The newest monster

Jarnsaxa leaned down and snatched up the humans before they could protest. 

"Come, see for yourself." 

Simone's stomach lurched, as it did every time the giantess picked her up without warning. The sudden and extreme change in elevation was too much for her sensibilities, and she barely kept down what little food was still in her stomach from that morning. 

Jarnsaxa gestured South, and the two humans peered towards the horizon. Simone's eyes nearly popped out of her head. 

A monster indeed! She gasped in horror and darted an anxious glance at Shayn, whose brow was furrowed as he stared towards it. 

Taller than the trees, it wasn't quite as large as the giants but was far stranger and more terrifying. With a body like a leopard and great, stomping feet like a bear, it had seven heads like a lion on long necks. The four heads towards the sides had a giant horn on each of them, while the three central heads each boasted a pair of great, sharp horns. Each horn bore a crown, shining and golden in the sunlight. The mouths were like a lion's, and the great monster stared back at them with a foreboding gaze as it lumbered towards them. 

One of the heads bore a great, mortal wound, as if it had once been killed and yet lived. 

"It's not attacking," Simone said quietly to Shayn. "That's… good?" 

"I just can't imagine something that looks like that being friendly," He replied, "but on rare occasion, I can be wrong." 

"The Fae mentioned a conflict, didn't they?" Simone addressed her words to Jarnsaxa. "Did they give any other instruction?" 

"Beware the Dragon," The giantess whispered under her breath. 

"Is that a dragon?" Simone blinked. "It's not exactly what I pictured when I read the fairy tales." 

"I'm not sure." Jarnsaxa replied. "I've never seen one, myself." 

"Do you think it's intelligent?" Shayn squinted at it. "Judah understands us well enough. If it's not attacking, should we try talking to it?" 

Simone gulped, feeling unexpected trepidation at the prospect. It was logical that a creature that wore crowns would be intelligent. She'd never seen a dumb animal put any ornamentation on itself. 

"YOU THERE! WHAT ARE YOU CALLED?" Awarnach said, loudly enough to hurt Simone's ears. 

Jarnsaxa shot a whithering look at her husband for addressing the newcomer without her go-ahead. So far she had been the leader in all decisions that Simone had observed, and the change did seem a bit odd. 

The monster rose up to its full height and stopped its approach a reasonable distance away, several of its faces smiling invitingly. Simone didn't know which to look at, and was wholly unnerved by its presence. 

"I have many names," The heads spoke in unison, like a choir. Simone shuddered and glanced at Shayn, who was eyeing Jarnsaxa. The way she was gripping him prevented him from reaching the sword he always kept at his side. 

As if such a small sword could do anything in the presence of such a creature. 

"What do we call you?" Jarnsaxa's voice was softer for the benefit of the humans, but easily heard by the approaching creature. 

"Beast serves well enough, for it is what my subjects call me," The heads replied. 

"Subjects? Then you are a monarch," Jarnsaxa stated, gesturing to the crowns. "Whom do you rule?" 

"I rule all in the stead of my Master," Beast replied in unison with a mixture of smiles and glares, as if pleased to be of service and yet angry that his master was not already known to them.

"All of what?" Jarnsaxa pressed. "Your world?" 

"All worlds," Beast's central head tilted in confusion. "You will serve me as well." 

"WE WILL NOT! I AM QUEEN OF THE GIANTS AND SERVE NO ONE!" Jarnsaxa's voice rose, but Beast simply smiled. 

"Serve or die," The voices took on a musical quality, and Simone was struck dumb with terror at so casual a threat. Beast was smaller than the giants, and faced four of them now. How mighty a warrior must it be to have no hesitation about making such bold statements? 

"I think it is serious," Awarnach whispered to his wife, and she glared at him. 

"I don't care if it is serious. Will you bow to some random animal just because it claims to rule you? What are you, a giant or a mouse?" Her tone was biting. 

