It was dark and cold beyond the camp, and Selena found herself drawn back to the warming fires.  She guessed she must be some 500 feet tall and there was no possibility that the soldiers of Farrara could harm her now.  She returned to the center of the camp and  saw the huge pile of wood that had been gathered to burn her as a witch.  The final miracle of the boots had extinguished the flames, but Selena picked up pieces of a burning watch tower and relit the bonfire.  She then seated herself next to the fire and huddled near it, seeking its warmth.  
Selena was very tired, but she was afraid to sleep.  In her sleep, she might shrink to human size again and there might be Farraran soldiers about who would take the opportunity to kill her.  So she sat close to the fire, occasionally tossing in some fragments of timbers the Farrara soldiers had laid strewn about.  Sometime during that night she nodded off….

"Selena!"

A gentle voice seem to come to her out of the blackness.  She did not recognize the voice, but she found it reassuring.  "Hello," she said languidly.

"At last!  You heard me!"

"Who are you?" Selena asked.

"I have been trying to contact you for hours.  I am, or I was, the wizard Heckner.  It has been years since I have been able to contact another human soul, but at last the time has come."

"Where am I?" said Selena.

"You are dreaming, girl," the voice said. "It is the only way I can speak to you, in your dreams.  It is wonderful to be free of the boots at last."

"The boots?" said Selena.  "What about the boots?"

"It was I who created the magic boots, but when I was killed by Zoltan, my spirit was trapped in the boots," Hacknor explained.  "I became Zoltan's mute slave, forced to use my power to advance his evil schemes.  But now I am free because the boots have been destroyed."

"What happened?" said Selena.  "Why did I grow?"

"It was I who made you grow, Selena," Hacknor responded.  "It was the only way to save you from the fire.  Besides, I enjoyed working with you.  You used the power of the boots wisely and for good.  When I was freed from the boots, I had to find a receptacle for my soul and I chose you.  All my power is now at your disposal.  You are no longer limited in what you can do by the material aspects of the boots.  Although I can not speak to you when you are awake, I can respond to your will and give you the use of my powers."

"I am made uneasy by power," said Selena.  "Zoltan was corrupted by power."

"Zoltan was degraded, even before he had any power.  Listen to me, Selena.  From now on, you will be able to grow or shrink at will.  You do not need the boots and no one can take your powers from you.  But there is more!  You will be able to change the size of people and objects at will!  You need only think it, and it will happen.  You will not need to wear magical clothes that grow and shrink as you do, because you will have the power to adjust the size of your clothing to fit your body.

"Why me?" said Selena.  "Why am I to have all this power?"

"Because you are good."

"I am not so good," said Selena.  "Sometimes I feel anger and I fear what I might do if I had such power in my hands."

"I did not say your were perfect, Selena.  But you are good.  You are much better than most people.  There is no one better suited to exercise tremendous  power over the world."

"Why should anybody have such power," said Selena.  "Would it not be better if such power did not exist?"

"Perhaps it would," Hacknor agreed.  "But what has been done cannot be undone. You cannot be made to use this power I give you.When you are awake, my will is just a wispy, fragile thing that your conscious mind brushes aside like a spider's web. But as long as you live, you will have this power at your disposal.  You may use it or you may choose to let it lie dormant, but it will always be there."

"I do not want it," said Selena.  "Please, can't you take it away?"

"I cannot exist without a body," Hecknor replied.  "And I am not ready to go into oblivion.  You must try to understand…."

"I do not understand…"

"Someday you will…I must go now."

"Wait!  Tell me more!"

"I must go.  You are about to awaken….I will see you in your dreams again, Selena…"

Selena awoke lying on the ground in the morning.  She was still five hundred feet tall and the Farrara camp around her was a ruin, but the fires were out and there was no one in sight.  Selena thought about her dream and the words of Hecknor.  She willed herself to shrink to human size, then went through the camp looking for some clothes to cover her body.  She found a tunic, a cloak, some sandals, and a belt.  When she had dressed herself, she looked for some food and found two loaves of bread in an abandoned tent that had escaped the flames which swept through the camp.

After she had eaten, Selena grew herself to 500 feet once more and looked around.  As she had been told in her dream, her clothes grew with her, even her sandals.  She could see no sign of the Farrara soldiers, so she turned toward the east and started across the desert toward Zoltan's city.  She wondered if she would be able to find Zoltan again.

The desert seemed much smaller now than when she was only sixty feet tall, but when she had crossed the desert, she shrank herself down to human size again and walked along the road.  She did not wish to attract attention to herself by walking around the countryside in giant form.  She hoped that she might find a new life in the city where she could live simply and unnoticed and not have to use her powers ever again.

