They told me I'd arrived the day the fires went out. It was springtime then, so the frost had crept back towards the mountains, sparing the village from the deadly chill of unheated homes in winter. But the adjustment still had not been easy: without any fires to cook food, much of the yield of the previous harvest was suddenly useless. I'd certainly noticed that the villagers were much thinner now than they'd been when I'd arrived—although as far as I could tell, I looked exactly the same, even though I'd been eating even less.
I couldn't remember anything from before my arrival in the village, but I'd always been a clear outsider—everyone generally assumed I was from the city on the horizon. The black lace of my dress looked nothing like the hardy brown fabric the villagers wore, after all, and the two gold anklets I wore on each foot were likely each worth more than the most valuable possessions of everyone in the village combined. But in all my time here, no one had stolen them—in fact, everyone had gone out of their way to make me feel welcome.
But now, the harvest was over, and everyone knew it wasn't long before the first frost would come. Tonight, the elders would be holding a prayer circle to Perihili, goddess of the seasons, to plead for warmth this winter. But first, everyone in the village had lined up in the square, where each of us would make an attempt to light a bonfire. No one seemed to have any hope—clearly, it was the will of the gods that fire could no longer burn. But everyone agreed it was at least worth it to try. We were all in this together, and everyone would make an attempt.
The woman right ahead of me was named Enna—she was the baker's daughter, and had two young children of her own. She'd always been the talkative type, and she always wore beautiful embroidered bonnets that she made herself. As we waited in line, I listened to her talk on and on about a trip she'd taken the previous year. It was irritating, but I pretended to be interested, right up until she reached the front of the line and dutifully struck the steel on the flint. Not a single spark emerged.
I was up next. The steel felt cold in my hand, but I pinched it firmly and brought it down to scrape the flint. And while I saw no sparks, the sound was different. It was stronger, firmer, as if the flint had been waiting for me to strike it. It felt right in my hand.
I struck it again, and again. With each strike, I felt warmth rising within me. I could do this. One strike, two strikes, three strikes, four—
A single spark jumped from the steel into the fire pit.
I could hear gasps from the crowd as the coals ignited, the flames quickly spreading upwards into the assembled wood and kindling. From that one spark had come a roaring blaze, with flames as tall as I was.
And all I could do was stare into the light. The flames were enticing me. Somehow I knew: I belonged in there.
"What are you doing?!" I could hear Enna exclaiming as I reached forwards. "Don't touch it!"
A hand closed around my wrist, pulling me back away from the fire. As my gaze broke, I snapped back to reality.
"I know you've never seen fire before," Enna commented, "but it's not exactly th' sort of thing you oughta be touchin'!"
I shook my head as if to clear it, before giving her a nod. "Right, yeah. But…hey, this is good for the town, right?"
Enna looked back at the flames—already, some villagers were bringing out cooking pots, while others were carrying burning torches into their houses to light their stoves.
"It's amazin', yeah," Enna agreed. "We might actually make it through the winter."
I could still feel the warmth of the flame on my palm—and I saw a marking there that hadn't been there before. It was faint, shaped perhaps like the tip of a crescent, or the crest of a wave. But as the warmth faded from my palm, the shape faded too.
The fire burned late into the night—and even as I conversed with the overjoyed villagers, I always found my eyes drifting back to that enticing light. It couldn't possibly be a coincidence, could it? The fires had gone out the day I arrived, and only I was able to spark a flame. Some part of me was in that fire—perhaps that flickering glow would illuminate the concealed parts of my mind. But that was absurd. They'd told me how deadly fire could be; I knew nothing but pain could await me in those flames.
"Why do you keep doing this?!" Enna exclaimed, wrapping a sturdy arm around my waist and pulling me backwards.
I hadn't even realized I was standing directly in front of the fire pit—the last thing I remembered, I'd been sitting a good distance away. I must have gotten up and walked over without realizing it. I could still feel the soothing warmth across the entire front of my body.
"I…don't know," I admitted.
Enna cocked her head quizzically. "What's all that on your arms and legs?"
"Wait, what do you mean?" I inquired, looking down to see.
All across my skin, I saw markings resembling tattoos—curved, tapered at the ends, spiraling chaotically. And once again, they were fading.
