I walked through the brush into camp to see my sister and Julius sparring with practice swords. Cassius was reclining casually by his tent. Julius' form was sloppy and my sister had to hold back as much as she could just so he could learn anything at all. When she saw me, she immediately stopped fighting and just gave me a dirty look.
"Don't start with me." I said, not even giving her a chance to go in on me. I sat down in front of the fire and just stared into it.
"What's wrong?" Abby asked, as she sat down next to me with Julius following behind.
"Nothing. . . . I just. . .got more information than I care to know." I said quietly.
"That's great! Fill us in!" She said, excited.
Seeing me upset, Cassius stood and handed me a bottle. I took a big gulp and wiped my mouth.
"The oldest. . ."Florence" . . . She is up north in the mountains. She. . . .killed Mathias and at least 9 more. She is wiping out the tribes there. . ."
My sister was closer to Mathias than I was, and I could see the pain in her eyes as she heard this. She gripped the log and shredded part of it with her bare hands.
"I think. . . The middle sister. . Is the one that I came across. . "Leo" and finally. . . . The youngest, "Juliette". The bartender tells me that she may be down the coast, taking humans for something."
"Will you go after her?" Julius asked, wide eyed
I said nothing.
My sister read into it.
"You're afraid. . . . Why?" She asked, looking me in the eye.
"Abigail. . . If what I found out is true. . . I don't think we can beat any of them. . Not even 2 on 1." I said, gravely.
"Why?" She asked again.
"The youngest. . . . The smallest one is 130 feet tall Abigail."
"That's. . . That's not possible! That is as tall as the giant king!" She reasoned, her eyes wild.
"The other two are 145 and one 157 respectively."
I had never seen my sister show fear, but it was definitely present now. Cassius seemed to grasp the magnitude of my words too, but Julius seemed oblivious.
"Why does their height matter? A giant is a giant, right?" He asked, confused.
"To us humans yes, but it's different for them." Cassius said, speaking for the first time since I had been there. "Emelia was only 100 feet tall, which is not short, but not tall for a giant. She was more than big enough to kill a human with ease, but not strong or heavy enough to kill Ant outright. Now imagine all the added weight if she had even 30 feet more of flesh, then 45, then 57!"
"He gets it!" Abigail interuppted. "We all get it."
We were all silent for a while. Eventually, we decided that my sister and Cassius would go due east and myself and Julius would go up the coast with the intention of finding Juliette and sending word to the other.
[Meanwhile back in Kleindell, tremors signaled the arrival of multiple giants. There was initial panic, but it was eased as the villagers saw that it was Zahra. Not that she was any less dangerous than any other giant, but she wasn't known for destroying cities. She usually just traded goods, turned in or picked up bounties and left in peace.
She and two of her girls stomped down main street, humans ducking out of their way to avoid getting trampled in their wake. Zahra stopped at the tavern, knelt, and gently tapped on the door. Seeing a massive eye in the window, a moment later the bar tender opened it, and cautiously stepped outside. He looked up fearfully.
"Uhh. . . What can I. . . What can I do for you?" He asked, taking a step back as she stood to her full height of 113 feet.
"Well. . . I heard a rumor that a certain man might be hiding in the area. A dangerous man with a bounty. A fugitive from the crown." She said, folding her arms and just looking over the city, half deconstructed.
"We get a lot of people through here. . . Do you have a description or wanted poster?" He asked, genuinely not knowing who exactly she was speaking of.
Zahra dug through a nomad pack she carried on her back. Eventually she found what she was looking for and produced a giant sized wanted poster.
The bartender looked it over as did all the villagers. Nobody said anything, grateful that the man had saved the hunters and weren't willing to give him up to anyone.
"Hmm. . . I don't think I've seen him here. . " The bartender said, scratching the back of his neck.
He wasn't sure if Zahra bought the story, but she didn't push it any further.
"Ok. . .well. . If you see him let me know, won't you? I couldn't bear to see anyone in your peaceful little village get hurt by him." She said politely, before they turned to leave.
They had just reached the edge of town, when a voice called out to them.
