Grey sat before the lows flames of of his camp fire, his old, worn traveling cloak pulled tightly over his body. He huddled closer to the dying flames; his gaze turned to his side looking at the small bundle of branches he had collected earlier. He carefully reached his hand out and grabbed a particularly long branch and cracked it in half, and then again into fourths. He threw wood into the fire and grabbed a long stick he had set to the side to prod the fire. He wished he could add more, just a little more to help warm him. He spent the entire day walking, stopping only to collect wood for the fire and to try to hunt; Grey ran out of his food supply a couple days ago and had been forced to try to find other means of survival. He had lived in the city for so many years that he had almost forgotten the hunting lessons he had learned in his youth. He was rusty and well out of practice, but not all of the lessons were forgotten. He managed to successfully catch a rabbit while looking for wood; it was small, but after a day without food he had been more than happy to have something to eat. After days of hunger and endless travel, Grey wanted nothing more than to add wood to the fire and allow the flames to grow. He needed it, just a single warm night, to sleep in peace without the tossing and turning that the cold had incessantly brought to him. Grey wanted to give in to these small temptations, but he couldn’t; not here, not now. He had survived in this world by being cautious; he couldn’t break that trend now, especially not where he currently was. The fire he had was large enough for him to cook the rabbit he caught and to help keep him warm enough so that he could at least find some sleep, nothing more.

        Grey looked up into the star-covered sky, as clouds slowly passed over the crescent moon, shrouding the world in darkness. “How did I end up out here?” Grey asked the stars, which remained silent like they must have been for hundreds of other quizzitive souls before him. That was fine though, Grey wasn’t looking for an answer; he knew why he was here. He had brought himself here. In a way, this was his punishment; a consequence for all the things he had done in his life, all the people he had hurt, cheated and lied to. He knew that if he died out here no one would care or even notice. After all, what is a thief but a rat needing to be exterminated.

        It had been four months since it all began. Grey was living in a small, rundown inn at the corner of Piss Water alley and Rock Bottom street--those weren’t their actual names, but Grey was oddly fond of them anyway. They suited the neighborhood well. Grey had found himself living in the city since the age of twelve. For years, he had lived on the streets begging for money, stealing food for survival and fighting against all the other unfortunate children that found themselves unlucky enough to be living in the streets. Since he was older than many of the kids at the time, he often found himself left alone; nevertheless, he would find himself in fights every now and again over food, money, or any other stupid disputes that arose. He once awoke one night to find a kid he had previously gotten into a fight with standing over him with a knife. The kid stood over him hesitantly when he awoke, obviously unsure whether to go through with the act. Grey managed to get up in time to grab the knife from him; he walked away with a cut on his upper arm, and the kid walked away with a black eye and broken nose. Grey kept the knife, and since then he had always made sure he had a weapon on him at all times.

        After a few years Grey eventually found a knack for finding himself in places he shouldn’t necessarily be, as well as being in possession of things that weren’t necessarily his. At first it began small, taking small things from here or there, something just to earn him a bit of coin to maybe pay for a meal or a night off the streets if he was lucky. Then the allure of potential profit had him search for new ways to make an income. He soon learned plenty of beneficial tricks on the likes of Piss Water alley, and other just as respectable and crudely named places. He learned ways to break into buildings, what kind of people were willing to buy “lost” goods. He even eventually started learning that theft could be achieved in a multitude of ways. He broke into homes or businesses, he learned how to steal things right off a person, he learned how to cheat during games, and most importantly he learned the greatest skill of them all. The skill of Misdirection. Grey figured out fairly quickly that it was easy to take things if a person’s mind was on something else. Thus Grey also became proficient at talking and learning how to read and direct conversations in the direction he want them to. He could charm a miser from his gold watch or a king from his throne. Figuratively of course, Grey had never even attempted such feats, besides it would probably had been easier to just get the miser drunk and then slip the watch off his wrist when he gotten his attention turned towards curvaceous tavern wench or something.

        Grey had also become associated with quite a few questionable people in his time. As his tendency to take things grew in both quality and quantity his reputation to said people began to grow. Money launders, gangs and illegal guilds, corrupt law enforcers. The whole works. Eventually Grey found himself living a semi-comfortable life in a inn room he rented, rent was cheap enough that he could afford it, but frequent enough that he couldn’t find himself too comfortable with his life, this is when Grey truly found himself in trouble.

        Grey was running low on rent for the month and on top of that he was struggling to find a job that would pay him sufficiently enough for it. Grey approached the person he had always tried his best to avoid. A man named “Smiling Jack”. A cute little nickname Jack picked out for himself. He lived up to it, at least on the surface. He walked around town always wearing a smile, and cheerful disposition. But everyone who was anyone knew it was all just a facade. Jack was one of the largest money launders in the city, and also known to be the most brutal. Grey had done a handful of jobs for Jack in the past, but they were always on his terms and discretion. This time Grey was going because he needed Jack and not the otherway around. Jack had welcomed him in with his normal jovial manner, poured them each a drink, sat him down and began the typical formalities of selling one's life to a psychopath. After Grey explained the situation Jack comforted him, promised to solve all his problems, and in return he just needed a simple job done in return. In a couple of weeks there was a priceless gem that was being transported into the city that Jack was rather keen on, “obtaining.” Grey accepted the deal, Jack patted him on the back, said something about old friends, and politely kicked him out of his office.

        Grey waited for the day to come, Jack sent him all information on where the gem would be located. Grey had to travel to a richer part of town for this job. The gem was being transported to a high end jeweler’s shop where it would be displayed and sold. Grey figured it wouldn’t be too different from any other break in he had done, hell he might as well make his own profit while he was there. Grey confidence however was horribly misplaced. Due to the upscale occupants in this particular part of the city, everyone easily spotted him out by his lower downtrodden appearance. He tried to get information out of the locals but his charm failed once people took a single glance at him. He even tried to enter the building during the day to map out possible ways to break in. He was quickly kicked out and the owners threatened to call the guards if he came back. Once night fell Grey thought he would have an easier time with this job, but much like the day Grey found himself playing a whole new game with an entirely different set of rules. Grey found picking the locks to be almost impossible, he found luck with a second story window he managed to find a way to clamber up to. Once inside he found himself with even more problems, he had no idea where the gem he was looking for was located, and he found the building actively guarded, and these weren’t the drunk, tired late night guards he was used to dealing with. Grey was discovered inside the building before he could even find the gem narrowly managing to escape the building without being caught, but in foresight he had gained; sitting in front of the smoldering embers he called a fire, it might have been a better to let it end there.

        Word spread quickly of the break-in at the jewelry shop, and Grey barely managed to plan his next move before he was cornered by Jack’s men. Grey was trying to make it back to his room at the inn when he was caught and forced back into Jack’s office by two of his strongest hired muscles. Jack awaited him smiling his wicked smile, with a great amount of apathetic disappointment in his eyes. Jack offered Grey a seat; to which he was forced into, and then offered him a drink; to which Jack filled his own cup and put the guest cup away before Grey could answer, not that he would have taken the drink in the first place. Jack left the bottle on the table, Grey had noticed. He could feel Jack’s goons standing behind him on either side. As Grey took in the situation he began to formulate a plan. Jack began to express his disappointment in his “friend”, going on and on about how they had an arrangement and how Grey couldn’t even manage to meet his end of the bargain. In his mind Grey was telling Jack to go to all sorts of colorful places, but Grey choose to remain silent and play this out. Grey began to ask questions, small and simple ones. Grey knew they had to be simple enough for Jack to humor, and they had to be asked at the right time, say something too daring or at the wrong time and Jack’s goons would have shut him up. Eventually the conversation took a turn to the terms of his punishment, Jack remained vague, but the circumstances remained clear, they would either kill him or make him wish that they had. Grey heard one of the goons behind him let out a low laugh, and with that Grey had his window. Before the laugh had even ended Grey’s arm shot out and his fingers clasped around the neck of the bottle, and with one swift movement, the bottle crashed across Jack’s face. With that Grey had successfully accomplished one of the most dangerous feats he had ever done in his life. With that “Smiling Jack” had stopped smiling.

        Before the two goons could register what happened Grey stood jabbing the goon on his left with the neck of the bottle. Grey caught him in his right shoulder blade and the man stumbled back in pain. Grey could feel the other man move preparing to grab him, and as he brought his arm back Grey thrusted his elbow back  into the man's meaty face breaking his nose. Or at least that’s what he hoped he did, the man's thick face in reality probably caused more harm to his elbow then the man's actual nose. Grey didn’t want to stick around to admire his work. He knew the two men stood in the way of the door, Greys eyes locked onto a window on the side of the room, he ran forward throwing his arms in front of his face and jumping full force into the window. It shattered as Grey rolled into the open streets, covered in shards of glass and blood. He didn’t have the convenience to stop and register the pain. Grey ran. He ran out of the slummy district from which he made his living, he ran until he legs carried him out of the city from which he lived in for eight years, and he ran until eventually his legs gave out.

        Now that Grey had found himself safely away from the city he made his way to the next closest city he could think of. Once there he found himself broke, and with no way to support himself. However this was a fresh town, with people that didn’t know him, and places he’s never stole from before. Everything seemed ripe for the picking. He easily managed to make up a meager living by stealing and cheating. His income wasn’t as stable as it was in the last city, but it was enough to keep money in his pocket even if he had to resort to sleeping on the streets again every so often. It was only took a couple week however until Jack’s men had come into town looking for him. Apparently smashing a glass bottle into the homicidal criminal's face had earned him the highest possible spot on Jack’s shit list. Grey didn’t stick around long enough for Jack’s men to find him, he soon left the city and headed out to another. However, Jack’s men didn’t let up, they followed him from city to city, town to town, and village to village, wherever it was Grey could hide. Grey found himself being pushed closer and closer into “Their” territory. And as he got closer there became less and less places to run too. Grey realized this but even still he couldn’t stop moving ahead, knowing that all the places behind him had Jack and his goons waiting. Grey eventually found himself in a small village. He had no place left to run too, there were no more villages ahead, and he knew why, no one wanted to be caught by the natives of the lands that lay before him. The people that lived in this village and the other handful of villages even remotely close by must have been crazy as is. Grey was at the end of his rope and he knew this. He was almost broke, and out of options. While sitting in a tavern Grey overheard a group of people talking about a place not to far away from the village. There were said to be jewels and gold that could make a peasant as rich as a king and food that could fuel an entire village for centuries. The people of the village dismissed the thought of even attempting to travel there, not daring to wish enter the dangerous lands that lie ahead, but more importantly they feared of the owner of said treasure. Grey sat at the tavern, considering his options. Feeling he had no other choices left for him, knowing Jack’s goons would be arriving at any day, Grey decided his fate. He spent what was left of his money on supplies for the travel. His worn traveling boots and cloak, a traveling pack filled with food, a water skin, armed with a small hunting bow, a handful of arrows, and a small hunting knife, Grey took his first steps into Giant Territory.

        Grey watched his fire, he grabbed some more branches and added them in, poking the fire to keep it alight. Grey knew this was suicide, the chances of him returning alive were slim. He knew giants were ruthless creatures, he knew first hand. It was a giant that forced him to live in the city and struggle to survive. He had been seven when it happened but he still remembered that day as if it were yesterday.

        People were screaming all around him, the cracking of wood and breaking of stone as homes were destroyed. He remember it’s large destructive form, the giant had looked just like a human, except in the light of the situation it seemed like a large terrifying creature that seemed to eclipse the sun itself in it’s sheer monstrous size. The giant destroyed all the buildings of the village ripping people out of theirs homes and devouring them. Grey was hiding with his parents in their home when the gigantic hand broke through the roof and grabbed them, the rest of the building collapsed and everything went black. When Grey awoke it was night and a dead silence hung in the air. Grey managed to crawl his way out of the rubble that was formerly his home and struggled to find someone. Not a soul was left in this desolate place, only the destroyed stone and wood, remnants of the villages former buildings remained. At first Grey was afraid, thinking the giant might still be lurking about, but soon the silence reassured him he was alone. Grey called out into the night, crying for help, for anyone to hear him, crying for his parents to come and find him. Silence was his only answer.

        The dreams of that night had plagued Grey constantly since his decision to come out into these lands. Grey threw his poking stick to the side. He stood up and began to walk away from his makeshift camp. He walked past the trees and bushes and even in the night he could see the clearing of the forest before him. He knew things looked grim for him but he had to try. He might never be able to pay Jack back after what he had done to him, but with enough money he could at least pay for protection. He could pay for a home, maybe actually start a life not soaked in crime and thievery. Grey stepped out past the tree line and looked ahead into the open fields and hills that came past the forest. In the distance he could vaguely make out the outline of a extremely large building, it was more than just house, it was a large home made of stone, almost resembling a castle, except far smaller, at least in in comparison to what probably lived inside. He could easily see the lights from inside the building. A sign that the massive building was indeed occupied. Grey watched the light for a while, until eventually he saw it go out. Grey took in a deep breath and turned around to return to his fire. Tomorrow. Tomorrow he would have to face probably the truly most dangerous act of his life, smashing a bottle across Jack’s face while being surrounded by the king's royal army would have been less stressful than this. At least Grey could be assured he would just be impaled in a million different ways. With this giant he didn’t know what would happen. The images of the hand breaking through his roof and grabbing his parents ran through his head. Grey looked up into the sky.

        “I wonder what you guys must be thinking right now? Looking down at me for what I have become and where I have lead myself.” Grey said to the stars once more. Once again they responded with silence.

        Grey returned to his campsite and sat down next to the fire. He put the last of his kindling including fire poker in the dim embers. He laid down next to the fire.

        “Long day tomorrow, better get some rest. I won’t be getting much tomorrow night.” Grey closed his eyes, drifting once more into a night of fleeting sleep.

        The sun had almost fully set when Grey reached the base of the building. He had made better time than he would have thought. He stood before the large wooden door and looked up. From a distance he could tell that this place must have been massive but he didn’t realize just how massive until he stood before it. The last time Grey saw a giant he was a child and over the years he just assumed his memories of their size was just how he perceived them as a child, but standing by this door he realized just how large the giant that lived inside must be. A jolt of fear ran through him at this realization. Grey knew stealing from a giant would be difficult, but now that he was here the reality of it began to set in.

        Grey looked back to see the sun had almost completely set but decided it would be best to wait until nightfall. Better to hide himself under the cover of night, or so he thought. He checked his equipment. He had run out of arrows on his travel over here, using up what little he had when hunting the rabbit from the previous night. All he had left was his hunting knife and his traveling pack. He didn’t even know how he would be able to take any of the treasure he found back with him. Not to mention the food he needed for the journey home.

        “Of course.” Grey whispered to himself. “Traveled all this way with no plan on how to bring any of the treasure back.”

        Grey looked at his knife. If he found some cloth or any other type of fabric he could maybe fashion a simple bag to help carry back any of the loot he found.

He shook his head. “Let’s survive this first, then make a plans for the trip back.”

        As Grey watched the last rays of sun set in the distance he went to work. He walked over to the corner of the front door and dropped to his stomach. It was a tight fit but there was enough of a gap between the door and the ground he figured he could squeeze through. As he crawled and pushed his way underneath he was happy for once for all the starvation he was forced to endure through in his life. Without it there was a good chance he wouldn’t have been thin enough to be able to slip underneath the door. A smirk spread across his face as he imagined one of Jack’s brawly goons trying to pull off the same feat.

        Once on the other side Grey quickly got to his feet and ran to the edge of the wall. Grey quickly took in his surroundings, the room he had entered seemed to be separate into two individual areas. The first most prominent area had a center table with couple of chairs surrounding it. On the table was a single candle that emitted light from the center of the room. On the walls were shelves filled with books, a couple of plants and even a large hung landscape painting. If it had been smaller Grey would have been more than happy to try to take it. It would have sold fairly well for such a fine work. There were also four closed doors on the right, light streaming from cracks of one of them. On the left there was a large counter with cupboards and other cooking appliances hanging from different areas of the wall as well as a stone oven at the end. There was also a door that lead to what Grey would assume to be a cold room. Grey also spotted a small single table in this area with a single wooden chair seated next to it. The furnishment of this building was a lot more advanced than he expected to find. With a red carpet and drapes over the windows, and candles hanging on the walls to help illuminate the room. But best of all the owner of the home wasn’t anywhere in sight.

        Despite the candles Grey felt there were plenty of places for him to hide. He had broken into plenty of the homes and buildings over the years and at his current size he could spot plenty of large open areas he could easily move through and remain undetected in. Forgetting the situation he was in for a moment, Grey felt like this whole endeavor would be easier than he first perceived it would be. Grey took a slow and carefully placed step forward. He stopped. He could only imagine how stupid he must have looked. Because of course tip toeing across a gigantic plain sized floor was going to be the most effective method of moving around, especially with the almost untraceable amount of noise his body would make. He had to be careful, he knew that, he especially knew what was at stake if he was caught, but he couldn’t treat this like one of his usual break ins. He needed to be quiet, but he also needed to be quick. His small stature worked to his advantage, but traversing this home would prove to be the difficult part. His eyes first darted from left and then right. He knew that the treasure hidden here had to be in one of the four rooms to his right. However on the left was the kitchen. Grey couldn’t deny that he was hungry, and his travel back would require a good deal of food if he was going to have a chance of making the trip back. Grey stood and contemplated his options. The night had only just begun, if he went for the treasure now he would run more of a risk of running into the giant. On the other hand he should probably wait to take food until the end of the night before he made his departure. As he stood contemplating a low growl in his stomach made the decision for him. Grey looked back and forth once more and then ran towards the kitchen counter, dashing from shadow to shadow as he went.

