“Martha, don’t joke around. Are you really making us go through the giant’s cave?” Deirdra asked in fright.
She lay on a cart that Magant was pulling.
“Which giant?” Magant asked, intrigued.
“It’s just a tale for little witches,” Martha replied. “But when I was a child, my governess told me a story about a giant named Starkad, who is said to dwell in the cave we’re heading to. The story goes that before humans and witches, the world was inhabited by giants, crude creatures that behaved like animals. When the land was settled by humans and witches, they together defeated these beasts, which made life difficult for simple peasants and witches. Only a few giants were said to have survived in the world, and one of them supposedly lives in this cave. Legends say that when the giant gets upset, he hits the ground with his fists, causing earthquakes.”
Magant liked this story. He walked, pondering what such a giant could look like, while Deirdra, lying on the cart, trembled with fear.
“Deirdra, are you scared?” Martha asked.
“No, I’m just cold,” the witch replied sarcastically. “Of course, I’m scared! We’re going straight into the giant’s maw! Do you know he eats witches?”
“It’s just a story for naughty, little witches,” Martha laughed.
Martha found amusement in Deirdra’s fear, noting her friend’s transformation from boldness to childlike apprehension.
“You’re killing me, Martha. Isn’t it enough that everything hurts and I can hardly breathe? Do you want the giant to batter me too?” Deirdra yelled at her friend.
Martha laughed and reassured her once more that they had nothing to fear. The friends walked through wild meadows and fallow fields. The night was cold and windy, with the scent of ozone lingering in the air after a storm. Despite the cloud-covered sky, Martha packed a lantern in her bag, anticipating difficulties and ensuring clear visibility for the group in darkness.
They walked all night until sunrise. They decided to take a short break to rest. Martha spread a blanket on the ground so she and Magant could sit comfortably and have something to eat. The grass was still wet, but they had no choice but to rest somewhere. Magant gently took Deirdra off the cart and helped her sit with them, while Martha took out cheese sandwiches and apples.
During the meal, the group talked about their journey ahead and what they would do once they arrived in Agnes. After eating her portion, Martha noticed a plum tree nearby with ripe fruits. She decided to stand and pick them to replenish their supplies for the journey. As she left, Magant turned to Deirdra:
“How do you feel?”
Deirdra remained intimidated, especially after he had held her hands and looked straight into her eyes. Not wanting to betray her feelings, she started fiddling with her bag and replied:
“Better, the journey weakened me yesterday. And you? Are you tired from pulling the cart?” She avoided his gaze.
Magant found Deirdra’s behavior surprising, sensing her embarrassment.
“Everything is fine, and you’re light, so I don’t even feel like I’m pulling you on the cart,” he replied cautiously, not wanting to make the witch feel more embarrassed.
Deirdra smiled at the monster and looked around. They had settled on a wild meadow, uncared for by anyone. All plants and animals lived here wildly, in harmony with each other. The witch greatly appreciated it, as one of the few places remained unaffected by human or witch influence. She felt reconciled with nature. Near them was already the cave of Starkad. A massive limestone rock extended to the horizon, forming an arch too grand to circumvent; the sole passage led through the cavern. Its towering peaks remained untouched.
At that time, Martha was collecting plums into her bag. She tried to think ahead and anticipate events, such as running out of food supplies. She usually didn’t think ahead, but the situation she found herself in forced her to do so.
“I’m turning into my sister,” Martha thought, reaching for another plum.
With a corner of her eye, Martha saw a hawk catch a mouse in the field. Martha thought she felt like that poor mouse. Weak, helpless, and exposed to danger. The cloudy sky only deepened Martha’s dark thoughts. Doubt gnawed at her strength and competence, yet she maintained composure for her companions’ safety. She disregarded her own well-being; this ordeal must conclude, regardless of personal sacrifice.
“Wake up, you’re lost in your thoughts again!” she scolded herself.
