“This is it,” Gena said as she and Roxanne scaled the last hill and found themselves before the towering gates of Felwinter. Their hearts nearly stopped. The steel wall surrounding the city was impossibly high—enough to keep out giants and the most low-lying clouds—and it made them feel almost as small as little Frankie, dangling from Gena’s necklace. Still, they could make out the highest towers of the castle rising over the city like many blue crescent moons over the land. White frost like capped mountains sat atop the pointed towers.
“It’s beautiful…” Roxanne said. “When are we going to destroy it?”
“We’re not. We’re going to take it over.”
“Hey, that’s even better.”
“Yes. But not yet. We have no reason to cause so much fear and attention to ourselves until we’re sure we can destroy all who oppose us. Those in high power are always plagued by those seeking their downfall.”
“Like this chump?” Roxanne laughed, tugging on Narsis’ leash as a sign for him to heel for a moment. “He wanted to be popular, he wanted us to accept him—didn’t you, little guy? You thought that if you helped us, we’d make all your fantasies come true.”
“Yeah, guess you learned your place,” Gena said, looking down at the little impish creature. Then she saw Frankie and smiled. “And so did you. Isn’t it so much nicer when we all know where we belong in this life?”
“But this isn’t our life!” Narsis cried, jerking on his chain. “This is only a game.” The girls just grinned down at him. “Look, those four guys back there… They said they couldn’t take off their game helmets. That’s exactly what was going on at the Abbey. And the damage you were doing to those people—yes, it was extremely powerful, but they were really getting hurt. The game wasn’t made to be that intense. You noticed that, didn’t you? It’s like…the sensations in the game are taking over our minds and we’re slowly losing grip on reality.”
Gena looked at Roxanne. “Aw, I didn’t know your little imp could speak. His voice is so cute and squeaky!”
“Come on, girls!” Narsis said. “This is serious. We’re talking major brain damage if something is wrong with the hacking virus.”
“That’s okay, smoking has already killed most of my brain cells. I can afford to lose a few more.”
“…Look, I’m not asking you to believe me. Just try to shut off your game helmets and see what happens.”
“It’s probably some kind of trick,” Roxanne said. “Some back-up device in case we became too powerful for you to handle, right?”
“No, it’s no trick! I just want to know if we’re all trapped here.”
“Don’t worry about us,” Gena laughed. “We’ll leave whenever we want. But you won’t. I think you’re going to like your new imp body.”
“I can’t shut off my helmet either!” Frankie cried.
Narsis leaped up. “You see!? The boy isn’t tied down! He’s stuck here. We might all be stuck here.”
“You two can cry wolf all you want,” Gena said. “We’re not falling for it. It’s time men learn their places in the world.”
“Yeah, at our feet,” Roxanne laughed, kicking Narsis with her boot. He lurched forward and would’ve been crushed under Roxanne’s next footstep if he hadn’t scurried out of the way in time.
By this time, they had reached the colossal gates to the city of Felwinter and were greeted by two female guards in plate armor.
“What business have you in Felwinter?” one of the guards asked.
“We wish to join the tournament,” Gena said, scowling as the other guard began to pat her down.
“The Tournament of Champions?” the first guard asked.
“Yeah, that totally non-clichéd name.”
The second guard worked her hands up from Gena’s feet and finally reached her necklace, where she saw Frankie dangling by his shirt. For a moment, Frankie felt saved. An officer of the law had finally found him Gena was going to get what she deserved—seven years. But neither the guard nor Gena seemed the least bit concerned. In fact, the guard lifted the visor of her helmet to get a better view at the necklace and then smiled.
“I like your necklace,” she told Gena.
“Thanks.”
Nodding, the guard pushed her visor down and stepped back. “I have one of my brother that I wear when I’m not on duty.”
“Ah…”
“Good luck in the tournament,” the first guard said as they opened the gates.
Gena and Roxanne entered the city of Felwinter, Narsis at their heels, and gazed around. Shops, houses, and open markets lined the streets, crawling with people of all sorts of various nationalities. There were patches of green, but most of the ground was trodden in dirt footsteps that stretched as far as the people and the rows of buildings. The remarkable thing, though, was that despite the huge diversity of people—the peasants, the shopkeepers crying out their wares, the occasional patrol guard or aristocrat on break—every one of them was female. The males they expected to see, dodging feet and ducking under tables, were nowhere to be found.
The girls continued to push their way through the crowds, which were more than quick to make way for a Necromancer and a Black Knight. Not that evil classes weren’t common in Felwinter, but there were apprehensively—even dubiously—welcomed. Gena and Roxanne hardly noticed the scowls they received. No, rather, their eyes were on the majestic castle before them. It towered over the city like a giant, casting a dark shadow as long as the sun whenever it glittered across the sky. Yet, for as close as the shadow rained over the bustling crowds, the castle itself reigned at least a mile away. It stood alone on a hilltop, looking out over the city like a great eye. The drawbridge was down, but there was nobody there to walk upon it, or to guard it, or even so much as to stroll up the winding path towards the royal fortress itself. Instead, its only friend seemed to be a naked brook, shimmering with daylight stars, which poured out from the moat, down the hillside, and out the iron gates in the backside of the city wall.
Gena and Roxanne found themselves alone, once again, when they first stepped on the path towards the great castle and made that long hike upwards. Narsis nipped at their heels, as always.
Giantess World
