Together, Gaelin and Annallya trekked through the woods until the came upon Tull and Lyal. The two men each leaned against a nearby tree panting heavily. All around them lay the unconscious bodies of four shrunken Nashvan soldiers. Lyal was bleeding from a gash on the left side of his torso. He had a cloth pressed against it to control the bleeding, and other than that both men appeared to have no more injuries. They stood wearily to their feet when they heard others approaching them, and were relieved to see that it was their friends.

“We thought you’d been recaptured,” Lyal breathed, leaning back against the tree.

“Sorry to disappoint,” Gaelin replied. “Seems you won’t be rid of me for a while.”

The man grunted. “Just grateful I don’t have to get off my ass and rescue you, again.”

“Careful what you say, Lyal. Otherwise I might think you’re starting to like me.” he warned.

The craftsman looked off to the side to spit some blood that had leaked into his mouth. “I just hate shoddy work, even rescues.”

“Lyal!” Annallya exclaimed when she saw him bleeding. She ran over to take a look at it. “Is it serious?”

The man groaned as he moved the cloth slightly so that he could better look at the wound. The dark of night was now heavy in the air, and without torchlight the wound was hard to make out. But he did not appear to be in too great a pain.

“I’ll live,” he assured everyone. “We should keep moving. They’ll send more after us.”

Pushing himself off of the tree, Lyal took a few steps forward, only to lose his balance and stumble to his knees.

“You’ve been pushing yourself hard, and you’ve lost a bit of blood.” Tull noted as he slid one of Lyal’s arms over his own shoulder and hauled him to his feet. “Come on, man. Heroes aren’t left behind in any of my stories.”

Together they walked through the midnight forest, each member of the group keeping the other going in some way. The events of the past few hours weighed heavily on everyone’s mind, and their bodies each felt close to their limits. So they took this walk slowly, using the time to process all that they had endured. Tull kept them going with another song from his seemingly bottomless quiver of tunes.

Yurn Gellar, son of stones,

Who approaches your own gates.

Built by fathers long ago.

Defend the city is your own fate.

Be they travelers through the snow,

Welcome they shall find this day.

Be they bandits and be they foe,

To best my hammar’s the only way.

It was a slow tune with a steady beat that kept them walking in good spirits. The words of the story, detailing the life of a great protector, filled them with quiet reserves of strength. For all that they had done, and all of the carnage they had seen this night, none of them felt like heroes. Yet, the knowledge that such a mountainous task was behind them, brought each member of their group a sense of accomplishment. Loyal guards had been slain, innocent civilians were under attack, and a mother’s heart had been broken. There was too much pain in this night for heroics, but there was contentment in knowing they had survived together. Gaelin, Annallya, Lyal, and Tull walked to the beat of the song, and others, for about an hour before they came upon the village.

Or rather, what was left of the village.

The expansive clearing that had once held Sol-har no longer contained the distinct shapes that, even in the black of night, marked the inhabitants of the little haven. Sturdy, well crafted structure that had once been homes were now nothing more than splintering wreckage. The dirt streets were littered with debris of all kinds. Furniture could even be sparsely seen among the demolished buildings. Even the Black Stallion, the greatest building in the village, not for its size, but for its integral part in keeping the village together, was no more. Small fires dotted the scene as the last remnants of what was earlier a much greater inferno, now dying down amidst the moonlight. Not a sound was heard from the remains of Sol-har, and not a thing stirred.

Gaelin was struck speechless by the sight before him. From beside him Lyal swore, Annallya looked to the ground, and off to the side the Whistler spoke.

“Well . . . this is awkward.”

Annallya turned to Gaelin. “I am sorry, this is my fault.”

“You didn’t tell him?” came a voice off to the side.

From the darkness of the woods materialized a faint light which revealed the familiar shape of Rhollan. He was carrying a lantern and dressed in a cotton shirt, pants, and his best pair of boots. The former Innkeeper walked over to the disheveled group and looked them up and down.

“It is my fault, Rhollan.” Annallya explained. “I forgot to tell him.”

“In her defense, we were occupied with other things.” Lyal groaned. “Slipped our minds.”

“What in blazing embers are you all talking about!” Gaelin swore.”What am I missing?”

The older man sighed. “That was very cruel of you all.”

