Sihil winced as the lid to the box slammed shut, trapping her in the dark prison she dreaded most. She simply wanted to talk with the prisoners, and this is what Teagan did? Sihil clenched her fists and muttered a curse under her breath, but knew that anger would do her little good in a time like this. She turned to the two other prisoners in the box, hoping to help them however she could.
“Um... hello.”
The two of them stared at Sihil, silently. They were both weaponless, but still seemed to be soldiers on account of their armor, woven from the fibres of giant grasses. One of them, a clean-shaven young man with wavy black hair and a furrowed brow, sat sulkily in a far corner, reminding Sihil of the time that she had taken refuge from Firkon in that same corner. The other, a woman with a dark complexion and a slight build, lay prone on the ground.
“I’m… sorry that we find ourselves in these circumstances…” Sihil muttered, casting her eyes downward. She was nervous, sad, and now she was making a complete idiot out of herself in front of two people who most likely had no desire to talk. Sihil was going to apologize and sit down when the prone soldier, propping herself up with an arm, responded.
“We all are, I’m sure… but there’s no point in dwelling on what cannot be helped, when we could instead be thinking about what can. This giantess, are you aware that she can speak?”
“I am,” Sihil replied, “I was the one who taught her. I don’t think I’d be alive right now if I didn’t.”
“You taught her, eh? How long have you been here?” asked the soldier in the corner, suddenly interested.
Sihil paused to think for a few moments before responding, “...I don’t know. I’ve lost track of time at this point. Take that how you will.”
“I’ll take that to mean that you’ve been here long enough. Does she let anyone go?”
“No.”
The soldier’s gaze dropped down once more. Sihil felt ready to cry as she wondered how far Teagan might have taken her from her home. Without a paved road or a steed, what it takes a giant one day to travel could take anyone else at least five. She thought about all the others she had seen enter this box, each more hopeless and dejected than the last. Was it a nightmare, perhaps? A feverish night’s terrible fantasy, drawn out by the machinations of the mind? Sihil cast her thoughts aside, neither ready nor willing to dwell on them just yet.
“Are either of you hurt?” Sihil asked the soldiers, hoping to avail them some kind of aid. She was taken completely aback when the prone soldier gave a weak chuckle. The other soldier grimaced at the question, clearly upset by the answer.
“It’s not like there’s anything you can do about it that we couldn’t. Don’t bother asking. You’re just wasting our time in the most irritating manner possible.”
“Hassan, please, don’t be so harsh, she’s just a girl!” the prone soldier chastised, casting a glare in the man’s direction, “but he’s right. There’s nothing you can do, child. He tended to his wounds, and there’s little that can be done for me. I can’t move or feel a thing below my waist; there’s no treating such an injury. I try not to think about it too much.”
“Oh… I’m so sorry, I had no idea...” Sihil muttered, ashamed of her ignorance. The soldier forced a smile and shook her head.
“There is nothing to be sorry for. You tried only to help, and I’m thankful for that, I really am. What’s your name, girl?”
“Oh, uh, I’m Sihil, of Alephasia.”
“It’s good to meet one as caring as yourself, Sihil. Your bravery is exemplary… I don’t think I’ll ever see anyone face one of the giants as fearlessly as you did earlier. My name is Aaliyah, and my friend here is Hassan. You are both caring and courageous.”
“Hmph. Courageous, perhaps, but not because you do not fear death, but because you do not fear the giantess. Am I wrong? You seem too familiar with her, too friendly. I don’t doubt that you’re a captive, but I feel as if she may hold you in higher regard than us… and you know it well. Are you afraid of her inflicting upon you what she does upon others?”
Sihil silently shook her head. Lies would get her nowhere, and it seemed that Hassan, while certainly gloomy, was not the type to blame her for his capture.
“Interesting. I would normally say that it’s pleasing to hear of an act of understanding by the giants, but given what happened to our Samira and what’s bound to happen to us, I would feel greater joy from seeing one among their own number die. A vitriolic sentiment perhaps, but one that is reciprocated tenfold by the giants themselves.”
Sihil was once again engulfed in a deep, gnawing sadness. She missed her friends. She missed her home. She missed the promise of food every day, of seeing the same familiar rolling hills, of never having to fear for her life. She fell to her knees as she saw faces in her mind’s eye, faces of those who had died. Thanalia. Fersi. Thestaran, Al-Valizi, and the countless others who she had never even had a chance to speak with. Sihil’s eyes still stung from her sobbing breakdown the day before, but she could do little to contain the tears that once again dropped from her eyes. Aaliyah, seeing Sihil helplessly bawling, motioned for her to come closer. Sihil stumbled her way over to Aaliyah, and was met with the first embrace she had received in what felt like it could have been months.
