The Giants Dig A Hole

‘Mavis? Mavis, wake up, please.’

Mavis opened an eye and groaned because her head hurt.

She seemed to be in a huge room. The ceiling was so high that simply looking at it made her head spin. And the room looked like it would fit a hundred elephants. She was propped against the wall and clumsily tied up. Whoever had tied her hands up must have forgotten to tie the thumbs, because she could untie her hands with ease.

Beside her was Walter, also tied up.

‘Where are we?’ she demanded.

Walter shook his head. ‘I don’t know. But the giants have brought us here. My eyes were covered when they took us, but I managed to make out a cave. With rooms inside it. We are in one of them, and it appears to be giant-sized.’

Mavis untied her hands with her thumbs, and then her ankles.

Walter looked surprised. ‘We could always do that?’

‘In case you haven’t noticed, they forgot the thumbs.’

Walter shrugged and untied himself too.

‘Is there any way of escape?’ asked Mavis. ‘Did you notice a hole in the wall or something?’

Walter shook his head.

‘All right,’ sighed Mavis, plonking herself down on the ground again. ‘Your ankle–is it all right?

Walter looked embarrassed. ‘Um, well, it was actually a false alarm.’

Mavis stared. ‘What?’

Then, there was the loud creak of the opening of a door.

Mavis and Walter looked up to see a giant march in.

‘You untied yourself?’ he cried in surprise.

‘Speak softly,’ snapped Mavis; ‘or you’ll blow us away.’

The giant bent down and put his ear near Mavis’ face. ‘Can you repeat yourself?’

‘I said you have to speak softly.’

‘Sure. Why not? Just shout when you speak. Or I can’t hear you.’

Walter looked at them in surprise. ‘You sound like old friends! Shouldn’t we be fighting, ’cause, well, you kidnapped us?’

This made Mavis remember that. She glared at the giant.

‘Oh, don’t get us wrong,’ said the giant. ‘We were trying to save you.’

‘By nearly killing us?’

‘If you hadn’t struggled, you may not have been hurt.’

‘Okay, but what were you protecting us from?’

‘The others.’

‘But aren’t you the guys we should be scared of?’

The giant looked upset. ‘No, of course not. The humans are who you should be scared of. They have an army general called Godge, and he wants to capture you two.’

Walter and Mavis exchanged nervous glances.

There was a silence.

Finally, Walter spoke up. ‘You mean, the giants were never the villains? It was the humans?’

The giant nodded. ‘Yes, they came here from the future. They wanted to use Mrindawa’s magic to conquer the rest of the world. But how could they do it on their own?

‘They hypnotised all the giants using the berries of the hypnosis plants, which gave them hypnotic powers. Then, they made it look like the giants were the bosses so that no one would try and attack because we are huge.

‘They started to gather people who were interested in helping them in exchange for gold. That was the trolls and the Vikings, of course. The rest of the Mrindawians refused and went into war with them.

But part of us giants escaped and went into hiding. We call ourselves The Resistance. I am part of that.’

Walter and Mavis looked at him in disbelief.

‘Everyone thinks you’re the villains,’ cried Mavis.

The giant nodded sadly. ‘Yes. I’m Thina, by the way. What brings you here?’

‘We’re looking for the bronze time machine,’ explained Mavis. ‘First, though we want to punch that Godge and break his nose. That would be nice.’

‘If you want revenge on Godge, you can join us. We’ll defeat the humans and chuck that guy into a cell. How would you like that?’

‘That would be amazing,’ grinned Walter. ‘We’d still like the punch in the nose, though.’

‘Why not? Anyway, if you’re helping us, we should probably release you. Hop onto my palm.’ He lowered a hand.

The two hopped on.

‘What happened to our animals?’ asked Mavis as Thina carried them across the room.

‘They’re safe and sound,’ he replied. ‘They’re in their own room, with plenty of water and food. We’ll release them too.’

He opened the door and took them outside the room. There was a long corridor that led into a bigger room than Mavis and Walter’s. It had no door but had stone couches with dried leaves to make them soft. These couches were giant-sized and had a lot of giants sitting on them. They assumed it to be the living room.

