by J Battle
His splayed webbed fingers rested on the slightly warm wall, and he grasped its top.
‘What am I doing?’ he asked, so slowly that a small sea-bird landed on his head, pecked at his skin and flew away before he’d finished.
The call washed over him once more. ‘Come,’ it said, a silent imperative that he had no wish to refuse. ‘Come,’ it said, and both his hands were on the wall.
‘Come,’ it called, and he lifted his body high, water streaming from his gleaming white body.
‘Come,’ it beckoned, and he would have come then, if he had been at all able to do so. But, half out of the water as he was, he knew that he didn’t have the strength to drag his heavy body any higher, and that he would never be able to support his massive weight on the land.
So he allowed himself to fall back, full of sorrow and regret; his movements causing a wave of dark water to lap over the wall, going where he could not.
He rolled his body and turned towards the narrow harbour entrance, and he kicked away. Slowly at first, but speeding up as he went, as he put the land behind him, as the call quietened in his head.
Then his heart began to beat faster with fear; with the knowledge that he would have gone where he was called, if he could, gone willingly to the same death that the Elvenfolk had gone to, in their ignorance and their arrogance.
When the island was barely a dark speck in the distance, he slowed and turned, swimming in a great arc that kept his distance.
Although he could still hear the call, he was no longer tempted to obey. But who else would come? Who else would answer? For he was sure that the call was not meant just for him.
Chapter 35 Giants
‘Have you got a six? I could use a six, I could.’
‘I’ve got two three’s, if that be any use to you. If you’ve got something to offer in return, like.’
Daffid scowled at Fill, and he pulled at his blue neckerchief that seemed to be getting tighter the more he sat and played.
‘What use is a pair of three’s in a month of blue Sundays?’
‘Well, my ma always said, she did, that three and three make six, and that’s a fact.’
‘Yea, they make six alright, but it’s two cards, ain’t it? And it has to be one, or I’m all busted out of the game.’
Fill looked at his old friend over his hand of cards for a moment, and then he sighed.
‘Tell you what,’ he began, as he reached for his pipe.
‘Go on, Fill, as if I can’t see what’s coming as clear as the wart on your nose.’
Fill stopped then and he gave Daffid a demonstration of a proper scowl, for he didn’t like talk about his wart.
He placed his cards face down on the little table they’d set up outside The End of The tavern because the landlord didn’t like arguments and they’d be sure to be arguing before they were finished today. Then he filled his pipe and he took his own sweet time about it.
‘Well,’ he continued, when his pipe was glowing just the way he liked, ‘I reckon you took a seven, a seven of roses if my memory serves, and I’d have that off you and then I could give you this six of coals that I’ve been keeping close to my chest.’
‘I knew you had a six. I could see it in your eyes, I could, They went all shifty like, when I mentioned it.’
‘Even so...’ Fill was sitting with his back to the tavern wall, facing Daffid, who had his back to the square.
‘What’s wrong?’ Daffid turned to look behind him.
‘Just ignore them and they’ll prob’ly just wander off like the rest.’
‘Easy to say that, but it ain’t easy to ignore a pair of Giants, even these days.’ Daffid turned back to the table, but his shoulders were a little hunched.
‘Ay, I reckon we’ve seen a lifetime’s worth of Giants these past few days, and I were glad to see the back of them, I was.’
‘Ho there, little men,’ said the closest of the Giants.
‘Have you got any food there? Or ale? Ale would do nicely right now, I reckons,’ said the other, with an eager smile on his broad face.
‘Shush there now, Aarvaarn. We’re about business here, and we can eat and drink when we’ve finished, we can,’ said the first Giant.
‘We could eat and drink before we start, and then we can do it again when we’ve finished, can’t we, Raarvan? No harm in that, far as I can see.’
‘That’s because you can’t see past that fat belly. If you start eating and drinking, you won’t stop unless there be nothing left.’
