“Think, you moron. Think!”
I couldn’t help but pace back and forth within the cell of clay and serpentine iron bars that wriggled and squeezed around anything poking through. Alu laid on the floor beside me, shifting in his sleep, moaning in pain every time he unconsciously turned in his sleep. The bindings that kept our hands to our back and fingers laid out and frozen over the spine were the most infuriating detail of this dire day.
In actuality, beyond my immediate anger, the real spark to this powder keg disaster was that gutter brained hound. That ghost haired scout decided to act on her petty impulses and take our link from Marlene, put it on a cart heading South for trade and just hope I never came back to wring her neck.
Exactly how far down we were, I didn’t know, but I’d be a fool to not know we were at least five miles from the shore. Before we were captured by those ludicrously armed bandits, I recognized remnants of a battlefield, where the ground was destroyed and reformed into pikes and rolling blades of sand that could level a thousand Guilds. My mother had shown me that day through the eyes of Witch Farris. While my interest in her original home was ceaseless at one time, I never imagined I’d go there. The allure became thin as the colossi proved themselves to be an archaic people that still seemed unable to invent the pen.
Grandmother told a few tales of when she used to live down here, and none of them made it sound like a fun place to be. Worst comes to it, we end up being entertainment for these fools - we’re simply too puny to be food. Regrettably, a better idea of the worst came to light as I sighed in frustration against the wall: they believe us to be Warden worshippers and try ransoming us to their malicious hands. Stripped bare and peppered with sand already, I seriously considered how difficult it would be to run across the desert under the purple sun of an unknown god.
It was hard to formulate any plans for escape with him lying there, crying out in pain but never waking entirely. All of my healing salves and materials were in our confiscated bags, but even then, I could do my best to set his bones straight by entangling my strands with his. The indignity of being restrained like this, and not being able to do anything prompted a few kicks to the cell door, the material thick enough to hardly make a resonance.
These cells were certainly made for human slaves, being far too small to house a colossi convict, whatever passed for a criminal in these parts. Those bandits that captured us were certainly under their employ. Them and their towering neighbors had no reason to trust each other, Jeremiah’s ambitions made sure of that. No dragon built their sun, no scales hid beneath the sand, but the Mad King razed the beaches according to the stories. Made me wonder if there would be any casters or siphons down here, hiding from the bandits, making a life here just for the challenge.
Singing started to emanate from down the hall, with at least six voices supporting the throaty melody. The serpentine design untangled itself enough to allow a viewing window to our human watchers. All of them were men, skin a darker olive as compared to Alu’s, bearing colorless eyes with a concentrated luminescence. Markings of berry paint laid upon their noses and cheeks, the smell detailing how it likely tasted: hardly enough to flavor the sand cakes.
At first, their tongue was some mangled form of the Colossi speech, but upon registering my scrutinizing expression, they switched to an attempt at the mainland talk. Their monotone delivery underlying a loose grip on what should have been known on a muscular level.
“You’ve been selected to entertain the emperor.” The man at the front started, his companions remaining stiff, their eyes darting forward without waver. I could wave my finger in front of them and either they wouldn’t react, or they’d follow in unison.
“I’m not a dancer if that’s what he’s hoping.” No reaction, lips pressed tightly. “What would the emperor want with his bastard children?”
Nothing once more. “Blood is what the emperor wants to see. You two and the other prisoners will waste each other for their Proving Whole.”
“Proving Whole?” The slit was open just enough for me to grab him by the throat and throttle until a key was provided. Can’t. That’s unlikely to end well. “Where is this ceremony?”
“In the South Might’s arena, constructed by the founders of this Whole.”
No memories of giants told me of such a thing. “Well my companion here can’t fight in his condition. You bound him before I could heal his injuries. His right arm and leg are broken.”