“Yeah, well, he’ll live.” said Lyal through clenched teeth.

“Follow me,” Rhollan instructed, leading them back into the woods.

Taking hold of his arm, Annallya walked a bewildered Gaelin after Rhollan, with Lyal and Tull following them behind. Despite his well rounded size, Rhollan moved through the woods with the grace that only came from experience, and an unmatched knowledge of the surrounding area. The Titan had to imitate his movements in order to keep her footing on the uneven ground, though her time spent wandering the forest the past months had greatly helped her. Even Gaelin, tired as he was, had to put effort into navigating the foliage as the woods seemed to grow denser. Before long, curtains of branches and leaves had to be pushed from their path to allow the to move forward. Looking above, the trees formed an almost solid canopy, blocking out almost all light from the moon and stars. Rhollan’s lantern kept them from completely losing their way in the confined spaces of the trail. Eventually, the noise of people could be heard, and grew stronger the further they travelled. After a total of five minutes walking through the woods, Rhollan parted one last curtain of branches.

Before them was a clearing in the forest, much smaller than the one which housed Sol-har. This clearing contained the single largest camp any of them had ever seen. Many dozens of tents stretched out, filling the hollow to the brim. Torches and campfires allowed clear sight of the many people running all over the camp, providing aid for any tasks that need finishing. Men and women in simple clothes assembled, loaded, and hitched wagons. Children helped stitch together extra tents, blankets, and clothes. Everywhere around them was activity. A sense of energy. Life.

Gaelin recognized the faces among them as inhabitants of Sol-har, and it seemed not a soul was missing. At a loss for words, he turned towards his friends. Annallya gave him an embarrassed smile.

“I apologize, Gaelin. I meant to tell you. However, all things considered, it slipped my mind.” she elaborated.

Attempting to take all of this in, Gaelin put a hand over his eyes and massaged his temples. Then, taking a deep breath, he looked back at her, and spoke in a slow tone.

“So then why don’t you explain it all now?” he asked.

“Lyal!” cried a voice.

Jess Wedrin ran over to the group and was at her husband’s side in an instant. “What happened?”

“I had to save Gaelin’s sorry ass, that’s all.” he groaned as she lead him over to a chair. Jess immediately called for a nearby boy to fetcher her some ointment and first aid supplies. While she got to work, Gaelin, Annallya, and Tull each took a seat on the ground.

“I used the supplies you had given me to escape,” the Titan began. “I learned from my mother of your situation in prison, and knew that I had to rescue you. First I returned to the village, to assure myself that the promise had been kept. It had been, and Sol-har had remained untouched.”

“She said she was going to get you out, and we all knew that she had nowhere else to bring you but back to the village.” Jess picked up for her, while washing Lyal’s wound. “The problem was, as soon as she got you out, we knew that’d be the first place they come to look for you. Figured they’d probably tear the whole place apart just to find you too.”

Annallya nodded. “With no other option, I convinced the people of Sol-har to gather all of their possessions and leave.”

“Leave?” Gaelin asked. “And go where?”

“We don’t know.” Rhollan remarked. “But anywhere is better than here. Somewhere where there’s hope of living without Titan kidnappers.”

“Tull and I agreed to help get you out.” Lyal breathed as Jess began to sew his wound closed. “I owed you a debt for saving my wife.”

“You’ve done far more than pay it off.” Gaelin remarked. “I owe you now.”

But Lyal used his free hand to wave his comment aside.

“Annallya made quite the heroic speech.” Jess continued. “She convinced the whole village to go along with her idea. We spent the day gathering our things, and she helped us load them all. The work went by fast when you’ve got a giant to lift everything.”

Annallya blushed. “Once everything was completed, they set out for this campsite, and we set out to fetch you.”

“But what happened to the village?” he asked.

“That was her,” Rhollan clarified, nodding to Annallya. “We figured that her people might not come looking for us if they thought some other Titans had already taken us out.”

Jess finished for him. “So once we cleared out our houses of everything we wanted to take with us, she smashed them all.”

Gaelin quirked an eyebrow. “You . . . destroyed the village?”

Rather than answer, Annallya looked down at the dirt covered ground.

“Quite the spectacle that was.” Tull remarked. “Before everything else we saw tonight, of course.”

