Travels With a Fairytale Monster

by Elizabeth Gannon

  “It isn’t for us to say what the giant might want.” She argued. “That should be up to the giant to decide.”

  “I really don’t care what it wants.” He shook his head vehemently. “It tried to fucking eat me!”

  She rolled her eyes. “Oh, are you really still on that?” She snorted in dismissal. “Move on, already.”

  “Yeah, so sorry I haven’t been able to deal with the emotional trauma of almost being consumed by a giant, Tay. Maybe it’ll take another hour or so before you, me, and the giant can all get together and laugh about it.” He took on a deep, rough grunting tone which was apparently what he thought ogres must sound like, speaking in broken sentences. “’‘Member when giant try eat little man? Little man run from giant. Now little man friend. Giant no eat little man today. Haw-haw-haw-haw!”

  His playlet continued, as more characters were added to this imaginary world, but Taylor had long since stopped paying attention to his negativity by that point. For the first time in forever, she had something to focus on other than being sad and hungry, and she was going to enjoy every moment of this mystery.

  She opened the door to the ruined building they were using as their quarters and flopped down onto the makeshift bedding spread out on the floor.

  Ryle closed the door, still giving his fake “giant’s laugh” over some other horrible thing the imaginary giant found amusing.

  Taylor absently looked down at the object in her hands, trying to figure out what it was and what it did.

  “Do you think it’s magical?” She asked him, paying no attention to the fact that she was interrupting another scene in his little giant themed drama, where Ryle was the perennially abused unwilling member of some kind of gang of giants.

  “Magic wands usually are, yeah.” He confirmed, hopping up onto the windowsill and sitting cross-legged.

  “Please stop calling it that.”

  “I’ve heard you call it that.”

  “I’m allowed to call it that because I respect it. You, on the other hand, are treating this like some colossal joke.”

  He made a dismissive sort of hum. “Yeah, so sorry. But on the other hand, if I were really taking this seriously, I’d either be calling in the guards to have you arrested for treason, or calling in a doctor to have your head examined.” He picked up a book and absently began flipping through it. “’You don’t have respect for the magic sparkly wand, Ryle!’” He mocked. “’I support the giant’s efforts to eat you because it’s had sooooo hard a life, while yours has just been fun in the fucking sun.’” He looked up at her from his book. “You’re losing it, sis. I’ve never really understood you, but I understand you even less now. It’s like battle strain or whatever.”

  “I’m not going crazy.” She looked down at the wand. “In fact, I’m feeling like I’m seeing things clearly for the first time.”

  “Are you now?” He nodded humoringly. “Must be nice.”

  “This is serious, Ryle!” She snapped.

  He put his book down. “Do you honestly think I don’t see that?” He asked seriously. “Do you think I don’t see the fact that you’ve dug yourself a pretty deep hole here?” He waited expectantly for a moment, anticipating an answer. “Because I do. I see what you’ve done. If you give them the rod now, they’ll hang you for not having told them about it in the first place. If you don’t give it to them, they’ll find out about it and hang you for stealing it. And if you don’t do anything, the giant is going to wake up, lose its fucking mind, and start eating our entire squad because no one will be around to control it, because you’re hiding that crucial piece of equipment from everyone.” He nodded to himself, opening the book again. “I see how serious this is. I don’t understand it, and I don’t approve of it, but I see it.”

  “Does that mean you’re going to go along with me on this?”

  “What other choice do I have?” He turned the page in his book. “If you weren’t here, I would have just let the giant eat me.” He shrugged. “Besides, I long ago learned never to bet against you.”

  She let out a relieved breath and refocused her thoughts on the giant and what she was going to do about it.

  Chapter Four

  “Into the cage, monster!” Buggane ordered, brandishing his sword. “Your owners demand it!”

  The giant sat motionless in the middle of the central plaza, simply staring at the man. It blinked at him. Once. Twice. Then casually looked around the space in absent curiosity.

