River

Part 1

“River… take me with you…
To your… destination…”

*

Aidan couldn't tell what time it was. The sky was completely dark, and so was the land. Aidan couldn't read his watch because it was too dark. It didn't really matter. He didn't care what time it was. The young man just wanted the night to be over. He just wanted the war to be over.

Aidan sat in his little hiding place along the wall. It was a common habit. At least once a week he sat in this same spot waiting. It was boring. It was long. It was never ending. For months now he sat in the same hole, always waiting, and he never really knew what he was waiting for.

He was waiting for the enemy; they all were waiting for the enemy. But for months the enemy never came. There were no signs of them. The war wasn’t over, but it sure felt like it at times to Aidan. He was tired of the waiting, tired of the military life and confusion. He longed to be a musician again and to play his favorite guitar on the stage of crowded nightclubs and small parks. He wasn’t famous, at least not famous outside of his home city, but what fame he did have was more than enough to satisfy his life.

Aidan had been drafted. So had many of the soldiers. In fact, he didn’t know of any that had wanted to be part of the army and the war. At least, he didn’t know of any in real life. He was sure thee were some fools that did, but none in his area. The fact was that no one wanted to fight in the war but they had little choice. The enemy created the war, and now they were dealing with it. Aidan wanted it all to be over soon.

Aidan’s partner stood duty with him. They were only one of the hundreds of pairs that stood duty. That was the way of the army. It was like that in many of their cities near the border. They kept watch, waiting for them. It was a scary thought, but not a common event. That's why most of the time Aidan and his partner played card games or read books while on watch.

The young man had never seen them. They had never been to his town. It was a precaution that they kept watch for them. It was too dangerous to be taken by surprise. Well, not really dangerous, but still very troublesome. There were very few injuries, and even less fatalities. Some said it was accident that any of them died, but most tried to over-exaggerate the enemy’s savage nature. They even called them monsters.

He had heard stories of the enemy from many men in his life time. Ever since he was a child adults in his life mentioned the war and the necessity to win it. At all means the enemy had to be stopped. He didn’t know why; he didn’t really know the enemy. They were another country, a bordering country, and he knew very little of them. In fact all he really knew was that they were the enemy. They were a monstrous enemy, or so Aidan had heard. Men told of stories of savagery, of torture, of hatred and malice, and even of cannibalism. He wasn’t sure if they were myths or real. He wasn’t sure what to believe anymore. He just knew that they were stories of the war.

The war had been going on long before Aidan had been living. He was never told the cause. He often wondered if there really was one. Maybe some people need war and make it real just because they can. Maybe they need the drama, the suffering, the pain and sorrow to remind themselves that they are alive. And other unfortunate souls, like Aidan, just get involved because they are helpless to do otherwise. Countless men, women, children and family become victims to war because a few men need a reason to live. Maybe that was why war existed…

Aidan guessed fear can do that. Constantly being on the frontline, waiting in darkness, waiting for unknown things… it could drive someone mad. Aidan was only 22 years old but he was already starting to feel like he was going mad. He was one of the younger men on the frontline and he always got stares because of it. Many of the stares came from his partner when he thought Aidan wasn’t looking. They all thought the same thing: it wasn’t right. It wasn’t right putting the younger soldiers in harm’s way, but so was how war worked. Being a soldier wasn't a glorious job. There wasn't much to gain from it. They never found rest. They never got praise. They never won...

That's what Aidan told himself, and the soldiers told each other. Their leaders tried to tell the people otherwise. Sure, they occasionally had a few victories, if one could call them that. It wasn't that they didn't have hope, it was just that they didn't have chance. Each day there was news of the front being pushed back more and more. Each day a bit more hope died inside the hearts of men.

Aidan called it a ‘happy box‘. That's what he called his little hiding place in the wall. He didn’t know why he called it that. He was a grown man and shouldn't be making such silly names. But in that little place, he surprisingly had a good feeling about life. He was in a station for war, but yet he had a good feeling in his place. Memories of the pains of city life, of discomfort, of family troubles and relationships and murder… they were only just that, memories. Here, in the middle of nowhere between the city and some vast wilderness, all Aidan had was his partner, a few books and games, and a three walled room for comfort.

The threat had increased over the past few weeks. They said the enemy was growing nearer. It was hard to believe this when there was no proof. It was scary to believe this with all the stories about the other cities. Some of them were completely destroyed, wiped out of existence as if they were just piles of dust being blown away by the breaths of the gods.

Aidan clutched the small idol that hung around his neck. It was of their god of the north and of rivers, one of the four gods of the world. He wasn’t a religious man, though. He had the pendant because his grandmother had given it to him on his tenth birthday. She always told him, “Aidan, follow the river of your heart. Always.” He never really thought anything of the gods; they were just myths. He wasn’t foolish enough to believe in them.

The young man turned his gaze back to the forest. It was hard to see anything in the distance. The city was surrounded by the huge forest, a forest so vast not many of them ever left. There were a few other cities and towns in the forest, but they were far away still. They were pretty much isolated. They were isolated by fear. It was too scary to travel anymore. Too dangerous to communicate. Their world was slowly crumbling because of the war.

Aidan was so caught up in his own thoughts that he didn’t really notice anything was out of the ordinary until he saw his partner clutching his book to his chest. Sure there was more activity among the pairs, more chatter in a hushed tone, but Aidan just thought people were anxious. He didn't believe or expected that that night would be the night. Honestly he didn't think any night would be. Reality hit when one of his fellow soldiers turned to him and his partner while walking by and said with the most chilling calmness, "They've come."

The forest was calmer. No creatures stirred or birds chirped in the night. Aidan looked over the wall but all he could see was the black and earthen veil of the trees around him. He looked to his left and saw the other soldiers preparing the guns. On his right they were doing the same. His partner prepared their canon-gun as Aidan quickly grabbed the binoculars.

Aidan’s heart was beating faster, his body shaking. He could feel the muscles growing tenser with fear. Was this real? His body was so scared that it felt like the ground was shaking underneath him. There was sweat on his brow. The tension was making his skin warmer and he was sweating in his uniform. He pulled at his collar as he tried to steady his breathing. Aidan still couldn't see anything beyond the forest veil, though. Everything was dark.

Then Aidan could hear the low sounds of gasping around him. All his fellow soldiers, even his partner, were staring straight ahead. Aidan put the binoculars down slowly and just looked ahead. Two huge, dark objects were moving slowly, or maybe it was just slow to Aidan. Everything was moving slow to him at that moment. He felt like he was in some kind of daze, some kind of surreal reality. He didn’t feel like himself and nothing seemed normal around the young man. The objects looked like two huge boulders, two huge tree trunks coming closer.

They were boots, giant boots. They landed side by side and just rested there like monstrous towers in front of the barriers. The captain gave the order and in a flash the lights were on. A hundred spotlights shined onto the monstrous figure. What Aidan and then men saw was a giant soldier clad in metal armor. There wasn't a part of it that revealed skin. Even the head had a huge helmet with a mirror like visor. To the titan, the enemy, the spotlights were like flashlights.

The lights traveled up the tower-like legs, across the massive torso, around the long arms and huge helmet-clad head. Then it was clear that the titan wasn't alone. Standing behind this massive creature were two others, exactly the same looking, one on each side of the first. The trio were godly in appearance, towering like metal trees before the small army before them. Aidan thought he wet himself at the sight.

The little man was frozen with fear, but the rest of the army wasn't. Once the commander had given the second command, the entire line opened fire on the behemoths. Over a hundred guns blasted away, but Aidan’s jaw only dropped when he watched bullet after bullet bounce off the wall of armor that they wore. It was just too thick for the tiny guns to do any damage besides a few dents.

As far as Aidan could remember, everyone always said that his people had the advantage in the war. He couldn’t see how. He was probably four inches at best in comparison to the godly soldiers. They were even larger than the statues of the four gods. They were beyond gods… they were… they were titans.

