When the Flame army thought the ground was safe to walk on again, they began piling up ores of rock near the anvil. Deftly, which means with great ability and experience, they cut away the useless rock from the metal. Then, finished, they retreated to a safe distance to watch the Dwarfs take the metal, heat it (with the help of some of the Flames), and begin fashioning some of it into nails. Other metals were shaped into parts that were needed to repair the instruments.
The work took all night and into much of the following day. The twins tried to stay awake, but they were soon dozing on each other’s shoulders.
“We should take them back into the ship,” Uniqua observed. “When they wake up, they’ll be sore and stiff.” She sniffed each other heads. She was worried that the poison pearls they had swallowed might already be at work in their systems.
“Too heavy to carry. We’ll make beds here. Hmm-hmm,” the Rabbits decided, and as quickly as they could they made makeshift beds from out of blankets stored on the ship.
It was the hammering that woke them up finally. The Flame army had gone, their work done. Only Sparky remained behind.
“Soon finished,” he happily told them. “Soon, you will fly away to help us.”
“But not before a good breakfast,” Uniqua declared, although the hour was well past noon.
“Sparky,” Carl began a conversation between mouthfuls of biscuits and fruit, along with some delicious jam and honey. “I’m curious.”
“What can I tell you,” the Flame eagerly responded.
“What is the purpose of the mountain barriers? Seems to me that after the portals are fixed, people all over the Island will be coming here.”
“Oh, that. There are no portals to Lava World. Only the portal that allows heat from the deep undergound.”
“Don’t people want to come here?” Karen asked.
“Oh, no!” Sparky’s eyes lit up fiercely. “You see, the others see us as dangerous—if they know we exist at all.”
“So, it is forbidden that people and creatures come here?” Carl pressed.
The little Flame thought about this question for a moment. “No. I don’t think so. You are the first in—maybe—a thousand years or so.”
“Wow!” Carl gasped.
“Yes,” Sparky continued. “A long time ago, some very bad humans landed on our beach. I guess they were interested in studying our volcano, for they brought many strange boxes with them.
“We were very curious about them, too. And then, we made a mistake: we let them see us. They tried to catch us and put us in glass cages. I heard several of the men say they wanted to study us.”
“How old are you, anyway?” Carl interrupted. Karen gave him an elbow into his ribs.
The Flame was not offended. He opened his little mouth and smiled. “I don’t really know.”
“So, what happened next?” Karen prompted.
“We know so little of your world,” Sparky narrated a little sadly. “They were the first humans we had ever met. We thought our kind lived all over the Earth. Unfortunately, we are only of our kind.
“These humans were so excited about discovering us. Then they started talking about how they could use us. We would gladly help someone, as you well know, but these humans wanted to enslave us.”
“Why?” Carl blurted.
“Oh, come on,” his sister chided him. “Use your brain. If you had living Flames that could do anything you wanted, wouldn’t you want to have a whole lot of them working for you?”
“No. I’d probably want one of them as a pet.” Seeing Sparky’s alarm, he added quickly, “But that was before I met you.”
“So, humans usually regard all creatures as lower than them.”
“Not all humans, Sparky,” Karen tried to assure him. “Just the dumb ones.” She gave her brother a scathing look.
“So, you wouldn’t want me as a pet?” The twins were not sure by the Flame’s expression if he were hurt or angry.
“Since we arrived on this Island, we have learned a lot of things,” Karen answered. “Living in the middle of the ocean and watching all kinds of fish and mammals swimming freely in their own habitat has taught us that no animal—”
“—or human,” Carl added.
“—right—should be anyone’s pet.”
“That’s very wise,” Sparky congratulated them.
“Well, please finish the story,” Carl urged. “What happened to the humans?”
“There was a war. I don’t know if you would call it a war. But to us it was a big war. All of my people came up out of the ground. We know fire can hurt and burn, but we didn’t know that the humans were very afraid of fire.
“We lost some of our best friends. All we wanted was for the humans to release our friends. But they died.”
“How?” Karen asked, feeling tears from in her eyes.
“When the great sea monster ate the human’s ship.”
“A sea monster?” Carl exclaimed. (I am not sure whether he was excited or afraid. Then again, boys do like adventures, and some boys will go out and try to capture dangerous things on film.)
“Oh, yes. There are many,” Sparky confirmed. “They like to live on the ocean bottom next to the lave vents where it’s warm.”
“Attention to all hands!” Captain Lump broke their attention. “Repairs to the ship are finished. Prepare for shake down!” (Every boat needs a kind of shake down test to see if the repairs were good. Captain Lump did not want the ship to be several thousands of feet in the air, only to have it break apart.)
“You’ll be leaving soon,” Sparky spoke their thoughts aloud.
“Parting and saying goodbyes are always sad,” Karen admitted.
“You must promise me one more thing: you must never tell anyone that you met us or know about us.”
“No problem,” Carl promised.
(You might be wondering why the twins told me about them for this story. That is because it is very difficult to find this Island nowadays, and only when the Island wants to find you.)
“Sparky, if humans were so bad to you a long time ago, why did you help us?” Karen asked.