"I saw him!"
Stuck with Julius, I drove the wagon along the coastal path. He still seemed full of questions, and eventually he couldn't hold them in and blurted out.
"What will you do if you find this woman?" He asked, staring at me. "Will you call your sister for help?"
"Do you ever take a breath?" I asked, completely exhausted with talking about the daughters.
"I'm just nervous! To me, it sounds like we should just stay in Kleindell and leave with them!" He said, pointing behind us.
"I can't. . Just leave everyone to die. As much as I want to stop taking life, it seems I'm too deep to walk away."
"Don't you guys enjoy killing giants?" He asked, confused.
"That is a myth that humans and giants created! My brother and I tried to put that behind us." I said, defensively.
"Where is he? Your brother?"
"I haven't seen him in almost two months. He took my horse and went to deliver a message and never came back." I said, just staring straight ahead.
"You don't think that one of the three daughters-
"Shut up!" I interuppted him, not wanting to consider the possibility.
"I'm just saying!" He answered, quietly.
"Jacob wouldn't fight them! And he wouldn't be caught by them!" I said, harshly as we carried on.
". . . . I'm sorry. ." Julius muttered, turning away from me.
A while later, we rode into the city, and didn't bother to play games or conceal our identity. Oddly, there weren't many people in the village, and they all seemed to have worried expressions on their faces. All eyes were on us as we made our way to the local inn.
Julius made arrangements with the inn keeper and we went to our room. We decided to just stay in and wait the night out. My identity as a slayer had been exposed in the last 2 cities I had been in, and I knew that sooner or later, somebody unfavorable would catch on to it. Going to bed early and seeing what we could find out tomorrow was our best bet.
At least. . . . That is what we thought.
Some time in the middle of the night, I was awoken by the sound of somebody whispering outside our room. In the pitch black I couldn't tell if maybe it was Julius talking to the inn keeper or other people staying there, though it seemed like we were the only ones.
I had no more than closed my eyes again, ignoring the voice, when chaos broke loose. 4 men with swords and lanterns burst into the room. I chose not to draw my sword as both myself and Julius were apprehended and dragged outside
By this time, Julius has learned to trust me and follow my lead. My philosophy was that you learn more when people think they are in control of the situation. As such, our weapons were stripped and we were shoved to the ground at the feet of a slender man in his 40's.
"What's the meaning of this?!" Julius screamed as he struggled against a guard.
"Gentlemen. . . I know this all might seem a bit confusing but, I just want you to know that it isn't personal." He said, his voice actually having some regret to it.
"What are you talking about?" I demanded, playing my role in all of this.
"You see. . . You two just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. Myself. . . . The villagers. . . We have a massive problem on our hands and it's forced us to get. . . . Regrettable with how we solve it. " he explained, dancing around the truth.
"What kind of problem? Maybe we can help!" Julius offered as he continued to fight.
"Oh I assure you. . . You ARE helping." The man said, before turning to walk away.
Julius looked to me, and I shook my head no. I usually tried to keep my identity secret, but dealing with a giant of this magnitude, not having my sword right off the bat could mean a quick death. That meant I was going to just muscle my way out right now.
I began to stand and though the guard tried to force me back down, he had zero effect on my movement. The other two joined in, but I knocked them all away with one arm. I immediately took my sword and stared the man down.
"Listen. . . My friend here is a handler of problems! And he doesn't so much appreciate being treated like that!" Julius said as he shook off the last guard.
"Are. . . Are you a giant slayer!?" He exclaimed.
I only chuckled.
"You have to help us!" He demanded.
"We'll help you. . . For a price." Julius replied smoothly.
I was a little surprised by him. I didn't know just how much like Cassius he really was.
"How much?" The man asked, worry in his eyes.
"Everything." Was the simple answer he got.
Even I was shocked at this. I didnt know Julius all that well, but I could see similarities between his actions and Cassius. . . . Did life under Emelia's rule really warp the conscience of everyone in that city?
Apparently, the village leader was just as shocked as I was.