They were said to be savages, though. His higher-officers always said that the enemy’s technology was far inferior to their own, and that was why they had the advantage. It didn’t seem that way now. Maybe in the past, but it seemed the enemy was smarter than people believed. Maybe that was why there was so little activity. Maybe Aidan’s kind was winning and the enemy pulled back a bit. But when they came back… prepared.

Aidan’s thoughts were interrupted as movement caught his attention straight ahead. The lead giant lifted his massive left boot and set it down on the ground merely a few feet (to Aidan) in front of the line just to his right. The ground shook with tremendous force as a huge cloud of dust swept over the area, engulfing many of the soldiers in its murky shadows. Aidan coughed as he crawled back, fearful of the massive man who had just cut the distance between them in one step.

The giant was looking around, scanning the ground. His partners moved into position next to him and did the same. The sky was filled with rumbling as the three communicated. Aidan couldn’t understand what they were saying because of how loud their voices were and the muffling the helmets caused. He didn’t really care what they were saying at that point. He just wanted to leave. He had met the enemy. He had stood his ground. He had done his part in the war. He just wanted to leave. He just wanted to run. He didn’t care if he was abandoning the cause… “What the hell good is a cause if you’re dead?!” Aidan mumbled to himself as he continued to scramble out of his box hole and away from the towering giant.

Then, without warning, the lead giant lifted his right foot up and swung it over one of the hiding spots. The two men inside could only stare up at the huge boot sole hovered overhead like an ominous black cloud. Bits of dirt and rocks rained down onto the spot, but the men were frozen with fear to really notice. The massive leather and metal structure slowly started to lower to the ground soon after. The two soldiers in the way came to life as their minds sensed the approaching danger. They quickly jumped to their feet and fled in fear as the boot crushed the spot with ease behind them. Aidan assumed, given how long the giant took to lower his boot, that he was just crushing out the weapon and had no real intentions of hurting the little men. Of course, even if that was true it didn’t matter much since fear had taken over Aidan and he too got to his feet and continued to flee away from the giants.

It was chaos. That’s how battle is. Pure and utter chaos. And a battle between a race of men mere inches tall and those known as titans is beyond the chaos of a regular battle. The spotlights danced through the dark forest like ghosts. They swayed this way and that as what men still worked them tried to focus on the giants. Aidan could barely see where he was going. Soldiers swarmed around, running this way and that. Flashes of the world around him lit up Aidan’s vision as the spotlights occasionally danced within the barrier and confines of the little army.

Aidan was pushed back and forth as he struggled to make his way through his fellow soldiers. He wasn’t even sure where he was going. It all felt like some strange and surreal dream. He wanted to wake up. He longed to wake up, but he didn’t. He wasn’t dreaming and he wasn’t asleep. It was all real, all too real.

“Down!” a sudden voice shouted. The whole sea of soldiers fell to their stomachs. Aidan paused slightly but was then pulled down by his arm by a fellow soldier. Suddenly the sound of rockets went off in the distance. There were huge explosions behind Aidan and the whole world was lit up in a mesmerizing light of dancing colors.

Aidan could see the faces of his fellow soldiers. Many of them were older, though not too old. They were in their late twenties and maybe early thirties. Their faces were silent, calm, lonely. It was like he was staring into a sea of dead men. They were practically dead. They were all empty inside. War had taken their love for life and left it in the cold mud. All they had left was a will to survive. Aidan felt sad as he looked around at the men.

The sky was filled with the moans of the giants as the rockets hit their suits of armor. Aidan wasn’t sure what effect such toy missiles could do, but he knew one thing: they were still alive. He didn’t hear the deafening sound of them falling to the ground lifeless. That meant the battle wasn’t over. That meant the nightmare wasn’t over.

No sooner had the last light filled the camp and settled into the nothingness did the vast army of soldiers come back to life. They quickly jumped to their feet and continued their paths throughout the area, heading for spotlights, for weapons, for cover. Aidan had little choice but to quickly get back to his feet and try to find a safe place to hide. Being swept around in a sea of fellow soldiers was already becoming exhausting and he was fearing injury from them before the giants at that point.

Aidan occasionally glanced back at the towering three titans. As he traveled further away from their immense forms, the massive soldiers looked more and more like godly phantoms in the forest, the darkness of the area slowly engulfing them. Smoke streamed from their armor from where the missiles hit, but obviously they had not broken through. Even the missiles from the launchers were toys to the giants. With the metal armor on them that was probably thicker than a tank to Aidan’s scale, it would take nothing less than a giant blast to injure them.

The air was filled with the sound of more explosions as the massive boots of the soldiers continued to destroy the tiny guns and weapons at their feet. With each godly footstep great clouds of dust and debris sweat across the battlefield. On occasion when Aidan turned back to catch glimpses of the enemy, he saw groups of men engulfed in shadow and dust. He kept running, not wanting to meet the same fate. It would be so easy for one of the giants to accidentally step on a little man who was lost in a small cloud of dust. Of course, it was easy for the giants to do such things anyways, but Aidan tried not to dwell on such thoughts.

“Where are you going, soldier?!” an older man said as he grabbed Aidan by the arm. He yanked Aidan through the crowd and dragged him to a nearby area without even waiting for a response. What kind of response could Aidan have given anyways? If he told the truth, he would’ve made the higher-officer angrier. If he tried to lie, the older man would’ve easily seen through it.

The lieutenant or captain or whatever he was suddenly pushed Aidan forward. The young man collapsed onto a steep step of metal stairs before him. “Get your ass up there and man the cannon. We’re at war, soldier. Do your job!”

Aidan gulped nervously and obeyed. He traveled up the spiral steps that led to a small tower with a large cannon in it. Aidan was about to walk over to the weapon when he noticed something in the corner of the small room. Another soldier was huddled there, his eyes gazing up at Aidan. He was obviously too afraid of what was going on. He had become too scared and abandoned his post at the weapon, but was also too afraid to leave the false security of the tower.

Aidan slowly walked over to the cannon and stared out the large window at the battlefield around him. On the ground men scrambled for their lives, for their sanity, as they tried to find some place to be and something to do. It must’ve looked even more frantic from the lofty viewpoint of the giants. Hell, it probably looked comical - a whole army of men reduced to nothing but frantic bugs at the sight of the three soldiers. They were probably loving every second of it, enjoying the power, enjoying the chaos, enjoying their easy victory.

The sound of the man in the corner mumbling began to get louder and louder as the sound of the giants approaching became more evident. Aidan hadn’t noticed the mumbling at first, but soon it was impossible to not hear it. “Praying to the gods now won’t save you, man,” Aidan stated in a careless tone.

“No gods,” the man stated firmly. Aidan’s blood ran cold at the words, as if he was told a secret of life that no one knew before. He wasn’t even sure if it was the truth or not. He wasn’t sure what to believe, but he did know that the words felt like a dagger in his back. His limbs froze and his hands trembled in the air, just inches away from grabbing the handle to the cannon. Maybe it was seeing all the destruction and chaos before him that made him tremble upon hearing the words.

“No gods?” Aidan repeated curiously in a slow and uneasy voice. “No gods…”

“There is nothing more godless than a war,” the man in the corner stated. “No gods here.” Aidan paused at his words and there was silence to the room, silence besides the noises of battle outside. Then a few seconds later and the soldier was rambling on to himself again. Aidan wasn’t sure exactly what to think of his fellow soldier. Was he a prophet in military clothes or a soldier that went over the edge? Aidan shook his head and focused back on the task at hand.

He couldn’t fire the gun. He tried, but he couldn’t bring himself to do it. He wasn’t really sure why. It was his enemies the cannon was aimed at. It was titans the weapon was focused upon. And yet, what was he really doing in that battle? Fighting someone else’s war? This wasn’t how he pictured his life to turn out. He wanted so much more from it and not just being covered in mud and dirt while the enemy pushed further beyond the border.

It was easy for the giants to overcome the frontline and push into the camp. Nothing was taller than knee-high to them. Nothing was even knee-high to them. Their boots alone were larger than everything in the area, including the tower that Aidan found himself helplessly waiting in. Again he was waiting, waiting for nothing and yet waiting for everything.

