Episode Eighteen - Rage Against the Night

Borkum the Battler: A Fiery Rage in the Heart of Chaos

In this pulse-pounding episode, Borkum the Battler unleashes his primal fury in an unforgettable display of heroism and chaos. As our fearless dwarf warrior, Borkum charges into the fray, axe in hand, his rage ignites a deadly dance with the hill giants that you won't want to miss. The battle unfolds in the enemy's camp, where Borkum transforms into the embodiment of chaos itself, setting fires and causing destruction that turns the tide of combat.

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Transcript

Borkum Season #2

Episode 6

I let out a primal yell and gripped my axe and charged forward into the chaos. I was going into rage mode, something I did not know was inside me. I grabbed a burning branch from the fire and ran about yelling and screaming and setting whatever I could on fire; supplies, tents, anything of the hill giants that would burn, I set it afire.  I was not intent on adding to the chaos, I was the chaos.

As the cattle rush past the palisade, I could see several giants and ogres rolling about the ground struggling to get to their feet and now in obvious pain. They had been gored and trampled in the stampede. I ran up to the first one who was attempting to get to his feet and swung my axe with all my might. 

I looked into the giant’s eyes as my axe struck his head and I saw that his eyes were blue; one blue left and one blew right. The axe sunk into his temple and I had to kick him in the chest to pull my axe back out. The giant fell backwards and lay quivering on the ground.  I reared back and out a battle cry once again.

I looked about and I could see my friends Lykxnzzl, Elaria, Hawk Tuah, Brindle were staying close together, not far from me; they were working as a team battling one giant who was fighting for his life with a club. I was proud of my team. But, this was not the time to tarry. It was time for axes and muscle. 

I could hear someone bellowing at me and I turned my head just in time to see a hill giant charging towards me. He swung his club at me, and I easily ducked under it. I returned the favor and swung my axe striking him in his exposed side. He screamed out loud and turned to hit me again. An arrow whizzed past my head and struck the giant in the chest. 

Edward, my rear guard, with his elf bow was right on target. The giant’s eyes went wide as the arrow pierced deep into his chest. He stumbled backwards and grabbed the arrow struggling to pull it free. I saw my chance and using both hands I raised my axe overhead and plunged it squarely into the giant’s chest. The giant fell to his knees, gasping for air, frothy blood gushing from his chest wound and onto me. I swung one more time and put him out of his misery. 

I looked about and saw much of the camp was now on fire. Several giants were unaware of our attack and were trying to put out the fires. A few of the giants, the ogres and the wolves, were trying to chase down and corral the fleeing cattle. But numerous members of the clan were already dead or wounded here in the camp. I ran up to several others and finished the job off. I had no mercy. I had no sympathy. I raged like never before. 

“Too the long house!” I yelled at my party who was now battling an ogre and a wolf. I was not sure if they heard me. I did not care. I was becoming reckless, rash and uncontrollable. I was covered in giant’s blood. I saw it as my armor. I could smell the iron of the hot fluid on me.  I ran forward and got to the massive door. I lifted the latch and barged in, my bloody axe at the ready.

I assumed my party of ravagers were behind me. I would learn an important lesson that night; you should never assume. I entered the log cabin and was immediately struck by the heat that rolled out.  The long house was lit by a large fire in its middle that raged brightly. Several bed rolls were spread out along the floor. 

A naked female hill giant screamed at the sight of me, gathered her clothes and ran from the long house out a back door.

“Who are you!” a voice from the end of the long house bellowed at my entry. 

I looked and saw a naked giant of immense size sitting on a wooden throne.  A large wooden maul, reinforced with iron bands, was next to his throne.  It made my axe look like a garden tool. He stared at me as if he was not surprised by an intruder. He staggered to his feet and hoisted his maul threateningly with one hand. Did I say he was big? He was huge. 

I gulped.

“I am Borkum the Battler, and me and my party of Ravagers are here to end your reign of terror.” I bellowed back in my most threatening voice.