When Thina walked in, everyone looked up. Their eyes were fixed on the two friends.

‘So, they’re on our side now?’ asked a giant named Waina.

‘Yep,’ said Thina and everyone cheered.

‘That’s great!’ grinned Waina, clapping her hands. ‘We could seriously use the magic of your powerful weapons.’

‘Is anyone here a magic expert?’ asked Mavis as if she had just remembered something.

Everyone’s hands shot up.

‘Cool,’ said Mavis. ‘What’dya know about extraction of magic from humans?’

‘Why?’

‘Because Walter and I somehow got magic of our own, and we want to get rid of it, cause it’s pretty annoying.’

There was a silence.

‘You can’t really do that,’ a giant said. ‘That magic is a part of you. Everyone has magic in them, but you have managed to bring it out.’

‘Oh,’ said Mavis, disappointed.

‘But never mind,’ said Thina. ‘You can always control it.’

‘We can?’ asked Walter in surprise and Mavis glared at him, because he had said that to her quite confidently before.

‘Yep,’ said Waina. ‘It isn’t even that hard. You’ve been doing it all the time.’

‘We have?’ asked Mavis in surprise.

‘Totally. That weapon of yours runs on your magic. It brings it all together, and blasts. You see, normally, magic flies everywhere randomly. But if you can bring it all together, it’s easy to control.’

Another giant named Nwayi nodded. ‘The humans can’t use your weapon without you, because it only runs on your magic. In fact, it backfires if someone else uses it. So, to use it, the humans need you alive.’

‘To control your magic without your weapons,’ said Thina, ‘you need to bring all the sparks together. You’ll get the hang of it. The easiest way is to make it assume the form of an animal. All the great wizards do that. Everyone has their own animal. We call these forms of animals created by magic, Rianas.’

‘Cool,’ grinned Mavis, ‘I’ll try to practise.’

‘Not with that,’ said Waina, nodding to her broken arm.

‘Can’t you heal it with magic?

‘No, not really. But with magical herbs, it would take a whole week to heal.’

‘Aw, man!’

‘Tomorrow we’re going to get into our palace, which the humans took over. We will try to overthrow them with hypnosis. You can have your time machine and the punch in the nose for Godge,’ said Thina.

‘But I’m afraid you can’t come,’ another giant told Mavis. ‘Your arm is broken, and you could get hurt.’

‘But Godge’s punch in the nose?’

‘We’ll capture him and bring him. You’ll have to be content with that.’

Mavis went into a corner and started to sulk.

‘Anyway, let’s all wait till it’s dark,’ said Nwayi. ‘It’s easier to sneak around then.’

Everyone joked and laughed while they waited for the sun to set. Mavis cheered up a little then. But when everyone got ready to leave, she felt a bit upset.

‘Will you be fine alone?’ asked a giant to her.

‘Yes, I will,’ she said. ‘Besides, I’ll have Alpha and Ruby for company.’ The giants were taking Snowdrop and the horses with them.

‘You can punch Godge first,’ said Walter to cheer her up. ‘Once we capture him, we’ll bring him here straight away.’

Mavis smiled trying not to show her sadness.

‘What are those?’ she asked, pointing to a few silver berries scattered on the ground.

‘Hypnosis Berries,’ said Waina.

‘And are those hover ivy leaves?’ asked Mavis pointing to a pile of leaves.

‘Yep. If you eat them, you can fly. Only for half an hour, though, and it works only if you really need it.’

After the giants left, Mavis started feeling very bored. She wandered around in the cave aimlessly. Then, she started feeling sleepy. She yawned and decided to go to sleep. But there was nowhere to sleep in the huge cave. If she went to sleep right in the middle, when the giants got back, they could trample her by accident.

So, she, Alpha and Ruby hunted for a good place to rest. They did not find a hollow in the cave, but a big boot that may have belonged to one of the giants. For a minute, Mavis considered sleeping in it. But after smelling it, she was disgusted by the thought.

But did she have a choice?

