A week had gone by since Annallya had been visited by her mother and learned the terrible secret of the Titans heritage. She had since doubled her efforts, spurred on by the knowledge that her friend was still alive, for the time being. Although it was likely that she was not yet ready, Annallya realized that she could not afford to waste anymore time. Gaelin fought for his life everyday, and was hampering his own ability considerably by refusing to kill his opponents. It would not be long before this handicap would cost him his own life. So, against her better judgment, Annallya decided to not prolong her departure a moment more. That morning she had awoken early, and went to work on the collar, using the arrowhead Gaelin had given her, in an attempt to break the lock on the back of her neck. This proved especially difficult. Annallya was no locksmith, and did not understand the intricacies of opening it with the pointed piece of metal. She tried breaking it, but could tell from feel alone that some pieces within the mechanism were thicker and stronger than others. Should she pry too hard, the arrowtip itself could break instead of the lock. So the Titan was forced to work slowly, whittling away at the metal pieces, moving them and breaking them wherever possible. It was stressful work, but after almost two hours of trying, the lock snapped open, and the collar fell from her throat. For the first time in more than a month, Annallya breathed deeply, enjoying the liberating sensation of no longer being fettered to one size. The sensation brought tears to her eyes. Titans were beings that were meant to be enormous. Though they could change their size, it felt unnatural for them to be small. As unnatural as it was for any creature to be confined in a space that was too small for them to properly fit in. This sense of claustrophobia only increased as the days of being small wore on. It was not until the collar had been released that Annallya realized how close she had come to madness. The thought of remaining another day at that size sent shivers down her spine.

Not wanting to waste another second, she knelt at the door of her cell, trying to accomplish the same feat with that lock. After about fifteen minutes of uncertain progress, Annallya was forced to halt her efforts as the sound of sandaled feet alerted her of the approaching guards. Stepping back from the door, Annallya tossed the arrowhead onto her cot, and fitted the collar around her neck again, being careful not to actually lock it. The guards marched into sight a breath later, the same two guards as always. Her mother had been serious about her desire to not want anyone else in the palace to know of her imprisonment. To that extent, the same two guards had been incharge the entire time of distributing food to the shrunken prisoners, and were sworn to the utmost secrecy. The shorter of the two guards carried a tray with her, which held a number of tiny bowls of the prisoners breakfast. Approaching the wall of the shrunken prisoners, the taller guard banged her fist against it, rousing each one of them from whatever they had been doing at the time, be it sleep or some form of entertainment. The prisoners at once stood at attention in front of their doors, awaiting their meals.

The guard drew a set of keys from her belt, selecting one in particular. This key had a handle of normal Titan proportions, with a shaft and tip that were ludicrously smaller, as it was designed to be able to open the tiny locks of the cells. Titans, given their ability to change size, are adept at being able to make large objects specially suited for handling tiny ones, as they can craft tools for all sizes. One by one, the guard opened each door, the prisoner would step back, and the guard would place the miniature bowl of food on the floor of their cell before closing the door. Annallya watched as the guards went through each cell, one by one, her mind debating with itself on whether or not it was the right time to act. She could simply wait for them to leave the prison, before continuing her attempts. What if, however, she was unsuccessful in picking the lock, or her tool broke? She would have to wait for them to return, only to be back in the same situation. Better she act now.

Plus, it was about time for Annallya to test the limits of what she had managed to learn. She yearned to see just how far she had come.

So, when the guard came to her door, Annallya stepped further back than normal. As far back as the wall would allow her. As soon as the guard opened the door, Annallya ran towards her at full sprint. The guards eyebrows shot up in surprise. She had no time to react as the shrunken Titan ran towards a drop of about 90 ft at human scale. It was not until Annallya had cleared the door, and leapt fully into the open air, that she allowed the unlocked collar to fly free from her neck. The guards eyes widened in full shock as her prisoner grew to full size in mid air, turning her leap of suicide into an airborne tackle. The woman was thrown backwards by the force of Annallya’s leap, as well as her now drastically increased mass, and went down with a tremendous grunt of pain. Annallya, having already gone through her actions in her head multiple time beforehand, transitioned smoothly into her next move by rolling forward over the body of the first guard. She came to her feet and was instantly upon the other guard, throwing her weight against her opponent, managing to push her against one of the walls.

