It took longer than expected to get to the Dead Hills. In fact, I keep finding that most things take longer than expected. Like how it takes longer than expected for when you start feeling a painful cavern in your stomach that three meals a day would normally fill. Or how it takes longer than expected to get yourself up in the morning after having slept for barely two hours the night before. Or how it takes longer than expected to get used to fighting off small monsters, scavenging for the small amount of rations keeping us alive.
There are things that are the opposite, though. Like it was much faster than I thought it would be for me to practically forget everything that happened in Myre. Maybe not quite forget, but accept at least. Or how it was much faster than I thought it would be for the pain in my ribs to dull out enough for me to move properly. Or how it was much faster than I thought it would be for me to slip into the position of leader. Not as easily as Dallas, and definitely not willingly, but when Keo or Dallas would look to me for direction, I got used to pointing the way.
When we'd reached the Dead Hills, it was obvious. We'd fallen into a trance, trekking along in thick woodlands, having been silent for the past hour, but when the smell of ash and the crunch of dead leaves became too obvious to ignore, we all straightened in our seats.
Three weeks. It'd taken almost 3 weeks to get to where we were. I couldn't count the number of times I wanted to get off my horse and just lay there, waiting for the earth to take me. The faint memories of tall spires coated in red and purple and the memories of soft words and green eyes were what kept me going.
So we kept going because we were already this far, we couldn't turn back now. When the days started to blend together, we fell into this pattern. We'd ride until we couldn't anymore. We'd eat and then get small bits of sleep that was either interrupted by rotating for watch, the cold keeping us awake, or small monsters poking around.
Oh, the cold.
God, I thought the snow was bad back when I first got to Chison. The snow was nothing compared to the bitter, slicing cold of the night air. Keo had said it was because the further we got from civilization, the stronger the magic was, and at night it fed off us.
That was terrifying, to say the least, but it wasn't like we could do anything about it. Every day out there, a ball of fear had grown, lodged at the base of my throat and keeping me from voicing my thoughts, my feelings, anything that could deter us from our path, anything that could distract us. I don't quite know what it was. Whether it was the constant feeling of being watched, the pressure of expectation, or the voice in the back of my head that had been urging me to be alert since we left camp all those days ago.
Whatever it was, it taught me to live with the seemingly everlasting prickle of nerves beneath my skin.
The days had died out. Dallas had fallen into his soldier act quite deeply. He'd almost been consumed by it. Specks of the Dallas I knew back in Vrateldo would shine through every now and then but I was beginning to wonder whether I'd ever see him so carefree, like before.
Keo was pretty lighthearted, and oftentimes carried the conversations. I was grateful for that. The silence got to be too much sometimes.
All around us were ashy, white hills, a grey sky, and only specks of black where dead trees or rocks spotted the terrain. I could see why it was called the Dead Hills. There was not a glimmer of life in sight.
I opened up my bottle of water and tipped it back, only to find the tiniest bit left. It barely wet my tongue.
"So what if we do find something out here?" Keo asked, slowing to a stop so I could ride up beside him. His hair dye was starting to rinse out, the red dulling to a dark orange, standing out much more into the black. His face was pretty clean for being out here for three weeks. I knew my face had to be covered in dirt and who knows what else.
"I guess that depends on what it is?" I said it like a question, my gaze falling on Dallas, silently asking for confirmation. He nodded softly as he joined my other side.
His brown hair was matted and unruly, stuck together with filth, his face covered in a thin layer of dust. I bet I looked about the same. "Yeah, it'll depend on the severity of the situation," he said, assuring me.
I turned back to Keo, much more confident. "If its something we cant handle, we'll retreat and report back. That is our mission anyway. If its something we can handle, we might as well address it," I said.
Keo nodded, yawning. We'd left earlier this morning, so Keo had gotten less sleep since he'd been on the last watch. "What if its Giants?" he asked, pulling his feet up on his horse with a cocky smirk.
Dallas rolled his eyes. "Its not Giants."
"It could be."
"It's not."
"You never know."
"I do."
Keo hummed, leaning back on his horse, looking up at the sky.
Dallas shook his head. "Its a myth. I'm sure its just some monsters with empty threats."
Keo sighed. "It's not a myth. King Asther was a part of it." Dallas grunted, turning away from him.
King Asther. That must have been Tairen's dad, the first king of Chison.
"He was a part of it?" I asked and Keo smiled, like he was expecting the question.
"Supposedly," Dallas said, scanning his eyes across the dead lands before us.