She climbed into it and it was warm and cosy. She was joined by Alpha and Ruby, who didn’t seem to be bothered by the stench.

Mavis was sleepier than disgusted, so she cuddled up and fell asleep.

Mavis jumped to her feet. A dream of a war between fruits and pigs had woken her up. This was a good thing because it was the break of dawn, and she had to get up anyway.

She crawled out of the boot (just writing this makes me want to puke).

She felt a bit strange without Walter. He had been with her the whole time in Mrindawa. Unless, of course, you count the time he was kidnapped by Olves, after which they had a war. Mavis shuddered. She hoped they wouldn’t have another war. She was getting tired of them.

She thought about what the giants were doing at the moment. Where had they been all night? Perhaps they were hiding somewhere outside the palace, waiting for the right time to break-in.

She suddenly felt worried. Had the giants been found by the humans and taken to a cell? The odds had always been against them: a dozen giants breaking into a palace with a hundred humans and even more giants; not to mention the dragons.

If they were in danger, there would be no one to help them. The humans were far more powerful. She remembered Godge screaming, I am more powerful than you think! She understood what he was talking about now.

She decided she had to go after the giants and help them. It hardly mattered that her arm was hurt. If she just stayed there, the humans would finish her off anyway.

Then she froze. She remembered the prophecy. It had stated that she and Walter were to die. If she went after the giants, would she be contributing to that?

Then she told herself that a prophecy was fate. There was no escaping it. She would die anyway, but if she went after the giants, she would have a warrior’s death. Not a coward’s. That counted as something. Also, she would save Mrindawa and her name would go down in history. She pictured rock carvings on the walls of caves. They would be carvings of how she, Mavis, along with Walter, charged into battle. The thought made her smile.

After a bit of hesitation, she went off to find the opening of the cave. Alpha and Ruby were at her heels and were seriously doubting what Mavis was doing was legal.

The three of them walked all around the cave. The tunnels were all twisted and they even discovered a few that the giants knew nothing about.

She came across a room suddenly. It was the one where the giants had stored all the hoover ivy and hypnosis berries. There were still a few lying scattered there, and she picked them up because you never know.

But none of this got them any closer to the opening.

Suddenly, Mavis noticed a beam of light shooting from the ceiling. She rushed towards it and was delighted to find a hole. It was HUGE, and a giant could go through with ease.

The problem?

It was pretty high up, and Mavis had no idea how to climb up.

Mavis shrugged. The climb had to be made.

She pulled out her silver spider rope, looped it on one end, and chucked it up to the opening. It gripped a rock. To test, she yanked it. It didn’t fall.

With a sigh of relief, she took the other end and used it to tie Alpha to her waist.

She began her climb.

Now, kids, NEVER try rock climbing with only one arm (unless you’re stranded in Mrindawa). All it takes is one teensy-weensy slip, for you to fall to your doom. Then, your head would crack open and your brain would flump out. Moving on . . .

The first thing that Mavis saw when she climbed out, was a hound standing in front of the opening, which was on the ground in the middle of a dense forest.

The dog was only the size of a cat, but as menacing as a tiger. Its fur was soot-black, and its teeth were sharp as knives. Its claws were retractable, and enough to kill a deer. On its back were sharp spikes.

But so what? Many of us have seen menacing dogs.

Well, this was a biberesanguinemo.

You’re probably thinking, Yeah, that sounds like some kind of bacteria, but this has nothing to do with bacteria (other than the fact that it can give you rabies.) I’m not sure how it’s pronounced though, but the point is, its favourite meal is BLOOD. (Mwahahaha!)

So, naturally, Mavis was pretty sacred. ‘Uh, nice doggy?’

It pounced on her.

Mavis waited for those sharp teeth to sink into her flesh. But instead, a long-wet tongue started to lick her face.

‘Uh . . .’

She managed to get the biberesanguinemo off herself.

Mavis assumed that the biberesan–You know what? I’m just calling it a biber. So, let’s do this–Mavis assumed that the biber belonged to the giants and was guarding their cave. Suddenly, the biber took off into the forest. After a few seconds, it poked its head out of the thicket and looked at Mavis as if it wanted her to follow it. Then, the head disappeared.