  Buggane’s eyes narrowed in fury. “If you will not enter the cage willingly, then I’ll drag you into it!” He reached down and grabbed one of the heavy iron chains and tried to drag it into the cage. Unfortunately for him, the metal was far too heavy and he barely moved it more than a couple of inches before he had to drop the chain back to the sand.

  The giant continued to impassively watch him, as if amused by the man’s capering.

  Ryle started to slowly clap for Buggane’s effort.

  Taylor elbowed him to stop.

  Buggane’s head shot up at the sound of the golf clap. “Who did that?” His eyes cut around the assembly in suspicion. “Identify yourself!”

  Ryle looked around the space too, joining in the search for the mystery wiseass who always seemed to be mocking their beloved superior.

  Half an hour before, the few remaining soldiers in the fort had been called to the central courtyard for an announcement from Captain Gate, but thus far, the morning had consisted entirely of Buggane yelling at the giant, manhandling the giant and trying to forcibly put the giant back into its cage.

  None of that had gone well.

  Now Buggane was irritated, out of breath and looking to hurt the giant very, very badly. Taylor should have been worried about that, but instead she was silently watching the scene with something close to anticipation, just waiting for Buggane to push the giant too far and get stepped on.

  Ryle wasn’t even willing to go that far and was instead directly interjecting himself into the situation in an effort to hurry the process along. “You don’t have to take that from some punk ass giant, sir!” Ryle called in support. “Hit him! Hit that giant!”

  She elbowed him again. “You’re not helping.”

  He chuckled, obviously enjoying himself more than she’d seen in years. “Oh, God… Here it comes!” He practically squealed in delight. “Here it comes!”

  Buggane was preparing to follow the terrible advice Ryle had shouted, when Gate appeared in the square. He walked across the sand and then stopped when he saw the giant. “Lieutenant, why is that creature not in its cage?”

  “He was about to get to that, sir.” Ryle called out. “He just wanted to give it what for first!” He slammed his fist into his palm, then leaned closer to Taylor. “Oh, God. This is gonna be soooooo sweet!”

  Gate shook his head. “No time for that now.”

  Ryle’s face fell. “Ooo-ooh.” He drew the word out, giving it a dejected and depressed singsong quality, like a child being told they couldn’t have ice cream before dinner.

  Gate began to walk back and forth in front of the small group of soldiers remaining under his command. “I’m afraid that the war has changed now.” He leaned down and began to draw a rough map in the sand. “As you know, we were stationed here in an effort to stop the Baselanders from crossing the river and reaching the capital.” He marked their current position in the sand. “Sadly, they have found their way around us and are, at this moment, making their way towards our king.”

  The soldiers began to murmur among themselves, wondering what that could mean for them.

  Gate put up his hands, calling for silence. “Thankfully, Lieutenant Buggane has brought to us a great weapon to use against our enemy.”

  Buggane preened under the recognition like the obnoxious jackass that he was.

  “As such, the fight is not yet done. In fact, it is just beginning.” Gate began to draw another line in the sand. “We will take the river road north and cut off the enemy advance.”<
br />
  More murmuring. Everyone knew that route would take them far too close to the Felony Forest. No one wanted to go anywhere near Felony Forest. It was arguably the most dangerous place north of the Grizzwood in any kingdom. It was to be avoided at all costs, which was why people didn’t use the river road anymore. The path was a day’s walk to the forest, but even that was far too close for most people’s taste.

  Gates held up his hands again. “Quiet, please. I know that…”

  “Shut your mouths!” Buggane screamed at the soldiers, cutting the other man off. “You don’t get to question the plan!”

  Gate cleared his throat. “Um… thank you, Lieutenant.”

  More preening from that asshole.

  He simply made Taylor physically ill, even when he wasn’t hitting on her.

  “Now, I realize that this will take us near the Felony Forest, but we will be past it before anyone even realizes that we’re there. We’ll follow the river road and beat the Baselanders to the crossroads. Once we’re in front of the Baselanders, we can use the giant to defend the capital and crush their army.” Gate continued. “And hopefully, find a way to end this war.”

