Notes: This is a first for me and hopefully not the last. To the best of my knowledge this is original work, nothing is truly original anymore but rather a retelling of old stories with new flavors. There is no sex in this chapter but there will be some in the future, slow burn, it's how I write, if you want a quick fix you'll have to go elsewhere. There will be violence in these, no sexual violence, but rather war like violence. I have no editor so all faults are my own. Any and all comments would be appreciated, I have a thick skin.
Prologue
'The double headed axe bit deep into the roaring shadow beast, cutting through thick skin and unleashing torrents of acidic ichor that splashed across his armor with a hiss. The random spray of blood would etch a pattern that would take hours of buffing to remove. The wielder of the axe roared in frustration as he put the shadow beast to the ground, the head of the axe still deep inside the beasts neck. Putting one of his oversized metal boots to the creatures neck, he pulled it free with a sickening pop and quickly finished the writhing animal with a second blow, completing the decapitation.
It's feline head rolled across the bloody battlefield, leaking more of it's corrosive blood into the already saturated field. The giant sighed in resignation as he looked around the churning field of battle. His clan was deeply embattled against the numerically superior shadow beasts, but his people fought with such ferocity they were driving them back.
"Loro, attend me!" A voice cut through the din of battle and the giant looked for his chief. His ice blue eyes looked for the thickest of the fighting, knowing that Kano, King of the Ice Mountains, Chieftain of the Tala Clan, would never shirk his duty to lead his people into battle. His sharp eyes rewarded him with the sight of the fierce Chief clutching a long spear covered in gore in one hand, and a large dented metal circular shield in the other. His guard fought to keep the beasts back with swords, spear, axe, and even occasionally, armored fists.
Loro moved forward, his long legs carrying him across the field in a few steps as his brethren pushed the beasts back to clear a lane for him. It took only moments to reach the Chief and he stared eye to eye with the black eyed giant, a feat few could accomplish, even amongst the Pure Blood.
Loro dipped his head in acknowledgment to Kano's superior social status and then stared back into the Chief's eyes. "You called for me." Loro stated.
"Yes, I need you to take the berserker's and go and kill the damn mage who opened this damned portal to the shadow realm. Close the portal and bring me the mage's head. Do not damage the brain, I wish to know who our unseen enemy is." Kano issued his orders with a bored air even as the men around him grunted and swore, swinging blades and hewing limbs as they fought desperately to hold the small pocket of calm for their chief to give orders to the Commander of the Berserkers.
Loro nodded simply and walked away from the chief and his body guards to try to find his men and women. They weren't badly scattered, fighting as a small unit to hold a large portion of territory clear of the shadow beasts. Loro looked quickly for a reserve unit to take the berserkers place in the line. It took only a minute to find an auxiliary unit composed of werewolves and vampires standing at the ready. Loro recognized their commander, a she-wolf named Laura.
"Laura, I need my berserkers. Relieve them of their position on the line." Loro barked out. Laura, a six foot ebony beauty dressed in golden armor clutching a sword half as tall as she was and just as wide, nodded and smiled a white toothy grin. She literally barked and her troops formed into position, the larger and stronger wolves forming a vanguard while the faster vampires drew short swords and fell into step behind the physically intimidating wolves. The wolves began to shift, growing into their bulky armor until it was like a second skin. Their faces elongated into half muzzles and they grew taller. Thick hair sprouted across their bodies and muscles bulged as they entered their hybrid state.
Laura had grown by a foot and a half, her golden armor flat against her sexless chest as she lurched into a run, howling as her troops fell in behind her, a charging maelstrom of armor and fur. Loro smiled faintly, he had always enjoyed the wolves exuberance when it came to a fight.
They crashed into the shadow beasts and quickly threw the monstrosities back, creating a space for the berserkers to fall back without being engaged by the creature's claws and fangs. They fell back to Loro without a spoken command, years of fighting together had taught them more about each other than even they realized. They moved in sync without conscious thought.
Loro did a quick head count of the six berserkers coming toward him. The last of the clan's still fighting age and able to enter the battle furor that let them fight as if they were invincible, had the strength of three giants, and the endurance of champion runners.
Alac, his second in command was nearly as tall as he was, standing eight feet nine inches. His face could have been carved of granite, sharp lines and dark eyes and hair fell upon a pale face for a startling contrast. His pale jade armor was scratched and dented and the long sword he was clutching was bathed in black blood. He smiled humorlessly showing his missing canine tooth on his right side that he refused to replace.
Moran, was Alac's sister. Where Alac was hard, she was soft, delicate cheekbones and soft blonde hair that fell only to her shoulders. Her hazel eyes burned with intensity that most found intimidating. Her soft womanly curves were hidden by armor, but Loro knew they were there. She was tall and slender, only a few inches shorter than her brother.
Kad and Kor, were twin brothers. Both barely topped eight feet and weren't as physically intimidating as their larger comrades but they made up for that with their speed. Loro wasn't sure but he thought that the wheat haired twins with strange orange eyes were probably just as fast as a vampire. In the heat of battle, their movements were just blurs as they fought together at speeds and intensities none could match.
Nic was the last male in the group and by far the largest. His massive size dwarfed even Loro. The spiked hammer he used in one hand would take lesser giants both hands to use, and any other race would barely be even able to drag it. Raven black hair was bound tightly into a pony tail that fell past his mid back. Silver eyes danced with merriment as the giant amongst giants smiled at his brethren. He had squeezed himself into his blood red armor, which peeked out from underneath the spattered black blood that covered him from head to toe. His red helm covered the majority of his face, leaving only his eyes and mouth visible.
Raven was the last of them. She was of average height for a giantess. Eight feet even, but where the majority were tall and well endowed with generous curves to accentuate their long figures, Raven was slim with small hips and barely noticeable breasts. Her long legs were thin, her ass small and tight but packed with muscle. Cerulean blue eyes sparkled with mischief underneath black eyebrows. Her long black hair was bound into a similar pony tail as Nic.
They gathered around him, staring at him as they awaited their orders. Loro had been their commander for a long time, and knew he couldn't be rushed. Loro looked at the battlefield, judging angles and trying to figure where the enemy mage would be. He immediately discounted the heaviest concentration of shadow beasts as that was the most obvious of places to be. Loro had dealt with mage's before, they were tricky and thought several steps ahead, planning escape routes for their escape routes. Hidden bodyguards on the escape routes, he'd even had one that had brought seven body doubles that doubled as his guards.
