Alban and Valerie awoke the next morning to find a host of troops and Captain Claymore standing at attention outside the city gate. King Ferran was on horseback behind them, and behind him was a cart with a large ring in it, a red jewel inlaid on the top. 

“Good morning, King and Queen of Vandan! Before you embark on the rest of your journey with my good captain, allow me to bestow a parting gift on you for your services to our people.” Ferran motioned to two soldiers who carried the ring to Valerie, who was still lying on her side. She bowed her head to them as they placed it in her palm, then they returned to the king. She held it closer to her face and marveled at the intricate design on the band as well as the fine cut of the jewel. 

“King Ferran, I’m truly honored, but I cannot accept this. I saved your people, that was not an act for which I sought a reward.”

“No, but it is our custom to reward those who help us. It is yours to keep.” She smiled back at him as she held the ring closer to Alban so he could inspect it. The soldiers were then sent back into the city, and only the king and captain remained. Claymore and Ferran embraced while Valerie prepared for the trip.

“Come back to me in one piece,” said Ferran. 

“I always do, your highness. I will see that we have justice for our people.” With that, Ferran departed and Claymore took his own horse. Valerie looked down at him quizzically.

“You aren’t being carried?”

“Ah, no, your majesty. I’d feel more comfortable riding.”

“If you insist,” she said with a smirk. “Try not to fall behind!” Claymore regretted his decision as soon as she began to walk, and he eyed Alban with envy as he sat upon her shoulder. Despite this, his pride kept him trotting along at full speed to keep next to the heels of the giantess. The trio ventured to the foot of the mountain, to the remains of Kassel’s fortress to rest for a moment before entering the pass through the mountains. Valerie sat to eat one of the last apples she had packed from the lands of Vandan while Alban discussed the route ahead. 

“So, you’re saying there’s a pass through here that leads to a quarry?” 

“Yes, it’s not the easiest terrain, but Valerie will be fine traversing it. The quarry is deep, even by the standards of a giant. We can’t estimate the depth of it, but I’m sure it goes down further than any man has ever been. Once we reach it, there is a natural stairway to where the giant lives, at the top of the quarry. It’s not much, just a cave set in the mountain that he’s built doors into. There’s a large opening with machinery jutting out above the quarry, and to the left of it is the door. If we desire stealth, I say we go in through that opening.”

“I think a direct approach will suffice,” Valerie interjected. 

“I disagree.”

“This is one of my people, the last perhaps, and I intend to reconcile with him. I’m sure he can be reasoned with.”

“He’s captured hundreds, if not thousands, of our people, my queen. With all due respect, he cannot be trusted.”

“That remains to be seen.”

“I think Claymore and I should err on the side of caution dear. Perhaps you can keep us in your pocket before we are certain of his intentions,” said Alban. 

“If you feel that is a necessary precaution.” They set out again, but this time Claymore gave up on riding the horse when he saw just how rough the pass through the mountains was. He removed the saddle and sent the horse back to Liston, then Valerie perched him on her other shoulder. He wasn’t happy at first, but when he saw the view and the ease of travel he quickly warmed up to it. 

“It’s incredible. So this is how you see the world?” Claymore asked. 

“Yes, every day. Though I have longed to see it through human eyes. I’m sure it’s an entirely different world to you.” 

“So you wish to be human?”

“Oh, no. I am perfectly content with who I am. It’s just an experience I’d like to have one day, to walk in my husband’s shoes for one day. I was shrunk at one point you know.”

“Really?”

“Yes. I never got to experience that life much though, since that shrinking came with a spell that put me into a state of hibernation until my true love’s kiss awoke me and restored me to my proper size.”

“Sounds like a fairy tale,” he said, rolling his eyes. 

“It was,” Valerie said, and she leaned her cheek towards Alban as he pecked it with his lips. After a few hours they reached an exit from the pass, and before them stood the quarry. Valerie held herself close to the wall of it and peaked over the edge. “You were right, Claymore. This is deep, even for me.”

“Yes. I assume this was the main quarry for the giants?”

