We decided the docks weren't the way to get information, and so we would wait until dark to go to the tavern. While we waited, we joined a team of men taking down a building.
The men were all tense, and I couldn't help but notice that they all kept an eye on the path leading into the village like they expected to see something coming down the hill.
Once night fell, we finally put our plan into action. We would go to the tavern, and use some of the money the villagers had given me to buy rounds for everyone until they were drunk enough to tell us what we needed to know.
We walked into the large building that doubled as housing for all the people whose houses must have been taken down already. Behind the bar and separated by a wall, I could see rows and rows of makeshift beds lined up.
I walked to the counter, and signaled the bar maiden, who was a red haired girl with freckles who looked to be in her late teens or early 20's. I was just about to order a drink, when suddenly a commotion broke out to my left.
"Mathew! You promised you would send a search party! Its been 4 days since David left to hunt! He has never been gone this long, and I just know the spirit of the woods has something to do with it!" A tall, busty, middle aged woman shouted, grabbing the shirt of a short, older grey haired man.
"I. . . I've been trying! But No one has answered the call! We can't afford to send anyone from the city right now, you know this! I'm sorry Sarah. . . " he replied, putting his hands on hers and easing her grip from his shirt.
"Offer more money! This is the 8th time in the last 5 months! You can't ignore it anymore! Either hire a hero, or be cast out as leader!" She threatened, keeping her hold and shoving him hard against the wall. "These are father's, sons and husbands disappearing!"
"Sarah, you don't even know that he is gone!" Another man butted in.
I watched as she released "Mathew" and stepped to the new commentator. She was eye to eye with him, and as expected, his resolve crumbled as she tore into him about her husband and the other missing hunters.
"Perhaps myself and my associate here, can be of some assistance. ." Cassius said loudly, out of nowhere.
The whole room looked at him now.
"For the right price, we will gladly investigate and at least bring you a sense of closure, if not the hunters themselves!" He said smoothly.
The grey haired man, in an effort to not get beaten to a pulp by the disgruntled wife, jumped on the offer.
"We are paying 500 gold pieces for information on their whereabouts, and 1000 for their safe return." He said hastily.
"Make it 1,500 for their safe return." Cassius countered. "Heroes are hard to come by these days."
The grey haired man was infuriated and was about to yell something, when a look from the woman changed his tune.
"F-fine. 1,500 gold pieces, but still only 500 for information. Michael, Samson. . You two go with them and show them where the hunters were last seen. The fog is rolling in off the sea and you know what that means." He ordered.
Two men at the bar begrudgingly took the mugs from their lips and stood. One looked like a fisherman and the other a hunter. They said nothing as they left the tavern but I could tell that they weren't fond of either outsiders nor disappearing in the woods.
We left town heading West into the forest between the coast and the mountains. As promised, the fog was thick and visibility was low. It didn't help that the deeper we went, all manor of strange noises came from the darkness. I don't know if it was just an act, or if Cassius truly wasn't nervous but he kept his composure as even the locals became increasingly uncomfortable.
After about an hours walk, they stopped.
"These are the hunting grounds." The Hunter, Michael informed us.
"A party of 6 went missing not even a week ago." The fisherman added.
"Hmm." Cassius said, looking around like he was searching for something.
He continued to walk among the trees, occasionally running his hand along a trunk. This was nothing we planned, so even I was in the dark about what his true intentions were with all this.
We roamed the dark woods for another hour, heading deeper in and closer to the mountains. The men had grown tired of the search just as long ago and after the 3rd cliff climb, they had had enough.
"There's nothing here! Mathew is just afraid to let the city down so he organises these fool's errands!" The Hunter said, annoyance in his voice." I really don't want to spend an entire night treading the woods with a couple outside-
That is when we heard it. . . .
Somewhere in the darkness, the sound of a woman crying.
We all looked at each other to confirm what we were hearing before slowly moving in that general direction.
The sobs continued as we walked over hill after hill, until eventually we saw something in the distance. About 100 yards away. . . A campfire in a small clearing lined with massive trees.
And. . . With her back turned to us, a woman in a cloak, sitting in front of the fire, alone.
"Hell-" the fisherman tried to call, but the hunter covered his mouth immediately.
The crying stopped instantly as if she was listening, but she never turned in our direction. Everything was dead silent for a moment, as if everyone was waiting for the other to make a noise, but eventually the crying resumed.
The fisherman motioned us forward, and we crept ever closer to the woman, the fog becoming thicker as we went. Bringing up the rear, I stopped at about 60 yard, but nobody else noticed. Nothing about this felt right. .
