Teagan sighed as she tried recollecting anything about her father. She had only known him through what she was told by her mother, having never seen him after the age of five. He had died leading a failed last stand against the tomkin legions.
She shook her head, staving off the thoughts that besieged her tired and sad mind. She had passed the citadel, and the forest of dead trees was near, half a day's travel at most. Yet even now, it was nighttime, and Teagan was thoroughly tired out to the point of numbness in her limbs and pain in her muscles. She, despite her general dislike of resting anywhere near the citadel, stretched out on the ground, relaxing her stiff and tired muscles. She gazed at the stars above, and on a whim reached for her box and took out the tomkin girl. She had decided that she would keep the girl until she reached Whitebreeze Keep, perhaps eating her if there was no other food to be had. Teagan lightly scooped Sihil into the palm of her hand and deposited the little tomkin onto her chest. Together, the two of them looked at the stars above, and for the first time, Sihil wasn't afraid for her life around the giantess. Certainly, she felt no love for her, and still hated her somewhat - Sihil recounted with a brief shudder what the giantess had done to her only a day ago, and how many others had met their demise in the mouth of the hungry giantess. Yet even so, Sihil knew that she wasn't going to face death from the giantess tonight. Sihil splayed herself out on the giantess, for it was a cold night and Teagan's chest was warm.
A small and very faint smile rested itself upon Teagan's face, for she had been so lonely ever since she had been forced to flee her home. A twinge of guilt coursed through her for taking this tomkin from her home, but quickly subsided. Even so, Teagan had, for the first time in her life, thought of a tomkin just as she would another person, however briefly it may have been for.
Teagan placed her hand over the tomkin's small body and fell asleep. Sihil, pinned down by the hand but warm and comfortable, fell asleep to the rhythm of Teagan's breath. It sure beat the box.
~
Sihil awoke to the sound of whispering. She lay still, and barely made out what was being said.
"Is the machine ready?"
"We're setting it up as fast as we can, but we're also trying to be quiet..."
"Alright, alright. Just don't take to long, okay? We don't want to risk waking anyone. We've found the giantess and Firkon's traitor, both asleep - who knows hen either will awake."
Sihil bit her tongue at the mention of the traitor, suppressing a startled cry. Firkon was going to have her killed! She, not knowing what else to do, struggled against the giantess' hand. The giantess didn't react. Sihil struggled harder, flailing against the large hand. The hand pushed down on her a bit, but otherwise didn't react. Sihil, welling up her courage, bit the hand as hard as she could, drawing a small bead of blood and filling her mouth with an unpleasant metallic taste. The giantess' pulse quickened, and the hand pressed down on her for a second before freezing and trembling faintly. Sihil knew that giantess had seen, as the hand relaxed. The giantess lightly rubbed Sihil's head with her thumb in what seemed to be a gesture of thanks or friendship, and Sihil relaxed just a bit.
"Is the machine ready yet? We don't have all day!"
"It's just about ready! We're arming the main weapon right now."
"Alright, but just remember what happened before... she was sleeping one second, and the next..."
~
Teagan could hardly believe what just happened. The little tomkin girl she'd captured, traumatized, and nearly eaten had just saved her life. She peeked an eye open, hoping it wouldn't be noticed in the dark of night. She got a better view of the tomkins. From what she could tell, they were about 80 to 100 in number; certainly not the legion she had first fought, but still nothing to be laughed at. Teagan's attention quickly left the army and settled on the strange silhouette behind them. Teagan saw a large dark shape, perhaps twice her size, sitting behind the army. A few tomkins stood behind it, hammering small pylons into place. With a start, Teagan realized what the device was. It was a siege tower with a massive crossbow mounted atop it, easily able to kill her in a single shot. She had heard about these from the old veterans of the war--they were built en masse and used to siege larger cities.
Teagan thought out her options. She could rush the tower and try to topple it, rendering it useless. However, this would place her at the mercy of the army guarding it. She could also try to run, but she wouldn't make it far if the crossbow in the machine was loaded. If all else failed, she could try fighting, but Teagan didn't think the same trick would work twice. In addition, she was at a massive disadvantage in the dark, being clearly visible to the tomkins but conversely being unable to see them nearly at all.
