Ulfrid Hornwrangler didn't particuarly care for standing rear guard. But he had been the rear guard his whole career.

His entire company--his father’s company, to be more accurate--was currently engaged with a large orc horde. While his brothers and friends were up front, tasting battle and glory, as all dwarves should, he was stuck in the back with the other "undesirables." He held this position because he was the son of a great dwarven war hero.

His father had had such high hopes for him ... until he was born. When his mother and father saw his size, his father had written him off, and his mother had decided he would be a miner. As he aged, he began to chafe each of them. His father tried to ignore him; he trained with the other military cadets. His mother called him "her little digger"; he enlisted with the other warriors. Always he was relegated to minor roles, even after he finally hit his growth spurt--the disapproval of his father was as contagious as it was irrational--despite the fact the he had excelled at everything he put his mind to. Ulfrid did not care. Ulfrid soldiered on.

Thus, he found himself at the back of a major battle, watching the carnage through a spyglass. As he peered, he muttered to himself, "This makes no sense ..." The orcs were ruthlessly attacking a position that was so well defended that there was no chance of them taking it. They were making a huge show of it ... all eyes in the valley must be on them. Suddenly, Ulfrid's gut was gripped with fear.

"We are all watching them!" he shouted as he spun around.

He scanned the horizon, looking for the force he now knew must be coming. At first he saw nothing, then a hint of movement and a telltale plume of dust rising from the east. He focused on the slowly growing dots at the base of the dust cloud to see how much trouble they were in.

"For the love of Moradin, those are giants!" A handful of the great brutes were lumbering toward the unguarded flank.

Ulfrid turned toward the closest warrior and shouted, "Galvin, if you ever could run fast, run now! Warn my father that an attack is coming from the rear."

Ulfrid hefted his warhammer, grabbed his shield and began to trudge toward the giants. Galvin called to his retreating back. "Ulfrid! can you stop them?"

Ulfrid glanced back over his shoulder, and responded with a grim smile. "No ... but I will die trying."