Land of the Giants, page 32
"Oh, heaven help you! However did you get in here?" said the princess upon seeing him. "It will surely spell your death, for none can defeat the giant who lives here!" Anders rashly drew his short sword, vowing to free the fair princess by battling the giant. "You silly prince, the giant has no heart in his body and can never be defeated that way."
"Well...I am here, so we must find a way, and I will see if I cannot free my brothers that have been turned to stone just the same. We must try, or what is the point of our miserable existence?"
The princess found hope in the young prince’s brave words. "If you must try, I have an idea. Creep under the bed and listen to what he and I discuss carefully." Anders nodded eagerly and the princess held the blanket for him to shimmy under the bed. "But you must be quiet as a mouse or the giant will hear you and kill us both." Just as she let the blanket drape over the bedside, the giant returned home.
"Ha! I smell a man in this house!" the giant roared, dropping his sack to the floor.
"Yes, I know. It does stink awful," the maiden said. "This morning a magpie did fly by and dropped the finger bone of a man into your chimney. I tried to get it out of the house as fast as I could, but for all that, I could not get the smell gone."
The giant contented himself with her explanation and said no more about it. When night came they went to bed, and the princess dramatically sighed several times until the giant asked her what was wrong.
"There is one thing I would like to ask you, but I dare not."
"What is that one thing, little princess?" the giant asked.
"Only that I wonder where you keep your heart, since I know you never keep it with you," she asked innocently.
The giant laughed at her audacity. "Now there is something you have no business wondering on, but since you must know, I hide it under the door sill."
The next morning the giant got up and gathered his things, setting out for the day. No sooner had he left the house than Anders came scrambling from under the bed, making a beeline for the door sill. He and the princess dug a deep hole, searching for the heart, until they finally realized the giant had tricked her. Covering the hole back up, they gathered some of the prettiest flowers from the riverbank and covered the spot with them before Anders crawled back into his hiding nook under the bed.
The giant returned home, dropping his sack in the corner and sniffed the air. "Hmm, by my eyes and limbs, I smell a man in my house again!"
"Yes, I know," the princess answered, feigning frustration, seemingly absorbed in fixing his meal, "for a magpie came along and dropped another bone in the chimney this morning. I scrubbed as hard as I might, but alas the foul odor seems to not escape your keen senses."
Satisfied with her answer, the giant ate his dinner and then went to bed. On his way into the bedroom, he stopped to look at the flowers strewn across the doorway.
"What have we here? Who has laid these flowers on my doorstep?" he asked.
"Why, it was me, of course,” the princess replied.
"Why would you do that, then?" the giant asked.
"I've grown so very fond of you that I could not help scattering them there, now that I know your heart is hidden underneath," she answered, batting her lashes.
"Silly girl, surely you did not believe I would keep my heart under the doorway?"
When they lay to sleep that night, the princess asked him where his heart could truly be hidden, and the giant grumbled. "As sure as I am that it is none of your business, I am touched by your gesture today, so I will tell you true. My heart is actually behind the cupboards in the kitchen. Now get you to sleep."
Anders listened, anxious to have morning come. All through the night he stayed awake, unable to sleep, until finally the morning arrived and the giant left his house once more.
Once again, as soon as he was out, Anders scrambled from beneath the bed and helped the princess take down all the cupboards. They searched the walls with his pickaxe to find the giant’s heart. "I fear the vile trickster has fooled us again, dear princess,” he despaired as they set everything back up again before the giant returned. The princess laid flowers all about the cupboards, hoping to hide the mess they had created.
When the giant returned, Anders was already safely hidden under the bed once more, and the princess was cooking his supper.
Bipp paused the tale, studying the hill giant’s face for some sign that he was still awake. Grog’s breathing was heavy, and his head leaned all the way back against the sack of grain.