Teagan decided that she would make a run for it. Fighting was veritable suicide, even if she took out the tower first. She sprang to her feet, and heard a cacophony of shouts come from the tomkins around her.
She darted away from the massive silhouette, running as fast as she could. The machine immediately started lumbering after her, although slowly. Teagan felt her heart pounding as she carried herself across the field, no cover in sight.
A small dart whizzed by her head, followed by another. The smaller weapons mounted on the machine were being fired at her! She gritted her teeth as something sharp dug into her back, causing her to stagger and stop running. Teagan forced herself to continue despite the pain, forcing her eyes open and feeling her legs burn with energy. She clutched Sihil tightly to her chest, careful not to injure the little tomkin that had just saved her life.
Teagan screamed as a massive arrow, easily large enough to pierce her head through, missed her by a few inches. Teagan stumbled and fell upon the grass, tumbling down a gentle slope. She held Sihil in both hands, trying to keep her as safe as she could. Teagan rolled back into a standing position just as another arrow lodged itself in the ground where had fallen. She looked behind her, and saw that despite her fall, she had cleared quite a bit of distance, and was already losing most of the infantry.
Teagan, in a burst of renewed vigor, doubled back, seeing that the machine no longer hand any escorts. She dashed to the left as the operators fires a panicked shot, missing her by a significant margin. She flicked open her trusty box and deposited Sihil inside before taking a single bound that brought her in front of the machine. It was rickety, clearly hastily made. Teagan didn't take much time to admire he device, however. The moment she was within reach of the defenseless device, she kicked it as hard as she could, sending most of the pieces and a few engineers flying. Teagan shouted with glee as the large bow-like component of the little siege tower was crushed by her powerful kick, rendering it little more than a splintered piece of junk wood.
She quickly crouched down and looked for the little silhouettes of fleeing tomkins. She managed to grab one, but the darkness and her shaking hands allowed the rest of the tomkins to escape. Not wanting to try her luck, Teagan contented herself with the one tomkin she had caught and continued her journey to the forest of dead trees. She had let her guard down twice, and twice she had been ambushed. She hated this place as much as one could hate a place, and was determined to not stop once until she had left this entire valley behind her. Twice had she stopped to rest, and twice had she been ambushed while resting.
By little over an hour after sun-up, Teagan found herself delving in to another forest. The trees here were sickly and small, leaves pale and branches brittle. No birds called from their canopies, and no squirrels nested in their trunks. As Teagan pushed deeper into the forest, the trees gradually became both more numerous and less healthy, going from sick to diseased to simply dead and leafless. Despite this, the dead trees were many in number and absolutely massive, as if they had continued to grow even after shedding their moldy bark and their pale leaves.
Teagan, naturally, felt that this wasn't a good sign. In fact, she was a bit scared, despite the old man's note saying this was one of the safest parts of her journey. She just couldn't shake the feeling that this entire place was bad luck...
Teagan took a deep breath to calm her frayed nerves, and looked to her left hand. Sihil sat in her horizontal palm, delicately eating a small piece of bread with a bit of dried fruit. She looked up at Teagan and smiled. Teagan couldn't help but notice the fear in that smile, and thought that she wasn't the only one afraid of the forest.
Teagan didn't even think that it might be her that the tomkin was afraid of. The engineer, a middle aged man, sat in Teagan's box. Sihil had been in Teagan's hand since the incident of the prior night, and hadn't got to talk to the man. Despite this, she was still quite afraid of the moment that the giantess would eat him... or worse.
Sihil tried to drive the thought from her mind. At least that soldier and his lackeys were gone.
