“There it is.”

Nia and Grey stopped before the front of a large oak door that stretched that seemed to stretch on for miles above them. Nia approached cautiously, marveling at the size of the wooden structure. Tenderly she placed a hand on the door’s frame, as if to determine if it was real. Grey couldn’t help but smile. It was surreal experience, seeing something so ordinary appear so large. It helped put things into perspective, the difference between giants and humans. Nia had seen a giant. She knew how large they were, but seeing the entrance to one of their homes only helped empathize how giant giants were.

Nia looked to Grey. “How do we get inside?”

“Under here.” Grey said pointing below them.

Nia looked down to see a gap beneath the door. It looked like a tight squeeze, but a petitie human could squeeze through no problem. Nia knelt to inspect the gap, ducking her head low to peer inside.

“Will we fit?”

Grey answered by unbuckling his belt. He tossed his sword, hunting knife and bow to the ground besides him.

“I managed to pull it off last time I was here, I can’t see why I couldn’t do it again. Your thinner than I am so you shouldn’t have a problem. The only issue I can see getting in the way is the size of your bo…”  

Nia looked at him questioningly as he trailed off.

“Forget it. You’ll be fine.”

Good save.

Grey got onto his hands and knees and lowered himself to his stomach.

“What about our equipment?” Nia asked.

“We can get it later. For now we’ll be safe.”

Grey began crawling under the gap. It was a much tighter fit then he remembered it being. On more than one occasion he found himself almost getting caught only to narrowly wiggle free

“Guess I put on some weight.”

Luckily for him his small stature still proved sufficient enough to crawl through, as he emerged on the other side for the most part unscathed.

Getting to his feet and wiping the dirt off his pants, Grey turned in time to see Nia emerge from behind him. He held a hand out to her, as she took it and was pulled back to her feet. Smiling Nia opened her mouth to thank him, but the words never came out. Instead she walked forward, awestruck at the sight that lay before her. Grey walked by her side and took in the view himself. It was just as he had remembered. A large table with chairs in the center of the room, a bookshelf and pictures hanging on the wall on the opposite side of where they stood, the counter and kitchen on the left, and the living area and hallway on the right. The floor was a bit dirty, looking like it could use a good sweeping but besides that it was just as he recalled.

“Where do we go now?” Nia asked.

“Well.” he began. “We need to find Jule. I was hoping she would be here but since it’s still early she’ll probably still be awake. Unless she’s taking a nap or something.”

The last time Grey had been here, he waited until it was dark to enter in order to avoid detection. This time he was taking the exact opposite approach. It was still midday, sunlight streamed in through the windows and Grey’s plan was to walk boldly out in the open. After all his goal this time was not to remain hidden but to be found.

As Grey began  to walk Nia was hesitant to follow, but quickly seeing how confident he was she hurried to join him at his side. Her eyes kept darting around nervously, not knowing what to expect despite Grey’s reassuring her that everything was safe.

The two of them had made it about halfway across the main room; passing the end of the dining room table, when the door to Jule’s room began to open. The noise caused Nia to jump, while it caused Grey to grow anxious.

Grey was at a loss on what he was going to say when he finally met Jule. Two years had passed, and so much had changed. He had trained to be a hunter, he had been kicked out, and now he had come back with a woman she didn’t know. How was he going to explain it to her? Why did he need to explain it to her?

It had taken until this moment for Grey to begin questioning his relationship with the giantess. There was a notion-an absurd one-but a notion none the less that there might be a mutual infatuation with each other. But he had always written the idea off as absurd, after all she was a giant. But standing here now about to see her again Grey wasn’t so sure. What if she did feel that way, how would she react to Grey coming back but with a human woman. Would she be jealous? Would she turn violent? What about himself? What about his feelings? Did he really feel that way about Jule? Were his feeling for Nia fake? Were they both true?

Grey’s began to sweat as these questions filled his head.

Suddenly all those worries and fears slipped away as Grey felt the delicate touch of Nia’s hand grab onto his own. Grey looked at her. She must have noticed his concern as she smiled his way, squeezing his hand gently to reassure him. Taking in a deep breath Grey managed to calm himself. He was overthinking things, no matter what happened he just needed to be honest. He would have plenty of time to explain and figure it out himself. Besides he was a human and she was a giant. It could have never worked out, I mean who had ever heard of a giant and a human…

Grey!

