“Oh,” the giant said. “Sorry about that. I always forget how bright my fireball is.” He stepped inside, blocking the blinding light to the point Lena could finally see.

  There, standing before her, was a giant in a white tunic wrapped up and over one shoulder, while leaving the other bare. And more important, he had the biggest smile on his face that Lena had ever seen. “Where are my manners?” he said, then stuck out his hand toward Lena. “I’m the sun giant. Nice to meet you!”

  CHAPTER 22

  Humans!” the giant roared again, the force of his footfalls ensuring that Shefin wouldn’t be able to stand anytime soon. May didn’t seem to be any better off, though Horse and the wolves all fared slightly better, given that balancing on four paws was easier than two.

  “Use the Shield of Protection, Your Heroicness!” Horse shouted, though Shefin noticed the animal wasn’t galloping to help in any other way. Shefin grunted in reply and tried to get back to his feet, but the giant’s next step sent him right back to the ground.

  “I can’t use it if I can’t stand!” Shefin shouted back, starting to panic as the giant neared.

  “You don’t need to stand!” Horse shouted. “Wait for him to come to you!”

  Well, clearly the Helmet of Wisdom had stopped working, because that was the least-intelligent thing Horse had ever said. Why would the hero of this story need to stand to fight a rampaging giant? The monster was only sixty or seventy feet tall. No, Shefin should just lie down on the ground and wait to be stepped on, according to Horse!

  Except… maybe that wasn’t a terrible idea? Because if he… and then… yes. That just might work! Shefin grinned at his own genius and quickly covered his face and chest with the shield.

  Then he called out to the giant in the most insulting way he could think of while fearing for his life. “Hey, Big, Tall, and Smelly! When was the last time you bathed? You don’t even need to step on me, because your odor is going to knock me out all by itself!”

  “You dare insult me, you horrible little rat?” the giant roared, slowing his run enough to focus on Shefin. The giant took one more enormous step to ready himself, then drove his other foot straight down at Shefin, who realized in that moment that he hadn’t asked the fairies if the shield had any limits to its power. If he was crushed, he’d definitely be back to haunt everyone involved, that was for certain!

  The giant’s foot slammed against the shield with more force than Shefin could believe, driving him straight down into the solid cloud ground beneath him. Everything immediately went dark except for the glow of the shield, but in spite of being literally buried alive, Shefin felt no pain, not even any pressure, which meant the shield was working just fine.

  Though he couldn’t say he was thrilled by the way its light flickered a bit as the giant ground his boot back and forth, like a human making sure they’d crushed an insect.

  But Shefin wasn’t a hero because he was willing to be crushed by a giant’s foot. No, he was a hero because… well, because he was a hero! And everything was sort of going according to his plan, so it was time to act, especially considering that being buried like this was starting to terrify him.

  Before the giant could pull his boot free, Shefin moved his sword arm out from behind the shield, then stabbed upward with all his might, right into the giant’s foot. Unfortunately, the giant’s boot seemed to be thicker than his blade was long, and instead of purifying the monster, Shefin just got his weapon stuck in the boot’s sole.

  “That’s what humans deserve!” came the giant’s voice, muffled by the clouds and boot around Shefin. The giant pulled his foot back, and Shefin latched on to the sword’s hilt as tightly as he could, letting the giant pull him up and out of the hole by the sword in his boot.

  Except, what went up was probably going to go back down soon enough, and Shefin didn’t really want to be buried again.

  “Um, a little help here?” he shouted at Horse as he dangled in the air from the bottom of the giant’s foot. Apparently that was enough for the giant to realize what had happened, since he bent his knee and stared down at Shefin in disgust.

  “Get off, foul creature!” the giant roared, and began shaking his foot, sending Shefin flying back and forth. Somehow he managed to hold on, at least for the moment, but his grip wouldn’t last for long, not to mention that he could feel the sword beginning to work its way free from the boot as well.

  “Now would be a good time for a new plan, Horse!” he yelled. But unfortunately, there was no time to find out if Horse was holding out on him, as the giant kicked out so powerfully that Shefin’s sword yanked free from the creature’s boot, sending both Shefin and his weapon flying through the air.