“It’s okay, Sihil. It’s okay. You’re strong to have made it this far. You’re going to make it through this. Sh-”
Aaliyah was interrupted as the box, apparently still affixed to Teagan’s hip, lurched violently forward, sending both Aaliyah and Sihil crashing into a wall. Sihil felt and saw a white hot flash as her head snapped violently backwards, the back of her skull cracking against the hardwood. As the light faded, Sihil’s vision didn’t return to her, the searing pain leaving only numbness and darkness in its stead. The last thing Sihil could hear before slipping entirely into unconsciousness was screaming, not from within the box, but from without.
~
Teagan, after pocketing the last of the building’s treasures, turned her attention to the second interesting discovery she’d made. After tearing down a few walls, Teagan was able to see the entire mosaic that she previously peeked through a window. It was about as tall as the distance from Teagan’s shoulder to her hip, and just over half as wide. It was assembled out of tiny chips of vibrant stone, although the general style of it was far different than the artwork Teagan had seen on her few trips to larger towns. The mosaic was split into nine roughly equal sections, the background of each colored slightly differently than the rest. Each section depicted a figure, most of them wearing a crown, wielding a scepter, or flaunting some other display of authority. Despite their regal bearings, however, they were all depicted in stances of deference, prostrating themselves to a crown-like silhouette in the mosaic’s center. Surrounding the crown was what appeared to be a brief poem in the tomkin language. Teagan was surprised to see that they used the same general script, although it helped little in her efforts to understand what the text truly meant. She looked it over multiple times, but she gleaned nothing, the words meaning little.
ENNEAM BASILEIS
TREMERE BARBARICOR
FIDERE DEBITAT
SUB UNAS REGNITOR
Teagan, with a bit of neatly applied pressure, was able to break the mosaic away from its constituent wall, leaving it mostly undamaged. She placed it in her backpack, keen on trying to translate it. Surely it pertained somehow to tomkin culture or religion… but Teagan was in no mood to deal with Sihil at the moment. Progress needed to made, especially if the tomkins that minutes earlier escaped her grasp intended to summon aid. Giving the building one last kick, Teagan turned her attention to descending the mountain. The incline was steep, and without a path, Teagan would have to tread carefully to assure that she didn’t tumble down. She took a careful step down onto a rather flat rock. All was going well until the rock, thinner than Teagan had anticipated, snapped in twain as she let her full weight upon it. Teagan lost her footing, and tumbled roughly down the last stretch of the mountainside, finally coming to a stop on a hard granite outcropping. Teagan felt a levity to her body and a strange sensation of pressure in her head, but she was otherwise only a bit scraped. Looking up, Teagan saw that her fall was nearly six or seven times her own height, and was amazed that she wasn’t in far worse shape. Still panting and out of breath, Teagan moved her gaze from where she was to where she intended to be. Her fall had carried her past the steepest bits of the mountainside, leaving what was more or less a leisurely trek to the bottom.
Just as she was about to brush herself off and continue her descent, Teagan suddenly reached to the box at her side, wanting to check on Sihil. She opened the lid and saw the captured tomkins inside heaped up at one end of the box, thrashing in uncoordinated attempts to extricate themselves from the crush of bodies. As Teagan opened the lid, casting them in a sudden influx of sunlight and greeting them with an intent stare, the tomkins’ already difficult endeavor became a fruitless task as it devolved into chaos and panic. Teagan presumed that Sihil was somewhere in that mess, and decided to extricate her. She was met with a chorus of irritatingly familiar screams as she reached a hand into the box, roughly pushing her other captives aside as she caught a glimpse of Sihil’s red hair. Teagan delicately scooped up Sihil’s torso between her pointer finger and her thumb, and was stricken with panic as she felt that Sihil had gone entirely limp. Teagan lifted the girl out of the box and splayed her on a small bed of moss. The other tomkins in the box, having finally separated after the chaos of the fall, watched intently and whispered among themselves as Teagan slowly examined Sihil. Teagan winced as she noticed a bloody gash on the back of Sihil’s head. As much as she tried, she could tell neither is Sihil was breathing nor if her heart was still beating, but the fact that her chest wasn’t heaving in the slightest was a bad sign. Now it was Teagan who started crying, cradling Sihil’s limp body in her hands.
