“I admit I’m curious,” Kendra said.
Dectus scratched the side of his head above his ear. “Would you wait here a moment? Let me go see if I can arrange a meeting.”
“All right,” Kendra said, a little intimidated by the prospect of how dashing and handsome this prince might be to successfully flatter a powerful woman of such inhuman proportions. Then again, nobody could be more absurdly perfect than Bracken.
“I will return shortly,” Dectus said. “No offense intended.”
As the hulking wagon rumbled across the countryside, Seth reclined in the capacious bed atop a payload of turnips. Hermo hunched off to one side, Calvin relaxed in Seth’s pocket, and Reggie lay on his back, having borrowed dirt from the barnyard to fashion a new body, this version somewhat dustier than his previous incarnation.
Bogdun had invited Seth to sit up front with him, but Seth felt wary enough to stay out of easy reach. The ogre held reins attached to a monstrous ox, its shaggy hair a golden orange. Iron trinkets decorated the wide white horns, jangling as the beast walked.
That ogre calls me a ghost, Reggie communicated.
“Without any substance, you seem like a ghost,” Seth said.
But I am your assistant, Reggie maintained.
“Assistants aren’t always visible,” Seth said. “You really saved us back there.”
My other body was destroyed in the fight, Reggie conveyed.
“That’s an advantage to being made of dirt,” Seth said. “There is usually more when you need it.”
We are going to Humburgh, Reggie expressed.
“Bogdun agreed to take us,” Seth said.
Shifting in his seat, Bogdun spoke over his shoulder. “I agreed to get rid of you. Conjure no more hauntings and we can become strangers.”
“Him might still smash you,” Hermo cautioned.
“If he does, Reggie will haunt his farm forever,” Seth said.
At least as long as the buildings stand, Reggie communicated.
“Never attack shadow charmers,” Seth advised. “Most of us have an army of undead ready to curse anyone who harms us. We make better friends than enemies.”
“This is too much chatter,” Bogdun said. “The miles go faster without the yapping.”
Seth watched the countryside pass. Sometimes Bogdun followed a road; sometimes he made his own path over field and prairie. They forded a couple of streams.
Hermo bit into a turnip the size of a cantaloupe, crunching loudly. He took another large bite. “Why you no eat?”
“I had a little,” Seth said.
“Almost none,” Hermo said.
“I negotiated that we could eat all the turnips we want during the ride,” Seth said. “I didn’t know how they tasted. I’m just not hungry enough yet. You enjoy.”
“You crazy,” Hermo said. “Delicious and free.”
Seth saw a lonely farm go by. He noticed some ogres toiling in a stony field with hoes.
“Isn’t winter a bad time to farm?” Seth asked.
“Mild winters here,” Bogdun said. “The Giant Queen manipulates the weather. We can grow worthwhile crops all year. These winter turnips are nice.”
The turnip Seth tried had tasted sharply bitter. “They’re big.”
Bogdun grunted. “Maybe to a pipsqueak like you. I wanted my crop out of the ground before the Perennial Storm hits. Certain seeds will sprout only when the storm of all storms arrives.”
“What’s the Perennial Storm?” Seth asked.
Bogdun shook his head. “Ignorance is not charming.”
Seth waited for more, but the conversation ended there, and he doubted whether asking again would yield additional information. After some time, Seth spotted a trio of giants tramping through deep underbrush among slender trees, each led by his own smallish green dragon tugging against a chain.
“Do giants keep dragons as pets here?” Seth asked.
Bogdun chuckled derisively. “The dragons serve the giants. Those three are hunting pancake mushrooms, a rare delicacy that grows just below the surface. They are very hard to find without the senses of a trained fungus hunter.”
“The dragons are sniffing out mushrooms?” Seth asked.
“Hard to beat a fresh pancake mushroom,” Bogdun said.
They reached an especially broad road, and Bogdun stayed on it. Coming toward them from the opposite direction, ogres driving empty wagons grunted greetings to Bogdun as they passed. Seth hunkered down to be less conspicuous. Hermo settled deep into the turnips, blending so well that Seth could no longer see him. Bogdun steered his ox to the edge of the road as a huge coach rumbled toward him, massive wheels churning. A beefy female giant with her hair in a sloppy bun handled the reins of a chocolate brown dragon.
The sun had moved well past midday, and Seth became hungry enough to gnaw on a turnip. With some trial and error, he discovered that the smallest ones were less bitter, with a hint of sweetness. Hermo had shared a canteen with him, but it was empty now, and Seth saw no way to refill it.
Up ahead, a black castle with spindly towers rose into view. A lumpy gray dragon with misshapen horns was chained out front, apparently to guard the entrance. Seth heard desperate roars issuing from within the castle.
“Sounds like a party,” Seth said, having noticed that direct questions seldom got answers, but wrong guesses or offhand comments could lure Bogdun into conversation.
“It’s always lively at the Alchemy Academy,” the ogre said.
“Turning dragons into mice?” Seth guessed.
“The alchemists extract rare substances from the dragons there,” Bogdun said. “I hear they use a stench giant to elicit dragon tears.”
“Seems tough being a dragon at Titan Valley,” Seth said.
Bogdun harrumphed. “Welcome to reality. It’s tough all around.”
Before long, a town came into view, more expansive than Seth had anticipated. From a distance, the municipality looked lopsided, as if some neighborhoods had swollen disproportionately. Seth realized that most of the town was built to human scale, but at least one district had been constructed to accommodate giants. A wall encircled the town, with farms and mills outside and a jumble of rooftops, turrets, chimneys, and towers within. Though the human-sized portion of the town had some impressive buildings, the giant side featured structures at least ten times larger.
Do I like townships? Reggie asked.
“You like them,” Seth said. “But you know that people in towns can be
