With her left hand, Alex clenched a handful of the giant, Foragoon’s, bristling beard, just before a harsh wind threatened to whoosh her away as effortlessly as a dead leaf. Her eyes were stinging from the cold, so she tugged the hood of her cloak down to conceal them. Her brother was sitting on the other side of the giant's broad shoulders. Due to the gusts they had been enduring being this high up, it felt as if they were back on top of the mountain they’d first climbed.
Foragoon strode along in one of his usual contemplative silences. As a reward for saving him, he had promised to take the two as far as Oakstone Road. If it were up to Alex, she would’ve had him take them all the way to Iralda. There was nothing to ease the anxiety of being trapped in your own story like having a mammoth bodyguard to escort you to your destination.
Alex understood why Foragoon couldn’t take them farther than Oakstone, though. Most people in Nocera had forgotten giants still existed. So, you could have imagined the shock for them if Foragoon were to come waltzing into their village making friendly conversation.
Alex’s stomach lurched as the giant cautiously lunged across a frozen stream. She wrapped her hand around his beard a second time as an added safety precaution before they landed with a sudden jolt. She and Link had been traveling on Foragoon’s shoulders for two whole days, but when he did manoeuvres like this, she couldn’t help but feel a little queasy.
And so, the trio pressed on, past the frozen stream towards a sheer wall of cliffs. Alex glanced back to find the mountain they’d climbed several days ago was now just a small mound on the horizon. At the rate they were going, she figured they would be out of these ranges in no time. The giant hummed at that moment, and then that hum slowly turned into a thunderous song that echoed through the mountains.
Oh, winter white, pure and cold
Here is new as here is old
You capture all in your wake
From frozen ground to icy lake
Wrap your fingers around one and all
Your frigid frost comes after fall
Oh, winter white, pure and cold
A blinding blizzard to behold
“I like that one!” Alex shouted over the howling winds.
“So you should,” the giant boomed proudly. “I thought of it myself.” With a swooping backhand, he uprooted a small tree that was blocking his path, sending it toppling end over end through the air. “Sing us a song from your homeland.”
“I don’t know any songs,” Alex confessed.
“Nonsense, everyone has a song or two deep down inside of them,” he rumbled, his huge eyeballs of azure locking onto hers, stacking on the pressure.
“Lin . . . Deonis knows several songs,” Alex lied. “You must hear his voice. They say it’s as pure as a mountain river.”
“Is that so?” Foragoon said excitedly, his eyes drifting over to Link on his opposite shoulder. “A mountain river you say? If you would be so kind, I would very much like to hear this voice of yours, young Deonis.”
A mischievous smile spread across her lips. If Foragoon’s massive beard wasn’t in the way, Alex had a feeling Link would have been giving her daggers.
But much to Link’s credit, he cleared his throat and sang “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough” which caused Alex to double over in laughter. Not because of the irony the song had with their current surroundings, but because it was his go-to song when they played karaoke. Link sounded like a mother pig screeching as it gave birth to piglets. But unfortunately for their family, he had a severe case of tone-deafness.
“Quiet,” Foragoon snapped at Alex as she continued to laugh uncontrollably. “Let him sing.”
As Foragoon swivelled his head to face Link, she caught a glimpse of the horrik bites on the back of his neck. Her laughing stopped. The leaves they applied had fought off the infection, but they did nothing to heal the gaping wounds they had left. Alex had asked Link if they could apply some of the Herbs of Namayka, but he said they needed to save it for themselves. But as Alex looked at the ghastly wounds again, she doubted the tiny vial they had would be enough to have a substantial effect anyways.
“Mountain river?” Foragoon scoffed when Link had finished singing. “Why, your voice is as vile as the sewerage water that gushes from Iralda!”
They all cracked up over that. Luckily, Link wasn’t the type to take offense.
After a long day of traveling on the giant’s shoulders, they ended up setting up camp in an exposed valley so big it could’ve hosted a village. Alex and Link would never have dreamed of staying there the night if Foragoon wasn’t traveling with them. Before they encountered their giant bodyguard, they had been setting up camp in thickets, caves, and clusters of pine trees. Anywhere that gave them any hint of concealment.
