingers. Although the precipice had to be thirty feet high, the hill giant was so tall, and his arms so long, that his feet almost reached the bottom. He dropped into the gorge and fell over backward, tumbling down the talus slope head over heels. Halfway down, he slammed into a spruce trunk, shaking a torrent of brown needles down on his head, and came to stop. As though nothing unusual had happened, the giant stood up and brushed himself off, then retrieved his club and crossed the valley to climb up the slope on Bria
The princess turned around to check on her companions. Earl Dobbin and Avner were almost upon her. By the steady rumble of rolling rocks, she could tell that Morten and Tavis remained at their posts, still hurling boulders down at the ogres. Meanwhile, down at timber-line, a steady line of Goboka's warriors were sneaking through the spruce forest toward the gorge.
"Tavis!" Even as she yelled the name, Bria
The princess heard one more set of boulders crash down the hill, then the rumbling began to quiet. Confident that the firbolgs had heeded her warning, Bria
"Jump," he called. "Rog catch good. Better than most hill giants."
Though the hill giant's words hardly inspired faith, Bria
The hill giant's second hand rose from his side and appeared beneath her. She slammed facedown into the palm, coming to a stop with a loud and painful grunt. A moment later, Rog's thick fingers curled around her body, almost crushing her ribs as they locked her in his grip.
"See? Rog's hands good." The hill giant set her on the ground near his feet.
"They got the job done," Bria
She cupped her palms together to show the hill giant what she meant. He stooped over-way over-and squinted at her hands with a single red-veined eye. Most giants suffered from farsightedness, but Rog's condition was worse than most. He barely seemed able to separate her from the rocky slope.
"But what if Rog miss with first hand?" the giant asked, cupping his palms together.
"Hold still." Bria
The hill giant looked doubtful, but put his hands together as she had instructed and raised them toward the cliff top. "Your friends, not mine," he said, shrugging.
As Earl Dobbin leaped from the cliff, Bria