It took us just about 3 days and 2 unfortunate deaths to finally reach the border between our two worlds.
"Finally we're back!" Olivia exclaimed, jumping out of the wagon.
It was definitely good to be out of giant country after sitting in the cart the entire trip. We took shifts driving while the others either slept or worked on healing Jag. It wasn't that his body was beyond repair, but having little to no healing supplies on the road makes any job harder.
By the time we reached the border, he was back to a solid 50%. I too had healed up to 100% and though I wasn't looking for any more fights, I could at least hold my own without somebody watching over me.
"So now what then?" Jag asked, climbing weakly out of the cart.
"We head back to the capital. Gather reinforcements." Abby said, looking through the supplies on the cart.
"And what about him?" Olivia asked, motioning toward me.
"He. . . . " Abby began. "Can do whatever he feels like. He's free." She said softly, placing her hand on my chest. A moment later, the tracking prayer faded away.
"Your just letting him go?!" Olivia asked, in disbelief. "He's still a fugitive from the crown!"
"Yes. Well, whatever debt he may have owed the crown. . He's settled it." My sister said, and Olivia knew better than to question her further.
"But what WILL you do? That is the question?" Abby finished, looking me in the eye.
"I'll continue to fight. On my terms. Go where I feel I need to be." I told them, grabbing my pack out of the wagon and slinging it over my shoulder. "But first, I'm finding Jacob. "
"Ok. . . Well when you find him. . . . Tell him. . . I miss him." Abby said, solemnly.
And so we parted ways. The three of them heading east to the capital and me heading southeast to gather my travelling companions. As much as I would deny it if either one of them mentioned it, I did enjoy the company of Cassius and Julius.
The trip would have took forever if I had stayed on foot, so I stole a horse from the first camp I came across and another two days later, I was on the outskirts of the town where Juliette had crushed me the first time.
Every building on the main road was tore up or collapsed and there was a deep fissure where my attack had traveled. There was also a deep dish in the ground where Juliette had spun on her toes. All that damage, me not getting the man's son back, or killing Juliette meant that I definitely wasn't welco-
"Well, well! Looks who's back from the dead!" A voice interuppted my thoughts.
I turned to see Cassius emerge from behind some trees. We shook hands and he led me to his camp.
"I was beginning to think that you guys weren't coming back." He said as he poked the fire.
"The distance was far. The path trechorous." I said, taking a bite of some meat he had been grilling.
"And?" He questioned.
"And we survived. . . Well, most of us anyway."
"Is Juliette dead?!" He asked, though I felt he knew the answer.
For the next half hour I told him the tale of our little adventure and hearing it out loud only made me feel worse about the whole thing. Unavoidable I guess.
"So. . . What say we go get Julius and get on the road?" I said, standing up preparing to leave.
"Ant. . . " Cassius began. " Julius is gone." He said, his voice losing it's normal dry chipper.
"What do you mean. . "Gone?"
"The day after you left for the mine. . . . Zahra showed up."
He didn't need to say anymore.
"Somehow, your name came up in the conversation and the townspeople decided to trade Julius for 10 other humans. . . ."
"So your saying he's bait now?" I asked, climbing on my stolen horse.
"It looks that way. " he said, looking over his meager camp, before beginning to pack it up. "If he's lucky. . "
We began to ride East, further into human country.
"So, where are we going anyway?" Cassius asked as we rode.
"You are officially a part of my original mission to find my brother now. Before my sister so generously decided I was working for her." I said, as we rounded a wide bend.
"And what will you do about Julius? Not that I care anyway!"
"Believe me, if Zahra is actively looking for me, it isn't going to matter if we leave the area. She will come to us. . . Well. . Me anyway.
"Excuse my questions, but what does your brother have to do with anything?" Cassius asked, somewhat nervously.
"He is my best friend and greatest ally. We have been fighting together since he was old enough to wield his sword. For years, myself and my brother and sister were the stuff of nightmares for giants. We all killed as we pleased and had no regrets. Barely a conscious. " I explained, keeping pace with Cassius.