        Grey approached the large wooden counter from the floor. The climb was going to prove difficult. There were enough dents and cuts in the wood from the drawers that he could manage to find ample footing as he climbed up, it was going to be tricky and he would need to watch his step but he knew he could make it. Grey thought to himself of his empty bow. If he just had some arrows he could maybe attach some rope to the end and then anchor it at the top of the counter he could climb up and... Grey stood baffled at himself for a moment, and how that must have been one of the stupidest ideas he had ever had. Deciding that he had wasted enough time. Grey carefully put his hands into the crevices of the wood and with skilled hands and careful footing he began his climb up.

        Grey pulled himself onto the countertop falling forward and rolling onto his back. He took a few moments to lie there taking in large heavy breaths of air. Grey was no stranger to climbing. He had to climb to the roof of buildings and over walls when the situation require it, but he had never had to climb as long as he had just done a moment ago. Sweating and panting he felt the muscles in his arms ache from the prolonged climb. He knew this wasn’t the first time he would need to make a climb like that. He sat up and took a sip from his water skin, thankful that he decided to get something to eat first, he found he would need the energy for what was to come.

        Looking across the counter Grey saw a multitude of closed jars, as well as a sink at the end of the counter. There was also a basket of fruit and a plate of bread. To Grey who had lived a life where food was scarce; and especially having been out of food for the past couple of days, seeing the giant assortment of food before him made him feel as if he had finally found paradise. Grey ran across the counter looking at the banquet he had discovered. He spotted what looked to be a bowl of nuts next to a large honey pot. His mouth began to water, ever since he ran away from the city he had not had a chance to have anything even remotely sweet. Grey looked around carefully to reconfirm that he was alone. Part of him told him not too, told him he should just stick to something simple. He wanted to listen to that intuition but another part of him urged him on. Come on, after the shit you’ve been through you deserve this.

        It urged him like seeing an oblivious noblewoman with a golden gem encrusted necklace would urge him to remove the accessory from her neck, it was absolutely irresistible. Grey ran over to where the jar was located and saw a small bowl filled with roasted nuts that oddly resembled almonds except much larger. Grey reached into the bowel which stood up to his chest. Reaching down with both his hands he pulled out an almond that was about half his size and marveled at its size. He cautiously carried it over and set it down besides the honey pot. It was a short and fat pot that had a honey dipper sticking out of the top. Grey drew his hunting knife and cut off a small piece of the almond sheathed the knife and clambered up one of nearby jars. He reached out and pulled on the dipper causing the lid to open slightly. Carefully he stepped over onto the edge of the pot using the dipper to maintain his balance. He pushed the lid slightly off to the side, far enough to have a nice opening but not enough to have it fall and make any noise. Grey was happy that the honey was thick, it kept the dipper steady so he could use it to balance himself as he began to lower himself down to dip his chunk of almond into the sweet golden substance below him. Bringing it out again he took a bite. The overwhelming sweetness hit him immediately. He happily took another bite taking time to enjoy his meal for the first time in months. The taste of the honey brought with it a strong desire for a nice warm mug of mead. Grey sat on the edge of the pot his legs hanging outside the jar. He ate with a content smile. He imagined himself sitting at a tavern with the fresh mug he desired at the moment. People sitting around him in awe as drank his drink and shared his story. A well trained mercenary standing attentive by his side. Women staring in awe as he flashed gems and gold for their attention; and maybe something else. Finally free from hardship and rewarded for his brave endeavor. As he sat on the edge of the jar the sudden sound of a door opening caught him by surprise him, causing Grey to jolt and fall backward into the jar.

        “Shit. Shit. Shit. Shit. Shit. Shit.” Was all Grey could frantically repeat. He just had to do this didn’t he? He told himself he had to be careful but he didn’t listen. He knew this was a bad idea but he just did it anyway. And now he was stuck.

        The thickness of the honey restricted his movement. Grey slowly felt himself sinking backward, and tried to get himself to stand upright. Getting himself to sit forward seemed almost as hard of a task as climbing the counter. He finally managed to find himself in an upright position and now he needed to make a plan. He could hear loud footsteps from outside the jar. Grey took a deep breath. The dipper was still sticking out in front of him. All he had to do was wait for the giant to leave and he could climb out. Find his way to the sink wash off and all would be fine. Everything is fine.

        “What is the jar doing open?” A large feminine voice echoed from outside the jar.

        Grey began to cursed to himself going on about how his luck was the equivalent of… he paused. He had just heard a feminine voice. The giant that lived here was a woman!? Grey had never considered that this could be the case. The giant that had attacked his village was male and every time he heard stories about giants they were always described as large brutish men. He knew that female giants must have to exist but it never crossed his mind that this particular giant could be one. Grey shook his head. It didn’t matter if the giant was male or female, dead was dead and regardless of the giant’s gender if he was caught by them that's exactly what he would be. He just had to stay calm and not move. If she put the lid on the jar he would be safe, stay hidden, sneak out, wash off, and he would be free to take the treasure and leave. Grey heard the steps get closer and looked up as a large slender hand reached over and grabbed the lid sliding it back into place over the pot. Grey let out a small sigh of relief.

        “Oh, well. I guess I’ll have some honey with my snack then.”

        Grey never worshipped a God. He never prayed, or went to church, never felt the need to try to contact with them. But at this particular moment Grey found himself with quite a few choice words that he wished to share with them.

        Grey’s heart began to race. After a couple moments of silence he heard a chopping sound nearby. Grey’s face paled as he listened to the sound that he instinctively knew must have been a knife, images of him laying on a cutting board watching a knife descend above him filled his mind. Grey needed to think of something. He had to find a way out of this situation. There had to be somewhere to hide, somewhere to go, he couldn’t be caught, not here, not like this. He wasn’t going to end up like his parents, he needed to escape. He frantically looked around the jar, only a small amount of light peeked in from where the honey dipper was. Grey looked at the dipper. That was it. The giant was busy preparing something else, if he climbed the dipper he could escape. He didn’t care if she would find him while escaping, it beat being stuck in the jar. Grey began to make his way towards the dipper when he felt the jar shift and felt it being lifted into the air.  And with that all of his hopes were dashed.

        The shaking of the jar stopped as Grey felt it being set on a surface. Grey looked around frantically. There had to be something he could do. The lid opened and the large hand Grey had gotten a glimpse of earlier had now grabbed onto the end of the honey dipper. Honey right next to Grey was scooped up and brought out of the jar. As the dipper returned to the jar Grey desperately tried to move frantically trying to avoid it, but his efforts were in vain. Grey felt himself sticking to a glob of honey as it was scooped out of the pot, light blinded him as he finally got a proper look of his captor. He looked at her in absolute awe, she was a large slender woman with fair skin and short raven black hair, which seemed to glisten as if it were recently wet. Grey couldn’t help but stare at her and for half a moment he had to admit to himself that the woman in before him was rather attractive. It didn’t take long for the reality of the situation come crashing back down however. Grey looked around and saw the dipper descend onto an apple slice waiting below, wiping the honey as well as himself onto it. She continued her work of spreading honey on several different slices. Humming gently as she did so. Grey couldn’t believe she hadn’t noticed him yet. He looked up at her face, her deep blue eyes showed that her mind was elsewhere as she did the task of preparing her snack.

        “Great.” Grey thought to himself. “For all the years I spent learning how to remain undetected and I end up being caught by the most oblivious giant in existence.”

        Grey thought that he could still get out of his current predicament, if he could somehow manage to get himself off this apple slice, then maybe he could still get away unnoticed. She obviously wasn’t paying attention to what she was doing. And even if she did see him, could it be much worse than the situation he already found himself in. As the plan began to take shape in his mind, a giant hand came down and grabbed one of the slices next to him. Grey watched in paralyzed horror as the apple slice was brought up to her mouth and chewed apart. Grey knew he had to escape, now! Grey began to struggle as the hand came down to grab another slice. Grey looked up at the giant as he struggled to free himself. She sat leaning her head on her free hand; staring off into the distance as she carelessly placed another slice into her mouth, chewing the slice for a couple moments before swallowing. Grey shivered knowing if he didn’t get free soon he would end up just like the slices. The honey put up more resistance than he first thought it would, but he could slowly feel himself making progress, he could do it, he could escape, he just needed a little more time. The hand came down again, this time closer than before, he saw it bring the slice up to her lips as they parted. He shut his eyes, the screams from that fateful day came back to him. The screams of people being eaten alive. Grey finally pulled one of his arms free, he slowly began lifting his body forward, all he had to do now was roll off the slice and he would be home free. Just then he felt a jolt and opened his eyes to find slender fingers wrap around the apple slice he was on. God truly must have hated him.

        Grey felt himself being lifted up, time seemed to slow and his heart raced. As he rose he looked directly at the face of the giant before him. He couldn’t help but admired her face for a moment, noting how she was fairly attractive woman, but the face was now larger and quickly approaching. It didn’t take long for her face to shift from attractive to terrifying as he approached. He watched as her lips slowly began to part as he was brought closer and closer to her awaiting maw, her tongue readying itself for his arrival. Her pearly white teeth waiting to crush his body and rend bones from flesh. And then past it all her throat, a dark drop into darkness that terrified him more than the rest. He wondered if his parents experienced this same fear when they met their fate. Fear was all Grey knew now, there was nothing he could do about it, nothing at all. Except… One thought crossed his mind, part of him told him just to accept his fate. But he knew there was still a chance for survival. Her warm moist breath washed over him as the slice began to pass her lips. It was now or never. He had to try it.

        “WAIT! DON’T BITE DOWN!” He forced himself to scream, louder then he felt he ever could have.

        Grey shut his eyes and brought up his arms, awaiting for her mouth to shut on him. But it didn’t. He felt the slice slowly being pulled backwards and then up as he found himself and the apple slice brought up to her eyes. Grey found himself staring into the largest most spectacular set of blue eyes he had ever seen in his life. Her eyes closed, her eyelashes fluttering slightly and when they opened they narrowed slightly almost in a seductive manner, she moved the slice away from her face revealing a smile.

        “Well now, what do we have here?” She said, in a playful tone. She plucked Grey off of the apple slice and slid it into her mouth, definitely with a lot more show than any of the others Grey had previously watched her devour. That wasn’t a good sign.

        She opened up her hand and placed Grey in the center of her palm. Resting her chin back on her free hand, she watched him, her eyes filled with a dangerous curiosity. Grey stood up, trying to save himself some small amount of dignity, which was difficult while still covered in honey.

        “Well this certainly is unexpected, it’s not every day that a human finds their way into my nightly snack. Not that I’m complaining mind you.” The giant said, her breath washing over Grey as she spoke.

        There was a dangerous look in her eyes as she spoke. Grey knew while he had managed to escape being eaten at the moment, he hadn’t fully escaped that fate just yet. He had to find some way to escape. He was talking to her now, and this was good, because if there was one thing Grey knew he could do it was talk himself out of a bad situation.

        “Yeah, well you know. Not a typical experience for me as well.” Grey said, swallowing his fear.

        “Oh, I’m sure.” The giant said, humoring him. “So, what brings you to my home? Oh and so late at night too. Are you lost little human?”

        “Yes, I am lost. I happened to stumble upon your home and well… saw you had plenty of food and figured...” Grey began.

        “You’d steal from me.” The giant continued. A hint of amusement in her voice.

        The giant watched Grey carefully, he was frozen up. The conversation took a turn he didn’t want it to go. How was he supposed to respond. He was trying to steal food a second ago, the whole reason he was here was to steal treasure from her. He couldn’t admit any of that, among humans a captured thief meant death, and he didn’t expect that to be any different with a giant. She looked at him awaiting an answer. Grey knew he had to say something and fast. But what.

“Your home is so lovely. How long have you lived here?” Grey managed to say. She cocked an eyebrow at him. Smooth.

        “I’m going to take that as a yes.” She said. Grey felt his blood chill.

        All the years of being able to trick and lie to people with his supposed “Silver Tongue” had lead him to this. A train wreck of an attempt to change a topic. Life well spent apparently.

        “Well then, my little thief I’m glad you are enjoying my home. Not many humans would have the gall to enter the home of a giant you know. Even starvation would preferable then to do what you have done.”

        “I’m a man that's willing to take my chances.” Grey said, his response quick. Almost like a reflex.

        “Oh, and took them you have. So...” She said as she licked her lips. “Are you satisfied with your decision?”

        Grey’s eyes darted around the room. He could feel that she was almost done with their little conversation. He had to find a way to keep stalling her. “Well how could I not? Having the pleasure to talk to a beautiful woman such as yourself.”

        The giant stared at him in shock for a moment. She couldn’t help herself as she threw her head back and began to laugh. Her hand shook as she did so and almost dropped Grey, for a moment Grey wanted to take this moment to escape. The drop to the table wouldn’t be pleasant but he could manage to land rather safely. He couldn’t be as certain he would make the drop to the floor however. Besides she could manage to catch him rather easily if he tried to make a break for the door. He grasped on to her thumb instead keeping his balance in her hand and her laughter continued. Luckily the honey still covering his body helped to secure him. Finally she stopped and wiped a tear from her eye.

        “Of all things that could have happened today, I never expected a human hitting on me would be one of them.” A hint of laughter still in her voice as she spoke. “Oh, I am finding you rather entertaining human.”

        Grey released his grip from her thumb and swept his arm before him and leaned into a bow. “Well it is a pleasure Madame, I am after all a guest in your home.” His legs were shaking, he wasn’t sure if it was because of fear or from holding onto her hand.

        “Well human, you have officially caught my interest. So tell me, who are you and what are you doing here, and please no lies or attempts at avoiding the topic, if you try I’ll have to end our little chat prematurely.” A dark seriousness entered her voice as she spoke those final words. Grey’s eyes fixated on her lips as she spoke. The rules were set and he now found himself compelled to play with them. However, Grey wasn’t a stranger to cheating.

        “Like I mentioned earlier, I was traveling in this area when I spotted your home. I came in hoping to find some food and shelter.” The giant gave him an annoyed look which was followed by a low sigh. She opened her mouth, and began bringing her hand with Grey towards it. Greys heart began to race.

“Wait, I’m telling the truth!” Grey yelled in a panic and dropping his cooling demeanor. “I got into some serious trouble back home and was forced out here! That's why I snuck in I promise!” The hand stopped. Grey felt himself dropped towards the table, while caught off guard Grey still managed to land on his feet. He looked up. The giant looking back down at him.

        “That's much better.” She said. Leaning back in her chair and crossing her arms.

        “My name’s Grey by the way.” He said standing up and finding his composure. He looked up seeing the giant giving him a questioning look. “You asked earlier who I was as part of your question. I’m Grey, and I’m a bit of a trouble maker. And what can I refer to you as?”

        The giant smiled, obviously with growing interest in this small little human she had caught. “Well I suppose you’ve intrigued me enough for me to share my name with you. Hello, Grey the Trouble Maker. My name’s Jule.”

        “Jule?” Grey said, sincere curiosity in his voice.

        Before he could respond Jule moved her face closer to his body, her eyes focused on him. Grey nearly felt himself jump out of his skin as she approached. It happened quicker than he thought and he wasn’t prepared for it. If he didn’t realize just how small and powerless he was before, he sure did now.

        “Is there something wrong with my name?” Jule asked. Grey could sense the trap in the question.

        “No no, of course not. It’s a beautiful name, it’s just… it’s just… that's a name a person would have. Not a giant.”

        Jule brought her head back up, and looked almost as if she was offended. “Excuse me?” She said, her voice dropping the devious playful tone she had been using. Grey took note of the change. The fear he had held for most of the interaction with this giant diminished a bit, being replaced with honest curiosity. “What do you mean by that?” A hint of offense in her voice.

        Grey found himself in dangerous yet interesting predicament with that question. “Well you know, I heard of giants called names like ‘Burk the Bonecrusher’. Or ‘Krell the Blood Drinker’. And all sorts of other things. Nothing as normal...  or even as beautiful as Jule.”

        Jule had lost what little annoyance she had and had seemed to become intrigued. “Well that’s honestly one of the most absurd things I’ve ever heard of. I can assure you, not in my entire life have I heard of a giant named ‘Burk the Bonecrusher’ or anything even close to similar.” A playful tone returned to her voice. “So tell me, what do you think my ‘human’ name would be?”

        Grey found himself stuck. He sat down, crossing his legs and began to ponder. The honey forcing his legs to stick together. He sat ignoring the uncomfortable feeling it caused him. Jule sat waiting patiently, she seemed actually intrigued of what he might come up with. Unfortunately Grey wasn’t good at this sort of thing.

        “I don’t, it would probably be something stupid and ugly… like… Grelka... Grelka the... uh… I don’t know Man Gobbler or something like that.”

        “Grelka?” Jule trying to wrap her mind around it, but obviously not liking the sound of it. “Man Gobbler works.” She drew her face in close to Grey once more, he flinched a bit as she did so. “I sure do enjoy gobbling up humans.”