The talking head moved their gaze to such a small measure, my shadow and form would still be obscuring Alu in the cramped cell. “He breathes still, he can fight well.” A bolt bounced between my teeth as it screamed from my throat and pushed through the serpentine hole. The cast of lightning spread to the guard and myself as the metal streams closed the hole and bounced it right back at me, sending me against the wall and feeling my hair burn. When my eyes opened, the cell door unraveled once again and another guard spoke unabated. Different eyebrows, a slimmer face but spoke the same as the man that laid burnt on the opposite corner of the room.
“Very well, prisoner. Once you meet with the emperor, they shall give you a space to heal the wounds.”
“I need my healing salves.” I groaned, the door sealing itself as I stood. “If your emperor wants blood worthy of show, you’ll let me revive this warrior fully.” Silence from the other end before a loud clunk made the door disappear, link by link, dissolving into nothing. The remaining guards held spears to my throat immediately, the dower green of the door slithering to coat their leather armor. They kicked Alu awake and suddenly my mind was filled with the want to cast lightning and the desire to tell him to keep his eyes closed for the bodies, not that it mattered much for what lay ahead. Coughing and cursing, he too was about to throw himself at the guards before I told him through our mental thread to back down.
“So you think Gina got us in this situation.” He said, the pain in his limbs overloading even some of the words that didn’t need to be physically said, stuttering and lowering in tone as he grunts out loud.
“Can’t think of any other way we’d end up here. We never had any outstanding tabs with Marlene.”
The small bastard looked up at me before giving a forced smile, the same one he’d make after drinking too much. “I’m just glad that you’re alright, honestly thought I was falling behind, putting you at risk with my tethered idiocy.”
“Oh hush you.” I gave him a nudge with my arm. With it being the only noise the guards heard, they turned in alarm and raised their spears again before our silence made them proceed. “If we’re lucky, I’ll be the one healing you and not one of these…men.”
“You think these guards are…controlled?” The thought made his skin crawl, partially my own fault by spooking him with stories of what tether magic could do. Though I doubted what afflicted these bandits was tether magic, possibly a poison of susceptibility - a subtle hypnosis from one of the many plants humans often came down here for, the ingredients for love potions and the like. After a while, I just gave a noise to confirm the idea, not bothering to give him the other details, lest he get paranoid about any food we’re served before the entertainment.
“Is the plan to still go north? Or do we go after Gina?”
“I’d say let’s try both, but that spire back in Derngahl is concerning me.” It came so quickly without a warning that I could see before we entered Angella’s house. The ones I siphoned my power from before at least had some indication they were spawning, an infinite thread of light from the ground to the sky, sometimes several. There were the maps I was gathering, showing them pop up even more in the past couple of months than I predicted last year. During my pilgrimage, I only heard reports of seven throughout that entire year. We are now a month away from the next winter, and at least fifteen have erupted by now.
“Yeah, that was a bit fucking sudden.” He agreed, hobbling until the guards suddenly stopped, telling us to stay put until the next legion was ready to take us.
The hallways of this Proving Whole were neglected tubes of sandstone grazing the top of my head as we walked, both gaggles of men threatening me with every attempt to lower myself before I went bald from the friction. The only distraction throughout these lengthy escorts was the caged glass windows giving us more than enough of a view of the wasteland that existed outside this structure. Without a clear look to the sky, what was north? Creatures dragged old bones to their abode, sinking beneath the grains or hiding beneath rocks stripped by storms. Even if I couldn’t read his mind, I could tell he was thinking the same thing I was. Where do we even go from here?
“Hey, we’ve been good at improvising so far.” He quickly added, flashing that smile again. Before my mind could form a response, the familiar green doors before us opened by dropping through the floor. I passively told him to stay especially close to me, as we were pushed into an expanse worthy of starry-eyed adventurer tales.
Instead of massive piles of gold, jewels that shined bright enough to blind the common eye and parchments of long forgotten secrets, the room was filled with pillars reaching for the clouds, stopped by a glass ceiling tirelessly cleaned by more human slaves burning under the purple sun. At the back of the room lay a figure one could confuse for a monument, an artistic rendition of what they believed a giant really was from the confines of their Sarengound hut. The rough merging of stony skin and golden armor moved with every breath, the scraping of metal only muffled by the labored groan of every exhale.