Mavis ran after it, with Alpha and Ruby right behind her. She ran and ran as if she had never run before. She was worried she may lose the biber.

Then she stopped. She was no longer in the forest. As far as her eyes could see, there was just miles and miles of grassy fields. There was a town in the middle.

Hey, there are towns everywhere.

Okay, well this town was just HUGE. Still not surprised. Gosh, what is the problem with you people? Fine, you wanna do it the hard way?

I’m warning you; this has A LOT of math in it. Think of a big house. Multiply its size by a hundred. That, my friends, was the size of each house in the town.

So did these houses belong to billionaires?

Uh, not really. Giants, though. Basically, Mavis had discovered the Kingdom of the Giants. The biber stood near her, looking quite pleased with itself.

Mavis patted his head. ‘Good boy.’

Then she walked across the field, Alpha and Ruby following her.

They reached the outskirts of the town, which, to Mavis’ dismay, had a thick tall wall surrounding it.

‘Oh, diapers.’

There was no way of climbing it, that was for sure. The wall had no bumps and ridges for her to grip. It was too steep.

Mavis hunted around for a possible way into the town. But there was nothing. Just then, she realised that there was a huge pit in the ground.

So that’s how they got in!

Without hesitation, she jumped in.

The drop was pretty deep. The only thing that kept Mavis alive was that she had landed on her feet. Ruby flew down and perched on her shoulder. Alpha jumped down, and Mavis caught him right before he hit the ground.

She looked around doubtfully. Another tunnel was inside and led straight. She wondered if she should risk going in; she might lose her way. Then she decided that she had to because she had no other choice. Besides, if the giants had dug it up, it should lead her right to them.

She ran in before she could change her mind, and even though Alpha and Ruby were nervous, they faithfully followed her.

She walked through the tunnel for ten minutes, when suddenly she noticed a beam of light shooting through. She broke into a run.

Mavis found that the ground was sloping upwards and led to an opening. Thankfully, it wasn’t steep, and sloped smoothly, so she had less trouble climbing up.

When she got out, she found that she was inside the Kingdom of the giants–but now, of course, the humans had taken over it. She was on a street, surrounded by HUGE houses.

The houses made a chill run down her spine. They gave her no comforting feeling. They looked like they hadn’t been lived in for years. Their gardens were overgrown, and housed creatures that hadn’t even been discovered yet, and the walls of the houses were coated with a thick layer of dust and cobwebs.

Mavis suddenly realised that there were CCTV cameras on each house–a very disturbing discovery because that meant Walter and the giants had been caught on camera. Mavis, though, hadn’t been caught: the cameras were all pointing away from her.

She had to disable them all to be unnoticed. So, she climbed up the house close to her till she was right behind the camera. It was not pointing towards her, so she could safely rip the wires out. She was delighted to find that all the cameras were connected, and all went out and once when she did so.

Two dudes were watching the cameras with a McDonald’s burger each in their stubby fingers, saying, ‘I’m lovin’ it.’

When all of them suddenly blacked out, they took a minute to realise. When they did, they looked up, confused.

‘Hey, man, what just happened?’ asked the first.

‘No idea,’ said the second.

‘Maybe a bird pooped on them and covered the lenses?’

‘On all of them?’

‘Why not?’

‘Yeah, that must have happened.’

After climbing down from the house, Mavis began to walk down the street. She wondered how far the giants’ palace would be. She was starting to get tired.

Then, as if on cue, she saw that there was a palace not far from where she was. It was on a few rocks, in the middle of a field, just at the end of the street.

She rushed forwards, into the field. When she reached the palace, she suddenly realised that two guards were gossiping and standing in front of the gate.

Before they could notice her, she dashed away, around the corner. She stood leaning against the wall, gasping for breath. Ruby and Alpha couldn’t understand what was happening and got close to her.

She looked up and found that she was under one of the four towers of the palace. But one of the windows above her was barred, unlike the others.