“No kidding.” Jess said. “I’ve never seen anything take out an entire village that wasn’t a natural disaster. Annallya’s always so gentle and kind, I forget how powerful she is.”

Suddenly rising, the Titan looked around at the assembled group of humans and smiled easily. “I am happy I could have been of help to you. I thank you again for assisting me in freeing Gaelin, and I understand that you have quite a ways ahead of you. I too must be off now. Good night, and the blessings of the Stars be upon you on your journey.”

Without another word, Annallya strode off. Some of her friends rose in response to her words.

“Wait a minute, girl.” Rhollan called after her. She ignored him, however, and disappeared into the darkness of the trees. Jess ceased moving for a moment.

“W-was it something I’d said?” she asked in a concerned tone.

Gaelin looked back to them. “I’ll talk with her.”

Marching off, he followed her path into the thicket. He soon caught up to her, having no difficulty in following the sound of her movements through the branches.

“Hold on, wait!” he called out, stepping in front of her. “That’s it? You’re going to rescue me and then walk away? That’s how this ends?”

“That is how this must end, Gaelin.” she insisted. “We follow two different paths, and this is where they diverge.”

“Why?” he asked her. When Annallya could not readily give an answer, he pressed her. “Furthermore, where do you even go from here? Thylara is under siege. And even if it wasn’t, you’re a wanted criminal back there. What do you have left to leave for?”

“I cannot stay, Gaelin.” she repeated.

“You keep saying that, but you’ve yet to tell me why.” he reminded her, becoming flustered.

“Because I am a monster!” she shouted.

“Give over with that. We both know it’s not true.”

“Yes it is!” Annallya insisted. “My mother was wrong about a great many things, but not this. No matter how many good acts I perform, those people will never see me as anything more than the same monster that has caused them all to live their lives in fear. I do not belong with them, so it is better if I leave.”

“We’ve already been over this,” he reminded her. “Your people’s sins aren’t your responsibility!”

“And what of my own?” she yelled back. “What about the blood I have spilled? The destruction I have caused?”

Gaelin paused. “What are you talking about?”

Annallya hesitated, before continuing. “In order to escape I had to fight two guards. In the end, I was forced to take their lives so that I might flee. I spilled the blood of my people, and tore my mother’s heart in half when I fought with her. . .”

The once mighty Titan shuddered, wrapping her arms around herself as if it would help stave off the bad memories. “Everywhere I go, in everything I do, I bring nothing but ruin. Now my home burns, my family is in ruin, and the friends I had believed I was making must leave and I must stay far away from them all.”

“Come with us,” he insisted. “Whatever reason you think you have for staying away, believe me it’s wrong.”

“I will not live surrounded by those who see me for what I am, a monster!” she demanded.

“You think just because you’re bigger than us, and you’ve spilled blood, that makes you a monster?” he challenged her. “Well it doesn’t! I know what monsters are like, because I had to live with one!”

“Gaelin,” she began. “Your time in prison is hardly-”

“For seven years!” he finished.

There was a long pause as what he said registered on her mind. “What are you referring to?”

Gaelin spent the next several minutes recounting the night his village was attacked by Titans. He described everything, including his fight, and discovery of how young his victims had been. When he had finished, Annallya was shedding silent tears.

“Gaelin, you cannot blame yourself for their deaths.” she insisted. “They brought it upon themselves.”

“They were little older than children. And I killed them, all of them.” he repeated. “Not out of protection like a true Guardian is supposed to do, but for the sake of killing them. Even worse, I abandoned the only two people I was supposed to protect! The two most important people in my life, and I left them!”

“You mentioned no other Titans. I am sure that they had escaped.” she assured him. But he dismissed her claims.

“I searched for three years.” he told her in a softer tone. “Anywhere I could go. In the end I found nothing. As far as I’m sure, they’re dead, and I caused it. If you hadn’t noticed, I spilled my fair share of blood back in Thylara as well. So can you honestly look me in the eye and tell me you’re the only monster standing here right now?”

Annallya tried to meet his gaze, but found herself looking away. Taking a few steps away, she considered what he had told her.

“You think yourself a monster because of what you have done.” she noted.

“And you think yourself one because of what you are,” he concluded. It was almost enough to make her chuckle.

“We are quite a pair, the two of us.” she sighed.

“Yeah,” he agreed, walking over to her. “Suppose we are.”

