The Land Of Giants

They were massive. The animals, I mean. So was the plant-life. The smallest trees were wider in diameter than some buildings I'd seen. I had reached The Land Of Giants at last; one step closer to what I was looking for.

I fetched the telescope from my bag and climbed to the top of one of the great trees. Along the horizon I could see the Tirakoni Mountain Range. There was a glimmer of light off to the right, but it vanished before I could make anything of it. All around me, the forest flourished in an ocean of green, the occasional flash of color here and there accenting it beautifully.

I climbed back down to the forest floor and took a moment to allow my eyes to adjust beneath the dark canopy of giant leaves. I felt so small down there, as if I'd been shrunk down to the size of a child's doll.

I made sure to keep a watchful eye for predators as I continued my journey. Out here the animals bore the most miraculous colors, blending well with the rainbows of flowers that seemed not to need sunlight in order to glow.

Night drew near and I was careful to avoid the feet of a surrounding giraffe herd, making camp in an abandoned hollow beneath the roots of a tree. The giraffes were the only giants which existed in the same size as in the rest of the world. However, their pelts were clad in patches of green from every shade imaginable.

I was settling down, preparing to fall asleep, when it happened. There was a bright flash of light, momentarily bringing back the day. I could smell burning flesh and a blackened leaf large enough for a blanket slid into the cave. I took a peak at what was going on outside and froze. She was beautiful, elegant, and strong, feasting on the well-cooked flesh of a giraffe. I watched the moonlight reflect off her onyx pelt, glittering as if the night sky, with all it's stars, had flown down to earth to take the life of the unusual green beast.

Once she had finished her feast, she took off toward the air, blending into the night sky. I observed carefully, determined to find where she nested. That is what I came for. Quickly, I packed my supplies, ditching sleep with a newfound energy.

The trek to the mountains was longer than expected. I ran out of food by the end of the second day. Luckily, the violet squirrels made for nice, tender meat when cooked over a fire of dried fae-wood leaves. However, when that's all I had to eat, it wasn't long until I started missing my mother's home-cooked meals.

It was pouring rain when I finally reached the edge of the mountains. Even the rain was giant there. After a few miles of trudging through the mud of the bare mountains, I was shivering so hard that I actually started to miss the hot sun that pounded down on me when I crossed the desert surrounding The Land Of Giants.

That night I stayed in a cave, miles deep in the mountain range, without any wood to build a fire that I might stay warm and dry. The night was cold and the rain only grew worse as I awaited a slumber that I thought would never come. In the morning, I awoke to a light drizzle. I packed my stuff back and headed out immediately, robbed of breakfast by the lack of firewood to cook it with.

The journey was growing more difficult as I went on, and by midday I had to stop from exhaustion. I thought about everything I'd been through since I left home and realized just how lonely I felt. My best friend, Aaria, was taken by pirates on the voyage to the mainland. After that, Cin and Jemmy came to the reality of just how risky the journey would be and stayed behind at the port city. Then it was just Vilio and I. I lost him in a sandstorm when crossing the desert and was left to wonder if he was even alive. The only one left was myself, and I was about ready to give up.

I was pulled from my thoughts when I saw something move out of the corner of my eye. There was nothing; or at least that's what I first thought. I noticed the rain had seized and the sky cleared up to reveal the sun. There was another movement, and my eyes snapped back from the sky to the ground. That time I did see something. The ground was moving in strange, muddy waves, and I stared, transfixed, as from the ground rose, not mud, but flowers and grasses of all different kinds. The outsides were the rich brown of the soil, but the formerly invisible sides and inner petals were of every different color I could imagine. For as far as I could see, the mountains were smothered in vibrant color: It was magnificent.

Looking around at the miracle of these flowers, I saw a dark patch, several kilometers away, that wasn't colorful like the rest, but solid black. The dark flowers formed a circle around a plain, flat spot where sitting right in the center was the very prize I'd gone through so much trouble to possess. It was a translucent, black orb, more than half my height, reflecting the glittering colors of the flowers just like the scales of its mother. I cautiously approached the egg to examine the precious embryo forming within.

Entranced by the wonderful creature before me, I didn't think much of the sudden, short gust of wind; deaf to the heavy thud or protective growl coming from behind me. I thought the strange heat on my back was nothing more than the sun that had just come out of hiding. The last thing I heard was an ear-splitting screech covered by a thunderous roar. The heat grew instantly to an agonizing burning, accompanied by a blinding light. The last thing I remembered was the wretched scent of burning flesh. Then it was gone and everything went black: no feeling, no sounds, no smells. Nothing.