Keo sat up. "He sure was. The Giants created Chison, really. King Asther just discovered it."
"How did the Giants create Chison?" I couldn't see how the creators of this world were all that bad.
Keo's face seemed to light up. It was refreshing to see. Even Dallas had stalled his surveying to listen in. "Well, the Giants were part of the real world long ago, as was every monster. In fact, the Giants were worshipped by the people. The Giants ate the people, as sacrifices and stuff, and the humans all believed them to be gods. They weren't, of course. They were just Monstrosities, but they didn't know that. No one knows why they disappeared one day but as people do, they grasp onto anything to believe in and when it disappears, they can't take the blame themselves. The people became angry, as they do, and blamed them for anything they could. Droughts, storms, war, plague, any misfortune was thus thrown at the Giants, as if their absence was the reason for them."
I imagine angry people. Angry, dying people, cursing their gods, the Giants, as they took their last breaths. I couldn't imagine being so utterly blind but I also understood the bitter need to grasp onto anything to believe in.
"Slowly, people became more civilized and in doing so, they began to hunt. In an act of revenge to the Giants, they began to hunt all the monsters to near extinction. The Giants returned in aid of the other monsters but by the time they got there, the human's had stopped. Surprisingly, they proposed a truce. They just stopped, said they could coexist with the Giants. The Giants, having faith in the humans who had so loosely put their faith in them for centuries, accepted. However, they no longer lived as gods. Instead, they lived far from civilization, never seeing any humans and, while in hiding, they became a part of the stories that kept children from staying out too late.
"Like all things, it came to an end. It was a swift and brutal end. The humans attacked with a Monstrosity of their own. A onstrosity not of the natural order that wreaked havoc on the monsters. Even the Giants, the only true Monstrosities, did not stand a chance against them. So they ran. They gathered all the monsters they could and used all the pure magic they had to open a gateway—to tear a pocket in the universe and escape. As the giants went extinct, their last bit of life force being used to save the rest of the monsters, the cummulation of all their pure magic became one being. One Monstrosity that saved the monsters when the humans sent theirs in after them. As both Monstrosities disappeared, the gateway to Chison closed and remained closed until King Asther and the Queen entered centuries later."
"What?" I couldn't stop myself from asking. "Wait, so the Giants all died?"
"Yes, supposedly, but everyone's always said they just went to the Dead Hills. Or stayed, I guess. This is where the battle between the final Monstrosities took place."
"Maybe the awakening is someone trying to wake up the Giants? If they're out there," I thought out loud. Keo shrugged.
"Maybe. We won't know until we get there. I hope thats just it. Just some dumb people chasing a fairytale." Keo looked content. Much more alive than he had before. I could tell he liked to tell stories. He'd always get excited and bright-eyed when talking about his past, or the history on monsters.
There was a change in the air. I could tell we all felt it. It was a feeling that made me sick to my stomach, an aching in my gut that told me something was so very wrong. I wanted to run. The voice in my head kept telling me to run, to preserve myself, but I knew I couldn't.
I was so close.
I could feel it.
Then it hit us. The terrible scent of blood—of death. It was a scent I'd become well accompanied with, almost comfortable with at this point. Keo slowed to a stop and we all followed suit. It was easy to fall into step alongside our companion, we'd learn it was safer that way.
There was a slight hill in front of us and we knew—we all knew—that beyond that hill was our answer, what we've been searching for.
We stopped to be cautious but we also stopped because we weren't sure if we wanted to know what was on the other side of that hill. Was this the end of our journey or the beginning?
Perhaps we already knew the answer.
I took the first step. I slowly slid off my horse and inched forward. Not far behind me was Keo and Dallas. The supposed role of the leader I'd taken up was somehow enough to pull everyone out of their heads. It got them to stop thinking and just follow.
That putrid scent got worse, almost enough to make me want to throw up. As I reached the crest of the hill, that feeling in my stomach became almost painful and that voice in my head was screaming for me to turn around, that this wasn't worth it. My life wasn't worth knowing what's on the other side of that hill. I failed to see how that was true.
I stood frozen at the top, looking down at the dead world before me. It was much worse now that it wasn't as dead as I had formerly believed it to be.
Flags.
Thats the first thing I noticed. The flags of the kingdom. With its ever memorable red and purple, stark against the white of the earth below. Almost as stark as the blood that stained it.
I'd seen monsters. I'd seen monsters that pretend to be human. I'd seen monsters that simply watch. I know what a monster is. I can feel their presence just easily as I can feel a human's presence.