Aarvaarn watched his friend to see if he would add something that would suggest that particular course of action was a bad idea.
After an age in which the men finished their card game and were well on their way to clearing up, Raarvan weakened first.
‘So, we’ll ask these little people here if they’ve seen any Giants and then we can be on our way.’
He turned to the men whilst his old friend considered his words.
‘Have you seen any other Giants about here?’ he asked.
‘Well,’ said Fill, ever so slowly, ‘it’s strange you should ask, because that town yonder was filled to the brim with them until yesterday, it was for sure. Weren’t it Daffid?’
‘Ay,’ said Daffid, ‘you couldn’t walk on the street for fear of getting all trodden on by them big feet.’
‘Where are they now?’
‘Have they drank all the ale? Have they had all the food?’ asked Aarvaarn, his face all aghast.
‘They looked set to do just that, I reckon, but then they up and went, they did, and left it all behind.’
‘See that, Raarvan, they left the food and ale behind.’
‘Ay, and so will we. We can get it all when we come back.’
‘What if some other greedy and thirsty Giants come along and eat and drink it all before we get back?’
‘Well, we’ll just have to be quick about it, won’t we?’
With a firm grip on Aarvaarn’s arm, Raarvan turned to leave the men behind. Then he stopped with the turn half done.
‘They left food and ale behind, you said?’
‘Ay, I did,’ said Fill, ‘and they did, because we’re drinking, aren’t we?’
Raarvan studied the tankard in the man’s hand as if it would impart some meaning or explanation to him.
‘Why would they have got themselves up and left when there was still ale and food to be had?’
‘Well, they did just that, and mighty quick they were about it, they were, weren’t they, Daffid?’
‘Ay, for sure. One minute they were there, all making a great nuisance of themselves, and the next time I looked up, they were all gone, as if they’d never been, except for the broken furniture of course.’
‘Which way did they go?’
‘They took the cliff road, I reckon, and it leads down to the beach, or up to the cliff, if you like.’
‘Well, we best be off then. Thank you for your help, and leave us some ale for when we come back.’
With that he pulled Aarvaarn until he was properly started on the road.
‘Here, Raarvan,’ said Aarvaarn, after perhaps a hundred steps, ‘answer me this, if you can.’
‘Go on then, you ask and I’ll answer.’
‘Well, we came to stop the other Giants coming to, what that lady’s town called again?’
‘Hesselton, they called it.’
‘Right enough then, so that’s why we’re here.’
Raarvan merely nodded, because he could see where his old friend was going.
‘But, they’re not here, and they’ve gone off, away from Hesselton, I reckons so, anyways.’
‘Ay, you’re right enough so far.’
‘So, why are we following them? We could go back and tell the little lady-woman that we seen them off and they won’t be troubling her anymore, and she’ll be that pleased to see us, she will.’
‘Ay, you big lummox, you’re mostly right there, and that’s a surprise. But I reckon we should take a look at
what they are doing on the beach, or on the cliff, if that be where they are. I ain’t never seen no food on a beach, or ale on a cliff, so why would a crowd of Giants be there?’
‘Mayhap they’re fighting!’ said Aarvaarn, with relish. ‘There’d be room on a beach for fighting wouldn’t there? And you could watch the fighting from the cliff, couldn’t you?’
‘Ay,’ said his old friend, slowly, ‘you could be right, but I don’t reckon you are. Come along and we’ll see for ourselves.’
They came to a fork in the road. To the left, the road descended towards the sea. To the right, it climbed steeply.
‘Which way will we go?’ asked Aarvaarn.
Without stopping to think, Raarvan took the left road.
‘Why are we going this way?’
‘Because it be downhill,’ replied Raarvan, with unimpeachable logic.
Chapter 36 Ferrooll
He carried Richard in the crook of his arm as if he was no more than a child, and he strode along the wide road at a pace Cavour and Garraldi struggled to match.
‘What’s the rush?’ asked Garraldi, breathlessly.