Grey’s new found conviction was lost as a sudden sense of dread fell over him. As the door open, Grey looked up to see a giant he had never seen before enter the room.

He wasted no time in acting. Grabbing Nia’s hand Grey made a mad dash towards the dining table, practically dragging Nia behind him. Reaching one of the table legs, Grey threw Nia in front of him, and he pushed them both against the wooden frame. Grey must had triggered something because Nia intensively began trying to fight him off, but taking a moment to see the serious look on his face she calmed down.

“What's going on?” she managed to ask.

Grey brought a finger to his lips, signalling her to be quiet.

He leaned in slowly, practically touching his lips to her ear as he whispered,

“That’s not Jule.”

Grey with his back to the wooden leg, peered over the corner hoping to catch a glimpse of the giant stranger.

The door was left slightly ajar but the giant-or rather giantess-had stepped out. The first thing that he noticed was her attire. She wore a set of tightly fitted leather armor; which was almost akin to that of a Hunter’s except darker in color. An assortment of knives and vials hung off her waist, as did what he assumed to be a coin purse. The giantess had sickly pale skin which contrasted with red mid-length hair that at first glance was similar to Nia’s but in a much darker shade and a straight texture. Her face while pale seemed at first flawless in complexion, but as she turned her head Grey could make out two large scars, one streaking across her eye in a vertical fashion while the other was cut diagonally across her cheek. While her scars and attire made her unique among the giants Grey had seen, the thing that truly separated her was the dagger she held in her hand.

The blade was curved with a mesh like pattern that was present across the flat of the blade. Grey had heard of weapon made with steel in a similar design, but had never seen them in person. It was supposedly a type of steel made in far off kingdoms known as damascus steel. Supposedly weapons of this nature were renowned for being more durable then the average steel blade.

As the giant made her way across the room, Grey was thrown off guard by the manner in which she moved. She walked with diligence in every step that even though her footsteps were large didn’t make even the faintest hint of noise. Yet this did not slow her in the least, moving across the room with surprising subtle speed that made Grey’s careful footwork look sloppy in comparison.

The giant’s eyes were vigilant as they scanned the room causing Grey to quickly pull his head behind cover. The situation was worse than he thought. The one advantage humans had over giants was their small size. Grey often banked on the idea that he could keep himself hidden and use a giant’s large and oblivious nature against them. This giant was too onguard for that to work. Even worse was the fact Grey was without his sword and bow and no way to defend himself. Though by the look of the blade the giant held he wanted to avoid any confrontation with her.

Turning back to Nia, Grey could see that his silence was only making her nervous. He had to say something to her.

“We need to stay hidden for now.” Grey began saying. “At least until we have an opportunity to run for the door. Until then we can’t stay here, were too out in the open. For now stay quiet, stay low and follow my lead.”

Nia gave a nod of confirmation.

As the giant continued her way across the room, her eyes shifted from one spot to another. She walked by the table without the slightest bit of hesitation. Grey breathed a sigh of relief. It didn’t seem like she had noticed them yet.

Once the giant was past the table, Grey stuck his head out again in order to look for a new hiding spot. Most of the furniture in the room did little to help them, either it was too far away to risk running to, or provided too little coverage for it to be worth the risk. But as Grey scoured the room he spotted a place that might just do, the bookshelf. With it’s back against the wall and a gap between the bottom shelf and the floor it was the perfect spot of them to take cover under. The distance was still considerably far off, with a large open area of floor between them and it. It would be risky to cross, but with the giant having just passed by, they might have a chance while her back was still turned.  

Grey tapped Nia on the shoulder, bringing her attention to the shelf. Looking at the distance they would need to travel Nia looked at Grey and gave him a decisive nod. He quickly looked back to monitor the giant’s position. She appeared to be focused on approaching the door, meaning this was as good a time as any. Turning back to Nia, Grey held up three fingers and counted down.

Three. Two. One.

