Chapter Twenty Six
Beating the Odds
She had counted six giants in all. Six! It was not an army, but the fact there were so many working together was incredible. They were solitary creatures by nature, and tried to remain away from villages and towns. If too many of them lived together, they tended to fight and create a big mess of their surroundings. A giant sighting was a rare occurrence and Victoria had only heard of one herself.
A giant named Miff that passed by Volcaringuard and politely asked if he could borrow some yarn for flossing, before proceeding to eat most of the sheep in the village. If it had not been for the dragons and phoenix, he probably would have eaten them all. Gail told the story with such enthusiasm and joy at scaring the all the children of the village, that each year the story became more and more exaggerated.
Finally, when Miff had started biting the heads off children and feeding them to the sheep, Victoria had heard enough to ignore Gail each time she told it. Shaken out of her momentary daze, Victoria listened to Lillian shout out her confusion about the attack.
“This makes no sense. Giants aren’t usually violent unless provoked.” Lillian said.
“Well let’s deal with the ‘why’ later and figure out what we do right now.” Victoria said.
They ducked behind a wall that was still intact to contemplate their next move. She had just realized that they were in the large training field behind the castle. There was nothing beyond it except steep mountain ridges. A small vegetable garden smashed beyond recognition lay to the right and they would only find more rock if they passed it. Stables stood to the left, though she was not sure how useful horses would be at that moment. Beyond the stables, a small flower garden sat untouched from the chaos around them, nothing useful there. There was no way around to the front. Large iron gates secured both sides of the castle and stretched all the way out to the mountain rocks that protected them. They would have to go through the castle. She did not like the idea, but they were running out of time and Ryhan could be in danger.
Looking at Lillian, “Can you sense how the structure of the castle effects the earth?”
“I’m not sure. I’ve never tried anything like that.” Lillian said.
“Even if she could what would be the point of something like that?” Alex asked.
Victoria responded, “To see if the tunnel we took is the only one, or if there are more. If there is more than one—“
“Then perhaps we could find which way Gavin took Ryhan.” Evangeline finished her thought.
Victoria nodded, and then asked slowly, “You think he took her?”
The others just stared at her, unsure of how to respond. She could tell they were all wondering if Ryhan went willingly.
Finally, Evangeline said, “He must have.”
Never had three words been full of more hope than what Evangeline had just spoke. The thought of Ryhan betraying them was too much for her to bear. They needed each other, at that moment more than ever before. Victoria squeezed her hand and nodded at Lillian to try.
Lillian closed her eyes and Victoria could feel Evangeline’s power flow through her, it was working its magic and making Lillian’s power stronger. If Lillian could do what she was asking of her, she did not have the chance to find out. Thunderous footsteps knocked them to the ground.
A giant was close, and there was not much cover. If it attacked, they would have no chance against it. It was an ugly thing. Pale grey skin hung in loose folds all over its body. Moss and dirt clung in large patches and seemed to grow right out of its skin. It was bald, naked, and didn’t seem to care about either. The giant sniffed the air and made a weird grunt.
Victoria was not sure what Evangeline was up to, but she told them all to be as still as possible and not to make any noise. The giant bent down and eyed the spot in which they stood very suspiciously. Sniffing again, it grew confused. Angrily it began swatting its large hand around and knocked Alex over before catching Evangeline in its hand.
Laughing with victory it started smacking its lips. Clearly, Evangeline looked like a tasty treat. Victoria started shouting and hoped she could distract it long enough to figure out what she was going to do next. It did not even look at her. She tried everything, even using her powers, but nothing she did phased it. It was not until Alex screamed something about its ugly mother that it even looked their way.
Growling, it started moving toward them, but stopped and looked terribly frightened before a large flaming arrow landed right between its eyes. Immediately it dropped Evangeline and Victoria did her best to soften the fall. It started smacking its own face trying to put out the fire. In the process, it tripped over its own feet and fell hard to the ground.
“Come on!” A man shouted.
She turned and saw Lord Byron standing behind them.
“This way.” He said and motioned toward the castle.
They did not argue. Following him, they sprinted into the closest door and did not stop until he told them it was okay. Victoria wondered for a moment if he was working with Gavin. After all, he knew about the giant’s weakness. He was also protecting them, so it seemed the wiser decision to trust him.
As she was catching her breath, Victoria watched in surprise as Evangeline stepped forward and flung her arms around Lord Byron. He stiffened then relaxed a bit, but did not return her embrace.
“You saved my life.” Evangeline said to him warmly.
It looked as if a smile wanted break through his tough exterior, but he straightened. “My job is to protect you. All of you.”
Evangeline took several steps away from him. “Do you know if there is more than one tunnel that runs under these grounds?”
“There are many, the castle is full of secret passages in and out. They are enchanted though, someone of great magical skill would still have trouble breaking through our wards.” He answered.
