Aid

              The stalwart knight quickly rolled out of the way as two gargantuan masses of vines, branches and bare earth came crashing down upon him.  The creature they belonged to was comprised of little else, and it used these appendages as arms.

            In frustration, the monster grew to its full height and threw back its head, as if to roar.  Instead of noise, however, the earth underneath it shook.  The young knight had been dodging the giant’s attacks for some time now, but this new development caught him off guard.  He fell on his face, still clutching his sword, and as he looked up at the beast before him he was finally able to see it in all of its horror. 

             It stood ten feet tall; a giant borne of the earth with a torso as wide as a tree trunk and legs that did not end in feet, but instead were grown out from the ground.  The tangle of vines and foliage that made it up did not fully cover its innards, and deep within the chest and eye sockets there glowed a fiery ember.

            The creature threw an arm out at the young warrior in attack.  It was a sloppy move, clearly borne of frustration.  The young man thanked the gods that this monster was capable of making such a mistake.  He easily dodged to the left, bringing down Taranis upon the appendage slicing clean through it and severing it from the body of the beast.  It was no matter though.  The swordsman had hacked and slashed furiously at the creature since the battle began, but every time he severed something the giant would grow another.  The effort was starting to tire him, and he realized he had to find a way to defeat this thing soon or the monster would easily outlast his stamina. 

              “Havin a hard time, are ya,” the voice came from somewhere above the battle.  The young warrior looked up to see the dwarf, sitting in the branches of a massive tree directly behind the creature.  Thick vines hung from all over it and in varying lengths.

            The beast paused for another earth-shaking roar.  The young knight was prepared for the effect this time and grabbed onto a nearby tree for support.  The arm he’d cut off was beginning to grow back.  It wouldn’t be long before the monster was on the offensive again. 

             “Do you intend to help me?” the warrior asked hurriedly of the dwarf in the tree.  He suspected the answer, but he was taught to never take anything for granted.

            “I only ‘elp those who ‘elp themselves, boy.  It’s the way of my people,” the dwarf said the words lightly, but quickly.  It seemed he understood that there wasn’t any time for delay, even if he gave a roundabout answer. 
             But it wasn’t an answer that took the young knight by surprise.  He knew what the dwarf meant.  The gods never gave anything without effort on the part of humans.  Whether it was through sacrifices or a lifetime of toil, the gods bartered their favor to the highest bidder depending on what they valued.  Some valued physical strength, others valued prowess in battle, and others prized the mind.  In the past few years, the knight had encountered the dwarf many times, and even spent some significant time with him.  Even with all their past experiences, however, the knight could never really say that he knew the dwarf.  The god was a shapeshifter, and generally his mood was known to change along with his shape.  One thing that seemed to stay consistent, however, was the god’s love of information; specifically giving it.  The knight thought he may have figured out a way to get some help out of the god.