Rose chuckled softly as she reached what she could only assume was the Valley of Shadow, as described to her by the king of the Parvurian people. As it was described to her, the trip out to the border of the Lands of Light was supposed to take her about nine days to make. However, it was unsurprising that the young huntress was able to make the journey in a day and a half, while barely pushing herself to maintain even a few hours of full speed. The realization that her mission may have been overstated initially came to the young warrior when she made first contact with the people of Parvus. It had been a near disaster when Rose first emerged from the portal and stepped forward, almost flattening a large section of the already devastated city under her boot. Evidently the civilization she had been sent here to assist was composed of tiny humanoids who stood a mere half inch tall in comparison to her own immense frame. She winced with embarrassment as she recalled the fairly substantial crater she had left with her behind just beyond the city walls as Rose flung herself away in an effort not to step on the citizens she was here to protect. Mercifully, King Rizo had been remarkably understanding and made no mention of the new butt shaped lake just outside the wall but Rose still couldn’t believe her foul luck, making such a fool of herself on her first ever mission.
Which was exactly why she was so hellbent on tracking down this so-called “behemoth” as quickly as she could. The young huntress figured that the faster she managed to locate this thing’s lair, the higher her chances would be of finding the captured royals alive. Then hopefully she would be able to help everyone forget her terrible first impression and bring glory to the HNTR organization and more importantly, she would be able to make the Arbiter proud.
The novice hunter wiped the sweat from her brow before dashing off in the direction of a still distant “mountain”, if she could even call it that.
Embarrassment was one thing, enduring the taunts from her fellow hunters was something Rose was already accustomed to. What truly concerned her was failing the mission, failing the Arbiter herself; because that was something she could not, would not tolerate from herself. The young woman equipped herself with a look of fierce determination before kicking things into overdrive. The ground beneath her feet shattered with the sheer impact of her footfalls as Rose dashed across. Rose bound across the Valley of Shadow, clearing dense forests and low mountain peaks with every bound as the titaness quickly raced towards her objective. At this rate, she would find herself in the lair of the behemoth in no time at all.
Back in the capital city of Parvus, King Rico looked out at the enormous crater that the giantess left behind. The indent had crushed the western embankment of Lake Hoarst, and there was little that could be done to prevent the reservoir from draining into the new crater. He furrowed his brow, pondering whether or not this whole ordeal was simply a mistake. He knew using the ancient rites to call out for aid imposed a great deal of risk, but never in a thousand lifetimes could he have imagined what exactly would answer the call.
The sheer scale of the giantess was more than enough to inspire pure dread within the heart of any man. She stood high above all of their tallest buildings, capable of wreaking havoc upon them that would’ve certainly rivaled that of any of the shadow creatures of legend. And while her outward demeanor appeared to be that of a sweet young woman looking to provide aid for the sake of doing good, King Rizo had been a statesman for long enough to see through that charade. Immediately upon arriving, the giantess had managed to impress upon his people, her ability to stomp them all beneath her boot and destroy the single largest source of freshwater within a hundred miles of the capital. She even had the ingenuity to disguise this show of force as an act of mercy by claiming to have been avoiding a fall atop the entire city. In that one fell swoop, the massive woman had established her strength while simultaneously convincing his noble court of her good intentions. Now it would be near impossible to try to muster enough support from the political factions in order to resist the giantess should she return from the Lands of Shadow with new demands. Truly this being had the cunning to match her massive physical strength. Should she return with the queen and crown prince and demand to be the new ruler of this kingdom, there would be little that Rizo could do to resist.
“Keep your vile hands off of my son, you wretched lich.” Queen Atraxia shouted, as she watched helplessly from the confines of her cell. The dark sorcerer Balhmut shot the queen a wicked grin as he forcefully stabbed a syringe into the arm of a young boy, no more than ten, who was strapped down to a table in the center of this strange laboratory. The boy wailed in pain and Atraxia gripped the iron bars of her cell with an intensity that surely would’ve snapped the neck of the aged sorcerer of Vahir if he were in arms reach.
“Awww, fret not your highness. You’ve done a fine job raising this one.” The old man sneered, running a hand through the boy’s hair. “But your job is done. I’ll be taking it from here.” The queen watched on in horror as the dark hearted mage began casting his spell upon her son. Bolts of necrotic energy leapt from his fingertips, causing both Queen Atraxia and her son to cry out in pain. Suddenly a terrifying roar emanated from somewhere below them in the lair.
“You see?!” Balhmut screeched as the magic began to take hold and prince Armond’s eyes went a bright shade of blue. “The boy is the key! Through him, the Behemoth and I will finally be joined as one. The king of shadow beasts will be eternally bound to my rule!”
