The giant walked slowly forward, dragging its sword through the mud, sparks flying whenever it scraped against rock.
"You've shown courage, human, but that is all you have. That is all the fresh ones of your kind can have. Either run like the rest or face me again and die. Those are your only choices."
Argent stood up, each breath burning as his broken ribs moved within him.
Argent's mind raced, 'running isn't an option, not now, especially not after shouting that stuff to all these people. Maybe I can't win, but does that really matter?'
He took a step forward, and the giant just grinned, even more amused than before.
They traded blows, if what happened could be called that. The giant was faster, stronger, and trained. Every swing vibrated the air. Argent did everything he could to block or dodge each blow with instinct and desperation.
One blow shattered his left forearm, another cut a deep gash across his thigh. He never stopped, never lost his composure or will to fight.
Another swing came heavy and fast, Argent ducked too slowly, and it tore across his back. He dropped to one knee in the mud.
"Good try human, you fought with honor and courage." The giant swung down with one final blow.
Argent, knowing this was the end, tried the last and only thing he could; he slid through the mud behind the giant and drove the jagged piece of metal hard into the soft spot behind its knee.
The giant roared in pain and staggered, dropping to the ground.
'This is my only chance, I need to end it now,' Argent jumped up the back of the giant and drove his other weapon straight down into the giant's chest from the top of its shoulder. before falling back into the mud.
The giant let out a gasp of air before falling into the muck. Both man and giant now lay side by side, breathing ragged and heavy.
"I was wrong, you are a worthy human. Unlike the rest."
The giant struggled to reach his hand up and ripped a large fang off his necklace, easily two to three feet long.
"This is my most prized kill; now it is yours."
Before Argent could say anything to the giant, it took its last breath. Argent watched as its body dissolved into particles of blue light and drifted upwards.
'They must revive too; that is going to take getting used to. I need to stand up; if I don't, I will die here.'
Giving everything he had, Argent struggled his way to his feet and looked around. The chaos that had unfolded was now coming to an end. He had looked just in time to watch four people dragging a giant down like a pack of wolves swarming a bear.
Seven people now stood in the field, barely holding themselves upright, just like him. Each bruised and bloodied.
These weren't warriors, not yet, but they were alive, and they had all fought like they wanted to stay that way.
Before any of them could move, more thuds could be heard from the mist. This time they felt heavier, deeper, more imposing. Out walked giants who were taller, bigger, and covered in more tattoos than the ones they had fought.
"I don't have much more in me, but I am not going to stop here," Argent said as he gripped the fang he had been tossed.
The biggest giant walked right up to him slowly and without any aggression, then pointed, "The human city is that way, a few hours walk, but most of your kind when hurt that bad just end themselves, the pain and struggle too much for the weak."
'End myself? Just revive? After all this? No, not now, not ever.'
Argent pushed himself upright and as straight as he could get, one knee trembling, jaw clenched from the pain. The world blurred, and his vision wobbled.
"I will see you back here tomorrow, and you will see I won't take the easy route of the weak."
Argent turned and started walking the way the giant had pointed. As he passed each of the seven remaining people, they turned and silently joined him. No one spoke, no one needed to. Their bodies were on the verge of breaking, but their spirits were stronger than they had ever been.
What just happened on this field they all now shared. This wasn't their home, but it is where they were now, and they were going to embrace it.
As they walked away, the large giant smirked and repeated to himself, "See you back here tomorrow..."
***
The fire crackled. Each of the other seven was eating and trying to forget the pain from their wounds as Argent declared his name.
They looked at each other, understanding what this meant, and nodded.
A young girl not older than nineteen or twenty with a noble-like posture, dark hair tied back with a strip of torn linen, was the first to speak as she tilted her chin up slightly.
"Veyra," she said. The name came out like a breath of air. "It sounds free like the wind."
The young man who sat next to her, her twin, looked at her as a small, rare smile appeared across his face.
"Call me Veryn, so I can follow the wind."
He said it simply, but there was steel beneath his words. The kind that bends to no one but her.
Next was a man who looked like he hadn't had a proper meal in years. Long, unkempt blonde hair washed over his face, and metal bits of broken chain around his wrist clanked as he leaned forward to speak.
"Ferric, metal and iron are all I have known for a while; I might as well embrace it."
No one asked any questions; they all assumed this man's past, but in this world of new beginnings, it did not matter.
Besides him was a broad-shouldered man, with a swollen eye and jaw, barely able to speak through a split lip, yet managed to with a sense of pride and booming voice.
"Ward, call me Ward. I am going to be a wall to protect what I care about."
The red-haired man, who somehow still had a pair of headphones around his neck and had been silent up till now, gave a quick, dry laugh.
"Rime, seems like a cold world, might as well embrace it."
A woman sitting next to him with long white hair rolled her eyes as she tugged at a torn sleeve she had made into a makeshift sling around her arm.
"Fine then, if you are going cold, then I will be Cinder, someone's got to keep the heat in this place.
The last remaining person was a young woman who sat still, silent, and watchful of the others. The firelight reflected off her blonde hair and tired eyes. The others had turned to her, waiting.
Finally, she exhaled through her nose, almost a sigh.
"Ryn, someone used to call me that. Figure it's quick and easy to remember."
No one pressed her for more, and she didn't offer it. But in that quiet, something shifted. She didn't know it yet, but shortening her real name even a little was the first time she'd ever chosen something for herself.
They all sat silent for a moment, reflecting on the names they had chosen.
"Well, look at you lot," Mugwort said. He had been sitting silently, watching this unfold. "Names. Chosen ones. Like watching ghosts decide they'd rather be people again."
He poked the fire with a stick, sending sparks whirling upward.
"Names are funny things. Give you shape. Give the world permission to notice you. Dangerous business, being noticed."