“Because the Lord of Power told us to.”
“He talked to you?” Carl repeated incredulously.
“He talks to you, too. You just have to listen.” Here the Flamed opened its mouth and laughed. “This is our goodbye. Safe journey. A successful journey.” He then stepped into the dying campfire and disappeared.
*
We now move to the part where the flying boat proved to be airworthy and was flying towards the great mountain barrier that walled off the land of the Giants. Carl, Karen, and Uniqua stood at the bow, staring at these formidable mountains, which had been designed to keep something or someone either in or out.
“Do any of you see faces?” Carl asked wonderingly. He was uncertain as to whether or not he was seeing things again.
It certainly appeared like the mountains wore faces—angry faces. Cave holes gave them eyes and noses. Outcroppings gave them mouths, which alternately frowned or gaped, depending on how the sunlight and cloud shadows played on them. Groves of trees gave them long flowing beards. They also certainly appeared menacing, threatening to do harm to anyone trying to cross them.
“It’s your imagination,” Uniqua assured them.
But the twins were not assured at all. The closer they approached the mountains the angrier those faces became. Pinpoints of red flashed out their empty eye. They even seemed to move as the flying ship passed overhead. Now the mouths seemed to open wide, cavernously deep, hoping to swallow up the airship and kill all aboard.
In silence, the trio watched the barrier pass below them. The faces seemed frustrated now. As the flying boat cleared the far western side of the barrier, a powerful wind suddenly picked up, violently rocking the airship. It was accompanied by a high-pitched wail, as if the faces had acquired voices, and they were complaining because they had failed in their duty.
Lightning flashed from the
ubiquitous clouds that surrounded the Mountain of Power. These flashes, too, seemed angry: red bolts charging out of the clouds, which had turned dark and angry.
“Someone’s not in a good mood,” Carl quipped.
Karen turned to Uniqua. “You don’t think the Lord of Power is angry, do you?
“Oh, no,” Uniqua said quickly. But to be honest, I do not think she understood why the Mountain displayed such violence.
“Think of the Island as a single entity,” she suggested. “We are the first to do the unthinkable: we have crossed not one but three barriers. Perhaps the lightning is another warning, like to alert the Lord of Power. I am sure he is watching us and is very pleased at what we have accomplished so far.”
Carl looked down at the triceratops cow he had taken out of his pocket before they started crossing the mountain barrier. For a moment, he thought it looked a little bit larger.
“Big Head City!” Karen announced excitedly. Indeed, in the not-too-far distance, a city of gleaming stone stood majestically nestled in a ring of mountains.
“Big Head City,” Uniqua breathed almost reverently. “I have longed to see this fabled city.”
“It doesn’t look that big to me,” Carl remarked.
“That’s because it’s still a long way away,” Karen told him.
At that moment, a loud creaking sound resonated through the ship.
“Ahoy there!” Captain Lump shouted to the crew. “All hands to stations!” The ship shuddered.
“Carl! Look!” Karen shouted in alarm. She pointed to the cow, which had now grown to the size of a large dog.
The flying boat suddenly dipped at the bow.
“We’re descendin’,” Captain Lump warned. “All hands prepare for a landin’!”
Now I suspect that the increasing size of the dinosaur might have affected the flight worthiness of the boat. She was not only growing larger, she was increasing her weight, which could have—should have caused the boat to descend.
“There’s a grassy plain ahead,” Captain Helf announced to his comrade. “I suggest we land there quickly. We can’t afford another crash.”
“Agreed.” Captain Lump directed his navigator to land the boat as quickly as possible—and as safely as possible—on the plain.
Up to this point, only the trio on the bow seemed to notice that the cow had grown to the size of—well—a cow. And, she was not finished yet. The lower the boat sailed and the further it sailed into the land of the Giants, the cow was increasing in size even faster.
Finally, the boat came to a gentle rest on a grassy meadow. The cow bellowed with a mighty roar. It was now the size of a small elephant. Smelling the sweet grass must have excited her, for she suddenly bounded toward the railing and jumped overboard to the ground below.
With the loss of the cow’s weight, the flying boat suddenly became buoyant again, and without prior warning, it bounded back up into the air. Everyone was thrown unceremoniously to the deck.
“Bring her down!” Captain Lump yelled excitedly, and the ship settled down a second time.
“Oh, my lord!” Carl exclaimed. He had risen to his feet and ran over to the railing, over which his cow had leaped. It was grazing contentedly on the fresh, green grass, but it was now the size of a huge semi-trailer. It had grown into the correct size of a dinosaur one would expect to see.
“Hello down there,” a great booming voice spoke to them from above. All eyes turned upward to a massive humanoid staring down at them. They had just met their first Giant.
At first, he seemed to be made up of a collection of boulders all stuck together to give him the rough shape of a human. In fact, his skin was more like tanned leather and very tough. His muscles bulged in the oddest places, giving him that “boulder” look. He was massive in size, but the most remarkable aspect was his head: it was at least three times larger than it should have been for his body.