Slowly, I held my arm towards the fire, and the markings on it gradually began to reappear, becoming darker as I held it closer. I heard Enna letting out a confused huff.
"I have to go in," I heard myself saying, even though I wasn't speaking consciously.
And before she could stop me, I crouched down and leapt, diving into the pyre.
My memories were returning. Faintly. Also faint were Enna's cries of alarm. She couldn't reach in here to pull me away—the fire was too hot for her to touch. But not for me. I felt no pain at all. The fire was happy to see me. Every flame danced with joy.
As the heat flowed into my skin, my tattoos faded in completely, dark curlicues tracing all around my body. My dress had burned away in seconds, but I didn't care—I simply let the flames themselves form a new one.
I gazed into the smoke concealing my memory, trying to see what I could find. I saw a name: Crevalle. Yes—that was my name. I was Crevalle, goddess of the flame. Why had I forgotten?
The flames continued to rush into me, permeating my skin. Even as I absorbed them, they showed no sign of dying out. That's what was remarkable about fire: it could grow and spread as much as it wanted. As long as it had something to burn, there would always be more. And I…I could burn forever.
My tattoos began to glow. My power was returning.
I could feel my body expanding. All this power rushing back was too much for this minuscule form to handle—and so I grew, my head and limbs quickly emerging from the bonfire.
In the faces of the villagers around me, I saw awe changing to terror—and I knew what was about to happen. I couldn't stop it; there was no way the return to my true splendor would be anything other than cataclysmic.
"Run!" I shouted, as my feet knocked over a stack of barrels. My voice was much more resonant now, sounding almost like the word was shouted by an entire choir.
And they ran, in all directions—and in all directions, my rapidly expanding body pursued them, crushing multiple houses underneath. I tried to sit up, pushing down with my hands only to feel wooden roofs immediately giving out beneath them.
A burst of flame erupted all around me, exploding outwards in a massive sphere. I let out a cry of horror that echoed across the now-burning hills—there was no way anyone would have been able to escape that.
Shakily, I stood to my feet. The village had been small to begin with, but at my new size it would only take me five strides to cross it. Or, well…what was left of it. Not a single building was still intact—most of them seemed to have been crushed beneath me as I'd grown. Only two had any sort of structure left, and even those were quickly being consumed by the flames.
I squatted down, gently poking the bonfire with one finger. It flickered around me, as if proud of itself. Which it had every right to be: it had returned me to the world, putting an end to half a year of nothing being able to burn. The rest of the world would rejoice, as my flames offered solace from the chill of Perihili's winter. It was just one village that was sacrificed.
But I knew that village. I'd cared about the people there. I'd respected the elders. I'd even liked Enna, and my heart jumped into my throat as I remembered how I'd found her stories irritating. I certainly hadn't wanted to kill her, and…now I'd never get to hear those stories again.
I stood up once again, surveying the burning forests around me. Even the tallest trees only came up to my waist. Before my time in the village, I'd never fully appreciated the size of trees from a mortal perspective. They really were grand and imposing, even if I was rarely small enough to see them as such.
Why had I been trapped in the village for so long? Why had I forgotten who I was?
The smoke cleared, and my memories burned brightly.
It was Metario—the goddess of the land. She'd been disappointed in me, and had wanted to teach me a lesson. She'd called me careless, and reckless. She'd said that I didn't understand the value of life. That I always let my temper get the best of me.
And she was right. When I thought about how she'd so willingly stripped my power away, and how I hadn't been able to stop my own ascension from destroying the village…I felt nothing but fury. I had learned from this, but certainly not the lesson she'd wanted me to learn. I'd learned that attachment only leads to despair, and that I'd been right to have my disregard for mortal lives.
And I'd learned how much I hated Metario.
The city on the horizon—I knew that city. I'd never bothered to learn its name, but…that was where the mortals had built Metario's grand temple. She must have wanted to keep me close, to easily keep an eye on me.
Well, that was her mistake. I would tear her city apart until it was nothing but ash.
I took off running towards the skyline on the horizon, fire erupting around each of my footfalls, the force flattening the trees out away from me. The fire surrounding where the village once was had only spread out so far, but the flames trailed behind me in my wake, the path I'd taken clearly visible in the scorched earth and glowing flames, expanding outwards in a cone of devastation behind me.