The sound of the crying. . . It wasn't coming directly from the woman, but off slightly to the left. Also, the campfire. . . A bit too tidy, and a bit to big for a woman in "distress" to have constructed. All things the others either didn't notice or didn't care about as they continued on.
I kept my distance, knowing I could cover the ground in a second if I needed to. I also knew that some sacrifices might have to be made to successfully find out what happened to the other men, because obviously they weren't here.
The fisherman was about 15 yards from the clearing now, when he called out.
"Ma'am. . . Are you ok?" He asked, trying not to startle her.
She just continued to cry this time.
"Ma'am?" He tried again, walking right up to the edge of the clearing now, with Cassius and Michael in tow.
Now the crying stopped.
The fisherman stepped even closer, and slowly reached out to touch her shoulder. . .
"Ma'am?" He asked one final time before. . . .
All hell broke loose.
Samson touched the woman's shoulder, and immediately her "head" fell off, revealing a decoy. He jumped in surprise and at that exact moment, the "spirit of the woods" made it's move. The clearing was chaos as two giant sets of legs appeared from behind the trees. The hunter drew his sword and tried to fend off the giant hands, but was easily snatched up, and whisked away into the darkness above the campfire. Girlish squeals filled the clearing as they tried to coordinate and catch Cassius.
They were careful not to step on him, but one giant used it's feet to usher him, until the other one was able to grab him. Finally it was only Samson left, but he was no match for them. He reached into the fire, grabbing a branch, and brandishing it against his attackers. They only giggled and began to slowly close in on him. He backed away, waving the firey branch widely, until his back was against a tree.
Trapped, he made a decision and hurled the branch at them, but it made no impact. Immediately, a hand came down and he was plucked from the ground.
"Gotcha!" A female voice, the one that the cries belonged to said, satisfied with herself.
"Were there any more?" The other pair of legs asked?"
"I don't think so. . . It's a pretty small catch this time. I think the humans are too scared to come into the woods anymore. These 3 don't really look like hunters." The first girl theorized.
"We may have to set a different trap next time." The second girl said thoughtfully.
"Yeah. . . It's too bad. This one works so well!" The first girl sighed, as she crouched down and picked up the decoy.
It was then that I spotted the satchel that hung around her shoulder. I could hear the screams of Cassius and the others from inside.
"You would think they would know better! I mean, it's pretty a pretty obvious trap, but humans are pretty gullible!" The second girl mused.
"All the easier for us!" The first girl laughed, standing back up. "Anyway, let's get back to the village, I left my brother alone and I don't trust him to not burn the house down while his nose is in a book!" She said, before she lifted her foot, and completely snuffed out the campfire in a single step, before dragging her foot and scattering the remains.
I knew what I had to do. In the darkness I ran and right as she turned to walk away, I jumped and grabbed onto the back of her oversized shirt. Humans and slayers were light enough that we could go unnoticed on clothing for the most part. From there, I just hung on as the the pair made their way back through the mountains into giant country.
Some time later, they arrived on the edge of their village, the light illuminating their faces.
"You can have this batch since I got the ones from a few days ago." The second girl, who I could now tell had long, dark, braided hair and was a few inches ( human height) shorter than the first girl, said.
"Alright. You should come over tomorrow and we can look all of them over tomorrow. My other ones need a wash already too." The first girl, a light haired, thin specimen, offered.
This was a good sign. It meant that some, if not all of the other hunters were still alive...
"Sounds good, I'll see you tomorrow!" Brown hair replied, before they hugged and parted ways.
The girls home was conveniently right on the edge of town. A very good sized cabin, that looked to be well built. She stomped up the porch steps and pulled out a thin piece of wood. Looking over her shoulder to make sure nobody was watching, she slipped it through the crack in the door, and slid it up, undoing whatever it was that locked the door.
She swung it open, and stepped inside. Just as she did, I jumped down to the floor, and took cover under the ledge of a counter or something above me. Immediately she closed the door and locked it again, not wanting to let the heat of the fire out.
As she walked into the room, I ran along the wall until I got to a point where I could see the whole room without being seen. The interior of the cabin was just as well made as the outside looked. Detailed carvings in the logs, outlined the big fireplace. A fur coat of some type of animal was layed on the floor in front of it. Off the one main room, 4 other separate rooms.
The only other thing of note, was the boy sitting at a table against the wall. It must have been the girls brother that she had mentioned. And, as she had mentioned, his face was indeed in a book. This led me to get my first good look at the girl.
