The attack

The year is 2470, but no one can remember that date anymore.  It's the same with how their world came to be as it is.  No one remembers how it happened but one day long ago Giantess just appeared out of nowhere during a war.  Some believed it was a secret weapon designed by one side, others believed it from the after effects from their weapons, some believed God sent them to punish humanity, and others believe that they were aliens sent to colonize the world.  All that mattered was that the Giantess showed up and started to attack humans.  As time went on the world changed, cities were destroyed and turned to ruble that in turn became large forest.  Humanity wasted all their weapons on each other and the Giantess to the point where guns were rare to come by.  Humanity's technology was gone and they were forced to live in kingdoms again.  These kingdoms were made from cities that survived the Giantess attacks and ruled by leaders that turned into kings and passed it down.  The Giantess still roam the land but not in the same numbers as they used to.  Humanity was safe in their kingdoms. 

Dagon hatted waking up first, which was most of the time.  Sometimes Cindy would get up before him and set him down on the ground for him to continue sleeping, this was not one of those times.  Like most mornings, Dagon woke up to being face first into his sister's cleavage, with her trying to smother him.  Just with her sleeping it was impossible for him to push the human sized hands off his back, so Dagon was forced to lay there and listen to the thumping of Cindy's beating heart and the rhythmic inflating chest from her breathing. 

Dagon would have bitten her like he used to do but… she taught him his lesson long ago.  Too many mornings of being smacked like he was some kind of insect stopped him from even thinking twice about it.  There was nothing worse than being hit be a Giantess thinking you're some kind of giant sized mosquito.  Trying to wake her with words was also pointless, due to her deep sleep and her giant breast kept her from hearing a single noise from him. 

Normally a person would be upset at this dilemma, but Dagon would take this any day over the alternative.  Night time was a dangerous time for anyone his size.  There were large creatures out there that would enter a camp at the dead of night and make anything sleeping an easy meal.  Dagon's days in the military taught him that.  He could still remember those horrible nights being woken up by the sound of his fellow men being dragged off into the night still alive. 

Cindy started to stir and roll over in her sleep mumbling something.  Dagon was grateful this was one of those days she woke up early, sometimes he had to wait 30 minutes before she woke.  He needed to leave soon or he might end up having to travel at night.  Cindy let out a loud yawn as she sat up.  The pressure on Dagon's back lessened and the bright shinny light from the early sun blinded him for a few moments.  The fresh air was refreshing as he reliazed how stale the air was that he was breathing.

"Good morning little bro," Cindy said in a tired voice.

"Sleep any longer and it will be afternoon soon," Dagon said as he was set down on the ground.  "Well you know the rules, last one up makes breakfast."  Cindy grumbled something under her breath in response as she started to stretch.

"Got to use the bathroom first," She said as she got up and headed into the woods.  Needing to go too, Dagon went to the edge of the cliff and released his bladder that was killing him since he woke up.  When Dagon was done he headed over to the tiger pelts and started to fold them up and bag them and pack up his other things for the journey to the nearest town. 

He was nearly done when Cindy came back with two handfuls of fruits that she collected.  She sat down and offered some to Dagon.  "I sure hope you washed your hands," He told her, which she only replied by giving him a wicked grin.  He started to eat a few handfuls for himself, which was nothing compared to what Cindy ate.  Before he was done she popped her other handful into her mouth and ate it all.  When Dagon was done with his share she ate the rest.

Done with breakfast, Dagon picked up his bags and told Cindy that he was ready.  They would travel as close as possible without them being spotted by anyone else.  If they saw Cindy and him together they would most likely either banish him or worse kill him.  It was around midday when they came to a road that would lead to town.  Cindy set Dagon down on the trail and waited for him to leave.

"I'll be back either tonight-" he started only to have Cindy stop him.

"Just wait till tomorrow to travel," Cindy said trying not to sound as worried as she was.

"Ok, I'll make sure to be back here around the same time.  Make sure to eat some food while I'm gone.  Last time I came back you were too tired to move."

"Stop worrying about me," Cindy said angrily.  "That was like years ago and you know it.  I was just a kid then," Cindy said defensively.

"You're still just a kid," Dagon told her.

Cindy folded her arms over her chest, "You're just barely older than me."

Dagon turned to leave laughing, "You may have grown in age but you haven't matured much."  He almost didn't have time to dodge Cindy's finger that tried to flick him in the back of the head.  Dagon laughed louder as he ran away as fast as he could with his sister still sitting there fuming.

"YOU BETTER RUN!"