        She opened up her mouth wide, helping to express her point. Grey was terrified by the sight, but he felt certain that it wasn’t any real threat. At least not yet. Still, watching her uvula dangle over the dark chasm that was her throat didn’t help with his nerves. She closed her mouth slowly, making sure he got a good view of her mouth. It was a reminder. That's what it was, it was a reminder that while they were talking, he wasn’t safe. He was still food.

        “So.” She said bringing her head back. “Tell me more about human life. I find all this rather fascinating. But first. There is something I must do.”

        Before he knew what was happening Grey found Jule’s hand upon him. He found himself pulled towards Jule’s face as her mouth opened once more. Shock was the only reaction he had. What did he do wrong? Did he mess up somewhere? He had caught her interest, exchanged names, she even wanted to hear from him. Why then? Why was this happening?

        Grey felt himself thrown into her mouth, almost without a care. Her lips quickly closed behind him, sealing him in darkness. He felt the wet slick surface of Jule’s tongue. It moved causing him to fall face first in the wet flesh. Her tongue lifted causing him to slide forward. No. Not like this. Grey was sure he knew where he was sliding towards. Her tongue suddenly shifted tilting back, causing Grey to slide backwards. He felt his feet hit her teeth. If he could just manage to find his footing, maybe just maybe. In a sudden jolt the tongue flung him to the side of her cheek. Grey felt himself roll over the giant molars and he fell into a small wedge between her teeth and the flesh of her cheek. Before he could register what had just happened, Jule’s cheek pressed him against her tooth as Grey as he felt a great suction force around him. Almost as if he was a piece of candy. Grey felt himself being squeezed within her mouth, draining what little energy he had left right out of him. The suction stopped as her tongue maneuvered underneath him carrying him back to the center of her mouth. Grey was weak but he hadn’t given up just yet. Jule’s tongue then went to work on his body, licking around every possible area of his body. Tossing and turning him, rotating him from front to back, drenching him in saliva. A long “mmm” emanated around him as he was rolled about in her mouth, he could hear the vibration of the sound as it resonated deep from within her throat. Grey’s back was pushed against the back of her front teeth and her tongue began to softly lick the front of his body. He felt weak, he felt violated, but worst of all he felt defeated.

        Grey’s opened his eyes and gritted his teeth. He wasn’t done, not yet. His hand reached to his side desperately feeling around for something, then he felt it. The hilt of his hunting knife. His hand grasped onto it, he wouldn’t be beaten. Not like this. If he was to die, he was going to do as much damage as he could before the end. His raised the knife in his hand, he couldn’t see but he didn’t need to, he was inside her, any strike he made would be true. He had to do it. Her tongue was right in front of him. He had to strike. Hurt her. Kill her. End the giant, get revenge for your parents. Revenge for your life. He went to stab his knife into the soft pink flesh that wriggled before him, just as he was about to plunge the blade down, the mouth behind him opened. Shining light into the pink chamber. Grey paused his action, he couldn’t believe it. He felt fingers grasp around his body and pull him out.

        Jule’s set him back down on the table. Dripping saliva. “I never had honey covered human before. I have to say it was absolutely delicious.” Grey looked up at her, as she licked any reminder honey he had left on her fingers and palm. He was stunned that he was still alive. “Now then, let’s get back to talking about you humans.” She said, sitting back comfortably with a smile.

        Grey still drenched in saliva forced himself a smile. “Yes, of course.” He said trying to come to terms with what had just happened. Is this normal? Why didn’t she just eat me? Grey began to share his stories with her. Still gripping the knife behind his back.

        Hours had passed, Jule had finished eating the rest of her apple slices as she listened to Grey talk, only asking questions to prompt Grey to lead the discussion into areas that caught her interest. At first he mostly talked about the knowledge humans had about giants. But she soon became curious about how humans thought about other things in life. Grey was surprised to learn just how similar giant society seemed to be to his own by the questions she asked. Grey at first talked with the intent to keep Jule entertained, but soon enough he became fully drawn into the conversation himself. He was careful not to ask too many questions, but by manner in which she asked questions and responded he was surprised to learn about just how advanced giants really were. In fact it seemed like they lived rather similar lives to humans. He was also shocked to see just how much she seemed to know about human society already. It’s like she knew just how similar their societies were to each other, yet as she spoke he realized there was still a strong disconnect between them. Giants lived lives like humans. Hell they basically were just large humans. But for some reason it never seemed to cross her mind that maybe eating his kind was wrong. Grey felt unnerved by this realization. The way she talked, she talked just like anyone else, she even shared some details of her own life and she sounded just like a normal person, once she finally dropped her facade she had been using since she caught him that was. It didn’t make sense, her stories, her opinions, there were multiple times Grey almost forgot he was talking to a giant, yet… every time the aspect of human eating came into the conversation it was almost like it was a natural part of life. He couldn’t understand why.

        “The King’s a fucking joke. He doesn’t do shit for anyone else unless something threatens to come back to him. Same with all royals that sit in his council and practically suck his dick for money.” Grey continued. Jule didn’t interrupt but instead sat interested in his small rant.

        “Well I don’t think our Queen is as bad as your King. But it’s obvious that she doesn’t own any really power anymore. The royal family has really fallen, everyone knows that all the true power lies in her advisor.” Jule said throwing her thoughts into the conversation.

        Grey was taken aback by this new bit of information. “Wait, you have a Queen? How come I’ve never heard of a giant Queen before?” It was amazing how little humans knew about giants. Yet almost nothing about human society surprised Jule, besides the way humans perceived things.

        “I don’t know. Humans probably don’t care to learn about giants. They probably try to avoid all contact with our kind. For good reason. The only humans that would be stupid enough to come close to my kind are people like you…” Her voice trailed off before pausing. And the hunters.” A slight hint of hesitance entered her voice as she spoke those last words.

        “Hunters?”

        “You know. Giant Hunters.” Jule repeated.

        Grey was dumbfounded. “Are you saying there are actual humans that hunt giants? I thought those were just myths to make people feel better.”

        Jule gave him a strange look, almost like she thought he was just trying to mess with her. The confusion on his face seemed to answer her. “It seems like my kind’s not the only thing you don’t know much about.” Jule’s mouth opened as she let out a yawn, covering her mouth. “Eh, I need to get to bed, I have friends coming over in the morning.” She eyed Grey tiredly as she stretched.

        Grey was unsure what would come next, now that their conversation was over. Jule stood up and reached out her hand to grab Grey. Grey shut his eyes. He wasn’t sure what was going to happen to him now but he hoped for the best. Jule looked at him for a moment as if considering her options. She put her hand to her stomach and looked at Grey.

        “I’m not really hungry at the moment. I’ll figure out what to do with you tomorrow. Besides it will be cool to show you off to my friends.”

        In one hand Grey was happy he wasn’t about to be eaten, on the other Grey’s mind reminded him just how bad of a situation he had gotten himself in. Jule walked over to kitchen cabinet and pulled out an empty glass jar. He knew where this was going. Jule set down the glass prison she had brought out for him and slid Grey off her hand and into the jar. Grey stumbled a bit on his fall, he was starting to feel the exhaustion that this hectic day as well as his long travel had brought. Pushing the glass jar towards the center of the counter. Jule turned to leave before stopping. She looked back at Grey considering something for a moment. She walked back to her kitchen counter and began searching.

        Grey watched her curiously. The new situation he found himself wasn’t any better than the last one. If anything it was worse, he was trapped, confined in glass walls that he couldn’t climb or hope to escape from. He felt almost as if he was sitting in prison cell.

        Grey heard something drop into the jar behind him. He turned to see a green grape rolling to the side of the jar. He looked up to see Jule’s head staring down at him, her black hair hanging down slightly as she smiled.

        “Don’t want you starving to death now. Try to eat up and get some rest. I’ll see you in the morning. Grey.” The tone of her voice was different. Almost gentle. Before Grey could think of a response she began to walk away, opening a door he could only assume was her bedroom before shutting the door leaving Grey to his thoughts.

        Grey walked over to the grape and sat down crossed legged on the floor of the jar. He took off his cloak and examined it, it was in much worse condition than it had previously in. Being covered in honey and being inside Jule’s mouth had made sure of that. The rest of his clothes weren’t in great condition either but he wanted to leave something on. He reached into his cloak and fumbled around until he found his knife. He had hidden it in there after his experience inside Jule’s mouth. He had no idea where his traveling pack was, he had either lost it on the counter when he fell into the honey pot, or it was still in pot. The thought of his pack sliding down Jule’s throat as he was tossed about in her mouth was also a possibility. One that sent a shiver down his spine. Whatever the case it was gone.

        Grey threw his cloak to the side and cut off a piece of grape. He ate it enjoying the fruit’s juice as he took a bite. At the size that he was he could get all the water he needed straight from the juice within the grape. After all the days of traveling he finally had a chance to sit down and enjoy his meal. Well truly enjoy it, he enjoyed the nut with honey earlier but that was short lived. After a couple minutes he felt sated. There was still plenty of grape left for him to eat later if he felt the need to. It probably wouldn’t stay as fresh as it was now, but Grey didn’t care. There was food if he needed it, and that was good enough for him. He laid down on his back, staring at the mouth of the jar. The candles in the room began to fade, as the lights slowly died down. Grey stared up at the ceiling. So many things had just happened, so many horrifying things. His worst nightmare had become reality, he was now captured by a giant and he knew as he lie here he was just waiting for death. Yet, for some reason he was content. Part of him was afraid, and he had been terrified at many of the different ordeals that he had undergone today, but for now he was content. He didn’t know what would happen tomorrow, but for the moment, he didn’t care. Laying in the bottom of the jar he was trapped in he felt secure, a strange familiar feeling that he couldn’t quite point out, almost as if he had been in this situation before. He shook his head. He was just tired that's all it was. Grey shut his eyes, letting sleep take him. And for the first time in weeks, he slept in peace.  

        “You're not alone.” Grey knew this voice. It was quiet. Muffled Distant. And for some reason... familiar. But from where? Where did he know this voice?

        “Who… who are you?” He tried to ask.

        “Grey. Wake up. The time is fast approaching.”

        “Time for what? I don’t under...”

        “Wake Up!”

        Grey opened his eyes. The morning light assaulted his eyes as they tried to adjust to the commitment it took to get up in the morning. Slowly forcing his body upright Grey looked around to find himself still in the jar. He didn’t know what he expected. His back was sore, but compared to everything that previously happened he didn’t care. A smell filled the air, one that made Grey’s mouth salivate.

        “Good, you're finally up. If I hadn't noticed you breathing I would have sworn that you were dead.” A feminine voice said from behind.

        Grey turned around to see Jule sitting at the table watching him. She appeared to be eating something, which seemed almost like hot cakes, but larger than he could have imagined.

        “Yeah well if you had the night’s I’ve had recently you would still be sleeping too.” Grey said rubbing the back of his head, smiling a weak groggy smile, his dark sandy blonde hair was a mess, dirty from the days of travel and the tussle it was in from his sleep.

        Jule looked at him oddly as she continued to eat. Grey stared at her confused for a moment before realizing the oddity of his action. He a human, was happily smiling up at a giant, his captor no less. Grey couldn’t help but blush from embarrassment before quickly finding his composure. He looked around his prison, trying to avoid making eye contact with Jule. He saw that the grape she had given him last night had been removed, his traveling cloak still remained in the jar though. He walked over and picked it up, throwing it over his shoulder, it still smelled of honey and Jule’s mouth; but so did the rest of his clothes, so what difference did it make.

        What’s wrong with me? Grey thought still hung up on the smile he gave her. The worst part was that it was sincere, not forced. She was a giant. One that as far as he knew still fully intended on making a meal out of him. Just because he had a pleasant chat with her the previous night didn’t change that. He had to remember the only reason he even started talking to her was to keep himself from dying, and he had succeeded. Partially. He was still alive, but with no plan to escape, and a brand new glass jar adding to the obstacles he had acquainted himself with.

        “Luckily for you I just ate.” Jule said in her playful tone. Breaking Grey from his train of thought. “Also luckily for you I’m still waiting on my friends, so if you're hungry you better eat now. I mean all you ate last night was part of a grape. I’m sure you're still hungry”

        Grey faced Jule who was now sitting with her hands behind her head. She watched the jar in anticipation of Grey’s response.

        “Yeah sure.” Grey managed to say. He thought the amount of grape he had eaten a fairly decent amount of the grape last night. But his exhaustion did prevent him from eating more, he would admit.

        Grey watched as Jule stood from the table and walked over to the counter. At Grey’s height it was as if a mountain had just stood up and began to walk. He couldn’t even begin to guess how much she weighed; which he knew from experience with women was not a wise thing to ask. He took notice as how her hips swayed slightly with each heavy step. It was with the elegance and ease as any normal person. He took a moment to appreciate the strength she must possess, that all giants must possess in order to move the way they did. He thought about the moments the she had held him, and just how easily she could have crushed him between her fingers. Grey’s eyes went to Jule as she searched in her pantry. Admiring her from afar. All his life he thought giants were blood thirsty destructive creatures. Then last night he realized this was not necessarily the case. This giant did not act the way he expected of her, and the conversation he had showed that she was not the only giant like this. They were so similar to humans, they lived lives like humans, they had feelings and thought like humans, they were as intelligent as humans, probably even more so. Yet the sheer power and size they had made them a dominant species. And they knew that, despite all the human like qualities they possessed, it was clear they saw human as only one thing, and that was food. They must realize on some level that humans share so much in common with them, but that didn’t change their instinct. They were higher on the food chain, and they took full advantage of that. Humans were just another type of creature on the menu to them. Jule had seemed genuinely kind and warm to him, her interest in him being the only reason he was still alive, but he didn’t know how long he could keep her interest, and he wasn’t sure what would become of him if that interest was lost. He didn’t know how long he could manage their little game, and then it dawned him. Soon she wouldn’t be the only giant he would be dealing with.

        Sitting crossed legged on the bottom of the jar, Grey finished the last piece of apple that Jule had gotten for him. She had also gotten him a tiny amount of water, to which he amused himself watching her try to find a way to give it to him, short of drowning him in the glass. For the most part he sat eating in silence. At first Jule had provoked him into a conversation which lead him to sharing some of his experience with hunting and living in the forest. She found this entertaining enough. The conversation didn’t last long, as Grey focused on his meal. Jule would look back from the table and check the front door every couple minutes. Small impatient quirks that one might expect when waiting for something. She eventually got up saying that she would be back shortly, as she went to what Grey could only assume was her room. Or the bathroom. It wasn’t important right now. Grey on the mean time found his mind exploring the possibilities of his next course of action. Exhaustion and fear had clouded his judgement last night. He knew escape was slim, and that most attempts would probably lead to death, but he had to be ready. Last night he had slept well despite the circumstances, and the meal now would help give him the energy he would need. His mind would have to be clear and his body would need to be ready to act in a moment’s notice if he was to have any hope in getting away from this place.

        The sound of a door creaking open broke Grey’s silence. He quickly turning his attention to the front door, he sat waiting in anticipation to see what would be coming through that door. This was it. Grey could see streams of sunlight fall into the room as it opened. A strong desire for freedom overtook him as he saw the open door frame, but he kept it in check. He knew he would make it out and be free once more. But the back of his mind told him a different story. Only in death, Grey. Only in death.

        Grey turned his attention as two giants entered through the door. It didn’t take long for Grey to notice they both had something very in common. They were both women. Despite spending last night talking with Jule, This still came as a surprise Grey. He still wasn’t fully used to the idea of a female giant, but he wasn’t caught too off guard by this revelation. She mentioned that they were friends, and it would make sense that a female giant would most likely have female friends. This could potentially work to Grey’s advantage. Maybe female giants were less blood hungry then male giants. Maybe they were more gullible. Maybe he was just stereotyping. In either case he would find out soon enough.

        The first thing Grey noticed about the first giant that came through the door was that she was very large. Even for a giant he could tell she was not only taller than Jule, but she was also thicker than her too. Not to the point of where she appeared over weight, but it was apparent she carried a lot more meat on her bones compared to Jule’s more petite figure. Her hair was long enough that it came down to her shoulders and was copper red in color. She wore simple leather skinned clothing, at his distance Grey could barely make out that she had green eyes. Next to her was a shorter giant; at least in comparison. She was a lot smaller in comparison and soft black hair much shorter in length than Jule’s. While she was slimmer than Jule it was apparent that her body was much shapelier. Snapping a glance at the larger giant next to her he could tell that both of them were. But the larger one definitely was the victor in that department. He took a moment to admire their figures. Both of them had fine curves, well-proportioned yet large and supple breasts, and their hips… No. He couldn’t allow himself get distracted by such things, especially not now. There was too much at stake for such distractions.

        “Hey, Jule were here!” The larger giant called out from the doorway. The shorter giant simply walked past her into the house.

        “I’ll be right out, make yourselves at home!” Jules voices carried from one of the rooms.

        Grey carefully observed them as they entered. The shorter giant’s eyes wandered across the house as the larger giant shut the door behind them. It wasn’t long before the shorter giant's eyes locked onto him. Grey for the first time could see that they were grey in color. Her expression seemed curious; at first, but then something else. Something unpleasant, something that made him nervous under her gaze.

        “Kass, look at this.” She said.

        The larger giant, which Grey could now discern was named Kass turned her head. The second the jar came into the giants view her eyes lit up and a smile spread across her face. She quickly made her way over to the table. The speed at which she approached startled him, but he held his ground and didn’t let his discomfort show. The shorter giant moved forward slowly after her friend. Her eyes remained cold as she watched him. Grey hoped that this was just a facade, a face she put on in front of humans similar to what Jule had acted last night. But a gut feeling told him that it was much more sincere. He took note to be careful around this one.

