Characters: Siarra, Aisha, Malkav, Adam, Grandpa, Kendira, Rachelle, Kim
Siarra and her companions followed the dawn over the last hill to Felwinter, where they stared down into the ghostly breaths of mist to the city below. It looked so majestic, so incredible and surreal, as it sat upon what appeared to be a throne of slowly drifting clouds. People who were little more than specks of fantasy flocked to the open gates, passing through like scepters pass through walls—soundless and full of whispers, trancelike and wild-eyed with excitement.
“The Tournament of Champions is today,” Aisha said. “It’s a time when all the kingdoms come together to watch or participate in a terrible massacre. It’s horrible. Simply horrible.”
“They don’t seem to think it’s horrible,” Malkav said, pointing to the crowds of girls gathering into the local arena with streamers, confetti, and armfuls of food and drinks. They were laughing, talking amongst themselves, as the pink streaks of dawn began to bleed across the sky.
Aisha shook her head. “It’s horrible if you’re in it. There are no rules and no penalties if your opponent completely decapitates you. Most contestants don’t walk away alive.”
“But isn’t that what Clerics are for?” Adam asked. “Surely they have Clerics waiting at the sidelines to help the injured.”
“Well, yes… I used to work there as one. But sometimes a contestant is messed up so badly that he can’t be revived.”
“He?”
“Oh, yes. Men are the primary victims. That’s the reason they celebrate this festival—to keep the male population down. Sadly, most of the Men don’t volunteer to be in the fight. They’re caught, usually, in some kind of awful trap, or sold by their owners to be slaughtered in the arena.”
“How much do you think we can get for them?” Siarra asked, pointing a thumb at Malkav, Adam, and Grandpa.
Aisha frowned. “That’s not funny. You wouldn’t believe what some of those girls do to the guys they fight.”
“Now would be a good time to apologize,” Adam whispered to Malkav, but he shoved him away. “Come on, man. You’re going to miss your chance.”
“I’ll say it when we get out of this stupid world,” Malkav said. “Let’s just go find Narsis, contact your girlfriend, and get the hell out of here.”
“That won’t be easy… How are we going to sneak away from Siarra and Aisha without them seeing us?”
“I don’t know yet, but we’ll think of something.”
They started down the hill, but it wasn’t long before they had entered the cloud of mist that they found themselves amongst the bodies of hundreds of other girls trying to get into Felwinter. Malkav, Adam, and Grandpa screamed as a forest of bare skin legs encompassed them, the white trunks lifting and falling like wild rapids. From every side there came pounding footsteps and voices of confusion as the guys weaved their own fate through the sea of legs. None of the girls were looking where they stepped. They never did.
“There’s too many of them!” Malkav yelled, dodging the crashing footstep of a clumsy brunette.
Adam scuttled onto one of the girls’ sandal and looked up, trying to recognize the faces of his female companions. “Where are Siarra and Aisha!?”
Meanwhile, Grandpa ran around, shouting orders to imaginary men. “General, we’re going under! The enemy is approaching! I hear their footsteps all around!”
“Look out, old man!”
Malkav shoved Grandpa out of the way just in time. A ‘little’ girl nearly trampled him as she skipped through the crowds, holding her mom’s hand. Her mom noticed the tiny men on the ground, though, and looked over her shoulder to give them a nasty look. She probably would’ve come back to step on them if the crowd wasn’t constantly moving, pushing everybody forward.
Adam came rushing back. “Hey, guys! I think I saw Kendira up ahead. Looks like the other guys made it here too.”
“That’s great,” Malkav said sarcastically. “Why don’t they come down here and join us in trying not to get squashed?”
Grandpa lay on the cobblestone, groaning, and raised his mighty staff. “Do not fear, boys! I call upon you, Heaven’s Light, to light the way!”
“What the hell are—” Malkav started to say, but his words trailed off in midsentence as a great beam of white light shot from Grandpa’s staff. It burned through the crowd with the force of a gamma ray, hurdling girls to either side of its blaring intensity before at last striking the merrily skipping little girl in the elbow. She screamed to her mommy as the light dissipated and left only an empty pathway of cobblestone leading from the stunned old man to the crying little girl. Malkav and Adam stood in the middle, their faces staring up at the crowd who stared down at them.
“Adam…” Malkav said slowly. He wished he could shrink even more than he had already. The burning, angry glares from all these girls were making him feel smaller than ever and he wanted to just melt away into nothing.