There was then a sudden rumble that gradually began to shake the foundation of the fortress, bringing everyone’s attention to the large balcony that looked out over the Lands of Shadow. Balhmut ceased his magical assault on the young prince and wandered off towards the edge of the balcony, peering out at something strange that he could see in the distance. “Hmmm it seems your worthless husband has managed to muster some sort of rescue mission. Bah, a pathetic, pointless endeavor. I will remind them all of the power of Bahlmut!” He shouted, pointing out at the horizon as a magical energy wreathed his hand. Following another terrible growl, the entire fortress shook once again as the Behemoth dove from the base of the mountain. Queen Atraxia felt her heart sink watching the monster’s immense shadow eclipse the land as it flew out across the barren wastes. She wanted to believe her people could muster some defense that would best the vile creature, but having seen the devastation that it wrought, she was doubtful that any of them would survive.
“Okay, Mount Vahir. Scary looking volcano, sooooo probably that, yea?” She asked herself silently as she studied the landscape before her. Not incredibly far off, there was a “mountain”, or at least a mountain by tiny Parvurian standards, that was billowing thick black smoke into the sky. Based on its menacing aesthetic alone, Rose assumed that this must’ve likely been the lair of the horrible behemoth that King Rizo had spoken of. Just then, the calm silence hanging in the air was broken as a loud screech echoed through the valley.
“Well, Mr. Behemoth, I presume?” Rose said, hearing the sound of beating wings race towards her. Rose took up a defensive stance, holding off on selecting her weapon until she had a better opportunity to size up her opponent. However, as the creature drew ever closer, Rose was overcome with a sense of confusion and disappointment. Barrelling towards her was a creature, certainly reminiscent of a dragon with its black armored skin, razor sharp claws and leathery wings, that she believed was more than likely the same creature that decimated the city of Parvus. However, this particular beast, by Rose’s current estimation, wasn’t much bigger than a blink hound.
By the time that the behemoth reached her, Rose made a quick side step to avoid the dragon’s path. She almost felt guilty crushing something so small. Had it not been for the size and vulnerability of the Parvurian people, Rose imagined this thing would actually be fairly harmless, cute even.
“Maybe I can just rough it up a little bit.” She reasoned, dodging over the dragon’s head, causing it to roll haphazardly across the ground as it tried to correct itself. The beast scrambled back to its feet, carving a wide swath across the ground with its tail. Once more the beast charged, but this time, instead of dodging, Rose brought her fist down hard on its head, creating a large crater in the earth where it hit. “Alright, stay down.” She said, standing over the dazed and twitching mini-dragon. She studied the now pacified creature, bending down on one knee to run her hand along the length of its back.
“Awwww, you’re not so terrible, are you?” She cooed, smiling down at the slumbering beast. “You’re a cute little thing when you settle do… OWWW!” Rose screeched as the dragon suddenly gained consciousness and latched onto her wrist, bellowing a torrent of fire onto her arm. The gigantic woman waved her arm around, flailing the beast around and repeatedly slamming it on the ground. And in that instant, for only an instant, Rose lost her cool.
In a mere seconds, Rose had separated herself from the behemoth and removed a small black rod from her belt. With a quick flourish, the huntress’ weapon transformed from the inconspicuous rod into an enormous scythe, appearing to be ridiculously oversized, even relative to the giantess herself. She then followed up the attack with an attack so devastating, the resulting shockwave stretched out across the entire landscape.
Balhmut watched in abject horror as a massive wall of force expanded outward from where he saw the Behemoth engaging with the titan woman. Blood poured from his eyes, nose and mouth, having been forcefully expelled from the dragon’s mind. It was impossible to believe that all these years of hard, meticulous work had been undone by some strange, overgrown child. But now was not the time to wallow in despair. Now was the time to escape, before this terrifying titan managed to find him. Bahlmut turned to collect some things scattered across his laboratory, scrolls, tomes and artifacts he had collected over the years, many of which were utterly irreplaceable.
“Hey there everyone!” A booming voice echoed in his eardrums, causing the wizened sorcerer to spin on his heels just in time to watch the giantess reach a hand inside the balcony of his lair, and tear the top off the entire mountain. The miniscule wizard fell to his knees, watching decades of careful planning and preparation be shattered by this strange gargantuan woman.
“Who here’s ready for a rescue?”
Upon her return to the kingdom, Rose tried to politely duck away to head back to base, but Queen Atraxia demanded that she stay for a festival in her honor. Figuring it would take some time to prepare for the festival, Rose had decided to take a little break and began to undo her boots, giving her feet a second to cool off. Sprinting at full speed across an entire continent really did a number on her feet.
