| It looked as though a troop of the Great Kingdom's army had been ambushed
by several giants, for such a substantial and well-equipped force as this,
numbering some thirty men, could not have been so utterly vanquished by
a single opponent, however fearsome. In such a wild area as this, far from
civilisation, it was not surprising that giants should still lurk. And
of course men and giants had always been mortal enemies.
The women wondered what had brought soldiers of the Great Kingdom to such a remore region, especially as it was outside the Kingdom's own borders. Had the giants perhaps been sending raiding parties across the border, and this force had been sent in reprisal? But in that case, surely the troop would have posted scouts, and not have been caught by surprise as it appeared that they had been.
|
There was no immediate way of finding
out just what had happened. 