"But then, one day we got notice that all slayers were to report to the capital and were now in the employment of the crown. As you can see, my brother and I chose freedom. My sister chose otherwise."
"I can about imagine how that conversation went!" Cassius chuckled. "Your sister is frightening when she is in the best of moods!"
"Yeah, we. . . . Had a falling out that day. . . To say the least." I commented, not really wanting to get into that particular fight.
"If you haven't found him already, what makes you think you can find him now?"
"Nothing. Nothing at all." I replied honestly.
It obviously wasn't the answer that he was looking for, but there was no other. I just had to keep looking. Somebody had to know something and by this time I had searched a good portion of the the south west quarter of the kingdom. What I didn't tell him is that my brother wasn't the only person I was looking for. Days came and went as we drifted through villages and cities, questioning people in the slums and talking our way in with the royalty.
But still nobody had seen or heard anything on Jacob.
That's not to say that there weren't rumors of another slayer in the area. A slayer with a gift for medicine. . .
We stood at the door of the small hut built into the side of a hill.
"You sure this is the place?" Cassius asked, nervously looking around.
"Yeah. . It matches the description the lady from that village gave me." I said, looking at the directions from the woman.
"And who is this man. . .exactly?" Cassius asked, nervously.
"The surgeon" I replied, flatly.
"The surgeon?"
"Yeah. Peter "the surgeon" O'Flannery. " I elaborated, before knocking on the door.
There was a long silence.
"Peter!. . . Peter! You in there? It's me. . . . It's Ant."
There was another pause, before footsteps.
The door creaked open and a skinny man with glasses peered out. Upon seeing me, his eyes lit up.
"Antony Lockwood! What a sight for sore eyes!" He said, embracing me. "We. . I. . Thought you were dead!"
"May we come in?" I asked, quietly.
"Of course! Of course. . . . Umm. . Where's Jacob?" He asked, confused as we walked around him.
Cassius looked shocked as he walked in to see that the shack was both much much larger than the bit on the outside of the hill and also much nicer.
"I see that even in these darks times, you haven't lost your taste for the lavish, brother." I commented, looking the place over.
"And dark times indeed. . . Jacob?" He asked again.
"Missing. For going on 3 and a half months now." I said, as I took a seat at his table.
"What can I do to help?" Peter asked, also sitting down.
"I would LIKE. . To get the family back together. But I NEED some information." I said, looking him in the eye.
"Look Ant. . I will tell you whatever I can, but you know as well as I. . . These giants are. . . " he trailed off.
"What do you know of them, Peter? " I asked, leaning in.
"Ant. . . " Peter said, looking away.
"Peter, we need to know!"
"Ok, listen. . ." He began, and it felt like he was about to tell us something heavy.
"After the giant king was murdered. . . As in the day after it happened. Before anyone else but the royal family knew about it, Florence came to find me. I tried to fight her off, I tried to run, but she crushed me like nothing. Took her time and just played with me. Brought me to within an inch of my life, but that wasn't the end of it. She took me to the capital."
Both myself and Cassius looked at each other, worried.
"And what did she want, Peter?" I asked.
". . . Information. My research. Everything. They . . Wanted to know everything about us amd how we use prayers." He admitted.
"And you told them?!" I demanded, standing up and causing my chair to flip over.
"Ant. . .you have to understand. . . They were coming either way. . . You have to understand. . What they did to me while I was there! What she would have done to my family!" Peter said, with a hint of anger in his voice.
I really wanted to stay mad at him. . . But I couldn't. In my heart I knew that Peter had done his best and at the end of the day, that's all any of us could do. He wasn't known as the strongest slayer who ever lived, he was known as the most intelligent slayer who ever lived. Maybe the most intelligent person of any description anywhere in the world.
"It's fine, Peter. We can't change the past. The question is not why you did it, but what do you. . . No. . .What do WE plan to do about it now?!" I said, picking up my chair and looking between the two men before me.
