by K.N. Lee
“I’m sorry,” she breathed, her voice shaking. He didn't release her wrist until she had a firm grip on the beanstalk.
“Slowly, Isabelle.”
They continued their ascent. Isabelle’s limbs continued to grow weary. She looked up, trying to ignore her fatigue by focusing on Jack’s long, lean frame as he easily scaled the beanstalk. She felt like she could watch him forever; she’d never tire of it.
She blinked, and the world tilted. The landscape of blue sky changed in an instant. A huge, massive forest replaced it, trees reaching upward, their leafy canopy almost blocking out the sunlight. Their surroundings were swathed in a calm, warm green light.
Jack stuck his leg out, touching the ground before releasing the beanstalk to put his full weight on the ground.
“Incredible,” he breathed, his expression one of incredulity as he looked around. “Absolutely astounding.”
Isabelle released the beanstalk and fell to the ground when her legs got tangled up in her skirts. Jack offered her a hand, easily pulling her to her feet.
“How is this even possible?” Isabelle exclaimed. “It’s like a world above a world.”
“Magic,” Jack whispered. His face shone with excitement and he squeezed her hand, tugging her along as he began to stride through the woods. “Be quiet now, and be on your guard. Giants have excellent hearing.”
The trees reached up far above their heads, impossibly high, the grass coming up to their shoulders. Isabelle cringed toward Jack when a beetle the length of her forearm scuttled past them. Everything is giant-sized here.
If Jack was nervous, he didn’t show it. He walked along confidently, his head held high as he scanned the woods, alert for any danger. Isabelle admired his courage. Her skin felt crawly ever since she saw the massive insect and she half expected to have a giant come charging out of the foliage at any moment. She recalled hers and Ash’s near escape from the last giant and was unable to restrain her shudder.
Jack paused. “Do you want to wait by this beanstalk?” He pointed to one that grew off to their left.
Isabelle shook her head. The idea of separating was even worse than encountering a giant. “What if that beetle comes back?”
Jack covered his mouth with a hand, his shoulders shaking. Isabelle glared at him.
“We could encounter a man-eating giant at any moment, and you’re worried about a bug.” Jack chortled again.
Before Isabelle could respond, Jack’s head snapped up, all amusement gone. He sniffed the air and his eyes widened with alarm. He reached out and dragged her behind a tree. “Shhh!”
Isabelle froze, unable to smell anything. But after a moment she could hear what Jack had.
Thud … Thud … Thud.
Jack cast her a glare, warning her to stay silent. The sound of heavy slow footsteps continued and a few moments later Isabelle could see him; a huge, hulking giant walking parallel to them to their right. He was even bigger than the one Isabelle had run into, his arms corded with muscle. His head looked small in comparison to the rest of his body and was bald, ears slightly pointed.
He had a dead ox slung across his shoulder, its neck clearly broken. A few more steps and the giant disappeared again, fading between the trees.
Jack put a finger to his lips and jerked his head toward the giant, indicating that they should follow. Isabelle hung back, hesitating, but Jack began to stalk after his massive prey, so Isabelle was compelled to follow or be left behind.
The giant lumbered through the forest, his steps causing the very earth to shake. Was it earth? Isabelle knelt down a moment to touch the dirt before resuming her walk. It felt like earth. Yet they were in the sky, weren’t they?
She stepped on a twig. It didn’t make much noise compared to the terrific crashing ahead of her, but the giant stopped in his tracks, lifting his head to sniff the air.
Jack and Isabelle froze, eyes locked on the monster before them. The giant stood still a few moments longer, his forehead rumpled in confusion before he began walking again.
Jack frowned at Isabelle, holding a finger up to his lips. Be quiet.
Sorry. Isabelle mouthed silently. Jack turned back to the giant, silently stealing after him. Isabelle lifted her skirts above her knees, stepping extra carefully.
The giant led them to an impossibly large, crudely built structure, though to the giant, it was probably only a modestly sized house. Rather than entering, he lumbered around the side to the back, the ox still slung over his shoulder.
