Groz paused for breath when he reached the top of the mountain, adjusting the heft of the broadsword swinging from his leather loincloth. The sun beat down mercilessly overhead, and his tongue was swollen from thirst. He passed the back of his hand over his sweating forehead, and then drew his sword with a dull rasping sound. It was time to enter the creature's lair.

His ascent had not been easy. As he scaled a cliff face, something had smashed onto the stones less than a span from where he had been climbing. But Groz had climbed on, undaunted. His many scars attested to the many terrible monsters he had faced in single combat, but none could match the legend of this giant. Dozens of heroes, some of whom he had fought beside and seen their mettle tested, had entered this cave. None survived.

After the dry heat of the day, the dampness of the cave proved a welcome relief, but the hair on the back of Groz's broad neck prickled as he crept deeper into the dim chambers. Caverns gaped at him like yawning mouths, and the sooty light of the torch he lit danced in the glimmering crystals of the walls. Every drip from the limestone deposits made him turn, his keen senses on edge, his thin lips drawn back from his teeth. With ever opening Groz squeezed his shoulders through, he imagined where a being the size of a giant could lurk with its grisly club upraised, waiting in ambush for the unwary wanderer. He longed to quench his thirst in the dark pools, but dared not drop his guard.

Finally, he could bear it no more. "Come out, giant! Face me! I am not afraid!" His bull-like bellow echoed deep in the mountain. For a moment, the sheer size of the structures stretching deep into the rock dizzied the experienced warrior. Who could tell what other strange beasts lurked within those halls, never seen by the light of the sun?

Vibrations in the rock made pebbles dance in the mud. Groz tightened his grip on his sword and shifted his feet into a fighting stance. The trembling in the ground turned to a shake. The light of his torch revealed the shaggy locks, then the shoulders, and finally the towering form of a giant who had to stoop even in the tremendous cave. Groz took an involuntary step back, raising his torch in an instinctive movement to ward off the rush of the monster.

As the torch caught his eyes, the giant recoiled before it, and Groz rushed forward, sword raised to strike. But, sprint though he might, he did not reach close enough for the killing blow. With every step, the giant seemed to grow bigger, and he saw he had misjudged both his enemy's size and distance in the flickering torchlight.

"Hey, friend," shouted the giant, and fingers of stone shook from the ceiling and crashed around Groz at the mighty bellow of the creature's voice. "Could you put the torch out? My eyes are very sensitive right now."

Groz lowered the torch. His chest swelled with fury and his heartbeat thundered in his ears. "Do you mock me, beast? Have you dwelt in darkness so long that your eyes are unused to the light?" He watched every movement closely, waiting for the telltale sign of the killing blow.

"No, I think I just went a little too hard last night. We broke in a few casks of mead, and things got a little... well," the giant's laugh filled the cavern, "let's just say some of us ended up wearing different pants in the morning. "

"Stop trying to confuse me with your strange speech!" The tip of Groz's sword wavered. "Come closer, so I can strike you!"

The dragon seemed to be talking to himself. "I think at some point there was naked dragon racing. But was that before or after we put on rings of invisibility and did a panty raid on the convent? Note to self: cross off shenanigan list. Nuns aren't big on underwear." He crouched down, so he could look into Groz's face. "Wait... you look familiar. Is your name Ross?"

"It is Groz, of Valochia, and I have slain--"

"Groz! Of course. Yria the Weasel told me all about you. She said you could drink more wine than ten normal men and still fight a battle in the morning."

The mention of his former companion made Groz see red. He crouched for one monumental spring, ready to put all of his strength into one strike at the giant's vitals. He knew he would have little chance to strike a second time. "I know she came to slay you five moons ago. So, Yria told you of me before you killed her. No doubt she made a final threat with her last breath that she would be avenged!"

The giant shook his head. "She told me that, like, five minutes ago, when she saw you coming up the mountain. We were all watching from a cliff up there. Mornoth, Crusher of Skulls, tried to throw you a cask. We told him it wouldn't be a good idea. Admittedly, after he threw it."

"Mornoth lives as well?" Groz lifted his torch and peered into the darkness. "If this is some trick to make me lower my guard...."

"They're all fine. They're on their way, but you know how it is when you have longer legs. I thought I'd bring you something to wet your throat." The giant took a corked horn from his belt and lowered it between two huge fingers. The horn, which must have belonged to a dire ox, looked like a glinting white pebble between his fingers.

Groz gazed at the horn. Something that size would be almost enough to set even a man his size on his rear. Still, images of the giant's hand smashing down onto him the moment he lowered his guard flashed through his mind. "I'm warning you, monster...."

The giant uncorked the horn. For the thirsty warrior, the scent of cold ale was like a balm to a fearsome wound. "Just take one sip..... Here, just tilt your head back. You don't even have to put your sword down."

"Well... one sip...."

§

No one was really sure how much later, Groz dangled upside-down, his legs held by one of history's greatest heroes, while the timbers of the mead hall on the mountaintop shook with the chant: "Groz! Groz! Groz!" and Groz wailed a sweet solo on an enchanted lute. When Groz reached fever pitch, One-Eyed Lugg the Ravager of Worlds clacked his sticks together loudly, slammed them down on the drums, and the party really got started.