We had been fools to entirely dismiss the rumours of giants settling our lands apparently. It had seemed so fantastical when the first hunters came to complain of bloody ice giants preventing them from hunting along our northern border. However, when we were quickly alerted of invaders from our northern outposts us in the aristocracy were no longer laughing about country bumpkins and their crazy superstitions.

I will admit that for a split irrational second when I first came into contact with these people I thought that I was seeing a giant, but I quickly came to the more rational conclusion that these were just probably the peoples that giant myths were inspired by long ago.

I originally had been sent north in an attempt to negotiate with these new (or possibly very old) peoples. My Crown given goal was to have their leader sign an Integration Agreement, which would be them accepting to follow the Crowns Law. This would have made their leader a part of our aristocracy.

It was a lot to ask yes, but I had done it before with the peoples of the islands in the east. Although, the island peoples were in the midst of drought and blight that affected many of their crops. The promises of solving their food crisis with proper trade as well as sharing our technology and protection looked like a fix to all their problems with little cost. Other than the ruling families pride of course, which didn't matter much to the half-starved people on the verge of revolt. However, I had nothing to offer these “giants” other than the promise not to expel them from our lands, which at best came off as a thinly veiled threat.

One glance at their settlements told me I was in trouble. Sturdy well made wooden houses that were clearly being renovated to best suit the environment and outshone anything you would see in our regular rural villages. The longhouse in the middle of the settlement had stone foundations, implying that had been here longer than we thought, and was well put together with wooden walls. It too was being renovated, in fact, they seemed to be replacing much of the walls with large stones that they hoisted up with pulley systems similar to the ones we used to make our religious monuments. Our technology was swiftly removed from my list of things I had to offer with that realization.

They had with them livestock, both cattle and fowl. The cattle were large with thick knotted fur and thick curved horns. The 15 large creatures were in no pen, instead, they seemed to be kept from straying by a man who commanded four medium-sized dogs.

The dogs almost looked delicate with their small paws; thin legs; and long, thin snout. They had long clearly brushed out white and brown fur with what looked to be beaded collars, they fussed around the cattle making little noise while still effectively herding them.

The people had clearly settled successfully and had no shortage of food. They lacked for nothing and that is what I blame my failure on. They had no incentive to sign away their power to the Crown other than a threat from it. So to say I was surprised that this had come to war would be a lie. Although, the true nature of their culture did not sink in for me until I saw them in battle formation and battle-ready.

Their army was admittedly intimidating. Their numbers equal to ours thanks to how remotely north the enemy was and the Crown not taking the threat seriously. With shields that were oddly pointed at the bottom and long spears in their front centerline. Behind the shields hundreds of more men with broadswords, short simple axes, and curved knives at their hips. These men were tall, almost giant-like, with broad shoulders; corded arms; and short unnaturally pale hair on their heads nearly entirely shaved along the sides. Their height and muscle proportions made them a formidable site.

Even more wondrous were the women (although in smaller number) who much like the men were taller than average and mostly pale of hair. Their hair was long, nearly to their hips and braided back away from their faces in rows of three that would connect into one braid travelling along their spine. Their muscle mass ranged, the visibly younger women seem to have the muscles of exotic dancers whereas it seemed the ones more used to battle had the muscle to rival our average man. The women were positioned mostly in the back behind the mainline and scattered throughout their flanks. With visibly shorter swords, 2-3 daggers at their hips, and much smaller rounded shields.

Although seemingly meant for more of a defensive or supportive role the fact that they were there at all perturbed and lowered the morale of our men. After all, there was no honour to be had from beating the weak. Even though, to my mind, these women were visibly not so.

Both sexes had black paint that ran along the underside of their eyes and then came down in straight lines along the sides of their nose, stopping just before corners of their mouths. Each person also seemed to have two coloured dots on either the middle of their forehead or their lips. The colours were red, a deep blue, a pale green, and a vivid purple. What they meant I had no idea.

Unlike the rest of the men, our commander was quite elated by the presence of the women. To him, they were the opposing armies weakness. No matter how much I tried to tell him otherwise. These people did not send the weak into battle. I couldn't understand why they had the women, for the most part, clumped together either.

Convinced that the flanks and rear would surely be the weakest points, that was where the men were ordered to attack, and so they did. It didn't take long to realize that we had been baited.

When our troops engaged their rear and flank the women were switched out with the men that had been behind the mainline and in the flanks, but they had been sure to wait until all our troops had arrived. Then the shield men worked to fully surround our troops as the women picked off any man that tried to escape their trap. They continued to switch out their troops leaving no man or woman in the fray for long. They let no man escape and seemed to have no interest in taking prisoners.

The commander sat near horrified with his military advisors, servants, and I. We were a safe distance away on horseback watching as his failures unfolded at the cost of the lives of brave men.

He made brief eye contact with me, looked again upon the battlefield, and took his reins with intent to take his leave. He spoke no words as he turned away from us. It took me a second to understand why he was leaving. If we stayed we would likely be captured, at best, or killed.

We quickly headed for the capitol to tell the rest of the aristocracy of our complete failure. Mulling over why we failed, giving us time to make excuses. Not once did I look back at the men I had helped lead to their deaths.

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This is a small scene that I came up with in my teens that I am considering revisiting and would love feedback on the concept. Or if others want to expand on this/want a concept then feel free to use this.