father. She was right too, he had to touch that wall, just the once. Then, they would leave. They would touch it and go. That was the plan and he would stick to it, he told himself. Touch the wall, then go home. Easy.”
She smiled to herself and sighed a breath of relief when she heard him approaching. She did not want to do this on her own and leave him to fend for himself. As he caught up to her she reached down and took his hand and held it tightly as they walked. He did not pull away. Not a word was said, it was unnecessary. Before them the bricks of the House of the Gods grew larger and larger as they closed the gap and found themselves at the very wall they wished to touch.
Neither reached for it when they arrived and merely stood looking at it, fearful of the act now that it was upon them. They stood there, hand in hand and waited for the Gods to show their giant faces and reach out to destroy them. Would the Gods even know? How could they? It did not make sense but neither did the very existence of the Giants make sense. A sound from behind them broke them from their trance and slowly they turned to see what had made it.
Before them was something they feared as much as the Gods themselves. It was one of their creatures. It lived with the Gods. It was much smaller than the giants but it was still thousands of times larger than Jez and her brother. Larger even than the Jumper, in fact it could have eaten the Jumper. It was covered in Orange fur and walked on four legs. It had not seen them yet and sniffed loudly at the ground as though it had found some scent, was it their scent they wondered?
“Come on Jez,” Jammer took her hand and pulled her quietly behind something laid against the wall, hiding them from this creature. Suddenly, from the darkness another of these beasts appeared and jumped onto the orange one. This one was much darker with black fur mottled with lighter patches of orange and brown, this one blended perfectly with the night. The two of them tussled, rolled and swatted at each other. Jammer and Jez watched fearfully as the scene played out before them. Were they witnessing the of act of one beast trying to murder the other? Then, without warning, both creatures stopped what they were doing and began to lick themselves. The dark one reached out across the short distance and licked the other between its rounded ear for just a moment.
Both Jam and Jez sighed with relief when they realised that the beasts were only playing.
Slowly, quietly, they crept away, staying close to the shadows and keeping their eyes on the creatures as they bathed themselves. The Wall behind them was forgotten for the time and it had even gone unnoticed as they place their hands upon it for support. Finally, when they were out of sight of the two giant hunters and allowed themselves to breath again, they realised they had touched the wall and there was no magic flowing into them. This was both a disappointment and a relief.
Stopping for a moment they found themselves at the edge of a giant garden with food the likes of which they had never seen before.
“Look at that Jez.” Jammer pointed to a large red bulb hanging heavily from a fuzzy branch of a strange tree. “What is that?”
“I don’t know but it looks delicious. Look over there.” She pointed passed the red bulb and hanging from a pale green branch was a massive pod like structure, bulging with the obvious growth of the food held within. “We could feed the whole village with one fo those pods Jammer.”
“Don’t even think about it Jez. Even if we could somehow loosen it from the tree it grows from, we would not be able to carry it back. And even if we could carry it, we would not go unnoticed by a certain something.” He arched his eye in the direction of the furry creatures still bathing themselves. “The Gods would know for sure that we had been here and they would search us out and destroy us and the village.”
She knew he was right and sighed her resignation. “Alright little brother, another time then. We will come back eh.” He looked up at her when she said this and recognised that far off gaze she held now as she stared upon the gigantic bean plant towering over them. She was making plans for their return visit to the Palace of the Gods. For now though, he knew they had to get away and return to the forests, to the safety of cover.
“Come on Jez, we’ve gotta get going.”
They moved on, putting as much distance as possible between them and the furry creatures as they could. Traveling along the edge of the Wastelands path, they were able to move quickly knowing it was leading them in the right direction. They began to relax when they were miles from the Palace and though it was dark, their surroundings were seeming more familiar again.
Then suddenly, a noise interrupted their peace. It was a sound coming from the God’s house. Looking back over their shoulders they saw the massive door to the house swing open and reveal a glimpse inside. Neither said a word but stopped in their tracks and watched in horror as a Giant stepped into the darkness. It stood thousands of feet above them, scanning the area, searching. Was it looking for them they wondered in fear. Had it known they had come to its home? The giant stepped forward and began walking toward them and with each thundering footstep they were deafened and their fears grew and grew until they were frozen in their places simply staring at this living nightmare approaching them.
Jez realised that she could do nothing more and accepted her fate. She became calm and suddenly the world around them came alive in colour. The edge of the sky was a beautiful scarlet fading into the slightest of pinks. She could smell the grass trees across the wastelands where her great grandfather had been born. She was able to smell the lush vegetation from the garden where the Gods grew their food. It seemed to her that the world had slowed down and her vision had become extraordinarily powerful and clear. She could see the nervous beating of her brothers heart through his chest. It pounded like a small drum within him. He looked at her and she smiled.
She was sure she could actually see the wind itself as it passed through the leaves in the trees around them and on it carried the scent of jasmine and lavender. Even the Giant movements had slowed to her and it approached them with still searching eyes. Soon it would be upon them and their existence would be ended. How strange, she thought, that we can become so placid when our fate is known.
Jammer on the other hand stood still as a statue and stared ever upward at the God above who had come to take him and his sister to their doom. He knew it had been a mistake to go to the house and now they were being served with their punishment for the transgression. Somehow the Gods had known their territory had been trespassed and he had heard stories that they did not tolerate his kind living in their gardens. He looked at his sister. She had a strange look on her face; she looked serene, almost happy and she smiled at him.
Jammer too looked to the sky and did not appreciate the beauty of it, instead he thought he and his sister might still get out of this alive but they had to act quick. The sky still had light to it which meant the Jumpers might still be about.
He pulled Jez from the Wastelands path and fell to the soft broken soil below. Looking quickly from side to side he scanned the area until he found what he was looking for. Running with Jez in tow, he snatched up the two empty shells of the giant wood louse, camouflage to hide them from the Giant. He put one on his back and gave one to Jez and said, “Come on Jez, we might be be able to get out of this!” She looked curiously at him, still slightly entranced and happy. Behind them the Giant loomed ever closer.
With the expertise of many hours of climbing and balancing they raced up the trunk of a half fallen tree he had guided them to. “When I say jump Jez, you jump. Understand?” She nodded at him although his head was turned away and he could not see her. “Ready...Now! Jump!”
Together, hand in hand, they jumped into the empty air at the end of the trunk and for a moment she thought her brother had lost his senses and had dropped them into an abyss. The darkness was so deep here that it was hard to see anything. Jammer had known though, he had seen the creature when he had needed it most and now, as if in slow motion they flew th
rough the pitch of the night to land atop the Jumper. With a thump they landed on its smooth back and instinctively held tight. The Jumper had hardly noticed and sat there motionless. It was on the hunt.
Closer now, the Giant was nearly upon and it was looking in the forests below, where they were hiding. It was looking for them. Then in an instant, its terrible eyes found them and their hearts jumped to their throats and pounded so loudly they were sure the God would hear them. It kneeled, closing the gap and then reached for them and the Jumper butt he Jumper did not attempt to escape. It was if it too had accepted its fate and waited for the Gods to end it.
The Giant spoke loudly, calling to the other, it’s mate and though it was the High Language of the Gods and neither Jez or Jammer understood what it was saying, they could sense that it did not seem threatening. They were words they would never forget and if they lived long enough to tell the tale, they would recite to them word for word to their children and grandchildren. After all, it wasn’t every day that the Gods spoke to you.
Jez and Jammer watched with the innocent curiosity of children as the God stared at them both and said, “Hon! Come and have a look at
In The Footsteps of Giants We Can Hear Echoes Page 3