Arabel stared in awe-filled wonder at the remarkable sight of a foot big enough to flatten her like a bug. Stunned by its size, she willed it to move on. Leave them be. But it didn’t continue. The huge sandal sunk deeper into the ground as the monster’s weight rested on it. The foot arched, toes digging in, as the giant woman turned on the spot, something having made her stop.
“Shit, she knows we’re here,” Harper hissed.
“Keep quiet!” Eko hissed back from Arabel’s hand, pushing her fingers apart to look out.
They all jumped back as the ground was struck with a huge weight, its impact loud and powerful as an earthquake. Arabel stumbled sideways and half-slipped out from cover, freezing as she saw, past the giantess’s other foot, a vast sack, not unlike the one the other thundress had been gathering people in. This one was stuffed full and open, listing at the side, where Arabel could just make out the shapes of massive berries.
The thundress’s feet moved, making Arabel dart backwards again as she looked up at the height of the enormous woman. At least as tall as the giant that raided the village, this one was similarly clad in scant leathers, with her lower garment a little longer, almost a skirt, and her top formed of two straps, tied at the back, that concealed the swell of her chest. She faced away from their position, pivoting on one foot so her sandalled sole turned Arabel’s way – a mud-caked wall that could easily squash all of them at once. Her curves bulged above, the hard muscles of her rear and a solidly-lined back, a monster used to heavy physical work. Her hair was shaved on one side and hung in messy strands down the other. This giant only had one unfortunate captive that Arabel could see: a man dangling at her thigh, tied by his waist to the hem of her skirt. As the giantess turned, he swayed, trying to keep his grip on the rope that held him there.
“I smell you,” the thundress announced, voice booming off the cliffs. She inhaled deeply, a sound like a harsh wind, then took a step forward, away from their hiding place, as she scanned the path. “Come out, little human – if you’re from the tribe I can give you a lift home.”
Arabel pressed herself back into the rock, holding her breath.
“And if you’re not,” the thundress went on, playfully, “then let me be the first to welcome you.” The ground cracked and crunched under her as she trod about, inspecting the path.
A slight push at Arabel’s elbow almost made her shriek with fear, but she held it in to turn a scolding look back. Caracae had moved up alongside her. The witch whispered, “We should consider her offer.”
“Whether we were with the tribe or not,” Eko shot but at once, “it’s plain as day that monster’s only looking for a snack.”
“Obviously,” Caracae said with a roll of her eyes, “but if we took her help unseen, we could travel much faster.”
Arabel looked towards the house-sized sack. Was she seriously suggesting they put themselves in a giantesses’ bag? The thundress was a few paces ahead now, crouching, inspecting cracks in the rocks where they might have hidden.
“I can create a distraction,” Caracae said. “If everyone is ready to run.”
“Right into her bag of fruit?” Harper said. “That’s what you want us to do?”
They all bunched at Arabel’s shoulder, looking from the proposed travelling bag to the enormous woman a short way ahead.
“And if that sack of food’s destined for a dinner table?” Grawn asked, in the closest the burly knight could get to a whisper.
“It’s risk that or find ourselves in this spot a dozen more times before we get off this path,” Caracae said.
Arabel held up Eko for advice, as the monster hunter leant on her fingers. She didn’t look happy, but nodded. Arabel took a breath and said, “Okay. We’ll go.”
As she made the decision, the thundress turned their way, eyes narrowing, and Arabel’s heart skipped a beat – but Caracae subtly raised a hand and made a face as she did something. A root cracked, far off on the other side of the path. The giantess moved suddenly and lunged at the sound. Not waiting for the result, Caracae shunted Arabel, and they were all suddenly running. Arabel sprinted at full speed to the side of the sack and, needing both hands free, not thinking, thrust Eko into her top. She clutched at handfuls and thick canvas and dug her boots between the links, climbing as through scrambling up a ladder. She faltered only for a moment when her glasses slipped and she needed to correct them. Harper moved even faster, like a spider, up past her. All the while there came loud sounds of the thundress huffing and clawing at wherever Caracae had created noises. There was another crack of roots, further away, as the witch worked her magic again. Arabel threw her head around to see the woman not climbing but floating up after them like a spirit. It almost made Arabel lose her grip, but she shook herself back to focus and climbed on.
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Harper’s legs kicked over the lip of the sack just before Arabel reached it, then she clambered over and rolled in. Arabel landed on a bed of the oversized fruits, which absorbed her weight but shifted under her. She frantically tried to grab on, but the surfaces were slick and too round, and as the fruit rotated she dropped under. Grawn fell in heavily beside her, further upsetting the load and shaking the fruit so Arabel sank faster. She clambered to keep hold of her glasses as she slid down.
“Stay still, she’s coming back!” Caracae snapped from somewhere within the fruit and fear gripped Arabel, making her stop struggling. When she did, the fruits stopped moving and she found herself buried but secure. Though pressed between the berries, she had breathing room, and could see through the gaps that Harper was not far away, similarly spread out under giant berries.