‘Rush? Who’s rushing? This is just a gentle stroll for a Giant, I reckon.’
‘Well. If you slowed just a little, we might have a chance to keep up with you.’
Ferrooll stopped all of a sudden, and he turned his unseeing eyes to the south, towards the sea.
‘Is this slow enough for you?’ he asked, but his attention was elsewhere.
‘Good time for a rest, I reckon,’ said Garraldi, ‘and mayhap a bite to eat.’
‘Now, that sounds like an idea.’
Gently he placed the sleeping form of Richard on the grass by the road, whilst Garraldi and Cavour set to rummaging in their bags for food and drink.
‘You’re not saying much, brother,’ said Garraldi.
‘I’m just thinking, and not talking, which might seem a strange way to do things, to you at least.’
‘Because I usually do it the other way around? Is that what you’re saying?’ Garraldi laughed. ‘I’ll let you do the thinking for us both, and I’ll do the doing.’
Cavour grunted in reply and sat down on the grass with a bump.
‘How long will it take to get there?’
‘A week or so, I reckon. Less if we can keep up with Ferrooll,’ answered Cavour, as he tapped his pipe with heel of his hand.
‘We’ll sleep here tonight, I reckon,’ said Ferrooll, all of a sudden. ‘The ground is soft, and the trees give some shelter from the wind, so he won’t…what is it you little people get when you’re cold?’
‘A chill?’ offered Garraldi.
‘Ay, that sounds about right. So he won’t get a chill.’
‘It’s a couple of hours yet to sundown, I think,’ said Cavour, around his pipe.
‘Still, this is the place and the time. And we’ll set off early in the morning.’
‘Fair enough,’ said Garraldi, pulling his blanket from his bag.
With the food consumed and Garraldi snoring away beneath his covers, Cavour sat close by, with his pipe glowing as the light faded away.
‘Is there something I need to know, my friend?’ he asked, softly.
The Giant lifted his head a little.
‘What d’you mean?’ he didn’t have the capacity to whisper, but Garraldi and Richard remained steadfastly asleep.
‘Stopping here, with hours yet to walk, all of a sudden, without much in the way of explanation. Seems to me that’s not like you.’
‘Mayhap I was just giving your brother a chance to rest? He’s been locked up in a cell for a long time, and l don’t reckon he ate well.’
‘Ah, that could be the reason,’ said Cavour, with something of a sigh.
He sucked on his pipe for a while longer, but said no more, certain that he’d receive no further explanation.
The night was pitch dark, with the clouds hiding the moon and the stars, but that meant nothing to Ferrooll.
When he heard Cavour snoring lightly, along with the other two men, he moved quietly to his feet. Quietly for a Giant, that is.
Being careful not to stand on anyone, he walked out onto the road and across to its southern edge.
‘What is it?’ he said, ever so softly. ‘What is it indeed?’
He took three steps forward, leaving the road behind him. He stopped when he felt the rough ground beneath his feet dropping away from him.
‘No, you old fool,’ he said, with a sigh. ‘You can’t be going that way. You’ll only fall down the mountain if you do, and your ma didn’t raise a fool.’
Still, he remained where he was, facing the slope and the miles of rough and rocky ground that separated him from the sea.
It was an hour before he shook his massive head and began to turn.
‘I can’t go, I know that, but I sure want to.’
Carefully he made his way back to his place beside Richard, and he settled himself down with a grunt and a sigh.
Cavour listened to him, for, no matter how hard he might try to be quiet, a Giant is a noisy beast.
He lay still, with his unlit pipe clamped between his teeth, and he thought for a while.
What was drawing the Giant to the south? What would Richard find when he returned home? What use would his brother be in the task before them? And why did he worry so much at what they might find when they reached Fairisle?
Such questions did not make for a good night’s sleep.
**********
At the very moment these questions were running through Cavour’s mind, an old acquaintance of his was no more than three miles away, just to the south, crossing the waste-ground and travelling at a diagonal to the road.