Chain links as big as myself held the loose bits of gold, jangling and shining as it stood from the carved mountain chair. Atop its square head a giant thorn gleamed the least, covered in several shades of dried blood from whatever monsters called this place their home. Its eyes were much closer than that of a giant’s, almost forming as one, with their nose resting high enough to divide. Their mouths stretched to their eyes before drooping to the tops of their shoulders. The hide was a scattering of colors - coppers, dull silvers, blotches of black and shades of brown like layers of dirt. We were imperceptible in this lair, but even it shook and rained sand when the Colossi rose and planted its feet into the wailing floor - sending Alu to the floor and bringing me down to one knee for a moment.
“Human.” It spoke, a mumbling of sounds through a mouth that curled outwards, tattered muscles sagging onto their necklace of chain links. “And giant.” I had never taken on Colossus before, but part of me wondered how hard it would be with how much I didn’t want their eyes on me. “You stain your tribe by trespassing into these lands, ghost-flesh! My fleeting joy at your presence shall be the only solution!”
“We never intended to be here! We were betrayed! Our destination -” They stomped their right foot, forcing my knee to bend once more. Quickly picking myself up, the colossi grunted and pushed their sagging lip back into place.
“You will speak when I demand you to. Fail this, and your requests shall be crushed. ”
I bit my lip and pushed aside the thought of toppling a mountain with many breaths of lightning and gusts of wind while my hands prickled in exhaustion. This time, I lowered myself voluntarily and bowed my head.
“Very good.” It said with a pronounced chuckle. “I have a feeling you’ll certainly get the crowd engaged. They’ve only heard stories of giants.”
I simply nodded my head, with Alu’s messages poking me in the thought cafe with obvious things like how not good this all is.
A guard appeared from my left side, unrolling a list of strangers with one name entries. “In a pool of thirty contestants, you will be fighting to the death.”
“Rules?”
The emperor almost slammed its foot again before deciding to not be offended. “Just keep it in the arena and don’t involve the audience. Otherwise, get creative.”
“If they’re all humans, they won’t last long against you.”Alu stealthily said to me, with no attempt at enthusiasm. I couldn’t help but agree, willing to bet that most of them are lost merchants. One of the names on the list was Scourge, to which I imagined some hearty pickpocket who lost their way to the Guild.
“You may heal your partner and have access to my healer’s supplies. Once you’re done, you’ll be summoned for the first day.” Any attempt at protest was useless at this stage, wanting to use my own salves and supplies instead of whatever mystery fluids and rocks it provided. I took a deep breath and stood up as the emperor summoned the guards with a sound I only understood as I tried to pry the Colossi’s mind. The rolling of Os, Ts and Rs mimicked a simple roar but meant “guide” and “room” as far as I could tell.
The guard with the list placed his hand upon my back and attempted to shove me forward, with two on my right dragging Alu by his crimson hair. The temptation to exhale a storm came again but I bit my lip before pulling back my tongue like a scolded child. Behind the throne laid a circular staircase, leading us further into darkness. At the bottom lay a hall full of smaller cells, with rowdy prisoners pointing out my size like it was an insult. The last green door at the end of the black hallway opened, the stretch barely illuminated by granular light lamps. A quick toss of Alu against the dark wall made me turn and yank the bag of remedies from the guard’s hands with tethers around my teeth. If there had been only one, if I knew the way out - I would have grabbed a guard’s neck too with my pull and ripped the flesh and leather apart. No retaliation meant no temptation to do so for now, the slaves simply waved me into the cell as well and let the door reconstruct.