“Quick, inside!” Jack hissed. He darted to the wooden door. It towered above them, huge, but the crack between it and the ground was wide enough for a man to slip under. Jack grinned at her, wiping his palms on his trousers. “We’ll slither under the door easy enough. Hopefully we’re not caught like rats in a trap.” Dropping to his hands and knees, he crawled under.
Isabelle hesitated. What was in there? More giants? What if they were caught? Jack had his harp, but would he be able to play it in time?
Isabelle heard heavy footsteps coming from around the house, indicating the giant’s return. Heart thumping, she scuttled under the door, entering the structure.
She stood in a massive kitchen. A fireplace more than ten feet high was off to her left. It was unlit, and she ran to it now, slipping under some logs of firewood. She suppressed an impulse to giggle. The logs were literally trunks of the tree. The giant hadn’t needed to do much chopping to fit them in the hearth.
She held her breath as the door slowly creaked open. The giant stood in the doorway. Stepping inside, he slammed the door behind him and walked over to a huge table standing in the center of the room. He flopped the ox onto it, his other arm cradling something. Isabelle frowned. It looked like a chicken. A small one, to the giant, but as large as a middle-sized dog to a human. He set it on the table as well. He settled himself in the only chair, frowning at the chicken.
“Lay,” he commanded.
The chicken pecked at the table. Its feathers looked golden, but perhaps it was the dim light that made it hard to tell. Brown, maybe.
“Lay, blasted bird.” The giant frowned at the hen. “Or I’ll cook ye with this ox.”
The hen clucked furiously and, ruffling its feathers … laid.
A gold egg.
Isabelle’s eyes bulged. That had to be a trick of the light. A gold egg? Isabelle would be set for life with that chicken.
She thought of Jack, casting her gaze around the room. Where was he? What did he think of the chicken?
A sweet melody began to spread across the room. Isabelle frowned, trying to pinpoint its location.
The giant started in surprise, sniffing the air. “Man?” he growled, as his eyelids began to droop. “Must find …” He fell to the floor with a crash that shook the house, sound asleep.
Jack stepped out from behind a gigantic broom leaning in one corner, his fingers dancing across the harp. He frowned toward the fireplace. “Isabelle,” he hissed. “For the love of magic, you nearly gave me a heart attack when you didn’t follow me!”
“Sorry.” Isabelle clambered out from under the logs, brushing soot off her clothes. “I wasn’t sure coming in was the right thing to do.”
“And standing out there like a stone-blind fool was?” He looked angry, and jerked his head toward the table. “Quick, grab the chicken.”
Isabelle looked at the huge chair with some trepidation, but to her luck the hen fluttered down to the floor at that moment, clucking. It trained a beady eye at Isabelle, watching her.
Isabelle put her hands out, approaching the large hen cautiously. “Come here, chicken.” She expected it to run away, but it seemed all right with her picking it up. She stroked its feathers. They did look golden. “Good girl. We won’t eat you like that horrible giant.”
The hen clucked and snuggled in her arms, as if it understood. After Ash, Isabelle was fairly certain it just might.
“Excellent.” Jack didn’t let up his playing. “Let’s get out of here.”
They ran, heedless of the noise they made. With the music ended it was only a matter of time before the giant woke. They retraced their steps, their breathing becoming ragged.
They reached the beanstalk. Isabelle felt a moment of panic, looking at it. The stalk curled out of the ground. How would they climb down when there was no down?
“It has to be an illusion of some sort,” Jack panted, his face streaked with sweat. “Climb it.”
Isabelle didn’t pause to question it. She leaped at the stalk, wrapping her arms and legs around it. The world tilted and the ground disappeared, the beanstalk swaying slightly in the breeze. Isabelle began to climb down, fear lending her strength and speed.
Glancing upward, she saw Jack climbing down too, hampered slightly as he still held the hen in one arm.
Down they went, half-climbing, half-sliding. Looking below her, Isabelle almost sobbed in relief to see the fields and orchards. They were still several hundred feet below, but she’d make it.