        As Grey focused on her he was caught off guard as he felt his jar being lifted into the air, causing him to lose balance and land firmly on his backside. Losing any semblance of control of the situation Grey looked around, and found two giant hands holding the jar from either side, as the face of the giantess named “Kass” peered through the glass in front of him. Her face taking up his entire field of view.

        “Jule caught a human!” She shouted out in excitement. Her face suddenly shifted into a puzzled expression. “But she didn’t mention anything about going to the human lands recently?” Her eyes refocused on Grey becoming excited once more. “Do you think she has more? Think she would mind if I help myself to this one?” Things were already going poorly.

        “Just wait. That’s Jule’s human. You should get for permission before shoving someone else’s human in your face.” The other giant said.

        Kass gave a very apparent disappointed look before nodding her head in agreement. “Your right. Sorry, Marissa.”

        “What are you apologizing to me for? It’s not mine.” The other giant said crossed her arms.

        Grey looked up at them. The little conversation they had so far did not bode well for him. But this was to be expected. They were giants after all, and to them he wasn’t different from any other human. He would have to prove them that he was otherwise. Grey stood up and balanced himself.

        “Why hello there.” Grey said, putting as much enthusiasm into his voice as he could muster.

        Kass jumped a bit at his sudden speech, almost causing her to drop the jar. Grey barely kept himself from falling once more as braced himself on the glass wall next to him.

        “It just talked to us.” Marissa said. The words coming out as a surprise.

        Kass who had just been surprised now found herself very intrigued. She pressed her face up to the glass again. This time Grey was prepared for it and met her with a smile.

        “You talked!” Kass exclaimed.

        “Why of course humans can speak you know. Much like yourselves.”

        “I haven’t seen a human that's been willing to talk for a long time.”

        “Don’t humor it.” Marissa interjected. Grey felt her eyes on him. He could see the look of annoyance on her face as her friend’s interest in him grew.

        “Aww, come on Marissa. What’s the harm in a little bit of talk. Besides it’s not every day a human will choose to speak to us.” Marissa only gave her disapproving glare. “So human?” Kass said turning her attention back to Grey. “Does Jule have anymore of you hidden away?”

        Grey was not expecting that particular question. “No, I’m afraid I’m the only human here. But trust me when I say I am more than enough.” Grey said after a moment's hesitation.

        Kass gave him a disappointed look obviously ignoring the later part of his statement. This threw Grey off. “Do you think Jule would mind if I had you?”

        Grey paled. After everything that was happening that was the thing that remained on her mind. Grey looked between her and Marissa. They were both very different than Jule and between the two of them he knew he was in trouble. He had to find some way to use them. Marissa didn’t care for him, that was clear, and it was obvious that Kass’s only interest in him was something he didn’t want to entertain. What was that saying about a rock and a hard place he had always heard about?

        Kass’s eyes continued to look intently at him. It was unnerving to say the least. He had to answer her, the answer was obvious. He had to tell her no. But for how long could he manage that he wondered.

        “Hey, sorry I took so long.” Jule voice spoke up as she entered the room. Both Marissa and Kass had their backs to her as she entered room. As Kass turned Jule’s eyes caught Grey’s jar in her hands. Only one reason crossed her mind on why Kass would be holding it. She smiled. “Well, I see you guys have already met.” Jule walked over to Kass. Her friend turned her body to face her and Jule held out her hands, an obvious sign for Kass to hand over the jar. She hesitated for a moment, almost as if oblivious to what Jule wanted from her, but once the realization hit her, she quickly handed it over letting out a small innocent chuckle, like a kid caught in the middle of stealing a cookie. Except this cookie just so happened to be alive. Jule looked into to see that Grey was still there and unharmed. He seemed oddly calm, to which Jule found curious. She walked over to the table in her living area, it was larger than the one in the kitchen, and had multiple chairs instead of just the one the kitchen had. Jule pulled herself a seat and sat down. “So, I see that you two have met Grey.”

        Marissa was the second to find a seat, with Kass soon following. “You named it?” She said as she sat at the table.

        “Not necessarily. He came with the name.” Jule answered, a hint of coyness in her voice.

        “Hey, Jule.” Kass interjected. “You didn’t tell us you went to human lands. Did you already eat all the others?”

        Jule shook her head modestly. “Oh no, I didn’t make a trip.” She held her finger to the glass, lazily pointing at the human within. “He came to me.”

        Marissa cocked her eyebrow at the statement. “Did he now?” Her gaze fell upon him, but Grey made the best decision he could and decided to avoid it.

        “Oh yeah. He calls himself Grey. ‘Grey the Troublemaker’ apparently.” Jule looked down into the glass. Her eyes met his. Jule tipped the mouth of the jar towards table. She watched as Grey first lost his balance before quickly regaining it as he slid out of the jar onto the table, landing on his feet in an almost eloquent fashion. “Well Grey, I want you to meet my friends. Kassandra, and Marissa. You’ll be entertaining us today.”

        Grey stood confidently before the three giants. Keeping up the appearance that he wasn’t afraid would help to make him stand out as an oddity. A normal man would have cowered in fear by the mere sight of a giant, but he was different, or at least that what he wanted them to think. Yet he was all too aware that if his confidence overstepped its bounds it would only prove to put him in an even worse situation. Especially with Marissa now added into the equation. Grey dipped into a slightly over exaggerated bow. Which seemed to successfully amuse Kassandra, but by the looks of Marissa, the action only seemed to deepen her displeasure of him.

        “Why is it still alive?” Marissa said, speaking in a tone that showed she didn’t care Grey was just a couple feet in front of her.

        “I personally found him to be entertaining, and by the end of last night my appetite had gone, so I decided to save him until you two arrived. Show him off a bit.” Jule answered.

        “Does that mean we can have him?” Kassandra said shooting up in excitement.

        The look on Jule’s face told Grey she was considering the option. It only helped to remind him that he had to keep a lookout for an opportunity to escape.

        “We’ll see.” Jule said after a quick moment's thought. “For now let’s just have some fun with him. It was interesting to pick his brain. Humans think the strangest things about us.” Grey watched as she turned her attention to Marissa and placed her hand on her shoulder. “Don’t worry, this one’s harmless. I promise.” The look on Marissa's face showed that she wasn’t so readily convinced.

        That struck Grey as odd. ”This one’s harmless” She had said. Why would she have to assure her of that? They were giants, he was just a human. What could she possibly need to be reassured about? Grey wanted to inquire but he knew from their earlier interactions that Marissa wasn’t a giant that she should pursue a conversation with. Besides it wasn’t the time entertain such curiosities. Escaping took priority.

        “So what’s a human doing wandering all the way out here?” Marissa was the one with the question. Grey didn’t expect her to ask a question so quickly, but it wasn’t an issue he couldn’t deal with.

        “Well as Jule mentioned I am a bit of a troublemaker. Naturally I found myself in some trouble with only one place for me to go. So I took my chances; rolled the dice, and well here I am.” Grey shrugged, as if trying to portray he didn’t have a care in the world about his current situation.

        “You seem pretty confident for a human.” Grey knew that wasn’t a compliment. “You realize that you're going to die right?” Marissa’s eyes seemed to pierce right through his fake demeanor, as if she saw the concerns and fear he was hiding. “I want you to understand. Whatever game you're trying to play at, whatever trick you think you have, nothing will save you.”

        Grey knew she was baiting him, trying to make him crack, reveal the facade. But he wasn’t falling for it. “I am well aware of what awaits me. I have been reminded of it plenty of times already. But I have found myself in a rather unique situation, and I am going to play it out until the end.” His answer would keep her off of him for now; or so he hoped, but he knew that she was far from satisfied. “So, Kass is it?” Grey said not giving Marissa a chance to reply. “Tell me a bit about yourself, if you care too.”

        “Well alright then. This is pretty strange. Talking to a human and all.” She said in a giddy tone.

        “It can’t be that strange. Can it? After all it’s just a simple exchange of words.” He shrugged.

        Grey began to walk to her end of the table. His movement at first almost elicited a response from Jule but he could see out of the corner of his eye that she was allowing it. Grey had to keep himself from smiling. Being able to move freely would be critically important if he planned to escape. He continued to walk towards Kassandra. A confident stride in his steps. He was putting on a bit of a show with each step he took, showing that he was not afraid to walk towards his giant captors, helping to weave the lie that he was accepting of his fate.

        The table shook as Grey jumped back in alerted surprise. Destroying any air of confidence he had been trying to build up. His eyes fell before him to see Kassandra had dropped her arms on the table and lowered her head closer to him. But that wasn’t the part of her that caught his attention. When she had fallen forward towards the table, Kassandra had move her chest out forward, presenting her breasts almost with pride as they now laid over her arms casting themselves thoroughly into Grey’s view. Massive. Was the only word that came to Grey’s mind; with varying degrees of sexual connotation.

        Grey couldn’t help but admire them. He had taken notice at the size of her bosom when she had first entered, noting how much bigger they were compared to Jule’s. But the sheer size of them this close; especially to a human like himself, seemed almost majestic.

        “Enjoying yourself?” Kassandra said in a playful tone.

        Grey blushed as he realized that he had been standing there ogling at her breasts while she watched him. “Uh, I… um.” Grey coughed. “I was just caught off guard is all.”

        Kassandra giggled, causing the giant mounds underneath her to jiggle. “Well you wouldn’t be the only one human. I’ve turned many heads using these babies. I can’t take all credit for them however.” She said moving her upper arms causing her breasts to squeeze together slightly before falling back into place. “It’s because of you humans that they got to grow to be so large and luscious as they are now. So you're the one to thank.”

Grey didn’t know how to respond. He couldn’t respond. As if instantly the giant in front of him changed from the well-endowed woman he had been fighting back hormones over, to one of bloodthirsty giants he had always heard stories about. Any sexual desire he had had previously had quickly disappeared.

        Kassandra’s arms moved forwards causing her breasts to fall onto the table. Grey quickly saw her arms coming forward. His fight or flight instincts kicked in and for a moment flight was winning, but her arms quickly folded around him as she clasped her hand together entrapping him in a ring of her arms. Grey frantically looked around, her arms and hands now surrounding him, blocking every option of escape from all sides. He could possibly try to climb over her arms if he was quick and agile enough. But he knew that if she didn’t catch him the others would have. He looked forward towards her body. Her breasts lying over the edge of the table blocking his exit in that direction. Grey found himself growing a disdain for them rather quickly. Her top was open, revealing the smooth creamy exposed flesh of her cleavage. A moment ago he might have found himself still frozen in allure of her chest, but that moment was long gone. However her open cleavage did give him an idea. If he just ran fast enough, he could just dive or jump down her top and possibly… Congratulations Grey I think you just beat arrow rope for stupidest idea you’ve ever had. Maybe if she had been sitting up and she had been holding him could it have worked; and that was a big maybe, but at the position at which she sat, he would have only wound up getting himself stuck and most certainly humiliated.

        Kassandra’s arms began to move in tighter, forcing Grey to break out of his train of thought. He turned around, seeing her hands slowly closing in on him. He walked backwards as they approached. Then stopped as he felt a gust warm air hit his back. Grey turned to see Kass’s chin placed down on the table, her mouth hanging open and her tongue sticking out as if awaiting him to enter. Kass gave him a small wink as her hands began to close in ever tighter causing the space between her hands and mouth to be quickly decreasing.

        “Kass, that’s enough!” Jule said slamming her hands on the table.

        Kass sat up in her chair looking at Jule in disappointment. Grey looked forward, hoping that her shifting might have made an opening. But found that her breasts still covered his escape. He couldn’t help but clench his teeth in frustration. If he made it out of this alive, he swore he would never hit on a woman with large breasts again. Liar.

        “Jule, I’m getting bored of this. And I‘m really hungry. Can’t I just eat him already?”

        “No!” Jule snapped. “Besides he’s not yours to have he’s mine.”

        “Jule. I think that's enough.” Marissa spoke up. Jule looked at her. She opened her mouth to object but Marissa continued giving her no time to respond. “You’ve had this human around for far longer then you should have. It’s obvious that both Kass and I came here to visit you, not it. The longer it’s around the more time we are going to waste. So if you're going to eat it, do it now. If not let Kass have it.”

        “But...” Jule began.

        “What? What possible reason could you have for keeping it around?”

        Jule’s mouth shut. She looked Grey over with consideration as if considering why it was she was keeping him around “I… I don’t know.” Her eyes turned to Grey. He stared back up at her and in some small way her eyes looked almost sad, almost... apologetic. Grey stared up at her with an increasing feeling of dread as he anticipated her next words.. “Go ahead Kass.”

        “Woohoo!” Kassandra cheered as she sat up and threw her arms into the air.

        As Kassandra’s body shifted Grey eye’s quick shot over to find the opening he needed. In her moment of celebration she had left a perfect opportunity for him to escape. He didn’t waste a single second. Grey dashed forward towards Kassandra. Her body was away from the table which gave him just the opportunity he needed. He had contemplated jumping off the table before but he knew the drop would almost certainly lead to his death. However this time was different, Kassandra was sitting right in front of him. All he had to do was land on her thigh as he jumped off. He was sure it would provide enough to cushion his landing. After that he would quickly need to slide down her leg and onto the floor. Once on the floor the real challenge would present itself. He knew evading three giants as he tried to run across the room would be a near impossible task but he didn’t have the time to think that far ahead. He would just need to think on his feet when the time came.

        Grey came to the table’s edge and didn’t hesitate with his next move. With one quick bounding leap he jump over the side of the table. He would prepare himself to land into a roll to help with the impact. But as he was preparing to brace himself he found his descent suddenly put to a halt. Grey felt four large appendages wrap around his body as he stared down towards the floor.

        “Not so fast little guy.” Kassandra voice boomed over him.

        Grey’s heart stopped. He looked to see Kassandra’s fingers coiled around his chest and legs. He managed to get his right hand free before Kass’s grip tightened around him. He tried to struggling within her grip but it was futile. Grey felt himself being lifted upward. He reached out desperately to the floor as he was slowly lifted higher away from his chance at freedom. Kassandra brought Grey up to her face and smiled. This time Grey didn’t hide the fear he felt. His change in attitude seemed to bring a smile to her face. The smile was playful but Grey knew the sadistic nature it held. Her fingers parted slightly as she lightened her grip around him, but it was still too firm for him to hope to escape it.

        “It was nice talking to you human. But it’s time for me to eat. I hope you enjoy yourself, I know I will.”

        Grey’s free hand reached for his cloak. His eyes shot straight down, he could see Kassandra’s exposed breasts hanging below him, giving him a good view of her open cleavage. It will have to do. His hand grabbed the hilt of his knife. Pain had been the decoy he used to escape from Jack and it would have to be the one he used this time. Kassandra began to open her mouth and pulled Grey forward, closing her eyes as her mouthwatering in anticipation of her meal. Grey could feel her breath wash over him, but refused to look forward. He had to keep his eyes down. He had to wait, make sure he was in position so that her breasts would to break his fall. Grey readied his hand, preparing to make the strike the moment he was in position. He had to time this perfectly. He clutched the knife in his hand and held it high in the air. Ready to strike down.

        A hand reached out and grabbed Kassandra’s wrist, bringing Grey’s movement to a sudden halt. Before Grey could register what had happened he felt himself yanked out of Kassandra’s grasp. He caught a glimpse of what had grabbed him. It was Marissa. Just as suddenly as he was grabbed Grey felt himself thrusted downward, falling towards the table his back hitting the hardwood surface as a sharp pain ran through his body. Grey laid in the center of the table reeling in pain. He looked to his side to find his knife lying beside him, realizing he had must have dropped it during his fall. Before he could even think to grab it, Marissa’s finger came down flicking it across the table. Grey watched in desperate horror as his knife flew off the edge of the table and heard it land with a distant clank.

        Marissa turned her eyes to Jule. “Harmless, huh?”

        Grey laid on his back beaten. His weapon gone, his chance of escape foiled, and his whole body in pain. His eyes looked over to Marissa, who was currently staring at Jule. Jule didn’t return her stare, but instead stood staring at where the knife had dropped off from the table. Kassandra on the other hand still looked like she was still trying to process what had just happened.

        “You can’t trust a human, Jule. The moment you let down your guard, they will take advantage of it.”

        Grey continued to lie on his back. He could see the shadow of Kassandra’s hand come into view as it reached out for him. He didn’t make any attempt to move instead his eyes remained fixated on Jule, who turned her head away from him. She looked somehow… hurt. Grey didn’t understand it. After everything she did to him, after allowing her friend to eat him she was the one that looked hurt by his betrayal. Grey didn’t understand it, and worst of all, he didn’t understand why he felt guilt. He knew he shouldn’t, she was a giant. Should would have eaten him herself if he didn’t stop it, but something about seeing Jule’s expression when she saw that knife, the knife he had almost plunged into her himself. It tore into him in a ways he couldn’t explain.

Grey laid in silent shame as Kassandra’s hand fell over him. He shut his eyes accepting his fate. So be it.