Grey quickly turned the corner and began sprinting as fast as his legs would carry him.

Running like this felt familiar. Many times in his life Grey had often found himself running away from danger. Either from a group of street bullies as a kid or the city guard as an adult. Dashing down alleyways at night or a large open floor midday, nothing made a person run faster than the threat of potential death.

The bookshelf was coming up faster than he realized. Before he knew it Grey was already passing under the lower shelf, the light cut off as he stepped under the shadow of the massive structure. Grey relaxed and took in a deep breath. He was surprised to find himself hardly even tired. In the past a sprint like that would have left his gasping, but here was feeling perfectly fine. Not only that but it was probably the fastest he had ever run. All those weeks of endurance at The Keep still paid off in the end.

“Looks like our training wasn’t for nothing.” Grey said a little more relaxed.

Grey expected a reply but surprised when he heard nothing. Turning around Grey went to see why she was quiet and found his answer. Back out on the floor about halfway from the bookshelf, lied Nia on the ground, covering her mouth to keep from screaming as she struggled to stand. Grey realized immediately what must have happened. Her leg had finally given out.

Grey knew since the beginning of the journey that all that travel was bad for her leg. While it had been mostly restored due to Trinity’s magic, the wound was still was far from fully healed. Weeks of endless travel on foot and little rest had only worked to undo the help the magic had done. While she would occasionally wince or grunt on the road Grey had expected that so long as they reached Jule’s home everything would be fine, but instead it had all taken a toll for the worse.

The giant at this point had made it to the door. Putting her back to the wall, she paused, raising her dagger as if waiting to strike as soon as someone came through. She peered cautiously out the window, before slowly and carefully reaching her hand for the door knob. Grey knew the giant wasn’t going to be distracted forever. If he was going to act he needed to do it now.

Grey ran, keeping low incase the giant’s attention turned at a moments notice. Once he reached Nia he knelt down to her side to check on her condition. She was breathing heavily through her teeth as she struggled to fight off the pain.

“Hey, hey. Just look at me.” Grey said in an attempt to calm her. ”It’s going to be okay.”

Nia looked into his eyes and forced herself to nod.

“Can you stand?”

“I… I don’t think I can… Grey… it’s bad.”

“I know. Listen we can-”

“Nothing.” The giant’s voice rang out.

Grey looked up as the giant twirled the dagger in her hand and sheathed it at her hip.

“New plan.” Grey said. “Stay still and don’t move. No matter what.”

Grey dropped to his stomach lying motionless on the floor besides Nia. He knew this  location wasn’t ideal, they were out in the open but with Nia in the condition that she was he couldn’t hope to move her now. Grey’s just prayed that if they stayed still the giant just would past them without ever noticing. Hopefully she didn’t have a reason to look down.

Nia’s breathing grew more uneven as a mixture of pain and panic set in. Grey grabbed her hand, and held it tightly.

“We are going to be okay.” he whispered.

The look in her eyes showed his insistence did little to ease her concern. So Grey did the next best thing. Leaning in forward he met her lips with his embracing her in a long kiss before slowly pulling away.

“I promise.” he repeated.

Despite the pain she must have been in Nia smiled at him.

“I trust you.” she whispered back.

“I could have swore it detected something. Damn spell must be wearing off.” The giant voice rang once more.

The giant walked back, this time taking less care with her footwork as she walked.  

Grey had hoped the giant would return to the room, but she didn’t. Approaching  the dining room table, the giant turned and with a quick spring in her step, lifted herself and sat on the table.

“This assignment is becoming a waste of my time. How much longer are they going to keep me here?” The giantess lamented to herself unaware of her tiny audience. “If only I had something to do...”

With that the giantess fell backwards onto the table, staring up at the ceiling with a bored expression. Grey slowly got to his feet. With the giant’s attention once again diverted this was their chance to move. Still holding on to Nia’s hand Grey motioned her up.

Pulling Nia to her feet she attempted to stand on her leg. This proved to be a bad idea as she once again lost balance letting out a small involuntary cry as she hit the ground. Grey moved in to catch her, putting an arm behind her back, and kneeling to the ground. Nia opened her mouth to speak but he shushed her. Grey quickly glanced up at the table, where the giant remained laying with no indication that she had heard them.

