Chapter 4: The Giant

Chrysolis flew low over the Renegade forest with Prince Nathan on her back, searching for Princess Nataleigh. The forest looked like a sea of green leaves as they flew above it. Nathan was beginning to wonder if they would ever find his sister in all these trees.

“Oh, Chrysolis! Why didn’t I think of looking in that magic mirror a little closer?” Nathan was upset with himself. “It would have only taken a minute longer to find out exactly where Nataleigh was instead of all this flying around while she’s in trouble!”

“Don’t worry, Nathan!” Chrysolis soothed. “We’ll find her!”

“But how? This wood is gigantic!”

Suddenly, something caught his eye below. “Wait! Did you see that?”

Chrysolis pulled up and hovered in the air just above the tallest trees. “See what? I don’t see anything.”

Nathan pointed with his lance. “Right there! I saw someone walking through the forest below us! Maybe they know where we can find Nataleigh.”

At that moment, a blur of grey and white feathers burst from the trees under them and flew like an arrow right at Prince Nathan. It was a giant hawk with huge talons that could rip right through Nathan’s armor if they hit him! The bird was so quick that Chrysolis could not react fast enough to stop it. It streaked past the dragon’s claws and slammed right into Nathan’s shield. He lifted it up just in time to block the attack, but the force of the blow knocked it out of his hand and sent him tumbling off the dragon’s back!

A heartbeat later, he felt himself falling through the branches of the trees below. Closing his eyes, he waited to hit the ground. “This is going to hurt.” He thought to himself.

But then he felt something snatch him right out of the air and heard thunderous laughter echoing through his helmet. He opened his eyes and found himself nose to nose with a squinty eyed giant. The brute was bald and had only one large, flat tooth in his mouth which stuck out from his fat, bottom lip like a huge marshmallow cube. He held Nathan in one huge hand so tightly that Nathan felt his armor nearly denting like a soda can.

“Haw, Haw, Haw!” The giant bellowed. “What have we got here? A little man in a tin suit.”The large hawk landed on the giant’s other hand. He praised it. “Good job, Weggio. He didn’t even know what hit him.”

Nathan tried to call Chrysolis for help, but as he started to yell, the giant squeezed him harder so he couldn’t breathe.“No, No, little man. No callin’ yer pet dragon!”

The giant looked up into the sky quickly and then looked back at his hawk. “Keep it busy, Weggio!”

He watched as the huge bird launched skyward and then he began to move. Nathan could hear the thunderous footsteps as the muscle-bound brute crashed through the trees, his big arms swinging at his sides. Nathan’s head nearly hit the ground several times as he was swung forward and backward. The giant’s legs were so stubby and his bare feet so large, that he would have to jump over bushes and logs often, using his arms to swing his mountainous body like a gorilla. Each time he landed, the earth would shake and leaves would fall from the trees like rain.

There was no sign of the hawk, and Nathan wondered what had happened to Chrysolis. Why wasn’t she flying to his rescue? He knew she would if she could. “Maybe she’s chasing that nasty bird.” Nathan thought. “I hope she catches it and roasts it for dinner!”

After some time, the giant stopped and Nathan noticed that they were at the edge of the woods. Ahead of them stood a tall mountain with large rocks all the way up the side of it. The mountain top was not white with snow like Mount Ivory, but black and covered in the shadow of storm clouds. The giant held Prince Nathan up again and glowered at him.

“Now you behave, you hear? I’m gonna put you on my back so I can climb these rocks. You better hang on or you’ll fall and be smashen on these rocks and we both be in trouble, you got it?”

Nathan barely had time to nod before the giant tossed him over his shoulder like a rag doll and began to climb the rock slope. The prince held on for dear life as the giant bounded from boulder to boulder and the ground dropped away below them.Nathan wished he could turn and look behind. He still hoped to see Chrysolis coming out of the sky like a purple streak of lightning to rescue him, but he was beginning to worry that that might not happen. He found himself wondering where this giant was taking him and who he was going to meet when he got there. It didn’t look good. And what about his sister? Who was going to rescue her? He had failed to find her and he had no idea what kind of trouble she was facing.