All Aidan could really see were the massive six boots thudding across the terrain and the enormous tower-like legs above them. Unless he leaned forward he couldn’t see the giants’ torsos or head, though it didn’t really matter since he would never forget what they looked like from the first sight. And of course, as the giants walked farther past the frontline, it became even harder to see their enormous figures fully.

The ground shook with every godly footfall of the massive soldiers. Aidan couldn’t count how many weapons, lights and other devices had disappeared under the merciless soles of the massive boots. Nothing survived such a fate, and the little man could only hope that none of his soldiers had been so unfortunate. It seemed unlikely, given that the massive giants moved very slow through the ranks of their tiny enemy.

Was it purposely? They looked like they would move so slow, but Aidan figured that was just some silly assumption people would have about things so huge. It seemed like they did it because they didn’t have any intentions of truly crushing the opposition. Yes, it definitely had to be that. Aidan could see how fast they could move by the turns of their torsos, heads and arms. They walked slowly though, carefully, as if there was a bit of humanity within their enormous suits of armor.

The ground rumbled with massive earthquakes as the giants continued their way into the area. Aidan couldn’t take his gaze off of the massive military boots shattered the defenses of his people. Walls of stone were crushed as if made of dirt. Machines of metal were scrapped into piles of debris. The giants probably didn’t even realize all of the damage they caused, and that was a scary thought to Aidan.

Watching them walk across the earth like the titans they were was mesmerizing. So mesmerizing that Aidan wasn’t even fully paying attention to one walking right for the tower until the shadow was upon him. The giant obviously didn’t see it, but Aidan saw what was coming - a massive boot was slowly lifting toward the tiny structure. Aidan quickly ran over to the other man in the room and lifted him to his feat. He had a stunned look on his face but let himself easily be pulled by Aidan to the exit.

There was no time to go down the stairs though. Aidan pushed the man off the platform and then followed by jumping. Seconds later and the tower was crushed mercilessly under the right boot of the massive soldier. There was a bit of an explosion but fortunately most of it was sent to the sides of the boot and not forward where Aidan and his fellow soldier lay.

Aidan rubbed his head as the daze of falling the dozen or so feet set in. He was fortunately not injured, at least nothing more than bruises, and even more fortunately was still alive. He slowly sat up and turned to the other man. “That was…” he began, but paused when he saw the look of fear on the man’s face. As the other soldier got to his feet and started to flee, Aidan turned in the direction the man had originally looked.

There before him was the massive giant that had destroyed the building so easily. He was squatting down, his impressive bulk clad in shadowed armor filling the sky above Aidan. He was like a mountain to the little man, looming like an unfathomable specter of vastness. Even through the suit Aidan could see muscles and body parts far larger than him flex with unmatched power. Aidan’s heart skipped a beat and he let out a gasp.

The little man quickly got to his feet too and started to run. He didn’t get far. The minute he stood a massive gloved hand was already reaching out for him. He couldn’t run far enough in such a short time. The gargantuan fingers quickly wrapped themselves around the little man and lifted him off the ground. He felt like an action figure being lifted up by the massive man.

“Stop this! Let me go!” Aidan shouted as he pounded on the thick fingers. It was useless. One finger alone was as large and more powerful than his whole body. He had been so caught up in saving another life that he had let himself get caught. It was over. It was the end. He had been foolish.

The world pulled away from his tiny body as he was lifted higher into the air. It reminded him of the view of the battlefield from the tower. Then he went higher, higher still, much higher. It was like standing on the top of a building or on a high level at least. He could see so much and yet so little. Everything was puny, dark, chaotic and toy-like.

Aidan’s gaze turned from the battlefield to the massive man who held him. He watched as he rose past the long boots hafts and thick, muscular legs as the giant slowly stood up to his full height. Aidan’s view continued to be filled with giant’s massive body, his vision of the massive man’s torso next. Then he was lifted so high that he was staring into the helmet of the titan soldier.

Aidan could see himself in the reflection. The visor was like a massive mirror and there was something dreamlike about it as he gazed into it and saw the reflection of the battlefield. Shimmers of light danced across the thick glass. Aidan caught a glimpse of something behind the mask. He squinted his eyes carefully and waited for another shimmer. The angle was perfect a second later and the mirror seemed to fade away. Aidan could see the massive man’s face, or at least the right side of.

All the little man could focus on though was an eye. A massive eye. An eye that gleamed with colors of cobalt, azure and cerulean. It stared back at him as if studying him, as if equally amazed at the sight it saw. Aidan couldn’t help but feel that as he gazed into the giant’s eye, he was gazing into the eye of a god.

*

“Catch my gaze, distort my reflection.
Paint my eyes in waves of protection…”

Part 2

“I get bored of flowing in straight lines,
Tired of seeing the same signs…
Gotta keep on moving, keep clearing the way…”

*

Darkness. Aidan was in darkness again. It wasn’t the darkness of the night-lit forest, though. It was darkness of the giant soldier’s pocket. The battle was over, the three titans clearly won as the little army fled fearfully, and now Aidan had been captured. He was now a prisoner of war. This definitely wasn’t the life he had pictured for himself.

He sat in the pants’ pocket for an hour. He couldn’t escape. He didn’t want to escape. Well, he wanted to be back home in his familiar country, but he didn’t want to leave the pocket. He didn’t want to be in a world of giants, in a world of harsh titans, in a world of savage gods. Aidan found himself clutching the idol around his neck again.

The world didn’t sound the same world when you’re trapped in a giant’s pocket. Once familiar sounds to Aidan like the wind in the leaves, birds singing and voices all had an eerie feeling to them now. He huddled at the bottom of the pocket and held his knees close to his chest. He wasn’t a coward. He wasn’t a baby. But he was mortal, and he had fears. Fears love it when you are in a new place and in a bad situation. Fear loved Aidan at that point.

Each step the giant took was a rhythmic vibration through Aidan’s tiny body. There would’ve been something beautiful about it had it not been for his fears. He wanted the ride to be over. He wanted the nightmare to be over.

Eventually the ride did end. Aidan found the world around him shifting as the giant seemed to be moving in different ways other than just walking. It felt like he was sitting, but of course Aidan couldn’t really tell that from being in a pocket. As if to confirm Aidan’s thoughts though, the massive gloved hand returned and pulled Aidan out, and once the little man’s eyes had adjusted to the light after a few seconds he saw that the giant was indeed sitting.

Aidan found himself being placed onto a table in front of the giant, who though he was sitting still towered over the little man. It wasn’t a table that Aidan was familiar with. It was much lower to the ground, and the giant didn’t need a seat to sit before it. He was sitting cross-legged on the ground.

The little man looked around at his new location. He wasn’t exactly sure where he was at first. The walls had a dark green tint to them that glowed slightly with what Aidan could guess were lights and maybe even the dawning sun in the distance. They weren’t completely vertical walls. They were slanted, and there didn’t seem to be a ceiling. The setting was familiar to Aidan after a few seconds of thinking. He realized that he was in the giant’s massive tent, his temporary home while at war. He had been brought back to the giant’s camp. Aidan shivered at the thought. He went to clutch his idol again but stopped. It wasn’t going to save him.

Aidan couldn’t help but watch as the giant reached up and began to pull his helmet off. Aidan expected to see a monster, an alien atrocity, behind the thick metal and mirrored glass. That’s not what Aidan saw though. Behind the helmet was a young man that looked no different than Aidan. He had buzzed black hair and thick black eyebrows. His eyes were a vibrant blue that looked like light dancing over the ocean. His skin was flesh-tinted like Aidan’s only it was more tanned. He could’ve passed off of as one of Aidan’s people if it was not for his gargantuan size.

Aidan continued to watch as the giant stripped out of his uniform, pulling off the huge gloves and shirt, then his massive and dirty boots and finally his pants. All he was left with on was a pair of black, generic looking briefs. The rest of his body truly looked godly. He was as athletic as Aidan, actually a bit more, and his skin was a beautiful tan color that glistened with drops of sweat.