Logan motioned for Nero to gather up some rope and pointed at the giant’s feet. One of his fingers grazed Grog’s toe, and the hill giant let out a long burp, lifting his head and looking around in confusion.
He squinted red-rimmed eyes shrewdly at Logan, who stood beside his feet. “Eh, what is the morsel up to?”
“Who, him?” Bipp said. “Logan was just getting ready to give Grog a footrub so you can enjoy the rest of the story.”
Logan shot the gnome a dirty look, and Bipp shrugged helplessly.
“Hmm.” Grog smacked his dry lips. “Grog would enjoy a footrub. Good idea, morsel.”
Logan had to step back as Grog shifted his foot, pushing it close to Logan’s face and waggling his toes. Logan sucked in his breath and turned his face away from the stench before pressing his hands firmly into the filthy soles of Grog’s feet.
The hill giant rumbled in pleasure and motioned with a waving finger for Bipp to continue.
“Where were we? Oh yes, so the giant returned home and came into his house with a snuffle, snuffle...”
"What is this? I smell a man in my house again!" the giant roared, throwing his sack into the corner and shuffling the chairs around in search of the intruder.
"I know. I only wish I could get the stink out of your house, for not a moment after you left this morning, that damnable magpie flew by and dropped another finger bone down the chimney! I did scrub the floors and the hearth for hours, but I fear the stink is lingering on my hands,” the princess complained, feigning her distress.
The giant looked at her with one eye closed. ‘Where are these bones you keep finding then, sweet little child?"
Anders’s heart froze, fearing the princess had been caught in her lie, but she was made of quicker stuff than that. "Oh, my strong giant, I threw them right in the river to float far away from here. They can go stink up some other wretch’s house and leave yours to peace."
Satisfied with her answer, the giant sat down to eat his supper, noticing the pretty flowers strewn all along the cupboards. "Hmm, what's this, then? Who put flowers all over my cupboards?"
"Why, it was me, of course," she replied.
"And why would you do such nonsense?" the giant asked.
"I am so very fond of you I could not help myself, for once I knew where you truly keep your heart hidden, I had to lay some flowers around it,” the princess answered.
Though the giant did not care for such tomfoolery, he could not help feeling his heart melt at the princess’s gesture. "You silly girl, did you really believe I would keep my heart in such a place?"
After they went to bed for the night, the princess asked where he truly kept his heart so that she may not make a fool out of herself again.
"Though it is none of your business, I can see you truly care for me, young princess, so I will tell you the truth this time. I do not keep my heart on me, I never buried it under the doorframe, and I would never hide it behind the cupboards," the giant teased her.
"Then where could it be?" the princess asked.
"Over the hills and far away, in a black lake lies an island, on that isle stands a temple, in that temple is a well, in that well lives a silver duck, inside that duck there is an egg, and inside that egg doth my heart truly hide. Now get you to sleep for morning will be upon us soon enough." And with that the giant rolled over to sleep.
In the early dawn, before Themis rose over the river valley, the giant headed out for the day. No sooner was he gone than Anders scrambled from beneath the bed. "I must set off at once, dear princess, but fear not, I swear I shall return to free you!"
In the valley beside the riverbank, he found Graylegs waiting for him. Anders told the wolf all that had happened inside the giant’s house and told him they must set out at once to find this temple on a black lake. At once upon hearing this, Graylegs perked his ears and bade Anders to get on his back swiftly, for he had come across this very temple in his travels. Away they went, across rivers and over hill, until after a long afternoon of running, they came upon the lake. The prince despaired, for there were no boats about to bear them across the lake to the isle, but Graylegs told him, "Do not cry, young prince. Remove my bindings and jump on my back. I will get us across."
Anders had heard the tales of wolves crossing water with their hapless victims tricked into riding on their backs, but he trusted this wolf, believing in the bond they had shared, and so he removed the saddle and jumped on Graylegs’s back. True to his word, the wolf swam all the way across the lake, bringing him safely to the isle.
