the Stone Giant

Andrea reacted with the ease of a wild animal. She hit Jarlath in the chest and began to run from him, run into the snow, run deeper into the ruined city of giants. She knew that Jarlath wanted them to go east, so she ran west and north, traversing the alleys and roadways and other more strange accesses. She ran and smelled the air as she did so. She was finding that her senses were more intense, more reliable than ever before. She was smelling the air for any scent of the giant. She did not want any replay of the events of the previous day.

Jarlath got up, straightened himself and began walking to the north. He smiled and chuckled to himself. He couldn’t quite believe how naïve the shapechanger was, how she still could not understand that he knew the past, present and future…at least he knew the future up to the Lost Grove. Still, he knew that her lack of understanding would aid him in some ways, and bring her to where she needed to be. He began humming a tune, one he learned long ago in the Tower. He hummed and walked with the ease of a man with all the time in the world.

Even as Andrea ran she knew that her senses were nothing compared to when she was ‘changed’. She longed for the day when she would leave behind her futile humanity and become one with the moon and the night. These thoughts unleashed an unexpected memory, that of her ancestral home. She could see in her mind’s eye the sky from the aviary window. For a moment she wondered what was happening back home, yet it was only a moment. Then her attention was drawn back to her run, to the feel of cold air against her skin, the rush of frozen breath within her lungs. These sensations took all her attention, and perhaps it was for this that she failed to notice that a large stone began to move right behind her. It wasn’t a stone really…it was an ancient man who seemed to be made of stone. He lifted himself even as Andrea ran forward and with wide hands and long arms he reached out and smacked her upside the head! Then he gently picked her up and carried her to a structure with an immense doorway. The giant entered and walked to a room with a large pit. He put her inside and covered it with a huge metal grating. Then he sat down and waited.

Some time later Jarlath entered the room, his click-click-clacking leading the way. The giant stood and spoke: "Welcome O TimeWalker. Your pet is here, in the lower room. She is well, but shall awaken with some aches."

Jarlath answered, "Greetings O Elder Mahmoud. I am glad to be welcome in your abode. As for the shapeshifter, she is not my pet, but a…an… acquaintance. We travel together and search for that which is lost."

"Fair indeed, Finder. Your search may indeed help me in mine, yet my cousins may think differently of you than I. Joab is stubborn and Ishmael is cunning, and both have lived a long time here. We shall leave when your pet is well, no? That shall give us time to talk."

Jarlath made no response. It did no good to argue a small point with a stone giant, and one who was birthed by only the gods knew what. He hoped that Andrea would not object too strongly at being called ‘pet’…of course, he already knew what the first thing would be that she would throw at him. He simply went and sat on an immense couch, he didn’t need to check on the girl, she was unconscious and lying on a mat of brown grasses. Her room was sealed with only one way out…up, and that was barred with metal. She would be safe there until after the madness left her…three days. She would be warm and given water and food, and a place of safety. And so would he. Soon they would find the Lost Grove, soon he would lose all inner sight. Yet Jarlath felt some comfort in knowing that his days as a pawn of the Mystery would come to an end….at least he hoped it would end.

1. The three days passed accompanied by the sounds of a crazed and enraged wolfwoman, but finally they passed.
2. Jarlath and Mahmoud spend the days discussing the finer points of philosophy and history.

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