He travelled without a sound, his red eyes seeing clearly in the dim light of the early hours.
As he approached Rizer’s Edge, he slowed a little, to be sure that he would not be seen. The road would be quiet at this time, but he was careful, for his own sake and for the sake of whomever he should meet.
He had stopped earlier that day, as the sun shook itself awake, and he’d stared for an age at his reflection in a small still pond. His eyes fixed on his burning red eyes, on his large triangular head, now devoid of hair.
‘Is this what I have become?’ he said, so quietly that a person leaning on his shoulder wouldn’t have been able to make out his words.
There was only one answer to that question, and no need to speak it out loud, so he had merely nodded and stood up to his full height and he had sighed. Then he had looked to the northwest, towards his father. If he’d known that his father was crawling along dark paths, deep in the mountain, leaving a bloody trail behind him, he would have snorted in derision, and mayhap he would have clenched his great seven-fingered fists and raised them to the sky.
Finding the wide road empty, he turned west and began to run now, for he knew that he was not far from his destination and his blood was up and his heart was beating, and the deed would be done before the sun bid goodnight.
Chapter 37 Gorge
Gorge burst into Frenk’s cottage, not waiting for an invitation.
‘Is he…?’ his felt suddenly weak when he saw the Lady’s stern face. ‘I…’
Alice raised one hand, and she gave him the gentlest of smiles. ‘Stay there, Gorge. No need for such worry and concern. Sam is fine, now at least.’
Gorge sank onto a wooden chair by the table.
‘I thought…I thought I’d hurt him, lady. I did, for sure.’
Alice, sat beside him, but she was careful not to touch him.
‘You did hurt him, Gorge. And I thought it was a deadly blow, but he has been helped. First by Tom…’
‘Tom? How did he help him?’
‘Well, there’s a story, I’d say. He rushed and brought back a Wellstone and…’
She stopped when she saw the concern on his face at the mention of the Wellstone.
‘Don’t you worry about that, Gorge. He brought it and he used it, and Sam was p
ulled back from…well, we needn’t speak of that.’
‘So, he’s alright? Can I see him? I want to…well, I reckon he’s owed an apology at least.’
‘You’re right there, Gorge, but mayhap we should wait until he’s a little stronger and…’ She reached out slowly and put her hand on his arm. ‘You are more in control, I think, of the Magic?’
‘Ay…I’m not sure. Who can say? But it don’t feel…I don’t feel so full, if you like. I ain’t overwhelmed like I was, I’d say.’
‘That’s good, for you are dangerous to be close to, when you can’t control it.’
‘I…don’t like it, Lady Alice. It’s not what I thought it would be. It’s as if everything I do has to be thought out first in case I hurt somebody. And look at the crops and flowers. I thought I was doing right by making them bloom and grow, but I just killed them.’
‘You’re probably not the first to feel that way. Power is a duty and a responsibility, whatever form it takes.’
‘I wanted to do good, but I’m frightened to do anything, in case I do bad. Crawlord Elstar says I’ll grow into it, but I’m not so sure.’
‘Crawlord Elstar? You’ve been talking to one of the Elvenfolk? How did that come about?’
‘He found me when I left you, and he helped me understand what was happening to me.’
Alice stood up and walked to the window.
‘Where is he now?’
‘He’s at the mage’s palace, at least he was last time I saw him.’
‘Did he tell you of his plans? Where are the others of his like?’
‘He mostly just wants to be near me, I reckon, because my Magic has brought him back to his youth, he says, and he is right I reckon, because he’s beautiful, he is, and it seems a strange word to use for him, but it’s true. And the rest of them, they’ve sailed off to Fairisle in search of Magic. That does make him laugh.’
Gorge stood up and joined Alice at the window.
‘Can I see him now, my Lady? I won’t touch him or hurt him or anything.’
‘Before you go in to him, you should know that his father is also in there.’