Her heart skipped a beat as a shuddering roar split the air. She looked up and felt a thrill of terror as she saw the giant clambering down the beanstalk. He was still far above them but gaining fast.
“Jack!” she cried out, clambering down even faster. “Jack, you need to hurry!”
The ground was close. Isabelle slipped, her arms flailing as she tried to grab a branch. Leaves whipped around her as she fell. She managed to grab a leaf with both hands. It tore, but held her weight just long enough to soften her landing.
She lay on her stomach, trying to breath, the wind knocked out of her.
Jack. He was still up there. She glanced up. The giant was making fast progress, his size an unfair advantage as he easily climbed down the impossibly tall beanstalk. Jack still stubbornly held onto the hen, whose furious clucking could be faintly heard from the distance.
Isabelle’s mind raced. She needed to save Jack.
Ash came running over to her, the straps of Isabelle’s pack held in her mouth. Isabelle snatched it and untied the closures, an idea coming to her mind. She pulled an arrow from her quiver and ripped off the closest leaf from the beanstalk. Folding it hastily, she stuck the arrow tip through it. It had to work. She fumbled through her pack, pulling out flint.
Another roar. Isabelle refused to look up, but silently prayed Jack was safe. She struck the flint repeatedly, and the leaf caught a spark, quickly turning into a flame.
Isabelle picked up the arrow and spun around, fitting it to her bow. She assessed Jack’s progress. He was still at least fifty yards above ground level, but the giant was nearly caught up, a hundred yards at most. It would have to be enough. Taking aim, her arrow flew, slamming into the stalk several feet above Jack’s head. A perfect shot.
The beanstalk exploded on impact, splitting in a burst of wet, green stalk and leaves. Fire was everywhere.
No. She screamed as Jack threw himself backward into the air, still clutching the large hen. He was going to die, and it was all her fault.
The chicken’s immense wings flapped frantically and Jack clung to her body. Isabelle stared. The hen was flying. Trying to, at least. Jack was too heavy for it to actually fly away, but his descent was considerably slowed. He landed feet first on the ground, running several yards before stumbling to a halt.
Fire had caught hold of the giant, and it roared in pain and terror as it fell, landing in a crash that shook the earth. It didn’t move again, it’s body a burnt and broken ruin. Isabelle stared at its form, her heart beating wildly.
“What were you thinking?” Jack stalked over to her, his face flushed. His green eyes glittered with rage. “You almost killed me!”
Isabelle gaped at him. Now that the immediate danger was over, her body began to shake. “I was trying to help you. I thought—”
“That’s just it; you didn’t think.” His face was twisted in an angry snarl. Something shifted in his eyes. Something dark. “Hang it, woman, I was going to release the chicken and play my harp. The giant would have fallen when he fell asleep.”
“You were going to play your harp?” It was Isabelle’s turn to feel angry. “So I was supposed to read your mind? I thought you were going to die. Did you really expect me to stand there and do nothing? Nothing?”
She tasted salt; she was crying. She wiped her tears angrily. “I’m sorry,” she said. “I didn’t know what to do and I was scared.” Her lips trembled. “I thought I was going to lose you.”
Jack blinked, and the darkness was gone. “Isabelle.” His voice softened and he stepped forward, closing the distance between them. He wrapped her in a tight hug, burying his face in her hair. “I’m sorry,” he mumbled. His arms tightened around her convulsively. “I’m sorry.”
Isabelle lifted her arms, running a hand up his neck and into his hair. He smelled like leaves and smoke. Like Jack.
He pulled back, gaze locking with hers. Green eyes with flecks of gold. Beautiful, vibrant eyes. Jack lowered his head, and paused as clucking sounded behind him. They looked over to see the large chicken approach, one beady eye blinking up at them. The bird effectively killed the mood.
Isabelle wiped her eyes and smiled, kneeling down to be eye level with the hen. “Thank you for flying Jack to safety. I very much appreciate it.”
The hen clucked approvingly, preening her feathers.