Unfortunately Rose was far too tired to notice that as she laid her gargantuan peds on the ground near the neighborhoods surrounding the western section of the city, villagers began fleeing. As her eyelids grew more and more heavy, word quickly made it up to the royal quarters that the presence of the giantess was rendering entire swaths of homes completely uninhabitable.
King Rizo heard the reports from his men that the heat and odor emanating from the monolithic woman’s feet were forcing residents out of their homes and into the streets. People had already begun clamoring for the nobility to force the giantess to take her leave, but the paranoid king knew that the giantess was counting on that fact. She had planned on humiliating him and his people, trying to force his hand and goad them into insulting her. This would give her the excuse she needed to conquer his kingdom by force.
And so, to address the dire situation that he found himself in, King Rizo gathered his troops and began marching them towards the slayer of the mighty Behemoth.
Rose was gently woken from a pleasant dream by a slight tickling sensation on her feet. She let out a yawn and took a large stretch as the warmth of the afternoon sun kept the giantess feeling incredibly relaxed. Looking down towards the city, Rose saw the beginnings of a festival forming all around her. There were long strings of tiny flag banners strung between little buildings. Several fires had been lit, with thick columns of delicious smelling smoke billowing out as massive amounts of food were prepared. But most surprisingly, Rose noticed a fairly substantial crowd of tinies gathering around her feet. Thin structures of bamboo scaffolding had been hastily erected around her feet. It was at this moment that Rose realized that the tiny citizens were busy massaging and scrubbing her feet. It dawned on the young woman that the smell of her feet had likely been far more intense for the small people that she had realized.
“No, you don’t need to do that! I’m sorry, I wasn’t thinking, my feet are too sweaty!” She said, sincerely embarrassed by her smelly faux pas.
It took every ounce of resolve he had not to fall back in fear as the giantess suddenly rose from her slumber, her booming voice startling every Parvurian gathered here at the festival grounds. However, the king had to maintain his composure, for everyone’s sake.
“Worry not noble hunter. This is the least my men could do for the one who has slain the mighty Behemoth. It is our greatest desire to honor our city’s hero.” King Rizo shouted from his platform near the giantess’ head. His blood ran cold in his veins as the towering woman turned her gaze in his direction. The slight smile that appeared on her face as her gargantuan eyes focused in on him.
“Your majesty, what a surprise. It’s so good to see you. And really all of this is unnecessary. I was seriously hauling tail when I went out to rescue the Queen and Prince. I’d hate to think your people are stuck smelling my feet.” She said, her words sweeping across the entirety of the gathered populace. King Rizo gritted his teeth. Clearly this godlike being was reveling in the torment that her oppressive odor was inflicting on his subjects. Her taunts were subtle, but Rizo had been dealing with politicians his entire life and wasn't one to take these things at face value.
“Please, my lady. It is our greatest honor to serve you after all that you have done. The people of Parvus are not the kind to disrespect their savior. We shall not rest until the entirety of your feet have been washed clean.
“Wow, I mean I’ve never been one to turn down a foot massage, especially when it feels so good. You all seem like perfect little foot rubbers.” The giantess said with a chuckle, causing Rizo to grit his teeth once more. It pained him to hear the giantess' true thoughts, hearing about how his kind belonged under foot like they were nothing more than filth. However, he knew that there was nothing he could do to put the arrogant monster in her place. Not yet at least.
Rose laid back once more, staring up into the bright blue sky as she enjoyed the warmth of the sun beating down on her face. She hadn’t been lying, the feeling of the tiny people massaging and scrubbing her tired feet was an insanely good feeling. And if they weren’t running for the hills at the first whiff, maybe she was just a bit self conscious about the smell. Maybe it wasn’t as bad as she had initially thought.
Reaching out as that thought crossed her mind, Rose grabbed one of her large leather boots and brought it up to her own face. The new hunter took a deep whiff from the mouth of the boot, instantly recoiling at the ripe miasma wafting out. She then playfully lowered the shoe’s opening towards the platform where King Rizo was standing.
“Heh, if you guys don’t mind the smell, maybe you can go in and scrub up the inside. They could certainly use it. Hahahaha.” She let out a quick snort as she laughed, lowering the boot back down to the ground. Unbeknownst to her, Rose had inadvertently tipped it on its side so that the mouth of the boot was set at the top of the hillside, allowing a thick fog of potent foot smell to roll down the hill towards the festival site. The giantess then closed her eyes and returned to her nap, patiently waiting for the festival to begin so she could be on her way back home.
As the tiny people laboring on her feet continued to scrub the sweat from her soles, Rose had to chuckle. It was adorable how helpful these tiny folks wanted to be and it felt nice to be able to give them the opportunity to show their gratitude, as unnecessary as it was.