“Sihil… Sihil, please, please, come on… don’t you fucking die, n-not here, not yet… I’m sorry, I’m sorry for everything, I should have listened to you, fuck, fuck, FUCK!”
Teagan slammed her fist down on the rock beneath her in anger. An earsplitting crack sounded just as her fist collided, and she was momentarily stunned by the unexpected noise. When Teagan realized the source of the noise, she was entirely dumbfounded. A web of cracks had spread across the granite hunk where she had slammed her fist. There was no doubt in her mind that this was connected to the incident at the lake, and this incident conversely confirmed that it was she who had flung the brigand backwards. Teagan’s realization was abruptly interrupted as the pressure in her head intensified, the slight discomfort it caused amplifying into a migraine. Teagan sprawled back on the rock, laying Sihil’s body gently on her chest. Tears streaked their way down her cheeks, mingling with her sweat and evaporating before they had a chance to fall away. Teagan let her eyes lose focus, mingling the clear blue sky with the white clouds adrift in it. Still the pain remained. Teagan squeezed her eyes shut, trying to enshroud herself in sightless dark. Still the pain remained. A faint crunching noise denied her the quiet rest that she so desperately longed for.
“Hullo?”
Teagan smiled. Maybe this was her time. Maybe the mountainside fall was worse than she had realized, and she would be returning from whence she came. Already, she could hear heavenly voices calling her onwards.
“Are you alive, or can I take that knife?”
Teagan bolted upwards, almost instinctively obscuring Sihil’s body in her left hand. Standing above her was a brunette woman, brown eyes boring into her own. The woman wore a patchy leather jerkin and ill-fitting linen hosen. Teagan didn’t know what to say. The woman raised an eyebrow, squatting down so she was face level with Teagan. She didn’t seem to notice Teagan’s box of tomkins, or if she did, she didn’t seem to particularly care.
“You took an awful tumble there. Can you hear me? See me?”
Teagan nodded. The woman gave a tight-lipped half smile that could be expressive of a wide variety of emotions.
“Good, good. It doesn’t look as if any of your important bits are broken or shattered - which is honestly amazing given how far you fell - but you could have internal injuries that aren’t apparent. Does anything hurt?”
“Head…” Teagan muttered, eyes half-lidded. She couldn’t bring herself to say any more, the pain in her head increasing with even the slightest of efforts on her behalf. The woman examined Teagan’s head in much the same way that Teagan had been examining Sihil only minutes earlier. Teagan offered her no resistance, although she kept her hand curled around Sihil, concealing her from the stranger’s view. After a quick inspection, the woman nodded as if satisfied, standing back up.
“Well, you don’t have any obvious injuries, but you might be concussed. Can you tell me what your name is?”
“I’m… I’m Teagan.”
“Teagan. That name… you’re a highlander, aren’t you? From Cill na Naomh or Dunnehain?”
Teagan nodded. The woman shook her head incredulously, giving a quiet chuckle.
“You’ve come quite a ways. You’re in the Regtsniktland, the heart of Pazsichia. Now, Teagan, do you think you’re ready to try standing up?”
The woman offered her left hand to help Teagan up, agitating Teagan. She was holding Sihil in her own left hand.
“Are you, er, a physician of sorts?” Teagan sputtered, trying to buy herself time.
“I was.” responded the woman, somewhat dejectedly, “My town was razed and my people slain or enslaved a year prior. Not even by tomkins, either, but by a group of roving mercenaries turned bandits. Pazsich survived by trade, not military might, and our wars were won through the contracting of Landsknekte, professional soldiers for hire. Now that nobody’s hiring, they loot and burn to make their ends meet.”
“I’m… I’m quite sorry to hear that. I myself had an encounter with one of that sort just a day ago.” Teagan responded.
“Well… in any case, I’m a physician, surely enough.” the woman said, apparently not comfortable with the topic at hand, “You can trust me. You ought to try standing up… I saw you from nearly a mile away, and I’d guess that any tomkins in the area saw the same. Take my hand.”
Teagan, without hesitation, looked directly into the woman’s eyes before uncurling her left hand, revealing Sihil. The woman seemed intrigued.
“If you’re a physician, can you tend to her? I’ll repay you however I can, just, please, can you do anything for her?” Teagan asked, pleadingly.
“It’s a tomkin.” the woman replied, in a belittling tone, “I’m not tending to a tomkin. Those things are the enemy, Teagan. It would be a waste of our time, and more importantly, my materials. The thing looks like it’s dead anyhow, and there’s not a thing in the world I can do for that.”