This guard had had a second more to react than her companion, and was not caught completely off guard, as she had managed to get her hands up to defend herself. Both women were now locked in a grapple. Placing one of her feet against the wall, the guard heaved forward with all of the strength of her upper body, while simultaneously kicking off of the wall, pushing Annallya away from her. Annallya, however, was ready for such a move. She stopped struggling with the guard the second she was pushed back, and reached out for the longsword that was sheathed at the woman’s waist. She was just able to grab it before her body was forcibly cast backwards, and drew the sword with her. Reacting with the speed of a practiced soldier, the guard in turn drew the dagger from her belt, and stood ready in a knife fighters stance, feet planted, and knife held out in front of her as her first line of defense. The other guard that had been tackled rose to her feet, drawing her own sword, and now also stood in a fighting stance.

Neither woman moved for a long moment. The prisoners watched the staredown before them with baited breath.

The woman on her left with the sword made the first move, stepping forward, while she raised her sword up to strike downwards at Annallya. A bare moment later, the guard with the knife made her move, planning to take advantage of the distraction her partner had afforded her. Annallya had expected this, as it is what she would have done, and so stepped into Wind Blows East. Bringing her sword up to intercept the strike from the guard with the sword, she stepped backwards with her right foot while shifting her whole body, and sweeping her sword, almost ninety degrees clockwise with it. The result saw Annallya catching the blow from her opponent with the sword, and sweeping both of their weapons to the side to collide with the other guards weapon, countering both attacks at the same time.

Now came for the moment Annallya had spent over a month preparing herself for. She could only hope that she would one day forgive herself for it.

Pivoting her sword in the other direction the exact moment that she countered both attacks, Annallya stepped into the other swordwoman’s guard, and whipped her blade across her throat. The guardswoman, blindsided by the sudden burning sensation erupting from her neck, dropped her weapon so that she could grasp at the wound, attempting with the strength that had not yet been leached from her to stop the bleeding. Annallya stepped passed the body as it fell to the ground, allowing it to put some space between her and her remaining opponent. The woman who remained with the knife, though appalled at the sight of her dying companion, was still a trained Thylaran soldier. She recovered her senses in a mere moment, scooping up the sword her friend had dropped, and stepping towards Annallya.

“There is no returning from this now,” she muttered in a dark tone. “You have spilled the blood of  your own people, all for the sake of animals. You will never be anything more than a criminal.”

“I can only imagine the amount of Titan blood you have spilled on battlefields, for much less reason. And yet our people think you to be deserving of honor.” Annallya countered in a softer tone of voice.

The guard raised her blade up in an overhead strike, attempting to cut her down in one slash. Annallya stepped forward with her right foot, raising her own blade up to intercept it. The two swords clashed above their heads. Without missing a beat, Annallya stepped forward with her left foot, spinning her entire body to the right, while ducking beneath both swords. As she completed her spin, the young Titan brought her blade around with her, delivering a powerful slash across the guards protected midriff. Though the blade glanced off of the armored breastplate she wore, the force of the attack momentarily stunned her. It was all the opening Annallya needed, as she stepped passed her and then turned again, bringing her blade down across the back of her neck, decapitating the woman completely.

Blood flew from the wound like water escaping a fountain, as the body collapsed to the ground with a terrible THUD.