Our restraints simply fell from our backs, clanging against the floor. Blood rushed back to my arms as they hung by my sides. The immediate thought was to shift the sandstone wall opposite the door and plan an escape but I simply placed my hand upon the brown barrier and sensed the structure all around us. Our imprisoning emerald snaked through the entire area, radiating a heat that pushed at the corners of my mind for just grazing it with my tethers.
Night had fallen by the time I could mend his broken bones, the tiny caged window losing light half an hour ago. My fingers brushed against his skin, the image of his shattered forearm coming into perfect clarity as my strands wrapped into his muscle and bone. Just as I’d move stone and reroute the spire’s might through my frame, my lines embraced the snapped bones and broken cords of blood. The salves in the guard’s bag were only intended to numb the affected area for a short time - a drop on the fingertip was enough to break Alu out of wanting to cover his entire arm in it.
“This is going to hurt much more then.” I replied, resting my free hand on the back of his head.
“Of course.” A sheepish smile before resting his unscathed hand upon my face. “I’m sorry that I can’t grasp what you taught me.”
“Oh hush, Lulu.” I leaned in and kissed him deeply, and he gave back in a kind overflow. As he opened wider, I jerked the bone my tethers enveloped back into place before squeezing it tight and pressing the loose bits into the gaps. Whimpering and keeping the scream between our lips, I moved one hand to his lower leg and the other to his back, bringing him closer for the kiss. A louder cry before our lips separated. “You’re willing to learn and to try, that makes you a better man than most.”
“A better stupid man.” Tears ran down his face as he forced a smile, his arm and leg grimly still.
“Stupidity is the unwillingness to try and find out, Lulu, remember?” I sat beside him to let his head rest upon my shoulder. His broken arm laid against my thigh, a prickly feeling exhaling from his skin. “The first month we met, you already wanted to know everything I could do. It was cute, surely you remember that glee.”
“Well it was either learn or just keep on getting burned.” His face glowed with a genuine curve on his lips.
“Many men, human and giant, feel the ashes before even getting burned but refuse to leave their place of comfort.” My palm met the ground and I found myself mapping out the building as much as I could. Even so, I could only reach so far, but an idea soon formed in my mind.
The bindings reattached themselves without warning, trapping some of my hair behind my wrists before the emerald door dissolved, with a group of guards staring at us - their luminescent eyes being the only break in the dark. “He’s still not ready.” I belted, standing to my feet with little purpose.
“The emperor wants to speak with you, giant.” The leader of the pack, a different group entirely from what came before - appearing younger and thinner.
“Why? It’s not even morning.”
“Because they deem it so, now move.” I looked back to Alu, he backed himself into the wall and told me through our connection that we had no choice, best to go along with it. I reluctantly pushed forward and heard the door raise itself again.
Just as before, the guards left quickly before pulling a lever and letting torchlight inhabit the room. The Colossi Emperor sat in their throne just as before, the fires gleaming and drawing light upon the golden armor - a horn bathing in a dull orange and the light purple of the moon. The emperor just looked at me, with shadows obscuring the top half of their face. As the silence stretched on, I gave myself permission to speak first. “You requested me, but not my companion.”
“I did, my curiosity of our former bastards being in the land proved too much to let me slumber.” With the face veiled in shadow and grumbling as a language, it was hard to discern actual inquiry from sarcasm. “Your ancestors never told stories of us, gave you witness to a history where they lived in harmony with us.”
“You mean slavery.” Harmony is the biggest lie one will tell when it comes to the bigger family, the old excuse to make you feel wrong for doing something differently. These tales were told and it wasn’t harmony at all, it was lies and an attempt at conquest - just like those worthless Wardens, and at least they had a spell to cast.
Instead of the room shake I expected after my contempt flew, the Emperor nodded their head. “Very well, it’s hard to know what histories we are given - what leaders declared their victories and what songs were beaten into the bards.”
“You’re suggesting you weren’t there when this separation occurred.” I flatly said, able to gather some of their thoughts but there was an unfamiliarity compared to reading human and kin minds. This prompted them to stand and remove the crown from their head, revealing the river-sized scars that ran in every direction on top, stopping before the crown’s shadow.
