The 8 mile tall Megan stomped over Great (well from her point of view not so great) Britain's soil, blowing clouds away on occasion. Each step covered about 5 miles, and her unphantomable weight pounded the soil of poor Britain. Each of her mighty footfalls inflicted tremendous damage.

Entire villages were obliterated in a single step, as nothing was able to withstand the vast weight of the giga-giantess. Megan didn't even notice. The thick rubber of her boots, easily 300 feet thick, absorbed even the flattening of an entire hill.

The huge earthquakes caused by her steps turned the area around her truly gargantuan black boots into a barren wasteland. Grasslands and entire forests leapt up from the enormous shock waves, the countless, uprooted plants flew for a few moments through the air before landing on the tormented ground, which afterwards looked like a thoroughly ploughed field. Entire acres dotted with countless green pine-trees, the snow on their branches already fallen off because of the first, lighter tremors announcing the giga-giantess' approach, turned into a barren no-mans land within seconds. Even if the giga-giantess didn't step on the uprooted green, even if she walked a dozen miles past them, the gigantic vibrations left not a single plant untouched. Everything was torn from the ground by ripples sent through the earth. The trees Megan did step on where crushed into unrecognisable pulp, pressed deep into the ground. Even the biggest, sturdiest of oaks, some of which stood for centuries like the ones in the chief jury member's garden, cracked like dried twigs under her ultra heavy boots.

The villages and cities in Megan's way fared no better. The puny masonry was no match for the ripples her walking caused. Walls cracked and collapsed by the thousands, buildings were literally vibrated apart, streets burst open. Megan destroyed the landscape, leaving nothing but lifeless rubble in her path.

The city of Bedford was already turned to ruins even before she came near. Unknowingly, for Megan hardly gazed at the puny results of mankind's' toil at her feet, she crushed the leftovers of the city under one of her boots, leaving a deep footprint in the ground which slowly filled with the waters of the Great Ouse.

Nottingham, Sheffield and even Manchester suffered severe damage, as the tremors of her footfalls send deadly shock waves many miles from where she stepped down. Megan walked and walked, crushed and crushed. Farms, forests, hills and the aforementioned settlements, it all ended flat and dead under her soles.

The 8 mile tall behemoth focussed in front of her, blowing clouds away on occasion, her light blue eyes scanning the ground for landmarks indicating she still was on the right way to Doncaster. The about 160 miles where of course nothing for a giantess measuring 8 miles, for each of her steps covered about 5 miles, making it just like a walk towards the corner of the street for her. But Megan had to look carefully to see if she was still walking in the right direction. From her height, rivers looked like small, glittering threads, the leftovers of cities where like yellow crumbs of sand in the white, snow-covered landscape, and even the landmarks of large cities, like the famous cathedral of Nottingham, was reduced to rubble even before she could come near it. Megan found that out as she approached the large patch of smoldering ruins that was Nottingham.

She turned away, crushing the leftovers of the famous Nottingham Forest under her boots, and looked for another clue.

The Trent River. She knew it runs vertically in the direction of Scunthorpe. Doncaster lies a few miles west of it. Megan remembered that from school. And she quickly spotted the river. Smiling, the titaness turned left.

In the vast distance, she saw another patch, relatively undisturbed (yet, she thought), realised it had to be Doncaster. Megan knew that somewhere down there, the two magic-users had to be. The only serious threat to her. Megan took a few steps backwards, then made a run and jumped through the air in the direction of Doncaster, causing a huge hurricane in her wake that sucked countless tons of snow and dust from the ground and setting a world record in Long Jump that would never be broken. With her 1,5 mile long feet together, she landed squarely in the city.

As soon as her feet touched it, there was a brilliant flash of light.

EPILOGUE

Angela and looked out of the window. Megan passed by, annoyed, sad, lost in thought. Soon, she was out of sight. No visit. No amulet. No growth, destruction, whatever else.

"Now," Hippolytus said. "This was a very important lesson for you. Tell me, did you learn something?"

Angela thought a moment. Then she said: "We should take care not to be harmed by our own magic."

"Right!" Hippolytus said, pleased. Angela was a bright young girl. A bit cheeky perhaps, but sure to become a worthy Archmage one day.

"We would have died had she landed on Doncaster," Hippolytus said. "So, I had to use a safety measure. When I cast the spell, I made sure the moment she would have killed us, killed by my own spell, time would jump back to about 10 minutes before the moment she passed by here. That was the second spell I cast, remember? Megan has walked past our home by now, and will live her life oblivious of our existence. I didn't tell you to go down and fetch her, unlike the first time."

"Like in a computer game!" Angela exclaimed. "I save the game. And when I continue playing and things go wrong, I restore the game and can do something different. Only I know what would happen otherwise!"

Hippolytus was impressed. Angela was very bright. The safety spell worked exactly like that. Only he and Angela knew what would have happened if Megan had been given the amulet. The rest of mankind didn't. And never would. No destruction. No killings. Nothing. Half a year later, Megan would see the episode and get annoyed, but unable to take whatever revenge she thought of.

Angela, had watched Megan's rampage in the crystal orb with tears in her eyes. She turned towards Hippolytus.

"Master?" she said. "Why didn't you just tell me this? I mean, seeing Megan kill and destroy everything was shocking. I was afraid and nervous. Why did I have to watch all this?"

Hippolytus smiled. He remembered when he, as an apprentice, had learned the same lesson from his master. It hadn't been less shocking.

"If I just told you, you'd forget in a day. Now, having seen the shocking images of a rampaging giantess, you'll remember for the rest of your life that if you give someone a magical item, grant somebody a wish, always take safety measures. The best lesson is the one that makes the greatest impression."

"Master?" Angela said after a while.

"Yes?"

"There are days when I really hate you. I'd like to summon a demon and sent it after you."

"Good!" Hippolytus replied. "We'll practise that tomorrow!"


THE END