Taking her hands in his, he looked her in the eyes. Her beautiful, glistening eyes. “Come with us, Annallya. However you think those people see you, I promise there’s too much good in you for them to ignore. You have all of the makings of a hero, and they need a hero to look up to. I need a hero. Someone to remind me that there might still be some good left in me as well. Someone I care about.”

He paused, before forcing himself to finally confess. “Someone I love.”

Both of their hearts stopped the moment those words were released into the air. They did not move. They barely breathed. For the longest time, his words hung above their heads, daring either one to give the first reaction. This finally came in the form of another tear that escaped Annallya’s eye and carved a path down her cheek. Overtaken by a sudden rush of emotion, and tossing thought out the window, she pulled him in for a passionate kiss. Both Guardian and Titan stood there for an indeterminable amount of time, before they broke away, and Gaelin pulled his student in for a hug.

“You’ve been through so much in such a short amount of time.” he whispered. “I don’t want you to be alone while you learn to handle all that.”

“I don’t want to be alone.” she whispered back.

“Then come with us,” he said, pulling back to look her in the eye. “Or don’t. Wherever you feel that you have to go, I’ll go with you. We’ll see what there’s to see in this world. Together.”

Annallya looked to be about to answer, but hesitated again. “Gaelin I- I do not know if Titans are capable of such love. In addition, there is such great difference between us. I am not a tiny woman who can grow big.”

Stepping back from him, Annallya slowly increased her height, quickly filling up the tiny clear patch of woods they had been standing in. She dropped to one knee as she approached her full height, so as not to give away her location to anyone that might see her towering over the trees. As gentle as ever, Annallya lowered her palm to the ground, allowing Gaelin to step on. She brought him up to her face, smiling sadly.

“I am a giant woman who can become small, but only for a while. This,” she said, gesturing to herself. “Is what I am. This is what you will have to live with. Can you love something so monstrous?”

Drawing his sword from his sheath, Gaelin took a moment to glance it over, before holding it out for Annallya to see.

“Before he left for the final time, my father recited an oath to us all. An oath he told me the Guardians of the past would swear before the Pillars of Morning and Twilight, to signify their absolute devotion and protection to them.”

Getting down on one knee, Gaelin presented the blade to the Titan that held him in her hand.

“My body, my blood, my blade.” he recited. “I am yours.”

*************************************************************************************

When Gaelin and Annallya walked back to the campsite Jess, Lyal, and Rhollan walked over to meet them. A few other villagers standing nearby also ended up joining in the ceremonial greeting for some reason.

“Annallya,” Jess began. “I am sorry if I said something that upset you. I didn’t mean to, please know that.”

The Titan smiled reassuringly. “It was no fault of yours, Jess. Much has happened in a very short amount of time. I merely needed to speak of it aloud to get a handle on my feelings. I will be fine.”

The smaller woman seemed to ease slightly after being told that. Rhollan, on the other hand, looked as if he needed to say something.

“You intend to leave, then?” he asked her.

Annallya nodded.

“Where will you go?”

“I have not yet decided.” she told him.

“We’re thinking somewhere north, or maybe to the west.” Gaelin continued.

All eyes turned towards him as more villagers gathered around to hear what was said.

“You’re going with her, Gaelin?” Rhollan asked.

He nodded. “I faced my sins back in Thylara. Now that I’m done hiding, there’s nothing left for me here. Might as well go out and see the world.”

Rhollan seemed to struggle to continue with what he was about to say. By now, more than half of the village had joined together to view their exchange. This did not go unnoticed by either of them. Gaelin took in the sight of the villagers, waiting to see what would be said, and raised an eyebrow. Rhollan continued.

“Seems to me, there’ll be plenty out there for us to see while we look for a new place to settle down in.” he explained. “Plenty of dangers too. If Titan’s should come upon us, we have no way of defending ourselves. We’d need help . . . a Guardian’s help.”

The entire village now stood gathered before them all, and they all waited his answer. It seemed that they had all agreed upon this, and wanted to find out if he would agree as well. Gaelin nodded to himself, before looking over at Annallya.

“And if I were to agree to this,” he began. “Would there be any room for my giant friend over here?”

Whispers began to rise from the assembled mass of people. Nothing that could be easily distinguished, save for those in the front of the crowd. From there could be heard she’s a Titan . . .