Of course, that was not to be.  About two hours of walking along the road in the cheerful sunshine were all the peace that Selena had.  As she was rounding a bend in the road, four disheveled, dirty, unshaven men stepped out of the bushes into her path.

"Oh gawd!" crowed the nearest and biggest one.  "Ain't she a looker!"

"Peezus!" said another.

"I want some of that!" said the third.

The fourth man looked at Selena with a stupid look on his face and said, "You see a milk cow on this road?"  Selena ignored him and concentrated on the tallest man  who was the leader, for the others took their cue from him and did not move until he did.  The men swaggered toward her, grinning and learing at her.  "Do not run little bird," said the leader.  "We just want to have a little fuckee fun.  You want some fuckee fun little bird? Huh?"

"I want some fuckee fun," said the second man.  "I want lots of fuckee fun."

The men all laughed, but when Selena did not seem to be afraid of them, they hesitated.  "What's wrong with you, girl?" said the leader.  "You think we are bluffing, don't you."

"She is a whore," said the third man.

"Nah," said the second man.  "Her clothes are too plain.  A whore would dress better than that."  They all laughed again and edged closer, watching her as if they expected her to bolt and run.

Selena stood her ground as she considered how to handle the situation.  She realized she had no choice but to use her powers.  She hoped that they still worked.

When  three of the men  leapt upon her, she reacted without thinking, and started growing, but when the men reacted to her rapidly increasing stature  by  backing off, she stopped growing at a mere 12 feet and looked down at them.  "Are you lads in the habit of attacking solitary women?"

The stupid looking man  who was standing a few steps behind the others said, "We just want our milk cow if that's all right."

The men turned and ran from her in terror.  The fourth one was the last to flee and he seemed to be more than a little confused.  Selena's first thought was to let them go, but it occurred to her that these men might try again with another woman who could not turn into a giantess.  It did not seem right to let them go,  perhaps to rape again, so she went on up to 100 feet and followed after them while she struggled with her conscience.

The men fled along the road, and stayed together, which was not smart, Selena thought.  If they split up, she could not have caught them all, but they stayed together so she had no difficulty.  If they had gone into the brush along the roadside, she might have lost sight of them, but they remained on the road where the going was easier for them.  When she was close enough to trample them beneath her sandal, she felt a wave of revulsion and realized that she would have to put some height between hers and theirs before she were to summon the will to crush them.  Selena went up again, taller and taller until the four men were just tiny dark dots moving only a narrow ribbon of road on the ground in front of her.

At seven hundred feet, she stopped her growth and scanned the road.  She saw something tiny moving slowly along the road a few steps along.  Selena walked forward and stopped to study the moving dots.  They appeared to be no bigger than ants now, but she could clear see the four men running full tilt with pumping knees and arms.  Their faces were pale points of light that flashed when they turned to look up at her, but mostly they looked at her feet which straddled the road.  Selena did not stamp the men, she merely walked forward, placing one foot in front of the other, centered on the road.  She put her right foot just behind them and brought her left foot forward. When Selena placed the sole of her sandle on the spot where the men were running, she was grateful that she could not see them, but she was not oblivious to the nightmare of their final moments.

Selena walked on without looking behind her to make sure she had done the job.  As she walked, she let herself shrink until she was soon normal size again.  She tried not to imagine what it was like for the men as the shadow of her sandal fell across them and the sky came down.  She hoped that she had done the right thing, but it was impossible to be sure.

***

Not far down the road, she came to a village and there was an inn run by an older woman.  Selena had no money, so she approached the proprietor and asked, "Could you use a little help with the washing up this evening?  I have no money, but I will gladly work for a little food and a place to sleep tonight."

The woman smiled at her.  "Nay girl.  You are my guest tonight.  I would never turn away a pretty girl like you into the night.  You should not be on the road alone.  Have you not heard the awful tales of girls raped and murdered by brigands on this road?"

"No, I am just passing through," said Selena.

"You will be safe here tonight," the woman said.  "My four sons will protect you."

"Four sons?" Selena asked with an ominous feeling.

"Aye.  They should be along soon enough.  You must have passed them on the road.  They went down that way not an hour ago to find our stray milk cow.  Surely you saw them?  Four tall, handsome boys.  They are fine smart boys, all except for Seth who is a little simple in the head, but he has a good heart."  The woman squinted at Selena.  "I say, are those tears running down your cheeks?  Why are you crying girl?"

"I am so grateful," said Selena, trying not to sob.  "You are so kind…"

"Nay, nay, girl!  Don't cry!" said the old woman, folding Selena into her arms and stroking her long blond hair.  "Whatever it is, I am sure things will look a lot brighter in the morning."