Teagan rose from sleep just as the sun was starting to push its way above the horizon, bathing the harsh landscape in a beautiful golden light. The aching of her wounds reminded Teagan of the events of the prior day, how she had gone from fighting alongside Hannah to killing her brother, not to mention the rest of her comrades. Teagan cracked a faint smile as she felt Sihil shift slightly on her breast, the tomkin’s meagre weight a comforting reminder of mutual trust. Trust, perhaps, and not friendship, but it was closer to friendship than Teagan had been in years.

“Hey. Wake up. We’re about to get moving.” Teagan said, putting a hand next to Sihil for the tomkin to clamber on to.

Teagan watched patiently as Sihil pushed herself into a sitting position and rubbed her half-closed eyes with a fist. She slowly but surely rolled over onto Teagan’s palm, sprawling out on her hand as one would lay down on a mattress after a long day, splaying her limbs out and falling back into a light sleep.

Teagan wasn’t so gentle when she grabbed her box, lifting it from the ground and preparing to attach it to her belt. As she started to pick it up, however, she was struck with a nasty surprise: the box was light, far too light to actually be holding any captives. Teagan lifted the lid, and sure enough, the box was empty. Not a soul from those dozens she captured remained. 

Teagan bit her lip until it grew white, suppressing the urge to smash the box under her fist, a feat of which she was sure she was now easily capable. There were no holes in the box, no aperture through which the captives within could have possibly escaped save the opening at the top… which was, as Teagan only now realized, already unlatched before she opened the box. Normally leaving the box unlocked was of no consequence, given a tomkin couldn’t even reach the lid from within, let alone lift it, but with the number of soldiers she had stuffed inside, they’d likely been able to boost each other high enough to force the lid open and vault over the side.

If that was the case, Teagan decided, it was best to get on the move. She was on the last leg of her journey, she just needed to keep heading in the same direction until she hit… well, something. Teagan wasn’t quite sure what to expect of Whitebreeze Keep. Was it a sprawling city? A massive stronghold? A dingy, wall-enclosed slum? She’d heard rumors of all three and many more descriptions, each more conflicting and unreasonable than the last. All she knew was that anything beat having to starve for days on end.

Teagan, with a huff, started to stand up. She’d barely lifted her thigh off of the damp grass before a shooting pain coursed through the right side of her body, originating at the crossbow wound given to her by Wulfric. Teagan fell back to the ground with a pained cry, waking Sihil up.

“Shit, sorry.” Teagan apologized, tentatively beginning to unravel the bloodstained cloth wrapped around the wound. She was relieved to see that the wound wasn’t festering or badly infected, a predicament that would likely prove fatal in the desolate shrublands surrounding the area, but it wasn’t looking much better either. The wound was still open, and even the slightest amount of movement would cause it to sting with eye-watering intensity.

Teagan, for the first time since she left her home, began to cry. It started off quiet, a tear sliding down her cheek, a pang of regret for the sorrow she caused juxtaposed with her intense internalized hatred of the tomkins who took everything from her. Sihil watched concernedly as Teagan’s chest began to heave and her breathing became ragged as she began to have a breakdown, her long-repressed emotions now exploding outwards in a wave of sadness.

Sihil, shimmying slowly and carefully up Teagan’s arm, made her way up to the shoulder, and from there, wrapped her arms as far around Teagan’s neck as she could manage. For so long she had despised Teagan, and there was no doubt that some part of her still did, but was it not the same for Teagan towards her? In seeing Teagan at her most vulnerable, Sihil realized that every shred of feeling she had for the giantess was reciprocated, fondness and hatred alike.

Teagan, who had buried her face in her knees, looked over to Sihil as she felt the girl give her the closest approximation to a hug one could give at her size. Teagan could feel the tomkin’s heartbeat, the rhythm of her breathing, the softness of her hair, and smiled. She was still crying, but through the grief, she was able to feel genuine compassion.

For a fraction of a second, they were as one. Hatred and love danced in their hearts, two lives defined by a past loss, a present of uncertainty, and a future of hope. Maybe it was some inexplicable part of the strange magic permeating Teagan’s very being that let them grow so close. Maybe it was the grief-stained parallel of their lives. Maybe it was just the glimmering light of love in the darkest of times. Neither of them knew, and neither cared. All that mattered to them was that instant of singular being in which the evils of the world felt, for the briefest of moments, held at bay.

