Capítulo 423: The giant journey

"Um, Jarnsaxa?" Simone called up suddenly. She swallowed.

"Yes, Smyrna?" The queen smiled indulgently. Simone inhaled, knowing the enormous woman's reputation for (possibly intentionally) getting humans' names incorrect.

"I was thinking… will Judah be coming along with us?"

"I had not thought about it." The giantess admitted. "Creature?"

She looked far down, to where Judah sat, licking his chops after finishing off a meal of a rabbit he'd caught in the underbrush. Evey cowered nearby, shaking in awe of the larger predator.

Judah looked up, then glanced at Gabriel and Victoria.

Simone couldn't hear the conversation the two humans were having quietly with the large animal, but eventually he stood and gave a cheerful chirp up at the giants.

"What was that?" The woman asked the giant.

"The small people do not like Creature and have asked it not to go with them," Jarnsaxa explained. "It will come with us."

"Could I ride him instead?" Simone asked. "You are so tall and mighty, I feel I might faint from the height and glory of your running, but I know that Judah has been ridden before and would be safer for one as small and frail as I," She drew her eyebrows together, a little afraid of offending the great giant, but she thought her phrasing was sufficiently…

"Creature, do you want to carry the humans?" Jarnsaxa examined the two people in her fists and then looked down at Judah. He scratched one of this ears with a back leg and tilted his head.

"All right. You are strong, but still a puny Creature. I will take their packs." The queen decided.

"Oh, I didn't–" Simone tried to hide her surprise at including Shayn in the plan. It really had only been intended as a solution for herself, but she did note a look of quickly-hidden relief across his face as they were lowered back to the ground.

They dutifully handed over their heavy packs to the giantess, who put them in her pocket.

Simone silently hoped her possessions wouldn't be accidentally crushed, but better her things than herself.

Judah trotted over and lowered one of his great shoulders.

"Ladies first?" Shayn asked, "Or do you prefer to ride behind, like when I so valiantly saved you from a runaway horse?"

"Oh!" Simone's face colored involuntarily with a mix of emotions. Embarrassment, primarily, but she did her best to overcome that. On the one hand, being in front felt safer, but then Shayn's arms would be around her—

"Behind, thank you," She decided quickly.

He shrugged in assent and climbed up on to the animal's back, offering his hand to help her behind. There was no saddle this time to serve as some small spacer between them, and when Judah stood back to his full height, Simone squeaked slightly at the suddenness of the movement.

She reminded herself that while she wasn't as high as she would have been on a giant's shoulder, she would be moving just as quickly. That was a troubling thought.

"Hold on tight," Shayn warned over his shoulder. She wanted to give a snarky retort, but realized there was only concern in his voice. Was he as worried and scared over this journey as she was?

She squinted, but scooted closer behind him and wrapped her arms around his waist. He touched her arm, as if to check how secure she was, but his hand lingered there. It sent pleasant shivers across her skin, and he turned his head over his shoulder.

"Are you cold? The wind will be fierce at great speed, but it should turn warmer as we get further South." He said softly.

"I'm fine," She quickly replied, completely unwilling to admit that her involuntary shiver had been from the touch of this hand and not the temperature outside. "Judah has wonderful soft fur and you will shield me from the greatest part of the wind."

"Is that why you wanted to ride behind? To use me as a shield?" He asked with a note of amused irritation.

"Perhaps," She raised one eyebrow, though he couldn't see it. "I think things through very thoroughly before I make decisions."

That was mostly true, but not necessarily in this case.

"Let's go!" Jarnsaxa declared, launching herself with mighty legs in a Southerly direction. She was oddly correct that her running seemed smoother than her walking; after her first earth-shaking steps, she seemed to be remarkably light on her enormous feet.

Or maybe it was that she was already so far away with those few steps that the earth's movement couldn't be felt anymore.

"All right, Judah… if you please?" Shayn said with uncertainty.

"I don't think he has excessive pride like the giants did," Simone replied quietly.

"It never hurts to be poli—" The word was cut off as the animal lurched forward at stunning speed.

Shayn leaned into Judah's mane, gripping it so that the humans didn't immediately fall to the ground and get left behind. Simone gasped, her arms holding tightly around Shayn's waist and pressing her against his back in an almost embarrassing way.

He probably didn't notice at all, she comforted herself. The speed at which they were moving was nothing short of alarming and she doubted he had any presence of mind to spare her a single thought.

The landscape passed in a blur. The hills gave way to a low forest, and over time Simone gradually grew used to the whistle of the wind in her ears and the eye-stinging air coming into her face.

Her hair came loose in tendrils and whipped around her, causing her to mostly keep her eyes closed and her cheek pressed to Shayn's back like a child hiding in their mother's skirts. She could deal with the fallout of clinging to him so intimately later, right now she was solely focused on survival and a modicum of comfort.

Shayn didn't seem to react at all to her hold, being focused instead on keeping them atop Judah's back by gripping the animal's mane as tightly as he could without causing the creature any pain.

Simone couldn't tell how much time passed exactly as the land passed by in a blur. Hours, at least. The sun was moving, she could tell that much. She felt Shayn's stomach rumble with hunger, and laughed to herself. She could feel him shift in response.

"Giggling? Really?" He pressed his chin to his shoulder to speak over it, loudly enough to be heard.

"Hungry?" She teased. "I bet the giants are, too." She suppressed another snicker.

"I hope so. I need a break," He confided. "This is exhausting."

His tone implied there was more to his exhaustion than merely holding on. After all, Judah was doing the actual running. By rights he should be the tired one.

Simone reminded herself that the large cat could understand human speech well enough to respond, and noticed his pace was slowing. She hadn't been straining to keep watch to see how well they were keeping up with the running giants, but apparently they had been lagging behind a little, because she began to hear snippets of loud conversation.

"I DON'T LIKE THESE QUITE AS WELL AS THE MOUNTAIN ELK FROM LAST TIME." The man was booming.

"THOSE WERE LARGER," Jarnsaxa replied. "OH, THE HUMANS CAUGHT UP. WE SHOULD WHISPER NOW."

Judah trotted closer, and then stopped. Simone slid to the ground, finding it a little hard to stand immediately. She was rather dizzy from the long, fast ride.

Shayn joined her on the firm earth, catching hold of her arm when she swayed.

"Are you all right?" He asked softly.

"I'm fine." She replied, though she didn't pull away. After hours pressed against him, it suddenly felt strange to not be touching him at all.

Perhaps he felt the same? She looked down at his hand holding her elbow, steadying her.

He released his grip when she was firm on her feet, and she turned to the giants.

"How far have we come?" She asked.

"I don't know your world well, Sissy," Jarnsaxa whispered. "I only know that we have come South."

Shayn was looking around at the forest around them. The giants had found a clearing to sit in so they crushed or uprooted as few trees as possible.

"I've tried to calculate Judah's speed before, based on His Majesty's journal of the events, but the mountainous terrain traveled makes it difficult to calculate the maximum speed. The rocky terrain would make for much slower travel than the rolling hills and relatively level forests and plains." She advised. "If I knew his speed, and how long we've been running, I would have some idea…"

She wished she'd kept one or two of her maps, but she had very little guarantee of their not getting damaged, and so had left them all in Victoria's care. If she could find a landmark, perhaps she could figure out roughly where they were.

"I know where we are," Shayn said confidently. "At least, roughly."