On one particular trip Asil, Twulai, Achala and Bryce were heading East to the city of Dasa. The fourth ice field was finally being dug up and it was by far the one with the rarest gems. The Giants were transporting the gems to be sold to the overlords in Dasa in order to please their clients and women of high stature. It wasn't long until they saw a familiar sight. A large pack of twelve Mawon was coming towards them. Bryce got a good number of spheres ready while the Giants prepared to fight. The pack was fast and they were upon the Giants within moments. Unlike many of the other packs that they had encountered, these Mawon were organised. They split off into three smaller groups of four, and each group came a single Giant. With four Mawon to one Giant, the fight was fierce. Blood ran both down the Giants’ bodies and deep in the Mawons’ fur. One by one the Giants took down the Mawon with help from Bryce, although he very much kept his distance. Adrenaline pumped through their veins and so did the blood that poured out of them.
Since joining Bryce and Achala, Asil and Twulai had grown strong in both strength and stamina. During the fight, Asil and Twulai managed to kill or fatally wound all of the Mawon which attacked them. Achala however, was beginning to tire and the remaining Mawon swarmed around her. As the tenth Mawon went down so did Achala, she fell onto the ice and began being ripped into by the two remaining Mawon. Twulai and Asil instantly came to help and took a Mawon each, beating the bloodthirsty beasts until death took them. Bryce then halted the wagon and ran without a second thought towards the Giants. The last two Mawon were now dead and Achala lay curled up in a ball, with blood covering most of her skin as well as staining the snow around her. Carefully Asil and Twulai knelt down next to Achala on either side. Bryce joined them and kneeled next to Achala’s head.
“Achala?” Asil called softly.
“Are you ok?” Twulai called as well, resting a hand on Achala’s back.
“Achala,” Bryce called, his voice gentle and worrisome. Achala didn’t reply and instead, she began to shake and she curled herself up tighter into a ball. “Put her on the back of the wagon,” Bryce said to Asil and Twulai without hesitation. “You'll carry her load and that which is already on the wagon. Split it out between yourselves,” Asil and Twulai had no argument with this and did as Bryce told them to do. Gently and with care, they managed to turn Achala onto her back, where her eyes were closed and her skin was pale. Tears moved slowly down her face as they carried her to the wagon and lay her down onto it. Her wounds were many, and blood still seeped out of them. It was clear that she needed something more than the cold air to help her heal.
They continued on their journey, travelling with haste to Dasa and exhausting the wolves that pulled the wagon. Asil and Twulai were struggling too, the extra weight was not too bad to, begin with but over time it weakened them and all they focused on was putting one foot in front of the other. After days of travelling, Achala had become very weak. More Mawon had attacked them and their skins were placed over Achala in order to warm her, yet her shivering never seemed to end. It was a miracle that she was still alive, as most travelling men would have left a Giant in that state to die. Furthermore, Bryce had a connection to Achala for he had bought her himself when she had been very young and she had protected him many times. It was now his turn to return the favour.
After a week of travelling, sleeping and tending to Achala, they finally arrived in Dasa. It was a rich city, filled mostly with wealthy retired mine owners and craftsmen of only the finest equipment. Much like Durkan the buildings were made of stone, only these were much more ornate with patterns running up the walls. The streets were wide and clean, unlike the rest of the North. Nevertheless, malice and fury still ran between the streets and filled the air, but here the children ran with innocence. Once they had given the nets of ice to a rather wealthy, chubby man, they clumsily found somewhere to rest. Bryce went off to the market with a number of Mawon furs in excellent condition. After he had left, Twulai and Asil caught sight of a young boy, only 6 years of age.
“Hey,” Twulai called out to him. The boy turned to face the Giant who was hiding in the shadows. The boy couldn’t see Twulai, but knew that he was there. “Go and fetch me these. Bring me as many as you can carry,” Twulai commanded him before he threw the boy a sphere. The boy caught the object then ran off with it.
“What are you doing?” Asil asked him in anger.
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“Do you have a better idea?” He answered and Asil looked at him in confusion. “Your plan,” Twulai stated before continuing, “Yesterday evening on the horizon, did you not see the storm clouds? They were a long way off yet but the storm should hit us in around six days time and if we can get the lighting to strike a large pile of these spheres. I would imagine that would provide enough energy for a rather large explosion,” Asil’s eyes finally lit up at this and she understood Twulai’s vision.
