A gift

Darla rode to the gate of the city, as she got off her horse and she walked closer to the mighty wooden gate as she knocked on the gate as hard as she could, so that the sound could be heard, as soon as Darla knocked, she moved back.

Wura looked at Liam as he looked just as confused as she was, and then she looked at Mero, they were waiting to see what would happen, because this was all new to them.

Darla sighed as she received no reply, so she knocked on the gate again, but this time with more force as she stepped back.

"Can you measly things answer already?" said Darla to herself in her mind, she would not dare say that out loud here where they were.

Darla sighed as still there was no reply, she wondered if they were all sleeping or what, this was annoying.

"Dothan, Malcom, come over here and help me" said Darla as she called for Malcom and Dothan as they got of their horses and they walked to the gate.

"Help me knock on this gate, when I tell you to, knock on the gate as hard as you can alright?" asked Darla as she looked at Malcom and Dothan as they both nodded their heads.

"Blasted things, they are big for no reason, they obviously have bad hearing" said Darla internally as she scoffed.

"Knock now" said Darla as she pounded on the gate as Malcom and Dothan did the same as they stopped.

"It is obvious that who ever is in there does not want us getting in" said Elihu as he scoffed and Mero looked at him with a warning gaze, he could not just run his mouth anyhow here, they did not know just where they were, or what creatures they were about to deal with.

Darla took a deep calming breath as she waited for a reply, if she was delayed any longer, she would kick this gate down.

"Who goes there" came a deep male voice as it felt like the ground was trembling as he spoke.

Wura was startled to say the least, she did not expect to hear such a loud voice, and worst of all, she could not see where the voice was coming from, she looked to the top of the stone brick wall, which was very tall, she wondered how long it must have taken to build a wall of such great height, it was as if whoever was behind the other side of the wall was trying to hide from the world outside.

"Werewolves and humans" replied Darla.

"Are you for peace or for war?" came the deep voice again.

"We are for peace and nothing else, we wish to cross through your lands oh mighty giants" said Darla as she felt like rolling her eyes, but she knew better than to do that, the giants could be watching her from anywhere.

"Hmm, do you bring a gift offering with you?" came the voice again.

"I do bring one my lord, your humble servants wishes to pass through to get to the city which we desire to be in, please be gracious and grant us entrance, we mean no harm" said Darla as she bowed her head, hoping that they would be let into the city.

"Hmm" came the voice of the man.

"You may enter, and bring forth your gift" came the voice of the man as the gate opened and Darla smiled.

"Thank you oh gracious giants of our realm, may you be continually blessed" said Darla as she bowed, and Malcom and Dothan did the same as they returned to their horses and they rode through the gate.

Wura was surprised with what happened, and the voice of the man that she was sure was a giant, it was all so strange to her.

Wura looked around in awe as the gates closed behind them and she saw many houses, built out of the same stone bricks that the wall was built out of, and the houses were not usual houses, but they were giant as well, very tall, almost as tall as the wall, it was clear to see that this was indeed the land of the giants, everything was giant here.

"We are in the lands of the giants" said Darla as she looked back at Liam as they all nodded.

"Why do the giants seem to have their own land?" asked Elihu as Darla looked at him.

"That is because they do, our Realm is split into six main territories, Werewolves, Vampires, Giants, Ogres, Witches, and finally the vague" said Darla.

"All we other creatures decide to co-exist together, while the giants prefer to separate themselves from we creatures" said Darla.

"Do you really think that it is a good idea to speak about the giants in such a rough manner, we are in their land after all?" asked Mero as Darla looked at him.

"No not at all, those blasted things are only powerful because of their height and weight, they have horrible hearing, you would think with how high they are above the clouds they would hear better, but their ears are as useless as tails in between legs" said Darla as she scoffed.

"You said something about a gift Darla, what is that?" asked Liam as Darla looked at him.

"Yes, in order for you to cross through their land to the other side, you must present them with a gift, something that they will accept to show that they are at peace with you" said Darla.

"And what if they do not accept the gift?" asked Zuph.

"You just have to pray that they do" said Darla as that did not sound reassuring at all to any of them.

"Do you have a gift for them Darla?" asked Liam as Darla nodded.

"Yes, I bought something at the market, you all stay here, let me go and present the gift, do not move a single step, okay?" asked Darla as they all nodded and she got down from her horse as she took something from the leather bag and she held it in her hand as she walked ahead.

"Great giants, I am here to present my gift" said Darla as suddenly the door to one of the houses opened, and out stepped a very tall slim man as Wura could not help but open her mouth in disbelief for how tall this man was.

"Follow me" said the giant man as he looked down at Darla and she nodded as she smiled and she followed after him as he walked ahead and it just two simple steps he got to where he was standing as Darla had to run after him to catch up to him.

"What do you have for me werewolf?" asked the giant as he bent down and he lowered his voice, he did not want to hurt Darla's ears.

"This oh great giant, please accept this, it is a golden pin" said Darla as she showed the giant the shiny, golden pin.

"Hmm" said the giant as he got down on his knees and he took a closer look at the pin, it was shiny and bright, he had to admit that, but it was not enough.

"Little girl is this all that you bring?" asked the giant as Darla nodded, what more was she supposed to bring, why were the giants so greedy.

"This will not be enough little girl" said the giant.

"Then what more do you want?" asked Darla as she was angry now, it was unfair, this was just supposed to be easy, they were just supposed to pass by and go their way.

