“Your little experiment cost me many young! It didn’t even work! The prey got away!” The giantess slammed her club into the ground, snarling at the tiny figure standing before it, facing other she-giants.

“There was little likelihood of killing all the prey, given their numbers. I explained this. Killing them all was not the point of the experiment.” The man stood there calmly, his arms folded across his chest. Icy blue eyes regarded the she-giant levelly.

Another she-giant snarled and pushed her way to the front, earning her growls and snarls. “If killing the small prey was not the point, what was? What purpose have our young been slain and turned to feed for the wyrms? Tell us, Ty-Rant!”

Tyrant sighed. “You do not listen and you do not remember. I explained before the young were sent out with my totems. I will explain again but if you fail to listen this time, I will remove those useless heads.” Columns of ice rose up behind him, twisting to become elementals every bit as large as the giants.

Most of the giants took a couple steps back, grips tight on their weapons. None interrupted as Tyrant continued. “The point of the experiment was to learn how they fight. To learn if they could adapt to new opponents or if they were bound by convention. To see if we could whittle down their numbers, which we did. And finally, to see if giants could use my totems, which we have learned to be so.”

Tyrant looked around the gathered she-giants, matriarchs from across the Frozen Wastes. Not nearly all of them, but enough to begin the work. “The prey we are hunting has denied you for thousands of years, locked you here in the frozen lands and kept you from the bounty of the world.” There was a series of grunts and nods from the giants.

“This hunt is unlike all others. It will take time to study this prey. To learn its secrets. To gather our strength. To join together into a force greater than any seen by this world.” Tyrant smiled. “We will unite all the tribes of the north. Giant, troll, and ogre.”

The giants erupted in protest, shouting and screaming. There was nothing coherent in those shouts, other than denials. Finally, one of the she-giants who had spoken earlier stepped forward again. “Ogres are too stupid to work with and trolls only think of eating. They even eat giants and ogres, even each other!”

“That is why the giants will lead.” The giants seemed to recoil in shock at Tyrant’s words. “I did not come to you by chance. The giants are the strongest of the north. It is only because you fight against each other that you continually face defeat.

“It is only when a War Leader unites the tribes that you truly challenge the small prey. Yet even then you cannot breach the gates. You need the ogres and trolls so that together you can bring down the walls and finally retake the fertile lands that should have been yours all those centuries ago.”

There was muted silence punctuated by giant sized whispers. The giantess from earlier asked, “Why do you do this, Ty-Rant? You are small prey. They are small prey.”

Tyrant chuckled. “Am I still prey?” The elementals behind him shifted slightly, causing a few of the giants to take another step back. “No, I have more in common with you than those fools in the south. They deny my freedoms as much as they deny your own. Besides, I like it here in the Wastes. My powers are so much greater here.”

A throne of ice rose up beneath Tyrant, lifting him a dozen feet into the air. “We will all grow in strength together. There will be food enough to birth many more young, far more than are lost in these experiments. The large prey will be made to serve, just as the ogres and the trolls will be made to serve.”

With a smile as cold as his throne, Tyrant swept his gaze around the gathering. “This world will be ours and everything in it will be our prey.”

The screams and shouts were much more encouraging this time around.

***

Most of the giants had left the ice structure. Only two remained, the most outspoken of the group. The first, the one who had complained of losing her young, stared down at Tyrant. “You are too free with lives not your own. I would see this extra food before more of my young are given to your experiments.”

Tyrant nodded from his throne. “Of course. I will be personally leading the next mammoth and wyrm hunt.” He grinned. “We will also be hunting a new prey. The Frost Whale.”

Both she-giants recoiled, the first saying, “The whale cannot be killed. They eat any giant who tries, even full tribes. Their magic is too strong.”

“Oh I think we can deal with the magic this time around. No giants will be eaten on this hunt.”

The giantess grunted then nodded, tapping her club on the ground. “You kill a whale and there will be many young birthed.” That said, she turned and left.

The remaining giantess was silent for several minutes. Tyrant was content to wait, watching the giantess. She seemed smarter than the others. Old, though it was impossible to tell a giant’s age. They could be anywhere from a decade to several centuries. One ancient record spoke of some giants lasting over a millenia.

Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

“Tyrant, I would know something. How is it you are here in the north? The only way through the mounts is the valley. The seas are full of serpents and whales.”

Tyrant grinned. “You are the only one to ask about that. I came through the valley. I walked through the city over the Jeweled Gate. No one saw me. No one could stop me. Of course, it was unusually snowy that day.”

The giantess grunted. “It is as I thought. You belong in the north, even as we giants belong in the north. The others think only of the prey. Me, I think about the freedom to move, to explore. To hunt what and where I like. But here. Here is home.”

She gazed down at him with eyes as dark as the night, though there seemed to be stars in this sky. “My name is Kamala, and I share with you a secret of the north.” The stars in her eyes seemed to swirl and glow. Mist gathered and fell on the giantess, slowly freezing into a kind of armor.

Tyrant leaned forward, his grin wider. Even the elementals behind him leaned in. “My my, that is quite the secret indeed. No giant has even exhibited magic, nor morn armor. I feel that we will be spending a great deal of time together, Kamala. Both of our powers will grow. Perhaps we will even be able to build a proper city, a project I despaired of accomplishing on my own.”

A slow smile spread across Kamala’s face as her armor shattered and clattered to the ground. “A goal I have dreamed of for many years, more than I care to count. You help me build a city and I will gather all those in the north who share my gift. I shall return in a moon, after I have gathered my people. We will begin the city then.”

Kamala bowed her head slightly then headed for the exit. Tyrant rested his chin on a fist, watching the giantess as his throne slowly sank towards the ground.

Icey arms draped themselves over Tyrant’s shoulders, glowing semi-transparent in the light of the mage globes. A slim face with feathery hair came into view, the ice as supple as flesh. “You’re not thinking of another woman now, are you, Tyrin?”

Tyrant chuckled and turned his head to press a kiss to a frozen cheek. “You know you are the only woman for me, Shiva. None are your equal in body or mind.”

There was an icy giggle as Shiva flowed over the throne to stand before him. This time she appeared to have styled her outfit from an area of northing Toria, a type of toga that left one shoulder bare and clung to her slim figure. She stretched her arms overhead, arching her back in a way that threatened the integrity of the clothing. It was a fascinating effect for a creature completely formed of ice.

“I love this land, Tyrin. There is so much energy and life, a wondrous vibrancy.” Shiva wrapped her arms around herself. “I never want to leave.”

Tyrant leaned back on the throne with a fond smile. “And we shall never need to, especially once we have a city of our own. Eventually we will cover this entire world in ice and everything will be perfect. Harr has promised that his mages will succeed and that even more magic will pour into this world.”

Shiva pouted, her fists on her hips. “I don’t trust that shade. I can’t properly gauge his powers. Nothing of this world should be beyond my touch.” She lifted a hand, palm up, a tiny ice sculpture of the shadowy being spinning to life. Frowning, she growled before crushing the figure in her fist.

“My dear Shiva, so fierce. I do not believe Harr to be of our world. It is an entity of malice, looking to supplant the guardians of this world. I can think of only one type of being that fits.”

Shiva inhaled sharply, an act that always amused him, considering that she didn’t need to breathe. A hiss escaped her. “The Gods. You think Harr to be one of the warring Gods? Why did you wait till now to tell me?” She frowned at him.

Tyrant shook his head. “It was only on arriving here in the north that I truly thought about the events that led us here. The creature appearing to me and the others. Their turning on us in fear of our power, of what it will become. Those short-sighted fools have no idea of what they will unleash. But you and I saw beneath the math to its true purpose.” He smiled at Shiva, reaching out a hand. She pouted for a brief moment before taking his hand, letting herself be guided onto his lap. It still filled him with wonder how she was able to be so light and soft, even formed of ice.

“We figured out the truth together, and while we have no issues with the end result, we could not abide the betrayal of our fellows.” he grinned. “Not that they get to live with their regret.”

Shiva returned the grin, resting one hand lightly on his chest. “They did make pretty sculptures. Perhaps we’ll free them when all the world is ours. As long as they truly apologize.”

Tyrant leaned down and kissed Shiva’s forehead. “Only the Jeweled Gate stands between us and the rest of the world. I look forward to seeing it crumble beneath us.”

Shiva giggled. “You say the nicest things, Tyrin.”