A few short hours later, Charles found himself sitting in the encampment and was looking around to see if there was anything that would cause him to raise the alarm. As he expected, he didn't see anything and was somewhat bored and feeling tired. However, he knew better than to try and sleep before his shift ended. If he were to do that and they were attacked, he would never forgive himself if anyone got hurt.

One thing that he couldn't help but look at was Maxine who was lying on the ground was sound asleep. He couldn't help but think that she looked very peaceful while she slept and it was somewhat hard to believe that she was capable of doing things like crushing a man's skull or easily slicing a person in half.

Charles was just glad that she was able to rest although he did have some worries about waking her up. Like many others, he had been told the stories about waking a sleeping giant and although they were just stories, it was always best not to tempt fate. Although he didn't think that she would be too angry with him if he did that.

Something else that he had made sure to do was not to sit too close to Maxine. Already during the night, she had attempted to grab onto him like she normally did when they slept in the same bed. Although he would likely enjoy being in her arms he knew that if he was, he wouldn't be able to stay on guard.

In a way, Charles thought that this was pretty cute but he also wanted to make sure that he performed his duty to the best of his ability. Even if it meant that his best friend couldn't do what she wanted. For the time being, he didn't know about what she had admitted to Asla and thus was none the wiser.

Roughly an hour into his shift, Charles did see something that made him pay attention. A short distance away he saw some long grass beginning to move as if something was within. This made him sit up straight and focus entirely on the grass as he thought that it could be an enemy trying to approach them.

Although he was very tempted to wake the others up, he didn't want to if it was a false alarm and so for the moment, he merely watched. However, he was prepared to shout at the top of his lungs if need be and alert everyone else there. His heartbeat was increasing as he became worried and he couldn't help but think of the inn and the cult that had almost killed him and Maxine.

To try and calm himself down, Charles began to steady his breathing and remind himself that they couldn't hurt him or anyone else anymore. But it didn't make him feel too much better as he knew that he had blood on his hands over the incident. Whether he completely intended to or not, he had killed the entire family of cultists. Many would say that they deserved their fate for the murders that they had committed but this didn't make him feel any better.

It still baffled him how people were able to kill and not give a second thought about it. To him, such a thing was impossible as although the people that he killed were the worst scum that one could imagine, he still thought that they shouldn't have died. Maxine told him on several occasions that he had nothing to feel guilty about, it was still something that was gnawing at his conscience at every moment of every day.

Suddenly something emerged from the tall grass that Charles had been watching but rather than an assassin or someone else who meant them harm. Instead, it was a shrew like creature who had happened to be looking for food. This made him sigh for a moment with relief as he could see that the creature was no threat to them.

By this point in time, he knew that his shift was more or less at an end but he wanted to let Maxine know that she could begin her own. However, when he looked at her, he found it very difficult to do so. She looked as though she was having a pleasant dream and that disturbing her might be a bad idea.

Unfortunately, his own fatigue got the better of him and he began to prod the giantess. She began to murmur and move around slightly as it was clear that she didn't want to wake up. This eventually turned to groaning as she turned herself over so that she was away from Charles's prodding finger.

"Maxine," said Charles in a relatively quiet voice. "Maxine, it's time for you to take over from me."

"F-Five more minutes," replied Maxine. It was clear that she had woken up somewhat but was still not fully awaken just yet.

"Come on, if you get up I'll buy you another pie when we get to town." He knew that this would likely be difficult as they had very little money after they had been robbed previously in the day. However, his words were enough to make her sit up from where she was and instantly open her eyes.

"Ok, but you know better than to promise me pie and not deliver." There was a slight hint of sternness in her voice as this was something that she never joked about.

"Believe me, I know Maxine. Just make sure you don't fall asleep until your shift ends, alright?"

Maxine merely nodded to Charles as he lay himself down onto the ground and closed his eyes. Within a few minutes, he found himself completely asleep. Since he had already completed his shift he didn't have to worry about being woken up until everyone was ready to leave.

Like him before, Maxine did look down at him as he slept and thought that he looked to be peaceful but there were many thoughts going through her mind. Mostly, it was how she was going to tell him how she truly felt about him. However, the fear of rejection was strongly felt within her.

