Two soldiers led Anira, Irma, and Little Gavin into the village hall. They entered the meeting room, where the tables had been pushed aside to make room for the women, children, and elderly villagers. Anira gave her mother a kiss and sidled her way through the crowd to get to the stairs. Once upstairs, she opened the balcony doors and stepped outside. This was a good vantage point from which she could see across the whole of Varna.

She watched her father line up his guard between the village and the edge of the forest. Some of them were on horseback, and many of them carried the iron swords that had been forged in great numbers over the past few days. Anira’s eyes skimmed over the numerous rows of soldiers, until she came across Dunkan, straight-backed in his saddle, on the right-hand side. Her hands started to become clammy.

Behind the ranks of soldiers, the men from the village took up their positions. The prisoners had also been released and given weapons in order to bolster the small army. Anira noticed that the only person missing was the head foreman. When everyone was ready, Tiyodor mounted his horse, rode along the ranks, and spoke to the men. ‘According to our scouts, the Guyins are preparing to attack,’ he said. The crowd fell silent and, for a moment, all that could be heard was the sound of the rainfall. ‘Earlier this week, a message was sent to Lavinyord, requesting help. The ferry, however, hasn’t yet arrived, so I fear we’re on our own.’

While Tiyodor tried to encourage the men, Anira’s mother came out onto the balcony with Little Gavin. Irma put her arm around her daughter’s shoulders and hugged her. The sun slowly disappeared behind the horizon. All three of them held their breath when darkness fell and a deep rumbling sound emanated from afar, as if the earth’s crust was about to burst open. The sound swelled, and when Anira strained her ears, she thought she could discern heavy drumbeats; a sluggish rhythm exuding from the heart of the forest. While a few soldiers lit torches, Anira saw Haynik pushing his way through the lines to join the front ranks. He had his sword at the ready and was shuffling his feet restlessly as though he couldn’t wait to meet his fate.

The drumbeats were slowly getting louder. Anira thought she saw shadows moving among the trees. The rhythm sped up, and her heart started to beat at a fast and irregular pace. Meanwhile, it had started to rain harder, and above the Linar forest the lightning contrasted sharply with the dark sky.

‘The Gods have deserted us,’ Irma whispered.

Suddenly, a thunderbolt shot through the sky over their heads, accompanied by a loud clap of thunder. Anira grew rigid with fear and saw a house on one of the hill tops around the village catch fire. In response to the natural phenomenon, a guttural yell emanated from the forest and turned into a battle song chanted by many voices. Anira moved up closer to her mother. She felt Irma starting to shiver as the drumbeats grew louder until they became deafening.

The guttural singing morphed into a massive joint battle cry, whereupon the Guyins, maces and slings at the ready, came storming out of the forest. There were many hundreds of them. Their faces and upper bodies were painted a dark red. Screaming, they raised their weapons and picked up their pace. The ground was shaking under their massive feet.

A few villagers fled the scene of battle in fear, but when Tiyodor gave the order to attack, the rest of the men rushed forward. Anira tensed up as she followed Dunkan with her eyes and saw the two armies clash. Dunkan raised his weapon and dealt a powerful blow, but then he disappeared into the chaos of the battle. At certain places the Guyins broke through the soldiers’ lines of defense effortlessly, but in other places the iron swords held off the maces of the Guyins. Anira saw how her father stood his ground and fought from the saddle, and she bit her lip. Meanwhile, Haynik had breached the enemy lines and, screaming loudly, slashed at the back of one of the half-giants. The iron did its job, not only in Haynik’s hands, but all over the battlefield. The Guyins, however, were superior in numbers and sheer power.

‘Guard! Regroup to the right!’ Tiyodor stood in his stirrups and gestured towards the cavalry units in his guard, giving them the signal to make an outflanking movement to the front right of the enemy’s lines. He assembled his men there, but Anira didn’t see Dunkan among the soldiers. Tiyodor led his guard in a charge on the Guyins’ left flank. Captain Yelgar and Diyur brought their horses to the front and were riding alongside Tiyodor when they engaged the enemy. As the guard broke through to the center of the Guyin army, Tiyodor was swallowed up in the great mass of men and Guyins. Anira felt her mother tense up immediately. Little Gavin hid his face in his arms.

In spite of Tiyodor’s charge, the half-giants were steadily gaining ground. As Varna’s defense force was slowly driven back, the first dead bodies became visible on the strip of land between the village and the edge of the forest. Anira looked away; she wasn’t yet ready to see the faces of the dead. Meanwhile, the soldiers were forced to retreat to the village square, where they were attempting to regroup.