When the giant was done taking off his uniform, he sat himself back down in front of the table and sighed. “Ah, much better,” he said in his deep and masculine voice. “Nice to get out of that uniform after a long day, ya know?”

Aidan didn’t respond. He was too surprised. The giant… the giant spoke his language. He spoke it clearly and fluently. How could that be? As far as Aidan was told, the enemy was too stupid to communicate with. Had it all just been a lie to make it seem like the war was inevitably? Had someone really gone through so much to keep the war going? Aidan blinked a few times as all the thoughts ran through his head.

“Oh, right, you little guys don’t speak,” the giant said to himself. “Guess I shouldn’t waste time talking to you then. But… wow… you’re just so… I can’t believe you’re real. I have been training for months for battle, but they never told us it was against guys as small and cute as you! You look like toys!” The giant couldn’t help but chuckle to himself and then slowly reached out for Aidan.

Aidan instinctively backed up from the approaching bare hand. Being held in a massive glove was intimidating enough, but being touched by the giant’s bare skin had a bit higher level of humiliation to it that Aidan couldn’t really explain. As he backed up from the approaching hand, he backed up to something on the table that he hadn’t noticed before.

The little man turned around suddenly to see another little man behind him. No, it wasn’t a real little man, it was just a statue. Or at least to Aidan it was a statue. To the giant it must’ve been a figurine.

Aidan quickly recognized who the statue was of. It was a wooden carving of Oriengen, the god of the north and of rivers, the same god that hung around Aidan’s neck in the form of an idol. He was a bit surprised to see an idol of the same god in the giant’s room, but he responded the only real way he could. He took it as a sign. Aidan dropped to his knees and began to pray to the god. “Oh great Oriengan, god of the north…”

The giant gasped slightly when he heard the words come out of the little man’s mouth. “You… you can talk? You can speak my language?!”

Aidan didn’t pay attention to what the giant said. As he prayed, it was just rumbles of thunder in the background to the little man. “Please… I know… I know I’m not a religious man… but please… if you would just…”

His prayers were interrupted as a massive hand reached over him and picked up the idol. Aidan saw that it was attached to a thick black string and realized that it was a pendant idol just like the one he wore. “You pray to Aquiliber too?”

“Aqui… Aquiliber?” Aidan asked curiously. He turned around and faced the giant again. “You mean Aquigigas?”

“No, I mean Aquiliber,” the giant insisted still. “God of the north. You know, one of the four gods. There’s Aquiliber, Meridiber the god of the south…”

“Meridigas, the god of the south,” Aidan corrected him. There was a pause of silent between the two. Something was a bit off. The gods sounded the same, and looked the same, but they weren’t the same names. Aidan rubbed his chin as he tried to figure it out. “So… the god of the east… Exorliber?”

“Exortiber actually,” the giant said.

“We call him Exorigas.”

“So that means,” the giant said as he thought for a second, his already slightly squinty eyes squinting even more in thought. “Your god of the west is Occagigas?” Aidan nodded his head. “We call him Occaliber. We kind of… I mean, I think we do… have the same gods. Not that I‘m particularly religious or anything.”

“Neither am I,” Aidan said.

“So, uh, little guy… do you have a name?”

“Of course I do,” Aidan replied, a little insulted by the way the giant asked the question. “But why should I tell you?”

“OK, sorry, didn’t mean any offense by it,” the giant said a bit nervously. “Well, my name is Oda.”

Aidan was reluctant for a bit, but found himself slowly warming up to the giant. He was surprised that a creature so big and menacing could seem so friendly and warm. Aidan wasn’t sure if it was an act but he tried to think positive. “I’m Aidan.”

“Nice to meet you, Aidan.”

“You too, Oda.” Aidan paused for a second. “Uh, Oda? Why did you capture me?”

Oda blushed slightly as if embarrassed to be asked such a question. “Uh, well… I don’t know. I mean, my commander told us that if the opportunity presented itself, that we should take prisoners for questioning and studying. And then when I noticed you on the ground near the tower I crushed, I was a bit surprised. I didn’t think anyone was in there. I felt… I felt kind of bad. We were just there to destroy the weapons. We didn’t want to really hurt anyone. It was kind of a testing of our new armors.”

“That armor sure is something,” Aidan commented. “I think you guys won the war with it.”

“The war?” Oda asked. “No. The battle maybe, but not the war. Your people will come up with something to counter it soon enough, I’m sure. Isn’t that how it goes?”

“I don’t… quite understand what you mean,” Aidan admitted.

“I mean, when one of our sides gets the upper hand, the other quickly finds a way to counter it. We found a way to counter your cannons with the armor, and you’ll find a way to counter our armor with something. And who knows how many other things have been countered and recountered in the past with this war. It’s kind of funny when you think about it. All this intelligence put into creating weapons. Kind of sad, actually. Did you know they give awards to the people that design the bombs and missiles and what not? And most of us out there giving our lives probably will never see an award while we’re alive.”

“Well it hardly matters. My people don’t have a chance against yours. I heard you guys were big, but I didn’t think this big. It’s kind of hopeless. My side should just surrender, submit to you as our masters and what not. I don’t really know what you want to do with us and why you started the war. Maybe slaves?”

“Now wait a second!” Oda interrupted. “Started the war? We didn’t start the war! It was your people that did.”

“That’s impossible. Why would we start a war with giants like you? Seems kind of pointless to me.”

“I don’t know. You tell me why your people started the war. Maybe you were just afraid of us? Maybe you thought we had to be eliminated because we are different?”

“Pfffft,” Aidan grumbled. “Unlikely. We’re not savages like you.”

“Savages? We are definitely not savages! Sure we’re larger and stronger than you, but we’re not a race of unintelligent beings. I am speaking your language, aren’t I little man?”

“OK, OK, let’s just calm down,” Aidan said, slightly nervous at the idea of making the giant and powerful man angry. “So if you say your people didn’t start the war, and I say that my people didn’t start the war, then obviously one of us has to be lying.”

“I’m definitely not lying…”

“Well, no, as far as you know you aren’t. And as far as I know I’m not. But someone along the line told a lie, and now their whole civilization believes it. Both sides couldn’t have started a war… could they?”

“You mean like it was mutual? Well, that seems possible. Apparently both sides hate each other. Maybe we should just agree that it’s both sides’ fault?”

“Agreed,” Aidan said with a slight smile. He was pleasantly surprised to be having an intelligent conversation with the enemy. Of course, the fact that he was captured by the enemy was still unnerving, but as long as things went well there might’ve been a chance of escape. Oda could let his guard down and Aidan could slip away. Maybe when the giant went to bed. Until then, Aidan had to keep the huge man occupied with other thoughts. “How come there were only three of you attacking tonight?”

“Our army is small,” Oda admitted. “Too many losses. Not enough trained soldiers left. We attack in small groups, because well, you guys are small. One of our soldiers is probably like, what, fifty of yours?”

“Probably more,” Aidan reluctantly admitted under his breath. Then his mind went back to something the giant had said. “Too many losses?”

Oda nodded. “For little people, you sure do have big weapons. Many of my fellow soldiers in the battalion have already fallen. There’s only a few dozen left at best. You think I would be easy for us to win the war cause we’re larger, but you’re wrong. You’re the ones winning. We’re the ones being pushed back further and further. Just look at our territories. My people control only about a third of this continent, while yours hold the rest. And yet we must be at least a dozen times larger than you. The leaders said you guys were always more technologically advanced, but they keep telling us we’re getting closer to that level, that soon we’ll even succeed in the war. I’m starting to doubt it. Guess I never should have chosen the military as my career, huh?” Oda chuckled slightly to himself.

“So you’re a real soldier? Like, someone that actually wants to be one? Someone that chose to be one?”

Oda nodded. “Born and raised practically. Kind of our way of life, I suppose. We have combat training and what not as children. Taught young to understand battle and war and how to be a good soldier. It just seems to be in our blood. Probably cause this war has been going on before I was even born. I wonder how long before that it‘s been going on. The way they talk about it, it seems like forever.” Oda paused for a second and scrunched his eyebrows up curiously. “Why, are you not a soldier?”