“Yes, I inherited Emperor from the one I killed. My former name was Marikus, a merchant helping her mother in the Red Sand Fissure when a fellow colossus tried to shut down our stand, saying we weren’t allowed to sell human antiques. What he meant was that only he and his empire could benefit from such, we were to surrender our goods.”
“And you raised your hand against the ruler of your domain?” I almost appreciated the rebellious action.
“I didn’t know he was royalty of any kind. He wore no crown, when he threatened me, I ripped off his gauntlet in the struggle and stabbed his stomach with the unrefined edge. I was declared Emperor the next day, for a domain I hardly knew the name of, replacing a man with many titles no one recognized.”
“Inheriting the Proving Whole.”
“No, inheriting this lousy estate that I made the Proving Whole. If you want your titles to mean something, you give the other domains something to envy. Regrettably I had to inherit the leftovers from Gargavaeu. Had I submitted, I’d likely be as low in mind as those humans. They follow the crown and nothing else - no drive, no ambition. They couldn’t fight in my arena before the audience cried from boredom.”
“Humans could never build a place like this.” I said slowly, trying to scrape whatever detail I could from her mind but walls erected themselves. Unlike Alu’s, I can find a way through over time.
“Correct, in place of you, his criminal brethren built this place - the stone bastard hated humans almost as much as your kind, with their dragon harvest threatening the whole world with fire. Had that mad king not died, Gargavaeu might have stepped onto the mainland in the name of revenge.”
“But dragons had never existed in your lands.”
“That is correct, youngling.” She sat back down and placed the reformed gauntlet back onto her head. “That Vacuous blight never came either.”
“Is there another purpose for this summon?” Shifting my foot, I searched more with my tethers for as far as they would go.
“Yes, child.” The Emperor grumbled. “Just a reminder that I want nothing but true bloodshed in my arena.”
“I understand but my companion still needs time to heal, another day at least.” Even then, if he had to throw a punch, it could sting. If he casted flame, what would be the consequence?
“Very well then, but that is all. The other royalty will be visiting and you will have to be ready.”
“And if I’m not? What if I disappoint?”
“You die.” She said with a loud boom to her voice, causing their lip to peel outwards and hang again. “Simple as that.”
I nodded my head and found one more thought to hold onto before the guards pointed to leave instead of trying to force me like before. Perhaps if you do well, I’ll have to bring more bastard children to fight. A plan had started to form for me, but if she ever tried to involve my family - I would find a way to topple a mountain a million times over.
Entering the darkness below once more, the emerald door opened and closed as soon as I cleared the markings. The restraints fell away once more and I collapsed to my knees and brought Alu’s half awake form to my chest. Adjusting himself, he tackled me into an embrace. It always felt a little goofy when he hugged me, but in the best way possible. The man’s head was obscured when he was against my stomach and hidden more so underneath my breasts, meaning I could only see his red cloak swinging back and forth when I looked down. Or at least I would if those bastards didn’t take all of our possessions. His words would be muffled speaking into my stomach, so for the time being, we kept the words between our minds.
“Did my best to stay awake.” I reached my hand around and scratched the back of his head, considering how much of a worry-riddled mess he could have been in those ten minutes. “Our host was telling me she wants a show in the arena tomorrow.”
A tight squeeze from him. “What in the world did we get ourselves into?”
A small flick in the back of the head. “A tale worth telling when we get back to the Guild. Better take some of this emerald as a proof.”
He nodded into my stomach, his red beard managing to tickle me. “We’ve got a plan then. Or we’re going to make one.”
“You got it.” Ruffling his hair, giving a small static shock. “I bought you time for at least the second day. I imagine we’ll do fifteen contestants the first day and the other half afterwards.”
“Oh boy, that means I’ll be given the winners, the harder ones to fight though, and then maybe you.” His grip loosened, unsure of himself.