Downstairs, orders were yelled. Anira shivered as her mother dragged her and Little Gavin back inside and down the stairs. The doors of the village hall were open and the soldiers standing guard were trying to direct all villagers to the north side of the village as quickly as possible, but several people were trampled by the crowd. Outside, the residents of Varna scampered in all directions. Anira ran after the soldiers with her mother and Little Gavin, but soon they discovered that the way north was also blocked by the Guyins. While the soldiers joined the battle, screaming loudly, Anira looked around. Her mother was staring at the night sky, where the moon was rising, and mumbled a prayer.

Anira didn’t know what to do and remained where she was, wrapping her arms protectively around Little Gavin. On the ground in front of her lay an arm that had been mercilessly ripped off the body of a dead soldier lying a few feet away. Anira closed her eyes in fear. Then she heard the pounding of hooves behind her. Dunkan, whose face was covered in blood, pulled his little brother up by his collar and put him in front of him on his saddle. Anira felt as though a weight was lifted off her chest when she saw him. He reached for the reins of a second horse that was walking beside him.

‘Iron swords or not, we stand no chance at all,’ Dunkan said, panting. He looked over his shoulder to the north, where the Guyins were driving back the soldiers and advancing fast. ‘Only the road to the harbor still remains open. Tiyodor wants to make a final stand there.’ He drew his dagger and gave it to Anira. She slipped the weapon into her boot and mounted the horse. She helped her mother into the saddle as well and spurred on the horse. Behind them, the soldiers were being overrun.

While they were making their way through the streets of the village in the direction of the harbor, Tiyodor came riding towards them. His brother’s body lay across the back of his horse in front of him. He reached them at the same time as the battle cries of a group of Guyins that was heading straight for them. He wheeled his horse around, raised his sword, and attacked from the saddle. His weapon cut clean through his first attacker’s mace. He immediately struck again and pierced his enemy’s throat. The Guyin went down, bleeding profusely. The other half-giants immediately threw themselves at Tiyodor and drove him back, until his horse reared, causing Tiyodor to slip out of the saddle, along with his brother’s body, which tumbled to the ground.

One of the Guyins was approaching Tiyodor from behind. Anira yelled a warning, but her breath got stuck in her throat the moment the Guyin raised its mace. ‘Dad, no!’ She reached for her boot and grabbed the dagger that Dunkan had given her. With all her might she threw the dagger at the Guyin. The blade grazed its shoulder and only caused a superficial wound. The Guyin cast a quick glance in her direction and relentlessly attacked. Anira caught her father’s gaze and pleadingly reached out her arms towards him.

There was a loud crack when the singing iron of the sword of an as yet unseen soldier suddenly cleaved the Guyin’s skull almost in two. A grinning Haynik came into view, and he stood defiantly as the half-giant’s mace fell to the ground right next to Tiyodor. Anira’s body shivered with relief. Haynik went to raise his sword once more, this time against another Guyin which was already coming at him, but, to his horror, it had become lodged in his victim’s skull. Cursing loudly, he drew his dagger and threw himself upon his enemy. The other half-giants tried to pull the screaming man off their companion. The ensuing chaos resulting from their struggle offered Tiyodor an opportunity to escape. ‘Quickly,’ he yelled at his family. He grabbed his horse’s reins and climbed back into the saddle.

‘No!’ Little Gavin tried to jump off the horse. ‘We can’t leave Dad behind!’

Tiyodor looked at his brother’s cold dead body. The Guyins were advancing. ‘We have no choice. I’m sorry boys, but we have to go.’ He cast a final glance at Ervingal’s body. ‘Keep a firm hold on your brother, Dunkan. Come, quickly!’ He dug his spurs into his horse’s flanks. ‘To the harbor!’ he yelled at the villagers, but for many people it was already too late. Only a few dozen followed them, with the Guyins in hot pursuit.

Anira felt her heart racing as they left the village behind them and reached the road to the harbor. In the distance, she saw glimpses of the White Cliffs gleaming weakly in the moonlight. Anira’s cousins were riding alongside her. Dunkan was holding the reins in one hand and had wrapped his free arm around his brother. Little Gavin was trying to break free, but his brother had a firm grip on him. Defeated, he let his body hang limp.

A few members of Tiyodor’s guard, including captain Yelgar and Diyur, had left the village square and now joined them. Diyur’s uniform was drenched with blood. He was following his father with a wild look in his eyes. Meanwhile, the battle cries of the Guyins closed in on them. They halted on the quay and waited until all the survivors of the battle had assembled. Tiyodor lined them up in three short ranks. ‘Fight for your lives!’ he yelled. ‘This is our last stand!’

The soldiers were carrying swords, but the remaining villagers had to make do with the tools laying scattered across the harbor. Anira could discern a handful of smithing hammers, shovels, gimlets, and pickaxes, among a selection of other miscellaneous tools, but she knew none of it would be enough to repel their rapidly impending foes. Anira, Irma, and Little Gavin were placed behind the ranks with the other women and children.