“Not in the sense I wanted to be,” Aidan admitted. “I was drafted.” Oda looked surprised, his eyebrows still scrunched up curiously as if he didn’t understand the meaning of such a phrase. “They put me in the army against my wishes. No one really wants this war to happen in my home world. At least, none of the soldiers. The leaders I guess, but no one really knows why. They just insist on it. They say you are monsters and demons and what not. I was beginning to believe them for a while, to really think you are savages, but I’m glad you proved me wrong.”

“We are savages,” Oda said with a bit of a frown as he lowered his head. “I thought you were the same. I thought your people just wanted the war too, that you trained to be soldiers, that it was in your blood. I was wrong, huh? You don’t even want to fight. You don’t even want to be a soldier.” He chuckled slightly to himself. “Makes me feel like the bad guy here. And I always told myself I was the good guy. At least I haven’t killed any of yours. That has to account for something, right?” Aidan nodded, but Oda didn’t lift his head up to see if the little man even reacted. He kept it lowered for a half a minute in silence before finally looking back down at his captured tiny. “So Aidan, what did you do before you joined the army?”

“I’m a musician,” Aidan replied. “Not much of a living but it’s fun. Better than being a solder… no offense. I’m just not much of a fighter. Being a soldier… well, it’s just not the life I expected to end up with. We aren’t really a militant people. Well, I mean, I don’t think we are at heart. It’s kind of like… well… my grandmother always said ‘Follow the river of your heart‘, and I don’t think it’s in our heart to go to war. Not to say you guys caused it, but to say that it wasn’t something all of my people agreed upon. And now I’m just rambling, huh?”

“Did you say ‘Follow the river of your heart’?” Aidan nodded in response to Oda’s question. “That’s… that’s funny.”

“Well, maybe it isn’t the most enlightening advice, but it’s good advice,” Aidan grunted, insulted a bit by the giant’s mockery of his grandmother’s saying.

“No, no,” Oda started. “I don’t think the saying is funny. My grandmother use to say it to me, too. Actually, she always said ‘Follow the river in your heart’ but it’s the same thing, right?” Aidan nodded. It seemed like the same thing to him at least. What mattered in just one word? It wasn’t even an important word. “I should’ve listened. I don’t want to fight either. I don’t really want to be a soldier. I mean, I chose it, but I didn’t think I have many options. I’m not as smart as you. All I have is my athleticism, and I always excelled at the combat training and stuff that it just felt like I had to be a soldier. But fighting a war isn’t like combat. If the enemy was my own kind and my own size, and it was just fighting, that would be fine. But fighting your people… getting blown to bits…” Oda placed his right hand over the side of his stomach. Aidan could see a large bruise over the muscle that he hadn’t really noticed before. “Those weapons sure do hurt, you know?”

“Well, you can always find something else to do after the war is over. How old are you, Oda?”

“Nineteen,” the young titan replied.

“Wow, even younger than me,” Aidan stated. “I’m twenty-two. Well, you’re definitely very athletic! Even the gods don’t even look as powerful as you. And it’s so weird too, considering you look so much like us, besides a darker-toned skin and darker eyes. Actually, now that I think of it, you really are a lot like us… a lot like me. I mean, we both look pretty much the same besides our sizes, and we both have the same gods even if we call them by different names, and we have the same saying we pass on from generation to generation. Eh but I digress here. So what is it that you like to do for hobbies?”

“I don’t know,” Oda replied. He had never been asked such a question. No one had cared what he liked to do or that he did anything outside of just being a soldier. He really felt like he was talking to a friend and not the enemy. It felt like he was talking to someone his size, someone normal, and not a little man that he could hold in his fist. “I like swimming. And running. And just exercising as a whole.”

“Well, you could be an athlete, if your people have sports,” Aidan stated. “You are definitely athletic enough to be, at least you would be back in my world.” He paused and let out a chuckle. “Oh yeah, I could just see you playing sports back in my world. That would be a sight. A giant young athlete like you towering over the whole field in ringball. You could be the whole offense and defense in one person. The other team wouldn’t stand a chance. Er, but yeah, you could do sports I guess. What stuff do you like to do besides athletic, physical things though?” Oda kind of shrugged and wrinkled the left side of his face as if he didn’t know. “Surely there’s something. I told you I’m a musician, so therefore I like to write and perform music.”

“Well, I guess… I kind of like to do wood carvings.”

“Wood carvings? There, that’s something! You could sell them in a store or…” He paused and noticed the object hanging around Oda’s neck again. It was the statue he had bumped into earlier of the god of the north. It was the perfect sized wood idol on the giant’s body. “You made that?” Aidan asked as he pointed to it. Oda nodded in response. “Wow! You’re really good. It’s so detailed and yet so small. Well, small to you.”

“I got bored so I made it. My grandmother had made me one a long time ago but I lost it unfortunately. Everyone has a personal little idol in my world. Usually it’s of the east god though. North god ones are rare. My friend Daiki use to have one of the north god too. He was my only real friend actually. Everyone else was kind of intimidated me cause I was so good at combat, or so I guess. He was very friendly though. Only guy that would come over my house to play after school and training. Always made me laugh with his impression of his grandmother. ‘Daiki, are you following the river of your heart today?’ His grandmother always said that to him too. At least my grandmother didn’t say it so much.” Oda noticed Aidan kind of just staring up at him and it made the large young man blush a bit. “Oops, I guess I am the one rambling now. Sorry. Has been a while since I’ve really had someone to talk to.”

“Now that’s funny,” Aidan started. “I use to think my grandmother was the only one to say that saying, but I also knew people who had grandparents and even parents that told them that. And then I met you and I learned that even your people have that saying. And it’s always that one word that’s not the same. Sometimes it’s ‘of’ and sometimes it’s ‘in’. I’ve even heard ‘from your heart’ and ‘by your heart’. Strange.”

“Uh, what?” Oda asked a bit confusedly.

“Oh nothing, just pondering out loud.”

“Oh,” Oda said with a slight smile. And then his smile grew rapidly. “Oh, hey! I also love to travel! That‘s something else I like to do.”

“Really? Me too!” Aidan admitted. “Well, I would love to, but traveling isn’t really an option back in my home country. It would be awesome to see the world though. To go places you’ve never been. I always…” He paused and awkwardly smiled. “OK, this may sound weird, but I’ve always kind of had this feeling of going north. I don’t know what it is. It’s like I was just drawn there. Like if I lie in bed, my spirit just has this desire to go north.”

“Really? I… I have that feeling too,” Oda confessed. “I never knew anyone else with that feeling. I always thought it was kind of odd, too. Like it was my mind playing games with me because of the silly idol of the north god I have.”

“Do you think it’s a sign? Maybe that’s why you picked me up. Maybe… maybe the gods are real. Maybe they are giving us a sign.”

“A sign of what?” Oda asked curiously.

Aidan was about to respond, to try to explain himself better, but a deep voice from outside the tent interrupted the conversations. “Lights out soldiers!” an older man with a deep, gigantic voice shouted. Immediately the tent grew darker as the lights outside slowly shut down.

“Lights out… now?” Aidan asked curiously. “It’s gotta be morning already though.”

“We operate at night only,” Oda replied. “Sleep during the day, fight at night. Just how we’re trained. You know, that whole element of surprise. I’m getting kind of tired anyways. We can talk again when we wake up. But where can you sleep for the night?” Oda started to shift around as he looked through his stuff in the tent. “Don’t really have anything to keep me in.”

“Keep me in?” Aidan asked curiously.

“I could keep you in my boot, that will stop you from escaping, but I don’t think you would like that. There’s also my backpack, but might be a bit crowded. Hmmm, let’s see, what else.”

“What? Keep me in something? You can’t be serious!”

“Well, what do you want me to do? I can’t just let you lay there on the table. I mean… you could escape. And if someone else found you, they might think you were a spy or something. You’ll be safe here.”