The things before me were not monsters.
They were humanoid, with arms and legs and heads exactly like a human's. But they weren't human. I couldn't tell exactly how much, but I'd say they were around twenty feet tall, and completely bare.
Giants. These must have been the giants.
I counted five. Five ghastly beings covered in blood surrounded by a dead world.
I ducked down and took a closer look. I felt exposed, like they could see me despite me being behind them. I felt vulnerable.
As I looked closer, I noticed the small figures at their feet. From this distance they were small, at least. But my mind knew they weren't small up close. Because I'd been up close to these monsters. I'd seen their red eyes in the dead of night, I'd watched as their canines tore into skin. These monsters were Dire Wolves. Of course I knew, I'd seen them every time I went to sleep.
But the blood came from none of them. The blood came from the bodies at their feet. The human bodies at their feet.
I recognized the colors—colors of the Kingdom. Ten people clad in metal armor, the armor the guards wore. Why were the people of the kingdom here?
"Thats...Myre. Myre soldiers." Keo broke the silence. Both him and Dallas joined my sides, crouched low with their eyes on the horrid scene before us. I don't know how long we sat there.
We sat there long enough to know there were ten soldiers in total, and each time the giants picked up one, they squeeze, so effortlessly, and the fragile bodies would pop.
Blood would splatter and their remaining body parts would twitch and shiver, as if they were still alive, still feeling the atrocities being committed. The center of the carnage, where the majority of the blood was, there was a large stone platform sticking out of the earth. It was almost black with blood and god knows what.
I felt Dallas poise before I had to look. I could feel him tense beside me, recognize that change in his demeanor, his eyes darkening. His hand slowly slid to his sword, fingers wrapping tightly around the handle.
Just as he was about to stand, I grabbed onto his arm. Stop him. He's going to get you all killed.
"Dallas, dont."
When his eyes met mine, I'm sure he could see the panic in them, the panic I felt knowing that if he drew their attention to us, we wouldn't make it out of these hills. I couldn't let him stand or we'd all die here.
"Those people need—"
"Those people are long gone," I cut him off, surprised by the harshness of the words. "Its too late for them. We came here on a mission and we need to complete it."
Dallas nodded, his eyes wide, his hands shaking. He slowed released his hold on his sword and I relaxed, as much as I could in this situation.
I turned to Keo to ask for back up but he was in no better shape. His eyes were wide, full of fear, genuine, raw fear, something I'd never seen in Keo. I didn't think he could be afraid. But his hands shook and his lips quivered and I didn't recognize him anymore.
This wasn't the Keo I knew. It wasn't the fearless, sarcastic, nonchalant assassin. And it wasn't him, not in the way Dallas wasn't himself sometimes, when he did what he had to do to complete the mission, when he was a soldier. No, Keo wasn't himself in the way that I saw no resemblance to the Keo I knew in the Keo I was looking at.
He stumbled back, his eyes glued on the scene before us. "Dire wolves. It's always—always wolves."
He fell back, his eyes glossing over with tears. I'd never seen him like this before and I wasn't sure what I was supposed to do as he cradled himself, his breathing picking up, his hands clenching around chunks of hair.
"I used to struggle with something like that, too." At the time, I never could have seen Keo in this situation, never thought I'd recognize the way his hands shook and he look at the ground so helplessly.
I reached for him and pulled him close. I was afraid. We were all afraid. The monsters just on the other side of that hill were nothing like we'd ever seen before and its was terrifying. But now was not the time to fall apart. I would get us out of there. I had to.
I gently pried Keo's hands from his hair, and instead, he gripped onto my shoulders and I wondered if it would leave bruises. "We are not prepared to fight here and we cannot stay and die here," I said, quietly but with as much certainty as I could muster. "You need to pull yourself together, Keo."
And it was like a switch. And I say that in the most literal way. One moment, he was shaking with tears streaming down his cheeks and the next, he was relaxed, his eyes focused, and with a deep breath, he let go of me and he was the Keo I knew again.
We left the hills. We went back the way we came and with the knowledge that it took three weeks to get there, we knew we could not stop for the night. We had to get back to the kingdom, to our people. We had to get home.
But before we left those hills—those dead hills—I looked back. One last glimpse at the havoc the Giants had wreaked. And as a Giant lifted a soldier's flimsy body up and crushed it with its teeth, making solid bone sound like twigs, I also caught a glimpse of the havoc yet to come.