And as soon as it happened, it ceased. Teagan slouched even further down, looking wistfully to the rising sun.

“I’m so sorry. You didn’t deserve any of this.” 

Teagan looked quizzically to her side when she felt Sihil stiffen and retract her arms before stumbling back and nearly falling off of Teagan’s shoulder. She quickly brought her hand up to catch Sihil, and she ended up falling into a sitting position back on Teagan’s palm. Teagan noticed that her expression was one of shock, and wondered what might be the problem.

“Teagan…” Sihil said, looking at her with wide eyes and a stoic face, “I don’t believe it. You just… did you just talk to me? A full, coherent sentence, not in your language, but in mine?”

Teagan gaped. Sihil had spoken to her with clarity and pronunciation good enough that she could pass for a high-pitched human to any listener.

“What the fuck? What the fuck?! When did you… holy hell! I can’t believe this!” Teagan exclaimed, lowering Sihil gently to the ground and rubbing the tears from her eyes, “It’s not me who’s speaking your language, no! You’re speaking mine!”

“I… I am? Oh. Oh, uhm, wow. I am, aren’t I? How… I, I don’t understand what’s happening, but, wow…” Sihil trailed off, at a loss for words.

“I, uhm, I suppose I have a lot of explaining to do.” Teagan started, bowing her head almost ashamedly, “A lot of things I can’t explain have been happening to me recently, so I’m not even going to question this. For all I know, none of this is even happening, and you don’t understand what I’m saying, but… I’m going to take this opportunity to apologize. I know, now, I KNOW an apology isn’t even close to what you deserve: you deserve safety, comfort, happiness, LOVE, things that I’ve denied you by taking you with me on this journey. I can’t make that up to you. The things I’ve done to you, the things I’ve done to others to torment you, I can’t undo that no matter how much I wish I could.”

“I… I just want to know why, then - why would you do such horrid things?” Sihil asked, her voice wavering.

“As much as I want to say it, I’m not just going to tell you I was a different person then. I’m the same person who did all of that, and I still feel that wretched anguish that drove me to such cruelty burning inside me, smouldering until it can flare up again. I hated you, your kind, for the longest time, and part of me still does. These lands, all of them, they used to belong to us. At least, that’s what I was told. I never traveled far from my home, but my father told me that there were once great kingdoms out here, proud nations of proud people who lived a real life with a real home. That was taken from me, well, not by you, but by your forebears. From the day I was born, I was told to hate you. Blame you for all that I lacked. View you as an uncompromising evil, and nothing more. Maybe I would have rejected such notions sooner, if it weren’t for the fact that my village was destroyed by your armies. My father died and the rest of my family was scattered, never to reunite again. That’s what solidified my fear into hate, hate that I later exacted on those undeserving of it. It’s painful, though, and part of me still wants to justify what I did by saying that this is what they get for living in land that never belonged to them.”

“Wow… I, I’m sorry, that’s terrible, what happened to you… but there’s something I ought to explain to you. You know as well as I do that these lands aren’t our home. We’re foreigners to this landscape, forced here by circumstance beyond our control. I’ve been told of an Old Land, a world of features far less giantesque, the place from which our forebears came. I don’t know much else, but anyone alive now is probably descended from those first few that entered this place in search of a new life of freedom. We didn’t choose this. We never wanted this meagre existence, constantly living in fear. I can never forget what you did, Teagan… I can never forget the screams, the blood, the sorrow… but I can forgive. I forgive you.”

“Sihil…” Teagan breathed, bringing a closed hand to her mouth, “Thank you. You’ve probably been wondering why I haven’t killed you yet, haven’t you? Hell, even I didn’t know why I kept you with me for the longest time. Heh. Least I can do is tell you why, or at least try. I, um, I guess from the start, watching you, I felt like there was something different about you. You were so stoic, so resilient, and I wanted to break you. I wanted you to suffer just like I had, and I - gods, saying this to you makes me feel even worse about it, I’m so sorry - I wanted to make you watch as others died. Then… I guess I grew close to you. I regretted what I did. I couldn’t let you go, same as anyone else, given that you could have led an army back to me for all I know. I guess that brings me to the next part… do you want me to let you go?”

Sihil froze. She wasn’t expecting this.

“I’ve done so much, and this is the least I can do to repay you.” Teagan continued, “I don’t want you to suffer any more. I can’t undo what I’ve done, but, well, I don’t think you’d rat on me, and even if you do, it’s not like I don’t deserve whatever comes next. So, um, I guess it’s safe for me to ask… do you want me to leave you at the next city I come across? I’m pretty sure there’s still an army on my trail, so they’d probably be able to help you get back to your home. So, uhm, is this goodbye, or…?”