But Alex guessed someone the likes of Foragoon had no reason to hide. He was the top of the food chain in these mountains. If a horde of gorlacs were to swarm them, he would have probably licked his lips at the thought of more meat. Ever since the last remaining dragons were slain over a decade ago, giants were one of the most powerful creatures in Nocera. Alex thought she was lucky Link had added them into the book. Because if he hadn’t, she doubted they’d both be breathing.
While Foragoon relaxed from walking all day, Alex and Link ventured into a nearby dell in search of some wood to help get a fire started, or in the giant’s case, a bonfire. The two barely got the chance to talk to one another when they rode on opposite shoulders all day, so usually when they stopped for a break or to set up camp they were full of conversation. Alex and Link proceeded through the dell as it dipped gradually and then levelled out at the bottom. It was there amongst the fallen rocks and snow they found the most dried oak wood—Foragoon had told them it was the perfect wood for a slow-burning fire.
“If he sings another song I swear my eardrums are going to explode,” Alex told Link on their sixth trip back to the dell.
“Just be thankful he’s singing songs and not picking his teeth with our bones—like most giants would.”
She nodded. “Good point.”
“So, have you come up with any theories yet?” Link asked, picking up a branch and adding it to his pile.
“About?”
“This,” Link said, looking up at the cloudy, pale white sky. “Nocera. I don’t’ know, like, why we have our character’s powers. What’s causing this all to happen?”
“I gave up on trying to work that out a long time ago,” Alex said as she snapped a large branch in two with her foot and picked up the remains. “I mean, obviously, my dream theory has been debunked. Unless we’ve both been asleep for over a week.” She tossed her head back and chuckled. “Either that or we’re both in comas.”
She glanced at Link, but he didn’t meet her eyes. He was looking absentmindedly into the distant mountains.
“Why? What’s your theory?” she asked.
Link averted his gaze and then he squinted his eyes in thought. “Do you remember that day we bought the blank book in the city?”
“Yeah, why?” Alex asked, remembering how she scored the sweet freebie from the old storekeeper.
“Now, I just want to reiterate the fact this is just a theory, OK?”
“Just get on with it, dimwit.”
Link sighed through his nose, the exhale visible in the cold. “I think everything we’ve ever written in that book has now come to life.” He glanced at her hesitantly as he continued. “That the book’s—I don’t know, magical or something. Maybe even cursed.” He rubbed the stubble on his chin with his spare hand, “God, now that I’m saying it out loud it seems even more stupid.”
“That’s because it is stupid,” Alex said, trying to hold back her laughter. “Are you being serious right now? You think we’re in Nocera because we scribbled a story down inside of some blank book?”
“Hey, I said it was just a theory,” Link said with a hurt look.
“OK, well, here’s my theory on how to get us out of Nocera.” She stood up on her tippy toes and clicked her heels together three times. “There’s no place like Phoenix, there’s no place like Phoenix, there’s no—”
“OK,” Link said, holding up a hand as he chuckled. “I get the point, Dorothy.”
Just as Alex was about to think of an ingenious reply involving him being Toto, a hair-raising shriek caught their attention. She knew that sound all too well. Her stomach twisted when she realized the noise had come from back at camp. The two dropped their firewood and bolted, dancing around the oak trees that blocked their paths. Alex overtook her brother easily, but upon realizing her bow was back at camp and she had no way to defend herself, she slowed down to a jog and let him catch up.
The blood pounded in Alex’s ears as they broke out of the trees and spilled out into the valley. Foragoon was standing stoutly with his club drawn, its end dripping with blood. At his feet was the mangled body of a gorlac. The giant stuck a finger in his ear and wiggled it around uncomfortably.
“Darn Squealer,” Foragoon grumbled. Then he seemed to notice Alex and Link for the first time. His face lit up. “Oh, there you lot are. Just in time for supper.” He looked down at the gorlac carcass and grinned. “There seems to have been a change with the main meal, though. Hope you don’t mind.”