“You could just let me go!”

“No, not an option right now, Aidan. I’m sorry. I really want to help you out here, but I can’t leave my tent now. They’ll question me and take you away. And if I let you out of the tent now, you’ll surely get caught and well… I can’t promise what will happen with you. You’re going to have to stay here for the night.” The whole time Oda talked he didn’t even look at Aidan. He was still shifting through the stuff in his tent. Finally he found his helmet and lifted it up. “Aha! This will do.” He placed it on the table upside down so it looked more like a giant metal and glass bowl.

Aidan watched as the massive hand of his captor reached out toward him. Again he tried to back away but it quickly picked him up. Instinctively he squirmed in the grip of Oda and beat on the huge fingers. “I’m really sorry, Aidan,” Oda said again as he lifted the little man off the table and placed him into the helmet prison. The inside was cushioned and soft beneath Aidan’s body, though there was the slight smell of sweat. “It’s just while I sleep. I promise I’ll let you out the first thing when I wake up. Get some sleep too.”

Aidan rushed over to the huge visor which was like a glass wall to him. He beat against it as he watched Oda prepare for bed, reorganizing his tent a bit before easing himself down onto the massive mat below. All of Aidan’s pounding and screaming were for not because the giant simply couldn’t hear him. Soon the huge titan was drifting off to sleep, his bare chest rising peacefully with each breath.

Aidan was trapped, confused, betrayed by someone he was beginning to trust. He eventually eased himself to the back of the helmet and laid down upon the soft cushion. At least it was as comfortable as a bed even if it was humiliating to know the giant soldier’s helmet was the perfect prison. Why had Aidan had to be a hero? If he had just left the guy in the tower alone, he would’ve been able to escape and go unnoticed by Oda. Now he couldn’t even save himself.

Disgusted with the new turn of events, Aidan eventually closed his eyes and let sleep take him. The giant was one step ahead of him for now, but he knew his chance of escape would come eventually. It had to, or else he was certain his days were numbered.

*

“The clouds that swell when we drop like stones
Deep down… deep down…”

Part 3

“Upstream
Is the only life I know…
And if I let go…”

*

“Are you awake little man?”

Aidan stirred as the deep words rumbled through his sleepy body and a warm breeze rushed over his skin. He turned on his other side to get comfortable and fall back to sleep, but it wasn’t comfortable. The bed beneath him wasn’t soft. It was hard. He groaned at the feeling and turned again. Eventually he start to wake up slowly, stretching and moaning. He realized he was no longer in the helmet prison. He was lying directly on the table. “No wonder I’m stiff,” he mumbled to himself.

“Good morning, Aidan,” Oda greeted him suddenly.

The little man winced at the giant’s voice as he continued to get his bearings and senses to normal. The world was dark around him but a vague light source provided enough to see the form of Oda once again sitting before the table and staring down at the little man. He looked hauntingly savage in such an eerie night. The fact that he was dressed in his uniform again didn’t help either. Aidan didn’t greet his captured. He just sat there grumpily.

“Sorry to wake you up, Aidan, but it’s time to go.”

“Time to go?” Aidan questioned. “The army on the move already?”

“No, no, not the army,” Oda replied as he slung his backpack on over his shoulders. “I don’t really have time to explain it. I will when I can, but right now we need to just go.”

“And what if I don’t want to?” Aidan inquired. “What if I don’t trust you?”

“You don’t have a choice,” Oda responded as he reached out with his hand for Aidan. “You just have to trust me.”

Aidan wanted to but didn’t know if he could. The mysteriousness of what was going on didn’t make it any easier. And Oda, though friendly, was still the enemy and a titan of a man. Of course if the giant did want to do something hurtful to Aidan, he could’ve done it already. He could’ve crushed him upon first seeing him back at the battlefield, but he didn’t.

Aidan was so caught up in his thoughts that he was taken by surprised as the gloved fingers of the young giant wrapped around him and lifted him off the table. Instinctively he wanted to squirm like he did the night before, but he didn’t. It would’ve just been a waste of energy. So the little man let himself be lifted off the table and placed in a chest pocket on the giant soldier’s leather and metal tunic. Immediately the little man curled up inside, trying to keep his calm about the situation.

Feeling Oda walk while in his chest pocket was different than being in his pants’ pocket. The movements were more subtle, more relaxed, and the little man found it even a bit soothing to lay in the warm dark of the pocket as he was carried away by his giant captor.

The sounds of the world outside were muffled a bit by the thick material. He heard talking but couldn’t make out what anyone was saying. He wasn’t even sure what voice was Oda’s since none of them sounded familiar to him. Eventually after a brief conversation between two giants there was silence as Oda continued to walk onwards to somewhere. Aidan’s guess was it was outside of the military camp.

A minute or two later and the giant paused in his tracks. Aidan could feel his prison began to stretch as the huge man turned slightly. Aidan could only guess that Oda was looking to his side or behind him. Then there was movement again but it was not similar. Oda wasn’t walking. Oda was running. Aidan could tell by the heavy footsteps the giant took and how they vibrated through the pocket. The massive heart in Oda’s chest beat greatly as the huge man ran as fast as he could.

Oda didn’t look back. He didn’t even turn around for any reason. He had walked far enough from the camp that he couldn’t even see it anymore. That was when he started running. That was when he started to make his escape. He could feel his heart beating heavily in his chest, both out of steady exhaustion and out of fear. His choice of actions weren’t easy or light ones to take. Nonetheless, there was no turning back.

Oda ran as fast and as far as his muscular legs could carry him. He would’ve been able to run even farther if it wasn’t for his heavy armor and all the equipment he carried on his back. He still was able to make a good distance from the encampment before he got too tired and had to stop.

Oda tossed his backpack and equipment onto the ground near the base of a large tree. Then he settled himself against the tree and pulled Aidan out of his pocket. He placed the little man carefully on his knee before taking off his helmet, which he placed on the ground to his side, and caught his breath. His hair was moist with sweat and his smooth, tanned skin gleamed in the faint light of the moon overhead.

“Did you… did you just…” Aidan started to ask curiously, but Oda quickly interrupted him in deep gulps of air.

“Yep,” the large man replied. “Should… should be far enough away… to take quick break. They will… be too busy with… the war… to hunt down a runaway soldier.”

“But… why?”

“I told ya before… I would tell you what was going on… so I guess it’s a good time to. But can I just take a second to relax?”

Aidan nodded his head. “Of course, big guy!”

“Thanks, Aidan,” Oda said before letting out a deep sigh. He reached over and grabbed his canister of water. After unscrewing the lid he gulped down a good portion of it, the cool liquid streaming down his chin and neck a bit. When done he replaced the lid back and put the canister in his backpack. “Aw, much better. Well, you see Aidan, our conversation got me thinking last night, or this morning, whatever time it was.

“I don’t want to fight anymore. I don’t want to be part of this war anymore. It doesn’t really seem like there’s a good reason for us to be fighting. I don’t see why we can’t get along with your people, why there can’t be peace. So I had to get away. I can’t do it anymore. Being a soldier is not what I want anymore.

“And then I was thinking about that feeling we talked about. You know, the one that felt like it was drawing us to the north?” Aidan nodded; he easily remembered that feeling for he was starting to get it at that very moment. “And I always found it kind of odd, you know, that it’s to the north. I mean, I’ve been south. The ocean is to the south. And I’ve been east. My home country is east. And west is your home country. But north… I’ve never really been north, at least not very far north. No one has in my country. Eventually there’s a border that they say ends the continent, and tell us that to the north are worse things we can’t deal with. And so it’s forbidden to go north. I kind of assume it’s like that in your country too.”

Aidan nodded again. “Yeah. They tell us it’s another continent to the north, linked to this one, but with more dangerous terrain and creatures. People can go north, but they generally… well, they’re generally never heard of from again.”

