***
Back on the Eastern Shore, Timonus, Julian and Camilla crawled along the ground until they found a grouping of large stones they could hide behind as they spied on the Giants' caravan. The rest of Lupa Faction's members had headed northwestwards a few hours before, leaving the three of them behind in order to wait upon the arrival of the Giants to see if they were actually holding Hannah.
"I hope she's alright," Julian spoke in a loud whisper, trying to spot her within the cart that rested in the middle of the caravan.
"I'm sure she's fine," Timonus whispered back, flatly.
"You shouldn’t be angry with her."
"Of course I should! She sold me to you!"
"Yes, but she had her reasons!"
Camilla shushed them, "Please, men, if you continue on like this then they'll hear us for sure."
Julian blanched slightly, "Sorry!"
They observed the Giants for a little while longer, noting that while most lay asleep on the ground there were four posted lookouts patrolling the camp's perimeter.
Timonus leaned into to Camilla, "I think these must be the same Giants that we saw the other day on the road to Feronia."
She watched, "What could they possibly be doing? And why have they left her alive?"
"Can you see her?" Julian asked excitedly.
"Yes, she's in the cage. But why is she alive? Gigantes never take prisoners."
Timonus shook his head, "Something is brewing on the horizon but I cannot, for the life of me, figure out what it is. And why would they be going to Odalia, of all places?"
"Perhaps their own form of rebellion?"
"They are nomadic in nature. What use would they have with a city?"
"I suppose that is true. I know very little of them for we do not have anything like their kind in Noba."
"I don't know much about them either, honestly. Up until the other day, the only thing I knew of them were the stories that my men had brought back from their patrols. Wait," Timonus turned around and looked for Julian who had gone uncharacteristically quiet. Not seeing him in the immediate vicinity, he asked Camilla where he was.
She groaned, "I don't know."
Suddenly, they heard the sounds of large stones being thrown into the direction of the caravan from deep in the shadows to their left.
"What is he doing?" Timonus whispered to her.
She laughed slightly as a smirk crossed her lips, "My god, look! He's distracting the guards!"
Julian, banking on the low intelligence but high distractibility of the Giants, had perched himself atop one of the large boulders that surrounded the area and was tossing rocks into the long grass around the caravan, just out of sight. While the sound of the stones hitting the ground wasn't enough to wake the sleeping Giants, it was enough to cause the guards to start searching for the origin of the sounds, which lead them away from the cage were they held Hannah.
Meanwhile, Camilla and Timonus eased forward, staying low in the shadows as they crossed the grass into the Giant's caravan. Timonus mind flashed back to a few days before and just how close that had come to being the Giant's next meal. He took a deep breath and held it as he stepped over the sleeping form of one of Giants. Then, all of the sudden, he froze, his fear becoming nearly unbearable until he realized that Camilla had already reached the door of the cage-cart. She appeared to be having difficulties as she struggled with pulling the wooden stake out from the locking mechanism that kept the cage door closed.
In the cage, Hannah's eyes widened when she saw what Camilla was trying to do and she crawled over to help as best she could but try as they might, neither could loosen the wedge. Timonus gritted his teeth and forced himself closer so that he was able to reach up and wrench it with all of his might, dislodging the wood and opening the cage.
As the Legate helped Hannah down from the cart, she opened her mouth to say something to him but he shook his head, stopping her as he grabbed her by the arm and the three of them began to run from the Giant's camp. But upon finding nothing out of the ordinary, the guards had returned as well and spotted the three of them just as they disappeared into the shadows in the direction of the forest of Odalia.
As they ran, one of the guards lifted his head high in the air and howled at the top of his lungs in a call-to-arms that awoke the other Giants almost immediately. The sound sent ice down into the souls of Timonus, Hannah and Camilla as they ran, passing Julian along the way. He joined them as they continued to run through the slightly rocky terrain, which soon became grass. They then ran through the grass until it became forest, all the while feeling the diseased breath of the Giants upon their necks.
Only, the Giants, they soon discovered, weren't actually following them.
For had they been able to look behind them, they would have seen that, once awoken, the Giant's leader had stopped his guards from pursuing the escaped prisoner and her rescuers. He instead chided the guards, pointing in the direction of Odalia and in his gruff language told them that arriving in the capital city by the next day was far more important than pursing anything else.
A Sword Of Wrath, Book I: Blood And Dust Page 29