“I see a small man. A fool of man, threatening me by himself. Runaway little man, you are annoying me this evening.” The giant reached for a large horn of ale that was on a table and gulped it down. He then tossed the horn at me and yelled out, “Let’s see what kind of man you are, little man.” The giant began stepping closer to me. Each step was the equivalent of three of mine.

I looked to my left and I looked to my right. I was by myself. Somehow my party did not follow me into the long house. This fight was my own. I swallowed hard.

“The blood on this axe and on me is your kindred blood, and soon it will be your blood,” I roared. 

I let out another primal yell, hoping to alert my friends as to where I was, and jumped forward and swung my axe. The giant was nimbler than he looked and stepped aside. My axe struck air and nothing else/

The giant turned and countered with his maul, and I barely was able to move out of the way. I could feel the wind move past my head it was so broad. I shifted and scooted to the side when the giant moved much faster than I thought possible, and he swung at me again. 

I was not fast enough. The giant clipped me with his giant maul, and I was thrown against the wall of the long house with unbelievable force. I struggled to catch my breath as the giant leaped over the fire and swung his maul at me a second time. He misjudged his aim, and the maul struck the wall above me with a thunderous impact knocking several logs loose from their foundation. I jumped up, turned, and swung my axe hitting the giant in his leg which looked like a hairy tree trunk. I could see my blade sink into his thigh and he let out a yell. 

The giant swung his left hand and caught me with a backhand that sent me stumbling backwards and I fell into the fire. I screamed in agony as the cinders burned at my skin and hair and I jumped back out trying to brush the burning cinders off of me. 

The giant closed the gap between us and swung his giant maul overhead. It was a poor move as it took him so long to wind up the strike, I was able to step aside as the maul came down. Instead of hitting me, he struck the fire and sparks and cinders went flying about the long house, smoke and ash went up into his face blinding him for a moment. I swung my axe again and hit the giant in his right shoulder. I heard a crack, like that of a broken tree limb. I think I broke a bone.

The hill giant screamed again and stumbled backwards.  His eyes were wide with rage. Or, was it pain? He stood there for several moments, taking deep breaths collecting himself. I let out another battle yell and raised my axe high and charged forward, with the intent to hit him before he hit me. But, the cursed gods I pray to abandoned me at the moment. My foot caught a bear rug, and I stumbled forward as the giant swung his maul in response to my charge. He struck me square on the side.

I cannot explain the pain of the maul striking me. My world went dark and then thousands of points of light exploded in my brain. The force of the hit was enough to lift me off my feet and send me across the room and into the wall yet again. I hit the wall with immense force and had the wind knock out of me. I lay there trying to catch my breath.  I knew if he hit me with that maul a second time I would be done. I would be crushed. There was no way I could survive another one of those hits. 

I struggled to my feet as the giant crossed over to grab me and I stumbled forward out of reach. He swung his maul again and I scooted to my right as the maul struck the floor with a crashing impact. Again, the impact of the maul caused me to stumble as the impact was so fierce I could feel the floorboards shake. I turned around, and saw the giant raise his maul over his head yet again.

In desperation, I threw my axe at him with one hand. It was not much, but maybe it would be enough. I was wrong. I saw the axe blade strike the giant right in the chest and sink in. The Giant roared out in pain. But he was not yet defeated. Not by my tiny axe. He grabbed my axe, pulled it from his chest and threw it into the fire. I was now unarmed. I had just screwed myself.

As I stood there facing the giant. I could see the chest wound oozing large amounts of blood. He was wounded. He was angered. And, he still had a lot of fight left in him. 

“You foolish little man. I will roast you alive, I will eat your flesh, and I will pick my teeth with your bones.” He let out a massive roar then charged forward with his maul raised high yet again. He was fully intent of crushing my head with one blow. And I stood there, not moving. If this was my time to die, I wanted to die facing my enemy, not cowering in fear. 