“Nia, can you put weight on the other leg?” Grey whispered.

“I think so...”

Grey nodded. Throwing her arm over his shoulders Grey lifted Nia back to her feet. Using his body as support Nia pressed her other foot to the ground managing to stand. Making an attempt to move, Grey waited as Nia swung her foot forward as he supporting her weight. It was still a long way from the bookshelf, and with Nia’s leg in the condition that it was, making it back to the door was going to be difficult. But what mattered right now was getting to cover, so long as they took it one step at a time they just might make it out of this.

Grey was alerted too late as massive fingers closed in around them, hoisting the couple into the air. Before he realized what was happening Grey and Nia were brought before a set of pale smiling lips.

“Just as things were getting dull.”

A wave of warm breath wafted over them as the giant spoke.

Standing up from a crouching position, the giant stood at full height, marveling at her prey. With a toss of her hair she made her way towards the kitchen counter, staring at her captives with a devious grin.

“Nia... ” Grey began. “Are you alr-”

Grey involuntarily let out a cry alongside Nia as the giant squeezed them together in her hand.

“I don’t believe I gave you permission to speak. From now on you will only speak when I say you can. Understood?”

Grey and Nia exchanged a uncertain look. Neither of them sure on how to respond. Once again the giant’s grip tightened, this time not stopping.

“I believe I asked a question. Do. You. Understand?”

“Yes!” Nia cried out, the pressure increasing the pain in her leg.

“Understood!” Grey shouted back.

Satisfied with her control over them she relaxed her grip slightly. Leaning forward against the counter, she folded her free arm underneath her elbow as she held the two at eye level.

“You know, I thought something was off when my detection spell activated. It sensed that two individuals had entered the parameter. You’re not who I was expecting but that's fine, I was getting bored of waiting so it’s nice to have something to pass the time with.” The giant licked her lips, as if to empathise the point.

Grey had recognized the scare tactic she was trying to use. She knew that humans feared being eaten, and wanted to use this fear to frightened them. But Grey had dealt with this before, while he knew she would definitely act on that threat, it sounded more like she wanted to keep them alive. At least for a little while. Honestly he didn’t know which would be worse, but so long as they were alive that meant there was still a chance to escape.

“So, my little couple. You are a couple, aren’t you?”

“We are.” Grey stated boldly.

The giant hadn’t expected such a quick answer, and out of the corner of his eye it was apparent neither did Nia. He even noticed her blush slightly, a gesture that hadn’t gone unnoticed by the giant as her eyes shifted between the two.

“Interesting... so tell me what are a couple of humans doing so far away from your kingdom?”

Grey opened his mouth to answer her.

“Oh no. Not you.” The giant said as she looked at Nia. “I want her to answer me this time.”

“Shit.”

Nia didn’t know how to answer. She looked to Grey for help but the giant brought her finger down turning Nia face back to her.

“I’m the one your talking to, so don’t look at him.”

“We… we were looking for a place to hide.” Nia said.

“In a giant's home?” the giant responded skeptically.

“We heard it was empty.” Grey quickly added.

The giant’s eyes snapped back to his direction, as her face expressed her annoyance.

“Speak out of line again...” her eyes shifted to Nia with a smirk. “...then I’ll eat her.”

Nia’s face turned pale as the giant said that.

“Sounds like a fair arrangement doesn’t it?” the giant teased. “The same goes for you too ‘Red’. Either of you speak out of line and you’ll watch as I eat the other. Sound good?”

Exchanging another glance Nia and Grey, both nodded.The giantess smiled.

“Good, now that we’ve established the rules, let's move on. Oh and ‘Blondie’.” The giant said motioning to Grey. “I’m not in the habit of giving second chances, so I watch what you have to say from here on out. Now then, since your so keen on answering you can answer my next question. How did you find this place?”

“From our village.” Grey answered. “We are from a village not too far from the giant lands. There were rumors of a giant in this area, and lately those rumors stopped. We figured it would be safe to come out here.”

The giant nodded suspiciously.