        Before the hand could grasp around him a large blast of smoke covered the table, catching Grey and the three giants by surprise. Grey saw Kassandra’s hand recede away as he heard the three girls start coughing around him. Grey couldn’t help but begin to cough as well as he shut his eyes and covered his mouth and nose. Grey slowly opened his eyes and saw a hand outstretched to him from the smoke holding a piece of cloth. Without thinking he grabbed the cloth and covered his face, squinting Grey looked up to see a tall shrouded figure standing before him. A man slightly taller than Grey himself stood there, he could make out a set of dark leather plated armor, A dark green hooded cloak covered most of his body as his hood and mask covering his nose and mouth helped to shroud his face. The most noticeable thing about the man was the large bow he had strapped to his back accompanied with a large quiver. He looked down at Grey, revealing dark green eyes. Green eyes that seemed familiar to Grey.

        “Can you stand?” The man asked. Grey knew this voice but he couldn’t quite place where he knew it from. His mind played with it as he tried to figure it out. The man reached out his hand to Grey. Grey took it as he was painfully brought up to his feet.

        “I… I think I’m alright.” Grey stopped as his mind cleared as his mind connected the voice to someone. Someone Grey had not seen in a very long time. “Zeke?” Grey could hardly make out a small outline of a smile stretch under the man's mask. “Zeke? How… how are you?”

        “No time to explain.” Zeke said. He looked up at the giants who continued to cough as the smoke began to show signs of clearing. “Grey you need to get out of here.”

        “How?” Grey looked at him still trying to make sense of what was going on.

“I anchored an arrow to the side of the table over there.” Zeke pointed out a spot on the table where the arrow remained stuck in the wood. “There is a rope attached that you should be able to climb down with.”

        Grey would probably have stopped to appreciate the irony of the situation if he wasn’t still trying to understand what was going on. “What about you?” He asked.

        Zeke pulled an arrow from his quiver before loosely nocking it on the string of his bow. “I’ll meet up with you in a minute. First I need to take care of something.”

        Grey watched Zeke blankly as he turn around and began walking away. The horrible realization struck as Grey saw who Zeke was walking too. Jule. Zeke lifted his bow and took aim at the giantess. Still coughing and blinded by the smoke. A green light slowly began to emit from the arrow as Zeke pointed it at Jule. Grey looked on as he saw his old friend approach the giant who had held him captive. The giant that had almost eaten him, gave him to her friend, watched on as he almost died but at the same time had spent the night talking to him, and fed him despite her plans. The giant that made him smiles despite facing death, and made him feel guilty and even ashamed despite his instinct to survive. The giant that by all rights he should let die. But as he looked on at her obviously unaware form as Zeke pointed an arrow at her, Grey couldn’t help but feel compelled to stop him. There was no benefit in letting this giant live, but there was something inside him. A voice. Grey closed his eyes and focused on it.

        “You have to save her.”

        “Why?” Grey asked in a whisper as conflict gripped him

        “You know why.”

        Grey opened his eyes, to see the green light that Zeke’s arrow was emitting was glowing brighter, small gusts of wind began to circle him creating a clearing from smoke where he stood. Zeke had stopped walking and was now standing arrow aimed straight for Jules head. Grey did the only thing he could think of, and dashed forward. Marissa and Kassandra opened their eyes in time to see the bright green lighting in front of them. Marissa's eyes grew wide at the realization of what was happening. Jule finally opened her eyes. The bright green and smoke filling her vision as her eyes could make out the faint image of a human within the light faced her holding a loaded bow. Jule stood forward in disbelief not even getting the chance for fear to take her.

        Zeke smiled as his fingers loosened on the arrow. “This is for Grey you bitch.”

        A sudden jolt hit Zeke as he was thrown to the ground, the arrow leaving his finger and sent flying. He looked back to see Grey standing over him, his eyes focused on Jule.

        Grey and the giants watched as the arrow soared through the air at sharp unimaginable speed. The arrow flew a couple feet above Jule’s with a gust of wind that caused her hair to fly up on its passing. The wind and light come to a sudden halt as all that was left of the arrow was a clean hole that pierced straight through the stone wall of Jule’s home, a hole, five times the size of a normal human arrow.

        Zeke laid on his side as his eyes followed the impact that the arrow made. He looked back to Grey who stood above him panting still in shock at the impact the arrow had.  Grey’s slowly eyes met his as they stared at each other in a moment of unsure silence.

        “Grey! What the actual fuck was that!?” Zeke erupted.

        Grey stared at hands, trying to come to terms with what he had just done. “I… I…”Grey stuttered. “I don’t know...” He took a couple steps back away from Zeke. He stared at his hands in disbelief.

        Before either of them could respond a large glass object slammed down over Zeke. Zeke instinctively jumped to his feet as he frantically looked around to find glass walls that now surrounded him. Both Zeke and Grey looked up to see Marissa’s holding down the glass jar above him with both hands.

        Zeke pulled an arrow from his quiver, quickly nocked it and pointed the arrow directly at Marissa. Green light once more began to form around the arrow. But Marissa was prepared.

        “Seal!” Marissa shouted as layer of blue energy began to encase the jar Zeke was in.

        The green energy Zeke had demonstrated before now faded. He looked up at the giant and frantically at the light that now encased the glass. “A magic user? Here!?” He shouted with muffled voice behind the glass.

        A shadow loomed over Grey, as he looked up to see Marissa's hand descend pinning him to the table. Grey looked up to Marissa as she had one hand over the jar, and her other hand currently forcing him against the table. Grey turned his gaze to see Zeke firing arrow after arrow into the glass walls that surrounded him. Out of the corner of his eyes he could see Kassandra standing in shock after the sight she had just witnessed, and then finally he saw Jule, standing in petrified silence. Grey’s laid his head on the ground as he submitted to the chaos around him. His friend was trapped, his only chance at freedom now gone, and now he was once again in the custody of these three giantess, and it was all his fault.

            “He ones of the Trinity, he has to be.” Grey heard Marissa say from inside of his new glass confines.

            She had said the name before, just shortly after Grey had been placed into a new jar that Marissa had made Kassandra fetch for her. After he was safely secure in his new transparent enclosure the three giants began discussing matters amongst themselves completely unconcerned by the two humans that sat on the table overhearing their discussion. Grey could easily see Zeke’s jar placed not far from where he was currently positioned. Zeke had continued to fight even after being captured, firing arrow after arrow at the glass walls that entrapped him, with no trace of the green light that he had been able to conjure up previously. Grey could make out the desperate clinks as metal hit glass, but to no avail. Once his quiver had been emptied Zeke had resigned himself to his failures sitting on the floor, broken and dented arrows scattered around him. Grey and Zeke’s eyes met only once since then, it was brief but it was all Grey needed to feel the full weight of what he had done. It was ironic, the past few minutes had successfully managed to make him feel more guilt than years of thievery could have ever accomplished.

            Grey would occasionally glance at the giants as they continued to discuss the preceding events. Even Kassandra who seemed to be the carefree oblivious one of the group seemed to be taking everything that had happened very seriously.

            “How can you be so sure?” Jule spoke up, but the uncertainty in her voice seemed to speak for her. As if she was only trying to deny the possibility that the human that had captured would be part of this “Trinity” that they kept speaking of.

            “The bow, the green light. God’s sake Jule look at your wall! No normal human could have done that! “Jule looked at the hole the arrow had left, her face grew pale as her mind recalled its original target. “It’s a moot point.” Marissa added. “Even if that hunter isn’t one of the Trinity that just means he is an unknown human; a hunter nonetheless, with the ability to use magic. Any human found with that kind of power should be held with just as much severity.”

            Jule remained silent, her gaze turning to the floor.

            “What should we do about him then?” It was Kassandra who spoke this time, almost as if she was hesitant to start speaking in the first place.

            “We take him to The Capital.” Jule and Kassandra looked at Marrisa in surprise. Grey couldn’t help but become intrigued.

            “The Capital!?” Jule exclaimed.

            “Yes.” Marissa nodded. “We take him to the Queen and have him answer for all the giants he has killed.”

            Zeke’s voice rose up from his confines. “The giants I have killed are nothing in comparison to the humans your kind continue to kill every day, giant.” His words were bitter and harsh as he spoke them.

            Grey turned back to Zeke, he remained sitting turned away from the giants and their conversation. Both Jule and Kassandra turned to Marissa anticipating that his words would provoke in some way but Marissa remained calm. Grey however could tell that she was fighting something back, something that could prove dangerous if pressed too far. Marissa could apparently feel Grey’s attention on her because her eyes quickly came to fall on him. Grey felt a cold sweat run down his back almost like her stare was as strong as Zeke’s arrow. Hell with the magic he saw her do earlier, that wasn’t necessarily wasn’t out of the question. There was fire in her eyes, and as Grey stared into that fire he could almost feel their burning hatred. Something about this hatred seemed familiar. Grey recalled how he held his knife while he was in Jule’s mouth, or in Kassandra’s hand how much he wanted to hurt them, how much he wanted to make them kind pay for what they had done to him. It was that feeling. Grey didn’t know why but he knew, for some reason Marissa didn’t just see humans as just a lesser race like other giants. She saw them as a threat, and that perception garnered a hatred for not only himself but all humankind. He wanted to inquire about this hatred, but knew that in his current predicament it would be unwise to ask at the current moment, but something about the look Marissa gave him told him something. He would probably never live to see that moment.

            Kassandra’s eyes followed Marissa’s gaze towards Grey who was none to happy to have gained this new attention on himself.

            “What do we do about him?” Kass asked turning to Marissa for an answer.

            Marissa and Grey’s eyes remained locked on each other as the room seemed to await her response, she didn’t hesitate as she made her decision. ”We eat him.”

            “NO!” Zeke voice erupted from behind the glass. He had jumped to his feet and was now standing defiantly facing the giants. “You were right about who I was, I am Zeke of the Trinity, Slayer of Giants, and enemy to your kind. I am the one you want, take me, but let him go!”

            “I agree.” A voice uttered from behind Marissa.

            Marissa turned around to see Jule standing before her, her eyes slowly starting to well. Both humans shared their surprise when they heard her.

            “Jule, what are you talking about?” Marissa asked apathetically.

            Jule hesitated before carefully choosing her next words. “He saved me Marissa. That human right there just saved my life, and you want to just kill him after what he did for me.”

            Marissa's harsh demeanor seemed to soften as she looked at her friend, seeing just how much this ordeal was affecting her. “Jule we can’t. Were giants, and he’s a human. It’s just how it goes. Besides it’s clear that this human has some sort of connection with the hunter, it’s too risky to let him go.” Jule looked at Marissa tears starting to form in her eyes. Despite feeling like Jule was acting irrationally, Marissa couldn’t help but feel some pity for her friend. “I’m sorry.” Marissa turned to Kass who was standing patiently on the side. “He’s all yours Kass.”

            Despite Kassandra’s apparent voracious nature, she did not smile. She responded with a nod and began to advance towards Grey’s jar. Grey rose from where he sat slowly clenching his fists as heard what was to be his fate. At first he said nothing, standing in silence as he decided whether or not he was prepared to say what he was about to say next. As Kassandra began reaching for the jar Grey spoke up.

            “I want Jule to do it!” He finally declared breaking his silence.

            “Grey what the hell are you...?” Zeke began.

            Grey looked up as he caught the attention of all three of the giants. His expression cold and distant as he spoke. “If anyone is to do it, I want it to be Jule.”

            Jules eyes widened as she looked into the jar were Grey stood his arms slowly shaking at his sides as he tried to swallow back his fear. “It’s only right.” He finally said. “You were the one that captured me, it’s only right that you be the one to do it.”

            “Grey, are you insane!” Zeke screamed from inside the confines of his glass prison. Grey smiled. He probably was. No, in fact he most certainly was. He couldn’t claim that he wasn’t scared for his life, he was practically shaking, at the thought. The thought of being eaten, meeting the same fate that his parents had years before, it terrified him like nothing ever terrified him before. But if this was destined to be his fate then it was going to be on his terms.

            Grey threw his arms into a shrug as he gave a weak and obviously forced smile to Jule. “That's the fate of a thief I suppose.” Grey said the fear in his voice giving away his cool composure.

            Marissa opened her mouth to speak but stopped when Jule walked silently past her. Kassandra and Marissa each took a step to the side and watched on as their friend approached the table and stared down through the glass walls that imprisoned Grey.

“Thief?” Jule uttered, the words lingering uncomfortably in the air.

Grey awkwardly scratched the back of his head trying to avoid making eye contact. “Yeah.” He finally confessed.

            Jule and Grey shared a few moments of awkward silence before Jule grabbed a chair and took a seat at the table in front of him. Her hands reached out for the jar and slowly and steadily tipped the jar causing Grey to fall out onto the tabletop. Grey landed on his feet with relative ease as Jule folded her arms and placed them on the table, leaning forward in her chair looking down at Grey who returned her gaze.

            “It occurs to me that if I do this… we won’t be able to talk anymore.” Jule said slowly.

            “Appears that way.” Grey responded.

            They continued to look into each other’s eyes, as if in this moment they were the only two people in the room.

            “I want to know more about you.” Jule finally said.

            Grey looked into the two large blue orbs she called eyes. At his size he could make out tiny patterns that seemed to glisten in her irises. Her dark hair and fair skin helped to make them pop. While Kassandra and Marissa’s figures seemed to stand out as their more prominent features, especially compared to Jule’s more modest sized curves, neither of them held a candle to Jule when it came to her beauty.

            Jule for the first time since his captured began to admire Grey’s appearance in return. Short sandy blonde hair that seemed to be made messy from days of travel. He had light skin, which was slightly tanned from all the time he had recently spent traveling outside under the sun. And as Grey appreciate the beauty in her eyes, Jule began to appreciate the beauty in his. They were green in color, wild and adventurous, or at least that's how she would have imagined they would have looked under different circumstances. His face was dirty stained with the dirt that one would earn living a life without any real chance to periodically bathe themselves. Jule was slightly happy by the fact that he was covered in honey when she had first tasted him, and pondered how well he would have tasted without it. Yet behind his dirty exterior he had a face that appeared young and cute with an even mixture of mature handsomeness thrown in. Jule could have imagined all the attention he must have garnered whenever he entered a bar. Little did she know despites all of Grey’s supposed “charm” the only female attention he tended to attract was those that came with a price tag. Such were the women a thief would normally draw.

            Grey considered what Jule had said. She wanted to know more about him, it was an odd request for someone who was to serve as his executioner. But Grey didn’t mind. It made him happy in a way. This was probably the last chance he would ever get to set aside his lies and tricks, his last chance to actually get to be himself. Like a man being brought to confession before the gallows, Grey took a seat on the floor, throwing his arm over his leg as he made himself comfortable.

            “Alright Jule, let's talk. What do you want to know?”

            “I want to know who you are. Who you really are.”

            Grey let out a deep sigh as he craned his neck. “Well, I’m Grey. Grey Nersin. If you want to know it fully and yes that’s my actual name. I think my parents may have named me after some old nobility or something like that. I don’t know. Peasants do that sorta thing from time to time, and as for what I am. Well, it wasn’t wrong to call me a troublemaker, because where I come from, I’m a thief.”

            “Why did you come out here?” Jule asked with sincere curiosity.

            “Well… there's no way around it I suppose, I came here to steal from you. You see there are some really bad people after me. I’m not the best person myself, but I like to think I hold certain standards that keep me a somewhat decent person. These men… they don’t have those standards. Long story short, I heard a rumor that you had loads of valuables hold up here, Jewels and all sorts of other goodies. So I thought I would help myself to some. At least enough to buy myself some protection, and well you see how that turned out.”

            “Jewels?” Jewel said in utter confusion. “I don’t have anything like that here?”

            Jule sat pondering for a moment as Grey entire body went stiff from her remark. 

            Kassandra’s voice spoke up from behind them. “Maybe it has to do with your name?”Jule and Grey both turned to Kassandra who stood pondering behind them. “Well maybe it had to do with your name. Ya know. Jule and Jewel. Sound alike.”

            Their discussion was broken by a sudden fit of laughter. Jule turned back to see Grey had doubled over onto his back laughing hysterically. A misconception! All of this was over a simple miscon-fucking-ception, probably because some crazy villager just so happened to be around to hear Jule’s name once.

            Grey continued to laugh uncontrollably at revelation. “Oh… oh… you gotta be fucking kidding me!” Grey continued to laugh as he slammed his fist repeatedly into the wooden surface next to him. “You hear that mom, you hear that dad. It was all for fucking nothing!” Grey said as he continued to laugh in between words. Even Marissa and Kass watched in silent concern as they continued to witness Grey’s mental breakdown.

            Jule hesitantly reached out to touch Grey but stopped. “Grey...” She began. “Are you alright?”

            Grey’s laughter slowed slightly as he carefully sat up. “Of course not!” He exclaimed. “Don’t you see, not matter what I did I was already screwed. Damned if I did, or damned if I didn’t.” Another laughing fit hit as Grey fell onto his back once more. “I should have just let Jack gut me, oh but I’m sure he would love to see where I am now! Bet he would pay a big to see this shit show!”

            Jule placed her hands on her lap as she continued to watch Grey cackling to himself on the top of her table. After a few moments his laughter finally subsided, as Grey was left lying back against the table breathing deeply a new and defeated man. Grey was completely certain that there was some sort of divine force in the universe, and its sole purpose was to flip him the largest middle finger it could possibly muster.

            “Better?” Jule asked after a moment.

            “Not at all…” Grey panted. “But continue.”