“I mean-” Rhollan began. But Gaelin cut him off with a raised hand, bringing the crowd to a hush in the process.

“Annallya Rhaolin is my student, my friend, and my companion.” he announced. “Wherever she goes, I follow. If there’s no room for her here, then there’s no room for me.”

He looked over all of the people to make sure that they understood his commitment to his claim. For a long time, not a soul spoke.

“Of course there is!” came a voice made loud enough for all to here. Lyal Wedrin, though leaning on his wife for support, stood in front of everyone. “Annallya brought Jess back to me! That makes her welcome in my home!”

“She brought back my son!” yelled Idoata, Andrill by her side. “She’s welcome in my home as well!”

“She brought back my brother!” came the voice of Jall Cordrick, a mason. “She can stay in my home. And if she needs more room, I’ll build me a house big enough for a Titan!”

“She’s the reason we’re escaping in the first place!” reminded Drion Jerriday, the blacksmith. A man who stood a head above most everyone in the crowd. His rumbling voice carried over the camp. “If anything, we should be begging her to allow us to stay with her.”

That seemed to strike a chord with everyone as they were reminded of the role she had played in their escape from Thylara. Voices now spoke their agreement with much more fever, taking Annallya back. Of all of the outcomes she had expect, this was not one of them. Holding his hands up, Rhollan brought the crowd to silence, before speaking up.

“”How about it, Annallya?” he asked her in a formal, yet warm tone. “Will you allow us the honor of travelling with you, while we search for a new home? Though we can never repay you for what you have already done for us, we can offer you a home within our village, and a place in our community.”

Overcome by the sudden sense of belonging she now felt from the village, the same sense of belonging they extended to their own kind so joyously, she allowed a tear to freely fall from her eye. Stepping back a bit, Annallya grew to her full height, dropping to one knee as she had with Gaelin, and looked down at the village that was, and is, Sol-har.

“If you can all accept me for what I am, and not hate me for it, then I would be grateful to have a place in your village.” she told them.

“We don’t hate heroes, lass.” Rhollan reminded her. “However big or small they are.”

The Titan felt more tears begin to come to her, and so she shrank down again, so that she did not end up raining on those standing around her. Drying her eyes, she walked over to Rhollan and embraced him. “Thank you, Rhollan.”

“No Annallya, thank you for staying with us.” he countered.

As soon as the hug ended, Rhollan turned to the crowd. “Alright everyone! Finish loading those carts! We’ve got a lot of distance to put between ourselves and Thylara before we can rest for the night! Remember how we discussed driving close to the trees…”

His voice trailed off as Rhollan walked away to oversee their departure, leaving Annallya standing by her friends. Jess was shedding tears herself, and not bothering in the least to hide them.

“Lyal speaks for both of us,” she told her. “I’ll never forget how you risked everything to save my life. So you’ll always find a seat at our table, Annallya. You too, Gaelin.”

The swordsman chuckled. “As long as you’ve got some decent draft.”

Lyal let a small grin slip. Standing up straight, he took the weight his wife had been supporting off of her shoulder, so that she could hug her friend.

“You were the first one in the village to accept me, Jess.” Annallya reminded her. “I will always be grateful for that.”

“Then make sure you take plenty of meals at our new house.” Jess told her.

Annallya laughed. “If you will share some at mine. I am sure Gaelin can help me build a table big enough.”

The two of them laughed before pulling away. Together, the couple nodded to both of them.

“We’ll see you on the road.” Lyal assured them.

Once they were alone, Gaelin looked over at her. “Still think you’re a monster?”

“I am . . . open to being convinced otherwise.” she admitted.

He chuckled. “Monster doesn’t fit your description. You’re too beautiful to play the role.”

“Do not attempt to flatter me, that is an underhanded trick.” Annallya warned in an unconvincing voice.

The Guardian put an arm over her shoulder. “No, protector is a far better description. That’s all you’ve ever been since I’ve known you.”

“Will you admit to yourself that you are one as well?” she challenged him.

“Maybe,” he honestly said. “We’ve a long journey ahead of us.”

“Yes,” she agreed.

The Titan and the Guardian looked out over the village that was now under their protection and thought, for the first time, how vast and strange the world before them truly was.