Roland's gamble

The storm passed quickly, to Roland's mild surprise. He thought from the ferocity of it that it would last much longer. The ground shook with the thunder, making him worry about Judah's home collapsing in on their heads. 

The cat, for his part, curled up on the floor and waited silently and patiently, bolstering Roland's courage. Jimmy fretted subtly near the opening of the primitive dwelling, obviously itching to escape as soon as the storm was over. 

When the thunder began to subside and the rain eased, the quarter-halfling was out before Roland could even say a word. 

"Well, all right then. I suppose you'll tell me if anything's amiss." Roland said, mostly to himself. 

Judah chirped at him. 

The sounds of rumbling became distinct from the thunder, and Roland realized he must be hearing the giants. Creeping to the opening of the cave, or skull, he cringed before stepping out into the mud. 

It was much more difficult to move silently over wet, muddy ground than dry ground. He hoped the giants were sufficiently distracted or their hearing was too poor to find him. 

To his extreme surprise, there were several Cetoan men heading up the slope towards his hiding place. They were running in fear, terrified of whatever they were fleeing from. 

Roland looked down and saw that, somehow, the giants had little interest in the men's escape, with the giantess, now bleeding all over, kneeling down to speak to Edmar. It was a strange sight. What in the world had happened? 

Surely the Cetoans had not been able to wound her in such a way without the male giants interfering. 

Judah appeared at his side and chirped curiously. 

"Hey," Roland asked, a little hesitantly. "Would you mind if I hid some men in your house for a while?" 

The enormous cat tilted his head and chirped again, then melted into the shadows to lay down. 

"I suppose you'll let me know if that's unacceptable when I try," Roland muttered.

The creature had been exceedingly obliging and helpful so far, despite being obviously capable of great carnage and destruction. 

It was difficult to keep those two things in tension in his mind. 

As the first Cetoan came close to the top of the rise, Roland leaned down to help him up. The man took his hand with some surprise, but seeing another human, immediately trusted him. 

"Who's in charge, after Edmar?" Roland asked. 

"The first mate was killed in the jungle. The chain of command sort of fell apart after that, I'm afraid." The man answered uncertainly. "Who are you?" 

Roland chewed his cheek in thought for a moment, and decided just to go straight for the authoritative approach. 

"I'm Roland, Commodore Haf's nephew. I am here with a contingent of ships to bring all of you home." 

No need to broach the topic of Edmar's treachery at this moment. Arguing and explaining in the middle of the jungle would only give the giants time to come hunt down all the people. 

"Sir!" The man saluted. "What are your orders?" 

A few others were scrambling to the top of the rise. It seemed most had come in this general direction, and Roland hoped to be able to gather all he could from the jungle and get them back safely. 

"There is a sort of cave there," Roland pointed to the eyehole in the skull. "Gather the men and hide in it. Once you have everyone you can get, follow the trail back through the jungle." 

He looked over his shoulder. The path that Judah had run was not fully marked, but it was discernible through the thick brush. They should be able to get back with even an inkling of tracking ability. 

"Haf and many men are camped out by the first great hole along the trail. You should be safe there." He smiled. 

"Thank you, sir." The man saluted again, when suddenly his eyes widened. "SIR!!" 

He drew his sword as Judah stood up and stepped out of the shadows. At the sight of the sword, the great cat yawned, exposing his rows of gleaming teeth. The sword quivered as the man holding it shook with fear. 

"At ease," Roland said, reaching up to stroke the cat's neck. The great animal purred loudly in response. "This is… a friend." 

"A friend?" Came the incredulous question. "I… see that." 

Judah had flopped to his side to make Roland scratch the correct place. It was a strange sight. 

"Get your men inside before the giants come looking," Roland said as Jimmy appeared on his other side. "Gah! You've got to stop doing that," He flinched away from the quarter-halfling. 

"You gotta get used to it," He countered. "The giants are goin' below. Apparently there's fifty more or so of 'em down there, and miss fancy pants says she's their queen." 

"How did… never mind. Thank you, Jimmy. You've been unexpectedly… unbelievably helpful, actually." Roland dug into his bag and pulled out a writing implement and paper. He penned a quick report to Haf detailing everything, and ran it over to the man he'd spoken to before with instructions to deliver it to Haf. 

"Not headed back yourself? You said this was a scouting trip. I reckon we've done plenty." Jimmy spat into the mud. 

"No. I need to get Edmar. I've got to stop him, and the giants. If they follow the Void… if it can take them to our world…" Roland blinked. The Void didn't seem to be entirely bound by the rules of herbal magic. He was increasingly confident that many of Titania's concoctions had been mostly for show, to pretend she was human. She likely hadn't even needed a portal-maker. 

"Well, good luck with that." Jimmy said. 

Roland eyed the smaller man. Honestly, he hadn't actually expected him to come along this far. He supposed he shouldn't feel too disappointed that the man would leave now. The man was a loner, not a team player. He was content to help others when he also benefited, but there was no pretense of altruism. 

"Thanks." He replied with only mild censure in his voice. 

"Don't look at me like that. You know what I came here for," Jimmy shifted his pack on his shoulder. "Now I got it. And soon, this entire level of the world will be free of giants and I can have it to myself. Apart from weird things like your cat," Jimmy grimaced at the animal, who hissed slightly back at him. 

"Won't it be a while longer before you're able to use your portal-maker?" Roland asked. 

"That gives me time to gather herbs from here. Don't want to waste it chasing after your idiot brother or cousin or whatever he is." Jimmy shrugged. 

"And then you plan to go home?" Roland asked. 

"Home's wherever I say it is. But sure, I'll go home." Jimmy shrugged. "Should make a bundle of money selling the herbs and stuff I find here." 

"Can you… When you get there," Roland swallowed. "Can you give a letter to Serafina for me?" 

Jimmy frowned. "Do I look like a delivery boy?" 

"Not at all. I just might not make it, chasing after giants. I want her to know some things, in case." 

Roland also knew that Finn would be able to give all the information to his father and the Council. Though he loved his wife more than anything, the request was as pragmatic as it was romantic.

If he failed, he wanted those he loved to be able to have the best possible chance of defending themselves. There was no guarantee that Haf and his men would make it back to their own world, but Jimmy? The quarter-halfling was crafty, and a survivor. 

Roland was confident that a message left with the man would make it. 

"Fine." Jimmy glared. "I'm no sucker for a guilt trip, but I suppose I have room in my pack for a piece of paper." 

Roland took more paper and hastily penned all the information he could, along with some personal sentiments for his wife and children. He added the paper to the small stack of letters he'd written to her since he left Ceto, and sealed them together in a bundle. 

"Time's wastin'," Jimmy complained, pointing to the horizon. The merest hint of dawn had begun to show there. 

"You're right. Thank you, Jimmy. Stay safe, and I wish you well." 

"Sure. You too, I guess." The quarter halfling hesitated, then reluctantly held out his hand to shake Roland's. "Remember, if you go after somebody through a portal, it's gonna drop you in the same place. Give 'em time to get out of the way a bit unless you want 'em to know you followed." 

Roland blinked at the unexpected final advice and shook the smaller man's hand. 

"Now get a move on and hope your ornery cat can keep up with a giant," Jimmy's mouth twisted as he jerked his thumb towards the bottom of the hill. 

The giantess had picked up Edmar and his halfling and was turning to stomp away.