Peter was silent, seemingly deep in thought. Finally he spoke.
"I'll join you. To regain what they took from me. What they made me do to my fellow man." He said, standing as well.
"What of your family?" Cassius asked.
"Gone. . . When the princess finally let me go, they were gone.
"Taken?" I asked, solemnly.
"There was no sign of it. I think she just took the girls and left. She was both afraid for her life and sick and tired of everything I am, I suppose. Luckily my daughters weren't around when she showed up, but my wife had to watch as Florence put me through the grinder. . . " Peter explained, but I could tell it was sore topic.
"Well. . . I would say if anyone deserves revenge. . . It's you." Cassius said, summing up the mood in the room.
"Alright. We ride tomorrow morning! But today. . . We drink!" I declared.
The next morning we left, once again heading east on Peter's suggestion.
"I gotta ask Ant. . . . Where have you been the last few years? You and Jacob just disappeared from the face of the earth!" Peter asked as we road 3 wide down the path.
"After that 5 giant siege on Fryaer. . . .after all the blood we spilled, giant and human. . . We had finally had enough. Both of us. We layed down our arms and walked away. Went into hiding. . . From the crown. . . From you guys. . . From everyone." I said, looking straight ahead.
"Ok. . . I can understand that. . . I guess. But then how are you involved now?" He asked.
"I hadn't seen my brother in a month. I was out in the outer rim just looking for him, sliding through life. . When I had the unfortunate luck of coming across fair Abigail."
That was enough information to give Peter the idea.
"And how is that. . .delicate flower?" He asked sarcastically, just making conversation.
"Strong and disagreeable as ever, I suppose." I answered, keeping it brief.
"That's good to hear. . . . But, now tell me what I'm not hearing. What are you not telling me? Why are you actually here?" He asked. In typical Peter fashion, he could somehow see the whole picture at all times.
"We fought them Pete. . . Juliette and Leonara. " I said, reluctantly.
"Well. . .you are still alive, so it can't be all bad news, can it?" He asked, trying to keep positive.
"We lost one. . . It was all we could do just to escape. . . . Something is happening Peter." I said, solemnly.
He was quiet and let me speak.
"They. . . Figured out a way to stop our prayers. On a limited scale at least. But you probably already knew that. . ." I finished.
"Yeah. . . " was the quiet answer he gave me.
"We also found out. . . . They are forcing us to use up all of the god's power. "
"What do you mean "use all of the god's power?" This time it was Cassius who spoke.
". . . . Florence. . ." I began.
"Florence is up north, fighting the bulk of the battles. That woman is a monster by any standard. Words don't. . . Can't do her justice." Peter said, with an involuntary shiver. "So she takes on as many slayers as they will send, gets them to use as many prayers as she can. With everyone asking of the gods, it takes a toll on them until eventually there is no power left."
"Is Florence really that strong?" Cassius asked in disbelief. "I mean, I get that she could beat one or two slayers at a time. . . . But as many slayers as can gather?"
"In the harsh terrain of the North, numbers mean less. It's almost impossible for humans or slayers to fight in snow up to their waist, but when that snow barely covers the toe of your boots. . . " I began.
"Suddenly it becomes a whole hell of a lot easier." Cassius said, finishing my thoughts.
"Exactly!" Peter exclaimed. "Likely a strategy that Leonara cooked up. And not a bad one at that."
"Yeah. . . Except how do you two plan to stop them?" Cassius asked, seriously.
"There's three of us here." I said, knowing it would get a rise out of him.
"Ha! That's funny!" He replied, chuckling. "Because I won't get crushed in the first two seconds of the battle!"
"Peter will protect you!" I said, reaching over and patting him on the back.
Peter laughed at this.
"So. . . Why do they call you the surgeon anyway?" Cassius asked Peter.
"Hmm. . ." Peter said thoughtfully, but didn't answer.
"They call him the surgeon. . . Because this man is a precision killer. What he lacks in the raw strength of someone like my sister-"
"Or yourself" Peter interuppted.