In her mind, she couldn't help but imagine pouring her heart out to him but him turning her down. That would break their heart and probably shatter the friendship that they shared. This was something that she couldn't risk as she didn't think that she would find any other men who she would respect like him.

As far as Maxine was concerned, Charles was a very rare person. He was someone who was truly kind and when they first met, he didn't think less of her due to her great size. There were numerous occasions when they first met that she regretted. Such as when they were robbed when they slept, she had taken her frustration out on him and nowadays she hated herself because of this. It wasn't his fault that had happened and yet she acted as if it was. This wasn't behaviour that she or most would expect from a knight.

One thing that she couldn't help but do was to lower her finger and brush it on the cheek of her squire. She could feel the warmth and softness of his skin and this made her blush. Never did she want to be apart from him as she wanted him to be with her from now until the end of her days.

However, a small wave of panic overtook Maxine where she saw him moving around and look as though he was in some discomfort. It was clear to her that he was experiencing some kind of dream and if it was what he had told her, she thought that this was something to worry about.

The giantess wanted nothing more than to have him in her arms and reassure him that he was in no danger. Although there was a great temptation to do this, she stopped herself from doing this simply because she didn't want to wake him up. Although waking him up would snap him out of his dream, it would likely take him a long time to get back to sleep and would likely affect him in the morning.

Instead, she just used her hand to brush his hair and hoped that this would be enough to calm him down somewhat. In a way, she couldn't help but feel helpless as the demons in his mind was something that she couldn't protect him from with her fists. This was something that was going to take even longer to battle and there was no guarantee that he could even be victorious.

Despite her own worries and duties, Maxine couldn't help but feel tired as she hadn't had enough sleep herself. She had only been able to sleep for a couple of hours before she was awoken for her shift and her eyelids felt heavy. More than anything she wanted to sleep but tried to stop herself from doing so. This was something that she found to be difficult but not impossible.

Suddenly Maxine felt a sharp pain in her neck as if she had just been stung by a bee. This did catch her by surprise as she quickly placed her hand over where she had been struck and she could feel something there. With some haste she grabbed onto it and picked it out and quickly brought it to her eye level.

Much to her dismay, she could see that it was a dart of some kind and almost immediately she felt her body becoming heavy. There was also a burning sensation that she felt in her neck which was quickly spreading all across her body. The only thing that could be heard was her large, unarmoured body striking the ground as she fell.

Unfortunately, this wasn't enough to awaken anyone else in the encampment as they all remained asleep. Her body was still very heavy and she felt herself unable to move with any ease whatsoever.

Maxine wanted to call out in order to warn Charles and her other companions, but once again, this was something that she was unable to do. Panic overtook her as she realised that she had failed in her duty and it might lead to the deaths of several people, including her squire.

If she had worn her armour, she would have likely been able to block the dart that had struck her. But she had taken it off for the night and now she was paying the consequences. Pain was all over her body as she could feel as if every part of her being was burning beneath her skin. It was a pain that she had never felt before and it was something that she hoped to never feel again if she survived the experience.

Although she was still conscious, Maxine saw the feet of someone who was approaching the encampment. She could tell that they didn't belong to anyone who was in their party but she was unable to raise her head in order actually see who they were. All she could see was that they made their way towards where Asla was sleeping.

The intruder even stepped over Maxine in order to arrive at the foreign princess and it didn't take much for her to figure out what their intention was. For the moment, it was only Asla who was at risk but it was likely that the others would be killed as well which included Charles. This was something that she couldn't allow to happen and she willed her hand and arm to move.

Despite the great pain that she could feel she still willed her body to do so and with great effort, she stretched her hand and grabbed onto the ankle of the intruder. The next thing she did was use every ounce of her strength to pull the intruder down.

Maxine had been able to hear the Intruder gasp with surprise as they felt themselves get thrown down to the ground. It was clear that they hadn't expected her to survive the poisoning, let alone still be able to move. Although her body was in a great amount of pain, she slowly began to get up to her feet, even though she was still holding onto the ankle of the Intruder.