“So I figured, that if I’m going to run away from my country, there’s really only one place to go… and that’s north. And then I started to wonder why everything is so important about the north. Why do I feel drawn there? Why do they forbid us from going there? Why did our grandparents give us idols to the god of the north? And I figured, the only logical answer, is that there’s something there… something… something I want to find, to know.” He paused for a bit and studied Aidan’s face. He couldn’t tell what the little man was thinking. “Does that make any sense?”

“Yes. Yes!” Aidan shouted. “I think it makes perfect sense. I mean, you can’t go back home. They’ll find you and then do whatever it is they do to deserters.” Oda looked away and shook his head slightly as if to confirm that such a fate wasn’t a good one. “And you can’t go to my land because unfortunately I think the people there wouldn’t be too welcoming of someone your size. And you can’t go south because… well, good luck getting a boat that will reach whatever other continents there are out there. So that does leave north, huh? But… it‘s dangerous that way, Oda. There‘s no assurance you‘ll make it to wherever you feel you must go. You could… you could die in the wilderness.”

“Better than in battle,” Oda stated. “I have a gun. I have my armor. I have supplies and food and a map. There’s a river just west of here near the border of our countries. I’m going to follow it north.”

“You don’t know what is north, though. Who knows what creatures could lurk in the northern part of this forest. There’s a reason my people don’t travel there, and a reason yours don’t either. There may even be things larger than you!”

“You… you don’t have to come with me,” Oda started. “I didn’t expect you to, or at least didn’t get my hopes up I guess. I can drop you off outside of the closest encampment of your people. Well, as close as I can without getting attacked. It’s the best I can offer you. But Aidan… do you want to still be a soldier? Or do you want to see the world?”

“I’d be giving up my friends and family,” Aidan stated. “My music. My home and life. All for what? We don’t even know what’s north. It could just be endless woods. On the other hand… I don‘t want to fight anymore, either. And that‘s just what would happen if I went back. For all they know I was captured. Someone might‘ve saw you pick me up and put me in your pocket. I could, in theory, return someday.”

“I will bring you back if you ever change your mind,” Oda stated. “I promise you that much. So are you up for a little adventure?” Oda smiled his surprisingly innocent and youthful smile that made Aidan feel like an old man in comparison. How could a soldier like Oda, trained to kill and fight, conjure such a perfect smile still? It made Aidan smile. And the little man nodded his head. “Great!”

Oda carefully picked Aidan up and then stood up. He gathered up his things, put his backpack back on, and then placed the little man on his shoulder. Aidan used a piece of the backpack strap to steady himself. He was glad not to be in a pocket, though. It was an interesting view being on Oda’s shoulder. It was almost like he was that tall and saw the world as titans did. It reminded him of when Oda first picked him up.

Oda cautiously began to walk through the forest, making sure not to cause too many vibrations for the little man. “Until we get far enough away, there won’t be much time to rest and relax,” Oda stated. “Better to be safe and keep moving. I figure we’ll continue all night and all day, then we can enjoy a normal routine of sleep at night.”

“Sounds like a plan!” Aidan agreed. He figured it was wisest for Oda to figure out what exactly to do. He was the larger of the two and kind of the one in charge. If something happened, it would really be him to deal with it first, and so Aidan didn’t feel it proper to instruct such a huge man on his course of actions. Fortunately he agreed completely with Oda’s plan.

The forest was eerie at night. The light of the moon was often hidden behind the vast canopy of leaves and branches. The trees towered like monstrous shadows. The sound of night creatures, of owls and crickets, of things unknown and unseen, filled the forest with a symphony of bleakness. Aidan felt safe or at least safer being with the titan, but he could tell that even a strong man like Oda seemed a bit uneasy. He was admittedly much more composed than Aidan would’ve been had he been the larger of the pair, so Aidan felt a little more comfortable that his friend wasn’t as scared.

Oda chose to travel only by the light of the moon. He had a flashlight with him but was worried that it might attract notice from any nearby armies or battalions in the area. Being caught by either wouldn’t have led to anything good, and so near blind travel through the maze-like forest was the best option. Oda was thankfully use to the nightlife after a few years of the same routine. He traveled the forest maze as if he had grown up in it, knowing where to step and when to turn.

For the remaining part of the night the two traveled, Aidan resting on the shoulders of his giant buddy and acting as a kind of lookout in the directions that Oda wasn’t heading. Soon the first rays of dawn filled the forest and they were a welcoming warmth to the shadows. Colors of orange and red illuminated the forest in an almost burning manner, setting the trees ablaze in a fresh glow.

The symphony of the night faded to the morning songs of birds welcoming the travelers to the woods. Wind rustled the thousands upon thousands of leaves high in the sky and the distant sound of running water guided the journeymen on their journey. It didn’t even feel like the same forest anymore.

Not far away Oda and Aidan finally found the river. They followed it north as was planned, heading upstream to a location and world unknown to their kind. Both excitement and fear ran through their hearts.

Oda never stopped to rest as he continued along the river. What meals they had were eaten on the go, though Aidan had the luxury of sitting while eating. At times the little man felt bad. At times he wished he could change places with the titan and be the one to carry his friend. Oda was kind enough to let him ride on his shoulder. The giant could’ve told him to make it to the destination with his own two legs, though that would’ve taken a countless amount of time longer.

Dusk crept up slowly and yet so quickly. Before they knew it the sun was already near setting and the forest soon reborn into its eerie and unforgiving realm. But not before they came across a most unexpected site along the path of the river.

As the sun reached its halfway point on the horizon, and its rays of beauty and guidance barely reached through the maze of trees to Oda and Aidan, the two young men saw in the distance a most grim reminder of the war. A battle had been waged on the river, probably not long ago, and the remains of such a thing still lingered in the forest. Smoke drifted through the trees like specters moving on to a new world. Sparks of fire slowly burned out, their illumination radiating over a sea of corpses. Bodies of both little and giant, of young and old men with fates to die, littered the spot beside the river.

Oda paused where he stood upon a small hill as he looked down at the battlefield. It wasn’t like the battle where he had met Aidan. There were a dozen dead soldiers of his size and origin, their armor ripped away by past explosions and weaponry. There were even more corpses of little men, hundreds or so, scattered like broken toys across the bloody earth. It was a gruesome sight, one that neither had seen before. Both had to turn their heads away for a few seconds as they gathered their thoughts again.

The young titan slowly walked into the battlefield. He could’ve gone around it, though that might have taken a bit of a detour, but truthfully he found himself compelled to walk through it. He was careful where to step, his large boots gingerly pressing down onto the moist earth and making sure not to step on any of the little men. They were dead, but he was not heartless enough to dishonor their memories by stepping on their bodies. He was careful to dodge the corpses of his fellow soldiers, though that was much easier to do.

As Aidan scanned the area, he couldn’t help but let a tear fall down his cheek. “He… he was right,” he mumbled to himself. “He was right. There is nothing more godless than a war.” He wiped a second tear from his eye and sighed. “Oda?” The young man turned his gaze down to his friend on his shoulder. He had no tears on his cheeks or in his eyes, but he had sorrow, true sorrow, and that was worth more than any amount of tears could tell. “I don’t think either side won here.”

“No, I don’t think either side did,” Oda admitted as he turned his gaze back to the battlefield and continued to walk through it. He paused when he saw what he thought was movement. His eyes stared in that direction for a good half a minute until he was certain he saw something move again. “Aidan, there!” he pointed out. As Aidan turned his gaze to the spot, Oda quickly picked the little man up and rushed over. He still was careful not to step on anymore, but not as careful as before.

A lone small warrior stirred in the dirt, moaning slightly as he held his hand over a wound on his stomach. Oda carefully knelt down before the small man, and upon doing so noticed that another little soldier laying beside him stirred also. The giant placed Aidan onto the ground and the little man quickly rushed over to his fellow and fatally wounded soldiers. “What happened? Are you guys all right? Where does it hurt?”

They merely moaned and stirred a bit, unable to move much more than their heads and arms. Their torsos, legs and even faces had splashes of blood over them. “Captain, is that you?” the soldier on the right as he gazed at Aidan. Actually Aidan felt like the man was gazing past him. He clearly wasn’t all there. “Did we… did we get them?”

