The young girl awakened in a daze. Cold steel clanged as she sat and crawled around, quickly noticing the shackles around her hands and the cage bars surrounding her. Once her vision fully returned, she panicked after seeing the monster stirring an enormous cookpot just a dozen feet away.

"Now we add the pepper, some potatoes, some kobold lungs..." Tossing a handful of ingredients, the giant of a woman glanced at her newly awakened prey. "Good morning, my little sunshine. Wakey wakey, time to eat to your heart's content."

The giantess opened the cage door and threw in a handful of leather knapsacks. She encouraged her little prey wordlessly, who then opened the leather bags to find rations, candy, and bread inside.

"Humans have some weird tastes, but if you dig enough, you'll find some diamonds in the rough. There's some chocolate in there, too, if you want it."

Allie kicked the bags away. "I don't want any, you monster! My dad will come get me, you'll see!"

"No need to be hurtful, I just want to take care of you since I lost my family."

"You just want to fatten me up!"

"Semantics."

Allie retreated to the opposite end of the cage, doing her best to be as far away from the monster as she could.

"At least eat the chocolate. It's so delicious, and it comes straight from the Jaguar Lands. That's where all chocolate originated from." The giantess smacked her lips. "The folks from the Jaguar Lands make frothy drinks with it. Back in the day, they used human blood and used it for sacrificial purposes. These days, they don't sacrifice their own people anymore, so they use annatto to give their drinks that red coloring their ancestors loved."

The giantess walked over to a cabinet, where she retrieved a bowl made from adobe. Using a large wooden spoon to stir its contents, she used the utensil to add a clump of red paste to the cookpot.

"I'm an aspiring gourmand, you see. I love trying all sorts of food, and firmly believe the Jaguar people were on to something when they used human blood for their drinks. But annatto is a good substitute, and it's so yummy when you slather it on meat." Grabbing another spoonful of the red paste, the giantess briefly opened the cage, tossed the red clump at Allie, and closed the door. "Have a bite. There's more where it came from."

Allie's stomach grumbled once she smelled the paste. It was obviously some sort of marinade. It didn't help that she hadn't eaten since dawn. How long had it been since she was kidnapped?

Hungry, she gave in to temptation and licked some of the paste off her hand. "It's...it's good."

"Thank you, my dear! I made it myself! I'll go ahead and delay dinner for another hour. You earned it! I'll go and fetch some lizard skin jerky to hold me over until then."

The giantess's quaking footsteps rumbled less and less the more she distanced herself away. Alone, scared, and feeling hopeless, Allie curled up in her corner of the cage. "Dad..."

***

16th of Cobre, 2:00 pm (169 days before Starflower’s trial)

Once they were ready, the Lenoria and company made their way downstairs. Filled with resolve, more than ever before, they were ready to march to the giants’ lair.

The tavern portion of the inn was quieter than usual. A lone girl wearing simple clothes and a blue scarf sat at the counter, and the old orc was back at the counter. He had brought a drink to the lone girl, who grabbed and gulped down. She grinned at Lenoria before and after consuming her beverage but did little else.

“You guys go on ahead,” the Lenoria said, glancing at the counter once before smiling at Alistair. “I forgot my bag of holding. There’s no rule about looting an enemy, is there?”

Alistair shrugged. “We can help ourselves to the giants’ treasure if they’re dead. The warrior sect of the Hammer calls it ‘spoils of war,’ and ever since then we’ve had no issues.” He opened the door and looked at the sky. “I can’t tell how much time has passed, but I doubt we have a lot left. Please hurry.”

“I already passed on the instructions to Clara. If they’re in such a hurry to go, move on without me. I promise I’ll catch up.” Raising a thumb, Lenoria climbed back up the stairs.

~Alistair~

Alistair and Clara waved Lewis goodbye and left The Drunken Chef Inn. Alone on the road to the gate, the two had time to chat.

“It’s a lot to take in.”