They came to the temple but could not get inside. The doors were locked and the keys hung high up in the tower, where only a giant could reach. Anders did not know how he could get them.
"Do not fear, young prince. Did you not say the griffin owed you a favor? Only call for him now and see if it can be fulfilled."
Anders did as the wolf suggested, calling out to the sky for the griffin, which soon appeared swooping down from the clouds. The griffin was more than happy to help him and flew up, fetching the keys and dropping them into the prince’s hands. Anders quickly unlocked the front doors and made his way inside the temple, seeing the well at its altar and knowing the giant had told the truth.
When he came to the well, there was indeed a silver duck swimming around in circles. The prince cooed softly for the bird, calming the mallard so he could snatch it from the water. But alas, as he pulled the silver duck from the well, the egg slipped from its body into the deep water below. Anders was beside himself, trying to retrieve the lost egg. How could he ever get it out again?
"Do not fear, young prince, for did you not say that the great catfish also owed you a favor? Who better to retrieve the egg? Just call for him and let’s see if he will fulfill his promise," Graylegs advised.
So the king's youngest son called into the water for the catfish, which appeared fast as a fish might and listened to his story. Happily the catfish retrieved the egg, spitting it over the lip of the well for the young prince to catch.
"Squeeze the egg!" said the wolf at once. Anders gripped the golden egg tightly in his palm, adding pressure enough to squeeze it without breaking. Many miles away, the giant fell down hard in the dirt of his valley, clutching his chest in pain.
"Squeeze it again!" said the wolf. Anders gripped it tight in his palm, putting more pressure on the egg.
Across rivers and over hills, the giant tried to make it to his doorstep, to strike down the princess who surely must have retrieved his heart through some witchery, but as he moved to open his door, the pain wracked him again, and the giant screamed, sprawled on the ground in pain.
Anders called out to the griffin and bid it to fly back and tell the giant that he had his heart. If the giant wanted to live, he must change the young prince's six brothers and their six brides back from stone and promise to leave them in peace. Hearing the griffin's message, the giant readily agreed, using his evil eye to change them back. Once the curse was lifted, he begged the griffin to tell Anders to leave him in peace now. When the griffin returned, Anders’s heart soared to hear his family was safe once more, and he smashed the egg to the stone floor of the temple, killing the wicked giant forever.
With the giant destroyed, Anders rode back to the valley on the back of the wolf, and there stood his brothers, all six alive and well, celebrating with their six princesses around the stone body of the giant. Running inside the house, he was elated to find the young princess free and waiting for him. They returned to their kingdom to wake their father.
When the King was given the root of the lazy honeysuckle in some tea, he woke almost immediately, rubbing his eyes to see all seven of his sons with all seven of their beautiful brides standing around his bed chamber. The King was so overfilled with joy that he threw a feast to end all feasts. Everyone in the kingdom came to celebrate, and many say the festivities were so much fun that they are still celebrating them today in the stars above us.
When Bipp finished the tale, Logan blinked several times, slowly realizing they were all so entranced by the story that none of them had even noticed that the hill giant had finally fallen deeply asleep, snoring loudly and lying on his side with his large hairy belly hanging out.
Logan put a finger to his lips and pulled the length of rope Nero had retrieved from his pack, motioning for the android to grab the other end. Tying the ropes together with a tight knot, he bid Tiko run over to the wooden cage and secure one end while he and Nero wrapped the other end around both of the giant’s repulsive-smelling ankles. Once it was secure, the four of them slowly rolled the large boulder away from the hungry hill giant, stopping in ice cold dread when the boulder groaned loudly across a piece of bone.
Grog stopped his snoring, mumbling in his sleep about the evil eye and rolled over heavily, facing away from them. With a collective sigh, they continued moving the boulder until it was clear of the alcove and they were outside in the cool night air.