Annallya was left standing there, her breaths coming up labored from the quick bursts of speed she had employed during her fight. Leaning against the wall, she took a moment to regain her energy. She had expended much more of it than she had initially assumed that she would. Her lungs burned from effort, while her arms felt heavier than had they been made of lead… Of course, that could have just been a result of the killing she had just done. The entire time she stood there, waiting for her breathing to slow its pace, Annallya never took her eyes from the two bodies that now lied prone on the ground, spilling their life blood onto the cold stone floor of the prison. She never wanted to forget this sight. The sight of the first two women she had been forced to kill. Annallya always wanted to remember the weight of this horror. She had not wanted to do this, and yet she had made the choice all the same. Perhaps there might have been another choice, one that could have circumvented all of this bloodshed. It mattered little now. She had done it.

She had killed.

She had killed her own people.

I suppose this makes me a true Titan now, she thought to herself. We have done little else for hundreds of years but kill each other.

Finally managing to tear her eyes from the sight of the bodies on the ground, Annallya walked over to her former cell, relieved to finally be at her true size now. Reaching inside, she placed her fingers atop the pile of tiny papers that she had left lying on the cell floor, and slid them into her hand. She did not want to leave information such as this behind for other Titans to find. Annallya looked upon them in wonder one last time. Scrawled on the surface of each page in charcoal was Gaelin’s last gift to her: instructions on sword forms. Each form had come with a detailed description on foot placement, arm position, and body movement. She had spent weeks studying, imitating, and perfecting each form to the best of her ability, using the broken length of wood kept under her cot. These instructions, coupled with the arrowhead, had been exactly what she had needed to escape. And Gaelin had needed to get himself captured in order to give these to her. He had surrendered himself, so that she would have a chance at freeing herself.

It was, what Gaelin had assumed, to be his last act in life.

But he was still alive, something neither of them had expected, and she refused to believe that that had changed in the week since her mother had given her the news. Her friend was still alive, and needed her.

Turning back to the bodies, Annallya gave them one last look over. She knelt by the side of the woman whose throat she had slit, and removed her armor. Now, decked head to toe in the armor of a palace guard, and with a sword now sheathed at her side, Annallya strode from the prison a free woman.

*************************************************************************************

Annallya remained at her full height while approaching Sol-har. She wanted the force of her steps to rouse attention from the villagers, she needed their presence. Fortunately it worked. As soon as the clearing appeared that housed the village of Sol-har, men and women began filing out of their houses one by one, intent on seeing what Titan had come for them now. She could not distinguish what exactly their reactions were as soon as they saw that it was Annallya walking towards them. However, they did not run away from her while screaming, so she supposed that that was a well enough sign. The crowd stood their ground as Annallya stepped into the boundaries of the village. A lone man stepped out in front of the rest of the crowd to meet her.

“Annallya,” Rhollan called to her. “Blazing embers girl, but you gave us a terrible scare! What’s going on?”

Stopping before everyone, Annallya looked down at the men and woman at her feet.

“Hello Rhollan.” she replied. “I apologize for the urgency of my arrival. I simply had to make sure that the village had remained unharmed in my absence. Has my mother kept to the agreement?”

The old Innkeeper spread his hands, indicating to the crowd behind him. “Surprisingly, yes. So far no Titan’s come back to take anyone else away. That’s why we were so worried when we felt you coming. You’re the first Titan to come back since that night.”

Annallya breathed a sigh of relief that was strong enough to stir the clothes of the first few rows of onlookers. “That is wonderful news.”

Now at ease, Annallya shrunk down to her human size, and walked up to the crowd. Rhollan raised an eyebrow. “How’d you manage to get away? Did they let you go free?”

“They did not exactly let me, Rhollan. However, I did not much care for their permission.” she replied.

Rhollan’s eyebrows climbed halfway towards his hairline. “You escaped!”

“And went shopping on the way here, as you can see.” she said, indicating to her new set of armor.

The Innkeeper chuckled. “You don’t get into trouble by halves, do you girl?”

“No,” she agreed with a smile.

The two of them shared a smile, before Rhollan’s expression became more serious. “What of Gaelin? Did . . .” he hesitated. “Did they execute him?”

Annallya’s smile remained, though it was noticeably sadder. “Fortunately they have kept him alive. He remains imprisoned somewhere else within the palace. As far as I know, he has not been seriously harmed.”