“I wouldn’t have known. I was royalty, and a princess too. I didn’t have any knowledge of our operations in other lands. Perhaps our giant will be able to shed some light on all of this.” She looked across the chasm and saw the cave of the giant, higher up than where they were. Just as Claymore had described it, there was a large cliff that entered into what looked like a workshop, some chains and boxes hooked onto a pulley system that descended into the quarry. To the left of the workshop was a wooden door that had been roughly placed into a smaller cave opening. The front door then led to a natural stairway that circled the quarry all the way down to the entrance to the pass Valerie was standing in. 

“Shall we, my love?” Alban said. With new resolve, Valerie ascended the stairway, careful not to lose her footing as the path was slightly narrow. Luckily, their climb was uneventful, and before long she stood before the door to the giant’s home. 

“This is it Alban.”

“Are you ready for this, dear?” She closed her eyes and sighed. 

“Yes.” With that, she set her hand next to Alban, then Claymore, and deposited them into her dress pocket carefully. “Be silent you two, at least until we figure out who this giant is.” She then carefully approached the door and knocked. It didn’t take long for the door to open, and there before her stood the giant. He was older than her, with his black hair graying, and he had a full beard that matched the color of his hair. His face was rough, cheekbones defined, and his jaw square. He wore only a pair of trousers and some boots while his hairy chest was bare, bulging with the power that came from the work he must have done at the quarry. While his immediate mood had been one of anger for being disturbed, it turned to astonishment when he realized who his guest was.

“It cannot be…” His demeanor changed entirely as he took careful steps towards Valerie, his hand outstretched to touch her, as if to confirm she was real. Reluctantly, Valerie touched her hand against his and laid her palm flat against it. “Y-you’re real. A giantess. A living, breathing giantess.” Valerie smiled at him, and her fears were beginning to subside. Surely, Claymore had just misjudged him. “Please, please come in!” The giant stepped aside and gestured for Valerie to enter, which she did so. 

His entryway was a combination of a living room and kitchen. There was some seating and a table, though both were made of stone with some large animal furs draped over them. The room was lit by torches, and there was a hallway leading out that she assumed branched off to the workshop. “Take a seat, please, we have much to discuss!” Valerie sat on what looked like a couch and the giant sat on the table in front of her. “I’m Naaman. And you are?”

“Valerie.”

“Valerie! Beautiful name. Where have you been? Where do you live?”

“Further to the south, in the original lands of Vandan.”

“Near the old castle?”

“In the old castle actually. It’s been restored.”

“Do you mean our people have returned without my knowledge?”

“Not quite. It’s only…” Valerie felt something in her subconscious stop her from mentioning anything about humans. Whatever the reason, she felt it best to only mention her daughters. “Only me and my daughters. My...husband died a long time ago.” 

“I’m sorry to hear that.”

“How did you end up here, Naaman?”

“Ah. Do you know what all of this is?”

“I have some ideas.”

“This was the colony of Solor. It was founded eight hundred years ago to mine for the minerals and ores this mountain has in abundance. This quarry was the main source of Vandan’s wealth in the golden age.”

“Oh, yes, I remember reading about that in history.”

“Yes! After the fall of the Vandanian empire, this colony remained. We slowly died out, but we lived by the scraps of the land. My ancestors and I have continued the work here, storing away the riches of the mountain to one day use it to rise to power again. It sounds like my work will finally see its fruition.”

“Well, that may be. Naaman, what brought the end of the Vandan empire?”

“Ah. The betrayal. About 500 years ago, the daughter of Valgar IV betrayed the family by helping humans. It devastated the family after she was shrunk and then put in hibernation by the treacherous sorcerer. The king ultimately ended his life after his wife left him for his actions. No one knows where she went, but she must have died somewhere far off with her son.” Valerie’s heart stopped when she heard this. None of that had ever been written in the history books at her home, so to learn of her family’s fate was devastating. Her father regretted it? Her mother left over it with her brother? “Are you all right, Valerie?”