She had braided sandy blonde hair, hazel eyes and with her oversized shirt, trousers just passed her knee, and bare feet, she was a typical small village girl, giant or human.
She was in her teens (human years) and though I couldn't see his face, I could tell her brother was between 10 and 12. He wore much the same attire. . . . Humble would be the word that best described them. His face finally did peek out, and a look of worry was on it as he saw her satchel. She ignored him as she disappeared into the room furthest the left.
I waited, and she returned a couple minutes later, now with no satchel, closing the door behind her. She thundered across the room, and began taking vegetables out of a basket. The two existed in silence for a moment before the boy spoke.
"Were. . . Were you out trapping humans again?" He asked timidly, not removing his face from the book.
His sister let out a loud, obnoxious sigh.
"What if I was, Adam?!" She spat at him as she began to cut the vegetables.
"Dad is going to get really mad. . . " the boy replied quietly.
"Only if he finds out. And he isn't going to find out, is he?" She asked, as she took the chopped veggies to a big cauldron by the fire. "IS HE?" She repeated, using her finger to flip the book from her brothers hands and glaring at him.
"I'm not going to tell him!" The boy "Adam" whined as he frantically picked up the book.
"You better not! I had to go work on the pig farm for 2 weeks last time because you couldn't keep your big mouth shut!" The girl complained as she picked up a bucket and began pumping water from a well in the corner.
"It's not dad. . " Adam began. .
"It's not dad, what?" She asked, as she pumped.
"It's not dad that we have to worry about. . . The humans. . . Eventually the humans will have had enough. . " he said, trying to choose his words carefully.
His sister burst out laughing as she struggled to carry the full bucket to the cauldron and dump it in.
"The humans?. . The humans are lucky we are only taking the ones that fall for the trap! Mom said she used to just walk right into their village and take whoever she wanted!" She laughed, as she finished pouring the water, and slid the cauldron up to the fire.
"Those were just bedtime stories." Adam argued, covering his face with his book.
"You don't know that! Why would mom lie? Plus, you know that there isn't anything that they could do if me and Josie decided to go down there, and crush the whole town!" The girl declared proudly.
The boy lowered his book, revealing a look of terror and disbelief.
"Oh calm down! I'm not going to crush their village. Not that it matters now anyway. . " She assured him, as she added some spices to the pot.
"What are you going to do if they hire a giant slayer?" He asked, nervously.
She laughed even harder this time.
"You actually think there are any slayers way out here? We are as far away from the capital as a human can be! Plus. . . With the three daughters there now. . . There aren't going to be any slayers left. Humans either. Just us." She explained, while rummaging through a cupboard.
"The human king said that they didn't have anything to do with the assassination!" He replied, getting worked up.
"Humans are liars Adam, you know that. He is only sorry that he got discovered!"
"They never caught the assassin." He countered. " You can't destroy two whole races without knowing everything, all the facts!" He said passionately.
"Well you can't kill the original giant and expect no repercussions! It's an eye for an eye. Some little low life slayer killed the giant king, now Florence and her sisters are going to crush everything from the outer rim to the capital and every mouse hole in between!" She declared, stomping her foot.
"That isn't right or just!" The boy said, sliding back his chair and standing up.
"Well why don't you go find the daughters and tell them that!" She replied, stepping up and dwarfing her brother as she looked down into his eyes. "See if they don't stomp your scrawny behind back to wolfshire!"
He stood for a moment, the top of his head barely at his sister's chest, but lost his nerve and sat back down at the table. . . I knew how he felt. . .
"That's what I thought. It's going to happen whether you, the slayers or the humans like it or not! And just think about it, once the humans are gone, there will be more room for us and things won't be so cramped all the time!" She said, patting her brother on the head gently.
"I'm going to run to uncle Charles' and see if he has any pork and chicken we can add to the pot, I'll be back in 30 minutes. Keep an eye on the stew. Don't let it bubble over like last time!" She said as she unlocked the door and left, closing it softly.
I saw my chance. This boy didn't seem the type to just let people be mistreated and on top of that, these two had information on the the three daughters. I had to talk to him.
He got up and walked to the door, locking it again and when he turned around, there I was in the center of the floor. As expected, his eyes got huge and he began to panic.
"You! You shouldn't be out of your box! Seph is gonna be so mad if she catches you escaping!" He cried frantically.
"Breathe easy friend. I was never IN a box, so I can't possibly be escaping, can I? I asked, smoothly as I walked to the table and in one swift jump, I was standing on top of it.
