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The Giant of Felrein CH10

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Chapter 10

For the next two days and one night, Dara managed to keep up the appearance of being under Leo's spell. It was easier than Dara expected- the ringmaster was likely far too arrogant to even suspect his spell had failed.

Neither she nor Celia had risked a return trip to Gavin's tent until the night of their departure. Unwilling to risk stealing the keys from Leo, Celia had found a file from one of the maintenance wagons and began sawing the chain. Even though Gavin was weaker than a normal giant his age, he still had enough strength to pull the chain apart after surprisingly little sawing.

Slowly they unwrapped the chain from the door, doing their best to keep the rattling and clanking noises to a minimum. The door opened with a creak, and all three froze, feeling as if their hearts had stopped. After a moment of silence, they relaxed. The circus was still sound asleep.

They crept down the road a ways, before going off the path and into the forest. Once they were several paces into the woods, Celia turned, waving her hand before her. The grass and shrubs they had trampled grew back fresh and new, and bushes of lavender flowers grew up along with them. "That should mask our scent a bit," Celia whispered.

Dara pulled out her compass. "We'll head west until we hit the river, and then follow it south," she said.

"That'll take us to Torensa?" Gavin asked.

She nodded, tucking the compass away as she turned westward.

"How are you holding up, Gavin?" Celia asked. "You've already been on your feet far longer than usual."

"I'm fine," he said, following behind them.

For the first couple hours, Gavin matched their pace. Slowly he started to fall more and more behind, and Celia and Dara frequently had to stop and wait for him to catch up. Aside from being somewhat sickly to begin with, he also lacked shoes or any kind of covering below his knees, and the thorns and brambles of the forest had done a number on his legs. The three had barely taken more than the clothes on their backs, so lacked anything to properly treat him with.

Gavin sat down, leaning back against a tree, panting wearily. "M-Maybe you two should just... go on ahead."

"Come on, just a couple more hours and we can make camp," Celia said encouragingly.

He took a deep breath, leaning his head back against the trunk. "Just a few minutes... please..."

Dara patted his hand in what was supposed to be a reassuring gesture, but he quickly pulled away. "Don't," he muttered darkly.

She flinched at his tone, but nodded and mumbled an apology.

Celia glanced between the two, giving a slight shake of her head. This whole thing was tricky enough without their added angst.

In a few moments Gavin was on his feet again, and the three struggled through the woods until just before dawn. They made camp by a small stream, no doubt a tributary of the larger river they were headed towards. Celia grew more lavender and other strong-smelling flowers to mask the scent of their camp.

Gavin collapsed to his knees on the muddy bank. He scooped large handfuls of water and brought it to his parched mouth, drinking greedily. He then sat down on the bank, down steam from Celia and Dara as he cleaned his wounds.

"Gavin," Dara said, tentatively approaching him. "I do have a bit of medicine left," she said, holding out the vial.

He shook his head. "No. I'm fine," he said stubbornly.

"But-"

"Don't you think it's time I made some of my own decisions, Dara?" he said irritably.

She shrank back, hurt. "Fine," she muttered, returning to the dryer part of the bank where Celia was gathering some berries to serve as a meal.

"He should eat," Celia told her. "And so should you," she said.

Dara nodded silently, absently helping Celia to gather the berries.

Celia glanced at Gavin, who still sat a on the riverbank. "Dara, I've been thinking," she said quietly, hoping the giant would not overhear.

"Yes?" Dara said wearily.

"You and Gavin... if you two are in love... then... I don't know, maybe it wouldn't be so wrong," she said. "This tension between you seems more wrong than a giant and a human in love, anyway."

Dara glared. "What happened to 'the two species should remain separate'?" she asked irritably.

"I was mostly referring to before they fell in love," she said.

"Are you sure you're really worried about our happiness? Not just trying to ease the tension and make this trip go easier?" she said sourly.

Celia arched a brow. "Can it not be both?" she said candidly.

Dara opened her mouth to speak, but heard Gavin getting up from the riverbank and approaching them. He collapsed on the soft grass near the berry bushes, the ground giving a slight tremor as he did so. Now in the morning light, Dara could see just how haggard he looked. He was paler than usual, exhaustion having drained the color from his face. Dark circles formed under his eyes, and his hair was damp with sweat.

"Oh Gavin," she said quietly, kneeling beside him. "Here, eat some of these. You must be starving," she said.

"I can't," he mumbled tiredly.

"He has to eat if he's going to have enough strength to make it to Torensa," Celia said worriedly.

Dara brushed Gavin's sweat-soaked bangs from his eyes, lightly caressing his forehead.

"Dara... I'm sorry I snapped at you," he said quietly. "I'm just... so tired. My whole body feels like it's burning from the inside..."

"He has a fever," Celia said, putting her hand on the giant's forehead. "He's gone from barely ever being on his feet to trekking miles through rough terrain. He's being pushed too hard."

"What should we do?" Dara asked.

"Rest here longer than planned. Hopefully my magic's thrown Leo off our scent enough so that we can afford to slow down."

"N-No," Gavin said quietly. He reached up, lightly brushing the side of Dara's face with his knuckles. "You guys keep going. I can follow this creek to the river, then follow that to Torensa. You shouldn't have to slow down on my account."

"No. I'm staying with you," Dara said firmly, wrapping her arms around his hand. "Celia can go on ahead."

"Alone? No. It's best if we all stay together. Leo's not the only danger out here, you know," she said.

"Please. If something were to happen to you- either of you- I... I couldn't bear that responsibility," he said.

"And I won't bear the responsibility of you being captured. Or worse," Dara said firmly.

"Gavin, you are doing a lot to keep us safe, whether you know it or not," Celia said. "There are predators in this forest that could come after Dara and I, but won't approach us so long as there's a giant nearby."

This seemed to ease Gavin's worries, for he nodded weakly and lay back. Soon he drifted into an uneasy slumber.
Man, this ain't going well... :(

Sorry it took me awhile to get this out. It was one of those chapters where I knew what I wanted to happen, but wasn't sure how to convey it in writing without it dragging.

NOTE: I will be changing the title of this story to "The Giant of Felrein". I think it sounds better and does a better job of conveying what the story is actually about. ;P Uploaded this chapter under the original title, but once chapter 11 is done, it will be uploaded as "The Giant of Felrein - CH11" and I'll go through and change the previous chapters. Just wanted to give a heads up under the original title, though I'm sure people woulda figured it out. Better safe than sorry, eh? :3

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Vague-Details's avatar
what was it called before?