The Last Harvester

Chapter Three

“Everybody move!” Victor shouted.

The crowd at the gates looked up the sloped streets to see Duncan and his group rushing down. They didn’t stick around for long, however, as the ogre began thrashing everything and everyone in its path.

“Get out of the way, run!” Valerie screamed at the people ahead of them. “Run to the castle!”

Duncan didn’t wait for the people ahead to comply. He jumped onto the cart and used its momentum to charge toward the ogre. “Victor, make it chase you! I’m going to see if I can climb it!”

“Are you insane?” Victor asked as he followed. “It’ll crush you with one swipe.”

Valerie shouted back, “We have no choice! Just roll with it!” She then turned to their escorts. “I need one of you to help me set up the bomb. The rest of you, assist Lord Victor and make sure that ogre doesn’t go anywhere else. If my brother can climb up that beast, he might be able to strike a vital weak spot to slow it down long enough for us to detonate the bomb.”

“Yes, Your Highness!” everyone cried out.

Duncan leaped off the cart and rolled to the side of the road. He quickly hid behind a broken wall. He peeked out just in time to see Valerie, her one soldier, and the cart divert to the opposite side of the ogre. There was a trio of beasts ready to pounce on them but a small band of armed civilians and Imperials were there to help.

“At least she’s not alone,” Duncan whispered to himself. He then focused his attention on Victor’s group.

Victor and the few soldiers stood ahead of the ogre and were screaming at the top of their lungs. The goal was to get its attention and draw it long enough for Valerie and Duncan to do their things.

“Thanks, Victor,” Duncan whispered. As soon as the ogre took a step toward Victor’s team, Duncan charged to circle around the monster. He kept his blade in hand and remained vigilant in case there were crystal beasts around him.

Victor unsheathed his sword and screamed at the ogre. “Come on, you big lout! Come at me!”

The soldiers around him started to shout similar taunts. Some of them began to slam their swords against their shields or armor, creating a loud ruckus. The ogre immediately took notice and it roared at them. The sound alone was enough to cause a tremor in the area but things got worse when it took a step closer. With one step, the whole city shook.

It was large. It was heavy. It was mad.

“Damn it,” Duncan cursed when he almost lost his footing. He was now closer to the back of the ogre. With a quick glance up, he realized that it wasn’t exactly like a giant gorilla. The fur on its body appeared slick and slippery. The skin underneath appeared scaly, almost like a cross between an ape and the reptilian monsters they were fighting earlier. Though the ogre’s arms were long like a gorilla’s, the hind legs clearly didn’t show a similar heritage. Both heels had large, long claws and Duncan figured those were there to fend off enemies coming from behind. The ogre also had three pairs of ears instead of just one. Though he wasn’t sure, that feature alone hinted that the ogre had a strong sense of hearing.

Duncan could only hope that the ogre wouldn’t hear his approach.

On the other side, two of Victor’s men charged forward. They both slashed at the ogre’s feet. The blades struck their target but the scales on the ogre’s skin deflected the weaker blows. Few of the slashes seemed to make an impact. In retaliation, the ogre shifted its position and easily kicked one of the soldiers across the block. In the blink of an eye, the soldier flew several feet back and slammed against a building wall with a sickening crack. Blood splattered out of the soldier’s helmet and armor before the body collapsed on the ground, lifeless and motionless.

Victor looked at the body in horror and he then raised his sword. “We can’t stand here! Get moving! Keep it distracted and start buzzing ahead of it so it can’t pick us all off!”

Duncan grinned. That was the right tactic for a target as big as this ogre. Even with Victor and his men all in front of it, the ogre wouldn’t be able to hit them all if they spread out. That would give Valerie enough time to prepare her bomb. 

It was also enough to let Duncan prepare the way for his sister.

As Victor’s team sprang into action, Duncan ran until he was directly behind the ogre. Knowing the fur wasn’t conducive for climbing, he figured there was another way up. He instead redirected to the city gates and started climbing up the ladders that led to the ramparts.

“I see Duncan,” Victor mumbled to himself. He then turned to the soldiers. “All right, we need to get the ogre in position. Everyone, attack the right leg. With enough damage, the beast will stumble a bit backward in that direction!”

The soldiers didn’t need to be instructed twice. Everyone rushed towards the monster’s right foot and began slashing furiously. Victor stayed in the front of the team, attacking with all his might in every strike.