  “What if we can’t control it, sir?” Someone called. “I mean, right now, it’s just sitting there. But when it’s not, it’s kind of…”

  “Terrifying.” Another soldier finished for him.

  “Yeah, terrifying.” The first soldier agreed. “How are we going to control something like that?”

  “We have ways!” Buggane declared, smashing the giant in the head with a wooden nightstick. The object simply broke against the giant’s skull and splintered into pieces.

  The giant casually looked up into the sky, as if to check if it was raining.

  “Sir?” Taylor raised her hand, suddenly incensed that Buggane would attack the giant like that. “I would like to protest Lieutenant Buggane’s continued mistreatment of the prisoner, sir.” She shook her head. “That’s simply not right, sir.”

  Buggane’s face turned a vivid shade of red and he advanced on her. “I will treat this thing in any way I damn well want, you little…”

  “She’s right, Lieutenant.” Gate called, holding up a hand to halt the other man’s progress. “Don’t hit the giant again. Mistreating it will not convince it to fight for us when the time comes. Destruction and murder are in its nature, so it shouldn’t be too hard, we just need to make sure that it attacks our targets rather than theirs.”

  Buggane whirled around to face his commanding officer, opening his mouth to say something, then apparently thought better of it and slouched away.

  “Hit him!” Ryle called. “Give him what for!”

  Taylor elbowed him again. “Shhh!”

  He giggled to himself, utterly amused by the situation.

  Gate started towards the command post again. “Now, I’d like to speak to the squad leaders and let them know what their responsibilities will be during this operation.”

  The soldiers all filed after him into the office. All, that is, but Ryle and herself, who had no such rank. They were simply pressed into service like the rest of the village. At one time, the fort had been filled with their fellow villagers, all trying to defend their town as a militia. But she and Ryle were the only ones left now. The others had all fled or died off.

  “So, what are we going to do with him?” Ryle pointed at the giant.

  The giant had given up staring into the sky and was now staring intently at her, his head tilted slightly to the side as if looking at something he found particularly interesting.

  And she stared back, her eyes locked with his.

  Minutes ticked by.

  Ryle looked back and forth between them. “Okaaaaaaay…” He drew out. “Some weird hypno-magic or something going on here, isn’t there?”

  She ignored him, losing herself in the depths of the giant’s sad but captivating orange eyes...

  She was finally startled free of his gaze by the sound of metal hitting metal, and when she looked around, she found that the soldiers had returned at some point and were once again milling around the plaza.

  Just how long had she been out of it?

  She glanced over to Ryle, who was casually leaning against the wall, eating more mysterious meat he’d somehow found time to retrieve without her noticing. He flashed her a knowing smile. “Hey, sis.” He popped a piece of food into his mouth. “Long time no see. What have you been up to, anyway?”

  She cleared her throat. “I was… thinking.”

  He hummed in a patronizing way. “Yeah, I bet you were.” His smirk grew. “I been married, Tay, I know just what kind of ‘thinking’ is going on when a woman looks at a guy like that.”

  Her mouth fell open in shock, not only at his insinuation, but also at his casual reference to Anna. He never mentioned his late wife anymore. Just a mere mention of her typically put him into fits of tears or bouts of uncontrollable rage and drunkenness.

  It was… unexpected.

  “I…I don’t know what you mean.” She finally choked out.

  His smirk turned into a grin. “Really? Then allow me to give you a little refresher on the incident then.” He took on a doey-eyed look, his jaw hung low. “Wow.” He breathed, clasping his hands beneath his chin, pretending to be utterly smitten. “Is every part of you ‘giant’, Mr. Giant?”

  “Oh, I was not.” She pushed him. “Shut up.”

  “Yeah, you totally were.” He retorted.

  Okay. Yeah, she totally was.

  But no matter.

  She decided to change the subject. “I think the point we should both take away from this is that…” She trailed off. “I mean, we can…” She paused again.