Foragoon skinned the gorlac with a sharpened rock as Alex and Link retrieved more firewood from the dell. When they made it back to camp, Foragoon had a fire burning in a matter of minutes by rubbing two branches together. Just like the giant had done every night with the goat, he tore Alex and her brother a generous amount of the gorlac meat that had been sizzling in the fire for several hours. Alex didn’t think he understood how little their stomachs were, but he wouldn’t catch them complaining. They both smiled at each other as fat dripped down their chins. Anything was better than stale bread and mouldy cheese. And it was certainly a lot easier to fall asleep at night when one had a full belly.
“So,” Foragoon said from across the flickering bonfire, “why Oakstone? What adventures do two valiant villagers such as you seek on the main road?”
The giant’s question threw Alex off guard. The two of them had been so preoccupied with getting onto Oakstone and out of these mountains that they hadn’t even bothered planning what they’d do next. In the book, Taytora and Deonis journeyed to the city Iralda. But that was to enter in a tournament called The Golden Gauntlet. The chances of her and Link seeking admittance were as steep as it snowing in Phoenix.
She cast Link a look as if to say “I’ve got nothing; you answer him.”
“Iralda,” Link said casually as he tore off a hunk of meat with his teeth. “That's where we’re headed.”
“Ah, Iralda,” Foragoon’s eyes drifted off at the word, almost as if he were reliving a dear memory. “The impenetrable city.” His eyes found them again over the dancing flames. “Do you know why they call it that?”
Alex and Link were aware, but they both shook their heads as if to appear clueless. Foragoon looked pleased by their lack of knowledge.
“Because Iralda’s city walls are as high as the highest mountains, of course. Centuries ago, experienced Earthwielders, Telekinetic mages, and frost giants worked in tandem to create them. Six sieges!” Foragoon exclaimed suddenly, causing Alex to jump. “Six sieges and the walls still stand!”
“Did your ancestors help build them?” Link asked, seemingly more interested in the gorlac meat in his hand than anything Foragoon had to say.
Foragoon looked offended. “Young Deonis, I helped build them.”
“How old are you?” Alex asked before realizing how rude the question sounded. Grandma always used to snap at her when she would ask. “If you don’t mind me asking, that is,” she added on hastily.
“How old do you think I am?” Foragoon asked with a wry smile on his face. “And be careful not to insult me.” He grabbed a handful of branches that looked an awful lot like twigs in his hands and threw them into the bonfire. The flame sizzled, and sparks shot upwards, vanishing into the night sky.
She and Link exchanged puzzled glances. Alex had known Foragoon was old, but he would have had to be well over a half a millennium to have built the walls. She didn’t even know frost giants could live for that long. All she knew about them was they were a pivotal factor in the Kingdom of Mist’s success in the Great War. But since then their numbers had dwindled, and they were now spread out through these mountains, picking off whatever meat they could to survive.
“Four hundred and fifty-four?” Alex asked, hoping her guess was under and not over.
“You warm my heart, Taytora,” Foragoon said with a cheesy grin. “Five hundred and thirty-two. And thanks to the bravery of the both of you . . .” He looked up at the night sky and inhaled a deep breath, his nostrils the size of dinner plates. “I live to breathe another day.” His azure eyes fell back to them, and he nodded his head in gratitude.
The three of them exchanged stories well into the night. Foragoon told them tales of Iralda and in return, they told him stories about the likes of Robin Hood, Merlin, and Peter Pan. When they had finished telling them, Foragoon would always make snide comments about how their stories lacked giants. So not wanting to displease their humongous listener that could crush them like ants, they told him the story of Jack and the Beanstalk. They tweaked the ending, of course. Alex was sure the whole giant-dying part would not have gone down well with him. But even though she was telling stories about valour, chivalry, and magical weapons in make-believe worlds, her mind was solely focused on home.
She wondered what Mom and Dad would be doing right at that very moment and if they had called the police or gone out looking for them. Then the thought struck her: Maybe they hadn’t even realized the two were missing? What if she and Link were in a parallel universe where time didn’t even exist? And when they got back to the real world it would be like they had never left at all?
As Link continued telling his hybrid story of Goldilocks and the three giants, Alex took in a deep breath and squeezed her eyes shut as hard as she could, trying to imagine the world where she truly belonged. But when she opened them, she was still sitting by the crackling bonfire. Fresh tears fell down her face. She quickly wiped them away with the back of her hand before anyone noticed.
At least I’m not in this alone, she thought. At least I have Link here with me.