She finished picking plums and returned to her companions. Martha found them in an uncomfortable situation; Deirdra visibly embarrassed, and Magant disoriented. Martha sensed that Deirdra was beginning to develop feelings for the monster, and this situation only confirmed it. Her friend had always been talkative, confident, and brave, but now she forgot how to talk to people. Martha felt like a teenager whose friends were telling her about their new crushes; she was happy for her friend’s happiness, but she also enjoyed how much Deirdra had changed in Magant’s presence.
“We’ll start getting ready slowly; time is ticking,” Martha said.
Magant stood up to help Deirdra settle on the cart, but she protested and said she wanted to walk a little to stretch her bones. Despite her friends’ protests, Deirdra stubbornly decided to walk alone.
The friends packed their belongings, threw them on the cart that Magant would continue to pull, and set off towards the cave. Deirdra was very afraid to enter because as a little girl, she had heard many stories about how Starkad ate everyone who entered his cave. She kept doubting whether it was really a good idea to go there, but her companions repeated that there was no other way.
They stood in front of the cave entrance and saw that it was incredibly deep; they couldn’t see the other end. Deirdra swallowed hard. Meanwhile, Martha was fascinated by the sight, captivated by the power of nature that had created such a wonder. Magant walked ahead, feeling that he should check for the witches’ safety. But before he did that, he took a lantern out of the bag and lit it.
He walked forward and looked around inside the cave. It was long and wide; he thought that if giants were so huge, surely one of them could fit in here. As he continued, he noticed several disturbing signs, such as skull bones and shreds of clothing, but he concluded that the cave was old, and various bad things happened in the world, so theoretically it was safe.
He called out to the witches that it was safe and they could proceed. He waited for them to join him. When the girls joined him, they began to say that something was wrong because there were obvious signs of crime here. Martha kept repeating that she felt something unsettling inside, as if she had a premonition that they should leave. Deirdra was as white as paper from fear; she hardly spoke and kept looking around, checking if something was coming towards them. Magant decided that the witches were exaggerating and would feel better once they exited the other side of the cave and could continue their journey. Nevertheless, the girls did not listen to him and focused on their bad feelings.
Finally, Magant couldn’t stand the constant complaining of the witches and said that he was going ahead, and if the girls didn’t want to disappear into complete darkness, they should follow him. The frightened witches, fearing abandonment, chased after Magant, still voicing their regret over coming here. The path leading through the cave was very wide, moist, and dark. Occasionally, they heard the crunch of bones under their feet. Although they didn’t say it out loud, they all hoped that they were animal bones, not human or witches’.
Magant looked around the cave, and at one point, he spotted some strange signs on the wall.
“Hey, look at this,” he called out to the witches, pointing to the strange signs on the rock.
The witches looked in the direction indicated, intrigued by what it might be. They asked Magant to come closer to them so he could illuminate the rock.
“These are prehistoric drawings,” Martha said softly, surprised. “I read about them in historical books. Our ancestors were believed to have painted them, recounting the story of this place.”
Magant breathed in admiration, and Deirdra, distracted by the find, momentarily forgot her fear. The drawings showed, among other things, the fights between humans and giants.
Magant looked at them with interest, wondering what life might have been like in prehistoric times. He wondered if Ely already existed then and how it might have looked. Or maybe it didn’t exist yet, and the seeds of the trees that grew there were just beginning to sprout? He felt a longing for the magical forest; in his heart, he felt a pang at the thought that he didn’t know when he would return to Ely. Then, to his right, Deirdra appeared, wanting to take a closer look at the drawings. She leaned beside him, standing so close that he could smell her comforting scent. He instantly forgot about Ely and focused on what was happening now.
“Martha, come here, look at this!” Deirdra exclaimed, pointing to another painting. “Here, you can see the burial of a giant.”
“This is all incredible. I can’t believe we discovered something like this,” Martha was very excited.
Martha wondered how incredibly lucky they must have been to spot these paintings in such a vast cave.
She pondered why it had remained unexplored until this moment. So, she asked her friends about it.