“But a boy? And what are we going to give him in return?”
“In return?” Twulai said. “If there is one thing that I have learned about this cold, dark land is that you get half back for what you give, and that’s if you’re really lucky. The boy will get in return what he brings to us.”
A little while later the boy returned and with as many spheres as he could fit into a large wooden basket. The basket was large and, with being bigger than he was, it almost caused him to topple over. The innocent boy stood there as Twulai took the basket from his hands and placed it below the covers which were draped over Achala. The boy stood there waiting for something while Twulai simply took a sphere and started to wind it up. The boy heard the noise and ran down the alleyway as fast as his legs could carry him. Twulai threw the sphere so it landed close to, but not on, the boy just to make sure that he kept running. There they settled and waited for Bryce to return.
A few hours later Twulai awoke and looked lazily over to Achala. Bryce had returned and was tending to Achala’s wounds even though it was clear that he was exhausted and was struggling to stay awake. Gently Twulai came over and took the medicine, which consisted of a bowl with a strong smelling smooth paste in it and another bowl filled with a mixture of hers and oil. Bryce hardly noticed Twulai take the bowls from him before he collapsed to one side and fell into a deep sleep. Twulai continued to treat Achala’s wounds with great skill before he too fell back asleep.
The next day they left Dasa and on the way back to the ice fields, Achala had been slowly starting to heal. Their pace had slowed because of Achala’s injuries but she was doing well. A thunderstorm was gathering over the mountains on the Eastern horizon and the Giants knew that it was almost time to implement their plan. Thirty-six hours passed and, in the dead of night, the storm was now raging above them. Rain pounded their bodies as it fell from the sky and thunder roared around the dark clouds. Bright flashes filled the sky as lightning struck near the Giants. The atmosphere was tense and a childish fear gripped the Giants, yet they knew that this was their only chance. They moved the sleeping Bryce so that he was as far from the wagon as the Giants chains would allow. They did not see any benefit in killing Bryce and he had done them no wrong. They let the wolves free by unhooking them from the wagon and allowed them to run into the wilderness. Then all the Giants worked together to gather the spheres into a pile, before lying their chains across it. Time passed, a little too much time, just enough for the Giants to lose their fear of the anticipated attack. Then within a split second, lightning struck the chains and a huge electrical current travelled into the pile of spheres. Momentarily there was a massive humming noise of electricity. Then the sphere’s exploded and a huge burst of heat, noise and flames erupted from the wagon.
A loud ringing sound took over Achala’s head as she regained consciousness. Slowly she looked up and saw the devastation which lay before her. The wagon was burning brightly and everything was flames. Achala looked down and smiled to see that her chains had been cut from the wagon about a meter away from her. She punched a hole in the ice and plunged her feet down into it. She cried out in pain but after a few seconds, she brought her feet up to see the half broken chains and shackles. She pulled them off easily and moved her ankles, enthralled at the new freedom that she had. She looked around and saw Asil and Twulai, who had also been blown away from the blast, starting to come around. Asil used heat to burn her chains and shackles off while Twulai pulled them apart. Achala stood up with difficulty, the sound of the fire crackled in her ears. She stumbled around the wreckage taking in what they had done, and soon Asil and Twulai joined her. All three of them stood on the snow watching in awe and disbelief at the burning wagon.
The Giants turned away and went over to Bryce, who was still lying on the snow with his back to the fire. Twulai turned him over and a gasp came from Achala and Asil. The right side of Bryce’s body was burnt and blistered, while half buried in his right temple lay a sphere that stained the rest of his head with blood. The left side of his face was untouched, with his left eye closed and looked as though he was asleep. Achala felt the grief creep into her head, he had done nothing wrong to them and yet they were the cause of his death.
The Giants then turned and left the devastation behind them, going East towards the distant mountains. There they had a hope of finding a way out of the wilderness. In the mountains, their skills were at their peak and they knew how to survive within them, and so their chance of survival and escape was higher than it was in the bleak wilderness. They reached the mountains sooner than they had anticipated, the ice gave way to rocky ground and soon after rough grasses started to appear. They travelled south following the edge of the mountains, hoping it would lead them to the sea. But how they would cross it would be a difficulty they had yet to face.