Impossibly, his eyes got even bigger. It looked like he was stuck between the fear of what his sister would do to me, and intrigue of what type of man I was.
"That isn't going to matter! She. . . She crushed the last human to be roaming around here!" He said, trying to scare me.
"Luckily, I'm not human either! Everything seems to be in my favor, doesn't it." I commented, as I sat down on the edge of the table.
The boy wasn't dull by any means and I saw the gears turning in his head.
"Does that mean you're a-. . . You're not here to slay my sister are you!?" He asked, his voice frantic.
"If everything goes according to plan, nobody has to die today. ." I said, looking him in the eye. "Sit down."
Adam cautiously sat down in front of me, his eyes focusing hard.
"Are. .you here for the humans that my sister just captured?" He questioned, studying me.
"Yeah, they took my friend and I kind of need him back, if it's not too much to ask. . "
"I want to. . . . But I can't. Persephone Will freak out if I even go into her room without permission. Let alone let some of her humans go." He informed me, unconsciously fidgeting in his seat.
"Oh, I'm taking ALL the humans with me!" I responded, standing up and turning to face him.
He looked overwhelmed with nervousness now.
"My sister will never allow it!" He whined.
"I'm not asking permission. I plan to go in there and get them myself, whether she likes it or not. The only reason I'm talking to you, is because you seem to have some information that I need."
He looked confused.
"The three daughters. . . . Tell me about them." I said, pointing at him.
He seemed to think about it before he responded.
"Quid pro quo." He said simply.
"What does that mean?" I asked, flatly.
"It means. . . I'll answer your questions, if you answer mine." He said, gaining courage.
I looked him over, and it seemed his intentions were good, so I agreed. I was hoping to be out of there by now, but the whole reason for ANY of this was finding info on these giants so I was making headway anyway.
Besides, as long as his sister was gone, the humans were safe.
"Ok, kid. Go ahead." I agreed.
"Alright. . " he said, taking a deep breath. "Are you. . . really as strong as we are?" He asked timidly.
Easy enough.
"Here, stick out your finger." I said, holding up my hand.
He looked confused, but obeyed. Carefully he reached out with his pointer finger. I put my hand on his finger tip.
"Push" I said simply.
Slowly, he began to push, and I began to resist. I watched his face as he quickly realized that he couldn't budge me. The giant boy increased his pressure, pushing harder up until his chair actually slid back and up against the wall.
"Incredible" he breathed, pulling his finger back and just stared at me.
"Sure. . . But it's my turn now. Tell me about those giants." I demanded.
"There isn't too much to know. . . Umm. . . " he began, scratching his head. "So. . Juliette is the youngest. She has hair the same color as Persephone. She's 130 feet tall. . .and in charge of weapons production and training in the capital. I. . WE. . Met her one time in the city! Seph is big, but she made seph look kind of short. She said I was cute." He exclaimed.
Truth be told, my mind was blown. 130 feet tall was exactly the same height as the giant king himself, and as far as any history showed, he was the tallest giant ever as far as I knew.
"And the other two?" I questioned, not caring to go down memory lane with him.
"Leonara is the middle sister. . . People call her Leo. I have never met her or anything but she is 145 feet tall, and from what I have heard, she is very mean! She has really black hair, and dresses kind of strange, but they say she is really strong! She is in charge of strategy and planning."
At this point, I wasn't sure I wanted this kid to continue. The things he had told me so far were enough to worry me.
"And last. . .is Florence. She is the oldest and strongest. She is 157 feet tall! The tallest giant ever. . . And also the strongest! The giant king himself taught her how to fight! She has blonde hair like Juliette but wears a different style. She is in charge of everyone else, and will probably be the new giant king. . . Or queen. . When they get back from the human realm. . . That is all there really is to describe them I guess. . ." He said, rubbing the back of his neck.
This was too much to process. The size this kid was talking about was unheard of. Unthinkable. If it was fact, I really don't know if anyone could actually stop them, at least one on one anyway.
"Ok. . . My turn." Adam said, his face turning more serious. "How many giants have you slain?"
I sighed a deep sigh.
"More than I'm proud of, kid. I don't really keep track.
"When was the last time?" He continued.
"Quid whatever. . ." I interjected, dodging the question."
"Pro quo." He said flatly.
"Yeah, sure. . . . What are the daughters planning?"
"You don't know?. . ." He asked, a bit shocked.
"No. . . Enlighten me."
