Vir chuckled. “Yeah, and that monster’s supposed to be my father? Or at least someone close to me? If you told me yesterday that I’m related to a mythical giant, I’d have laughed in your face.”
Maiya snorted. “Me too. But, hey! I think it’s amazing. Means you’re not like the rest of us.”
“Well, that was already obvious,” Vir said.
“Not like that! I mean that you’re someone important. You’re somebody. Maybe you don’t know it yet, but you are. Me? I’m just a village girl. No mythological relatives or anything…”
“You really want to make a name for yourself, don’t you?” Vir asked. He almost felt like they’d both be happier if their situations were reversed—with him being an ordinary villager and her the one with a mysterious relative.
“I do,” Maiya said. “I really, really do. But I dunno how that’s ever gonna happen.”
“You think this is your chance, don’t you? You think that by joining us, you might visit a big city one day…”
Maiya leaned her back against his and looked up to the sky. “C’mon. You know that’s not why I joined you.”
Vir frowned. “I know… I take that back.”
“But… well, yeah. If we do make it to a big city, that would be amazing. Even if we don’t, I’ll be happy if I can protect you.”
Vir tried to imagine Maiya slinging fireballs at vicious animals… He started laughing.
“What’s so funny about that?” she huffed.
“Nothing! Nothing. Thanks. I appreciate it.” He really meant it, too. Everything in his life had become suddenly strange, so it was comforting to have as many familiar faces as possible.
“You think we’ll make it out alright?” she asked.
“Think so. Especially if your father leads the knights astray like he said. But…”
“But what?” Maiya asked.
“Nah, it’s nothing.”
Maiya turned to face him, though he could barely make out her face in the darkness. “Tell me!”
Vir sighed. “Well, what do you think’s gonna happen to your father if he’s caught helping us?”
“W-what do you mean?”
“I mean, those are Hiranyan knights! Your father’s playing a very dangerous game, feeding them misinformation. If they ever find out…”
“I have to go back!” she said, panicking.
“Don’t be ridiculous. What could you possibly do if you went back?”
“I—”
“Why do you think he let you come with us in the first place?” Vir interrupted. He continued when she didn’t reply. “It’s because he felt you’d be safer here, with us, than with him.”
Maiya fell silent, and Vir immediately realized his mistake. This wasn’t what she needed to hear right now.
“He’ll be fine,” he said. “Your father’s the only one in the village who can use combat orbs. He’s Balar Ranked, right?”
“Balar Rank 5, but that’s not much. Those knights are probably Balar 10 or higher.”
“He’s a smart man. He’ll be alright,” Vir said.
The minutes turned into hours, but Maiya didn’t speak another word. Vir understood she was brooding over her family, he just didn’t know how to make her feel any better. He regretted his words for the rest of the night.
Luckily, their biggest threat ended up being a large lizard curious enough to venture into their camp. Maiya startled at the sound, and Vir drove it off without issue.
The hours passed quickly for Vir. The forest, while certainly strange, wasn’t silent to him in the way it was for his friend. Ever since he was a child, he’d heard its voices. He liked to think it was the voices of the plants and the animals… He eventually surmised it wasn’t. It felt like the collective voice of the Forest itself, though such a thing was impossible. Or at least, he’d thought it impossible, until tonight. If four-armed giants really existed, then who was to say that living forests didn’t?
While Maiya’s thoughts lingered over her family, Vir turned to his past.
Who was he? Would he ever find out? As the time went on, the answer became increasingly obvious. If he wanted answers, he had to find this giant. Except he had no clue where to even start. Such a being would be famous across the world, yet he hadn’t heard a single myth, not a single word of gossip. Perhaps… perhaps if they made it to a big city, maybe he could ask around there.
Rudvik’s snoring abruptly halted, causing both of them to startle.
“Looks like our shift’s over,” Maiya said with a giant yawn.
“Looks like it.”
Searching for the four-armed demon in a big city was all well and good, but first, he had to make it out of the Godshollow.
Vir’s sleep was fitful and restless. He dreamed of tattooed giants and stillborn children.
8RUDVIK—OF BRIJ
The day started with a rustle and a chill.
After having spent much of the night on guard duty, Rudvik entered the tent as quietly as he could manage—which was to say, not quietly at all—to cook up some breakfast.
Neither Vir nor Maiya had gotten much sleep, so they were already up when he handed them bowls of hot soup through the tent’s door. Vir had so many thoughts on his mind that falling asleep had been impossible, even ignoring the cold. Maiya just wasn’t used to sleeping on the bare forest floor. She’d been tossing, turning, and shivering all night. They ate in silence inside the tent, just happy to be putting something warm into their bellies.
Vir left the tent first. The soup had filled him with an inner warmth, but the morning chill still nipped at his fingers and toes.
“We’d best move quick. Deeper we get inta the Godshollow, the better,” Rudvik said, staring off into the distance. Even now, hardly any light penetrated through the thick canopy, leaving the forest floor a place of perpetual darkness.
The forest grew denser and darker the deeper they went, so pathfinding wasn’t too difficult—assuming all you wanted to do was go deeper.
When they’d packed up camp, Rudvik kicked dirt over the campfire and swept leaves and sticks over the entire site. “Don’t wanna give those knights any ideas, if ya catch my drift. Might’s well make it hard to follow our trail.”
“What if they have hunting bandies, though?” Maiya asked.
“Well then, nothin’ we can do ’bout that, can we?” Rudvik said, hoisting his heavy pack. “Now let’s be off. Got a full day of hikin’ ahead of us.”
They set out at a slow, even pace, with Rudvik taking the lead. Of them all, Maiya was the least suited to navigating the wilderness, so she was in the middle. They couldn’t risk getting separated if she started lagging behind. Vir brought up the rear.
“I don’t think those knights’ll be able to bring their cavalry in here,” Maiya said. “Hard enough just to even walk here.”
“Right you are, Crimson. Oughta slow ’em even further. We’re makin’ pretty good time. Strangers to the Godshollow wouldn’t be able to cut through like we have. That said… if we’re ever found, whatever ya do, don’t resist. Those men are highly trained warriors. Neither of ya’d stand a chance.”
Vir wanted to argue, but he really couldn’t. He didn’t have an ounce of combat training, and while Vir was good at throwing pebbles, he somehow doubted he’d win a battle with a professional knight with his lobbing skills alone. The only weapons they carried were their bushcrafting knives and Rudvik’s tree ax. Against swords and spears, only Rudvik would stand a chance.
Conversation petered out as they penetrated the Godshollow’s depths. Vir began to pant and sweat, toughening it out. He’d grow cold more easily on account of all the sweat, but he absolutely refused to slow the group down.