            “You mentioned your parents.” Jule said.

            “Did I?” Grey sat up trying to recall. “Yeah, I guess I did.”

            “Why?” Jule asked.

            “There dead. They have been for a long time.” Grey said, his voice finally recovering from the fit of laughter earlier. “I was a child when they died. It was because of a giant.” Marissa looked up as Grey spoke. “It happened so long ago, and so much has happened to me since then. It seems like a lifetime ago” He turned his head and looked at Zeke who watched him from behind the glass wall. His eyes were to the ground in silent recall of the story Grey had once shared with him years ago. “I didn’t really think about it much growing up. I had to look after myself once they were gone. To be honest I haven’t thought about them in years. But coming here, every night as I made my way further into giant territory I was plagued with more and more dreams. More and more memories of what had happened to them. I was terrified. I didn’t know what would happen if I came out here, I didn’t want to meet the same fate as them. I couldn’t bear the thought of it, but I pushed on anyway. Figured if I could survive this I could finally be rich enough to escape all of my problems. For good.” Grey let out a small chuckle. “I guess I was right. After this I won’t have to worry about anything anymore.”

            Jule looked at Grey in horror. “Grey, you don’t have too...”

            “No.” He said. “Marissa was right, it's better to just end me now. If you let me go, all I have waiting for me is the same fate, different hands. I prefer to have it be here, with you, then let Jack get his dirty hands on me.”

Tears slowly began to form Jule’s eyes once more as she stared at Grey. Grey smiled to himself. There ya go breaking hearts. Such a dashing rogue you are.

            Marissa walked over and placed her hand on Jule’s shoulder. Jule looked up to her friend and nodded gaining some of her composure. She looked at Grey once more and nodded. “Alright. I’ll do it.”

            Grey stood and faced Jule, forcing himself to give her one last smile. Grey turned to the jar were Zeke was. “I’m sorry.” He said. “If it wasn’t for me you wouldn’t be in this predicament. I hope you can forgive me.”

            Zeke shook his head. “Grey, think about what you're doing. You can’t just give up like this, this isn’t something the Grey I used to know would do.”

            Grey continued smiling as Jule’s hand slowly began to reach for him. “Well, a lot has changed. I don’t know what world you’ve been living in since we last parted, but sometimes you just gotta learn when to cut your losses.” Zeke’s eyes went wide as Jule’s fingers wrapped around Grey’s body. “For what it’s worth.” Grey continued. “It was good seeing you again.”

            Grey felt himself being lifted up as Zeke began shouting swears and hallowed threats. Grey blocked him out of his mind as he let Jule carry him upward towards her face. Grey once again found himself lifted up in front of her colossal face. Jule mouth twitched unsure what to do next. Grey looked forward, his eyes focused on her lips, a protective coldness washing over him from the sight he would soon witness.

            Sure enough Jule’s lips did part but it wasn’t to take him, but instead to speak. “Julie Rosa.” Jule said as her breath washed over him. Grey looked up at her confused. “That’s my actual name. Everyone just calls me Jule though, but I wanted to tell you it anyway.”

            “Julie… Julie Rosa” Grey repeated. “Just as beautiful of a name, if not more.”

            “You know.” Jule began. “In another life. Things could have been different between us.”

            Grey couldn’t help but let out a small laugh. “In another life then.” Grey said almost as if it were a promise.

            Jule’s lips slowly parted before him, but unlike before this time it was different. She was done talking and only one thing awaited him now. As light shined into Jule’s mouth as it slowly opened allowing Grey to better make out exactly what awaited him. A row of well-maintained white teeth, and past that her tongue, which unlike his previous encounter, seemed almost reluctant to accept him. Past that was her throat which remained unfazed by the circumstances which had brought him here, to it he was the same as any other meal, it served only as a gateway to what would be his final resting place. Shivers were sent down Grey’s spine as he looked at the chasm that awaited him. No matter how prepared he was, the thought of him sliding down her throat was something he was not ready for. Jule shifted Grey between her thumb and index finger as she slowly and gingerly placed him onto her tongue. Feeling the fleshy appendage squirm slightly as he made contact sent a jolt through his body. He felt her grip on him end as her fingers retreated from her mouth. Sitting on Jule’s tongue Grey looked behind him to see what would be his last glimpse of the outside world as her lips closed to a shut.

            As Grey sat he became increasingly aware of the salivating mouth he was now stuck in as a pool of saliva began to form under where he sat. Despite her hesitance it was apparent that Jule couldn’t help but appreciate his flavor. It was a small comfort he supposed. At least he know knew he tasted good. Grey was waiting for Jule’s tongue to come to life as it had once before. His thoughts returned to how violated and powerless he felt last time he was here, and dread that he was to repeat that experience. However that moment never came, instead Grey continued to sit in the darkness as more and more saliva formed in her mouth. Grey could make out very faint noise coming from the back of Jule’s throat. The gurgling and squelching came from the abyss below him, of what Grey could guess was what was left of Jule’s breakfast. Grey felt his position begin to slip, at first he thought it was her tongue, but realized that her entire mouth began tilt causing him to slide forward. Despite himself Grey tried desperately to grab hold of something, anything to just try to slow his decent, but to no avail. As Grey slid he felt his legs and feet being pressed on by all sides as they entered Jule’s throat, her muscles gripping at him like a long awaited prize. Grey tried, wanting to fight, resist the pull her throat had on him, but with great reservation he threw down his arms and allowed himself to be taken. If it wanted him so bad, it could have him. Grey felt himself pressed and pulled as he made his descent down Jule’s throat.

            Quicker than Grey initially thought he found himself dropped into Jule’s stomach with an unceremoniously wet plop. Grey stood up in the darkness and stumbled around as he attempted to find even footing, his body covered in some type of wet soupy substance. Grey shook arm in an attempt to shake off the liquid but to little avail and found himself having a hard time keeping balance as the stomach rumbled and moved underneath him. The smell was something fierce. Grey was used to unpleasant smells, having lived around drunk alleyways, and sewers that typically smelled much worse than the smell he was currently contending himself too. But the strength the smell brought with it was something far stronger than he was used to. He supposed it made sense, what else would a stomach smell like if not vomit, it wasn’t like he expected it to smell like a spring breeze or anything, but then again he never actually thought he would find himself in a situation like this. The gurgle and groans that Grey had heard earlier were much more audible now as it continued to work on Jule’s breakfast, as well as its new found occupant. Grey was already chalking this up as one of the most unpleasant experiences he had been though, not the worst; he still thought crawling through a sewer was worse, but it was close, and seeing as this one was going to end in his death he was prepared to just give it top place for the principle of it. Grey trudged through knee high sludge as he began trying to find the edge of the stomach wall. The turning and constant sloshing of the stomach almost threw him off balance once or twice but Grey managed to keep his footing intact and trudged forward. Grey eventually felt a squishy flesh wall and decided to sit down his back against it. Grey submerged his lower body under the soupy mire until the liquid was about up to his chest. Grey winced at how disgusted he felt, but he had to admit it felt better to be under the liquid’s surface than above it, it was almost like a warm bath. That smelled like vomit, was filled with disgusting half-digested hot cakes, and would probably soon be eating away at his flesh, but you know, small comforts. As Grey laid his head against the stomach he could hear a low faint rhythmic sound. At first it was hidden by the sounds of stomach digesting its contents, but as Grey shut his eyes he could start to make it out. It was the sound of Jule’s heart beating somewhere above where he currently sat. Grey closed his eyes and slowly listened to sound of Jule’s beating heart, it was somewhat soothing, to just sit there and listen to the sound of someone else's heart. Grey almost felt like he was one of those tragic heroes he had heard about in the stories of his youth. A warrior with their head rested against the chest of his true love, closing his eyes as he left this world. He imagined this was what it must have been like to pass away in the arms of someone who cared for them. Grey soon became aware of an irritating tingling feeling that started to spread over his body as he sat in the pool of stomach bile. Grey just clutched his eyes shut and focused on the sound of Jule’s heart. Small Comforts.

            Jule remained motionless as she felt the small object descend down her throat. Tears slowly made their way down her cheeks as Jule felt him disappear somewhere behind her chest. If circumstances were different Jule thought she would have enjoyed eating this particular human. Despite his appearance she couldn’t help but marvel how great he tasted. He had ended up being the best human Jule had had in a long while, and under different circumstances she would have been rather content with the meal she just had. However, these were not different circumstances. Jule couldn’t explain it, but Grey had been different from other humans. Something about him stood out to her, and despite their difference in race, Jule had felt she had made a connection with him. A connection that was now gone, he was gone, just like every other human who had previously crossed paths with her, in the end he was nothing special. The human that had given up everything in order to protect her, a human that made her genuinely curious about the way humans lived their lives. Tears continued to stream from Jules eyes as she fell to her knees and cried.

            Marissa and Kassandra looked at their friend as she knelt before them and wept. Kass moved to comfort her but Marissa stopped her.

“She needs her space right now.” She said. Kass only nodded as they began to walk towards the table.

            Jule continued to kneel as she folded her hands in front of her chest. “I’ll see you in a different life.” She muttered in a whisper. A whisper, a promise that she thought only she would hear.

            As Marissa and Kassandra began to walk away a large gust of wind exploded from behind them. Both of them quickly turned around as they were blinded by a bright white light. Zeke quickly covered his eyes as the light appeared in the room. Before he could think to do anything else, a large gust coming from the light tossed the jar off the table. The jar landed with a loud crash as shards of glass scattered across the floor. Zeke sprawled onto the floor as he adjusted from the impact he had just suffered from. Luckily for him he remained mostly unharmed from the crash, a little sore and bruised and a few cuts but nothing he couldn’t handle. Zeke repositioned himself to his feet. The blinding light and strange wind slowly began to die down. Zeke ran underneath one of the nearby legs of the table, having his back pressed flat against the wooden surface, before peering around the corner to see what had caused the source of this mysterious light. His eyes widen at what he saw.

            “It can’t be.” He muttered.

            Jule had her eyes shut, she didn’t know what had just happened but as she slowly opened them she saw a figure standing before her. A tall woman dressed in a long white silken dress, with long gorgeous brown hair stood before her. She had beautiful silky smooth skin and green eyes. She looked down at Jule smiling a sweet comforting smile and stood extending out an open hand to her. Jule looked in awe for a moment before slowly taking the mysterious woman's hand and standing up.

            “Who… who are you?” Jule asked almost a loss for words.

The women continued with a pleasant smile. “I am Queen Amelia, citizen.” Her voice seemed to hold a mixture of tenderness and regal elegance as she spoke each word.

            “Queen Amelia!?” Jule gasped. Jule had heard the name Queen Amelia before, any giant would say the same. Queen Amelia was a name well renowned in giant society, and there wasn’t a single giant that didn’t know who she was. But for her to be here, it was impossible.

            The woman turned her head and looked about the room in odd curiosity. Jule didn’t know what to do, Marissa and Kassandra stood off to the side oddly silent and still in apparent shock as to both this woman's sudden appearance and her abrupt claim.

            “Are… are you looking for something?” Jule finally asked.

            The woman turned her attention back to Jule. “Of pardon my manners. But yes I am looking for something, or rather someone. Pray tell me have you seen a human by the name of Grey. You see he is my lover.”

            Jule’s eyes widen in fear and the woman gave her a curious look. Jule slowly moved her hands over her stomach and looked down. The woman’s eyes followed Jule’s as she stared at Jule’s belly and her face went pale. 

           Grey gripped his head in pain, his eyes slowly drifted upward as he found himself standing in a place that was unknown to him. He didn’t remember how he had gotten here but he swore that something had happened to him. Something bad. No matter how much he tried he couldn’t quite shake the feeling that he was forgetting something, something important.

           Grey looked around, his vision was blurred and he could hardly make out his surroundings. His vision cleared slightly as he focused only to find that he was in some sort room surrounded by bars. With slow weighted steps he found himself approaching the bars he was confined in. Have I been captured? Grey tried clearing his mind as his sight began to adjust to what lay past the prison he currently found himself in, looking past the metal bars he could see a large well-furnished room, much larger than any human would have need for... He looked down and realized he was not in some sort of jail cell but instead a cage, a cage that was suspended high above the ground, next to an equally large elegantly made bed. A strange feeling overcame him as he looked around his new surroundings, a feeling of familiarity.

           “I’ve… been here before...” Grey muttered to himself.

           Grey turned to see a man sitting on the floor of the cage just a few feet away from where he stood. He couldn’t believe that he hadn’t noticed the man until now. Looking at the man from behind Grey noticed his unusual appearance. He wore what appeared to be a silken purple tunic and his hair which was clean and well-kept fell about to his shoulders in length. But the strangest thing about his hair was its color, the man's hair was a silvery white, and based on the way the man sat, Grey couldn’t have guessed the man was that old. Grey found himself slowly approaching him. He hesitantly reached out his hand to tap the man on the shoulder but before Grey could reach him he suddenly turned catching Grey by surprise. For the first time Grey saw his face, he was young, younger than Grey initially thought. He looked roughly around the same age as Grey himself despite the color of his hair, but the thing that truly stood out about his face was his eyes. Violet in color. Grey stared at the strange young man that sat before him. Neat, white hair, violet eyes, royal purple tunic, and fair skin much like himself. His eyes looked tired and as Grey’s eyes began to adjust he could now begin to see that his tunic was not as fine as it had first appeared. At least not anymore. It looked worn, with multiple tears here and there, as if the man had been put through something his clothes were not suited for. Grey noticed that the man's gaze was not pointed at him, but more through him, as if he was looking at something the lay beyond where he stood. As Grey followed where his gaze lead he turned in time to see a large slender hand slowly descending upon him. Grey began to panic as the hand prepared to capture its prize.

           Grey woke with a sudden jolt. His eyes flew open as he found himself staring up at a ceiling that seemed as if it were miles away from where he currently lie. Slowly he began to force his body up, only to wince as he felt a sharp pain suddenly make itself present across his body. Grey quickly fell onto his back once more and let out a gasp of air as the pain continued to let its presence be known. Grey submitted to the pain’s suggestion and remained lying on his back as it slowly subsided, but still continued to linger. He stared once more to the ceiling trying to recall where he was, and how he had gotten here.

           He recalled traveling, through forest, tiring days, and sleepless nights. But why, why was he traveling? Memories of Jack and his goons, as well as the treasure he sought began to resurface and with that the giant’s home. His mind slowly traced its steps back to when he had first glimpsed Jule, and memories of his time with her started to fall back into place. His initial fear of her, the conversation they later shared, the arrival of her friends, how he struggled with them. Then he recalled Zeke. He almost swore it was a dream. Zeke’s sudden arrival after years of being missing, and the strange ability and skills he now seemed to possess. Nothing like he had ever seen before. Grey wasn’t sure if he had truly even seen his friend. Then as if being hit in the face by the King’s very own personal Paladin, Grey remembered. He was once again captured, and had given himself in to his fate. Jule, the giant who he had sacrificed himself for on a whim, had eaten him. He remembered lying in her stomach, as the pain of digestion finally took hold of him, and the sound of her heart lulled him into a black numb silence. He had died. He must have, but if that was the case, then where did that put him now?

        A shadow slowly enveloped him as one of the most beautiful faces Grey had lay witness too filled his vision. A fair skin woman; much like Jule, looked down at him with a warm gentle smile. She had the largest and most beautiful set of green eyes Grey had ever seen and her long silky smooth hair hung slightly on her shoulders. If I knew this was waiting for me, I would have just let Jack’s goons have me.

        “Hello.” The woman spoke with a gentle and caring voice. “I’m glad to see you awake.”

        Grey felt his heart pounding and could even feel his face turning a deep shade of red. “Ye… Yeah.” His words stumbled out like a prepubescent boy attempting to hit on a courtesan.

       The woman giggled softly as she lifted a hand to hide her laughter. Grey slowly tried once more to sit up only for the pain to remind him why he was lying down in the first place. The woman taking notice of his plight looked on with concern as she lifted her hand above him.

        “Be still for a moment.” She whispered. The woman closed her eyes as a golden light slowly drifted down from the palm and fingertips over his body. Grey felt a warm soothing sensation wash over him as the light continued to fall. After a moment the woman opened her eyes and the light stopped. “You may move now.” Grey slowly sat up, this time instead of pain he felt a sore numbness where the pain had previously been. Alright, so far this is much better than life.

        Grey stretched his arms adjusting to the new numbing sensation he felt, as he did so he noticed something constricting the movement of his arms. He looked to see white bandages wrapped around his arm and part of his hand, he looked to his other arm and noticed the same. It wasn’t long before Grey took notice of the bandages wrapped around his torso, legs and even feet, but that wasn’t what Greys mind was preoccupied on. Grey quickly became aware to the fact that he currently sat naked, with only a small white cloth loosely placed over his pelvic region. Grey began to blush even more deeply than before as he sat almost completely exposed in front of this gorgeous woman. He frantically scrambled to pull the cloth more closely around him in an attempt to keep himself somewhat unexposed, much to the women's amusement.

        “There is no need for such modesty, Grey.” She said with a playful laugh.

        Grey looked up at her pausing his action, and then nodded. “Right, I guess that would make sense. No need to hide anything from a goddess.”

        The women cocked an eyebrow and let out a surprised laugh. “Goddess?” She said. “My my, you have called me many things, but I do believe this is the first time you have ever referred to me as a goddess.”