“Alright. Now Red, question for you.” She said turning her attention to Nia. “Where did your boyfriend get that hunter’s cloak?”

Grey’s heart felt as if it skipped a beat. During all the commotion he hadn’t even thought she would notice what he was wearing let alone recognize it. The giant taking a quick glance at Grey saw his surprised expression and cocked an eyebrow.

“What? You thought I wouldn't notice?” she turned her attention back to Nia. “Well?”

“He… he uhh... found it.” Nia answered hesitantly.

The giant didn’t even try to hide her skepticism.

“He found it?”

“We, or as we were traveling. We found a dead man. We are very poor and don’t have a lot of money so...”

“You looted a corpse for it.” The giant thought it over. “I suppose that's plausible, though I still find it unlikely.”

“Do...” Nia began.

She quickly stopped speaking. Grey froze as the giant looked her over, almost if trying to decide if that counted as speaking out of line. She ultimately motioned for her to continue.

“Do you think he’s a hunter? I mean you caught us so quickly, hunters are supposed to be strong aren’t they?”

“Tch.” The giant laughed. “For a half wit maybe. Any capable giant knows a hunter doesn’t pose much of a threat, especially not themselves.” The giant looked over Grey, thinking for a moment. “I suppose you're right though. You two didn’t pose much of a challenge, so you're either not a hunter or your pretty pathetic one even by human standards.”

Grey wanted to bring up the fact that she had overlooked them more than once, but held his tongue.

“Well now Blondie. I’ll ask you this. Hunter or not, now that I’ve caught you, what should I do with you?”

This question was obviously a trap. She was trying to lead him into something, either get him to beg for freedom, or try bargaining for their lives. He was certain she had already made up her mind on what to do with them and answering her would only bring about this fate quicker. Grey needed to do something different, something she wouldn’t expect.

“Can I ask you a question first?”

“What? Do you want to know if i’ll let you go? Do you have some last request your hoping I’ll fulfill?”

“Well you asked us what I was doing here, I’m just curious why you're here?”

She chuckled a bit. “How do you know I don’t live here?”

“For one when we first saw you, you were sneaking around with a weapon in your hand. Not only that but when you said your spell detected something you said you were expecting someone else, on top of that earlier you said something about being here on an assignment, all of that together would imply you're not the giant that lives here.”

The giant’s eyes narrowed.

“Well aren’t you the clever human.” her voice had lost all tone of amusement. “Too clever actually. You think you’re very perceptive don’t you? Before I answer your question why don’t you answer my original question. Since you’re ‘so perceptive’ what do you think my plans for you are?”

Back to this again. Although her demeanor was now a lot less playful.

“I think you’re going to keep us around for a bit. I’ll admit, I don’t know how long. You’ll most likely dispose of us by eating us when your done. But as you expressed earlier you’re bored. You’ve been here for some time so my guess is you want us alive long enough to entertain you. Although your very to the point, so you aren’t going to spend too much time on that, just enough to get over your immediate boredom. I’ll would probably guess no longer than a day. Is that about right?”

The look on her face told him that it was. It was apparent she didn’t like that a human had managed to read her

“You think your cleverness is going to help you don’t you? Well let me just say it’s starting to piss me off. But fine, I’ll answer your question. Like you said, you won’t be around for much longer.

“I’m here because I need to kill someone. Someone very dangerous. Someone that a person like you should be grateful I’m here to kill. I was sent because I’m skilled enough to do it. Meaning, i’m someone you should be a lot more careful around. In fact Blondie, since you’re so perceptive and all, let me show you how perceptive I am.”

Grey couldn’t help but feel he had made a great mistake.

”I’m not the first giant you’ve met.”

Grey paused. “How do you-” he began saying.

“I thought so. You see your girlfriend here is frightened to death, you on the other hand are handling this all very well. Not only that but you didn't even bat an eye when I mentioned my spell. To most lowborn humans that would be something that left them confused. It makes me believe that hunter cloak of yours was not just found like your girlfriend suggested. You’ve dealt with and survived encounters with giants before. You know about our magic and what the best of us are capable of doing. That’s fine, but let me tell you one thing, I guarantee you’ve never met a giant like me, because if you had you wouldn’t be here right now, and you won’t be around later to claim that you did.”

