The King's Game - Blackbarrow Arc (Part 1)

Chapter 15: Giselle's Past

"I need to hurry up and find the missing Blackbarrow guards before it's too late for my precious children, but this damned stone giant is keeping a close eye on me. I should've known they wouldn't trust me right off the bat. I wonder if there is some way I can lose him?" Giselle thought to herself as she paced around her quarters.

A gentle knock on the door snapped Giselle from her thoughts. Giselle opened the door with a creak, leaving just a slither so that she could peep out. Dahk stood on the other side patiently waiting, the giant was now only a few feet taller than Giselle. Royland had explained that he had taught Dahk to alter his size at will, and that it was something only Dahk was capable of doing. The stone golem raised his hand and Giselle thought for a second that she had seen a gentle smile appear on the golem's face.

"Threat gone. Safe, you come out." Dahk said to Giselle

"I will be out shortly; I just need to get ready first. Thank you Dahk." Giselle said with a smile before she closed the door.

After a few moments Giselle emerged from her quarters. Escorted by Dahk she made her way outside to get some fresh air. The sky was clear and the birds chirped happily as they flew overhead and perched themselves on the branch of a tree. No matter how many times she saw it, Giselle was always shocked at how The Desolate Plains looked compared to its border. The deeper you went, the more natural and beautiful it became. Filled with blooming trees and lush green grass, Giselle was certain that there was no place more beautiful than here. The peaceful aura was rich here and Giselle could imagine having a little cabin in one of the nearby forests, a small cabin where she and her two children could live out their vrots peacefully. Her husband would be chopping wood for the fire while she would be hanging out the washing, their children would be playing in the grass. Tears started running down her cheeks, her life would have been so much different if her husband wasn't killed by Baron Garnet and the Blackbarrow guards.

The peaceful silence was disrupted by a mighty roar and a deafening sound, that sounded like a castle wall crumbling to the ground during a siege. Giselle's body moved before her mind had time to think and as she ran she wondered if it was perhaps the missing Blackbarrow guards who had been the cause of the sound. As she turned around the corner she was greeted by a cloud of dust that obstructed her vision. The dust had begun to settle and the silhouette of a beast begun to emerge, instinctively Giselle hid behind Dahk.

"Dahk we should call Royland, there is a savage beast that needs to be dealt with, or Dahk can't you do something?" Giselle shouted from behind Dahk.

Before Dahk could open his mouth to speak, the beast let out a mighty roar, "Where is the savage beast? Maybe it could entertain me!"

Giselle let out a scream, "The beast just spoke! Dahk kill it!"

Dahk put a hand on the trembling Giselle, "No need kill. Not enemy."

Giselle opened her eyes and before her the hulking beast of a man stood. Seeing that he had frightened the woman he stabbed his great sword into the ground and made his way to towards Dahk and Giselle.

"I'm sorry I scared you miss. I'm an ally of Royland's. I have no name, but everyone calls me Stain. You must be Giselle the runaway slave."

Still hidden behind Dahk Giselle managed to speak, "How do you know who I am?"

"Oh that, Royland told me all about you when I arrived. Have no fear, Royland has intrusted me with capturing that fat pig Garnet."

Panic spread across Giselle's face, she remembered that Royland had said he would deal with Baron Garnet soon but not this soon. She had yet to get the information she required to save the lives of her children. Stain had noticed the change in her facial expression and sat down on the grass.