The giant was within ten feet, when I heard a whizzing go by my ear. Looking at the giant, I watched as a black arrow sank itself into the giant’s chest. Then another arrow whizzed by my head. And, then yet a third arrow in quick succession. The giant dropped his maul and stumbled backwards. Three black arrows were now sticking out of his chest. 

Those were Edward arrows! I glanced back and saw the young boy standing in the doorway breathing hard. He had arrived in just the nick of time.

I screamed my war cry again and lunged forward and grabbed the giant’s maul. I gripped it tightly and lifted it up high. It was heavy in my hands, but not unbearable. But it felt natural. I liked it. My axe now seemed like a child’s toy. This was the weapon of a warrior.  I smiled as I hoisted the maul high above my head and swung it at the giant. I hit him square on the head and watched as his gray matter scattered before me and onto me. This battle was over.

I looked about the long house and could see the fire was spreading across the long house. Stockpiles of goods, furs, and food stuff were now ablaze. Flames were climbing across the walls reaching for the roof. 

I heard a young girl yell “Edward” and turned around to see a young girl running towards Edward. She grabbed him and held him tightly. She had been hiding behind some barrels when the fight had broken out. It was Edwards sister. We had rescued her, but we were not out of danger yet. 

“Borkum, let’s get out of here!” Edward yelled.

I nodded and turned to run out when I noticed a sparkle caught my eye in the firelight. It was a satchel reflecting the firelight. It was under the hill giant’s throne. I grabbed it, threw it around my neck, and ushered Edward and his sister from the building as the flames swept high overhead. 

“Hawk Tuah,” I yelled over and over. “Hawk Tuah!”

I stood in the chaos of the hill giants encampment screaming for Hawk Tuah. Multiple fires now burned casting an orange glow across the valley. I could hear screams of agony from some of the giants who lay on the ground, too wounded to do anything. 

“Hawk Tuah!” I screamed again, fearing I had lost my friends. 

“Here we are!” I heard Hawk Tuah respond. I looked in the direction of her voice and saw Lykxnzzl, Elaria, Brindle and several other humans running towards me. These were the hostages. I was elated beyond words.

“Is everyone okay!” I yelled over the pandemonium. 

Hawk Tuah nodded. I could see her eyes grow wide as she took in my current state of affairs. “Are you okay?” She asked with concern.

“Not really, but if we do not get out of here, those wolves are going to tear us to pieces,” I screamed.

“Let’s go, I will lead,” Hawk Tuah waved her arm, and she took point, leading us back the direction we came. We reached the edge of the canyon quickly enough and then started our ascent up the canyon walls. It was a bitch. 

Our lungs screamed. Our legs burned. The maul I carried was now a massive weight now. But it was too precious for me to toss aside. Halfway up the canyon we paused to catch our breaths, Elaria passed around a glass vial holding a potion and told us each to take just a sip.  It was a portion of healing that we all desperately needed. It provided just a small amount of relief to my pain.

“Let’s keep moving,” I yelled out.  We got to the edge of the canyon about an hour later.

The party fell to the ground gasping and trying to catch their breaths. They lay there spent and beyond fatigued. The climb up the canyon was worse than I had thought. It had taken a terrible toll on the party.

I turned and looked back into the valley. The Hill Giant long house was fully engulfed in flames. Other structures were aflame. We could see the returning giants gathering to aid the wounded. Some screamed in anguish as they found their beloved friends and family. Then they found their leader with his head missing. The wolves were scrambling about picking up the scents of humans, elf, and halfling. Those scents were not there hours ago. They began baying at the setting moon. 

As I looked down, I could see a giant look up at just the wrong time. He saw me and I saw him. We made eye contact. He yelled for the other giants and started pointing at me. All the giants looked up; the wolves included. They let out a collective yell of anger and waved their clubs and hammers at me in anger.

I held the maul up high so they could see my trophy, the maul that belonged to their precious leader was now mine. I had killed him. I had taken his prize by force. I had caused this chaos. I had extracted vengeance for the farmers and the others they had killed. I let out another war cry and it echoed across the valley. 

“What the Hell are you doing,” Hawk Tuah yelled at me.