Nathaniel woke up, feeling bright sun rays caress his face and sneak under his eye lids. Yawning, he searched for Emily with his left arm. To his surprise, she was not there. He finally opened his eyes fully and looked around the room befuddled.

Sarah's dress and underwear, which Emily had worn the other day, were lying in a pile on the edge of the bed, just as she had left them upon getting to sleep the day before, the shoes standing on the floor below. 

Nathaniel opened the door and left the room. Outside, down the corridor he saw Thomas.

"Hey, have you seen Emily?" he shouted towards the old servant.

The man looked at him unwillingly.

"I have not. Isn't she supposed to be with you? She insisted on it so much."

"Well, yeah..." replied Nathaniel blushing. "But she is nowhere to be found!"

"Maybe she went out for a walk." answered Thomas, before turning around and heading towards his master's room. "Breakfast is in ten minutes," he added shortly after, from the distance.

"I will check out the courtyard then..."

Erren had managed to gather all his forces and was heading straight for the castle of Ron. He had made sure to bring all the necessary weapons. 

Flameball catapults were the best means of battling the giantess, as the high temperature of burning oil inflicted much more damage to her skin than spears or swords of any sort. They were also suitable for fighting at a bigger range. Not letting the giantess get close to them was of the highest importance, being the first step on the way to securing a winning position.

Extremely large amount of food was required to keep such a big number of mercenaries intact and in strength to fight. Luckily for him, ever since he had stolen the giantess' livestock, food had been in abundance. 

The warriors were walking in a wide column, surrounded by catapults from all sides in order to provide instant protection, should it be necessary. The weapons were kept ready to fire at all times, in all situations. These precautions were supposed to give them the time to react as soon as the giant woman appeared in the distance. 

Large carts carried huge coils of thick rope and iron shackles, designed to restrict the giantess. Of course this time it was going to be much more difficult. Now that the giantess was aware of her strength, sheer words would not be enough to make her obey. They had to use force, and manage to overpower her somehow.

There were no warriors left inside the castle, the only obstacle they had to deal with being the giantess. Still, they would have much prefered standing against another two thousand men, or even more, rather than face her. The morale was pretty low. Everyone seemed to be anxious about their safety. 

The knights believed in the great, ambitious plan of their lord and the mercenaries believed in money. However, the tension could be felt in the air. All the talking ceased. Grave silence accompanied their efforts as they kept ascending through the mountainous terrain. The only audible sounds being their breaths and creaking of carts' wheels. 

Erren could already see the castle in the distance. The attack was going to start soon.

"My lord! We caught this little bastard in the forest! He was definitely trying to escape!" reported Matt, one of the lieutenants. 

With his muscular arm he was holding a short warrior dressed clumsily in full armour. 

"What is your name?" asked Erren angrily. He hated desertion.

"Tom." answered the short man. Judged by his voice, he must have been a young boy.

"You know how we punish escapees, right?" 

"Yes but... I am just so scared... Please forgive me!"

"Take off your helmet when you talk to me!" ordered Erren.

"I-I can't... It is jammed!" cried the boy.

The lord nodded at the lieutenant sternly. The man grabbed the young boy's helmet with his huge arms and started pulling on it. Finally it came off. A mane of long, blonde hair swung through the air.

"Surprise!" said the person, whose face had just been unveiled, suddenly smiling widely.

Erren could not believe his eyes. It was a woman! A young, beautiful woman! It was... It was...

"You are..." stuttered Erren, taking a step back, his knees shaking. "No! This can't be!"