The skyline was remarkably dark. Of course—in my absence, they hadn't been able to light torches. Well, not to worry; I'd provide more than enough fire to make up for it.
First, to set the stage. I walked down the main road, letting my dress trail on the ground behind me, spreading flames to everything it touched. Whenever I passed any tall structure—a tower, most likely, or perhaps a steeple—I'd light it like a candle with a simple touch of my fingertip. There were more of these as I approached the city center; most of the buildings here had many floors. And after just a few minutes, anyone looking up from the streets below—a perspective I was now much more familiar with than I had been before—would see points of light dotting the sky, each one a building burning from the top down.
I stepped into the main square. Before me stood the temple of Metario, its columns gleaming in the light of the many flames. And as my gaze fell upon it, I began to gleam as well, the light of my glowing tattoos quickly snuffing out my many vast shadows as my heart filled with rage. To think the mortals would view her as worthy of a grand monument like this. Did they really think she didn't look down on them in the same way she looked down on me?
I lunged forwards, ready to sweep my hand through the temple's columns in one quick motion. But as I did so, the ground beneath my feet bucked and swayed, and I felt my legs sinking down into the earth.
So Metario had finally noticed me here. She wasn't usually the sort to fight back—and of course it was only when her own temple was in danger that she'd care. What a hypocrite—so much for the value of life.
With a growl that echoed across the burning skyline, I heaved myself out of the earth, the pressure of my hands cracking the ground as I did so. The cracks spread, and multiple buildings collapsed on either side of me. The dust in the air glowed brightly like glitter as it drifted close to me, each grain burning up in the heat of my aura.
As the ground started to shift again, I quickly extended my hand towards the temple, shooting a blast of fire from my palm—even if she pulled my legs out from under me again, it wouldn't be quick enough to stop that blast. But Metario was clever, and the shifting ground gave way under a nearby tower, toppling it over to fall between my hand and the temple. My fire was powerful enough to instantly obliterate the wooden facades, and hot enough to melt the stone walls into glowing lava, but I saw barely a scratch on the temple behind.
If she wanted to use buildings as weapons, I'd happily play that game. I slammed my fist into the side of a burning tower, letting the top several floors topple and fall into my arms. With a leap into the air, I flung the burning structure at the temple with all my strength—only to see a wall of stone erupt from the ground. The building and the wall both exploded into many pieces, but the temple was still standing.
If she thought this would dissuade me, she clearly didn't understand me at all. As the ground tried to suck me in once again, I leapt into the air, landing atop the tallest still-standing tower. Of course, "still-standing" was a very temporary state, as it immediately began to collapse under my weight. But I had a few moments up here where the ground couldn't reach me, and I could use that. And so, I leapt once again, pushing off the collapsing building to soar into the air above the temple.
And as I descended, ready to plant my feet in the temple and put an end to Metario's monument, the building split in half as a massive crevasse opened underneath. And suddenly, as I fell down below the surface, the crevasse slammed shut around me.
"Are you quite done yet?" Metario's voice rang out through the ground. "Or do you want to cause even more pointless destruction?"
I was trapped, rock pressing into me on all sides. I couldn't move. I couldn't see. I couldn't even create flames if there was no air to burn. But…I did suppose there was one thing I could do.
"I'm only getting started," I replied, pushing against the rock. "And you could use a reminder of just how much destruction I can cause."
And I grew once again. This wasn't even close to my maximum size, after all. I often liked to stay small, to appreciate the motion of the flames. But even if Metario thought so little of me, I was still the goddess of fire. And fire could grow and spread, as much as it wanted.
The ground cracked around me as I grew. Sound carried remarkably well through the rock, and I could hear the upheaval, the tumbling stones, the city blocks folding in on themselves. And as I expanded, my heat intensified, the rocks around me melting into magma from mere contact with my skin.
I emerged as a volcanic eruption, fire exploding outwards in all directions as a new mountain emerged from the ground under where the temple had once stood. And as the pyroclastic flow spread outwards, tearing through what was left of the once-proud city, I placed my hands firmly on the edge of the crater and heaved myself out of the lava. No one in the city would be alive to see me emerging from the smoke, of course—but I was miles tall, several times taller than the new mountain that had berthed me.