“Anything goes in the arena. We’re not on the mainland, so I’d just scare them off with your flames.” Fear gripped his frame, giving the smallest shake he wanted to hide. “But that’s not the plan anyways.”
He backed up and looked at me with his green eyes, nodding his head and trying to steel his nerves. “What are you thinking?”
Part of me hated admitting how incomplete the plan was but I had no real choice in trying, since I didn’t believe that the Emperor would keep us around for very long regardless of outcome.
“Try your flame at the sandstone behind us.” As he conjured flame in the palm of his hand, I weaved my tethers around its flickering form to keep it small. The action was unneeded however, as I could feel his concentration subdue the spread, melting the sandstone with the precision of a blacksmith. The barrier melted away with no attempt at reconstruction, with my mental map telling me the serpentine greens impeded any straight route. “I’ll give the map I’ve made of this place so far and draw more as I move around tomorrow.”
A small chuckle escaped his lips. “You want me to go sneaking in the nude while you fight out there.”
“I’m sorry, would you like me to ask the guards nicely for a robe?” I could feel a toothy grin shining through the darkness, the evil smile according to him. Punching me in the arm with his once shattered side, we both laughed in surprise that he didn’t feel the need to scream afterwards.
“You can count on me, maybe I can get a good view before finding a sand boat.”
“Not even a little concerned on how I’ll do out there?” I poked him in the cheek, to which he bit my finger.
“I’ve seen you fight a thousand times, Morrigan. I tend to know how it ends for the other side.”
A laugh escaped my lips, and solid walls saved me from the bickering of our sleeping cell mates.
“Flatterer.”
----------------------------------------
Night fell eventually, with our tired minds and frames easily able to submit to the embrace of slumber. It’s easy to forget true boredom when you can’t move of your own free will. Sure, with two participants, there are certain activities you could engage in to pass time, but that’s better saved for safer abodes and less sand.
Alu laid against the hole he made, just large enough to squeeze through on his stomach. My head rested on his lap and even in a daze, my mind raced and reached as far as my tethers would allow. From what I could gather, the arena was on the other side of the room I spoke with the Emperor in - a smaller meeting space before a simple circle with hallways and stations that looped around eventually. Beyond this reach, the image became a set of blurs and noise. If Alu went through this hole, he’d be on the roof of a hallway outside of the arena’s attached ones. Perhaps a guarding circle presides over the arena circle, and maybe something beyond I can’t see. Trouble comes in threes.
Transferring my thoughts to his, he shifted in his sleep but didn’t complain. Meanwhile, my dreams were left to contemplate how I should fight tomorrow. It wouldn’t be the first time such circumstances came to me, but back then it was mere sparring. The colossi like to call us bastard children, but we were simply two people born on the same plains. They were spawned in the west, and we existed in the east, and as with all things, we eventually go to the center or north. Our traditions were similar, but no giant was ever born to a colossus mother, no such nonsense was true but the self appointed ruler at the time spoke his story first, so we were to fall into three duties - worship, service and perish. While the colossi could rip off mountain tops and stand unchallenged by the greatest of winds, giants could command the elements, shape earth even more effortlessly. Before the spires came and gave us the infinite wells to tap into, we used our strands to manipulate everything around us. Giants could bend earth with the strength of their bodies, pull waves of stone and the neighboring seas to disarm the mountains. From one very fateful day, giants went north and made a home of their very own while the humans waged war upon themselves. That’s at least how my grandmother put it, a day of voluntary exile. Maybe tomorrow I can start my own legend to be told back at the Narrow North. A small giggle escaped my mouth thinking of the praise, and Alu’s overprotectiveness over my giant admirers. Might be the change of tone I need once I return.
Haven’t had a bare hand experience like this since leaving for pilgrimage. It was tradition to fight five of the village guards before you left, to prove how much you could handle on your own. From what I recall, my mother won a lot of bets that night.