"EVERYTHING? ARE YOU MAD?!" He screamed at Julius.
Julius kept his cool.
"How much is freedom worth to you?" He asked, coldly.
It was pitch black outside, but I could tell the man's face was red now. He only huffed, and signaled for us to follow him. We walked down an alley and into the back of a Hall. He sat us down, and calmed himself before he spoke.
"IF. . . You can handle our giant problem. . . . . We will give you all the gold we have." He said, begrudgingly. "But there is no "running her off". Either she dies or we have no deal!" He said, pounding his fist on the wooden table.
"Tell us what you're dealing with." I said, looking the man in the eye.
His men exchanged worried looks.
"Juliette. . . . That despicable wench!" The man spat. "She came out of nowhere one day 4 months ago. Demanded 15 humans to go with her to be workers. . . . We had just captured a gang of bandits so we didn't think much of handing them over. Things seemed normal. . . until exactly one month later when she returned again. . . . And again demanded 15 humans."
"Again we gave her bandits and again she disappeared but we knew if she returned a third time, that we wouldn't have enough. One month later. . . . ."the man who had taken over the story trailed off.
"We did what we had to do to keep the village safe! 6 travelers supplemented the 15." He said, sorrow in his voice.
"And that is what you were going to do to us if we hadn't fought you off!?" Julius shouted at the man.
"What choice do we have? Juliette comes in two days and she will get her 15 whether it be by our selection, or hers!" He shouted back.
"Let me rest for the night, and I will come up with a plan tomorrow." I said finally.
The next morning, I awoke to a woman bringing me breakfast in bed. She seemed cheerful and glad to see me. Julius was nowhere to be seen. I left the inn and walked out into the street. The village seemed to be a buzz and I could feel eyes upon me as I just wandered down the lane not really doing anything in particular.
The truth is. . . I didn't have a plan. I never usually did. If what everyone said was true, then Juliette was going to be the biggest and strongest giant I had ever faced. It's not something a man wants to dwell on, seeing as how I had almost been killed in my last fight.
Luckily, the villagers helped keep my mind off of what was to come. Word had already spread about my identity and now it seemed I was loved and famous here. Men and women waved and cheered for me as I walked and they all seemed much more relaxed than the day before. I guess "everything" was a price these people were willing to pay.
Speaking of people who charge an arm and a leg, I still hadn't seen Julius anywhere today. I imagine he was out swindling the villagers but that didn't really bother me. What did bother me, was the upcoming fight. It was like. . . . I couldn't see my life beyond this particular town. I hadn't really ever felt like this. . . But I also hadn't really been sober this long in a long time.
The first day drug on much the same way. Cheerful villagers, and just waiting around. Nobody really knew where Juliette actually came from. She just appeared from the forest, took the prisoners and left again. The rumor was that she was taking them to work in a mine somewhere, but the problem is the amount of ground a giant could cover.
Even if she was taking humans from different villages in this immediate area,it didnt necessarily mean that she was based here. She could easily be just about anywhere in the the southern part of the kingdom or crossing the border back into giant territory.
Eventually Julius did turn up. He was with the village leader, giving him some advice on how to run a city. . . . Figures. Julius' promises of freedom had really warmed this man over. So much so that we were invited to his house for supper that night.
We sat around the dinner table with his family. His wife, and 4 kids were overjoyed to have company and we were bombarded with questions. . . . Well, I was anyway. .,. Julius' story is admittedly hundreds of years shorter than mine but he told the tale of our meeting with as much gusto as anyone I had ever heard. From there, naturally i turned to the bottle for entertainment. Julius got into it just as deep as I was, enjoying the wealth that was coming to us. Things got wild and one thing led to another. By the next morning I was laying in bed with 2 women and an extreme hangover.
I had barely even opened my eyes when a man stuck his head in the door.
"Our scout has spotted Juliette! She will be here in three minutes!" He said, urgency in his voice.
I was drug out of my room and surrounded by all the villagers as we waited. A moment later, birds flew out of the trees and the sound of footsteps echoed, just before Juliette emerged.
Giantess World
