Amid the bustling heart of Yudray's market, Dovito eyed the towering candies with delight. "Elle, please, help me with another cat's fingernails," he pleaded.
"Dovito, it's the fourth this morning alone," she chastised him.
"Does it matter? I'm traveling. Let me have them now, so you'll miss me when I'm gone," the young giant said with a grin.
Dovito mumbled as Elle stood in front of him. She barely reached his knees and didn't seem interested in selling anything, so he paused, unsure.
"Dovito, we are ready, let's go," the voice of Badu chimes in from the entrance.
"I'm almost done," Dovito said, still looking at Elle. "Elle, please, please," he asked softly.
Badu, seeing the confusion between Elle and Dovito, walked into the stall. He noticed the sweets in question and addressed Elle. "Oh, Elle, sell for me. We love this so much," he assured her.
"You are no giant," Elle fumbles with a dry laugh as she turns away from the two young men.
Suddenly, laughter erupted outside. Dovito turned to look and caught Elle as she finally handed the sweets to him. Badu nodded in thanks as he accepted the treat.
"Oh, Elle, good," said Dovito. "I will keep this for the road," he explained as he turned back. They both rushed out of the stall.
Outside, Yudray Central Market is booming with the sunrise.
"Where are Asom and Folea?" asked Dovito.
Badu points to the crowd to the left of Elle's stall. Dovito saw his friends performing tricks to the amusement of the people.
"Twiglerians and magic," with a grimace, he stated in disappointment. All that matters to him is leaving the city. Any entertainment is nothing to him at the moment. His face, looking weathered from a frown, walked to the crowd and stood behind Asom.
Asom opened his palm, "Here are three coins, who needs them? I need two hands, please," he said with a bright smile.
Many hands are raised; he pointed to the two men who stood farthest from him near the stall wall. "Both of you, let's share these coins, ahn?" Asom gestured with his palm closed tightly. He placed his right hand on the left and shook both hands together at great speed. He opened both hands, "Oh, I have only one coin left, where did the two go?" he asked. People around are enjoying his performance.
"My friends, please, check your pockets," Asom instructed the two men he had picked earlier. The men searched their pockets anxiously, their faces full of surprise, "It's here," one said, the other raised his up in astonishment. A loud wave of applause followed this. Dovito laughed without considering his personal haste. Saw Folea facing him, he cleared his throat and hardened his face again.
Folea shakes her head in disbelief.
Badu walked into the crowd to gather some coins given to them for their performance. Dovito's eyes fixed on him, the hands dropping bronze coins into the noosed bag, eagerly hoping the show had come to an end.
Folea climbed onto one of the donkeys, "Who wants to see more donkeys?" she said.
Dovito flushed, puffing with rage, he stepped forward. "Night will fall soon, time is going, oh no, you can't do this now," he protests. waving his hands to dismiss the crowd, which has even grown bigger since he came outside from Elle's stall.
"Why the hurry?" asked Asom.
"I can't stay here any longer, let's go on, I need to leave this city now," Dovito, with his sweet, raised high above his head, announced.
"You speak like you are not coming back after you see us off to the Curve gate. Hope it's not Twigleria you intend to come with us?" asked Badu.
"Yes, that's what I am doing," Dovito revealed to the surprised faces of his friends.
The three Twiglerians had come into Urgatto to get some strong wine for their festival. The kingdoms share a border that is a day's walk from Yudray.
The city of Yudray is considered the very heart of Urgatto. Several days' travel from the dark island of Ikomzil. Here is where the lords and rulers of the kingdom dwell, along with the incredible people who live within her walls.
The city boasts of the giants like none other in the kingdom; even so, on the whole of the realm of Gamblar.
There are mixed folks who dictate royalty, either directly or through marriage. While regular people dominate the council and control its entirety.
"There is little chance of us taking you with us all the way to Twigleria," Folea stated, her braided blonde hair sparking just as her silvery gown in the morning sun.
"Be kind to me, Folea. The King's tower bores me, but your festivals sing to my dreams," Dovito expressed with a wide smile.
The Twiglerians stared at him and then at the wheelbarrows, "If only you are certain there will be no wine games," demanded Asom.
"Oh, you want to trust the words of a giant," intruded Badu. His left arm stretched to Dovito.
"Dovito, we would love to have you in Twigleria, but what about the peace of our people. Many have never seen a mountain man before," Folea said to the laughter of the others.
A horse slowed before them, an elderly man whose shaving had begun to grow some mustache. "Dovito, what are you up to this morning?" The voice, which is softer than the face, enquired.
"Good morning, Timogow. It's a good morning. That's all I am up to." The giant responded angrily.
"Figkee complained about some pain in his left big toe yesterday. I advised him to rest for some time. But here you are, running away from the task at hand because he most likely ignored my advice". Timogow injected irritatingly.
Dovito laughed thunderously, "You know my father. Resting is not in him. He gave me this, yes. Something for my journey." He dipped a hand into his waist bag, brought out some bronze coins, "See." He said with a bite of his sweet.
Timogow gets a hold of his horse reins, "I am going to the king's tower now. It is best you turn around. Dovito, be useful to your father, to your king, and not..." Looking about at the barrels in the wheelbarrows, "turn yourself to a drunken freak". He concluded with a snare.
Paying no further attention to the reaction of the giant or his friends, Timogow rode on.
The group stood there speechless. "I told you all we should leave. Now I'm commanded to turn back. Oh, so sad," Dovito voiced, his tone deeper than usual.
"He could be the overseer of the king's tower, but he will not decide your fate," assured Folea.
"Absolutely," injected Asom.
"Dovito, let's go to Twigleria," Badu said with a grin.
Dovito stood before his friends, amidst the scent of spices and sweets. Stretched his two hands out wide. Absorbed in the moment, "This is the best..."
"Dovi," a voice vibrated behind his head. Dovito looked back.
While he was speaking, there was continuous movement about the stalls.
"Hmm, sorry... Matia," he apologized, folding his arms to let the Lady giant pass.
The donkeys have been dragging around with wheelbarrows attached to them, taking up most of the road.
Timogow arrives at the construction site of the King's tower. A majestic structure goring into the peaks of Gibos Mountain. Spreading across the width of the valley.A task King Kulton considers no rival in the kingdom. "This is the magnificence of Urgatto. The very pride of my legacy." He had boasted to his ally, King Soopa of Oblehem.
"What father?" Timogow began, his horse galloping closely to the pillars where the Giants were working. "Would send his son to a magic-infested kingdom when he himself works with a broken foot?" He questions Figkee. His face looked upwards at the man in the higher woods.
A loud groan bobbed down, "Let the kid be. We have enough hands for the job already," replied Figkee. His large brow moving rapidly as he looks at Timogow, "We will need more nails, the tirods could barely hold," he fumes.
Timogow faces the ground as if he had been embarrassed by the statement. Still searching for a response when the cracking sound boomed into thunderous beats. The stones are falling from above directly upon the huge woods where the Giants stood at the east side of the tower.
Loud shouts followed. An absolute hullabaloo, everything falling down from great heights to the rugged grounds. Planks, hammers, rocks, and giants.
Timogow and the people on the ground were in complete shock.
He stared at large bodies everywhere. Motionless. His breath as dire as death, he saw Figkee under a large, jointed plank.