Jack looked over her shoulder at the bird. “You do realize you’re talking to a chicken.”
“Hey, chickens are smart.” Isabelle stood, brushing grass off her skirt. “Especially this one.”
Jack went to pick up the golden hen. She didn’t seem to mind, and clucked softly at them.
“I don’t think that giant was very nice to her,” Jack remarked. He cast a warning glance at Isabelle. “Don’t tell anyone that her eggs are anything other than ordinary. We don’t want the townspeople trying to collect more than is their due.”
Ash stepped forward, sniffing the chicken. The hen ruffled her feathers for a moment, but otherwise showed no reaction.
Isabelle smiled. “Don’t eat the chicken, Ash.”
A dull roar filled the air. They turned and looked. The beanstalks that stood farther away from them shifted and groaned and, with a final creak, disappeared.
Isabelle shivered. “What’s going on?”
Jack shook his head. “I have no idea, but I think this Province’s giant problem is over. Come on.” He turned west toward the farming village they’d passed. “We need to get a letter from the village leaders.” His face split in a wide grin, his eyes shining with triumph. “We’ve solved our first quest.”
18
The leaders of the surrounding villages were more than happy to sign a letter claiming Jack had solved their problem with the giant, especially after seeing the charred, broken corpse. The beanstalk had burned away completely. Isabelle asked Jack about the giant’s world up in the sky and he shrugged, clearly unconcerned.
“There are stranger things in this world, Isabelle.”
Maybe so, but Isabelle wanted to know how it was even possible. She frowned to herself as they traveled west, mulling over it. They were walking in a direction parallel to the way they had traveled previously, with plans to skirt around Erum. Jack didn’t want news of the chicken to spread. The hen could indeed lay golden eggs on command, and she’d be a popular commodity to steal.
They were traveling over a rocky stretch of land. The forest had crept back in this area, but sparser than the thick woods Isabelle was used to.
“It’s going to rain,” Jack declared, peering up at the sky. Isabelle followed his gaze, looking heavenward. The clouds were heavy and gray, forming a dark shield over the sky.
“We need to set up camp soon,” he said, “or we’re going to get caught in the downpour.”
“Okay,” Isabelle agreed. She
cast her gaze around the rocky terrain. “Let’s find a spot where the trees are thicker.”
“How about there?” Jack pointed off to their right. Looking through the trees, Isabelle could just make out the gaping mouth of a cave. It was larger than any of the other pits and holes they’d come across in this terrain. Dark and forbidding, Isabelle could just barely see the back of it. “It looks … scary,” she admitted.
“Would you rather be caught in the rain?” Jack teased.
Isabelle arched an eyebrow at him. “That depends on what’s in the cave.”
“Nothing out of the ordinary. Spiders and snakes, maybe,” he said. He smirked. “Maybe giant beetles.”
Isabelle sniffed and Jack’s smirk turned into a wide grin.
Standing before the cave entrance, it was much larger than it had initially looked. Isabelle narrowed her eyes, squinting. It wasn’t very tall. Jack’s head almost brushed the ceiling. The floor was fairly smooth and clean. Jack stepped into it, unslinging his pack. He rummaged through it, procuring flint.
“I’ll go find some wood.” Isabelle stepped away from the cave, looking for dry wood. Broken branches and twigs that were a few seasons old always burnt better than the newer greenwood. Fortunately, there was plenty to be had, and less than fifteen minutes later Jack had a small fire going with the wood Isabelle brought. Ash slipped away from them to re-enter the forest, no doubt to find some prey.
Dinner was the remaining fare of rations they’d picked up in one of the villages near the area where the giant beanstalks had grown. Isabelle took the small block of goat cheese and broke it in half. Giving the larger piece to Jack, she popped the remaining bit in her mouth, savoring the tangy cheese. It was probably the last they would have for a while.
“I noticed the mayor signed your name as the victor of the giant,” Isabelle said.
Jack nodded. “Yeah. We each have to have a quest solved on our own in order to qualify.” He smiled at her. “Your quest is next.”