"Right. . . Well what he lacks in savage strength, he makes up for in accuracy. Pin point attacks on vital body parts until the job is done." I finished explaining.
"So no cutting giants in half then. . ." Cassius said, summing it up for himself.
"Not so much. Peter is one side of the balance that was our team." I said, just as we road into the town we were traveling to.
2 days and a few vague leads later, we were deep in the southern most forest in the human realm. The trees were old and huge, covered in moss and very dense. In the mornings, the fog held dense and the air had a heaviness to it here.
There were many legends about these woods. Strange creatures and evil spirits that would appear there. As slayers, myself and Peter were prepared to fight just about anything, but Cassius seemed shaken since we had entered. He had become silent and on his guard.
"You guys. . . You don't feel the dark energy here?" Cassius asked as we sat around the camp fire.
Every shadow that danced on the trees caught his attention and his eyes darted this way and that.
"Get some rest Cassius. I'll keep watch tonight and sleep tomorrow." I said, trying to ease his mind.
As he and Peter slept, my mind drifted to everything I had experienced in the past few weeks. From fighting Juliette the first time, to facing off with Leonara with my sister and her team. Thoughts of all the slayers running out of power. Of what type of monster this Florence must be, seeing as how her younger sisters seemed unbeatable on their own. All of this just seemed like all we were doing was buying minimal time for ourselves.
I'm not sure exactly when I fell asleep, but apparently whatever Cassius thought was lurking in the dark, decided to make it's move on us. .
"Ant!. . . . Ant!" I heard Cassius scream.
I rolled over, trying to ignore him.
"Ant!. . . Get your ass up and he-UGGGHHH"
My eyes were open just long enough to see a giant, shadowy figure looming over me in the fire light. A second later, my senses were rattled as whoever it was grabbed my legs, holding me in place, before something huge smashed my entire torso into the ground. I shook it off, but I still couldn't clearly see my attacker, and as such, two more blows pummeled me into a daze.
I immediately knew who I was dealing with.
"Well, well! Antony Lockwood!" A smooth voice came from above me, and the camp fire shifted with the wind to illuminate the smooth, ebony skin of Zahra on her knees above me. The outline of her afro puff back lit by the moon.
To my right, I saw that one of Zahra's girls, a pale skinned redhead was dangling Cassius by his cloak above the fire. His struggles only amused her as she bounced and jigged him like a tiny puppet as the flames licked at his feet. To the side of her, a slender orange skinned woman clutched Peter with both hands, trying her best to keep him under control.
"It's been too long, love! If I didn't know any better. . I'd say you were avoiding me!" Zahra said, sensually.
"Zahra! I wasn't. . . . Avoiding you. . Per say. . I was actually just on my way to-
I was interuppted by another two punches to the face, my head bouncing off the ground.
"Leave him be!" Cassius screamed at her. "You're gonna kill him!"
"HA! Unfortunately, young Antony here isn't quite so easy to kill, are you?" She asked, addressing me with another pump. "His name may be Ant, but he is more like a dungeon cockroach of sorts."
Without warning or provocation, she punched me again. I turned my head and spit out a mouthful of blood.
"See. . . With him. . And. . Previously with his younger brother. . It saves time to just beat him in advance for any lies he might be thinking about telling me in the future!"
In my punch induced stupor, I only heard one thing.
"You've seen my brother!?" I mumbled, trying to get my bearings.
This got a laugh from both of the two women holding my friends.
"Yeah. . . We saw him! And that prick horse of yours, Marcel! Maybe a couple months ago." Zahra replied, being purposely vague.
"And where is he now?" I demanded, my mind clearing.
"Hard to say! After I beat. . . . Fair compensation out of him, for the money he owed me, I gave him to my sisters to enjoy for a while. Needless to say, they kept him comfortable while we traveled until we came across a nice giant family who was willing to pay top dollar for him. . "
She didn't even need to keep talking. I was instantly enraged. I tried to get out of her grip but she leaned her weight on my legs and I couldn't kick free. Before I could draw my weapon, Zahra pummeled my face with 5 more punches in quick succession. It took all I had to just keep my eyes open.