“Y-yes. I’m fine.” Naaman looked at her curiously, then smiled. 

“I have the perfect thing to cheer you up! Come with me!” Valerie stood, her knees weak, and she put her fingers in her pocket so Alban could reassure her. She felt his small hand rest on her fingertips, and she breathed easier while she followed Naaman down a series of corridors to a large room with tables and shelves filling the space. Naaman used the torch from the hallway to light the room, and Valerie nearly audibly gasped when she saw what was in the room. On every table, on every shelf, and even on the floor were dozens of cages, and inside each cage was a small group of humans. Only three tables in the middle of the room were empty of cages, and instead there were ancient torture devices she recognized from her childhood. 

“Naaman, what is this…”

“My collection! These humans...they all trespassed into these mountains. Some I stole right from their villages, but all of them have kept me...sane. When you’re alone, working on the quarry, with no one to share company with...things like this ground you. It’s the only pleasure I find anymore. Would you like to share in that pleasure with me? I have numerous torture devices, each one provides a new way to extract pain from these vermin!”

“No!” Valerie had kept silent the whole time, but this was her tipping point. She caught the eyes of the humans, all dead and staring at her. No emotion left, all empty and hoping to die instead of live another day in the cages. “This...this is sickening!”

“Sickening? It’s how we live, surely you...no. No, I know you.” Valerie stepped back towards the door as Naaman’s demeanor shifted again. “Valerie! I was blinded by my excitement to notice it. You’re the princess! The one who ruined our people because you felt pity for these bugs!”

“Those ‘bugs’ are worth more than you will ever be, Naaman! How could you find pleasure this way?!”

“Get out of my house, you traitorous whore! Get out before I kill you! Run off back to your children!” Valerie wanted to fight him, but she turned on her heels and stormed off for the exit. She slammed the door shut behind her and made her way back down the stairway quickly, not looking back as she heard Naaman shouting at her from the door to his house. She didn’t stop running until she had found a small cave on the way down that she had made a note of on the way up. She bent over and climbed in before dispensing her passengers on her lap. She wiped the tears from her eyes and Alban climbed up to her shoulder to comfort her. 

“Valerie, it’s all right. My love, everything’s all right.”

“No, it’s not, Alban. The one giant left in existence and he’s just like the rest of them...just like how the humans used to view me...and all those people...and my family.” She fell back onto the wall of the cave and sobbed, holding her hands to her face. Claymore climbed off her lap and stood in the entrance of the cave. 

“Valerie, this isn’t over yet. We aren’t out of options.”

“Alban, you don’t know the giants like I do. You’ve heard stories of them in your childhood, but then you met me and my gentleness is all you’ve ever known. I was the only one of our kind to ever treat a human as an equal. My entire race was known for their brutality and their bloodthirst. They lived to kill and subdue humans, for food or pleasure. Mostly for pleasure. I had hoped, with how I and our children live, that perhaps any giants who still survived had changed their ways as well. It looks like my optimism was misplaced. Our children and I will always be alone in our views…”

“That isn’t bad, Valerie! You’ve made the world a better place with your kindness! You’ve saved countless lives, mine included, you’ve raised three wonderful children, two of whom are giantesses who take after you with your gentle nature. You’ve been a loving wife to me and have improved my life beyond anything I could have dreamed of. So what if your kind was evil? You aren’t. You are creating your own legacy, one which the future will remember. Your actions will be what humanity remembers when they think of giants. No more stories of killing and torture.” Valerie wiped away her tears and kissed her husband. 

“You have such a way with words, Alban.” She rested her head on her shoulder, letting her hair envelop him. After a moment, she heard thunder in the distance as the sky grayed. Her thoughts returned to the humans Naaman had, and a new plan emerged in her mind. “We can’t leave those people behind.”

“No, we cannot,” Claymore said in agreement. 

“Maybe he is a lost cause...but we can stop what he’s doing. How much are you willing to risk to help me?”

“For my people who are in there?” Claymore asked. “Anything.”

“Good. Then tonight, we will free them and put an end to Naaman’s atrocities.”