        Grey looked at her in confusion as he tried rethinking things he might have said. His eyes widened at the realization of what she meant.

“I’m sorry!” Grey blurted out frantically. “All the things I said in the past! I didn’t actually mean them, I was just frustrated is all! I didn’t know I was actually calling you those things! I take them all back I swear!”

        The women let out another amused laugh. “What are you going on about?”

        Before Grey could respond a voice spoke up, revealing that they were no longer alone. “Grey, are you alright.” Grey turned to see Zeke stand up from a crouch as he had just finished climbing up whatever platform Grey was currently sitting on. Unlike before Zeke’s mask and cloak were gone, letting his longer dark hair hang down past his shoulders. Zeke looked up at the woman Grey was speaking to as he continued his hurried stride forward. “I told you to get me the instant he awoke.”

        Amelia smiled. “He had only just woken.” She retorted in a coy tone.

        Zeke ignored her and continued to walk toward Grey. “How are your injuries? Are you in any pain?” Zeke spoke in an almost methodical manner.

         “Yeah… I think I’m fine. But Zeke, what are you doing here? Did they really kill you already?”

        Zeke looked at Grey, utterly dumbfounded. “Grey, did the acid seep into your head or something?”

        Grey shook his head. “What? No, I’m asking did they kill you, I thought they were waiting.”

        “What the hell are you talking about?”

        “Us, Zeke. Were dead, I’m just a little surprised to see you so soon. I thought you would have at least a week or so left.”

        Zeke stood in complete astonishment. “Wha… what the? Grey!” He shouted. “Sorry to disappoint you since you have been trying so hard, but we are both very much alive right now.”

        It was Grey turn to look at Zeke in confusion. “What?”

        “You aren’t dead. We managed to get you out before you died, albeit barely. That's why you're all bandaged up. You suffered some rather serious acid burns while in there, but we still managed to get you back out alive.”

        Grey sat for a minute in silence as he looked at the bandages wrapped around his arms and hands. Grey then looked back up to Zeke, before his mind turned to the giant women he had been talking to.

        “If I’m not dead.” Grey turned his attention to the giant women that sat beside him smiling. “Then who's this?” He couldn’t help but feel a sudden urge to once again make sure his cloth was secure as he asked the question.

        Zeke brought his hand up to his face as he let out a deep sigh. “Right… well. Grey this is Amelia.” Zeke said motioning to the woman. “She claims to know you.”

        Grey looked up at the giantess, as she continued to smile. As much as he tried, he couldn’t recall ever seeing her before in his life. Which would have been rather easy to recall, even as a human she would have stood out to him. Yet despite not recognizing her, there was something he couldn’t quite shake. He had never met this woman before, yet he had already felt a strange familiar comfort in her presence. But despite this familiarity, Grey still couldn’t say he had ever met her.

        “Hunter Zeke, if I could ask of you to give the two of us some privacy.” Amelia asked in request.

        Zeke glared at Amelia, arms crossed, trying to gain any idea of what she intend. It was a futile effort, since the moment she had arrived Zeke was unable to get a single read off of her. But Zeke remained vigilant. She may have worn a pretty face, but if she truly was who she claimed to be, then Zeke knew there was much more that she hid under the surface of her smile. This had already been proven when Zeke had previously tried to fire a fully charged arrow at her hoping to catch her by surprise. While the shots would have easily taken any of the other three giants out with it; including the magic capable Marissa, the arrow never even came close to Amelia, as she effortlessly moved out of the arrow trajectory almost as if it were an afterthought, and not only that but she was immediately able to pinpoint his exact location despite never even turning to see where the arrows had been fired from. That skill alone was impressive, but Zeke had heard of many more stories of the supposed Giant Queen. Stories that had him questioning her strange behavior since the moment she arrived.

         After a moment of silence Zeke decided he would adhere to her request. Without saying a word Zeke walked to the edge of the nightstand both he and Grey were currently on. As he approached the edge he stopped.

         “If anything happens to him. You’ll answer to me.” His words coming out as a threat. Though with what he had seen earlier. He didn’t know how much weight they truly held.

         “I can assure you.” Amelia began. “You have naught to fear from me. Nothing will happen to Grey under my watch.”

         Zeke didn’t respond, as he took a step over the ledge, with no hesitation. Grey nearly jumped in surprise seeing his friend's sudden drop over the edge, but he could tell from the look of Amelia’s eyes that he must have landed more than alright. Amelia sat beside the nightstand where Grey was placed, her eyes following Zeke as she watched his departure in silence. After a few moments she finally turned her attention back to Grey.

         “You’ve certainly made an interesting friend.” She stated, after she was sure he had gone.

         “You're telling me.” Grey said in contemplation. “He’s a lot different then I remember him to be honest.”

         “Well he cares for you, that’s for certain. I say you’ve done well.” Amelia tilted her head slightly with a smile. Rather formal in the way that she spoke. Grey blushed slightly at the sight of her. He didn’t know what was coming over him. It was as if he had never talked to an attractive woman before. Grey was no stranger to trying to charm women, especially if it offered some sort of monetary benefit, and it wasn’t because she was an attractive giant. He had found Marissa, Kassandra and especially Jule to all be fairly attractive, and he was able to communicate to them without any embarrassment. At least for the most part. Yet compared to this giant he felt like a child.

           “I like what you’ve done with your hair.” She said after a moment.

         Grey looked at her in confusion. “What?”

         “You’re hair. It looks nice. It’s not as regal and exotic as it once was, but I like what you’ve done with it. You have a more… adventurous, wild look. It’s attractive. Though I do wish you had at least kept the color.”

         Grey shook his head. He couldn’t even begin to have the slightest clue on what she was talking about. “I’m sorry. But… I don’t think we’ve met before.”

         “Grey.” She whispered, in a soft playful tone. The mere mention of his name causing a shiver to run down his spine. “There’s no need to play coy. There is no more reason to hide who you are. I’ve finally returned to you, and you to me. After so many, many years, we can finally be together again, my love.”

         My love. The words echoed in Grey’s head. They came out so naturally, as if they had been repeated a thousand times before. There was comfort in them, a comfort Grey wanted to accept despite hardly knowing the woman he was talking to. It felt right. Yet he couldn’t.

         “I’m sorry.” Grey uttered. “I don’t know you, and I don’t know who you think I am, but you're mistaking me for someone else. Until yesterday I’ve never even seen a giant… well that's not entirely true. There is one other giant I encountered, but that's not a giant I haven’t pleasant memories of.”

         Amelia looked bothered by his words. “But… you must be him. Otherwise how else could I… No. You are him. You have to be, there is no other explanation.”

         Grey could see the distress on her face as she tried to come up with an explanation. “I’m sorry. But whoever this other Grey is that you think I am. I can assure you I am not him. I think I would remember someone like you if that were the case.”

         Amelia leaned her head closer to inspect him. Grey sat, a little uncomfortable as he adjusted his cloth slightly. She stared for a moment, before sitting back.

         “You… you do look, slightly different.” She paused. “Are you sure?” She said looking up at him with almost pleading eyes. “Are you sure, you don't recognize me? Even a little?”

         No. “Yes.” Grey said without hesitation.

         Amelia sat back as she let out a long deep sigh. Grey could immediately make out the heartbroken expression she had on her face, but only for a moment. Amelia forced a smile once more, but Grey could see it was far weaker, much less sincere than the ones she gave him before.

         “Well, then... Grey.” She said. “I apologize for the confusion.”

         “Don’t worry about it. I don’t know who it is you're looking for exactly, but I can see he means a lot to you, and I’m certain he must be out there somewhere.” Grey was the one to smile this time. Oddly enough this got a reaction for Amelia who couldn’t help but smile herself, this time a little more honestly.

         “I thank you. You may not be my Grey, but you are just as kind, and sweet.” They sat in mutual silence for a moment before Amelia looked at Grey almost as if she had forgotten something. “Oh, how terribly rude of me. This whole time I have been too preoccupied with my own concerns, while you have been recovering from your own injuries. How do your wounds fare?”

         Grey nodded in response. “They're fine. After you did that… uhhh...” Grey stopped for a moment trying to decide the words. “Light… thing... I’ve felt much better.”

         Amelia smiled. “Good to hear. After we retrieved you, I had to use some healing magic to get you into a stable condition. You were in pretty bad shape, unsurprising considering what happened to you. You’re lucky though, only higher class giant’s such as myself tend to learn magic, and not all are trained in healing. To be fair, that wasn’t my focus of study growing up either, but I knew more than enough to help you. Your wounds should heal nicely, although expect some scars. I tried to minimize any lasting effects the acid would have on your skin, but you can’t expect to come completely out of that ordeal unscathed.”

         “Well, that’s fine. Wouldn’t be my first scar, and thank you for everything you’ve done.” Amelia nodded. The discussion of his injuries had reminded him of Jule. Ever since he woke he had not heard anything about her and had begun to grow worried. “Excuse me, Miss Amelia. If you don’t mind me asking, where is the giant that ate me?”

         Amelia paused to think for a moment. “Ahh, Jule. She’s fine.” Grey let out a sigh of relief to those words. Amelia looked at him curiously. “Why do you ask?”

         “Well, I just wanted to make sure she was alright… I didn’t know what you did to get me out.”

         “Ahh yes.” Amelia said nodding her head. “Well, after your hunter friend tried attacking me and explained what had happened to you, we immediately got to work on extracting you from her. At first, I must admit. Thinking who you might have been, and what had become of you, I was rather... Upset, to say the least. But I couldn’t blame Jule for what she had done, and she proved rather cooperative at well… purging you from her body. Since then she has been waiting for your recovery. Her two friends are still about, though they have been keeping their distance from your hunter friend. After I had them both agree to a temporary truce, that is.”

         Grey smiled. It was good to hear that Jule was still safe. Amelia seemed to take notice of this smile and stood from the bed she had been sitting on. Grey watched as she stood, towering high above him and peering down with the same warm and gentle smile she had given him when he first awoke.

           “Well, I have wasted enough of your time Grey. You still need rest, and there are some things I should discuss with the others. I will come check up on you in a bit, to make sure you are healing properly.”

           Amelia began her way to the door, and as she opened the door she had caught Jule standing in front of her, hand up as if preparing to knock. Jule stared at her blankly for a moment.

           “I’m sorry, is this a bad time?” Jule asked uneasily.

           Amelia smiled. “Not at all, I was just taking my leave.”

           “Was he?” Jule began.

           “No, I’m afraid he is not who I was looking for.” Amelia said, her tone dropping a bit. “However, not to assume that you wish him any harm, but I would like to extend my protection to him as well. At least for the time being.”

           “Oh, I wouldn’t dare.” Jule responded rather quickly.

           “I know you wouldn’t.” Amelia smiled. “I just thought I would make it clear, I will inform your friends of this as well.”

           Amelia walked past her and out the door. Jule stepped inside the room closing the door behind her before making her way over to the nightstand where Grey sat. She took a seat at her bed, a frown weighing heavily on her face. .

           “Hey, Jule.” Grey said softly.

           She smiled slightly despite herself. “Hey, Grey.” The two of them sat mutual silence for a while, before Jule finally decided to speak. “I’m sorry.” She muttered tears beginning to well in her eyes. “I’m so sorry. After what you did for me, for me to just eat you like that. For me to do this to you.” She said gesturing towards Grey and his bandaged body. “You didn’t deserve that, you didn’t deserve any of it. If… if Queen Amelia hadn’t appeared the way she had, you would’ve been dead by now. Gone just like nothing. Which isn’t right.”

           Jule began to weep as Grey watched on from the side. He didn’t know how to respond. She was technically right. If it hadn’t been from Amelia he would have died, and Zeke would have been on his way to his own death. But at the same time he didn’t blame Jule. It was partially his own fault, and she wasn’t the one who insisted he should die. If anything she tried to defend him. He wanted to comfort her, but at his size and condition he could only watch.

           “Jule, it’s alright.” Grey said, Jule’s wiped her eyes of her tears as she looked at him. “I was the one who asked for it. I was the one that gave up. You didn’t have to do any of it, but I was the one who insisted, so don’t cry. It’s not entirely your fault, I’m just as guilty, and besides. I’m alive now aren't I?” Grey cocked a smirk as he finished talking.

           Grey felt himself suddenly being lifted as he opened his eyes to see himself being drawn closer to Jule’s chest. Grey felt himself pressed deeply into Jule’s breasts as her hands held him close to her. Despite the position he was in Grey didn’t find that he was embarrassed to be where he was. If anything he found the situation comforting. Jule held him rather gently as she continued to sob, much lighter now than she had previously. Grey pressed his head against her soft body as he attempted to return what little he could of an embrace. As his head remained against her chest, he could hear the familiar rhythmic sounds of Jule’s beating heart, and once more found comfort in it. However he preferred this location compared to his previous one. After a few moments Jule slowly began to pull Grey away from her, holding him gingerly in both hands. She smiled, with wet red eyes, as she slowly pulled him into view. Once in view however her eyes widened and cheeks quickly flushed red. Grey looked up at her confused before looking down and seeing why. At some point during their embrace Grey had lost the small cloth he had been using to cover himself. So there he was, sitting naked in the palm of a giant woman’s hands. His face joined hers as it quickly grew a shade of deep red, and together they shared a long awkward pause as they stared into each other's red faces. And like that, all the embarrassment Grey felt around Amelia was dwarfed in one single moment.

            The sun hung high in the sky as Grey and Zeke stood before the open door frame of Jule’s home ready to embark on their journey home. Grey had woken up this morning feeling much better than in the previous day, some slight sores and pains, but nothing that kept him from being able to get up and move once more. Amelia’s magic was to thank for his swift recovery, without it he most likely would have taken weeks, possibly even months to recover, and his wounds wouldn’t have healed as well as they had. The few patches of scars he received from the burns were either almost completely gone or almost unnoticeable, to which he was appreciative for.

            On one of the previous days after Grey had shared his increasingly awkward moment with Jule he had spent rest of it trying to speed up his recovery. Jule had made only a couple brief visits afterward to give him food and water, but had always left rather quickly, quite clearly still embarrassed from their earlier encounter. Amelia had periodically come into to check on Grey’s condition, and applied her magical arts when necessary. Marissa or Kassandra has remained missing since he had regained consciousness, it wasn’t until the following day that he had heard of their departure. Grey couldn’t help but remain curious on the terms which they left on, but decided not to inquire on it.

            Zeke had kept him company for most of that following day. If he could call it that. Zeke had refused to talk about any of current matters, stating that he wanted to avoid speaking about things until after they had left. He constantly seemed to be on his guard, especially whenever Amelia was present. Grey had so many questions he wanted to ask him, such as how he had become a hunter, and where he had been for all the years that they had been apart.

            The last time Grey saw Zeke they were still both children. Zeke just like Grey had been made an orphan at a young age, albeit under very different circumstances. Zeke had lived by himself in the woods after being orphaned, learning to live off the land, and hunt for survival. He wasn’t the only one though, he along with other unfortunate children that in one way or another found themselves without a family lived outside the city gates making for themselves a small community. They stealing from passing caravans and traveling merchants when hunting and foraging proved not enough but for the most part they relied on the land and each other as a source of survival. It was by this group that Grey had been discovered by, passed out and starving on the road a couple day after the giant had attacked. The group of wayward children took him in as one of their own as Zeke and Grey formed a strong bond with each other. Zeke had acted as a mentor; a type of older brother even, to Grey. He had taught him everything he needed to know to survive. Forming starting a fire to hunting with a bow at which Zeke was quite proficient at something that appeared to have only increased since their last encounter with each other.

            Just a few years after Grey had joined them Zeke along with some of the other older kids had gone into the city hoping to find work before returning to the others. They had never returned. Grey being one of the older children went into the city hoping to find out what had happened to them. Finding no hints of where they had gone Grey stayed in the city and found himself living on the streets as he began adapting to the life that he would be living for the next eight years of his life.

            While Zeke avoided answering most of Grey’s questions he did finally succumb in explaining how he had found Grey. Apparently he didn’t even initially know it was him who was out here. Zeke had been traveling from village to village looking for rumors about potential giant attacks, when he came across a rumor of a man who was heading into the giant lands alone he decided to follow the rumors. When he had come across the giant’s home that was rumored to be the man’s destination he was quite surprised to find the man stupid enough to put himself in so much danger was him. He had apparently observed his interaction with the three giants for a while before he was able to deceive a plant to rescue him. He certainly did not expect for things to go the way they did, and mentioned that Amelia’s sudden appearance created a much larger problem than he anticipated. Though he refused to specify why.

            The following day when Zeke saw that Grey’s condition was improving he informed him to get his things ready and that he planned to leave as soon as he ready, telling Grey that when he left I wanted him to join him. Grey thought the answer was clear, of course he wanted to leave after everything that happened. But it wasn’t. Strangely enough a small part of him wanted to stay. Now that the giant’s didn’t pose as much of a threat to him, he felt comfortable here. He never thought he would say it, but he was actually considering staying and living among the giants. Jule had shown she had cared for him, and in a way the feeling was mutual, and despite Zeke’s paranoia Amelia seemed rather protective of him, even after coming to terms that he wasn’t the person she thought he was. If he decided to stay Grey was sure he would be safe under both their care. But despite all this Grey knew, that staying wasn’t an option. After all he was still a human, and they were giants. While he trusted them he knew living in the giant lands meant dealing with more than just Jule and Amelia. What would Marissa or Kassandra do if they returned and he was still here? Could he really trust either of them? And what would happened if another giant arrived, and would Jule or Amelia really be able to care for him? The more Grey considered the possibility the more he realized just how much it wouldn’t work. He knew if he were to stay he would never truly be free, he would always be restricted or handle in some shape or form. He would be more of a pet than anything else, and that was not a life Grey wanted. So he accepted Zeke’s offer, and a few hours later Zeke and Grey stood at the foot of Jule’s door looking up at the two giantesses as they said their farewells.