Dagon was about an hour into his trip and halfway to Hagger's town.  The trail became a road and had the woods parted to either side of the road about as wide as a couple of carts traveling side by side.  Dagon hadn't seen anyone on his journey to Hagger's town, named after the king that founded it.  Normally he would have seen at least one or two people but there was no one.  Dagon felt odd walking down the road, almost as if he was being watch or something.  He slowly looked around careful to see if he could spot what the weird disturbing feeling was.  Yet there was nothing to be found. 

Dagon was on edge until he saw a small group of about 4 or 5 people walking on the trial toward him with a cart being in towed behind them by a few horses.  Stepping to the right side of the road, he let them pass by on his left.  As they started to pass, the man in the lead waved at Dagon who waved back, but didn't say anything at all.  Continuing past Dagon noticed that they were a group of merchants carrying goods to and from towns.  That was a dangerous job, especially without protection. 

By the time the cart passed by Dagon, he noticed it too late.  There was a soft crackle, like branches breaking, off to his right deep in the woods.  Dagon and the merchants both paused to listen.  Dagon didn't have time to react as suddenly from the other side of the road, on the left side; a Giantess with dark black hair and large frame came crashing out of the woods scaring the horses and everyone.  Dagon quickly bolted down the road and veered off to hide behind some trees as the Giantess quickly attacked the merchants.  He could hear the merchants screaming for help as the Giantess grabbed one or two of them and bit into, them devouring them in chunks.  The merchants dropped whatever they had and sprinted toward the other side of the road toward the woods where Dagon was hiding, only to have another Giantess come out from there and snatch them up. They all tried to plead for mercy but the new Giantess didn't care as she started to eat them just like the other Giantess. 

This was a typical Giantess trap.  They would set up near trails or roads and spring them when a good group of humans came by.  Dagon should have known that traveling on the road was dangerous around here but it never crossed his mind.  As the Giantess continued their meal and finished with the merchants, they went for the horses, and then went through whatever the merchants had.  Dagon was just mere feet away from the Giantess who were still going through their prizes.  He dare not look from behind the tree; all he could do was be as still and silent as possible.

"Oh look, rice," said one of the Giantesses who ripped the back of the cart open.

"Give me some," the other Giantess said in a deep voice.

"No, I found it first," the other Giantess argued.

The other Giantess growled at her like an animal, "You know the rules of the hunt, all prizes are shared."

"You didn't share the horses," she argued.

"Fine, eat your damn rice," the Giantess said as she started to stomp away toward Dagon.  A large foot slammed down just inches away from him as she paused.  "How many humans did you eat?"

"Why," said the other with a mouthful of what had to be rice. 

"There were 6 of them.  I had 3, how many did you get?"  Dagon held his breathe as he realized that this Giantess kept track of their prey.  If they find out he was missed they would track him down and he would share the same fate as those poor merchants.

"Umm," she said still with food in her mouth.  "I can't remember, I think I got 3."

"Bah," the Giantess near Dagon shouted out in irritation.  "You idiot, you didn't keep count?"  The giant foot moved forward, deeper into the forest, "Don't forget to clean up."

The Giantess eating the rice grumbled something as she continued to eat what was left.  She picked up the remains of their meal, both food and cart, and carried them with her toward where the first Giantess was not noticing Dagon's presence.  He waited until they were at least gone for a few minutes.  Letting out his breathe which he didn't notice was still being held, he headed toward the road and went toward Hagger's town.

 He got lucky.  This was the second time he nearly was killed by a Giantess trap set up to capture prey like him.  He needed to be more careful.  Dagon decided that it was safe to travel on the road back to town only for the fact that Giantesses rarely attack the same road twice and not to mention the merchants made it this far, which means there shouldn't be any on the road up ahead, right?

Dagon made it to town in one piece.  He didn't come across anymore people or Giantess.  The sun was just past noon meaning it was late afternoon and heading to evening, which was perfect trading time.  Dagon was still a little shaken up since the attack but knew he had to work fast or he wouldn't be able to sell his goods.

 Heading over to the market place he found the man in charge, Peter.  Peter was the closest thing Dagon had to a friend.  They knew each other very well.  When he was in the army and had to guard the supply route between Hagger's town to the other towns, it was Peter's supplies that were being shipped there.  Peter watched over most if not all the trade in Hagger's town and was the man to go to if you wanted a spot to sell something.

"Hey Pete," Dagon greeted him.  Peter was a large man in both high and width.  He was about late 30's early 40's.  For someone who controlled most trade he was very well funded and was almost like a king in the town, second to the king of course.