“First time for everything.” Grey instinctively shot back.

The giant looked at him with a smiled. Grey’s heart sank realizing what he had just done.

“I just said that out loud didn’t I.”

“Yup.” The giant said. “I think i’m going to count that.”

Before Grey could act the giant plucked Nia away with her free hand. Nia and him looked at each other in horror as they realized what was about to happen.

“I’ll be honest, I’m really happy it’s working out this way.” The giant stated.

She lowered the hand with Grey to be about level with her chest as she lifted Nia overhead.

“Despite your arrogance Blondie you are undoubtedly the more interesting of the two. Though after this I’m sure you’ll have learned your lesson.”

The giant brought Nia closer to her face as she struggled to pull herself break free from the giant’s grasp. The giant opened her mouth and allowed her tongue to snake out past her lips, sliding the appendage up the length of Nia’s body. Nia screamed as the front part of her became coated in a thick layer of saliva.

“You can’t do this!” Grey yelled.

The giant’s tongue receded back into her mouth. She looked back at Grey with a sadistic grin.

“Oh, I’m sure you’ll find I not only can, but I am.”

She parted her lips once more, allowing Nia full view of what awaited her inside. Nia tensed in fear as tears began streaking down the sides of her face, desperately pulling to get away.

“Grey, please!” she cried. “Help me!”

Grey couldn’t do anything but watch as the giant moved Nia closer to her open mouth. All while Nia struggled and cried out for help. It was agony to watch knowing he was powerless to stop it. If only there was something he could do, something he could say... then it hit him. There was something he could say. Something that might save Nia’s life.

Don’t.

“I have to do it. It’s the only way.”

No. Not this. There is another way, just don’t mention…

“Amelia!” Grey shouted.

The giant halted. She had closed her eyes in anticipation of savoring her meal, but as soon as that name was spoken her eyes had shot back open. The giant lowed Nia as she turned her full attention to Grey.

“What did you just say?”

“Amelia, that’s who you’re here for. She’s your target.”

The giant was at a complete loss.

“How do you-”

“She was here. I saw her.” Grey continued, not waiting for her to finish.

The giantess frowned.

“I knew there was something odd about you. Tell me what you know then.”

“No.” Grey shot back. “Not until you let Nia go. She has nothing to do with this, if you let her go then I’ll tell you everything you want to know.”

Grey, you're making a mista-

“No.” The giant said. Grey was taken aback.

“What? Don’t you believe me, I know things I can prove it!” Grey shouted, coming across more desperate than he intended.

“I don’t doubt that human.” she said, a dangerous coldness in her voice. “The fact that you know my target is proof enough.”

“But… Nia, she has nothing-”

“Yes I heard you.” she continued. “Nothing to do with this. All the more reason to dispose of her.”

“If you do... if you do I won’t tell you anything!”

“Oh, that’s where you’re very wrong. I have ways of making people talk. Willingness is not a factor. You’ll talk, I’ll make sure of that. You say your girlfriend here knows nothing? All the more reason to get rid of her. But don’t be so down. I promise you won’t be apart for long. Once I’ve gotten what I need you can join her. Your cooperation will only determine how much of her is left when you do.”

Nia was lifted above the giants head once more as she tilted her head back and rolled out her tongue.

“Wait, not her! Please just l take me instead!”

Grey cried as he pounded his fist against the giant’s fingers. If only he had a sword or a knife or something... then maybe, just maybe he could stop her. He threw his fists against her hand defeated. Laying his face forward against the giant’s thick flesh Grey began to cry. He felt so useless.

You’ve made a mistake.

“I… I just wanted to save her...”

You’ve betrayed Amelia, and all for nothing.

Then will it.

Will it? Will what? Against a giant he was powerless. He should’ve learned that the first time. He wasn’t like Zeke, he didn’t have magic he could call upon. If Zeke had been here the situation would have already been dealt with. But Zeke wasn’t coming, not this time. The irony was that Grey had assured that he wouldn’t; being to busy chasing after a false lead he had set up for him.

