EA#06:
The Mountain in the Clouds, Part Nine
“
We were in the woods.My friends and I.
Not the friend you may remember. These friends didn’t have wings.
But they had their blades ready.
The giants had marched into town so quickly that we found ourselves running just to get out of the way and not be trampled on.
We ran so hard and long that our bodies ached and our muscles throbbed. It wasn’t until we were out of the city streets and in the forest that we stopped.
The thundering roar of the giants’ pounding feet echoed throughout the valley. Houses were no match for them as they plowed through them.
My heart was racing as I managed to inquire: “Do they always destroy the city to collect taxes?”
Corporal Riley breathily answered: “No, this is unusually aggressive tonight.”
Yea, it’s unusual for me. I’m not usually so terrified. I saw my life flash before my eyes when those massive boots nearly crushed my body in a single easy step.
I had no idea they would be so big. I mean, I heard Gill say giants, but… They were twice as high as the tallest buildings in town.
And so sturdily built. I couldn’t imagine the small daggers and short swords and scimitars there were going to be of much use against the giants’ thick skins.
Wait, scimitar? That’s not a common weapon to be seen in parts like this… Well, whatever parts these were, they were not like the desert homes of the scimitar men.
Who was this scimitar man?
I didn’t have long to ponder it, for then we were on the move. The giants had come to be settled in the center of town and the orders were announced:
“Move in!” said Corporal Riley, who was a fierce woman wielding her spear lethally, winged helm barely containing the pulsing veins in her angry face.
The group was on the move back towards town and the giants, the corporal leading the charge, weapon held high.
Leaves and branches thwacked at us as we went, and I started to wonder how I had gotten caught up in all this.
Oh, right, my trial. This one was already feeling quite different from my first one.
Gill, the woman whom I had met less than an hour ago, had introduced me to some of her friends. Riley was one of them, as well as several guards: Jax, Hayn, and Bion. These were the ones who formed our little group. Plus the scimitar man, whoever he was.
Riley and the guards had spoken about rebellion. They were fed up with the giants’ tax and wanted to fight back. Talk was that they would strike soon, but it wasn’t supposed to be tonight. And it was supposed to be preemptive, not while being taken off guard by the rampage that the giants had just caused.
We broke out of the forest and hustled down the city streets towards the looming crowd of behemoths. All were on edge, weapons ready, faces intent. Except me. I felt like I was just going along for a ride I didn’t know I’d signed up for.
When we got close to the center of town, we could begin to hear booming voices. The voices ranted on, but it was hard to make out the words as the low tones sounded jumbled from this distance.
The power of those voices shook the very walls of my heart and rib cage.
Then I saw Gill, peering around a corner, watching the taxmen. She turned to see us coming her way.
“When did you get separated from us?” I asked.
“When you guys bolted for the edge of town, I ducked into this silo,” she said, pointing behind her. It was large and well-built. “I couldn’t imagine they’d want to run through that.”
“Smart thinking, Gill,” said Riley. “And a bit lucky. What are they doing now?”
“I think they are giving new demands to us. More taxes, or more destruction of our homes and businesses. Anyways, it’s hard to hear them…”
“Then I think we should move in closer and address this properly,” declared Riley.
Again, they were on the move, now seven, all weapons raised. Except for me. Even Gill had her short sword in hand.
The scimitar man saw me looking around at the weapons and said, “You look like you need some arms. Here,” he offered me a cudgel pulled from his back.
“What do I…?” I began.
“You hit things with it,” he said. “Not as much skill as a sword maybe, but does the damage. Just don’t hit yourself with it, it does take some finesse.” He winked.
I swung it a couple times, feeling clumsy. It was quite heavy, with a blunted mace-like striking head.
Maybe this is my strength, I laughed to myself. I swung it a few more times. Then again, probably not…
I was beginning to count on not needing the club at all. Especially with another glance up at the giant’s enormous bodies. And their own massive weapons. Maybe this can be done without a fight, I prayed.
Corporal Riley raised her hand in a fist then and brought us to a stop. We were just behind the taxmen and the crowd of people that had gathered in front of them, barely visible from where we were, what with the buildings and boots blocking the way.
“Up here,” she called, and ran into an inn.
We followed her up floor after floor, winding our way up the stairs to the top where a door opened onto the roof of the inn.
Riley burst through the door, catching the attention of a tax collector whose enormous head turned to glare at her.
“Well if it’s isn’t the constable herself,” he grumbled.
“Corporal,” she corrected.
“Yea, yea,” his thunderous voice boomed. “What do you want? I see you’re ready to fight, you and your pathetic bunch. Are you really so daring? You do realize that you have no chance against us, right?”
He began bellowing out a laugh that resounded across the valley. He smacked the giant next to him, who at first looked like he was choking before joining in with a guffaw. Then all the taxmen chortled uproariously, which quickly became unbearable on my ear drums.
When the ruckus settled, the first giant pretended to wipe a tear from his eye and asked again, “So what are you trying to accomplish, exactly?”
Corporal Riley was nonplussed. She answered, “We will not be oppressed by you and your taxes anymore. Is it true that you are asking for more? We have given you all we have to give. Take any more and we will all starve. Then where will you get your tax money?”
“We only asked for a farthing more,” said the tax collector. Then he started sniffling back another laugh.
“Yea, a farthing by our standards or in giant terms?” Riley demanded.
“You know us too well, old constable. As you wish. We asked for ten silvers more from each household, every tax period.” The giant grinned from ear to ear then, holding his arms across his chest.
“That’s ludicrous,” she retorted. “No one in Titanton can afford that.”
“Ah, that is true,” the giant said with zest. “That is why I offer you a second option. One that doesn’t involve us flattening all of you today.”
“What is it?” Riley asked tentatively.
“You said no one can afford it. That is a lie. There is someone who can. Your lord and liege has gold beyond his limits. He needs to pay his fair share of tax to us, too. That way he can siphon the demands placed on his people. That seems fair to us. Do you agree, constable?”
“I am a corporal!” Riley shouted back. “And I cannot answer for the king.”
The taxman leaned his face close to Riley and growled, “That’s why you will tell him yourself. You will convince him that he must do this. If he doesn’t, he will watch us smash his town to rubble before his eyes.”
This was the one time the corporal faltered a bit, with the giant’s crooked mouth breathing hot on her face. She learned away, trying to get more space from him without appearing to back down.
“I think that is the best offer you can get, right now, little bug,” the giant said. He moved away from her again and threw his hand up in the air to rally his fellow giants to leave. “Come on, let’s get out of here.”
The taxmen turned to retrace their steps out of town. As they went, one giant threw an elbow into a roof and another kicked in a wall.
“We will be back in two days,” the head taxman said over his shoulder.
“Two days?” asked Riley.
“Aww, are you going to miss us? We’d come sooner, but we have other towns to harass, you know. Lucrative business, tax collecting.”
He guffawed again, and this time I clapped my hands over my ears to block the noise.
Then, like the end of a bad dream, it was over and all the giants had disappeared back into the mountains.
“Enough is enough!” Gill rallied us then. “They are asking for too much. We’ve already had enough of them. It’s time we put an end to this.”
“I know, I feel your pain, Gill, but how?” Riley sighed. “These are treacherous waters we are in. The stakes have changed. And we all know they are perfectly capable of decimating us in the blink of an eye.”
“Not if we’re smart,” I started. As all eyes turned to me, I gulped. I hope I know what I’m doing…
“
Please leave comments if you’re enjoying the story, and share with friends!
Thank you for reading.
Blessings to you,
Matthew