Sihil looked up at the giantess, and saw fear on her face. They were delving into an ever darker thicket, and Sihil wasn't by any means assured by the appearance of the area. Gnarled and twisted branches lined the path, menacing and spear-like. Sihil felt mildly dizzy as the giantess' hand carried her so high up, softly bobbing up and down. She finished her little dried berry and perched herself on the edge of the hand, legs dangling over the tips of the giantess' fingers. She, tired from getting little sleep lately, began to drift off. Her mind quickly wandered to Firkon, wondering what else he could be scheming of.
~
Firkon lounged back in his chair, enjoying his mead. He had been granted a comfortable guesthouse by the Senix despite their earlier quarrel, and was being tended to quite well. He smiled, inhaling the fragrance of the spiced and honeyed drink.
His comfort and relaxation were suddenly interrupted when someone knocked at his door.
"Come in!" he said, putting aside his flagon.
It was his second in command, a young officer named Laeron, who entered his room.
"Sir, I come bearing news."
Firkon's eye inadvertently twitched. The young man was nervous, and his voice quiet, as if he was afraid of something. It was the giantess, Firkon was sure of it.
"Don't just stand there, then. Tell it to me."
Laeron cast his eyes down.
"The Gastraphetes Tower was destroyed, and the giantess escaped. There were no casualties among our men, and only a single siege operator is missing. Senix Praeclaris wants to see you."
Firkon sighed. He wasn't at all angry, and was surprised at himself for that. He downed his flagon and stood up. Firkon picked up and donned his armor with its now mended red cape, and sheathed his shortsword at his side.
"Laeron, go rouse the soldiers. I fear that the Senix is going to start a conflict."
Firkon left his house and stepped out into the dusty streets of the great citadel, Telaphonis. He strode towards the grand hall of the Senix, two guards at his side.
The Senix Praeclaris sat at his throne, clad not in his typical stately gown but instead wearing his own suit of armor, emblazoned with a tower. Firkon noticed the the number of palace guards in the room was significantly higher than normal.
"Greetings, exalted Senix. You called for me?"
"Yes, I did indeed, Firkon. It seems that the giantess has escaped beyond our lands despite our best efforts - our trackers have ascertained that she has gone into the Forest of the Beast."
Firkon said nothing.
"Indeed, not even one of the giants could defeat the monstrosity that lurks within those woods, Firkon. Rest assured that she has sealed her own fate, and in her haste to escape us, found a foe far greater."
Firkon growled under his breath, but still said nothing.
"Your noble efforts, heroic escape, and great courage will not go untold. I will provide you with a guide that can lead you and your men back to your garrison, for your duty here is done."
Firkon nodded.
"Thank you, Senix. I will take my leave now. May the stars guide your path."
Firkon stalked out of the hall, followed by his guards. He wasn't just going to throw his hands in the air and give up. This was personal now. The giantess had slain innocents in front of him. Thrice before had they fought, and thrice had Firkon been defeated. He saw that Laeron had amassed his rear guard just outside of the grand hall. Firkon cleared his throat and got their attention.
"Brave soldiers! We have all regrettably failed at our task of slaying the giantess, but that cannot be helped. We have come far from our homes to slay this beast, and to return to our homes unsuccessful would be shameful. The Senix has told us to leave, for the giantess has delved into the Forest of the Beast."
Murmurs drifted from the soldiers, for they had all heard of the Forest of the Beast.
"Any of you who wish to go home may leave. But those of you who want to return home in glory, those of you who want to slay the giantess, and those of you who wish not to hang your heads in defeat but to hold them high in victory, I implore each and every one of you to stay. I will leave the choice to you, but know that I will not rest until either I or the giantess is dead!"
The soldiers started talking among themselves, and Firkon strode past them to the barracks they were housed in. He was not going to let the giantess roam free to slaughter and pillage.
Giantess World
All is Lost by Enzo
Author's Chapter Notes:
Sorry for taking so long to write another chapter! I generally use a tablet to write, so I have to skim through chapters to make sure autocorrect didn't screw anything up.
Anyways, this chapter sees Teagan through to the next part of her journey!
Anyways, this chapter sees Teagan through to the next part of her journey!
Chapter End Notes:
Hope you enjoyed the chapter! Reviews are, as usual, appreciated.