“It hurts, man,” the other man mumbled. “Hurts like I never knew. I can’t feel my legs. They still there? They still attached?”

“What you mumbling on about?”

“How ugly your face is,” the other wounded soldier responded.

“What happened?” Aidan asked curiously and painfully.

“It was horrible, captain,” the first man replied, still somehow thinking that Aidan was his captain. “It just… it was ugly. So much chaos. So much pain. So much death. Huh, Bronco?” He was referring to his fellow soldier, but the man didn’t reply. The first man didn’t need to be told why. “He’s dead,” he stated.

The man suddenly began to cough up some blood. Aidan pulled out a cloth from a nearby medical kit and helped soak up the liquid. “Do you see him?” the man asked suddenly when his mouth was empty again.

“See who?” Aidan questioned. “Your friend is…”

“Him,” the man replied as he slowly lifted his arm and pointed upward. He pointed past Aidan, to Oda. “He’s here, captain. He’s here to take me away.” The young soldier reached into his armored uniform shirt and pulled out an idol hanging around his neck. It was an idol of the northern god. He clutched it tightly in his grip, his body losing control and his muscles unable to loosen their hold. “His eyes… his eyes are so beautiful. Captain… do you think… do you think when you die… that there’s… that there’s af…”

The man never finished his sentence. He passed on in mid-word. His eyes were still, empty, filled with dead hope. His mouth was slightly open, ready to complete his question but he never was able to. Another tear fell from Aidan’s eye and he slowly closed the eyelids of the dead soldier. The other man’s eyes were already closed. Aidan lowered his head in mourning, and Oda did the same. There was silence in the battlefield.

When he was done saying his goodbyes to men he didn’t even know, Aidan got back to his feet and walked over to Oda. “I’m sorry. We can continue now.”

The giant turned to his side and lifted up his helmet. He placed it over the corpses of the two dead men that had spoken. Their bodies disappeared under the mirrored visor. Oda pulled the pendant out from behind his tunic and ripped it off his neck. He placed the wooden carving before the helmet. Aidan smiled and placed his own pendant on the ground in front of Oda’s. Then the giant picked him back up, placed him on his shoulder once more, and headed away from the battlefield.

The two continued through the forest. They continued for days along the river, not really knowing where they were going, only that it was north. They saw no other signs of battles and no other signs of life other than bugs, a few birds flying, and the occasional woodland creature dashing through the grass.

Water was abundant with the river beside them, but food became low. Aidan ate happily at every meal, but he felt guilty. Mere crumbs of Oda’s food were all he needed. Oda on the other hand had to ration the remains to last for an indefinite time. There wasn’t fruits or nuts or anything of substance along the river. At least not anything Oda could live off of. He still managed to find the strength to go onward though, determined to complete the journey. Admittedly if he was alone, he might’ve given up already. He might’ve lost the will after seeing the battlefield. But he had a responsibility to Aidan to keep the man safe and to take him to their destination.

Days turned into night and night into days. Shadows danced upon shadows and light danced upon light. Oda wandered aimlessly still with his little friend resting constantly on his shoulder. Occasionally they stopped to rest and sleep, but as days went by Oda became more restless. He pushed his body harder and further.

On the fourth day hope showed itself in the form of a distant glow at the edge of the forest. Excited, Oda ran as fast as he could to it, carefully holding Aidan in his fist out of fear he would fall off if he remained on his shoulder. Oda’s heart raced. Was this it? Had he found the destination? His large boots thrashed through the overgrown grass.

At the edge of the forest, where the light of the bright sun met the darkness of the wood, Oda and Aidan stood before a massive field of worn, dry grass and patches of dirt and sand. It was like some mock desert. Oda lowered his head in defeat and collapsed to his knees. They had made it through the forest, but they hadn’t made it to anywhere in particular. The river continued onward through the wasteland, but Oda didn’t think he could. He had failed his friend.

Oda was about to apologize to Aidan for failing him when the little man’s voice rang out in an unexpected tone of happiness. “Oda! Look! In the distance! What is that?”

Oda lifted his head and studied the far planes of the area. In the distance he could make out what looked to be black figures like rocks. They glistened though as if made of crystal, as if made of something shiny… as if made of glass. Oda’s jaw dropped slightly. This was his last chance. This was their last chance. If this wasn’t what he was looking for, then he knew not of what it could be.

The young soldier rose to his feet again and continued along the plains. He started off in a slow, slightly tired walk, the warm sun overhead beating down upon him in the quiet afternoon. Excitement slowly built up inside as he grew closer to the objects. He careful walk turned into a brisk jog, and that in turn turned into a full out run. With passion and devotion in his eyes, Oda ran with his last bit of energy to his goal.

A hundred yards or so away and he paused. He could tell what the objects were. The large black forms were not rocks. They were buildings. They were destroyed, abandoned, charred and empty buildings. Many of them rose no tall than Oda’s chest, though a few were triple and quadruple of his size. They were not to the scale of the young titan, but nor did they seem to be to the scale of the smaller man. They were something in between, something new, something forgotten. The young soldier placed Aidan back on his shoulder and walked into the deserted town.

The two were silent as they walked the street that ran alongside the river. They were silent like when they were at the battlefield. There was much sorrow in the town, but it was ancient sorrow. It was clear the place had been deserted years, maybe centuries ago. The rundown buildings were overrun with vines and flowers. There were no signs of life, no footprints, no clean items.

“What… what is this place?” Oda asked as he continued along the street.

Aidan didn’t respond at first. He was too mesmerized by the forgotten city. He was also mesmerized by the central area that lay just ahead. The city was fairly small, compact, and in the middle was a beautifully large and stunning lake. The setting sun shone brilliantly over its calm surface. It was a paradise in the old world, with fruit and vegetables growing abundantly and unkempt on its shores. The river that they had followed flowed strangely into the lake. Neither had notice a change in the current, and so it was odd to see that the river was not coming from the lake but going to it. It wasn’t the only river though. Five others flowed into the lake.

In the center of the lake looked to be a manmade island with a magnificent statue in the center. The statue rose like a pillar of glistening stone as the sunlight danced on its surface. It was a statue of the four gods, each facing the direction they were a god of. And yet something didn’t look godly about them. They weren’t like the mysterious carvings and idols the people of the land wore around their necks. They looked… too human. They looked normal, with normal clothes and normal features.

Oda walked to the shore of the lake and slowly sat himself down. He placed Aidan on the ground and the little man too eased himself into a resting position as he leaned up against the large right boot of his friend. They stared at the lake, at the untouched beauty and watched the dance of dusk’s colors on the surface.

“I think…” Aidan started slowly, his voice like the whispers of the wind. “I think this is the heart. The heart of the land.”

“Follow the river,” Oda started, but Aidan finished the sentence.

“To your heart. You were right. You were right about that feeling, about there being something here. And now we found it.”

“I’m glad,” Oda said with a smile. “Do you think… do you think others will come? Do you think others will get that urge to head north, to follow the river?”

“I’m not sure, Oda,” Aidan replied. “If they do, I guess we can all start fresh here, huh? Start over in the place where I suppose it all began.”

“And if they don’t,” Oda continued, “we’ll lead them here. We’ll rebuild this city. We’ll make it home. Away from the fighting, away from the killing...”

“Away from the war.” Aidan’s lips stretched into the purest of smiles. The long journey, the pain, the confusion and uncertainties, they had all been worth it.

“No more war,” Oda said with relief. He paused for a second and looked to the sky. Then he reached for a knife attached to his leg and pulled it out of the sheath. He also picked up a thick piece of wood laying on the ground nearby. The young man began to whittle away at the wood as his little friend continued to rest peacefully against his boot and stared at the setting sun. “No more war.”

*

“Is it true, tell me…
There's a place, tell me…
Where all rivers interflow?”




(Lyrics from the song "River" by Kirsty Hawkshaw. Song can be heard at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zq9HRWkRwPk )