“Her name is Sihil, and she’s my friend.” Teagan muttered through clenched teeth, trying to maintain her composure, “Please, just try to save her. I’m fine. She isn’t.”
The woman glared at Teagan.
“It’s dead. I can tell just by looking at it. Just… just hand it over, will you? I’ll do what I can, but I have nothing precise enough to actually operate on it, so don’t expect results.”
Teagan silently handed Sihil’s limp body over to the woman, watching intently as the woman examined Sihil’s injury. After a short while, she nodded to herself, satisfied with what she’d gleaned. She laid Sihil down on the ground and rifled through a pack at her side, withdrawing a long, thin needle. She kneeled down over Sihil, looking momentarily back to Teagan.
“The tomkin has a serious head injury. There’s bleeding under the skin, and possibly inside its skull… this is normally a suturing needle, but I’m going to use it to try and open a small puncture in the back of the head, allowing blood to drain and perhaps relieving the humoral imbalance in the area caused by said excess blood. If this doesn’t work, the tomkin’s as good as dead.”
Teagan watched as the woman used the needle to carefully drill a hole in Sihil’s head. Clotted blood dribbled from the opening like jelly, sickening Teagan; the woman seemed completely unfazed. After she made the opening, the woman slowly withdrew the needle, and the dribble of blood hastened for a few seconds before stopping entirely. Next, the woman wiped her needle off on a small rag before producing a small bundle of tinder, a dried leaf, a small black rock, and a small steel hoop.
“We’re going to have to cauterize the wound. If we left the opening as is, she’d continue to bleed, and the procedure would do more harm than good.”
The woman struck the flint on the steel a few times, creating a handful of sparks, before one finally caught on the dried leaf. The woman quickly applied the flame to the tinder, creating a small fire. She held the needle in the flame until the fire burned out, waited a few seconds, then applied the heated needle to the back of Sihil’s head. Teagan winced as she heard a tiny sizzling noise for a few seconds.
“There. That’s all I can do.” the woman said, putting her tools away, “Now… about repaying me. Where are you headed, Teagan?”
Teagan figured there was no reason not to tell the truth. This woman did go out of her way to help, and seemed to be a kind sort, if not a bit distant. After gently picking Sihil up, Teagan replied.
“Well, I, uh, I’m looking for Whitebreeze Keep, humanity’s last bastion against the endless tomkin hordes! It’s… it’s in that direction… for now, at least…” Teagan trailed off, pointing to the deserts ahead.
“Intriguing. I’m trying to make it to Sudgau, or, well, at least what used to be Sudgau. I was going to spend a few weeks circumventing those wastes ahead, but if you think you know a way through them, I’d love to accompany you through that part of your journey.”
“Oh… okay, sure. It’s the least I can do. Again… thank you dearly. You’ve done me a great service for me being a stranger and all.”
“Don’t thank me yet.” the woman replied, standing back up, “There’s no guarantee that my treatment’s going to work.”
She paused for a moment.
“You’re an odd one, Teagan. I don’t think I’ve met anyone who was friends with a tomkin before… have I introduced myself? Oh, no, I don’t think I have. I’m Hannah von Nieders.”
~
Firkon was absolutely incredulous. He read over the letter handed to him by the envoy once more, making sure that he wasn’t making any mistakes.
To the esteemed Legatus Maxim Quintares Firkon,
We have received word from our circumspectors in Machiae that the Selcenian Empire is soon to declare a punitive war on Q’thuman. Selcenian armies are already on the march, and to maintain Orestian diplomatic neutrality, you are ordered to cease your current task for the time being. It is the recommendation of the Praefect that you return to Telaphonis for the time being, and refuse further aid from Q’thuman. Avoid contact with Selcenian armies if possible.
SATRAPS CYRUS
“Can you believe this?! Was it not the will of the First Emperor that the peoples of all nations set aside our petty conflicts to unite against the giants? A punitive war! What would Selceus want to raze Q’thuman for?”
“I believe a Q’thumani garrison decided to raid Selcenian border towns, sir.” Laeron meekly muttered.
“This is ridiculous! I refuse to cooperate with a treasonous order such as this. I refuse! We will pursue this giantess to the ends of this forsaken planet, if necessary! Ridiculous! Utterly ridiculous!”
“Well, sir, I think we can accurately judge her path, assuming, of course, that she was responsible for killing the dead giant found by the Q’thumani scouting party. Oh, and, um, speaking of that party, sir, they want to join us. They say that the Emir is offering them pay to accompany us.”
Firkon glowered.
“That’d put us directly in conflict with the Selcenians, Laeron… why not?”