"Dagon!  It's good to see you again.  I see you haven't been eaten yet," Peter said grinning.  Peter brought him into a tight hug.  Noticing that something was up, Peter asked Dagon what was wrong.

"Just passed a merchant cart from here, was that yours?"

"You got to be more specific," Peter told him.

"About 5 guys carrying rice."

"Oh, no that was the Richardson's," Peter said with recognition.  "What happened," Peter said dreading what was next.

"They got attacked by Giantess.  No survivors," Dagon told him.

Peter looked grim, "Damn fools, told them to get protection.  There hadn't been an attack in a while.  I told them but they said it would cost too much to hire the army and didn't want to waste it on mercenaries."

Dagon shook his head in disbelief at those poor souls that could have survived if they had protection.  It was never a guaranty to make it safely but with some protection it tends to repel most Giantess attacks.

"What brings you here," Peter asked changing the subject.

"Trading," Dagon said trying to stay vague as possible.  "Is there a stand open?"

"Got one left," Peter said grinning that smug smile of his.  "Of course that depends on how much you willing to pay."

Knowing the game all too well Dagon bartered his way to getting the stand for the day.  As he set it up he started to pull out his goods which ranged from a few animal pelts that he caught to some berries used for medicine.  He finally pulled out his prizes, the two tiger pelts and put them up for display.  Peter gasped in shock as did everyone in the vicinity that saw it. 

"HOW DID YOU…" Peter asked in disbelief.  "Damn it, I would have charged you more for the stand if I knew you had this."

Dagon gave him a smirk.  "Well, if you don't mind I got some money to make." 

"You're buying dinner tonight," He told Dagon.

"If you're buying the drinks," Dagon replied.

Peter laughed and shook his hand on it, "You got yourself a deal."  Peter walked through the now forming crowd around his stall that started to buy his goods. 

Dagon got rid of the small stuff fast as he had regular customers that knew his berries were the real deal.  He was all but down to the two tiger pelts that the poorer customers couldn't afford.  The really rich customers wouldn't come out for a little while longer so Dagon had time to sit back and relax.  The pelts were probably the best he ever made and the colors that were given off were eye catching.  It didn't matter who it was, anyone who spotted the tiger skin gapped and asked how much even though they knew they couldn't afford it.

Finally the moment Dagon was waiting for, the sun started to set and the big buyers were looking through the market for goods to buy.  Dagon grinned to himself when he saw a well-dressed man come up to the table and give Dagon a look over that told him that he thought he was less than shit.  Then he looked down at the pelts and couldn't take his eyes off them.

"How much," He asked in awe at the merchandise.

"How much you got," Dagon asked in return making it sound like this man didn't have the funds for the product.  The man gave him an even worse look to the previous one that only made Dagon enjoy his insulting tone to him.

The man started to bargain for one of the skins and Dagon finally settled on the price, which was twice what he was looking for.  Dagon was about to shake on it and give it to the man, when out of nowhere a woman with a hood covering her features spoke up.  "I'll pay double that, for each one."

The man who turned on the new comer gave her a furious glare and started to approach her when out of the crowd two royal guards appeared and stopped him.  The crowd quickly parted leaving only the hooded woman, the well-dressed man, and the guards that had him blocked away from the woman.

"Princess," the well-dressed man said stuttering at her recognition from the royal guards.

The crowd instantly started to bow to her as she approached the stand with her guards.  Dagon gulped at the last thing he ever suspected to happen.  "Is that not enough for you," The princess asked in such a lovely voice that Dagon could only blink in response.

Dagon stood there for a second and quickly realized she asked him a question, "Sorry your highness.  Yes that is more than enough for these."

"Here than," She said handing Dagon a large bag of coins.  "Could you please deliver them to the castle tomorrow morning?  I will have the guards informed of your arrival…" She paused waiting for Dagon to give her his name.   

Dagon waited thinking she was going to continue only to realize that she was waiting for his name, "Oh, its Dagon, your highness."

The princess giggled at his reaction, producing the cutest sound he ever heard.  "Ok, Dagon.  I'll let them know."

With that she left with her guards in tow.  Dagon stood there letting what happened replay in his mind.  He never even saw her face.  Not many people were allowed to look upon royalty, let alone talk to them.  Today Dagon got the pleasure of meeting the Princess of the city. 

"Hey Dagon," Peter called standing right in front of him. 

Dagon shook himself out of his thoughts as he looked at him, "Yeah?"

"Looks like you're buying both food and drinks tonight," He said grinning and pointing to the large bag of coins that he just made off the deal with the princess.