Wasting no time, Logan bid them to run for their freedom. The party was just leaving the area when Tiko’s foot kicked the skull of some animal, which loudly clanked across the river stones and splashed into the water. As one they froze in place, turning to see if there was any sign of Grog waking.
“Damned lucky the big stupid oaf sleeps like a baby,” Bipp whispered.
From behind the wall of vines, the hill giant roared, waking up to find he had been deceived by the tricky little morsels. Slamming hairy knuckles into the ground, Grog tried to rise, falling on his face when the rope caught him.
“Run!” Logan screamed, shoving Tiko to move.
Grog grabbed the rope tied to his ankles with one hand and tore it free. Roaring again, he burst from the curtain of vines, dragging the man-sized wooden cage, which was still attached to one ankle. “Grog will smash puny morsels!” he promised, snatching the boulder in his rage and lifting it overhead.
“Only thing you’re going to be eating tonight is Gandiva, monster!” Logan yelled back, dropping to a crouch and flinging his weapon as hard as he could.
The spinning boomerang’s blade sliced across one of Grog’s eyes, blinding him with a flash of searing pain. The hill giant howled so loudly the entire valley shook with his anguish, and he let go of the boulder to clutch his face. The heavy rock came down hard on his crown, knocking the giant face first into the river.
Catching the returning weapon, Logan did not wait to see if the hulking monster was dead and urged his friends to run as fast as they could. He wanted to put as much distance between them and the blood thirsty giant as possible.
Chapter 13: A Place to Lay My Head
After leaving the granary, the group of scabs was herded back to their living quarters, which were behind high concrete walls patrolled by both human and jotnar slavers armed with whips and swords.
Immediately upon passing through the gates, Corbin had two distinct impressions. First, the place had a sour odor that burned his sinuses, as if the entire area had not been washed in months. Judging by the desperate condition of the human slaves, he guessed that was probably a good assumption. Secondly, the feeling of being trapped in a cage suddenly washed over him. And for a man who grew up in the claustrophobic caverns of Vanidriell, that was saying something.
Pulling his companions aside, while the slaves dragged themselves to their shanty houses, Corbin asked in a low voice, “What do we do now?” He looked in either direction to be sure they were not being watched.
“Just act normal,” Kyra insisted.
“Yeah, but what is normal? I mean, look at this place.” He pointed out their obvious predicament. Kyra took his meaning, looking around at the fetid wooden shacks that were really no more than hovels. Slaves piled into the cramped shacks like zombies, setting about preparing their meals for the afternoon before being sent back out to the fields to help harvest more grain. The scabs worked from dawn till dusk.
“Corbin’s right, our options seem pretty limited. Either we join them and hope no one notices we’re in their home, or we stay out here, which is going to raise suspicion if the guards catch wind of it.”
As if on cue, a whip cracked across Corbin’s back, stinging through his invisible leather vest and forcing his body a few steps forward. “Get to your shack, maggots. You know better than to stand about!” a human slaver barked behind them. They had not even noticed him coming around the corner.
Corbin gritted his teeth, catching a look of caution from Kyra, and swallowed back his urge to bash the despicable slaver’s head in. Nodding instead, Kyra pushed them on down the path with the slaver keeping a steady pace at their heels. They had to pick up their speed when he whipped Corbin again, barking, “Get a move on!”
“Where are we going to go?” Corbin asked, his mind racing for ideas and settling on the grim reality that he might have to kill the slaver and blow their cover. Before he could brandish his disguised polearm, Kyra pushed them all up two crooked steps and inside a nearby shanty. As they entered, Corbin quickly made a headcount. Ten slaves lived inside this creaking shack! Six sat around a makeshift table, eating maggoty bread, and another four were doing chores around the one room. All of them stopped what they were doing to turn and stare at the trio who had unexpectedly barged into their home unannounced.
Before anyone could speak, Corbin flinched, knocked forward by another crack of the whip, which this time tore a strip of skin off the back of his neck.
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