"Do you have any else to offer us?" asked the giant.

"Well no, this is all that I have for you" said Darla as she sighed.

"Can you just please accept the gift and let us go?" asked Darla.

"Hmmm, let me check with the King first, I shall return" said the giant as he stood up and he walked away leaving Darla standing there looking very angry as she waited for the giant to come back.

Liam and the others wondered what was going on, as they listened to Darla and they did not move at all.

Darla sighed as she wondered just how long she would have to stay here, and luckily for her, the giant returned as he walked back to her and he bent down as he whispered.

"My King refuses, the law is the law, you must bring us an acceptable gift to be able to go on, and you have not" said the giant as Darla sighed, just what kind of problem was this.

"Then what am I supposed to do?" asked Darla In frustration.

"Well you can give us something else in return, something that we want" said the giant as he whispered so that only Darla could hear him.

"And just what is it that you want?" asked Darla as she just wanted to get this over with.

"The King has agreed to let you and your people go, if you gift him with something that he has set his eyes on" said the giant.

"And what is that?" asked Darla as she was suspicious of what was happening here, giants were very cunning, she was hoping that they would not ask for a slave or something worse.

"Everyone knows that the King is not easily carried away by beauty, but he has been struck now" said the giant.

"Giant, get to the point, I do not have all day" said Darla as she was getting tired of all this back and forth.

"The King wants one of your people" said the giant as Darla was taken aback.

"Who…?" asked Darla carefully, if they dare asked for her brothers, she would not let them take them at all.

"The woman, the brown haired woman with curly hair" said the giant.

"Lily??" asked Darla in shock as she looked at Wura who was looking around as the giant looked at her as well as he and Darla looked at each other.

"Yes, Lily, the King has been smitten by her, and he wants her as his wife, if you give us this Lily, we will let the rest of you pass freely" said the giant as he looked at Darla.

"You give us the girl, and you can go" repeated the giant as Darla kept quiet, she did not know what to do, refusing a giant's request was bad, they would take it as an offence.

Darla was conflicted, she did not know what to do here, this was her chance to finally get rid of Wura, she did not like her at all, and well, she was sure that she would be fine with the giants here, after all, she would be the wife of the giant king, she would be treated well, it was a win, win situation, she would be able to get rid of Wura finally.

But then, she was also sure that Liam and the others would not allow Lily to be taken away, they would not agree to this, they would rather go and find another way to cross over.

"Alright fine, we have a deal, you can have the girl" said Darla.

"Good, wonderful" said the giant as he smiled.

"But she will not go freely with you, and the others will not let her go as well" said Darla.

"So how do I take her for the King?" asked the giant.

"Do not worry, I know just what you can do to take her" said Darla as she smiled.

"I am all ears" said the giant as he smiled.

…

"What happened Darla?" asked Malcom as the giant walked away and Darla walked back to them as she smiled.

"The giants accepted the gift, we can go out now, come on, we should go out of the city" said Darla as she got on her horse and she started to ride as they all followed after her.

"You know, I find it strange that there are many houses here, but there seem to be no people" said Wura as she looked around, she had only seen the one giant, it would seem like this city was uninhabited.

"They are inside, probably sleeping, giants prefer to sleep in the day most times" said Dothan as he smiled.

"They do?" asked Wura in surprise as Dothan nodded his head.

"Oh, well that is… interesting" said Wura as she nodded her head and in the same moment, a swarm of black crows flew above them as Wura looked up and Darla stopped leading them as she slowed down, and Wura started to move ahead of them as Liam rode next to her.

"Where are those crows going?" asked Wura as she looked at him.

"I do not know" said Liam as in the same moment, the ground shook and they all stopped moving.

"What is happening?" asked Wura as she tried to calm down her horse but in the same moment, there came a might thud sound as Wura was lifted from her horse into the air as she looked up to see the smiling face of a giant that was holding her.

"Lily!!" called Malcom and Dothan in worry as they looked up to see the giant.

"Lily!" called Liam.

"My lady!" said Nora, Mero, Zuph and Elihu.

"Ahhh…" said Wura as she looked down.

"Let go of me, let go of me right this instant" said Wura as she struggled in the grip of the giant as he just smiled.

"Sorry my lady, I cannot do that" said the giant as we smiled.

"My lady" called Mero as he drew his sword.

"Let go of her right now" said Mero as the giant just ignored him and he looked at Wura.

Wura did not like this at all, she did not know why this giant was holding her, but it seemed like he did not have any intention to let her go so she decided that she would make him do it by force.

"Let me go you giant!" said Wura as she shouted once more and the giant shook his head, Liam felt so useless as Mero got off his horse and he walked to the giant's foot as he started to strike it as the giant jumped up and in that same moment, Wura bit the giant's hand that was holding her as he cried out in pain and he let go of her as he dropped her and she fell to the ground.

"Lily!" called Liam as he got off his horse and he rushed to Wura as she was in pain from the drop.

"My lady" said Nora as she rushed to Wura.

"Oh you blasted things, who knew that you were such pains?" asked the giant as he whistled and In the same moment, two more giants who were taller than him appeared as Wura looked up.

"Lily are you alright?" asked Liam as he looked at Wura.

"I am fine, we have to get out of here now" said Wura as she struggled to get up, and Nora helped her.

"Get the woman!" said the giant as the other giants charged and Liam quickly carried Wura and he put her on his horse as he rode as fast as he could way from the giants.