soak my feet.”
Together they walked to the little pool, and Lara waded in up to her neck, sighing with delight, for the water was indeed cold. She had earlier removed the extra garments she had worn on their escape, and now wore just a fine cotton chemise, which would dry quickly enough in the hot Desert air. The bottom of the pool was soft yellow sand, and she scrunched her toes in it happily. In her entire life she did not think she had felt so free, and she smiled at Og, who sat on the edge of the pool, a look of bliss upon his face as he soaked his feet in the cold water, lifting a hairy leg now and again to let the waterfall splash over his feet, ankles and shins.
The hot air dried them swiftly, and as night began to fall the air grew first cool and then almost cold. They were glad of the furs in the tent. They ate the remainder of Lara’s bread and cheese, and finished her wine. Og lit the fire by simply pointing a finger at the kindling and saying, “Fire light!”
“How on earth did you do that?” Lara wanted to know.
“All giants have certain abilities,” he remarked. “The Forest giants can light fires by just pointing and commanding. How do you think I heated the water for your daily visits to the bathhouse? We must take turns keeping watch, Lara. I will take the first shift, and awaken you in several hours.”
“Why do you need to watch?” she asked him. “Do you think Durga and Enda will come after us?”
“Nay, but there are wild animals here in the Desert. Now get some rest, Lara. Soon it will be your turn to watch.”
She lay down in the makeshift tent to sleep. She had never known such quiet and such peace. Not even the Forest had been so silent. She was safe, she knew, as Og sat cross-legged before the fire singing softly to himself. Lara’s eyes closed, and she slept a dreamless sleep until Og gently shook her shoulder to awaken her for the watch. Drowsily, she arose.
“I have built up the fire, and there is no wind tonight,” Og said. “The Desert moon is high in the sky. Awaken me just before it sets,” he instructed her.
Lara sat by the fire, and soon the air was rent by the sound of the giant’s snores. She grinned and then grew serious, considering the day she had just lived through. At this time the previous night she had been in her chambers in Durga’s hall. Now, if Og was correct in his estimation, they were many, many leagues away from that hall, and from the Forest. He had told her that each step he took was a full league, and he had traveled many hours once they left Durga’s realm. When had they discovered her missing, she wondered, and what had they done? Had they discovered Og missing yet, or just dashed off seeking her? Knowing Durga and Enda, they had mounted up, and with their men, gone racing off to find her. It would not be until they discovered Og missing, too, that they might realize that Lara was with the giant. But Og had encountered no one since leaving Durga’s village. It would not be known in which direction they fled.
Suddenly Lara heard the faintest of rustles in the growth by the pool. She stared hard into the darkness. “Is someone there?” she asked softly, but there was no answer, and she was surrounded by deep silence again. In the sky above her the copper moon was in its first quarter, and a shadow of cloud moved swiftly across it. She shivered briefly, hugging herself with her arms. Then laughing softly at herself for being foolish, she turned back to the warm fire. A rat, most likely, she decided, come to drink from the water of the pool.
In the darkness the man stared quietly at the beautiful maiden. She reminded him of a faerie, but she could be only part faerie, because there was also something very human about her. He had seen her but briefly from the air this morning, and wondered who was camping at the oasis of Zeroun. It was well off the beaten track, and her giant companion would have to travel almost an entire night to reach a settlement. Drawing his cloak about him the man became invisible and quickly slipped into the tent where the giant lay snoring. Bending down, he murmured into the large fleshy ear, “Go north tomorrow evening. By dawn you will reach safety. Remember, north. The great constellation, Belmair, will guide you.” Then he departed the tent, and was gone. Og stirred restlessly, but did not awaken.
Lara nodded by the fire, half asleep now. The shadow gently placed more wood upon the blaze so it would not go out, and then disappeared into the darkness. Lara started awake. She had no idea what had roused her, but everything seemed to be fine. The fire was burning high, and she could hear Og’s snores coming from their tent. She smiled, thinking how wonderful it was to be free of Enda and Durga. What foolishness to believe having children of her body could end a curse placed upon them by a faerie queen! She had no magic, although Og said she merely lacked the knowledge of how to use it. But if she were interested in this alleged magic, who would teach her how?
She was glad for the fire, and surprised that the night had grown very cool. After the heat of the day she would not have thought it. She watched the quarter moon make its journey across the skies. She had now seen three of Hetar’s four moons; the pale blue moon of the City and the Midlands, the light green moon of the Forest and finally the copper-colored Desert moon. She had heard that the coastal moon was a warm butter-yellow. Of course, in the Outlands, one could see all four moons at once-but each shone a silvery white on that side of Hetar. The moon before her was now ready to set. Rising, Lara went into the tent and wakened Og.
He rose sleepily, giving her a warm smile. “You will sleep again,” he said. “We will remain here today, and then tonight we will go north. I think we will find some sort of settlement to the north.” Crouching, he shook out the furs for her.
“How can you travel so far with each step you take?” Lara asked him, laying down again. “Your legs are long, but certainly not long enough to go a full league with each step that you take, Og.”
“It’s my magical boots,” he said. “I asked Durga’s grandfather, who found me in the Forest, if I might make myself some boots. I was only eight at the time, and had been barefoot all of my life. I told him my feet grew cold in the winter months, and if I lost my feet I should be of no use to him. He liked having the only surviving Forest giant for his own slave, and so he said he would have boots made for me, for what would a boy know of making boots? I was grown when he finally died, and without anyone else’s knowledge I then made my own boots according to the knowledge I inherited from my people. No one noticed that the boots I wore were different. I walk normally, except when I tell the boots they must walk a league. Then my stride lengthens, and I can cover great distances,” he explained.
“Why didn’t you run away before?” Lara wondered.
“There was no reason to,” he told her.
“But the Forest folk were not kind to you, Og,” Lara protested.
“Nay, they were not, but they were all I had, faerie girl. For better or for worse they were the only family I possessed,” he told her. “But now you need me. You are young, Lara, and you have no idea of the powers within you. Until you learn how to access those powers, and use them wisely, I must be there to protect you. In my mind’s eye I remember the faeries of the Forest. Your mother was surely one of them. The Forest giants were the faeries’ allies. It is my duty to keep you safe for this part of your journey. Eventually you will not need me, but now you do.”
She smiled up at him. “I want you with me forever, Og,” she told him, and then closing her eyes, she fell asleep. She did not see the love he had for her in his pale eyes.
Lara slept until the afternoon. Og had slept beneath the shade of the palm trees near the pool. He woke to see Lara entering the water. She splashed about, calling to him to put his big feet into the water again and cool them. He did, smiling down at her. They ate a loaf of the bread he had taken, and an apple each. They filled the empty wineskin with cold water from the well. Og took down the makeshift tent, reconstructing the knapsack once again. He replaced the furs, but this time with the tanned sides up. Lara had repacked her few possessions in her shawl. She would use her cloak tonight if she felt cold. Og’s remaining loaves and Lara’s apples went into the knapsack along with the skin of water.
“Ready?” Og asked her, and when she nodded he picked her up and set her back into the knapsack before strapping it on his shoulders once more.
“Which way did you say we would go?” Lara called to him.
“North,” he answered. “I just have the feeling that we will reach a village of some sort if we travel north tonight.”
“By the morrow?” she wondered aloud.
“Mayhap, but if not, the next day. If we have not found a settlement by the time the sun is high,” he told her, “I will set up the tent, and we will just sleep the day away. We have enough water for several days if we are careful.”
Og walked across the Desert all the long night. He used the great star, Belmair, which was always in the
