Teagan was panting by the time she was comfortable with distance between her and the tomkin settlement. Her wounds from the last tomkin assault, which had just started to heal, had been torn open by her haphazard and panicked sprint. Pain coursed through her abdomen and down through her legs as she dropped to a squat, opening her right palm to inspect her captives. They seemed to be peasants of sorts, although they were quite different from the tomkins that lived near Teagan's former abode... they were slightly leaner and taller, their hair was darker, and their complexion was darker, like that of one touched by the sun. Teagan lifted one cowering farmboy up to her comparatively massive eye, scanning him and savoring the abject fear in his twisted expression as he cowered.
"Don't shit yourself, kid. We both know you're gonna die, you might as well face it without fear. Plus, I'll see to it that you suffer immensely before you die. Getting shit on by a tiny isn't on my bucket list."
Teagan looked at the other tomkin she snagged. It was a lithe maiden, perhaps just old enough to be a mother, or just young enough to still be unwed - from what Teagan heard, tomkins married each other surprisingly late considering the brevity of their lifespan. Teagan gave the woman the same treatment as she did the boy, looking her up and down, head to foot. The woman glared, but even Teagan could see the minuscule tears that slid down her face.
"Gah, you fuckers and your guilt trips. As if."
Teagan threw open the lid of her box, and it was only then that she remembered Sihil's presence within. The girl was sitting in the corner, glaring ruefully up at Teagan. Teagan pursed her lips as she swapped her two new captives for Sihil, placing the former inside the box and extricating the latter. Teagan lifted Sihil to her face height before letting her expressionless visage morph into a cruel smirk, one of uncontested superiority. While Teagan may have been inexplicably averse to Sihil's death, she still harbored resentment for all tomkins, Sihil included.
"I almost forgot about you in there. I wonder how long you tomkins can make it without food... probably longer than a human, considering your size, but surely not that much longer. Well, in any case, you haven't the foggiest fucking idea of what I'm saying right now, so I might as well get to the point. Teagan, uh, Teagan you Sihil talk. Talk. I swear to the gods above and below that I'll learn your blasted tongue someday I can hear you fucks beg and actually understand it."
~
Sihil stumbled her way through a few giant-tongue words under her breath, understanding Teagan's request.
"Yes?"
Teagan pantomimed the action of releasing the tomkins in her box.
"Save." she said, eyes focused intently upon Sihil.
Sihil pondered to herself. Perhaps the word meant release, or open... or it could mean the act of liberation. Sihil shook her head. She didn't quite understand. Teagan paused for a moment, clearly somewhat determined to get her message through this barrier of language.
"You save Teagan. Why?"
Sihil immediately knew from the accentuation of the last word that it was an inquiry. Teagan wanted to know why Sihil had chose to save her from death. Sihil gritted her teeth as she thought. She had only saved Teagan to save herself, but she regretted her choice now. The giantess would kill hundreds of others, while Sihil's death alone could have prevented that. Sihil couldn't tell the giantess this regardless, for her meager vocabulary amounted mostly to nouns.
"Sihil..."
Sihil trailed off. She had no answer. She couldn't think of anything.
"...nothing. Sihil nothing."
~
Teagan groaned. Sihil was either saying that she had no reason, or that she didn't know how to communicate her reason. In any case, Teagan was confused, and being confused made her angry. Why would a tomkin save her life from other tomkins? Was this one a criminal, or an outcast? Did they really like her enough to save her from certain doom? Teagan shook her head, and put Sihil down in the grass next to her. She figured the tomkin could use some sunlight and fresh air.