  They both slammed into the remains of what looked to be a cottage on the side of the road, a crash that ordinarily would have knocked Shefin unconscious at the least. Thankfully, the shield once again protected him, even as its glow dimmed once more.

  With a groan more of annoyance than pain, Shefin pushed back to his feet, retrieved his sword, and then turned around to glare at the giant, who had now set his sights on May. She had gotten onto the back of one of the wolf sisters while Shefin had been underground, and she now led the giant away from him, which was nice. The other wolves followed suit, though Big Wolf seemed to be trying to bite the giant’s ankles every time the creature’s foot came down.

  Meanwhile, Horse galloped over to where Shefin waited, and Shefin mounted his steed in a less than heroic way, given his irritation. “That plan of yours worked out so well!” Shefin shouted as he pulled the reins to turn Horse back toward the giant, slipping the shield back onto the saddle to free up his hands. “Maybe let me do the thinking from now on, huh?”

  “Oh, was my plan to have you get crushed by his boot? I hadn’t realized,” Horse said innocently, and Shefin glared at the back of his head as Horse began galloping back toward the rampaging monster.

  “Dirty, stinking humans!” the giant roared, chasing after May and the wolf sisters. “I’ll destroy you all if that’s what it takes to bring your fairy queen guardians here!”

  “Perhaps don’t,” Horse said just as Shefin opened his mouth to insult the giant again. “I’ll get you as close as I can to his boots. Leap onto them, climb up until you reach the top of the boot, then stab his leg with the sword.”

  “Did you become Sir Hero when I wasn’t looking?” Shefin yelled at him. “I’m in charge, and I say… get me close to his shoes, so I can scale them and pierce him with my blade!”

  Horse snorted, and Shefin wasn’t sure whether it was meant to be a comment or just a sign of the animal’s exertion. Either way, it didn’t much matter now, as Horse was getting close to the giant’s feet.

  One of the giant’s boots struck down just a few yards to their right, and Horse leapt into the air to avoid the shock wave of its hit, then landed gracefully and circled around behind the boot. That got Shefin close enough to jump onto the monster’s foot before the giant could lift it again.

  He slammed into the boot harder than he’d wanted, which wouldn’t have been an issue, except he’d accidentally left the shield back on Horse’s saddle. That was all well and good for Horse, who now would be protected against any harm from the giant, but it would make getting stepped on again a whole lot more fatal. Fortunately, the boot’s laces provided a sort of ladder for Shefin to climb—no, scale—and he quickly reached the top of the boot as it rose back into the air for the giant’s next step.

  The smell emanating from down inside the boot confirmed everything Shefin had said about the giant, but now wasn’t the time to point that out. Instead he stabbed his sword into the monster’s leg just above the boot, not bothering to be gentle, considering the giant had tried to ground him into paste.

  Even so, a sword that small wouldn’t feel like much more than a bug bite to a giant, so Shefin was thankful the plan didn’t involve hurting the creature. But once purification started, so would the screaming and shaking, and Shefin didn’t especially want to be stuck on the giant’s boot for all that, so he quickly slid down and dropped while the giant’s foot was still in the air.

  He landed hard, which sent pain shooting up through both legs, but Horse was there quickly enough for Shefin to grab on to the saddle as Horse ran by, and swing himself back up, all before the giant’s boot hit the ground again. And then they were off, putting some space between them and the oncoming giant purification.

  Apparently it took the fairy queens’ magic a bit of time to work its way up to the giant’s brain from his leg, because the creature managed another few steps before letting out a roar of pain and collapsing to his knees. The shock wave from his fall threw everyone into the air, even Horse and the wolves, but no one seemed hurt when they landed… other than the giant, of course, who was now screaming and staring down at himself in horror.

  “I am pure evil!” the giant screamed, holding up his enormous hands to his face in disgust. “The shadow must have infected me. I was never meant to be this size! Release me, foul magic, or I will force you to do so!”

