“Roth, how big can this fortress be if you don’t think I can do it alone?” Sylvie had heard her small companion out, but the more he explained the more she felt like he was underestimating her abilities. She’d fought trolls, entire armies of men, and a whole fleet of pirate ships without being in much danger at all. She highly doubted a fortress of tiny men would be of any danger to her. The young man was pacing back and forth on her palm as she sat on a large boulder only a few miles from Eris.
“Don’t underestimate Soren. You fought three ships at once. That’s definitely impressive, but he has an armada. At least a dozen more ships and an island full of pirates to fill them. Even if you could take them all on at once, you would have to make it past the cannons he has along every wall of the fortress.”
“Nothing I haven’t dealt with before. This duel just sounds like a waste of time. I don’t want to play his games.” She imagined how Belena might respond to someone suggesting they do something similar with Argo. Belena definitely would not have stooped to his level; she surely would have come up with something else, a way only giants knew. Sylvie also imagined her mother would be as cunning and brave too, able to find a way no one else saw rather than take a cowardly route. No, this was her chance to prove her strength and live up to her mother and older sister.
“Trust me, this is the best way to do things. Gosh, you’re just so stubborn! I thought you’d see sense in this. Everyone else does!”
“I’m not everyone else, Roth! None of you know what it’s like to be a giant. I’ll help all of you, but I think we should do it my way.” Roth buried his head in his hands, then pulled them away and threw them up in defeat.
“Alright, princess, we’ll just rush in and do it your way. Don’t put your trust in any of my plans, that would be the worst idea, right?!” Sylvie’s face fell as he seemed to have hit his limit.
“Roth-”
“No, just…just put me down Sylvie. We will fight the pirates and go our separate ways…if you survive.” She wanted to say more. A lot more. She wanted to throw him across the field too for how ignorant and rude he could be. She also wanted to make amends with him, maybe start over on their companionship. It seemed like perhaps the two were doomed though, as either she was as stubborn as he claimed, or Roth was simply too lost to be reasoned with.
She respected his request, letting him down, and he did not hesitate to hop off and begin his trek back to Eris. For a moment, she wanted to offer a ride back, but she knew he would just ignore her. No, she was not the stubborn one in this pairing. She knew exactly what she was doing, but Roth just couldn’t see her wisdom. It’s not as if he had grown up in royalty and seen the dangers she had. Roth had not defended a city from an invading army with ease, nor had he stopped multiple pirate raids without breaking a sweat. Sylvie would finish this quest on a high note and return to Vandan with all kinds of stories for Belena, and perhaps even Valdan if his travels took him back home.
She sat there, pondering these things as she watched Roth fade into the distance, and she only began her journey back once she figured he had made it himself.
*
Eris was abuzz with commotion once Sylvie arrived, the entire town preparing for this assault. Not wanting to disturb their work, the princess simply sat outside the city and watched them work, the wall not even close to blocking her view.
In the town’s center, Commander Abernathy and Lieutenant Dane were assigning tasks to any able-bodied man or woman who wasn’t already busy. Some were tasked with preparing food for the voyage, baking bread and collection donations from anyone willing to give. Some took to smithing, sharpening swords or strengthening pieces of armor to give the small army a chance against the pirate horde. Some still were tasked with reinforcing the hulls on the trio of ships that would set out at dawn, though many knew this would not help in the long run as the pirate ships were simply too strong for any of their own. Lieutenant Odom, meanwhile, oversaw the men and women who were training for battle, either at the archery range or practicing some sword fighting. Bard and Giselle were a part of that training, offering duels to anyone who could hope to match them.
Despite all the commotion, Sylvie could still easily spot Roth; he seemed to be sulking off on his own, and the commander didn’t seem to mind at all. Sylvie would have put him to work, but she didn’t want to do the commander’s job for him. At one point, the two of them made eye contact, but Roth quickly broke it off and ran off to an area where she couldn’t see him anymore.
As time passed, Sylvie decided she too would prepare for battle; not that she needed to train herself at all, but she was getting bored watching everyone work and wanted to fill her time with something productive. Stepping away from the wall, she drew the dagger she kept strapped to her leg, the blade untouched so far on the journey, and she figured it would never see battle; she knew she wouldn’t need a weapon to fight the pirates, as she was a weapon herself. It had still been a while since she had practiced with it, so she began to do just that, swinging the blade through the air; it was so sharp, having been refined before she left, that as it cut through the air she could hear a whistle.
She moved with finesse and grace, her years of practice evident as she danced with it. For the people of Eris who watched from afar, it was not merely an impressive display, but a godlike one; the giantess, who was a force of nature alone, swung a blade that stood larger than most of their houses. Any doubt left in their minds on the outcome of the battle was washed away as a crowd formed to admire her.