Rhollan’s eyes widened, before his smile returned. “Hah! I should have known that fox’d find some way to keep his hide in tact! And to think, a living Guardian had been coming into this village for almost four years now, trading with us!”

“Yes, it certainly was a surprise to learn of, for me as well.” she agreed.

Rhollan was about to say something else, but hesitated again. “What’ll happen to him?”

“Nothing, if I am to have anything to say on the matter.” Annallya responded.

“You intend to free him?” he asked.

“I do.”

“How do you plan to do that?” the old man asked.

Now it was Annallya who hesitated. “I . . . have some form of a plan. I would have freed him while I escaped myself. However, I could not risk being caught again. Not until I had made sure that you all were safe.”

“That’s very kind of you, girl.” Rhollan told her. “But if you do manage to spring him from whatever cell they got him locked up in? What then?”

The young Titan paused, the weight of the crowd’s attention was fully upon her, and she was painfully aware of it. “I had hoped that he could remain with you in case he was injured, or unwell.”

At once, a few voices rose from the crowd, raising concerns over her plan of action.

“They’ll break the agreement!”

“Those Titans’ll come back for him, and punish all of us!”

“They’ll tear the whole village apart just looking for him!”

“He chose to surrender himself! Let him stay there!”

Rhollan at once held a hand up, bring the complaints to a halt, before speaking himself. “If you bring Gaelin back here, then I’ll house him myself.”

Voices began to rise again, while Rhollan’s wife stepped up beside him. “Rhollan let’s-”

She stopped speaking, along with everyone else, when Rhollan held his hand up again. “I won’t argue on this, Anda. If Gaelin comes back, he stays with us. After what he did, we owe him that much at least.”

He took a deep breath. “But they make some good points. What’s to stop them from coming back here and taking him? Even if you don’t bring Gaelin back here, this village is the first place they’ll tear apart to find him. I can’t imagine they’ll want a Guardian running about free.”

“No,” Annallya begrudgingly admitted. “You are right. I know not what else to do. Gaelin surrendered himself so that he could give me the tools to escape. I cannot leave him to rot in Thylara till his death. I must save him somehow.”

“If you got out of there once, they’ll be making sure that he stays put,” Rhollan noted. “They’ll probably have more guards. You can’t take on an entire palace of soldiers by yourself.”

“No but I know that he is kept in a special prison. One that is built to be small, to keep all Titan prisoners at their smallest size.” she explained. “Confined spaces would limit the number of guards I would have to face by myself at a time. It is possible that they would not be able to come at me with more than one woman at a time. In addition, they will all be at their smallest size so -”

Annallya paused as a new line of thought opened up. “They would be vulnerable to humans! I would only need a little help!”

She looked around at the many faces before her. “Please! Anyone! I beg of you! I need only a little help in freeing my friend!”

This time, no voices were raised in objection. No eyes were raised either, as each villager looked downcast upon the ground. They refused to meet her pleading gaze. Rhollan himself closed his eyes as he sighed.

“I’m sorry, Annallya, but we’re all just country folk.” he sorrowfully explained. “We all owe him for what he did to save us. For that I’d give him the shirt off my back and my bed to sleep in. But we ain’t fighters. And we certainly can’t take on Titans, even at our own size. I’m sorry, but we can’t-”

Rhollan was cut off when a man forced his way to the front of the crowd, to stand directly in front of Annallya. He was just an inch or two taller than herself, and was dark of skin and broad of shoulder. The Titan recognized him. It was Lyal, the man who had fought Gaelin that night at the Inn. He gazed impassively at her as he stood with his thick arms at his side, his fingers flexing once more as if they longed to test their might in physical combat again. Annallya fought back the nervousness that had begun to rise in the pit of her stomach, as she met his gaze unwaveringly. Suddenly another figure materialized from the crowd, this one much smaller. Jess Wedirn made her way to the front of the crowd as well, appearing next to Lyal, turning at once to face him, her hands on her hips. Lyal looked down at the woman who barely came up to his shoulder. At once, his face softened, as he draped a protective arm across her shoulder, pulling her closer to him. Then Lyal turned back to Annallya.

