Release me? Was that all the creature thought of now? Disappointment. But now the question was, would he?

“No.”

Above the ribcage of stone that held the giant fast, the rocks of the ceiling shifted together and apart into the shape of a great skull. The stone jaws closed around the giant’s leg, ripping it free from its owner. The stone skull disappeared as the stones shifted back into their original places.

The image of Xir’ain waved the runners away, and then dissolved the blindfold from the giant’s head. The black construct said nothing, its demands unchanged. It just stood in the lightless abyss, golden eyes staring into putrefied ones, awaiting an answer. The giant still had three good limbs, but Xir’ain doubted he would be able to take all of them. For one, even a creature as big as this giant only has so much blood, and second, he could already feel Enly’air’s anxiety over having her body outside of her control rising.