  And then, to Shefin’s shock, the monster began punching himself in the stomach and chest, as if he could actually fight the shadow magic physically.

  “Whoa, hey!” Shefin shouted, pulling Horse’s reins to bring them around to face the creature. “Don’t do that! The shadow magic will fade soon enough!”

  Actually, the giant already looked shorter than he had before, though that could have just been an optical illusion now that the monster was kneeling on the ground. But whether or not he was turning human like his kin, the giant seemed intent on trying to help the process along in the most painful way possible.

  “Release me, foul darkness!” he screamed, and began hammering away at his legs, groaning in pain with each hit. In spite of the agony he was putting himself through, the look in his eyes told Shefin that he wouldn’t be stopping any time soon.

  But before Shefin could argue any further, a growing light in the distance distracted him. He glanced over at the sun giant’s fireball, which seemed lower in the sky and brighter than usual… and getting more of both the longer he looked.

  “Um, I think the sun is falling?” May shouted. “And I don’t mean because it’s sunset, which I still think is a really weird way for the sun to work!”

  This seemed to get the giant’s attention, and he turned to look as well. “This is my fault!” he roared, slamming his fists down on his legs again. “The shadow’s influence made me call the sun giant for that child. We have to stop him, or he’ll help them escape!”

  “Stop… the sun giant?” Shefin said, blinking rapidly. He took a deep breath, then another. “Okay,” he said finally. “Just call me a knight, because I’m going to make darkness fall over the sun… giant… thing!”

  “Ooof,” he heard May say, but Shefin ignored her as he turned Horse around to face the oncoming sun giant, shaking his head. This hero stuff involved far more giant-fighting than he’d have thought, especially considering giants weren’t even supposed to exist anymore.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

  The sun giant? Lena stared up at the most famous giant to ever live, a giant beloved by everyone, regardless of species or magic, and she said the most intelligent thing she could think of in the moment: “You’re… you’re really him?”

  “Of course!” the sun giant said with a grin as he stuck out his pinkie toward her to shake, which she did, though very awkwardly, given its size. “And you must be Lena! Why don’t you all jump into my chariot, and I’ll take you wherever you need to go?”

  “Thank you, that’s a huge help, Your, uh, Your Honor!” Jack said, looking as flustered by the sun giant’s presence as Lena felt. Gwentell, though, seemed to be avoiding the giant’s gaze, hovering behind Lena like she was trying to hide.

  After everything the fairy had put her through, though, Lena wasn’t about to let her off that easy. “And this is Gwentell, a fairy princess!” she said, moving aside to reveal the fairy.

  Gwentell let out a little yelp as the sun giant leaned in, and she cringed away as if she were scared of him, of all things. But the giant just smiled in the same friendly manner and waved at her.

  “Don’t worry, little fairy,” he said. “I couldn’t blame someone like you for the actions of your queens. And besides, that was a long time ago.”

  Gwentell turned bright red, but bowed in response, which Lena hadn’t ever seen the fairy do. “You’re far too gracious, sir,” she said quietly. “But I’d still offer up the apologies of all fairykin for what they did to you.”

  The giant laughed abruptly, which made Gwentell flinch at first, but she slowly straightened back up, blushing even harder now. Lena glanced rapidly back and forth between fairy and giant in confusion, but before she could ask, the remains of the castle began to shimmer around her, and she realized what was happening.

  “I’m getting another vision!” she yelled to whoever was listening, as the world went dark around her. “Just pick me up and take me along so we can get… moving…”

  Once upon a time, a bright orb that shimmered like gold bathed the world in light, and many an adventurer longed to steal its wealth. With no way to get up that high, however, they could do nothing but stare at it longingly, for they were not Clever, not like a certain young farmer.

  This young farmer, a Very Clever but Not Quite Wise gentleman, had a plan to reach the glowing orb. And that plan began in the very dirt of his farm. Because this young farmer, Clever and Knowledgeable in the ways of the world, knew that trees and plants could grow quite high, maybe even high enough to reach the orb, if one was patient enough.