Grey was jealous, of Zeke and his power. Accomplishing feats that Grey could only dream of. Yet even without it Grey tried. Training for two years only for it to amount to nothing in the end. What was the point of training if it meant that he was still powerless. Powerless to stop giants, powerless to help Nia. He wanted to desperately to be something special, as if he was meant for something more. But in the end he could only imagine. Imagine himself standing there sword in hand, facing down the giant and charging her, slaying her with one fell swoop before rescuing Nia from her grasp. But it was all just a fantasy, the truth was he couldn’t do any of those things. He was just powerless.  

Will it.

Grey picked up his head, tears obscuring his vision. As he looked up he expected to see a horrific scene. Nia being taken into the giant’s mouth and watching as the lump that was her descend down the giant’s throat. But what he saw instead was a person, a person carrying a sword and donning a hunter's cloak.

Grey’s eyes widened as he looked at the mysterious figure, unable to see his face with his back turned to him.

“Zeke?”

Jade felt the heat of her victim's body in her hand as she carried her kicking and screaming over her open mouth.

As she prepared to drop the frantic human inside she noticed a small figure out of the corner of her eye. Stopping what she was doing Jade couldn’t believe what she saw. It was him, the blonde hunter. He was free and standing on her wrist, and worst of all he was now carrying a sword.

Jade didn’t know how to interpret this. How had he escaped, and where did he get that weapon? The strangest thing was she could still feel him in her hand yet there he was standing right there, confident, angry and... had his hair always been that light? Before Jade had the chance to analyze the situation further, he came charging at her. Running up her arm with speed she thought impossible for a human. Hell he moved so quickly she could hardly even feel him. As he approached with frightening speed the hunter rose his sword ready to attack. Instinctively Jade freed both of her hands. Dropping the woman from one she brought a hand up to shield her face, while the other dropped down for her dagger.  

The hunter didn’t respond as he darted up the giant’s arm with blinding speed. Grey felt the fingers around him loosen as he began to fall. Thinking quick Grey reached out, grabbing the edge of the giants belt to stop his fall. He didn’t have the luxury to catch his breath as he heard Nia plummeting from above. Without hesitating Grey jumped, catching Nia in an embrace as they both tumbled and rolled out onto the floor.

Grey groaned, having taken most of the impact. Shakily he rose to his feet, before checking on Nia.

“You okay?” he asked

“I think so.” she answered in obvious pain.

Nia’s looked up as Grey offered her a hand, but instead of looking at him she looked at the sight going on behind him.

“Grey, what's going on?”

From down on the floor Grey was able to catch a quick glimpse of the hunter engaging the giant. But what astonished by what he saw. The hunter that was attacking the giant looked almost identical to himself

Jumping from one spot to another, and keeping in balance with the giants movements Grey witness feats of skill he had only ever seen someone like Zeke accomplish, and even then he was unsure if Zeke could match the movements he saw. In fact at the speed at which the hunter moved it appeared as if the giantess was being put on the defensive. Her free hand shot down to her side, and with a flash she unsheathed her dagger and swung at the hunter. At first Grey was sure that her strike had hit, but to all of their surprise the hunter continued his attack unphased, barely giving any time for the giant to react.

“I… I don’t know who that is...” Grey replied at a loss.

Taking a moment to access the situation Grey saw an opportunity. Grabbing Nia by the shoulder Grey wasted no time in explaining.

“Whatever is going on we can’t wait around to find out, we need to go while we still can.”

Helping Nia to her feet once more, carried her on his shoulders. They needed to make it to the door, who ever this person was they had given them a chance to escape, and Grey didn’t intend to let that chance go to waste.

Jade kept on her guard as she tried to figure out a solution to deal with this hunter. He was fast, unbelievably so. Multiple times during their engagement had she thought she landed a fatal blow, only for him to come out of it unharmed. All the while he kept on the offensive, making attempts to slice at her throat, face, eyes, anything vital. Despite his tiny size Jade knew if given the chance the hunter’s sword would be strong to kill.