While Sihil stretched and meandered about, Teagan examined her torso, taking off her shirt and revealing her lithe but well-endowed form. A small patch of her skin was reddened, with a tiny scar in the center of the blotchy welt. Teagan winced as she prodded the spot with her finger - it stung like a burn or a scab, but the skin was fully intact. Magic among men was a rare thing indeed, and from what Teagan knew, it was even rarer among tomkins. Few had the iron will and intellect necessary to learn spellcraft, and that was with the lifespan and technology of a human. At least the wound was superficial - it seemed tomkin magic was just as insignificant as their weapons. Teagan grumbled to herself as she scanned the area she fled to, for she was hungry, thirsty, tired, and in need of shelter. The coniferous forest was replete with various murky pools, but that was composed of more grime than water. Teagan looked both ways, her hawk-like gaze picking out every detail. She noticed a tall mountain range not too far ahead. These northerly lands were replete with glacial lakes and rivers, carved out by the retreat of the ancient ice walls that once blanketed the Earth... and surely, a valley would be replete with them. Teagan beckoned Sihil closer and placed the girl on her shoulder. She then started walking towards the tall mountains, her mind wandering.
As her thoughts drifted, she recounted that night she spent in the forest. It was so... strange, that creature of darkness. One moment it was trying to act amicably. The next, it lashed out at her. What puzzled her most, though, was what came after; the moment the creature's very first assault failed, it faded back into the woods with little more than "you have bested me", a transparent and rather contrary statement that seemed out of place and character with something that had a reputationÂ… either Teagan was missing some key piece of that confrontation, or the creature was so chaotic and erratic that it couldn't follow a stable course of action. Both seemed likely, and Teagan could only guess if either was really true.
Ere long, Teagan had stumbled across a lake, and a rather large one at that. She grinned in triumph for but a moment, until she realized with dismay that she wasn't the only one at the lake. A miniature palisade surrounded what appeared to be a military camp, filled with little tents and drainage holes. She spied on the encampment from afar, and estimated that it held nearly 200 tomkins at minimum - more than enough to overwhelm her assuming they were equipped and outfitted adequately. She scanned the lake. It was quite large, although any guess on her part was likely to be off, for the lake's size was distorted from her angle of view. Regardless of that, it was surely large enough that the side opposite the camp would be far enough from them to avoid detection. It was with this in mind that Teagan began gingerly treading through the sparse cover she had, making her way to the other side of the lake.
~
Firkon marveled at the architecture of Q'thuman as he walked its vast and bustling streets, led by one of Ibn-Jahan's men. The brutalist architecture was a stark contrast to the streamers that it was decked with, the former being built entirely for utility and the latter placed only in celebration. Firkon's gaze lowered from the roofs of the majestic towers to the people in the streets. The populace of Q'thuman was vast, varied, and diverse. While most of them bore the tanned skin and raven hair of the Qaradi people, the founders of the city, Firkon could easily see the olive complexion and rounded features of the Telaphonoi among the crowd, as well as the fair skin, brown hair, and sharp features of other Orestians. It seemed that, at this time, the city was in a state of pure ecstasy. Eccentrically revealing outfits and opulent displays of wealth were flaunted in every direction Firkon glanced. Dances were everywhere, disorderly lines turned into mobs as shops hurried to sell all the ale they could, and nude figures, all in elaborate masks, embraced each other in an act barely less obscene than sex itself. He could already see some of his men falling to the charm of the mass debauchery, flirting with the local women and filling their tankards with drink. Firkon briefly considered chastising them, but they had a long journey ahead of them, and he knew that some of these men were most likely not going to make it back to Orestion again. Firkon kept his judgement to himself as he elbowed his way through the throngs of revelers, determined to find the almost legendary Volkhard.
The crowd generally thinned as Firkon was lead from the main thoroughfares of the city to what appeared to be more of a strictly residential bloc. The buildings here were smaller and less strategically built, and many of them were decorated more so than the public facilities. The soldier guiding Firkon brought him to a large but plain house with a dull yellow door, and knocked upon it. There was no response. The soldier shrugged at Firkon.
"Volkhard is a busy man. Perhaps he isn't-"
The soldier was silenced as the door swung open.
"Welcome, Legatus. I fear that I already know what you seek of me."
Giantess World
All is Lost by Enzo
Author's Chapter Notes:
This is almost entirely plot building.
Glad I came back to this after I matured a bit.
Glad I came back to this after I matured a bit.
Chapter End Notes:
I forgot where I was going with this when I last wrote it, but I find that the plot builds itself simply. Please review if you enjoyed.