A Hero's throne

always causing arguments with us about topics that we know nothing about and care for even less. If we convince them to go with you, will you take them?”

Alex shrugged. “If that’s the best offer we can get, then yes-of course.”

There then followed a very long period of bartering and explaining to the eight rather baffled knights.

“So,” said the dark knight after the awkward Hussites had been, to all appearances, completely bullied into joining Alex and Ecgbryt’s ragtag band of warriors. “All has been explained to them. They will follow you and take part in your battles. They are good warriors-they are of the Boiohaemum, after all. When you have done with them. . keep them, send them home, do whatever. But remember always that you owe a debt to the Knights of Blanik Mountain, Alex Son-of-Simp.”

Alex bowed, and with a grudging amicability restored, they left the enormous cavern under the mountain and continued their northward course.

CHAPTER TEN

The Giants of Man

I

Isle of Man

Kieran and Fergus were walking home from school. Kieran was ahead, going very slowly, and Fergus was some thirty feet behind him, going even slower than his brother. Kieran was angry and annoyed. This was exactly the sort of thing Fergus was always pulling. He was late and making him even later. Why did he put up with it?

“Because I say so. You come home with your brother. End of story,” Kieran’s mother had commanded him a couple days after school had recommenced.

“But what if he makes me miss the bus again?”

“Especially if he makes you miss the bus again. You come home with your brother.”

“But he’s always so slow.”

“I’m talking to him about that, but never you mind. You come home with your brother.”

“But-”

“Come home with your brother. Or don’t come home at all.”

Today was the first day that Kieran seriously considered not coming home at all. He stopped, turned, and studied his brother.

Fergus saw Kieran standing in the road, waiting for him to catch up, and slowed down even more.

Kieran sighed. He got out of the road and leaned against the low, stone cow-wall that ran along it, striking a pose. What was it with Fergus lately? He used to listen to him. They used to do stuff together. Now all that Fergus seemed to want to do was be contrary. And what was up with being late? He got a watch for his birthday, and even though it had taken awhile for him to start wearing it, for their parents to train him to wear it, he still turned up late for everything-breakfast, the bus queue, his classes, lunch, dinner, football-a good five minutes behind everyone else. What part of his brain was missing?

Kieran sighed as Fergus, unwilling to get any closer to his stationary sibling, stopped as well. They stood, looking at each other from about twenty feet away. They were at a standoff. Fergus knew he could get Kieran into trouble if he was so much as thirty seconds later than he in coming through their front door, and Kieran could think of no way through reason, bribery, or force to make Fergus walk with him.

“You know I’ll get in trouble if I come home without you,” Kieran called with what he hoped was the right mixture of authority and reason.

Fergus just stared back at him blankly. Of course he knew.

“You’ll get in trouble also.”

Fergus did not even blink.

Kieran put a hand to his forehead and rubbed. He hadn’t been sleeping well lately; none of them had been on the island. There was some sort of disease going around, some people thought. It made them all wake up at night from bad dreams. He’d heard someone say that perhaps some anti-malaria drugs had gotten into the water supply somehow. Or maybe they were all worried about the disappearances. And the suicides. But then what kicked those off?

No doubt that’s what was making Fergus act like he was. But Kieran was too tired to take it anymore.

He lifted his legs, swivelled around, and jumped off the other side of the wall. He started walking across the field, away from Fergus, away from home, away from everything, toward the darkening blue sky and the grey sea.

He was halfway across the field when he heard Fergus’s foot-stomps running to catch up with him. He stopped and turned.

“Where are you going?” Fergus asked, stopping beside him.

“Why do you care?”

“Aren’t we go-?”

He was interrupted by an enormous. . explosion was the only way to describe it. It was the sound of a bolt of thunder, or of a lorry hitting the ground after being dropped by a crane. It was an impact boom, and it made the soft ground beneath them swell like an ocean wave.

“What was that?” Kieran asked, eyes wide.

“I saw something. It came from over there,” Fergus said, pointing toward the sea.

“Stay here,” Kieran said, and ran in the direction Fergus had pointed.

But of course his brother ignored him.

They made it to the edge of the field, which was bordered by a wooden fence that ran atop a cliff face. Below them was a sandy strip of beach that the waning tide had revealed. Standing on the beach were two figures.

It took Kieran and Fergus a little while to process what they were seeing. The two figures-men-were absolutely enormous, and it was throwing off their depth perception.

“They’re huge!” Fergus whispered.

“Shh!” Kieran looked down at them. They were twisting and bending over and spinning their arms, like they were warming up for a race. They were almost completely naked, all except for some tight and badly stitched- together bits of animal skin around their bottoms that looked like the most uncomfortable, smelliest pairs of underwear in the world. Their hair fell in long dreadlocks the size of bolsters of fabric down their backs. One of them had a thick, bushy beard and no moustache; the other had a moustache and no beard. The rest of their bodies were completely hairless.

Then one of them squatted down and leapt up in the air. He sailed above their heads, dwindled in the sky above them, and then came crashing back again, whistling past them, and landed on the beach with another earth shattering thump.

“Wow!” Fergus exclaimed loudly.

“Shh!” Kieran hissed, just as the two giants turned toward them.

“Uh-oh. Run.”

Kieran and Fergus took off across the field. Kieran looked back and saw a massive hand-the size of a bulldozer scoop-grip the side of the cliff where they had crouched, and an enormous head rose behind it, like an absurd sun.

“Quick! Quick!” Kieran shouted as he heard the sound of massive limbs scrambling up the cliff face.

They hadn’t even made it halfway across the field before two gigantic hands swept them off their feet and into the air, and then swung them back and forth like action figures.

For a while they both struggled, until they each saw how high above the ground they were.

“I’ve got them, Nuncle, I’ve got them!” boomed a voice above their heads as they watched, gape-mouthed, as they came back to the cliff face and, instead of stopping, the giant simply bounded down the thirty-foot drop. He