Meanwhile, Kendira’s party had landed in the small town of Oceanside, some fifty miles northeast of Oyster’s Eye (but equal distance from the Abbey), skipped breakfast completely, and were marching towards Felwinter before dawn’s rays graced the sky. Kendira had barely given them a minute’s rest. Even on the boat ride over, she had forced them to stay awake and listen to her stories and warnings of the sacred beetle until she finally talked herself to sleep. She was like a child who refused to sleep and didn’t have the parents to make her.
Quentin was the only one who seemed to share her enthusiasm. He pranced along behind her, oblivious to his friends Mundo and Isaac, who were dragging their feet along the dirt path and rubbing their eyes. Even Kim’s face looked a little faded and she couldn’t help but yawn every time the wind caught her between the eyes.
And then there was Rachelle. “Oh, my Dai Celesta, are we there yet? I don’t even think the angels get up this early. Humans were meant to sleep by the sun. Do you see the sun? I sure don’t. The sun is still sleeping. That means we should be sleeping. But no, here we are, under the stars, marching on, blinded in this dark. Dai Celesta, watch over us, for we are fools.”
“We should’ve stuck with the Cleric,” Mundo muttered.
“Ack, I think I just swallowed a bug! And not the good kind. Forgive me, Dai Celesta, for I have sinned. Ow! My feet hurt. Can we rest a minute?”
Kendira shook her head. “No, we cannot rest. Every minute draws us nearer to our doom like the fuse of a cannon. We do not know how much time is left before our threads of life burn to ash and we blow free and lost forever, confetti in the wind.”
Quentin played his flute/sword and began to sing:
“Confetti in the wind
Confetti in the wind
Oh, oh, oh!
How can we win?”
Sighing, Mundo looked up at Rachelle. “…If I die, please don’t rez me.”
She looked down at him and blinked. Rachelle was older than the rest of them—about twenty-five years in age with hair so blonde that it was white and wriggled in snakelike curls down her shoulders and back. Her pupils were dilated and black with thick eyelashes and skin like the silk of her colorful, yet ghostlike garments. A single strap bound the sandals to her feet, causing them to flop as she walked. It was no wonder they were so blistered.
“Wait!” Kendira suddenly said, raising her hand. Kim and Rachelle stopped, but the guys were a little slower and smacked into the backs of their calves. They stumbled back and then looked into the brush where the girls were looking. They weren’t really in a forest, but there were a lot of trees along the dirt path and the shrubs had grown quite thicker since they had left the safety of Oceanside, which was now little more than a faded fog in the distance. “…I thought I heard something.”
“And we’re scared of mobs in a newb area—why?” Mundo asked. “You girls are a high enough level to kill anything you see here.”
“Our size doesn’t mean we can take on anything,” Rachelle said.
“I meant your other level…”
“What?”
“A number, girl, a number. Like me and my main man Isaac are level 2.”
“Don’t call me that,” Isaac said.
“What are you two talking about?” She looked at the other girls. “What are they talking about?”
Kendira shrugged. “Kim, why don’t you take a look in the brush? You’re a Hunter, right?”
“Yes,” she answered, reaching for an arrow from the quiver over her shoulder. She carefully nocked it and sidestepped towards the brush, her fingers on the bowstring and her elbow pulled back. “Be very, very quiet.”
Quentin sang softly:
“She’s going into the brush
She’s going into the brush
Hi, ho, the dairy-o
She’s going into the brush”
Isaac slapped his hand over Quentin’s mouth and yanked him back. “Quiet, foo’!”
Sticking her foot forward, Kim pushed aside a leafy branch and peered into the hole in the undergrowth. “…Aw, it’s just a little boar.”
“A boar?” Isaac said. “What’s that—a cross between a bitch and a whore?”
Mundo’s eyes widened. “Whoa, find me one of those.”
“No, it’s like a pig,” Kim said, puckering her lips and trying to lure the creature out. “Come on out, little guy. We won’t hurt you.”
The boar grunted.
“Pigs don’t eat meat, right? Quentin asked, suddenly putting down his flute.
“Come on, piggy,” Kim smacked her lips again. “Come on. …Get out here, you stupid oinker.”
“Somebody needs to raise her Charm Beast spell,” Rachelle said. “Here let me try.” She knelt down and patted her juicy thighs. “Come here, little guy. I want to be your friend.”
Dazed, Quentin walked like a zombie towards her.
Sticking his snout out first, the boar sniffed the air and then put his hoof onto the dirt path, revealing his chubby, gray, thick-skinned self as he crawled out of the underbrush. He didn’t even glance as he strutted past Kim or knocked Quentin over. His eyes were locked on Rachelle and her thighs. He nuzzled his snout into her lap.
“O, wonderful creature of the Light,” Rachelle said, scratching behind the boar’s ears.
“But you don’t even get Charm Beast!” Kim whined.
“It’s a girl thing.”
“…Damn, I need to work on those skills.”
“No, you don’t,” Isaac grinned.
But Rachelle was too busy rubbing the tummy of the boar, who had rolled over in her lap and waved his hooves in the air. “Little piggy likes having his tummy wummy scratched, doesn’t he? Yes, he does! Yes, he does!”
After a quick bacon breakfast, the party continued on their journey to Felwinter.
Giantess World