I couldn't see any of the remains of this city through the ash covering the ground, especially as the ash formed turbulent clouds around my feet as I walked forwards. But I could see another city on the horizon, near the ocean. I could use that one to make my point.
"All right, Crevalle," Metario's voice sounded as I walked over the landscape, "I get it. That's enough."
"No, you don't get it," I replied, my voice blowing the clouds away. "If you did, you'd know that's not enough."
"Crevalle, stop," Metario demanded. "I won't allow you to keep doing this."
"Then come here yourself," I countered, my foot falling on a small town and crushing it entirely. "Come and stop me."
I felt the ground opening and shifting, but it was almost indistinguishable from the force of my footfalls, and the cracks that opened weren't nearly wide enough to swallow my feet. And Metario seemed to be going all out: even the mountains around me were shifting, coming towards me. But none of them reached any higher than my knees, and Metario couldn't move them quickly enough to keep up with my stride.
As I reached the city, I lay down, flattening an entire neighborhood under my chest as I stared in at the tall buildings in the center. At this scale, they looked almost amusing, little spindly structures that could be blown down by the slightest tremor. That would be appropriate—tremors were Metario's domain; she'd hate to see me using them. And so, I tapped a single finger on the ground just next to the city's downtown, watching with smug satisfaction as the buildings collapsed from the quake.
"What are you even hoping to do here?" Metario sighed, as I felt the ground struggling in vain to suck me down.
I paused before answering, absentmindedly dragging my fingertip back and forth along various streets, clearing out the buildings on both sides at once. "I'm showing you what happens when you try to teach me a lesson," I eventually replied. "I might not be able to stop you from taking away my powers and memories again in the future—but if you do, this is what will follow."
At that, I slowly spread out my hand flat, letting each of my fingers tear up huge parts of the city. Just before my palm would have crushed the neighborhood beneath it, I stopped and dug my fingers into the ground—before prying up the neighborhood along with the bedrock beneath it. All it took was a little bit of heat before all the buildings under my hand simultaneously combusted—and a little more caused the rock to melt, lava dripping from my hand to land on the city below.
"I don't mean to sound unmoved," Metario pointed out, "but considering how many tantrums you've thrown, I can't help but feel like you'll try things like this regardless of what I do."
At the word "tantrums", I bristled, and the glow from within my hair getting brighter, with sparks flying out of it and dotting the sky around me with burning embers.
"So I have to find a way to go further than before?" I growled, feeling fire rising within me. "I can do that."
"That's not what I meant!" Metario exclaimed, suddenly sounding frantic. "If you could please just—
Flames erupted from my mouth. I couldn't even control it—I was unleashing a part of me that was beyond even my own oversight. This was primordial fire, at the very core of my being. Rage without hesitation.
The city melted instantly, moments before the ground shattered and exploded. It was only seconds before the fire had already spread to the ocean, instantly boiling away the water on contact. Unlike the soothing orange flames I usually created, this fire was blue—and it gradually turned purple as the roiling inferno spread across the landmass. Even I had never seen heat like this before. And as it reached the horizon, it—
…stopped.
The flames hung in place—no more of the joyous dance I was used to. The smoke hung in midair as well.
"I'll give you one chance to apologize," a voice intoned. A high voice, one that I hadn't heard speak in centuries.
Talcalai. Goddess of time. I'd never seen her willing to step in before.
With a cry of frustration, I pounded the ground with my fist. Even though the impact should have cracked the rock and turbulated the fire, it did neither. I could do no damage while time was stopped.
"I'm…sorry, Metario," I mumbled, hanging my head.
What else could I do but submit? I could stand up to Metario, to Perihili, to practically any god in existence, but…not to Talcalai. I needed time. I couldn't do anything without it. That's why she was in charge. Everyone had to answer to her.
"Thank you, Talcalai," Metario's voice sighed, relieved.
"Now, Crevalle," Talcalai ordered, "head back to the citadel while I clean up the mess you've made."
I slowly nodded as I diminished my form.
I couldn't stand up to her—not yet. But my fury had a new target now. And time cannot extinguish an eternal flame.
Giantess World