All she could hear was the other person speaking in a language that she didn't understand as they looked up to her as she rose up to her full height. There was a look of determination on the giantess's face as she increased her grip around the ankle and was even able to lift up the person who had poisoned her.

From what she could see, the Intruder looked to be another man who was from the same land as Asla, Taiyun and Jaxin. He looked to be quite a tall man, over six foot with a slim build and fairly long hair. His clothes were relatively basic, and he also wore basic shoes that could be slipped on and off with ease.

For him, what he was looking at, he thought was impossible. It was not the size nor the strength of the woman that had caught his attention, although he did admit that this was impressive. Instead, it was the fact that she had been able to resist the poison that had been injected into her body.

The poison that he had used was deadly and just a single drop of it entering the human body would be enough to kill it within seconds. Not only had Maxine been injected with it but she was still on her feet. Although it was clear that she was suffering greatly as she was staggering and struggling to keep her balance.

"E-Everyone wake up!" said Maxine. Although she wanted to shout, her voice was too weak and sounded as if she was speaking quietly. Unfortunately, this was too quiet to be heard by the others and when she spoke, she was turning towards Charles while she spoke as she hoped that he would hear her.

As she looked towards the Intruder once again, she saw him with what she could only call a blowpipe in his mouth. Before she could do anything, she saw him blow another dart at her and from such close range, there was no chance of her getting out of the way. It struck her in the leg and instantly she felt the more of the poison enter her system.

Although Maxine was a very large and powerful woman, this was even too much for her to handle all at once as she found herself falling back and dropping the Intruder onto their head. There was a thud as he landed and it did cause him some pain as he needed a moment to recover.

He was in a much better position than Maxine however as she fell onto the ground and seemed to be motionless. There was a louder thud when she struck the ground and her arm was outstretched and fell onto Charles who had been asleep. The sudden impact of this did wake him from the dream that he was having.

There was some confusion from him as he began to regain his bearings and he saw the Intruder getting up to his feet. For a few moments, he simply thought that it was either Taiyun or Jaxin. However, he began to realise that it was neither of them as he didn't recognise him.

Thanks to his fatigue, it took him a few moments for him to realise that this was someone was there who shouldn't be. This made him realise that something was very wrong and he quickly spoke up.

His sudden outburst did quickly awaken the others in encampment as they too were in some confusion over what was happening. The would be assassin knew now more than ever that he had been found out and quickly intended to either fight or run away. On his person besides the poisonous darts he also possessed a knife that was more than capable of killing a person with one well-placed stab.

He had come to this encampment in order to assassinate Asla but with her companions waking up, they knew that they were outnumbered. The largest amongst them might have been out for the count, but Taiyun and Jaxin were still very dangerous to say the least. One had been trained to protect royalty from an early age and the other had been a talented assassin.

It only took them moments to realise what was happening as well and Jaxin was the first to get up to his feet. Although he had been an assassin as well, he didn't recognise the man in front of him but if he was going to earn the lordship that had been promised to him, he had to make sure that Asla lived. If this meant that he had to take out this man then he was more than willing to do so.

The Assassin did take a moment to think about what their next move was going to be. In the end, he turned around and intended to flee. However, he found himself unable to as he was tackled to the ground by Jaxin while Taiyun quickly went to his assistance. The two men seemed to have the assassin cornered as he did everything he could to try and escape. However, Jaxin continued to hold onto him while Taiyun drew his weapon with the intent of killing this man.

In turn, Charles quickly went over to Asla as he intended to protect her. He was still in some confusion over everything that was happening but he knew that she was in danger. Although he didn't know exactly how he was going to protect her, he only knew that he was going to do what he could. Even if he was still recovering from the nightmare that he would experience every night.

Before Taiyun could strike the killing blow on the Assassin was able to kick Jaxin in the head and this stunned him enough in order to lose his grip. Without a moment to spare, he got up to his feet and began to run as fast as he could. Taiyun did chase after him but the Assassin quickly slipped away in the darkness and before long he was completely out of sight.