As the Guyins drew nearer, Dunkan brought his horse alongside Tiyodor and nodded at him. ‘It’s been an honor going into battle with you, Uncle.’

Tiyodor patted him on the shoulder. ‘It isn’t over yet, my boy. Not yet…’ He had a strange glistening in his eyes, while he quickly looked in the direction of the river.

The Guyins slowed their pace as they reached the harbor. They formed a wide semicircle, and slowly advanced with their maces raised. Anira knew what they were doing. They were going to drive them into the water, where they would drown, all of them, due to the high banks of the river Dayno.

As she looked past the cavalry, Anira could see the terrifying faces of the Guyins. They weren’t going to show any mercy. Suddenly she recognized one of them. In the middle of the front rank stood the Guyin from the forest with the missing eye. Before her mother could stop her, she pushed her way through the ranks of the surviving defenders and stepped forwards. Tiyodor wanted to spur on his horse when he saw her, but Dunkan stopped him. ‘Wait…’

The Guyin halted when it recognized Anira and gestured at its fellow Guyins to stop as well.

‘We didn’t mean for your friend to get killed. I’m really sorry,’ Anira said. ‘Please, spare our lives.’ She fell to her knees and looked up at it with pleading eyes. In the ensuing silence, Anira heard a strange sound coming from the east. A kind of rustling noise.

Despite the half-giants’ bloodlust, the Guyin calmly walked over to her, cautiously reached out its hand and ran its fingers through the long strands of hair that had come loose from her plait. It glanced over its shoulder and made a series of low clucking noises at its companions. The Guyins, however, raised their maces in anger, and when one of them charged forwards, weapon at the ready, the others resumed the attack as well.

‘Defend yourselves!’ Tiyodor yelled. He spurred on his horse and galloped along the front of the ranks. Then he leaned forwards in his saddle, grabbed his daughter and dragged her with him. One of the Guyins in the front ranks had seen him coming, however, and took out a sling. With a powerful movement, it hurled a stone at them that narrowly missed Anira’s head, but with a loud crack shattered Tiyodor’s shoulder. Tiyodor bellowed in pain but managed to drag Anira out of the enemy’s reach before he fell from his saddle and lost consciousness. Irma and Little Gavin ran to him.

While Captain Yelgar and the remaining soldiers launched the attack, Anira reached for the hilt of her father’s sword. She unsheathed the weapon and held it ready to defend herself and her father. Irma was trying to shake him back into consciousness. Anira saw Dunkan steering his horse along the ranks at the rear, coming her way. As the Guyins were getting ready for their final attack, Anira could hear the water of the Dayno splattering loudly against the riverbank. Then, a high piercing noise cut through the air, rekindling her hope.

The Guyins stood motionless and stared completely befuddled with fear at the bow of the ferry looming up from behind the White Cliffs. High in his stirrups and commanding a group of armed hooded horsemen stood the Watcher Yarnus. The ship came to a stop along the quay, where the gangplank was thrown out immediately, and Yarnus and a delegation of the Grey Order of Watchers stormed ashore.

Anira and Irma tried to drag Tiyodor to the ferry, but they had great difficulty moving his limp body. ‘Help!’ Anira yelled, sobbing. In the meantime, Dunkan had reached them, and he jumped off his horse. Together they managed to carry Tiyodor up the gangplank and onto the ship. Little Gavin ran after them.

From the front deck, Anira watched the battle. The Watchers fought on horseback, brandishing their curved knives, but their true power seemed to emanate from within. They drove the Guyins back with ferocious lunges, and the half-giants soon realized that they couldn’t defeat the Watchers with their maces and slings. They tried to stand their ground but were forced back further and further. ‘Go to the ferry,’ the Watcher Yarnus yelled at them. ‘Leave the rest to us!’

When Captain Yelgar gave the order to retreat, two soldiers of the guard brought him his son, who was badly wounded and barely conscious. The captain took Diyur from them and followed the villagers to the quay. Anira watched how Yarnus formed a wide line to buy the villagers enough time. He succeeded in forcing the Guyins back far enough, after which they turned around and ran back towards the village. Yarnus observed them for a while. Then he turned his horse around and led his companions back to the quay. They galloped up the gangplank, onto the ferry. When everyone was on board, the gangplank was hauled in, and the ship began to move.

Dunkan and Anira looked back towards the rapidly disappearing harbor. In the distance, they could see the Guyins destroying the village. Plumes of smoke emerging from the burning rooftops of Varna shrouded the star filled sky. Anira thought of her poor horse Doriyan, left behind in Ervingal’s stable. With tears in her eyes, she looked up at Dunkan. He silently wrapped his arms around her. She wrapped her arms around his waist and held him tight.