Chapter 310: Khrusos

The storm giant didn’t seem to be moving with haste to meet us, but his long strides quickly carried him through the trees and along a path that wound down into the valley from where we stood. The giant paused, looking up at us before beginning the climb. Maybe he thought we had smartened up and fled.

I was expecting an ancient-looking storm giant, but as he approached, he was barely over ten feet tall and lacked the time-worn beard and blue-gray skin tones I anticipated from my first encounter with his race. His pale-gray face would have seemed youthful if I didn’t have to crane my neck to make eye contact. The giant was dressed in leather and wool garments, all of which were dyed a deep blue. His gray eyes watched us, waiting.

“Do you speak storm giant?” I asked Mynasha, who stood confidently.

“No,” she replied, and bowed to the giant. In Orcish, she spoke to the giant. “We come as friends and to request an audience and a blessing.”

The skin of the giant reminded me of Maveith’s, though the giant was much leaner of build than the goliath. “Are you with the others?” his coarse voice grumbled out in rough Orcish. I relaxed a little, thinking that perhaps this interaction might be cordial rather than a life-or-death encounter.

Mynasha considered her response carefully. “No, but we are here for the same thing. We request the gift of an inconsequential artifact.”

The giant’s gray eyes studied us before he spoke. “You can still depart and descend Olympia, or you may follow me to stand before Khrusos for judgment.” His tone was flat and uncaring, making the situation all the more ominous. We were a curiosity to him, but he did not care if we lived or died.

Pessimistically, I thought if we entered the valley and they decided we might make a good snack, escape was going to be nearly impossible. “Is our safety guaranteed?” I asked.

“No,” the giant said with a slight smirk that faded immediately. “But you will be allowed to speak,” he grumbled out. Then he chose to add a little snide comment. “How much depends on what you say.” I was not liking giant humor.

“We will meet with Khrusos,” Mynasha affirmed. I was not so confident about the “we” part. Still, I fell in beside Mynasha as we followed the short giant.

The gravel path to the caldera was steep and would have been easier with steps, in my opinion. Old, long-abandoned fortifications lined the path as we descended. From what I observed, I thought that the storm giants didn’t seem worried about being attacked in this refuge. That didn’t make much sense to me, but it would be difficult for an army to scale the Spire. Maybe they would be warned if a threat approached.

“When did you know we were climbing the Spire?” I asked our escort.

The giant looked down at me, his foot briefly slipping on gravel. He was not at risk of losing his footing, however, because he had remarkable balance even for his size. “Ephemeris was aware as soon as you passed the gatehouse.” That sent a chill up my spine. They had probably been watching us ascend. They didn’t think us a threat or they would have intercepted us on the climb. Why chase the lambs when they can come to you for slaughter?

As we reached the valley, a thick grass carpet with scattered, large hardwood trees appeared ahead of us. I could see a foraging auroch in the trees. This close, I could tell that it was larger than the specimens I had seen in my travels. Its shoulders matched our escort in height. “How many storm giants live on Olympia?” I asked, not expecting an answer. Logistically, I was wondering how many giants this relatively small valley could support.

The escort looked at me as we walked and answered, “Five storm giants reside here. But the stone giants tend Olympia. There are eleven of us.” He said the last pointedly, clearly wanting credit for maintaining this vale above the clouds.

It made sense that our escort was not a storm giant. I didn’t get an imposing, ancient-aura feeling from him. Mynasha was surprisingly calm, and asked politely, “And what is your name? I am Mynasha, and my companion is Eryk.”

“I am Lampter, son of Hesper and Lethargia,” he proudly replied. “I tend the vegetable gardens and fill the reservoir there.” He pointed up across the valley. I couldn’t see the reservoir, but I nodded like I was impressed anyway.

We soon found ourselves among the trees on a heavily traveled path, and I felt like we were being watched—not by the creatures in the woods but by powerful magic. Whoever was doing it was not being subtle and wanted us to know. Even Mynasha suddenly seemed worried, as she began searching the towering canopy and looking deep into the woods.

My obfuscation sphere burned where it touched my chest as it feebly tried to ward off the powerful intrusive mage’s sight. The heat forced me to send the sphere to my dimensional space, and the oppressive feeling slowly faded.

Whoever had been watching us wanted us to know that we couldn’t hide, even with an artifact. It made me doubt that they had been aware of us when we started our climb, as the sphere had not reacted at the time. Also, we had not been met at the edge of the caldera, and Mynasha had to announce us with her lightning. The Titans were not all-seeing and all-powerful.