  “You have no way of finishing that sentence, do you?” He deadpanned. “You just hoped that I’d get distracted from pointing out that you’ve got the hots for the homicidal man-beast over there, but didn’t really stop to think about how you’d go about distracting me before you started talking.”

  She shook her head. “No…” She paused. “Kinda.” She admitted, feeling embarrassed.

  “Your plans are usually better than that.” He laughed again. “But consider me distracted.” He stood straighter, his voice becoming more serious. “That’s a good point, Tay, that is what we should both take away from this. A vital piece of information, the knowledge of which has now completely overwritten whatever may or may not have happened in the moment before we began discussing this important point.”

  “Thank you.” She mouthed.

  “Hey, we’re a team. If you’re hot for the creepy evil not-at-all-human giant fella, then I’m hot for the creepy evil not-at-all human giant fella.” He paused. “Which sounded a lot better in my head before I said it.”

  “Hopefully.”

  She turned back around to watch as the soldiers began to drag the giant’s heavy cage across the sand, putting it at his feet.

  Buggane pointed at the cage. “In!” He commanded, like the giant was some sort of trained animal. “In, NOW!”

  Ryle rolled his eyes. “Personally, I still hope your boyfriend down there just eats the guy.”

  “He shouldn’t be yelling at him like that.” She told her brother. “He shouldn’t be anywhere near him.”

  Ryle nodded. “Well, I fail to see how you’re going to be able to do anything about that, short of…”

  Taylor interrupted him by storming across the sand towards the giant. “Hey!” She yelled at Buggane. “What did Captain Gate just tell you?”

  “Yep, that.” Ryle nodded to himself. “That’s the worst imaginable thing you could possibly do right now.” He calmly informed no one in particular. “Absolutely.”

  She ignored him, remaining focused on Buggane and pointing at the giant. “Leave him alone!”

  Buggane’s face grew flushed with rage again. “Oh, Taylor.” His hands made fists at his sides. “I’ve been waiting for years for an opportunity like this to present itself, you little bitch!”

  “Yeah, b
ig man, yelling at a woman and a man in chains!” She crossed her arms over her chest. “You’re a bully and none of us have to put up with it anymore!”

  Buggane advanced on her. “I’ll teach you some res…”

  The threat was never finished, as the giant moved to simply bat the man clean off his feet with the casual swing of one huge forearm. Buggane pinwheeled through the air for several yards, before impacting the side of one of the buildings and then falling to the sand in a heap.

  Ryle gave a whoop of support. “Fuck yeah!” He raised a fist over his head. “Hit him! Show him what for, Mr. Giant!”

  Taylor turned to look at the giant, who was currently positioned in such a way that he would be between her and Buggane should the man somehow miraculously recover from the devastating blow and charge across the field at her.

  The giant leaned down slightly, trying to stoop his eight foot frame to get a better look at her face, his orange eyes appearing tender.

  “I’m… I’m fine.” She mumbled, feeling almost helplessly lost now that he was so close to her. It was like the fog and the mysterious voice which had been in her head the night before was now filling it completely, until it became difficult to think of anything which didn’t involve the giant’s burning eyes and warm skin.

  She swallowed, fighting a losing battle with her body for control as her blood surged through her veins like liquid fire. Her heart was pounding in her chest now, her hair standing on end. Parts of herself and her body she’d long assumed were dead were suddenly very much alive and were unexpectedly quite active.

  She swallowed again, as the giant moved closer, looking her over. He was so large that his massive form cast a shadow which covered her completely.

  Her arms developed goosebumps and she crossed her arms over her chest, both to fight off the chilly wind and because she felt… exposed. The brown guard uniform did nothing to hide her strange attraction to the giant, evidenced by the rapidly hardening tips of her breasts pressing against the course fabric of the jumpsuit. The sensation of her sensitive skin rubbing the rough material, in turn, caused her breasts to become even tighter and her body to become even more... alive, and so the process continued in a vicious but pleasurable cycle.