“Wait, everyone, roll out of the way!” Victor commanded when he saw a shift in the ogre’s movement. It was preparing to swipe at them with its humongous arms. Victor managed to get out of the ogre’s reach but one of the soldiers wasn’t as lucky. He watched in horror as the ogre squeezed the life out of the soldier. It didn’t stop until the poor soldier’s body was crushed inside his armor. The ogre then threw the corpse right to the ground, shattering the body even further.

On Duncan’s end, he had to summon every ounce of strength to stop himself from screaming in anger. He ran to the other end of the ramparts and waved, hoping that Victor would see that he was already in place.

Fortunately for him, Victor saw Duncan a moment before he rolled out of the ogre’s flurry of enraged strikes. Victor then turned to a couple of other soldiers who rushed in to assist, “Don’t just stand there! Help us push the ogre to where Prince Duncan is!”

Duncan glanced at Valerie. She was still too preoccupied with her work to look anywhere else. The few soldiers around her were also busy fighting off several reptilian beasts that continued to stalk and hunt them. 

“I need to do this… now.”

He watched as Victor’s team pushed the ogre one step backward. It was still too far for him to jump. With another assault, Victor got the ogre to stumble two more steps backward.

“Now!” Duncan screamed as he gripped the handle of his sword with both hands and jumped. With the blade pointed down, he aimed directly for the ogre’s nape. For what felt like an eternity, he soared in the air. If he missed, he knew he’d crash down on the ground forty feet below and likely shatter his legs. Even if he lived, it was likely the ogre would step on him by sheer accident. If he somehow escaped that sour fate, he figured one of the straggler beasts coming in through the gates would find and devour him.

“Push!” Victor screamed. Victor looked up and realized Duncan had a very small window of error. With a flurry of strikes and thrusts, he led his team to push the ogre one more step backward. 

While in the air, he stared down and aimed to dig his sword as deep as he could. Then it was all over and he felt his body smack right onto the ogre’s back. There was a loud squishing sound and Duncan was covered in a fountain of blood as his sword hit its target. The sword cut through the scales but fortunately, it didn’t slide downward. 

He gripped with all his strength and screamed. “Victor! I’m up here! Don’t stop pushing!”

“I hear you!” Victor answered. 

Without wasting another second, Victor struck forward. Five soldiers surrounding him followed suit and began to slash at the ogre’s feet. As they attacked, they each had to roll and jump out of the ogre’s speedy punches and swipes. The monster quickly lost balance, despite its best efforts, and tumbled one more step backward, to the city gates. In its struggle, the ogre stepped and squashed two small crystal beasts.

Duncan didn’t waste time. Now that he was atop the ogre, he shifted as quickly as he could to hop onto the beast’s shoulders. He took a deep breath, jumped, and landed without concern. He grabbed onto one of the ogre’s ears and then used his other hand to slash. Blood shot out as he sliced through the flesh and cartilage. He then struck again and a third time. 

“Duncan, watch out!” Victor screamed from below, just as the ogre started reaching for its ears.

There was no time to get off the shoulder. Instead, Duncan waited until the hand was close by. He then leaped in between the fingers. With another jump, he propelled himself off the ogre’s hand and toward the monster’s face. He dug his sword into the beast’s cheek.

In hindsight, Duncan figured that might not have been the right move.

Enraged, the ogre started thrashing about. It kicked and wailed its arms furiously in all directions. With one fell swoop, it took out a handful of Victor’s men. With its other hand, the ogre clawed angrily at its face, trying to get Duncan off before he could do further damage.

“Oh, no you don’t!” Victor yelled when he realized what the ogre was doing. He charged forward, alone, and began slashing with all his strength. 

That got the ogre’s attention. It roared back at the people surrounding it and then stomped a heavy foot down, destroying a building in an instant. He then reached down and grabbed Victor with a tight grip.

“No!” Duncan shrieked as he hung onto his sword, still buried in the monster’s face. 

“I… I can’t break free!” Victor yelled. His voice was shrill, filled with fear and panic. He looked over at Duncan. “Y-you have to kill this thing! Duncan! You have to kill it before it takes more lives —”

The ogre squeezed and crushed the life out of Victor with a sickening crunch. The ogre then flung Victor’s body across the streets until it crashed violently into a stone wall.