“You and Gaelin brought my wife back from her own imprisonment in that city.” he expressed in that gravely voice of his. “You brought the Sun back into my life. For that, I’ll help you bring him back. I owe you both that much.”

The Titan’s jaw was left hanging open for a moment. Jess had made mention that she possessed a husband while in Thylara, however . . . however Annallya could have lived the rest of her life and not have once fathomed that it was Lyal. The man held a calloused hand towards her. Recovering from her personal shock, Annallya reached her hand out in turn and shook it. The two nodded to each other.

“Don’t forget me!” came a familiar voice from the crowd.

This time the people parted as a lanky figure in a green shirt, brown vest and trousers, and boots danced his way towards the young Titan. The Whistler removed the green cap from his head and bowed theatrically.

“Tull Val’ Anders, at your service.” he introduced himself. “I’d like to join this little excursion of yours.”

If Lyal’s offer had given her pause, The Whistler’s volunteering had come completely out of nowhere. Annallya barely knew how to react.

“Um . . . Master Tull I-”

“Tull is just fine,” he interjected with a grin.

“T-Tull,” Annallya corrected herself. “I greatly appreciate your offer, however this will be a very dangerous mission.”

“Oh, I’m hoping so.” he expressed as if they were speaking of taking a walk through a meadow. “If you’re worried about me, Ms Rhaolin, you don’t have to. I know a few tricks that might prove useful in a tight spot. Plus, there’s no way I can allow such an adventure to pass me by. Think of it!”

He spread his hands and looked up, as if were seeing the adventure before his eyes. “A lifetime of telling stories of heroes and daring rescue, and now I have the chance to be a part of one myself! Hah! I’ll compose the greatest ballad that’s ever been sung!”

Annallya was struck speechless. “I- I know not what to say. Thank you. Both of you.”

The two men nodded to her. They knew what kind of danger they were getting themselves into, and yet they were ready all the same. It was inspiring.

Rhollan stepped up again. “There’s still the matter of what happens after you save him, Annallya. What’ll you do? They’ll come back here whether you bring him here or not.”

Annallya’s brows furrowed as she thought furiously over the problem. He was right. Without any leads, her mother’s first instinct would be to return to the village and search for him. If Gaelin was not there, it would not be likely that she would simply leave them in peace. More than likely, she would consider the agreement broken, and return to collecting Offerings from the people. The entire village would have to . . .

Suddenly her head perked up. “What if all of Sol-har were to make their escape as well?”

Jess Wedrin tilted her head. “What do you mean, Annallya?”

“If I cannot return Gaelin to the village, he will have to run far from here. However, Rhollan is right. They will come to the village, whether he is here or not. They may even demand more Offerings.” she explained. “So the entire village would have to leave. Travel somewhere far from the reach of Thylara. Somewhere where you all can build a new village, hidden away from all Titans. A place where you all can finally live in peace.”

Murmurs rose from the crowd again as villagers considered her words between themselves. Some of them were quick to agree with her line of reasoning. Specifically those that had been freed from captivity. Others were less than sure. Jess and Lyal shared a look between the two of them, unsure of whether or not it was the right course of action. Tull remained silent on the issue, as it was not his village. Rhollan brought the crowd’s volume down once more.

“What you propose is not an easy task, Annallya.” he reminded her. “It would take weeks to make those kinds of preparations.”

“I could assist you.” she offered. “Gather whatever possessions you have and all of the carts in the village. I will load everything, and speed you on your way. Somewhere where Titans will not be able to find you ever again.”

More villagers were beginning to consider her idea now, even Rhollan was mulling it over.

“What if they do find us?” Lyal asked. “We are not Guardians. We cannot fight Titans at full power.”

“No,” she agreed. “But I will be returning a living Guardian to you who can. Gaelin can protect you all while you travel.”

