Chapter 20 A Giant Surprise

"I think we may have slept in a little," Carla said, as everyone began moving the next morning.

"Well, it was rather warm in the tent and everyone was tired after all that walking," said Tom.

Vonn and Gia were trying to figure out how to roll the tent back up small enough it would fit back into the case it came it.

"If I hadn't helped you take it out of the thing last night, I would swear this tent didn't come in it," complained Gia, shoving and pushing the fabric.

"Gia, let's try rerolling it again," sighed Vonn.

"We've done that twice already," she growled.

He took her chin in his hands and made her look at him.

"Some things take time," he whispered.

All of her anger and frustration disappeared in the blink of an eye and she stood there in shock as he pulled the tent from her hands and began unrolling it.

"Can I go look at the river?" asked Mikey, tightening the strap of his axe sheath on his side.

"One moment and I'll go with you," said Carla. "I don't want you slipping and falling in."

"Mom," he groaned, giving her a look.

Gia sighed, sitting back on her heels as Vonn continued trying to roll the tent up tight enough to fit into its original sleeve.

"We have to figure out a better way of doing this," she said, looking over the flat area ahead of them, that lead to the forest.

Patches of water shone in the late morning light, and the sound of the rushing river was much louder.

"You're right," said Vonn, giving up on it and sitting back on his heels, too. "Why don't you go with your mom and brother to see the river, while I work on this a bit? Maybe I can figure something out."

"Alright," she said with a nod, standing up. She needed to pee anyway, and this would give her an opportunity to get out of sight to do just that.

Linking arms with her mom, they followed Mikey's skipping form as he rushed towards the river.

"Wow!" he exclaimed, stopping in his tracks and waiting for them to catch up to him. "Look at all the little pools!"

The rock slab next to the river had spots worn out of it, where the water had hit it enough to wear away large depressions. Inside each one, they could see colorful rocks and tiny creatures like fish and frogs moving about.

"Try not to touch anything," cautioned Carla as Mikey sat down on the wet stone to catch some of the creatures.

"But mom! Why?" he whined. "I can catch enough fish and frogs for us to eat!"

"We don't know which of those might be poisonous," she said, giving him the mom look. "I don't have any potions like the mushroom people had, to heal you if you get poked by a poisonous barb."

He looked back at the fish. Some of them did have fancy fins and colorful spines. Sighing in frustration, he climbed to his feet.

"I'm going to find a spot to pee," said Gia, eyeing the rocks that littered the space against the cliff wall.

"Alright. I'll keep an eye on the little hunter until you return, and then swap with you," chuckled her mom.

"Little hunter!" grumbled Mikey, moving away from them. "I was the one who hunted the rats we caught before we came here! I think I am more than just a little hunter!"

Knowing that he had a valid point, Gia left him to her mother, in order to find a suitably hidden spot to do her business. Some of the rocks were tumbled from above, probably from when the dwarves were carving the path, they had walked along the day before, and others were shoved in place when the river flooded this area. Making her way carefully around a bend, she stopped dead in her tracks, too terrified to move.

A giant figure sat among the rocks; sound asleep. All around it were bones from animals and what looked like humans. There may have been dwarven bones there, too, but she wouldn't have been able to tell the difference between them and human bones. Furs and slats of wood were tied to its body, in the guise of clothing with thick gnarled ropes.

Breathing as lightly as she could, Gia stepped back the way she had come, reaching out for the rock next to her, to keep her balance on the slippery ground. Her hand brushed against some loose rubble, and she snapped her head to the side in horror, watching as the pebbles fell on the ground, skittering all the way to the giant's ugly feet.

Snorting, it raised its massive head and blinked groggily a couple of times, before spotting her.

Swallowing the bile that rose in her throat, she gave it a weak smile and tried to curtsy.

"Ugh," it groaned, raising a hand to its head and rubbing its face.

The smell from its breath was putrid. She turned her head and coughed, fighting the urge to puke.

"Human?" it seemed to say in a deep rumbling voice.

"Yes, sir," she managed to squeak out, hoping and praying it was male. It wasn't wearing a shirt, so she was taking that to mean it was a boy, but who could tell with giants.

"Have food?" it asked, rubbing its head and wincing, as if in pain.

"Um," she glanced around, looking to see if there was anything laying around them that might equate to food for this thing, when she noticed it had blood trickling down its neck. Was it hurt?

"Do you need a bandage?" she asked, wondering where she would get a bandage big enough for this thing.

"Head hurt," it moaned, causing the little rocks around it to vibrate.

"May I see? I might be able to help?" she offered, completely shocking herself at her offer.

"Help," it nodded, leaning forward until its face was right in front of her and then turned its head towards the river.

There, right at the edge of its hairline, was a dwarven spear, sticking out of its head. She reached out tentatively and touched the space around it, realizing the spear head hadn't pierced through the giant's skull. The angle of the spear made it impossible for the giant to get a good enough grip to yank it out.

"This will hurt, when I pull it out, are you alright with that?" she asked, speaking softly into its ear.

"Stop pain," it moaned, moving closer to her.

Taking a firm grip on the spear, she gave it a quick jerk, pulling the spear out all at once. The giant grunted and jerked away from her. Gasping at the blood that poured out of the wound, Gia grabbed the first thing she found, which was a scrap of leather that had fallen off his arm when he jerked away.

"Oh! I'm so sorry! Put this on it, to stop it from bleeding!" she held out the leather to the giant, and the giant grabbed it from her, almost taking her arm with it.

Holding the scrap of leather to the back of its head, the giant sat back down and big tears collected in its eyes.

"So hungry!"

Looking around, Gia held out the spear, "You can catch some fish using this."

The giant looked at her for a moment, as the tears trailed down its face. Thinking it didn't understand her, she held the spear up and pointed to the water, pretending to stab something in the water.

"You can stab fish in the water," she said, holding the spear out to it.

Taking the spear with its other hand, the giant looked over at the water, still holding the piece of leather to its head.

"Do you want me to tie that?" she asked, pointing at the spot where it was holding the leather.

"Hurts," it said softly, turning again for her to see it.

She looked around, and found some rope on the rocks near where it had been sleeping. Wrapping the rope around the giant's head, she secured the leather in place and stepped back to see if it had worked. It probably wouldn't last for long, but it might be long enough for the bleeding to stop.

"Okay, I think that should work," Gia said with a nod, stepping back.

"Hunt now," it said, standing up and moving down to the water, carrying the spear.

Stepping back, Gia slunk back and made her way back towards where her mom and Mikey were. As soon as she was out of sight, she turned and ran.

"What's wrong?" asked Carla, as she ran up to her. Spotting the blood on her, she gasped and asked, "Are you hurt?!"

"No, but we need to go, now! There's a giant back there, and it's hurt and hungry!"

"A giant?" asked Mikey, craning his head to try and see it.

"Come on, Mikey!" commanded Carla, taking his arm and pulling him along. "We're not fighting giants today!"

"Does that mean we can tomorrow?" he asked with a grin.