"You will serve," Beast's lyrical tones were almost hypnotic, "as so many already do. This world will be mine, through my master, before long." 

"Who is your master?" Awarnach pressed, causing Jarnsaxa's lips to curl back in a sneer. 

"Serve, and it shall be revealed," Beast's heads swayed together as they smiled. "Serve, or die." 

"How can we serve what we do not know?" The queen's husband ignored his wife and continued his line of questioning. "Who has sent you to rule, and claims that authority?" 

Simone's heart was beating in her ears so loudly that she was almost having trouble hearing the booming conversation. She was near panic. She wanted out. Needed out. Wanted to be as far away from this whole situation as she could be. She wasn't cut out for danger of this caliber. 

A soft "psst," drew her attention, and she looked over at Shayn, in Jarnsaxa's other hand. 

He was pointing at her, and then down. She nodded, she did want down. As soon as possible. She didn't like Beast's eyes on her. Even when it was looking at Jarnsaxa, it had enough eyes to see all of them at once. At least on the ground she would have dying trees between herself and the monster. To be out of his gaze was her most earnest desire at that moment. 

He held out a hand, but she couldn't reach him. He sighed and slapped his hand twice on Jarnsaxa's finger, drawing her brief attention. He pointed to Simone and himself, and then down, apparently unwilling to enter the conversation with Beast and Awarnach. 

She couldn't blame him one bit. The less attention they drew, the better. At this point the monster had no reason to know they could even speak. 

"You will be ruled, and serve, because you have no other choice," Beast insisted to Awarnach. "Or, I suppose, you chould choose to perish with the rest of your pathetic race, but it does seem a terrible waste, does it not?" 

"How do you know of our race?" The giant responded. "Have you been to our world?" 

"I know much. Trust when I tell you that service is better than death, but ultimately, it makes no difference to me which you decide to choose for yourself." Beast's heads swayed rhythmically as Jarnsaxa put the humans down and reentered the conversation. 

"You presumptuous, arrogant fiend," She sneered. "We will not serve you, and never will." 

"Slow down, Jarnsaxa," Awarnach held up a hand. Simone froze. She'd always understood the giants to operate as a unit. This open disagreement between the royal couple worried her almost more than Beast. She shot a concerned glance at Shayn, and he put his finger to his lips and nodded. 

Judah appeared from the underbrush, his coat a dappled green and brown to match the dying surroundings. 

"We have not found out what we can get for service. Resources are short in this world, are they not?" Awarnach was arguing with his wife. 

"The last time we served an unknown master for promised benefits was a disaster." She shot back at him. 

"In return for your service, you will be fed. You will drink to your heart's content. All your needs will be met," Beast interjected. 

"LIES!" Jarnsaxa shouted. "You deceitful creature!" 

"Just because before we were taken in does not mean it will be so again," Awarnach countered. "The humans said disaster destroyed the South of their world. I doubt they can feed us at all. We must rely on another source for our care. Let us see if this Beast can provide what he promises." 

"What is wrong with you?" Jarnsaxa raised her hand to slap her husband. "Do you trust so easily? Do you defy me so flippantly? Have you gone insane?" 

"Perhaps," Awarnach shrugged, "Or perhaps I am tired of blindly following you into trouble and pain and am ready to try my chances with someone better." 

"BETTER?" The giantess's voice rose to fevered pitch. "Better than your wife of hundreds of years??" 

Simone could no longer see Beast, but swore she could hear a chorus of satisfied laughter. She shivered and Shayn grabbed her hand and pulled her to Judah. They both climbed on his back quickly, and the urge to be far away from this place warred with curiosity about the outcome of the conflict. 

Behind her, Shayn pressed his lips close to her ear. 

"We need to get out of here," He whispered, and she nodded. She felt it as he shifted to press his heels into Judah's sides at the same moment she heard a new noise enter the cacophony of the giants' argument. 

The sound of a horn of war.