“Welcome to Big Head,” the Giant said amicably. “You are the first visitors since—” and this is when he drew a blank. “Bless me. I can’t remember. But then, I have a problem remembering things.
“Oh, what’s this?” The Giant’s attention was diverted to the triceratops. He gently picked it up. Putting it under his right arm and petting it gently behind its bony frill, that shield-looking bone that protected its back, with his left hand, he cried happily: “A pet! Thank you so much!”
Uniqua, taking charge as usual, cleared her throat and addressed the Giant. “Excuse me. Introductions are in order here. May we inquire of your name?”
The Giant blinked. “A talking horse?”
“I’m a Unicorn,” Uniqua replied patiently but not without some ruffling of her dignity. She glossed over the innocent insult and introduced the twins to him. Then, in turn, she introduced the other members of the Group who finally emerged on deck to gawk at the giant.
“Rabbits?” The Giant scratched his inflated head. “Hey! How come we don’t get any more of your delicious groceries any more?”
“All that will be explained later,” Uniqua told him firmly. “Right now we have to get to Big Head City.”
“Oh,” the Giant said thoughtfully. “That’s a mighty long journey for you little people. I’ll have to carry you.” He bent down to pick up the boat.
“Careful, you big, lumbering landlubber!” Captain Lump roared up at him. “You’ll crush us like an eggshell.”
The Giant paused. “What’s an eggshell?”
“Something very fragile,” Uniqua told him. “Your name, please.”
“I’ll have to be very careful then.” He placed his massive left hand under the keel of the boat, lifted it, and tucked the entire ship under his left arm.
“I think I’m going to be seasick,” Cassandra complained loudly. Indeed, even though the Giant was trying to be very careful as he walked casually toward Big Head City with his two prizes, his pronounced side-to-side gait made the crew feel like they were at sea being tossed about by high waves.
“Giant! What shall we call you?” Uniqua had given up trying to stand and sat down on her haunches, her forelegs splayed out in front of her to steady herself.
“Oh. I forgot. I’m Tiny.”
“Tiny?” the twins chorused unbelievingly.
“Yep. ‘Cause I’m the smallest of all of the Giants.”
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
BIG HEAD CITY
The twins do not remember how long the trek lasted. I do not think they wanted to remember, because it was not a pleasant journey. By the time they reached the Giant’s city, everyone aboard was very sick. And, it took a while for them to recover after Tiny finally set the flying boat gently down before the city’s gates.
Normally, I do not like to write a lot of superlatives when writing descriptions. Using words like massive, humongous, gigantic, and others lose their luster after a while. So, for this chapter, dear adventurer, please keep in mind that everything in the land of the Giants was so large—huge, actually—that it truly is impossible to adequately describe everything the twins saw or witnessed.
Big Head City was a walled city. Why the Giants needed walls escaped the understanding of the Group. Walls are built for protection, especially against enemies or wild animals that might attack or injure the inhabitants of the city. But the Giants did not mention either. They seemed rather fearless, meaning they obviously did not have anything to worry about. At the same time, they were extremely genial, which means friendly, so I would think that they did not make any enemies.
Also, the mountains that guarded their land on the east and south protected them from invasion of any kind, and since no one had ever been able to cross them before, it did not seem likely that there existed any danger to them.
As to animals, the twins had seen none on their trek to the city (although they were pretty seasick most of the time). Only the triceratops cow Carl had brought with him seemed to be the sole animal in the land.
Perhaps the walls were merely decorative. They gave definition to the
city. They were not just blocks of stone mortared together, either. The Giants had employed their artisan talents to sculpt figures, animals, scenes of fauna, and curious but beautiful designs onto (and into) the walls’ surfaces. A whole panorama of the Island was depicted on them; even ancient ages of Earth’s history were recorded. The wall, then, had become like a living library, carefully and artfully preserving thousands of years of time. (For both the archeologist and the paleontologist, these walls would have been a dream.)
“We’ve arrived,” Tiny declared happily. “Time to meet my brothers.”
“Ship’s company,” Captain Lump commanded throatily. He did not feel like standing up but remained sitting near the railing of the upper deck. All of the crew dragged themselves onto the main deck and either sat down or lay down in discomfort. “This is not our adventure,” he told Uniqua. “Our mission was to bring you to Big Head. We will stay here with the ship until you return—hopefully with success.” Under his breath, he added: “As if we had anywhere to go.”
“I will accompany you,” Captain Helf volunteered. To Captain Lump, he explained, “As a Dwarf, I could never forgive myself if I do not witness the wonders of the great city.”
“We are happy to have you come with us,” Uniqua chimed in. “But time is being wasted. We must ask the Giants for spare parts. The children’s lives hang in the balance.” She did not want to specifically make it public knowledge about the poison pearls Carl and Karen were forced to eat. Even though time changed or was inconsistent from one location to another on the Island, Uniqua was growing more worried by her own sense of time that they would soon run out of time, and the children would be doomed.
The Group and Captain Helf disembarked from the ship and stood next to Tiny. The twins, being the tallest of the Group, barely stood as high as the Giant’s knee.
“Please, lead on,” Uniqua told Tiny.
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