The aurochs appeared to wander the valley freely. Large cow pies were often visible along the path, and the grazing animals could be seen through the trees. We passed another stone giant, much larger than Lampter, who seemed to be milking one in a clearing. The giant looked at us curiously before returning to her task of squeezing the udder’s teats to fill a stone bucket. Her thick fingers worked methodically, coaxing heavy streams of milk from the massive udder. Each jet landed with a wet whoosh, rhythmic and loud, like someone drumming.

Lampter led us to a large, grassy clearing with a white marble building on the far side. Large Greek pillars circled the structure, reminiscent of the Temple of Athena Nike. We started to cross the grassy expanse, and I noticed the flowers among the grass were familiar to me and shouldn’t be growing at this altitude.

Many of them were used in alchemy, but a number of them were also rare. Our guide trampled a patch of blue velvet flowers. They were one of the necessary ingredients for invisibility potions, but needed to be harvested under Neptune’s Tear when the petals became translucent. I couldn’t even fathom the riches we were casually crushing.

My wandering thoughts ended when we reached the structure. It was much larger up close and looked like an open-air pavilion. I hesitated to enter as our guide walked away, leaving without announcing us. Before stepping in, I noted the best escape routes and the general direction we had come from. The shortest way into the trees was to our left, and that is where I planned to go.

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Mynasha waited for me, probably not wanting to enter alone, although she wore confidence on her face. Passing between the majestic, ribbed pillars made me feel small. I entered a large open-air auditorium with Mynasha. Three epic thrones were at the far end. A giant of monumental proportions occupied each.

The central throne dwarfed the other two and had a flared backrest, but that chair’s storm giant looked younger than the other two. My instincts told me it was Khrusos, or more likely Kronos, of myth and legend. I shouldn’t have been surprised. I had a spell form to slow my aging. He could probably do the same if he was the fabled god of time.

My eyes had passed over the other two candidates, who were before the assembled giants. Fioasha was on his knees, isolated and alone to the left. It took me a moment to figure out that he was not paying respect but was injured, as his leg was bandaged and at an odd angle. His First was not at his side, or anywhere in sight. Cleric Jhuarkasha and Warlord Rhuuk stood to the right, both healthy and watching us. Their faces didn’t reveal what we were walking into. Something about the scene didn’t feel right.

Mynasha whispered, concerned. “Where is Warlord Etus?” I didn’t reply, but I thought he was probably dead judging by Fioasha’s condition. Fioasha’s eyes revealed his immense pain from his injuries.

As we slowly walked forward, the giants’ three sets of eyes watched us approach. The two giants flanking the central throne appeared to be aged females in pearl-white togas. The central figure, whose eyes were focused on us, wore a black smock secured to his waist by a thick leather belt. He reclined on his throne, his face impassive but his eyes judging.

Just what were we walking into? As we moved to stand between the other candidates, I could feel the energy of the assembled trio of storm giants. If gods had auras, then I was being pressured by it. I felt awe and hopelessness battling inside my head.

“Another orc pest brought a human pet with her.” The giant’s deep voice echoed in the chamber. The other orcs now had their eyes fixed forward, acknowledging the storm giant and offering us no help. “Offer your case so I may decide your fate,” Khrusos said with finality.

Mynasha gave me an apologetic look. This was not the reception we had been expecting. Khrusos appeared to be annoyed, and I guessed it was because of Fioasha. Mynasha gathered herself. “Lord Khrusos …”

“Lord?!” He bellowed a laugh. “Do not presume to call me a lord, king, emperor, or any other title you insignificant beings use to describe your leaders. I am Khrusos.” His name was a title unto itself.

“I apologize,” Mynasha said, bowing low. “Khrusos, we have come to seek your generosity. We …”

With grinding anger, Khrusos interrupted Mynasha. “What makes you think I am generous?” His voice grew to a roar. “Your people revolted against our magnanimous rule!” He stood from his throne, rising to over twenty-five feet in height. Veins bulged on his arms, and his jaw was tight. He was not in a great mood and navigating this audience was feeling more and more perilous.

The aged storm giant woman to his right spoke for the first time. Her tone was tempered by her commanding voice. “Khrusos, sit!” 𝒻𝑟ℯℯ𝑤𝑒𝑏𝑛𝘰𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝒸𝑜𝘮

The ancient storm giant turned on the aged woman; their eyes met in silent communication. His anger slowly faded, and he resumed his seat. His temper cooling, he gestured. “What have you brought me in tribute? These fools brought nothing of interest. I hope you don’t disappoint me as well,” he added with a note of warning.

