Gabriel gripped the mane tightly, not knowing exactly how to keep his seat without pulling too hard. He trusted that Judah would let him know if he was holding the fur wrong.
"How far is it, do you know?" He murmured to the animal, not really expecting an answer.
Judah huffed through his nose, as if irritated that Gabriel didn't seem to think they were going quickly enough, then kicked his second two pairs of legs into a speed that almost left the man's lunch in the dust behind them.
"I wasn't complaining!" Gabriel protested, and the giant cat slowed only slightly. The giants came into view. The man gasped.
A giantess was holding a human in each of her fists, very close to her face. Shayn and Simone! Were they already squished to death in her grasp? Would they be all right?
Was she about to eat them? Gabriel saw the two horses rearing and stamping in protest of being riderless, one fleeing back towards the direction of the cart, the other stubbornly refusing to leave without its human.
Both were screaming in fear.
Gabriel sucked in a breath, terrified to watch the lives of his stepbrother and his friend end inside a giant's teeth. Would it be a quick death, at least? He dreaded the thought. He should turn back and warn the others, release the bird with the urgent message to Klain, quickly!
He pulled at Judah's mane. "We need to leave!"
The cat ignored him, rushing onward towards the horrifying sight. It seemed Gabriel would have a front row seat to death today. He tensed, and his stomach protested. Maybe it wasn't as it seemed? Maybe Judah knew how to save the two?
There was little chance of that. In the retelling of the tale of Roland and Lysander confronting the giants, Judah had been summarily tossed aside and injured. He'd been still nursing that injury when he first arrived in Klain so long ago. Unless the enormous cat had learned some new giant-fighting skills in the ten years that had passed, it was hopeless.
Surely there was no point in going closer except that Gabriel was likely to die along with his friends.
"Please!" Gabriel whispered frantically, leaning forward as if he could disappear into Judah's fur and remain unseen. That was impossible. The giants' eyes were large and roving. Gabriel doubted there was much they didn't see.
Perhaps he wouldn't look particularly tasty? He gulped and tried to gain control of his emotions.
Judah huffed, apparently offended by Gabriel's cowardice. "There's nothing I can do!" Gabriel whispered. "I'd save them if I could, but rushing straight at them doesn't seem like it will work!"
His words were stuttered out as he clung to the cat's back. He could have sworn the ride got much bumpier when he began asking to turn away from the danger.
Judah lurched closer, and caught the giantess's eye. She straightened, and turned her face over her shoulder.
"THE CREATURE IS BACK!" The giantess shouted at her cohort, making Gabriel almost lose his grip to cover his ears.
The other three giants turned their large heads towards Gabriel, and his heart stopped beating for a moment in his chest. Fear overwhelmed him.
The giantess winced. "I'm sorry," She whispered. "It has been a short while since we were around humans."
A short while? Ten years was a short while? But long enough for her to forget to whisper, apparently.
Judah came skidding to a stop and chirped up at the giantess. With a heavy sigh, she lowered herself to the ground and crossed her legs to sit.
"Creature brought another human, I see." She whispered to the others with her, who also sat. "We did not expect any yet. The Fae said we would be far from the city."
"You talked to the Fae?" Gabriel chanced the question while darting furtive glances up at her fists. He couldn't quite see whether his friends were all right or not, but Judah didn't seem afraid.
"Oh, Here you are. I suppose you can be on the ground now." The giantess put a frazzled-looking Simone and Shayn on the ground, and Gabriel jumped off of Judah's back and rushed to them. Perhaps he should have stayed put longer in case he needed to flee and warn the others, but he was too eager to make sure his friends were all right.
"What happened?" He whispered furiously, looking over them both.
"Just as we were about to reach the giants, a mountain lion jumped out and attacked our horses." Shayn dusted himself off. "I was trying to fight it off, but Simone's mount reared and complicated the matter, and the giants intervened and… well, we found ourselves in Jarnsaxa's grasp."
"But she didn't hurt you?" Gabriel breathed in relief.
"No, I don't think so," Simone smiled tightly. "Although I think my stomach may take some time to recover from the ride."
"You are safe now, little ones." The giantess sat ramrod straight and grinned.
"Thank you, very much, Great Jarnsaxa, for your aid," Simone curtsied. "It is an honor to meet you, and to have had your help."
"Of course, of course." The giant queen received the praise with a smile. "You have heard of me, naturally."
"Yes! I have read of you in our library." Simone called up to her, "of all of you. Your aid during the War was generous and we were thankful for it."
Gabriel kept the frown off his face. As he recalled, the aid wasn't particularly generous, but mostly as a result of the Fae threatening to exterminate their race for breaking the treaty of long ago. He loved to make Roland tell him the story of the giants so much that he knew that part by heart.
"And so we come again to meet humans, and the Fae have seen fit to let Creature guide us." Jarnsaxa pointed at the large animal now cleaning his fur beside Gabriel. "It seems he led us toward you first, though whether that was part of his assignment, I know not."
"His name is Judah," The man provided helpfully.
"Of course, I remember now. Jamie helped your ambassador come to meet us." She nodded.
"Roland is now our King, Commodore, and primary leader." Simone called helpfully. "I'm sure he will be thrilled to have such esteemed guests once more."
"May we ask what brings you to our world?" Shayn cut in, "Is this a social visit or something more? You mentioned the Fae?"
Gabriel saw him give a pleading glance to Simone. It seemed he wanted to get more information than they gave out. It seemed smart, as long as the giants were willing. Simone was unconcerned with Shayn's opinions at the current moment.
"I'm afraid our world has been shrinking." Jarnsaxa's face darkened. "I have been applying to the Fae for help, since they were the ones that sent us to that world, twice in fact."
"Shrinking?" The humans said in unison.
"It is a problem we cannot solve, nor could we survive in a world with a food supply that was running out. I became desperate and demanded the Fae's help; their bargain guaranteed us a world that would have some food supply to support a small population of giants, and yet, it was disappearing. Eventually one of them told us a portal was going to open soon on a mountaintop. We would be far from Klain, but in the same world. We were to head South and aid the humans in some sort of conflict that would occur there." Jarnsaxa's brow creased with thought as she relayed the information, and the giants behind her nodded silently in affirmation.
Gabriel's throat tightened. "The South?"
"To the Sea." Jarnsaxa confirmed.
"There is nothing there. A disaster wiped out everything." Gabriel protested.
"Perhaps we were later than the Fae thought? But they have not been incorrect before, have they?" Jarnsaxa looked to the others, but none had an answer.
None of the humans did, either. A short, thoughtful pause ended when Jarnsaxa stood.
"Nonetheless, South shall we go. It cannot be too long of a run." The giantess began to stretch.
"A RUN?" Shayn blurted out. Gabriel was still focused on the fact that something more was going to happen in the ravaged, acidic lands he'd recently left behind.
"Your world is not thin, like ours. If we ran there, we would break through the crust and into the Below. Here, I believe we may do so easily. It will be good to run, I think, after so long." The giantess insisted. "And then we will not waste time. How do humans stand being so small, and relying on cats and other animals to go places quickly?"
The question seemed rhetorical, and rather condescending at that, so none of the humans answered immediately. Simone was the first to speak up after a moment.
"Would you mind a short stop along the way?"