“I think it’s about the legends of the giants. People and witches were afraid to enter here, let alone study every corner of the cave,” Deirdra said after a brief thought.
Martha thought she would have to mention this to her sister; it would allow them to better study the past of the creatures living on Earth.
As the friends looked at the paintings and pondered their historical significance, they suddenly felt the ground shaking beneath their feet. The witches entered a slight panic, and Magant instinctively reached out towards Deirdra to embrace and protect her.
“It’s an earthquake; we need to escape from here!” Martha shouted, imagining stalactites hanging over them, ready to fall.
Without hesitation, Magant lifted Deirdra onto his arm and placed her on his right shoulder, while grabbing the cart with his other hand and pulling it behind him. Martha ran alongside him, holding a lantern to light the way. They ran, keeping to the center of the path so that they could jump to the side in case of an accident, while Deirdra looked around to warn them if a stalactite was about to fall on them.
Suddenly, they heard a loud groan, followed by something resembling a yawn. Disoriented, Martha stopped to look around and realized that although the earthquake had stopped, she wasn’t sure about the strange groans. She instantly remembered how she first met Magant in a similar way—not in a cave, but in a cornfield, but the strange sounds matched.
“It’s a giant,” Deirdra whispered, terrified, covering her mouth with her hands.
Magant removed Deirdra from his shoulder and placed her on the ground but surrounded her with his arms to protect her. Both were too frightened and focused to think about how close they were to each other.
Martha stood with the lantern in her hand, waiting for the next sound. She feared that her friend might be right and that a giant might emerge from around the corner. Still, she tried to maintain some shreds of rational thinking while trying to logically explain the strange groans.
“Martha, I think we should escape from here,” Magant said, lowering his voice to avoid drawing attention to whatever lurked in the darkness.
Martha nodded in agreement with him.
“We need to go very quietly. Better not to make any noise,” she said to Magant.
“The cart may make noise when going over bumps,” Deirdra pointed out. “I think we’ll have to leave it here.”
Martha thought for a moment and decided that they were already close enough to Agnes that they could afford to leave the cart. She thought that if necessary, Magant would carry her friend on his arms.
The group slowly and quietly headed towards the exit. They couldn’t see it yet, nor did they know how much road was left. The friends moved almost silently, also limiting their conversation, communicating in sign language. Martha led the way to illuminate their path. In the face of danger, all her senses sharpened; she heard every drop of water from the stalactites, felt the characteristic smell of moisture in the cave, and saw every movement of the bats hanging above them. She was incredibly focused on getting herself and her friends out of danger.
They walked like this for several minutes, frightened, with adrenaline levels soaring higher than ever in their lives. Martha’s heart beat very fast and very hard. Suddenly, they heard more groans, this time seeming to come from close by.
Martha stopped, and so did her friends. The witch turned to Magant and Deirdra and noticed that Deirdra wasn’t well again. She was pale again and had dark circles under her eyes, looking just like she did on the boat when she almost fainted.
Indeed, Deirdra was feeling very unwell; sneaking around and a pounding heart were not helping her. Especially since her broken rib didn’t allow her to breathe as easily as before. She had to take shallow breaths all the time. Magant, as if reading the witches’ minds, grabbed Deirdra around the waist and looked at her. He tried to convey to her that he was there for her and would help her get out if needed. The witch was very grateful to him for helping her and being her support.
Suddenly, loud panting and primitive sounds could be heard. As if someone were trying to mimic an animal. Martha began to look around frantically for a rock behind which they could hide. She felt in her heart that the threat was getting closer to them.
Far off, to the left, she noticed a hole in the rock where the three of them could fit if they squeezed tightly. She gestured to her friends to follow her.
Quietly, almost like mice, they scurried to the hole and began to squeeze into it. First went Martha, followed by Deirdra, who started to bend her spine with pain to fit in as deeply as possible to make room for Magant, who barely managed to squeeze in. The group waited. They knew that moving around the cave now was too dangerous. They waited for the threat to pass.
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