Sylvie danced with her blade without ever noticing the crowd, her mind fully on what she had learned from her mother and father. Her mind recalled the lessons they would give her, and doing so brought an anger from deep inside her that caused her practice to become quicker, more fierce and with far less grace. Memories of her mother flashed in her mind as she skipped across the snowy terrain, her blade thrusting forwards, then being pulled back, as if she had just stabbed the giant who had killed Valerie. She could feel the terror and pain that washed over her when the news was delivered by Alban; her blade once again hissed through the air, her ferocity making some of her admirers back away from the rest of the crowd who stood outside the city gates. As she had an image of the statue that commemorated her mother flash through her mind, she lost her control entirely and tossed the dagger, the gigantic weapon becoming lodged in the ground so deep no human effort could have ever pulled it out.
Seeing the weapon stuck in the ground caused her to come to her senses, and she took a few deep breaths, her heart rate dropping as she felt the sudden anger dissipate. Turning her head, she finally saw the crowd who had gathered at the city gates, and she blushed, knowing they had seen her display of rage. Ignoring the feeling of shame, she easily retrieved her dagger, the hole left wide enough for a man to slide into without much trouble. She sheathed it again, then decided to go for a walk, and the crowd soon lost her over the horizon.
*
An hour before dawn, Sylvie stalked back towards the city; the giantess had taken a nap far from the city, glad to have some peace and quiet before the storm that was to come. She was not the only person on the move though as she spotted several people bustling around in the darkness, already making last minute preparations. She took a seat near the docks, the cool wind of the early morning making her face numb. Despite the warmth her body generated, her face always seemed to suffer the worst of it; she hadn’t planned well enough for that, and she made a mental note to bring something the next time she decided to traipse through snow covered lands.
Inside the city, Roth sat on his bed, his mind racing with thoughts of his old life, the freedom he was so close to, and the giantess he had become attached to in an odd way. He despised her, and that was warranted on his part; she was a stubborn girl, and her size gave her a superiority complex in his eyes. Despite this, he also felt connected to her in an impossible way; somehow, he knew the two of them were not done with each other just yet. He heard the door shut outside of his room, and he figured the last of the commanders had left; Roth had been made one of the many commanders for the journey, and they had all been put into the tower of the former king. Not wanting to linger on the bed, he decided to get moving as well.
Once the sun finally peeked over the horizon, the ships had been fully boarded and a barge was tied to all three ships that would tug Sylvie along. To get things moving, the giant princess got waist deep in the sea and pushed the ships along; once they were moving fast enough, she boarded the barge. The ships all slowed a bit, and the barge creaked under her impossible weight, but to the amazement of all there the journey carried on.
Sylvie sighed, glad to know that she wouldn’t have to swim along with the ships for their journey. They had told her it would be nearly a day of sailing before they would arrive close to nightfall. Their only hope was that Soren had not already launched his armada; meeting an army of pirates on the open sea would mean certain death for the crew. With a long trip ahead of them, Sylvie rested her eyes once more as she listened to the waves crash against both barge and ship.
Onboard the capital ship, Roth had taken a place behind the wheel, and he leaned over the railing to watch the sleeping giantess. How fortunate and unfortunate that he had run into her; she had become his savior and captor all at once. She had freed him from the corrupt king, and if the plan worked, he would be free of Soren as well. Perhaps he could try things with her again? If all went well, perhaps he would have to drop his own pride and accept this odd, new friend. He surmised that he had ruined that though, and he felt content to simply watch from afar as she worked her miracles. Had he blown an opportunity to befriend a giant protector like her, or was he right to avoid her? These were thoughts which kept him busy for most of the trip, and soon he retired to his hammock on the deck below as they reached the halfway point.
*
Sylvie found rest as well, and she soon woke in a field, but it was no ordinary field. Unlike the snowy tundra around Eris, Sylvie was lying in a green pasture that was dotted with plenty of flowers. The sun shone down on her as she lay there, and in the distance she heard birds chirping and fluttering about in the forest that she realized was there. She then turned her attention to her body as she saw an entirely different set of clothes; gone were the wintry garments he had been wearing along with the boots and here to stay was a beautiful, yellow dress with white shoes to complement them. She sat up, admiring her surroundings and her new clothing, but what she saw next filled her with joy she hadn’t experienced in a long time.
There, resting under a tree with a book in her hands was Valerie, beautiful as ever. She wore a red dress, and she had discarded her shoes so she could enjoy the touch of grass as she rested. Sylvie spared no time in hopping up and running to her, her arms spread wide as she prepared to embrace her once dead mother. To her shock, Valerie looked up and then disappeared, a blue ball of pure light replacing her. Sylvie stopped, on the verge of tears as she felt loss all over again, but also felt awe and wonder as she stared at the ball.
It moved, darting around the tree, and she gave chase as it weaved through the dense forest. After a minute of running, her legs began to tire, but she pressed on, intent on discovering just what the thing was. The ball finally rested at a door, and she didn’t truly register why a door was sitting in the middle of a forest with no wall attached to it. Instead, she threw it open as the ball flew right through the wood, as if it were some apparition rather than a physical object.