For Taiyun this was incredibly frustrating as he knew that this Assassin was the man who had murdered Jinshu. Vengeance had been on his mind but quickly this was replaced by his realisation that he needed to ensure the safety of Asla. Due to this, he quickly moved back to her, and he could see her still sitting on the ground with Charles's arm around her to give her reassurance.

"Princess are you alright?" asked Taiyun. There was some fear in his voice as he thought that he might have failed in his duty. "Are you injured?"

"N-No I am fine," replied Asla. "Thank you for asking." It was clear that she was still a little shook up about everything that had happened. "Is everyone alright?"

"I-I'm a little rattled," answered Jaxin who was still recovering from being kicked in the head. "But it's nothing to be worried about." He then glanced over to Maxine who was still lying where she had fallen. "But the big one here doesn't look to be in the best shape if you ask me."

"W-What?" asked Charles with some panic as he too looked over to Maxine. There, he could see her lying on the ground and for a moment or two he thought that she was asleep. However, with all the commotion that had taken place, he knew that she would have woken up. Because of this, he knew that there was something very wrong and he more or less ran towards where she was lying. "Maxine, get up!" He grabbed onto her shoulders and something that he noticed was that he noticed was that her skin felt very warm. "W-What's wrong?"

"I-I don't know," replied Asla who quickly knelt to the fallen giantess. Like Charles, she was very worried about her and she began to look at her and did notice something that she thought was odd. On Maxine's chest, she could see what looked to be a dart and quickly she pulled it out.

"What's that?" Charles had been looked over to her as he noticed what she had done. It did look similar to something that he had seen before.

"It's a dart, most likely coated with the poison from a fatal frog."

"Impossible," said Taiyun with some disbelief in his voice. "If she had that poison in her system, she'd be dead right now. Jinshu died instantly when he was infected with that poison."

"Maybe for someone like us, but I think her body is simply too big to kill her instantly." She looked over to the face of Maxine who looked to be in some pain. There was a lot of worry on the face of Charles as he was worried about her. "But it doesn't mean that she's going to survive though."

"Asla you have to do something," said Charles as he turned to Asla and grabbed onto her shoulders. There was desperation in his voice and his actions even caused Taiyun to draw his weapon. Although he was an ally, the bodyguard was still worried that he might do something in desperation. "Isn't there something that you can give her to counteract the poison?"

"Unhand the princess!" demanded Taiyun who was willing to take down Charles if need be but he watched as Asla lifted up her hand.

"It's fine, don't worry," stated Asla as she glanced over to her bodyguard. One member of their party was already down, she didn't want another to be harmed as well. "There is no antidote. Like Taiyun said, normally when a person is infected with the poison of the fatal frog, they die instantly. So there isn't any time to give them any kind of antidote. Maxine is the first person I've heard of who is has been able to survive for this long. Every moment that she's alive now is nothing short of a miracle."

"Then what do we do?" asked Charles with desperation. He wasn't sure about what he was going to do. He felt completely helpless in this situation as he looked towards the foreign princess for answers.

"There's nothing we can do, except make her comfortable and hope that she can recover. Other than that, there's nothing more that we can do for her."

"C-Can't we take her to a healer or something?"

"We could, but the medical professionals of this land have never come across a poison like this. Also, Maxine is simply too big for us to move, even if all four of us were to attempt to do so. It pains me to say it, but I don't think that she'll survive this. She is a very strong woman but I doubt that she will be able to pull through. If I were you, I'd say any last words that you want to say to her."

"No, Maxine's too strong. She'll pull through, she hasn't become a knight yet so she won't let any poison take her down."

"I hope that you're right, I really do."

Although Charles was very hopeful that his very large friend would survive her current predicament that she had found herself in. Although he did have some hope about this, the others had none whatsoever. They knew about the deadliness of the poison and the fact that she was still alive was nothing short of a miracle as far as they were concerned.

In a way, when they looked at Charles trying to care for Maxine as she lay on the ground dying. It was like a cub waiting for their dead mother to get up and interact with them. Even though such a thing was impossible. Although for now Maxine was alive, it was likely that this wouldn't be the case for much longer.