            Grey stood uncomfortably as he began to grow accustomed to wearing his old clothes. They were ragged with patches and holes they had received from acids inside Jule’s stomach, some of the larger holes had been sewn shut rather hastily with some spare bowstring Zeke had on hand, but there were still a few areas where his cloak pants and shirt remained open. Jule had at least been kind enough to wash them, removing the stench they had obtained on his trip. They had also filled their travelling sacks with food that Jule had given them for their trip home. Of course the food she offered was much too large for either of them to carry so they had to cut off small pieces of what she offered.

            Amelia and Juled both kneeled on the ground as to prevent Zeke and Grey staring up at them as they spoke. With Amelia’s hands neatly folded on her lap, and Jule’s hands resting gently at her side.

            “Are you sure you have everything you need?” Jule asked, a slight hint of concern in her voice.

            “We have plenty. Thank you.” Zeke said in return. It was the first time Zeke hadn’t sounded completely hostile while speaking to one of the giants. Grey almost suspected he was beginning to grow comfortable around them, although it might also had something to do with the fact that they were leaving.

            “Just making sure.” Jule turned to Grey. “I’m sorry that I can’t offer you anything else, after all the trouble you went through to come here.

            “It’s fine.” Grey said waving his hand dismissively. It wasn’t. “Probably would have been too much for us to carry anyway.” Grey knew that when he returned to the village he would have hell to pay if he ran into any of Jack’s men. But he supposed he would cross that bridge when he came to it.

            “Well I think we’ve wasted enough time. We should reach the forest before nightfall, having an open flame out in fields is dangerous in this territory.” Zeke said interrupting Jule and Grey’s conversation.

            “Right, I understand.” Jule said disappointedly. “Well Grey, it was nice to meet you. I’m sorry for everything I‘ve done, and I want to thank you for everything you did for me. For a human, you're really sweet.” Jule paused as she considered her last words. “I’ll miss you.”

            Grey couldn’t help but smile, out of the corner of his eye he noticed that he wasn’t the only one. Amelia observed the two’s interaction with much interest, smiling as she watched both of them speak, with an almost knowing grin.

            Grey knew he had to say something. Something profound. Something that she could remember him by. But what ended coming out was. “Yeah, likewise.” The great silver tongued charmer, at a loss for words.

            “Grey.” Amelia spoke up. “I would like to say that it was an honor to become acquainted with you. I do not know where your path will take you in life, but I am sure you will go on to do great things. You are not like other humans, you Grey are something special and I pray that one day our paths will cross again.”

            “Thank you, the honor is all mine.” Grey said, this time with more enthusiasm in his voice. He paused for a moment and began to internally panic as he realized how his response must have appeared to Jule.

            “And Hunter Zeke.” Amelia said as she shifted her attention to him. “It was an honor to meet you as well. Your skill came as a great surprise to me, as every humans in my time were not known to carry such power.”

            Zeke stood and said nothing, but Grey had caught something in her words that stood out to him. She had said In her time. Another thing he would have to inquire Zeke about later.

            Amelia continued to speak. “I hope you remember what we discussed as you continue on your travels.”

            Zeke continued to not say anything but responded instead with a nod. Grey looked at him curiously every interaction between them brought more and more questions.

            “If that’s all we should get moving Grey.” Zeke said as he turned to leave.

            Grey nodded at his old friend as they both turned and took the first few steps of their long journey back home. Amelia and Jule stood from where they kneeled standing high over the two cloak clad humans as they saw them on their way.

            Jule began to wave as they walked. “I’ll never forget you Grey.” She called out.

            Grey couldn’t help but look back at her with a smile. “Nor I you!” Grey called back as he looked to see the two giants witness their departure. His smile slowly diminished as he glanced back at Jule and admired her once more, realizing this would be the last time.

            Grey sat before the low flames of his camp fire, his worn traveling cloak worse than it had been when he first embarked on this journey. Zeke sat crossed legged on the opposite side of the fire, as the two of them ate pieces of their rations Jule had provided for them. Grey was happy that he would at least be able to eat on the way back to civilization.

            The two of them remained quiet for most of their trip, leaving each other to their own thoughts. As much as Grey’s mind was focused on what would come next and the ordeal he had just been through, he could see Zeke had his mind on his own problems. Grey didn’t dare poke him for answers, at least not yet.

            Grey sat chewing on what was a piece of dried fruit Zeke had cut for them. He looked at it curiously “I’m curious how they do it?” Grey said.

            “What?” Zeke said startled by the sudden break in silence.

            “How do they get food so big?” Grey asked in between mouthfuls.

            “Oh.” Zeke said seeming collect himself back in the present moment. “Well, uhh. They grow them. In farms. Similar to us.”

            “Giant farms?”

            “For the most part.”

            Grey swallowed as he went to take another bite. “So, do have like. Giant animals and such?”

            Zeke shook his head. “Oh, no no. Well at least not that I’ve seen. If they did, they would have probably no reason to eat our kind. You see giant’s rely on humans as their main source of meat. They will occasionally steal livestock from human farms but that's typically rare. I heard rumors once from a fellow hunter who claimed he had seen a giant cow once, but I remain skeptical. However, I have witnessed giants eating cheeses and drinking milk before, so they must be getting their diary from somewhere.”

            “Fascinating.” Grey said as he took a sip from his water skin. ”If they have giant farms, why haven’t I heard of people trying to steal food from giants more often then?”

            “Probably because you a city boy who doesn’t care about life outside your tall safe walls.” Zeke responded almost instantly.

            ”Ouch. That hurts.” Zeke smirked at the response. “And hey, I haven’t completely forgotten the time we spent growing up outside the walls.”

            “Sure, but one of us actually continued to live outside them.” Zeke quickly remarked.

            “Oh, forgive me. We can’t all be mystical glowy hand archers.” Grey said just as quickly.

            “Right, because being a second rate thief is so much more exciting.”

            “Second rate? I take high offense to that claim.”

            Grey and Zeke stared at each other for a moment, before both breaking into a fit of childlike laughter. Despite everything that had happened, despite all the years they had spent apart, and despite the side of him he had seen back with the giants. It was good to know that Zeke was still the same he had always been.

            “It’s good to see you haven’t changed much.” Zeke said after a moment.

            “Yeah, same.” Grey said in response. “Well besides this whole hunter business.”

            Zeke nodded. “Yeah...”

            “So...” Grey said stalling before finally asking the question he had been curious about for so many years. “What happened to you? I remember you went to the city to try to earn some gold, but you never came back.”

            Zeke rubbed the back of his head awkwardly. “Yeah, about that.” Zeke leaned back a bit as he recalled the events from years past. “Well you see, the group of us that went into town. We tried finding a place that would hire us, but that didn’t go well. One of the other kids tried stealing from one of the merchants and well. He got caught, and the rest of us were thrown into prison with him.

            “While we were kids we were still old enough that they weren’t about to go easy on us, that's when a man visited the dungeon and offered us a deal. He was recruiting for the hunters. You see hunters normally don’t come from self-righteous people looking to do some good in the world, they are normally crazy, or criminals looking to get out of some sort of sentence. It was sketchy I will give you that, but we all took the deal. We were trained for some time, to which my skill with a bow came in handy. After serving for a couple years, Trinity discovered I had a gift, and began training me how to use it.”

            “What happened to the others?” The grim look on Zeke’s face had answered his question. They sat in silence for a while before Grey spoke up once more. “You mentioned your power, and someone by the name of Trinity. Actually now that I think about it, Marissa had said something about you belonging to something called the Trinity. What’s all that about?”

            Zeke remained silent for a moment before answering. “The Trinity… we are a group of three human hunters with the ability to use magic. And, well Trinity herself...” Zeke looked up at Grey, his eyes holding a cold seriousness to them.

            “What I am about to tell you is classified information. Only other members of the Trinity and the highest officials that oversee the hunters are privy to this kind of info. Not even the king himself is aware of this information, and it is to be kept secret from all other lower hunters. Sharing this information could get me killed, and if not killed then in serious trouble, and I’m one of the members. If word got out that you knew… well… do you get my point about how serious this is?” Grey nodded, and Zeke let out a slow breath.

            “Alright. I guess to begin Trinity is the founder of my little group. Long before I even became a hunter. You see giants are a powerful adversary, even the most trained hunter can find themselves in trouble when facing a giant alone. Their size and strength and intelligence make them extremely deadly to combat. What even worse is that that some giant possess the ability to utilize magic, and some of those magic capable giants know how to use it effectively in battle. It would be suicide for even a group of highly skilled hunters to take on a giant who had magical training. We humans are naturally incapable of using magic. Despite hundreds of years of trying to copy the magical arts, no human has ever succeeded. We are basically sterile to it, until Trinity.

            “Like I said, this was all long before my time. Trinity approached our order and claimed to have magical abilities akin to a master giant spell caster. At first the heads of our order were skeptical but her claims quickly were proven true. Trinity was the first human in recorded history to have such abilities. How she had come to gain such power is something I don’t even know. Trinity helped the order combat giants, her skills proving useful as we finally had gained an advantage when combating giants capable of magic, however that wasn’t the only great thing she brought with her. Commander Barron, my captain and leader of the Trinity...

            “Wait leader?” Grey cut in.

            Zeke’s expression showed annoyance from being interrupted. “Yes, leader.”

            “I thought Trinity was the leader?”

            “No she was just the founder.”

            “But wouldn’t that make her the leader?”

            “Not necessarily.” He could see Grey was still confused by the concept. “Just let me continue my story and I’ll explain. Alright then.

            “Anyway, Barron is the Leader of the Trinity. Originally he was a high ranked veteran hunter by the time Trinity arrived. But Trinity had noticed there was something special about him. She could sense that Barron like her had an ability to use magic, but was unaware of it. Through training Trinity was able to help Barron unlock his magical power, and use it effectively. While not as versatile as Trinity’s magic Barron now had the strength to fight and kill giants unlike any hunter before him. Barron’s skill at fighting giants combined with his new found power only proved to make him an extremely deadly hunter. Then there was me.

            “When I first joined my natural skill with a bow is what served me when combating giants. But it wasn’t until Trinity came across me that she revealed that I had something more. She told me that I too had powers I wasn’t aware of, and taught me how to summon upon auras that could make my arrows pierce stronger than any weapon ever conceived. She had even taught me how I can use magic to enhance my sense, and before I knew it, I was able to strike apples off a fence from miles away, and pierce an arrow straight through a metal wall.

            “After I had honed my power, I was accepted into one of the Trinity. Well at least that’s what they began calling it after I joined. I think Trinity finds it a little ego stroking having our group named after her.” Zeke smirked a bit at his own comment.

            “But that wasn’t the only thing that changed. As a member of the Trinity I had learned our purpose. While we are the elites among hunters, and we are specialized in confronting giants with magical capabilities, or other extremely dangerous cases, our true purpose was to train to take down the infamous Giant Queen Amelia.”

            Grey’s eyes widened. “Amelia… you mean?”

            Zeke nodded. He looked at Grey considering him for a moment. “Grey how much do you know about Amelia?”

            “Not much.” Grey said being completely honest. Growing up in the city he knew almost nothing when it came to giants. Hell he hardly paid attention to anything that didn’t concern him when it came to being a thief.

“Well, Amelia the Giant Queen is one of the most dangerous and feared giants in known history. Her power with both magic and her physical prowess on the battlefield was unrivaled by anyone human or giant alike.”

            “Was?” Grey asked.

            Zeke nodded again. “Was. You see this was over a hundred years ago. In fact it was the fear we humans had of her that created the Order of Giant Hunters in the first place. But she’s believed to have been dead for ages now, with the succession of the royal family falling to her brother.

            “When I first became a member of the Trinity I was told our primary goal was to prepare for the possible return of Amelia so that we could kill her. They were afraid with the magical abilities she possessed that she might one day be revived and wreak havoc on the world once more. I always thought that it was bullshit, and never believed it could happen. Yet the council and Trinity herself always seemed to treat it as a real threat. I just brushed it off as superstition at best. That was, until I saw her and witnessed her power myself.”

            “So… you think the giant we saw was Amelia?”

            “I don’t think Grey. I know it was her. It had to be. The fairytale my whole training had prepared me for had finally come true… yet. After trying to attack Amelia, trying to fulfill my job as a hunter of the Trinity. It became apparent that the Amelia I confronted didn’t match the description my order painted her out to be. Then the way she worried about you, the things she had said, done. The things she had told me. Something was off.”

            “Meaning what?”

            “Meaning there are some flaws with the story the Order has been telling me...”

            Grey looked at Zeke with concerned as his friend went silent with contemplation.

            “What do you intend to do?”

            “I intend to stay quiet.” He looked up at Grey will cold seriousness once more. “Grey, no one can ever know about what we saw, and what happened to you. Do you understand?”

            Grey nodded. “So, what do we do now?”

            Zeke smirked. “Now? Now I take you back to the Order.”

            “What!?” Grey exclaimed. “Wh… wha….Why!?” Grey stammered out.

            “I would think that would be obvious. I intend to make you a hunter.”

            Grey shook his head and waved his arms out in front of him. “No. Oh no no no. Zeke, I can’t be a hunter.”

            “And why not?” Zeke asked, the question almost sounding rhetorical.

            “Well for one, I’m a thief.”

            “You wouldn't be the first thief to become a hunter. You do remember I was recruited from a prison cell don’tcha?”

            “I don’t have the skill to be a hunter.”

            “After how you handled those giants back there, you already have more skill than most people who initially join.”

            “I… I… I don’t know if I can do it. This trip was already one thing, but doing this… all over again for the rest of would probably be my very short life? It’s a death sentence.”

            “From what I recall, you decided to come out here because you were already facing another life and death situation as is. As a hunter you wouldn’t need to worry about the little problem you have waiting for you back home.”

            Grey hesitated. Zeke had cornered him on all fronts, and he was left unsure how to respond. “I don’t know if I can do it.”

            Zeke let out a deep sigh and sat forward. “Grey listen.” Grey lifted his head meeting his friends’ eyes as he spoke. “Everything that happened back there, Amelia appearing, you almost dying. All of it, something's happening. Something big, and I don’t know what it is, but you almost died, at the same time the infamous Giant Queen magically returns claiming to be looking for a human with your name and saves your life. I don’t know if it’s fate or what, but something big is happening and like it or not, you’re at the center of it. I think what Amelia said was true, after seeing everything that happened I believe there is something special about you, and having you join me and the other hunters, I think we can try to find out what it is. Trinity helped me find what was special about me, I am certain she can help you as well. But we need to be careful, there appears to be more to this than either of us could ever hope to know. If we train you to become a hunter Grey, you will become strong enough to face whatever comes your way. So what do you say?”

            Grey sat in silence and contemplated the offer. It was absurd, impossible, and dangerous. He wasn’t special, he knew that. Everything that had happened had just been luck, coincidence, it didn’t have anything to do with him. Yet he couldn’t help but shake that maybe this was the right path. Grey had made many tough decisions in his life, growing up on the streets made sure of that. He had contemplated whether or not to enter the city, whether or not to steal for a living, whether or not to borrow from Jack, whether or not to go after the treasure. Most of these decisions had lead him down a dangerous road, yet despite all of this something about being a hunter appealed to him. He had seen the way Zeke had moved and without hesitance confronted the giants he was held captive by. He remembered how Marissa was so cautious about having him around and making sure he was “Safe”. The entire time he was held captive he had felt powerless and weak in comparison to them, yet Zeke had showed that not only was he not powerless, but that he was the one in power. At least until Grey had gotten them both caught. The idea appealed to him though, for once in his life he could feel powerful, powerful enough to not run and hide from a threat, powerful enough to take it head on. He knew the risks, he knew the challenge it would be, but the result were all too appealing.

            “Alright, Zeke. I’ll become a hunter.”

            Zeke let out a laugh as Grey responded, a large grin spread across his face. “Haha, I knew you would. Trust me Grey you won’t regret it, and best of all, once again it will be the two of us against the world. Just like old times.”

            Grey leaned back and smiled as he watched the stars above. He was to be a hunter. A couple nights ago he had stared at these very same stars, asking for guidance, and now he had found it.

            “A hunter, huh?” He said up to the stars, for once not searching for an answer.

            Zeke stretched out his arm. ”Alright, well we better get to bed, it will be a long journey back to headquarters and we will need all the sleep we can get.”

            Grey nodded and laid on his back, enjoying the warm heat the fire provided. Zeke remained sitting, his attention turned to Grey as he watched him, a puzzled look on his face. Grey looked over to notice Zeke staring at him.

            “What’s up?”

            “It’s just that… Never mind. It must just be my eyes or something.”

            Grey sat up slightly as he looked to Zeke. “What is it?” He further inquired.

            “Well you see… it’s been bugging me all day, but I could have sworn your hair was darker.”