  And the young farmer was exactly that. First he planted a field of towering beanstalks, each one at least ten feet tall, which was not nearly tall enough. But by seeding the tallest beanstalks together, the next plants grew even higher, these reaching twenty feet.

  From there it was only a matter of time, though sometimes matters of time can be quite long. For this particular farmer, his first beanstalks to reach the clouds came forty years later, and they were still too short for him to grab the orb, so he continued planting.

  Another two decades passed, and not only had the stalks reached through the clouds but the not-so-young farmer had discovered that plants could grow within the fertile ground of the clouds themselves, which saved him quite a bit of time.

  Within one more year, a beanstalk several hundred feet tall rose up from the clouds, high enough to reach the glowing golden orb. And now the quite old farmer climbed with an energy usually reserved for the Young, being strangely spry for someone of his years.

  The climb wasn’t easy, even for someone with Unusually Great Strength like the farmer, but he made it to the very top of the beanstalk, which swayed in the breeze mere feet away from his prize, the glowing orb. Securing himself to the stalk by use of some vines, the farmer reached out his hand toward the orb and snatched it from the sky, finally achieving the goal of a lifetime.

  Unfortunately, someone had stuck the glowing golden orb into the sky for a reason, and that reason was not to challenge the Cleverness or Patience of young farmers.

  As the farmer stared at his glowing sphere in triumph, several tiny beings appeared out of thin air to surround him, thirteen of them in all. Each one was a creature of Beauty and Grace, with wings that shimmered in the light of the golden orb.

  “Did I not tell you?” the Fairy Queen in Black said to her sisters. “Even putting it up this high in the sky would not stop humans. Show them something shiny, and they’ll never rest until they’ve taken it.”

  “It’s not humans, it’s this world,” said the Fairy Queen in Green, shaking her head. “Its story magic pushes back against us, tries to undo everything we’ve worked for. We’ll have to face it, tame it, if we wish to rule here.”

  The others all nodded, even as the farmer bowed his head low in deference. “Your Majesties!” he said. “Have I offended you somehow? I didn’t realize this was your treasure.”

  “It is no treasure,” said the Fairy Queen in Blue. “But it is ours, human. And you must be punished for daring to… Excuse me, what are you doing?”

  What was the farmer doing? As the tiny Fairy Queens flapped their tiny wings and watched in surprise, the not-so-young farmer grew several feet before their eyes.

  The farmer seemed just as confused, looking down at his newly embiggened body, only to yelp as he sprouted up another dozen feet.

  “Stop that at once!” said the Fairy Queen in Red. “You’re using forbidden magic, human!”

  “I apologize, Your Majesties, but I don’t know how to stop, as I don’t know what I did to start!” the man said, passing forty feet tall now, then fifty. By the time he reached sixty, the growth seemed to slow, and it stopped completely as the farmer reached the seventy-five-foot-tall mark.

  “He’s become some sort of giant human!” the Fairy Queen in Purple said, with more than a little disgust. “How revolting!”

  “Even with the djinn imprisoned, its magic infects all of those around it,” the Fairy Queen in Blue said as she flew up to the giant man’s eye level. “Clearly we must hide the orb away far more carefully.”

  But what orb did she refer to? Because the orb that the giant held in his arms had changed as he’d grown, and now resembled an oil lamp, as was used in many parts of the world at that time. While the orb’s shape was new, though, its glow remained, now emanating from a flame coming from the spout of the lamp.

  Needless to say, the Fairy Queens were not pleased by this turn of events.

  “Explain this, very large human!” the Fairy Queen in Red shouted at him. “What did you do to our orb?”

  “I apologize, Your Majesties, but I don’t know how this happened!” the giant man insisted, holding the lamp out for the Fairy Queens to take. The Fairy Queen in Blue snatched it from his hands, only for the flame to disappear as soon as she touched the lamp. “I’ve always thought the orb to be the greatest treasure in the world, warming us and lighting our way. I assumed, therefore, that it must be some kind of lamp, to do such things, but I did not realize my thoughts could affect it like this—”

 

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