“No.” Sihil replied, without hesitation, “No. I can’t go back. They want to kill me.”

“I’m sorry?” Teagan asked, incredulous.

“They think I’m collaborating with you. Helping you, though I don’t see what they even think I could be doing for you… one of the men you took captive, the one that threw a sword at your eye and escaped?”

“Hmmph. I remember him.”

“He would have killed me in there given enough time, I think. His name is Firkon, and he’s the one that’s been leading the army hunting you down.”

“That’s right…” grumbled Teagan, “I remember seeing him when I got ambushed while sleeping. Thank you for saving me then, by the way. I, well, I’d probably be dead if it wasn’t for you. I’m still not sure why you even bothered saving my life there, but I guess if you thought this Firkon fellow wanted your head, that might be it, eh?”

Sihil nodded.

“You know, sometimes, I still think that I should have let them kill you there, even if I died along with you. So many lives would have been saved, were it not for my cowardice… sorry, sorry, I wouldn’t do that now, it’s just-”

“No, I understand.” Teagan replied, shaking her head, “You were right to think that. I’m not going to say I was wrong in doing what I did to the soldiers who attacked me, but, well, I had no right to take my sorrow out on innocent townsfolk. So, um, if you don’t want to leave… does that mean you’re going to stick with me?” Teagan asked, trying not to let her tone reflect her exuberance at the prospect.

“It does! Teagan… back there, last night, I never would have guessed that you would’ve done what you did for me. You risked your life for mine. You killed, killed others of your own kind, in my defense. The first time, with that man with the knife, I thought you were only doing to save yourself, but… what he did to me, no, I knew that you did it for me… so thank you for that. It feels a bit strange thanking you for killing someone, but, well, it seems maybe I’ve spent enough time with you that such a thing isn’t so much of a ghastly prospect to think about.” 

Teagan shook her head and chuckled.

“It’s just all so infuriating, in a way. Why should some people be given such power over others? Were we all of the same stature, would we perhaps come to terms instead of degrading into such needless bloodshed? I, uh, I guess we’ll never know, huh? Still though, um,  in case I can’t talk to you come tomorrow morning, I want you to know something. I figure I might never get another chance to tell you, so what’s to lose, right?”

“Well, what is it? I don’t think there’s much you could say that would take me aback at this point, given the things I’ve already seen you d-”

“I love you, Sihil.” Teagan interrupted, “I love you like I would my own family, were it that I ever saw them again. I can’t tell you why. I can’t tell if you feel even slightly the same way towards me. I just feel… calmer, more at peace, more content, at least when I’m around you. That’s a feeling I had before I even got to talk to you… phew, I’m glad I got to say that. If you think I’m a fucking psycho again, I won’t blame you. I’ve tortured you, for heaven’s sake. I-”

“No, no, it’s alright.” Sihil replied, pausing to nestle herself between Teagan’s legs, “You took an arrow to the leg for me. You can say whatever you want, and to be honest, well, I think I might feel the same way towards you.”

“Really?!” Teagan squealed, her face lighting up with pure joy.

“Yeah! Yeah, I think so. It makes equally little sense, but you’ve been kinder to me than many of my own kin, as strange as that sounds. I was just going to be one face, another tiny soul in the millions upon millions that inhabit this place. Expendable. Forgettable. Unknowable, and destined to live a meaningless life, doing nothing that hadn’t been done before. Now, though… well, I don’t think many have been as close to a giant as I have and lived to tell the tale, physically, or, um, otherwise. So yes, Teagan, I… I love you too.”

“I… I don’t believe it.”

Teagan whirled around at the sound of the man’s voice. Volkhard, at the size of a tomkin, stood only a few paces behind her, eyes wide with fascination. He had dropped his weapons to the ground, and was, Teagan rightfully assumed, astounded at the sight of her talking with Sihil.

“Do I need to beat the hell out of you again?” Teagan grumbled, trying not to betray any hint of concern. She was in no condition to take him on, given that she wasn’t even able to stand.

“No, no, no, I’m not here to fight you. I’m not even allowed to, apparently. Something I don’t quite understand is going on, and whether you realize it or not, you’re at the center of it. Someone very nasty wants to see you killed, someone who I don’t think even you could handle.”