“The whole Soulstone thing?” Clara asked. “It was a lot for me, too. It’s a big responsibility, and I’ve doubted myself since that day. But Pearl and Apus have faith that we can do this, and I want to help Lenoria.”

Alistair sighed. “I feel like an idiot. This whole time I believed I saved her life. Now I’m finding out my presence there made no difference that day.”

“Don’t be so sure. You and Beau didn’t have to come along, but you did. The eagle that killed Lenoria was still around, and I don’t think anyone in law enforcement would have stood a chance against it. Well," she said after a pause, "Constable Richards is pretty strong, so maybe he could have done something if he was there."

“But Lord Beau fought that creature, not me.”

“Right, but you did outwit Thomas. I was skeptical that day, but once I got to know you more, I came to realize that your heart was in the right place. If you hadn’t been there to drive him away...”

Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings.

“I guess t-t-there’s that,” Alistair said half-heartedly.

“And Starflower! You single-handedly got rid of him as well by being there that day!” Clara stopped. “And even if you hadn’t made a difference, so what? I know very little about you, Alistair, but not many would push forward after seeing a few dead bodies on the ground. You're brave and selfless; it's no wonder Lenoria had a hard time getting her feelings out, she was probably scared that you’d think she was beneath you.”

“You’re just saying that, Miss Clara. Someone like me can’t-”

“For the love of nature, please don’t finish that sentence.” She grabbed Alistair’s shoulders. “That woman adored you the moment she laid eyes on you. You should have seen the way she was ogling you back on graduation day.”

“All I remember from my time at the Guild was that there were a couple of girls who tripped on the way down to the-” Alistair’s eyes widened. “Wait a second, that was you two?!”

Clara nodded bashfully.

“She knew little about me, and even then…”

“Sometimes, your heart beats the moment you meet someone, Alistair. She must have been so happy to be in your arms that day. All people are shallow like that, to an extent.” Clara smiled coyly. “Surely, even you must have met someone who just made your heart beat the first time you laid eyes on them.”

“Is this a trap? Because it feels like a trap.”

“A tra-? No, it’s not. You don’t even need to answer.” Clara moved on ahead. “Just think about it. It’s not strange for two people to like each other from the beginning. What matters is what they do afterward.”

Standing alone, Alistair did just that; he thought about everyone he’s ever met, and who among them made his heart beat. “Lenoria wasn’t the first, but...” Perhaps he should embrace it. Clara was right; there really was nothing wrong with the way they met. Lenoria remained polite with him, and he did the same. Nothing could go wrong if he just went with the flow, right?

“Are you coming?” Clara stood about a couple of dozen feet ahead of him. How long had she been waiting there?

“Oh, coming!” For the first time in months, Alistair felt renewed. Right on time, too; he would have plenty of time to meditate once Allie was rescued.

***

“You’re cutting it close, kid.”

As promised, Spark waited at the gate along with Melodious Aquamarine, the latter who had been poking at the motionless Tsukuyomi.

“Oh, right. We did leave Tsukuyomi behind when...” Clara brought her voice down to a whisper. He wasn’t brought with them during Pearl’s outrage, so he must have decided to wait for Clara for further instructions.

Alistair nodded and approached the knightly man. “We made it in time, Bro-, erm, Mr. Spark.”

“Just Spark is fine.”

“Okay, then, Spark. Where is your crew?”

Spark scoffed. “They ran into a little accident yesterday, so there was a delay. Even with that, they should be here soon.”

“Excuse me, Spark,” Clara chimed in, “but isn’t it hypocritical to excuse your own failure to gather your crew in time after you ragged on Alistair for barely making it in time just now?”

Alistair looked back at Clara. "Uh, Miss Clara...?"

Spark chortled. “And who are you to criticize or judge me?”

“My name’s Clara, a friend of Alistair. We’ve known each other for less than a minute and based on your words alone I can already tell you’re not a pleasant person.”

Clara had witnessed Spark's unpleasantness earlier, so her statement was not far from the mark.

“Hear, you say?” Spark chuckled. “What, do those big pointy ears listen to everything that isn’t your business?”

