Matoya the Witch Appears: A missing Crystal and PIRATES?!

[Olvelsper]

"Uh. No. Let's keep running together. You can't face a giant, what with being a white mage and all. The city has some kinda defense or something, I think.  Let me check if there's anywhere marked on the map that we can lead him off towards." He checked the map.

[Zenthor]

"We're not going to be able to outrun him much longer!"  He looked back at the giant.  "What if we started circling around him, try to make him dizzy, or something?  It could buy us enough time to gain some distance, at least."

[Dracos]

According to the map:
Hey, they could lose him in the marshes to the south, or try and swing hard south east and get back into the southern moutain chain.  There were quite a few caves there so maybe they could give him the slip that way.

Dracos

[Olvelsper]

"Follow me! Quatre, try to see if you can keep our horses healthy with your magic." Craig began leading the others south east to go with the mountain/cave gambit.

[Zenthor]

"Or... not," he muttered, in reference to his suggestion being ignored.  "Even with Quatre's magic we're not going to make it!  Mana isn't infinite, and even if Quatre's mana doesn't run out, that giant's gaining on us too quickly.  All this is going to accomplish is trapping us underground with a giant and two manaless mages!"  'Course, he didn't say this loud enough for anyone to hear.  Actually, he didn't say this at all.  He was too busy panicking to spend energy on moving his mouth.

[Dracos]

They traveled south and swung east quickly, moving as fast as their faltering steeds could take them, the giant grumbling as he struggled to catch them.

They eventually arrived in the rocky lower mountain paths, a brief reprieve granted them as the ogre took longer to navigate through.  They could go up the mountain from here or cut across south and try for the caves.

Dracos

[Nephrite]

"Right! Let's just go as far as we can... I think we should keep going through these mountains, the giant is bound to get tired of chasing us at some point, right?!" He tried to be hopeful as he started working Cure spells to try and keep the horses going long enough to reach their destination.

[Olvelsper]

"We have the worst luck ever. But you have a good idea, Quatre." Craig sighed as he nodded in agreement with the white mage. "At least we're all in one piece, relatively." He continued leading them onwards to the mountain caves.

[Dracos]

It was exhausting going, but they soon managed to get ensconed in a cave, the giant slowed in his pursuit as he tried to figure out where they were, passing by the little cave they'd snuck into.

It was starting to get late though, the twilight horizon casting lovely reds across the clouds as they tended to their horses in the caverns.

Dracos

[Zenthor]

"We... actually... escaped," Zack sighed a sigh of relief.

"That's not something I want to have to do again within the near future..." he sighed before shutting up.  The thought crossed his mind:  How the hell are they going to take on these four demon general thingies if they had trouble dealing with that giant?  But, he didn't say any thing, since everyone was undoubtedly tired and didn't want to here it.

[Olvelsper]

"Let's rest. Quietly, as to not alert big ears. We'll continue in the morning back to town."

[Dracos]

And so they rested in the cold caves.  It wasn't the most comfortable place to sleep, but it was safe, and the four adventurers survived their encounter with the Giant.

As the morning sun dawned, their horses had recovered from the treacherous route they'd been forced to ride the night before.

And, for the good news, no sign of any giants could be seen from where the cave they were in.  This didn't necessarily mean they were home free, but it sure looked like it.

Dracos

[Nephrite]

"Well, I think we should get going while the going is good. What do you guys think?" Quatre said, stretching and taking another look around to make sure there wasn't anything else in the vicinity.

[Olvelsper]

"Yeah. Let's just go about it more quietly this time." Craig nodded as he finished feeding the horses, hopping on top of his and slowly riding it out.

[Zenthor]

"Yeah, it's probably best to leave now.  Our mana should be restored, and there's no reason to stay here any longer."  He climbed on his horse and followed Craig out.