“We’ll see about that, but I’m not about to worry about some ambiguous figure I know nothing about. What’s far more perplexing to me is why you’d sneak up behind me just to blow your cover with a cliche line.”

“Who is it?” Sihil asked, unable to see over Teagan’s outstretched leg. Teagan looked down and pursed her lips.

“It’s, um… well, see for yourself.”

Teagan gently scooped Sihil up in her left hand and raised her up so that she could see Volkhard. Sihil gasped and turned back to look at Teagan.

“Another human! That speaks your language?! And you know them too?” Sihil exclaimed, looking back and forth between Volkhard and Teagan.

“Well, assuming you mean small person when you say human, not quite, but for the most part, yes. We’re… acquainted.” Teagan added the last part on begrudgingly, scowling at Volkhard as she did so.

“Yes, yes, it’s a long story.” Volkhard said, “I’m sure your story is equally as long… I’d be pleased to talk it over with you when there’s time, but right now, there isn’t. I’m sorry, what’s, um, your name? Girl, er, in Teagan’s hand?”

“I’m Sihil. Sihil of Alephasia.” Sihil warily responded, smiling just a bit forcedly, “I don’t suppose we’ve met?”

“No, we haven’t, but I’ve heard about you from a certain Legate that has a somewhat foul impression. But, in any case, with a name like that, you’re an Orestian, aren’t you? If that’s the case, you probably know about Icaria the Younger, right?”

Sihil winced as soon as the name left Volkhard’s lips, and nodded slowly.

“Well, she’s coming after your friend here, and there’s not much time before she gets here, with Firkon’s army at her back. I was sent here to just scout the area out and see if you’re still here, but, well, after witnessing what I just did, let’s say I don’t want you two dead, at least, not yet. Firkon demanded to stop and investigate the pile of dead giants a little ways back - impressive handiwork if I do say so myself, Teagan - but that won’t stop him for long. Icaria seemed certain that you’re here, and surely enough, here you are. You’d best be getting out of here as fast as you can.”

Teagan looked down to Sihil, who seemed to be quite distraught at such news. She wondered how dangerous one tomkin could possibly be that her name instilled such fear in Sihil, but she assumed that if even Volkhard was wary of her, then this Icaria was nobody to be trifled with.

“Slight problem with that.” Teagan said, glancing at her wounded leg, “I can’t quite walk. If you could be a dear and do the whole healing thing on me, that’d be greatly appreciated.”

Volkhard groaned, looked behind him as if to check if anyone was in pursuit, and then stalked grumpily forward.

“I cannot believe I’m doing this.” he muttered, clambering onto Teagan’s injured leg. Teagan winced but kept quiet as one of his boots dug into the exposed flesh, causing it to sting.

“I can’t heal this whole thing, but I can try and knit some of the muscle together. It’ll heal a bit faster, bleed less, and most importantly, you’ll be able to walk with much less pain… not to say it won’t still hurt a lot. I’d do more, but I don’t want Icaria to know I healed you… I think she’d kill me on the spot. This is going to hurt, by the way.”

Teagan barely had time to give Volkhard a quizzical glance before a sensation akin to a red hot poker embedded itself in her flesh, perhaps even more painful than the crossbow bolt that caused the wound in the first place. The pain lasted much more briefly, however, and as soon as it had exploded into being, it began to fade away. With a grunt of exertion, Teagan pushed herself up to her knees, and then from there to her feet. She limped over to her bag, seized it from the ground in the hand that wasn’t holding Sihil, and then looked back to Volkhard.

“I don’t understand you. One day you’re trying to murder me, and the next you save my life. We’re still on for that duel though, right?”

“Right.” Volkhard said, “I just don’t want someone else killing you, eh? I’ll be seeing you, then. I’d best be leaving myself anyhow - I’ve got to go tell Icaria that you weren’t here.”

With that, Volkhard and Teagan parted ways, Volkhard doubling back and Teagan continuing onwards. Once Volkhard was out of sight, Sihil looked up at Teagan.

“Who was that? You said he tried to kill you?”

“Yup!” Teagan exclaimed, beaming, “His name’s Volkhard. Fellow’s rather crazy, or so I thought, but it he was awful nice to us just then. I nearly killed him, oh, no more than a day and a half ago. Hell of a good fighter, even at your size.”

“Woah. That was Brother Volkhard.” Sihil said, “This is quite a strange day, and it’s barely even begun.”