Sylvie walked through the door and into a gigantic room. She felt incredibly small in this room as she saw a bed similar to her own miles away from her, only it was made for someone thousands of times larger than Sylvie. No other furnishing took up the space, but to her astonishment someone sat on the bed. She crept along the floor carefully, but whoever was up there had good ears, because the figure stood and found Sylvie immediately. When the two locked eyes, Sylvie was shocked to see that this titanness was her, only older and with darkened eyes that were as black as a starless, night sky.
Fear struck her as the bigger Sylvie reached for her, and she was useless to resist as the being pinched her between thumb and forefinger, then dropped her into a waiting palm that felt larger than the castle of Vandan itself. The hand came towards the face of the bigger Sylvie, and when she spoke it nearly broke the smaller Sylvie’s hearing.
“She’s gone! She’s gone! How can you continue living with her gone?!” She couldn’t reply, knowing that the larger Sylvie was speaking about Valerie. How could she have moved on so fast? Why was she not devastated over the loss of her mother? Why did she abandon her family to run off on an adventure to ignore her grief and depression? These felt like her inner thoughts and words that the larger Sylvie spoke, which made her feel like curling up into a ball to die.
No. She refused to do that. She was a fighter like her mother, and she wasn’t about to shy away from a fight, no matter how impossible the odds looked. With all her might, Sylvie stood up, fighting against the screaming accusations, and she looked the larger Sylvie in the eye, defiant.
“Enough!!! Mom taught me to be strong! I honor her death with my life!” With that declaration, Sylvie felt herself growing. More than a speck on the titan’s palm, Sylvie was now visible to the naked eye. In an attempt to stop her, the larger Sylvie tried to swallow her, but the smaller Sylvie resisted. “You won’t consume me! Not again!” She jumped up in size, now too large to fit in her mouth, and soon she fell down the slope of her body until she landed in her lap. A hand came down to crush her, but Sylvie held it up, her size increasing faster than ever, and soon Sylvie found herself lying on top of the once gigantic woman.
Before she could get any larger though, this evil version of herself expanded tenfold, and soon Sylvie saw the room crumble around them and she stood in the giant palm again, overcome by her opponent. Before she could give in to this impossible enemy, an open door appeared before her, and a figure stood silhouetted by the light behind it. It reached a hand out for her, and she took it before the giant fist closed around the miniscule woman.
*
Roth was on his own journey too, unaware of what terrors Sylvie had seen. Roth woke up in his old family home, and he heard voices outside of his bedroom. He was thoroughly confused, but he also felt excited, knowing just what was outside his door. Upon opening it, his excitement paid off as his eyes fell on his parents, who both smiled at him.
“Good morning, Roth! Finally joining us?”
“Mom? How…how are you here?”
“What do you mean, dear?” She cocked her head, an eyebrow raised. Roth struggled to come up with the words he wanted to say.
“Son, I think you slept too long. You’re up just in time though. Our visitor has arrived?”
“Visitor? What visitor, dad?” As if the world was responding to him, a foot the size of a house kicked through the front wall, and his parents were buried in rubble. Miraculously, Roth was untouched, but his breathing became shallow and rapid as he watched his parents die before his very eyes. In their place was the foot of a giant. No, a giantess, and Roth only knew of one.
“Roth, you silly boy. Your life is mine, not theirs! You’re my toy, my little captive!” Roth’s blood started to boil, and he rushed at her boot, his sword drawn and slicing at her with vicious rage. Of course, the blade did nothing to the thick leather of her boot, and she simply kicked him over; now pinned down, Roth felt entirely helpless as Sylvie leaned over to peer at the man under her boot. “You fight and fight, yet get nowhere. How can you possibly compare to me? How could you ever be a friend to me? That’s what you want isn’t it?” Roth spit on her boot, desperate to defy her. She chuckled, more amused than anything.
All of a sudden, the ground thundered even more as another giantess stood behind her, this one taller than Sylvie. “We are royalty, Roth. My sister and I are so far above this world that it isn’t even fair to compare the two of us. You are simply…a toy to be entertained by for the queens of the world.” The other giantess, whoever Sylvie’s sister was, laughed with her, and Roth tried to scream at them, but his voice was gone. His willpower had vanished.
He laid there, defeated, until he saw something peculiar. It was a door, standing in the middle of all the rubble left behind by his house. It was entirely intact, though he was sure she had kicked it in with her first attack. Somehow, he knew he needed to enter it, even though it obviously led to the house standing ruined behind it. With all his might, he managed to wiggle out from under her, and as soon as his hand touched the knob, the two giants faded away.
Still in flight or fight mode, Roth threw the door open, and to his surprise he saw Sylvie again, only this time she was his size. She was on an odd surface, but she was clearly in some sort of peril as she was on her knees and in a state of utter fear. She glanced at him though, her eyes red with tears, and he reached a hand out for her. As soon as she grabbed it, the world went dark.