The Blood of Giants by Jon Del Arroz

Author:Jon Del Arroz [Del Arroz, Jon]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781925645774
Publisher: Superversive Press
Published: 2018-08-09T18:30:00+00:00

Chapter 19

There’s a castle in the middle of the desert. I sent a landing party, but no one answered. What a strange place. How do they get their water or food? It gets so hot here, it’d be impossible to survive without some kind of outside assistance.

An excerpt from Baron von Monocle’s Log

Day 35 of the Month of Dukes

5th Year of King Malaky XVI’s Reign

Juiyan led us into a reception area. It was nice and cool inside. Several servants hovered, tending to us. They poured pitchers of some fruit juice I’d never heard of. James wouldn’t let me taste it at first, in case it was poisoned. He brought the glass to his lips to try it. “By Malaky, that’s good,” he said, licking his lips.

“I would not go to the trouble of such machinations after saving you from the gagantemidae. I wish you in good health, this I swear,” Juiyan said.

James laughed. “I just told her that ‘cause I wanted to try it first.”

I nudged James in the side with my elbow. He’d been so good lately, and I didn’t want him to turn back to his childish ways.

“Oof.” He rubbed the spot but winked at me.

“Please,” Juiyan said, motioning to several chairs and a sofa. “Make yourselves at home.”

Servants poured the rest of us glasses of the fruit juice. There was a small fireplace at the end of the room, but it wasn’t lit. Instead of painted art, Juiyan had tapestries and sculptures. The room was lit by gas lamps in the corners that kept the room dim like the stars shining at nighttime in the desert.

“If you’ll excuse me for a moment,” Juiyan said. He turned and left the room.

We were left by ourselves, save for the servants, who didn’t seem to pay much heed to us other than to refill our drinks. Some came back later with small snacks comprised of ground nuts in a fruit they called dates. We ate them, and they tasted delicious.

“I don’t like the feel of this,” James said after a while.

“Now you tell us,” I said, seated in a chair across from him. We’d been lounging and snacking for more than an hour. But what could we have done? We were stuck out in the desert by ourselves. I rolled my eyes. “He knows something of giants, and we need to get that information.”

“Agreed,” Dr. du Clockhand said. “Even if this is a strange environment. We should move quickly, however.”

I glanced from her to Marina, who darted her eyes away from me almost immediately. “Something’s wrong. Isn’t there?”

“We shouldn’t cause Marina any undue stress,” Dr. du Clockhand interjected.

“No, it’s okay,” Marina said. She turned to the other woman. “You can tell her.”

Dr. du Clockhand sighed. “During our walk, our last vial of giant’s blood broke in her pack. We’re out of the samples we acquired, and Marina is past due for her next dose. When we were walking, she said she felt the rage tugging inside of her, but it was different here than it felt back in Rislandia.

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