Adam swallowed hard. He was feeling the same way. “Y-yeah?”
“Tell Siarra I love her. I do.”
“I don’t think I’m going to survive long enough to tell her.”
Meanwhile, the little girl’s mom had taken her daughter into her arms and embraced her, the whole time scowling at the three men on the ground. The crowd remained silent and unmoving, but their faces were so cold that they froze the guys in place. Icy beads of sweat began to replace the dew on Adam and Malkav’s skin as they slowly helped Grandpa to his feet. But they had nowhere to run. They were trapped in a circle of legs.
“I’m so sick of your kind,” the mom hissed, squeezing her daughter one last time before she set her down. “You little bastards, making little girls cry—what’s next? What gives you the right to hurt us? The whole lot of you should be driven out of this kingdom! Vermin scum. I spit at you!”
And she did. She reared back and spit, a long, watery string of saliva from her lips that descended like a lightning bolt and managed to spray all three of the guys. They were soaked, humiliated as they stood there, covered in dribble so sticky that they couldn’t peel their clothes away from their skin. And, as if that wasn’t enough, the cold faces of the crowd around them suddenly turned into the loudest, most mocking laughter imaginable.
And the one who laughed hardest of all was a sweet-faced Priest in the back row named Rachelle. “What a bunch of stupid dunces!”
“Wait, we know those stupid dunces!” Kendira exclaimed. She was short—too short to see over the heads of the crowd—but a space had opened that allowed her to catch a glimpse of Malkav as he lifted his hand to wipe the spit from his brow. Their eyes caught one another and she knew it was him.
Unfortunately, nobody heard her through all the laughter, especially as the little girl’s mom stepped closer to the tiny men with a half-smirk, half-scowl drawn over her face. She stopped with her hands on her hips as she towered over them.
“And just why are a bunch of peons using the female entrance anyway?” she asked. “The entrance for Men is around back, through the stables and horse shit.”
“W-we’re here with our friends,” Adam gulped. “Female friends.”
“Females don’t make friends with vermin.”
“Did I say ‘friends’? I meant masters.”
“Where are your masters now?”
“We…don’t know.”
“I think they’re lying,” one of the girls in the crowd said. “Squish them!” Murmurs of agreement went around.
“If anybody owns these pests, speak now!” the mom said as she lifted her foot and held it over the cowering guys. She brought it down before even waiting for an answer.
Kendira finally managed to squeeze to the front of the crowd, gasping for air. “Stop! Stop. They’re with me.”
The mom’s foot hovered over the men for a second, looking at Kendira, and then she smirked as she slammed her foot the rest of the way down.
But before she could crush the guys, Kendira pulled out her wind and launched a quick spark into the gut of the mom, causing her to topple back. Her foot landed harmlessly on the cobblestone. The crowd booed at Kendira. One of the women even tried to punch her, but Kendira ducked under her fist and stepped back, into the empty center of the crowd.
“Stop it, all of you!” she shouted, holding the wand out like a gun as she pivoted on her heels in a slow circle. “…My name is Kendira. I am the apprentice of Master Luna and these Men belong to me, so unless you want to answer to Master Luna herself, I suggest you clear out of here and leave my friends alone. Now!”
Not a word was said, but the crowd cleared instantly, leaving only Kim, a still-laughing Rachelle, and Siarra and Aisha somewhere past the gates.
“Told you they were behind us!” Aisha said, running over to the spit-sodden guys. She bent down, picking up Malkav under the arms, and used the cloth of her frayed skirt to dry him off. She did the same with Adam and Grandpa and then frowned at the sticky stain it left on her clothes. “Maybe that was a bad idea.”
“It doesn’t matter,” Malkav muttered. “I hate this town already.”
Adam looked up at Kendira as she tucked her wand into her robe. “Thank you, Kendira. You saved us from a rather unfortunate fate.”
“I can’t believe that woman,” she said. “Leaving the Abbey only makes me realize how ignorant the rest of the world can be. I dread the minds and blind opinions we have to change in this quest of ours.” She paused, reflecting. “…Still, I’m glad to see you again. We have a lot to catch up on.”
“Indeed we do.”
With that, Kendira nodded and waved to Kim, who was holding her team of little guys. “Come, we’ll talk in the stadium. The Tournament of Champions begins in less than an hour.”
Giantess World
