1. The Wilderness

Ajantis scowls at Aiwe's musical display, but as the group begins to move she catches him flicking the reins along to the rhythm in his head. In a minute or two he blinks in realization and glances over at her, but his expression gives away little of his thoughts.

There's little excitement on the road. At one point they pass an eager merchant heading south to Nashkel; having heard of the events there, she seeks to be the first to pick up a supply of untainted iron ore. Her wagon and guards show signs of recent combat, an obvious sign that banditry is still rampant in the land.

Stella's perch on the back of the wagon puts a visual barrier between herself and Aldous, but every so often he speaks to her through it:

"What made you decide to study magic, Lady Stella?"
"Your bird is fascinating! How does it know what you want it to do?"
"I've never seen eyes like yours... Do others in your family have similar traits?"

The group travels well into the late afternoon and begins to look for a place to camp when Noctalia sends a telepathic image to Stella of two figures waiting near the road up ahead. For a moment Stella thinks they might be particularly ugly humans or hobgoblins, but then she realizes the shrubs and young trees surrounding the pair are actually large bushes and tall oaks, and she realizes the scale of what she's seeing. These two creatures must each be at least a dozen feet tall. Perhaps more! They're certainly giants of some kind, and they don't look friendly.

The giants are towering folk, each standing half again as tall as an ogre. They were crude clothes that look to be made of human tents. They lean on uprooted trees that have been stripped of branches - no doubt to be used as immense clubs in their meaty hands.

As Runeson calls out, the giants slowly turn boulder-sized heads on thick necks to look at him. "Say, Gnarl." One of them speaks with a voice like a rockslide. "This little knighty-knight wants to be our friend." Both of them open their cavernous mouths wide, and a moment later rolling laughter echoes across the land. Every bird within a mile takes to the sky in startled surprise.

The second giant, apparently named Gnarl, slowly wipes a tear from his eye as the laughing eventually ends. He wipes his wet finger on his tunic, then squints more closely at Runeson and Tulco. "Hairtooth! This friend, it is funny! Maybe we just eats its horse?"

"Nah, all we eats for days is horse," the first giant, Hairtooth, mumbles. "Let him pay."

"Oh yeah!" Gnarl catches Runeson's eye and stomps meaningfully on the ground, causing seeds and leaves to fall from nearby trees. "This's our land. Our road! You pay..." He holds up three huge fingers. "200 golds! Or we eat friend's head."