"Oh don't try to get all righteous on me now, Ant! You had to know that eventually I would have taken enough of your shit! I mean, if you guys had put half as much time into paying me back as you do trying to duck me, you wouldn't even owe me anymore!" She spat as she scooped me off the ground and into her fist.
"How much does Ant owe you? I'll pay it!" Peter shouted, from inside the woman's grip.
"HA! As cute a gesture as that is, we are way. . WAY beyond that!" Zahra said, giving my limp body a shake.
"Is that not why you're here?!" Peter asked, confused.
"Initially. . Yes. I got a tip from a girl in a giant village that you were in the area and I WAS just going to give you the same treatment as little Jakey but. . . Then things changed." She purred, lifting my chin with the tip of her finger.
"What are you on about?!" I asked, dazed but tired of hearing her talk.
"Well. . .a certain little piece of paper just happened to reach my eyes not 3 days before I caught up with you!" She explained reaching in her satchel and grabbing it with her free hand.
She held it up and by the limited light, I could see that it was a bounty poster.
My bounty poster.
"So what. . . You suddenly decided you want to collect the kings fee and make a little extra gold?" I asked, unimpressed.
"Stupid, stupid little Ant. This is a brand new bounty poster! You might notice it has a few more zeroes on it than you were previously worth." She said, tapping me on the head with a finger.
She held both me and the poster closer to the fire so I could clearly see it, and my jaw dropped.
"What does it say Ant?" Peter asked, his voice tired from struggling.
"One. . . One hundred thousand gold!" I stammered.
I heard gasps from both him and Cassius.
"Yes sir! Commissioned by princess Juliette herself." The red head gloated.
"You Ant. . Are officially the second most wanted man in the world right now. Only behind the assassin that killed the king himself!" Zahra declared.
"What. . . What are the charges?!" Peter demanded.
"Let's see. . . 3 counts of murder against giant kind in known giant territory. Trespassing on royal grounds, 29 counts of theft of royal property. . . And. . The kicker. . . 2 counts of attempted assassination of the princesses." Zahra read, before tucking the poster away again.
"Bagging you is going to make for the sweetest payday we've ever had!" The orange skinned woman added.
"Not to mention the added bonus of another slayer on top of the extra bounty for anyone found to be helping Ant! If we play this right, we might be able to get another 15 grand out of this thing! Truth be told, I was hoping to find you with your sister and the other two slayers. Now THAT, would be a nice little gift to give the princess, huh?" She said, and I could see the money signs in her eyes.
"Well. . . I'm sorry to disappoint you." I said, just trying to buy some time for any type of miracle that might be brewing.
"Oh, we both know that you have no trouble disappointing me!" She laughed. "Besides. . . I heard through the grapevine that your little human king intends to hand Abigail and the other two over to Juliette himself!. . . A pathetic sort of peace offering so that maybe. . . Just maybe. . . Her and her sisters won't continue to flatten the human realm."
"What, you don't believe slayers can stop them?" I asked, wheezing as her grip on me was beginning to wear me out.
"No." She replied, flatly. "I honestly don't. And you wanna know why?" She asked, holding me up to her face.
"Why?" I asked, humoring her. "If a slayer can kill the giant king, then enough of us can take down his little girls."
Upon hearing this, all three of the woman began to laugh.
"You don't get it, do you? None of you slayers or humans get it! Those three. . . . They were essentially born for nothing more than killing slayers!" Zahra proclaimed, with a look of pride on her face. "Their mother was the biggest and strongest woman in all the world! That, mixed with the blood of the giant king and. . . " she trailed off, implying something we all understood.
"But. . . . As much as I would love to sit around the campfire and tell scary stories, we really need to be getting back to our own camp now. C'mon ladies." Zahra said, as she stood up and prepared to leave.
Giantess World