"They want. . . The total and utter extermination of the giant slayers and the humans. There are even some people who think that they will assemble an army, and overthrow the gods." He said, his voice worried.
It was way too much information to process. I could understand wanting to kill THE giant slayer that killed their father. . . But EVERY slayer and ALL the humans. . . . Even the gods. . . . The Gods. I was torn. . . I really didn't want to fight or kill anymore. . . But. . The world would be a drag without anyone but giants in it.
"My turn. . . Can. .can I see your sword?" He asked, timidly.
I only chuckled.
"No can do, kid. Once she's drawn, she must taste blood." I said, reciting the ancient warrior code.
Adam looked confused.
"She?" He asked.
"Yes SHE. Galdrielle is her name." I said, as I walked to the edge of the table and jumped down.
"Hey! Where are you going?! " Adam called, standing up and following me.
"To get my friends. I've spent too much time as it is, although your information has been invaluable. "
The boy stumbled over frantic words and warnings as I walked up to his sister's bedroom door and casually kicked it open. Inside was nothing special. The walls had some paintings and a few high shelves but other than that, just a bed and a dresser.
"Where is she keeping them?" I asked, looking around.
He was hesitant to tell me.
"It's up to you, but either you tell me or I rip this room apart and you'll be stuck having to deal with your sister. " I said, knowing it would break him.
He cautiously stepped into the room and grabbed a hand carved wooden box from the dresser and set it gently on the floor in front of me. I heard voices screaming from inside, but the one problem was the small gold lock on the latch.
This was my main problem with the giant world. Everything was bigger and more sturdy. So where as in the human world, a slayer was a being of immense power. . In the giant world, it didn't go much beyond the average man's strength.
"Unlock it." I commanded the boy.
"I can't. . . Seph keeps the key on the highest shelf so I can't reach it." Adam informed me, pointing up to a shelf.
"Then. . .Just lift me as high as you can." I instructed him.
He obeyed, and with a quick jump, I was on the shelf and sure enough, laying on top of the multiple layers of dust and what appeared to be human artifacts was a shiny key. I grabbed the key, and was about to jump back to his hand, when we both heard the footsteps on the front porch.
Without a word, the boy quickly picked up the box, replacing it before he ran out the door and closed it again.
Now I had the key, but getting down from this ledge was a bit of a problem. At this height, I would likely break something if I jumped all the way to the floor. I decided that leaping to the girl's bed was the best option instead.
Holding the key, I ran and jumped, gliding through the air before hitting her bed and rolling to my feet. I kept my speed up and after running across her blanket, I lept again, this time landing on her dresser with the box before me.
Outside the door I could here the boy and his sister having a conversation. I didn't know how much time I had, or even if the boy would try to buy me any. Though he seemed at odds with his sister, I felt that his fear or respect for her was great enough that he probably wouldn't help me if it came down to it.
Quickly I took the giant key and stuck it in the lock, before giving it a sharp twist causing the lock to spring open. I pushed it out of the hook and opened the lid. I was met with screams and cries for help. I hopped onto the edge of the box, and took a look.
Inside, there were the three men I had been travelling with, but also 7 other men and 3 women. They all looked beat up and downtrodden. They gazed up at me in shock like the were expecting the giantess. That was when my companions layed into me.
"Why you no good coward! You sack of putrid cow shit!" The hunter screamed.
"Where the hell were you!?" The fisherman added. "We walked into a trap and suddenly you are nowhere to be found! I think you two are in on this whole thing!"
Both I, and Cassius laughed at the accusation. At least he looked like he was expecting me.
"If I had gone with you, we wouldn't be having this conversation would we?" I asked calmly with a smirk.
"Get. . . Get us out of here before she comes back!" One of the rougher looking men pleaded.
"Fine." I said, and began giving the humans a hand out of the box.
When they were all standing on the dresser, for the first time on how I was actually going to get them down to the floor, let alone out of the cabin, through the mountains and back to the village. All big problems, but first things first.
I looked around, and spotted something of use. A long gold necklace. Tethering it securely, I waited until all the humans made their way down to the floor. I stood watch, not sure if I was ready to expose myself as a giant slayer just yet. Once we were all on the ground, we furthered the plan.
"We. . . Heard Persephone talking about a draft in her room that her father needed to fix. If we can find the gap, maybe we can escape." A man, who wasn't hurt too badly offered.
"I felt a breeze coming from that wall!" A woman said, pointing to the far wall.
"Ok, let's go! Hurr-
Just then the door swung open. . .
Giantess World