I knew Mynasha had nothing to satisfy the storm giants. I wasn’t sure what to offer from my space. We looked at each other and she looked apologetic for getting me into this.

I sighed, stepping forward. “We have brought you a cauldron of apple-berry jam,” I said. My thoughts switched to my escape plan. Could I call forth the black spear and pierce his eye when he came forward to collect the cauldron? The two elderly giants flanking him made killing Khrusos risky.

The cauldron appeared on the floor between me and Khrusos. His large eyebrow arched in surprise, and I could hear Rhuuk and Jhuarkasha shuffling movements behind me to my right. The cauldron was only half full of jam. Maveith had made it in the Shimmering Labyrinth, and it had been three-quarters full then. I had used it slowly, but since I didn’t need to eat much with the ring of sustenance, a significant amount remained.

Khrusos leaned forward in his seat, his massive nostrils sniffing the air. Instead of coming to the cauldron, the cauldron came to him. A spell form flashed in front of his hands and the cauldron sped toward his outstretched hand.

His smallest finger was almost as big as the cauldron opening as he stuffed it inside. His finger was covered in jam, and he sucked on it. His face lit up in surprise, clearly enjoying the sweet treat. He took three more dips of jam before he handed the cauldron to the giantess to his left.

Khrusos appeared much less agitated. His voice echoed as he said, “You have earned my favor to leave.” He waved his hand dismissively, signaling only to Mynasha and me. The other candidates still awaited their fates. Although Fioasha had the advantage of growing up in the Spire’s shadow, he had somehow angered the Titans. We had also not achieved our goal of acquiring an artifact from the Spire.

Meeting Mynasha’s eyes, I knew she would not leave without an artifact. “Do you like bear meat?” I asked the ancient storm giant.

In a mocking tone, Khrusos addressed me. “Would you hunt a bear to prove your prowess to me, human? I gave you leave to keep your lives, yet you persist in annoying me.”

This wasn’t going well. My artifacts would only be dollhouse toys for the storm giant. I poured all the remaining bear meat onto the floor in front of me. The floor was glossy marble, so maybe it wasn’t that unsanitary. Hundreds of pounds of bear meat appeared, blood soon spreading from the large pile. “I already hunted a few bears …” I began to say with a smirk, but I immediately realized that I had misstepped. Khrusos’s eyes flicked between me and the pile of meat. The appearance of the cauldron hadn’t surprised him, but clearly, the volume of meat did.

The old storm giant on his left spoke to Khrusos with a lisp. “He was not born on Desia.”

A sudden weight pressed down on me as if someone had just increased gravity tenfold. I was not the only one. I heard Fioasha cry out in pain, and Mynasha went hard to her knees, using her hands to brace herself. Khrusos was too far away for me to use my dimensional space on him, not that I thought I could overcome his defenses. I remained standing, as did Rhuuk and Jhuarkasha. My leg muscles trembled as I resisted, and I had no chance of running.

The old female stood and walked to me. She bent over to study me like I was a curiosity. Her pale-gray eyes looked past me. She spoke for the other giants, not me. “He is a recent arrival. The aether engines are still functioning and bringing others here.”

“I DO NOT CARE!” Khrusos yelled in restrained rage. “I acknowledged my defeat and the folly of Hephaestus. The child races can have the planet and the universe for all I care!”

They ignored me as I strained to remain standing. “This one is also a recent arrival.” The storm giantess’s gaze had fallen with a lecherous hunger on Mynasha, who was sweating and trying not to be flattened to the floor.

“Ephemeris, no,” Khrusos said, addressing the storm giantess. “They have not violated the guest’s sanctity.” His piercing gaze made her sit back down, but it was obvious she wanted us. I suspected her intention was to invite us to dinner as the main course.

The third storm giant tapped her wrinkled hand on the arm of her marble seat. “I am curious what else the human has, guest or not.” Suddenly, the giants’ language changed from Orcish to what I assumed was the language of the Titans. Their rapid speech showed only tiny hints of Latin as they discussed our fate. I assumed that they were discussing whether to turn us into essences, but that was probably just my pessimism. We were all held helpless by the intense gravity.

Khrusos yelled a few minutes later, and Lampter arrived shortly afterward. I believed Khrusos didn’t want to waste my gift, as the juvenile stone giant quickly gathered the meat onto an auroch hide. Although the stone giant was within range of my dimensional space, killing him would not help us escape from this. When he left, Khrusos turned his gaze on me. His lips curled into a smile. “Now, human. Let’s see what else you are carrying hidden from my eyes.”

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