The hunter landed on the blade of her dagger, using his momentum he launch himself into another jump. Jade couldn’t react fast enough as he made a direct line for her throat, readying his sword to slice. Jade brought a hand to her throat out of reflex, expecting to feel blood from an open wound. After a moment a moment's hesitation she realized nothing was there. No blood, no pain, it was as if he missed her. She was certain that he had hit, at the trajectory he was going he would have gone right through her otherwise.

Frantically Jade began looking for the human. Turning around she found him standing on the kitchen counter with a cocky smile and his sword still in hand. No blood on it though.

She was at a loss. How had he managed to get behind her, it was physically impossible. He would have had to go right through her body... then a thought crossed Jade’s mind.

Swing her dagger at the hunter Jade paid close attention to where she hit him. The hunter moved quickly but not quick enough to fully escape the blade’s edge. Yet as it hit him it made no signs of physical contact, as if she was attacking air.

“An illusion.” She murmured.

The hunter jumped at her once more in an attempt to kill  her. This time Jade sheathed her blade and did nothing, waiting for him to hit. Again she felt nothing as the hunter seemingly passed through her with no regards to physics. Having determined the trick Jade quickly turned her attention to the floor where she saw the two real humans nearly approaching the door.

“Enough playing around.” She said as she reached for her belt.

Jade pulled out a small glass container which was filled with a thick white vapor. She tossed it in the direction of the humans, the glass shattering and surrounding them in a pale toxic cloud.

Nia and Grey’s progress was interrupted by a loud shattering sound. Before either of them knew what had happened they were engulfed in a white mist. Grey instinctively tried to hold his breath but it was too late as he had already inhaled too much during the initial burst. Feeling his body tense, Grey’s muscles locked into place. He lost all control of his body as his limbs caved and he found himself falling to the floor. All attempts he made to move were useless as he couldn’t even find the strength to speak.

“I wouldn’t struggle if I were you.” he heard the giant say, her now audible footsteps alluded to her approach. “That mixture was made to paralyze other giants, a human like yourself has no hope of resisting its effects. Under normal circumstances I wouldn’t have wasted such an expensive concoction on something like you, but you hunter, you just casted that spell a moment ago.

“Honestly i’m embarrassed I fell for something so trivial, if you weren’t human I would have never expected that trick to work. I can’t be too hard on myself though, how could I expect someone like you to use magic. None of our reports on The Trinity mention anyone matching your description or utilizing that kind of magic. Meaning your something new.”

The gas dissipated as Grey and Nia were left to face their captor. Waving away some of the excess vapors, the giant knelt down and grabbed them both; one in each hand. Unable to move there was nothing either of them could to do stop her.

“I have to thank you though.” the giant said as she lifted Grey to her face. “You knowing about Amelia and that little trick you just pulled has given me enough reason to report back. So congratulations are in order Blondie, you get to live a little bit longer.”

Carrying Nia to be level with Grey she glanced between them before flashing them a sinister smile.

“As for her? Well, we can’t be leaving loose ends can we?”

The giant’s lips parted as she tilted her head back bringing Nia closer to her mouth. She made sure to hold Grey in a spot where he would have the perfect view of what was about to happen. Nia didn’t scream or struggle as the giant placed delicately placed her in her mouth. From where he was held Grey could still see Nia’s face. Her expression was numb from the toxin but her eyes expressed the fear that her face couldn’t as a pair of giants lips closed behind her. The giant tilted her head back in a quick jerk, wasting no time with sending her prey to the back of her throat, all the while Grey could only watch speechless as a bulge descended down her neck, disappearing behind the line of her chest.

The giant breathed out a content sigh, patting her stomach in self gratification.

“That took far too long to do.”

She turned to Grey, and opened her mouth, allowing him to gaze inside the now empty maw. The back of her throat twitched as she began to speak.

“Might as well say goodbye while you can.” she teased before closing her mouth with a smile. “Oh wait, I guess you can’t say much of anything right now.”

Reaching for her side the giant retrieved a small cloth pouch, holding it open with one hand she dangled Grey over it with the other.

“Better get comfortable, it’s a long way back to The City.”

That was the last thing Grey heard before the giant dropped him inside, closing the pouch and sealing him in darkness.