Lyal and his wife exchanged another look. This time, though, Jess appeared hopeful at the prospect.

“Annallya . . .” Rhollan said at last. “This village . . . it’s our home. We can’t just up and abandon it like this . . .”

Annallya’s expression became one of determination as she stood up taller. In fact, she was taller now, standing at least a head above the crowd, so that all could hear her.

“I have seen your home!” she declared to them all. “I have seen the way fathers clutch their families tight against them to protect them! I have seen wives hold their husbands up high when they appeared ready to collapse! I have seen this village endure pain and sorrow and hardship! I have witnessed you all fight merely to live another day. All the while, oppressors and kidnappers try their hardest to break your spirits. Your will to live!”

She cast her powerful gaze over the assembled villagers. Many faces were openly surprised with her words. Jess, her friend, was staring up at her in open wonder. Tull Val’ Anders stood off to the side, nodding to her in approval. She continued.

“Before I had visited your village, I knew not what the word community meant. We Titans have no such word. We live lives around warfare and bloodshed. We do not endure as you do. We do not create as you do. We do not love as you do. What impressed me the most by far about your people was your capacity for love, such as I have never seen before. You do not merely love your families, but your fellow villagers. Everyone in this village cares for one another in a way that is truly awe inspiring. Your houses can be torn asunder, your livestock slaughtered, and your lives held captive by giants. However, so long as you all remain together, I genuinely believe that you will press on, despite every force standing against you. I believe it is because of your capacity to love, that gives you the strength of the Sun, and the blessings of the Stars. You will survive! And I will do everything in my power to see to it that you do! Just as the world once looked towards Nephrotora for protection, so too will all humans look to Sol-har for hope and love!”

The crowd erupted into cheers as the emotions pouring forth from the Titan were felt by all people there. It was as the Whistler had told them before, so long as they survive, they have won a great victory for themselves. And so long as they remained with each other, they would always survive. At once they dispersed to their houses, gathering all of their belongings. Villagers began organizing carts and pack animals for their journey. Everyone was set to work. Provisions were to be gathered. Plans to be made. Maps to be studied. Annallya watched as they set themselves to their tasks, a fire lit beneath their feet that spurred them to make haste. It was an incredible sight to see so many people work together towards a task that did not involve invading a city or destroying an army. She returned to her human size, to find Lyal, Jess, Rhollan, Anda, and Tull standing with her. Jess wrapped her arms around her.

“That was unbelievable!” she exclaimed. “You sounded just like a hero out of a story!”

“If you wouldn’t mind,” the Whistler interjected. “I’d like to write that down and compose something out of it.”

Lyal only stood back, looking at her as if he were seeing her for the first time. Jess stepped back, the hope in her eyes burned twice as bright as before now. “We’ll all get right on it. We’ll have everything we need packed as soon as possible!”

Lyal chuckled. It was the first time she had ever heard him do so. It was the first time she had seen him smile, in fact. “Jess’ll see to everything. If it weren’t for Rhollan, she’d be head of this village.”

The little woman gave her husband a sharp shove against the shoulder. “I’d need your oaf-ish strength to keep all of the wool-heads in this village in line.”

Lyal laughed again, as he put a hand over his wife. “She’ll tend to the village. I’ll help you free Gaelin.”

“And me,” Tull reminded her.

She nodded. “Thank you both, again. I will never forget this.”

Rhollan cleared his throat. “If you’re going to spring him free, you’ll need something.”

The portly Innkeeper jogged off towards his Inn. He returned a few minutes later, breathing heavy, and carrying a cloth bundle. Taking the bundle when offered to her, Annallya unwrapped it, to discover Gaelin’s sword. The blade of a Guardian. Forged by smiths of legend, and enchanted with the power of mages, so that it could cut through anything.

“Thank you Rhollan.” she told him.

He nodded. “What about yourself, girl? What’ll happen to you?”

“I have not yet decided, though I have some idea of what I shall do. But worry not over me.” she assured him. “We all have our tasks set before us. We must get to work.”