Ryder turned to shake Nazeem, but the tattooed man was already standing.
'All right,' said Ryder to the young man, 'lead on.'
Jase tossed Ryder the ruined shackles that had bound him on his way out here.
'You'll need these,' said Jase. Then he turned and headed across the courtyard, past a line of dead trees beside the wall, and over to the ladders that lead up.
Ryder and Nazeem followed.
When they got to the top, they found Giselle standing on a stone block, peering over the edge with a captain's glass, a length of rope slung over her shoulder. There were several Broke Spear guards beside her.
'Is it them again?' asked one of the sentries.
Jase climbed up on the stone and motioned for Ryder and Nazeem to do the same.
Without looking away from the view, Giselle started speaking. 'Sorry to wake you, but many of our warriors are out on another raid, and we are shorthanded for a fight.'
'A fight?' asked Ryder, trying to look over the wall. The stone was irregularly shaped, sloped up at one end, so only Giselle and the one Broken Spear guard standing beside her had enough height to look out. 'With whom?'
'See for yourself,' Giselle stepped aside and let Ryder climb up to her vantage point.
Looking out over the wall, the mountain pass beyond was very dark. The bright moonlight penetrated only the very center of the canyons and pathways that led up to Fairhaven. The plain beyond was well lit, but Ryder was certain whatever it was they were looking at wasn't that far off.
'What am I looking for?'
'Find the stairs,' directed Giselle.
Though Ryder wasn't all that familiar with Fairhaven or the view from this height, he followed the statue- lined path to the end of the stairs he had come up when he'd first arrived. He could see where they wound down the mountainside and disappeared into the darkness beyond.
He scanned back and forth, but he could make out only rock and more rock. Nothing out of the ordinary.
'I don't see-' Ryder stopped in the middle of his sentence. Just there, where the stairs came out of the shadow into the moonlight, he saw something move. Then it disappeared again in the darkness.
Ryder blinked and ran his hand over his face, clearing the last of the sleep. Then he opened his eyes as wide as he could and looked again. Out of the shadows stepped a tall, gaunt man carrying something heavy in one hand. The intruder walked upright, and though it was a long way away Ryder could have sworn that whoever it was took one of the four-foot-tall stairs in a single step.
Then it dawned on him. 'Giants.'
'Yes,' replied Giselle. 'We've seen them in the surrounding hills from time to time. They mostly come out at night.'
'Mostly?' asked Ryder.
Giselle nodded. 'There was something I didn't tell you when you first arrived in Fairhaven.'
'You mean other than the fact that you were going to imprison me against my will?'
Giselle turned from looking over the wall to glare at Ryder. 'The other foe the giants faced when the shield dwarves attacked was one of their own kind,' explained the Broken Spear leader, ignoring Ryder's obvious slight. 'A giant called the Dodkong.'
'The Dodkong?' Ryder had never heard of such a creature. 'Should this name mean something to me?'
Giselle shrugged. 'Depends. How much do you know about giants?'
Ryder shook his head. 'Not much. There aren't any in rural Duhlnarim. I don't know that there are many in all of Erlkazar.'
'Don't be so sure,' said Giselle. 'For many hundreds of years, the dwarves traded enslaved giants to the human royalty of the various baronies around the continent as a way to build political capital. Though many of the old alliances are broken now, the ruling families still keep giants or their offspring as servants. Erlkazar is not an exception.'
Giselle smirked, obviously enjoying instructing Ryder on the subject of giants.
Though her attitude was irksome, it was also strangely sexy, and Ryder had to look away from her. 'So, who is this Dodkong?' he said, trying to stay on track.
Nazeem answered. 'He is an undead stone giant.'
'You've heard of him, then,' said Giselle. She pointed to her forehead and traced the symbol of a triangle. 'All the way over in Chult.'
Nazeem nodded.
'The Dodkong is the chief and ruler of the giant clans in the Underdark,' explained Giselle. 'He wages war against the other giants, slowly killing off the chiefs and reanimating them into his undead minions.'
'And how do you know all of this?' asked Ryder.
Giselle pointed down into the courtyard. 'When the Broken Spear found this place, we discovered that the giants had left behind most of their belongings. The dwarves must have not cared much for the giants' possessions. There were piles and piles of scrolls, paintings, and stone etchings.' She shrugged. 'I read them.'
Ryder turned to her in amazement. 'You speak Giant as well?'
Giselle shook her head. 'I can read it, but I've not the vocal chords to pronounce the words.'
'There will be plenty of time for you two to get to know each other after the giants are gone,' said Nazeem.
Ryder got the hint. 'How many of them are out there?' he asked.
'We've counted at least three, but there could be more,' replied Jase.
'And how many warriors do you have left in camp?'
Giselle spread her arms. 'You're looking at them.'
Ryder looked down at the group of Broken Spear warriors. Including Giselle and Jase, he counted only a dozen. He and Nazeem brought the total up to fourteen, but considering their foe, those weren't the best odds.
'If we help you, will you grant us our freedom?' asked Ryder.
'Will you try to leave?' replied Giselle.
'Yes,' said Ryder.
'Then the answer is still no.'
Ryder headed down the stone toward the steps.
Giselle grabbed him by the arm. 'I could have left you locked in that cage.'
Ryder pulled away from her and continued toward the stairs.
'Ryder, please,' said Giselle.
He stopped, not turning around.
'People's lives are at stake here,' said Giselle.
Ryder looked down into the courtyard. There was only one way out. If the giants breached the walls of Fairhaven, they would be trapped.
'I'll need a sword,' said Ryder, turning around.
Giselle shrugged. 'I don't even have enough for all of my warriors.'
'What about the weapons the guards in the caravan were carrying?' he asked. 'Surely you took them with you.'
'And now more of my warriors are equipped with good steel,' replied the bandit leader. 'All that is left is the gold in their chests. But if you think throwing handfuls of coins at the giants will help, I am more than happy to show you where you can get all you need.'
Ryder looked down at the shackles he carried. He swung the chain side to side, feeling the weight of the cuff. They worked well enough while he fought Cobblepot. They would have to do the same here.
Nazeem's sling seemed even punier than it had earlier. The little rocks would be little more than mere annoyances to a trio of undead giants.
'So,' asked Ryder, looking to Giselle, 'what's the plan?'
'We wait in the shadows just inside the door,' said Giselle, lifting the rope off her shoulder. 'When the first one enters, we pull this taut from both sides. We can take out one before they even know what hit them.'
'That's it?' asked Ryder. 'That's the whole plan?'