The ground shook again as the giantess thumped back over. Her voice came in huffs of disappointment, muttering about failing to catch her prey. Then the little light that came between the fruits was cut out as the sack was suddenly lifted. Arabel held in a shout of panic as the fruit shifted around her again. They were flying into the air, and then swung and hit something that made a squelch, and made Arabel slid deeper in.
She elbowed her way clear of the shifting berries to get another good air hole and finally twisted around to lie on her back, breathing in deeply. Caracae pushed through from the other direction, shouldering out to just a few feet from Arabel’s head. Similarly sunken in berries, the witch’s hair was out of place and she finally looked slightly less than dignified. But when she caught Arabel’s eye, the witch’s knowing smile returned.
“Travelling in luxury, now,” Caracae whispered.
Arabel almost smiled back, but felt sudden movement against her chest and freaked out, something small scrabbling against her skin. She tore open her top buttons ready to swat away a spider or some other horrible bug but froze as she looked down with shock at Eko struggling in her cleavage. Arabel’s breasts were not huge, but her tight merchant’s top and travelling corset held them close together and gave them some lift, so Eko had found herself cushioned in between and put some effort into pushing herself out. The monster hunter twisted about, giving a final kick to Arabel’s left breast to lever herself free, then glared up with disapproval.
“I panicked,” Arabel whispered a futile explanation.
“Next time use a bloody pocket,” Eko snarled back. Arabel tried to free an arm from the fruit, to help move Eko, but the huntress waved a dismissive hand, sitting down on her chest. “Forget it. Good as place as any for now.”
Trying to follow her example, Arabel rested into the fruits, slowing her breathing. It had been a mad dash but they’d done it. Each rise and fall of the thundress’s strides took them a hundred times further than their own steps. With the cushioning of the fruit, the movement was even somewhat relaxing, if you ignored how close they were to a monstrous woman. Behind the rustle of the sack and the shifting squeak of berries, Arabel listened for the giantess’s impatient breaths, and behind that thought she could even hear something of the huge creature’s pulse, thumping somewhere nearby.
And they were in a bag of fruit? It was known that the flora in the Nidings grew to absurd proportions, in matching with its enormous occupants, but the scholarly work on the Thundress Tribe suggested little about the giants having a balanced diet. Would they use such fruit for fermenting alcohols or as an accompaniment to meat?
Arabel let such thoughts occupy her for the short time it took the giantess the transport them into an area that came to life with noise. Other thumping footsteps and voices drew closer, quickly validating the thundresses’ name, as they rumbled from above. Arabel couldn’t make out conversation, but did hear their carrier offering a jocular response to someone, and a light laugh. They seemed to pick up their pace suddenly, thrown about as the giantess sped up to her goal, climbing some steps. Then Arabel’s stomach lurched as the sack was swung carelessly around, and she was jolted up and back down as it hit a hard surface, slamming finally to rest.
The sack opened again, light slipping between the berries, and a shadow crossed over it. Arabel tensed as the berries above her moved dangerously, and she quickly tried to slip between more, to sink deeper or to the side, as she recognised fingers poking through. Arabel tensed, struggling not to shriek in fear, as a giant finger pushed down between the berries above her and a chipped nail swept past her face. She let out her breath as the hand closed over berries and retreated, pouring more light in. The hand disappeared into the light, carrying fruit large enough for Arabel to sit on, and a moment later she heard the sloppy, satisfied sounds of the thundress chewing.
“Down, deeper,” Eko ordered, shifting to grab Arabel’s lapel. “Quickly!”
Arabel rolled over and pushed and kicked as though trying to swim underwater. She slipped between the fruits and saw movement either side of her as her companions did the same. As she went, she slipped to the side, too, until she slid between two berries and came face to face with the canvas sack.
“Knife ready,” Eko said, and Arabel drew her blade, pressed the tip against the material wall.
“No I haven’t forgotten about you,” the giantess said with a chuckle, through a mouthful of food. “This is just a starter.”
Arabel shot an alarmed look sideways and picked out Harper a little to her right, equally tense. Had the giantess known they were in here all along? Was she just toying with them?
But the floor itself creaked painfully nearby as a weight was lifted – the thundress standing up. Her huge footsteps thumped against a stone floor, and something else creaked, a latch or a door being opened.
Someone screamed, a short distance away, down low. But getting higher. A man’s scream, it turned out, as he began pleading, “Don’t do this! Please!”
The giantess merely chuckled, enjoying his struggles. Arabel winced as his shouts were muffled, then cut off completely. The thundress swallowed noisily and gave a long, satisfied belch.
Arabel’s knife shook in her hand as she held it against the canvas, ready to cut free and run. Didn’t matter where they were or how far she would get. She would run for all she was worth, right off a cliff rather than let that happen to her.
But the giantess trod loudly back over the stones and away, steps descending.
She had left them behind.
“Do it,” Eko said and Arabel cut her hole to escape.