“No, but they do help me sense bullshit.”

Not taking kindly to that, Spark clanked his way to Clara. She merely took a step back, and in an instant Tsukuyomi slammed the ground with a ground shaking THUD between the two.

“A summoner.” Spark snickered mockingly. “Just a kid hiding behind a suit of metal. Take that away, and what are you?”

“An expert arbalist, best shortstop of the Artificers Guild Kickball Team of 1658-1659, with a degree in Linguistics, Dimensionology, Conjuration Magic, Magic Devices, Engineering, Chemistry, AND fluent in Common, Elven, Draconic, and Sylvan.” She paused for a moment to catch her breath. “Oh, and aspiring musician.”

“I didn’t know your team had cowards and nerds, Alistair. You do all the fighting for them?”

“No, and I would watch what you say. Miss Clara was brave enough to lead us in our victory against the giants,” Alistair said proudly.

“Whatever. Don’t tell me this is all you’re bringing.”

“Sorry, I’m here now!” Lenoria had finally arrived, carrying her bag of holding like a backpack. She frowned when Spark looked at her, inspected her from a distance, and snickered.

“You’re not wearing armor,” Spark said. “You realize those giants will have an easier time tearing you apart.”

“Giant,” Lenoria corrected. “As far as we know, only mom giant is left. Clara took care of the kids, while Alistair and I took care of the dad.”

“This runt,” Spark pointed at Alistair, “he took care of the dad?”

“Well, yeah. Why do you think we’re insisting on taking care of this?” Lenoria leaned against Alistair’s shoulder. “Mr. Adams here did a fine job ridding the world of such a monster. He's strong, brave, and sweet. I’m happy and proud to call him my man.”

“L-Lenoria,” Alistair whispered, “t-there's a time and a place for-”

“Play along; men like him can smell weakness from a mile away,” Lenoria whispered back. "First impressions matter!”

Not wanting to argue, Alistair simply placed his arm around Lenoria’s waist. “You’re too modest, my, um, love. It was our bond that triumphed last night.”

Lenoria squealed. “You’re doing great. I could just kiss you,” she whispered.

“Don’t push it.”

“Yes, sir.”

“You’re kidding me." Spark couldn't believe what he was hearing. "No one in the Order is strong enough to take down a giant, not even with just two people. You're lying.”

“You don’t have to believe us, Spark,” Alistair said. “We’ll be happy to show you.”

“In that case, I’m upgrading your role from whipping boy to meatshield.”

Alistair narrowed his eyes at the man in armor, but instead of calling him out, he decided to call for Melodious Aquamarine. Once she was called, the girl put away the stick she was playing on the dirt with and rushed to the growing party. Spark excused himself and stopped by an abandoned shed.

“We should discuss our marching order, then. Lenoria, you’ll scout ahead for us and lead us to the giants’ lair.”

“You got it!” Lenoria nodded in agreement.

“Miss Aqua, you’ll stand behind Spark and I. Your orbs of water look like they pack a punch, so please aim carefully and don’t stress about the enemies ahead. We’ll make sure you’re protected.”

Aqua winked. “That is a good strategy, Mr. Paladin, sir!”

“Miss Clara, you and Tsukuyomi will bring the rear.”

“Got it!”

“Hey,” Spark got everyone’s attention once he returned. "We're good to go. Let's get to it."

"What about your crew?" Clara's attitude had rubbed Spark the wrong way, but she was genuinely curious what changed.

"It's standard procedure in our organization. If we're traveling in big groups, two of our number stay behind several yards away to prevent back attacks. The giant may be on her own, but who knows what other dangers the forest has."

No one disagreed with Spark's arrangement. "Very well," said Alistair, "I'm thankful for their aid."

Going over the marching order one more time, Alistair convinced Spark to walk next to him, and the group marches out of the village on foot.

A feeling of dread loomed over Clara. Spark was far from pleasant, and a last-minute change to the plan did not sit well with her. “Apus, I need you to do me a favor.”