“We think that Gavin took Ryhan and escaped into the tunnels.” Victoria told him.
“Aye, I tried to follow them. I made it through before the ceiling collapsed and cut off the exit, but it was dark and I lost them quickly.” He said.
Victoria thought a moment. “Is there somewhere that all the tunnels meet? Or a place they eventually end outside the castle grounds?”
“There is another pass into Bastriean. It is rarely used, as it is difficult to pass through on foot. One of the tunnels leads there. The rest mostly circle back around to other places on the grounds.” Lord Byron said.
“Take us there.” Victoria demanded.
He nodded hesitantly.
“What is it?” She asked.
He shifted, “It’s just that there are giants wreaking havoc all over. Something needs to be done about them.”
“Ryhan has the power of fire, she can help us, but we need to find her.” Victoria responded.
“What happens in the mean time? More of the inhabitants of this castle die?” He asked gravely.
Victoria looked around at them all. Screams echoed in from outside and she wondered how many had already perished. She was torn. Saving the people that needed their help would not be worth it if they lost Ryhan.
“What would you have us do? Lose Ryhan?” She asked him sadly.
He looked at her with sympathy. “I would have you do what you think is right.”
She thought for a moment. “Alright, this is what we will do. Lord Byron, you tell me how to get to the pass and Alex will come with me. You stay with Lillian and Evangeline and help however you can.”
“It’s too risky to split up, our powers are stronger together.” Evangeline said.
Victoria looked at her. “It is the only way. Both need our efforts, yet neither can be ignored.”
Evangeline nodded and hugged her briefly before heading out towards the field with Lord Byron and Lillian at her side. Victoria took Alex’s hand and led her to the front of the castle. There were safer options than going after Gavin, but she wanted Alex where she could see her, instead of worryin
g about what might have been happening to her.
They ran as fast as they could, halting when they realized that a giant was blocking the entrance to the pass, they were looking for.
“What now?” Alex asked.
“We need a distraction.” Victoria said.
Alex huffed, “I am open to suggestions.”
Victoria was not sure. She did not want to put either of them at risk, but they needed to do something fast. She was beginning to think that the grueling day of training they had was exactly what they needed more of.
Just then, she had a thought. “The creatures you were making during training, do you think you could summon something bigger?”
Alex looked at her as if she was crazy. “Maybe. How big?”
She carefully told her what she wanted her to do. It was risky and they only had one chance to get it right. Victoria walked out slowly, standing as far back from the giant as she could.
“Hey, you hungry? Why don’t you come get yourself a little snack?” She said nervously as she teased it.
It took a step toward her and licked its lips.
“Well what are you waiting for?”
It lunged forward and wrapped its big hands around her.
It screamed in frustration as it opened its empty hands. She had finally gotten it right and used the power of mimicry. A huge sense of pride washed over her, but she quickly reminded herself that they still had work to do.
She reappeared behind it, and taunted. “Guess I’m faster than your usual dinner!”
It turned and reached for her as she disappeared again.
Reappearing farther away from the pass, she yelled. “What do you normally eat? Snails?”
It growled and ran after her.
Repeating the process a few more times, Alex was able to sneak behind him unnoticed and into the pass, he was guarding. Hoping that Alex would not let her down, she reappeared a little closer. She was just out of arms reach when another giant appeared behind her. It looked much different from the others.
Victoria knew it was because Alex was using her power to create the creature out of water. The thing almost looked real. The only thing that gave it away was the sheen on its skin and the ripples that waved over its body every time it moved. The water giant reached down and picked Victoria up in its slimy hand.
The other giant growled angrily. In one quick movement, the water giant put Victoria in its mouth and swallowed. She used her mimicry power and reappeared next to Alex just as the real giant crashed into the water giant. Water exploded around it as Alex released her power.
The giant looked around confused and Victoria motioned to Alex to hurry along farther down the path before it came back and found them. It was difficult terrain, but they managed to get far enough away to feel safe enough to pause.
“I can’t believe that worked.” Alex said excitedly.
“Me either, but we can celebrate later, we need to hurry.” Victoria said and she wrung out her wet clothes.
Alex laughed. “Sorry about that.”
“Yeah, I bet you are.” Victoria laughed with her.
Alex leaned in and kissed her and Victoria returned the embrace passionately. It might be the last chance she had to kiss her like that. Breathless, she pulled away and gazed into Alex’s eyes. She would never get tired of staring into the depths of the ocean that lie there.
“If something happens—“
“No.” Alex stopped her, and then added, “No goodbyes. We are going to find Ryhan. Everything will work out.”
Victoria nodded and took her hand.
As they set off to find Ryhan, Victoria hoped that when they found her she was still on their side.
Chapter Twenty Seven
Win Some, Lose Many