"I have to keep these foreigners in check. There's no telling what they'll do to my island."
Cliodhna pretended to walk leisurely, quietly looking and gathering information about the Marleyans who came en masse to settle the western shoreline of Paradis. She looked at everything: their architecture, their weapons, the way they fished, the way they dressed… It was too alien for her. The Marleyans, too, were pretending to be oblivious to that tattooed island barbarian with fiery red hair walking amongst them. As a show of good faith, the leaders of each colony allowed the Paradisians to visit their territories and to trade freely with the citizens. Cliodhna stopped by an old woman selling fresh fish and mussels on a stall.
— Good morning! You buy fish? — She said while pointing alternatively at the fish and at Cliodhna.
— I understand Marleyan, mistress. — The old woman looked rather confusedly at her. — I've come to ask you some questions.
— Oh, as long as it's not about my husband, I'll be happy to answer! — She said with a smile that stretched her wrinkles.
— I want to know about titans.
The old woman fidgeted and took some seconds to answer.
— They're spawn of the underworld! Simply giant monsters who eat people and are under the command of the Founding Titan! What's more to know?
— Have you seen one with your own eyes? — Cliodhna asked.
— No, by the grace of the Sea Father. A city closer to Eldia was attacked and a handful of the survivors convinced our leader to evacuate our town. We then docked on this island and have been here ever since.
— Do you know of anyone who has seen a titan?
She paused to think while looking around.
— Ah, yes! Do you see that man over there? — She pointed to a man waving a stick at the air. He wore a crude imitation of full Marleyan armour made from cloth, wood, and pieces of pottery all attached together. — We call him Mad Man Gaius. He always says he has seen and fought against titans. Why don't you ask him?
Cliodhna nodded and cautiously approached the lunatic. His fist was raised, and he spoke loudly to no one in particular.
— Cassandra, sweet Cassandra! I will save you and have my revenge upon the devils!
— Excuse me, sir? Gaius, is it?
— Ah! A native! You need to run now, the titans are coming to stomp the earth and devour us all!
His green eyes, one of them blind, stared blankly at something beyond her. His beard and hair were severely overgrown, sticking out from under his dirty helmet. Cliodhna noticed one of his hands lacked all fingers but the thumb.
— A person told me you fought titans on your own.
— Yes, I am the most valiant centurion Marley has ever seen! I blinded one of the titans and fled with Cassandra!
— How exactly did it happen?
— It was night-time. We heard a terrible scream then various noises akin to thunder. Then the stomping, almost like marching, on the direction of our town. I looked just outside the garrison's window and saw twenty, thirty, forty titans! I couldn't even count them! The general spouted some orders, but I didn't care for any of it. I went back home to save my Cassandra.
His eyes began to well up, but his face gave no signs of sadness or grief. It seemed like he was already too far gone.
— One of them was swifter than me and was already at my house, peering from the open door. Cassandra was cowering at the corner of the room. I slashed at the monster's eyes with my sword and it fell back in pain! Then I took Cassandra and ran away!
— Madam. — Said a man with a deep voice from behind Cliodhna while lightly tapping her shoulder. — Please, leave Gaius alone.
She turned around to see a man who towered over her. Unlike Gaius, he wore real armour and carried a sheathed sword hanging from his waist. He had deep, dark circles under the eyes.
— I want to listen to his story. Would you mind leaving us alone? — She replied, annoyed.
— He cannot tell you the whole story. His mind has been in deep turmoil since then.
— Well, how do you know? Were you there? Is he your friend?
— Cassandra was already dead when he took her. Bit in half by a titan. I pulled him in my chariot and the body fell. While he extended his arm, trying to reach Cassandra, a titan bit off most of his hand. — He answered, expressionless.
Cliodhna's eyes widened. The shock was so great it made a man insane. Still, she refused to believe all that talk about man-eating giants. She excused herself and went back to her tribe. She had seen enough for the day.
Later that same day in the woods, Cliodhna went to check some traps set a day before with her brother. She walked on front while he followed behind, both making as little noise as possible with careful steps.
— I just don't believe this story the continentals are telling us, Darragh. There's no such thing as a titan.
— What is it that made so many of them come here? — He asked.
She stopped walking and turned around to talk properly with him, seemingly forgetting not to make noise.
— I think this is all part of a big plot to settle our island, slowly but steadily increase their population and outnumber us! I've seen their colonies, we're animals compared to them!
— Hey, lower your voice. Most of their men are even shorter than our women. There's no way they would simply arrive on boats, unite all the tribes and betray us in the end. — Cliodhna looked intensely at him. — So I… I think I believe their stories…
She slapped his face. The echoing sound made some birds fly from the trees around. Darragh caressed the spot on the cheek that was hit by the strong hand of his sister in an attempt to relieve the pain.
— The Fomhóire shall never bow down to these strangers. Unless they can prove their fantastic devils exist, I, as chieftess, refuse to cooperate with them.
Darragh didn't utter another word until they came back to the village. The traps had caught a deer, two hares, and two birds. Cliodhna handed the animals to another tribesman so that he could skin it and remove certain organs, especially the entrails, which would be read by a diviner later on. She sighed deeply, looking at the trees and imagining buildings on their place, then looking at her fellow Fomhóire and picturing them wearing togas, with hairs cut short or tied in the Marleyan way.
Night fell and, not too far from the colony visited earlier by Cliodhna, three suspicious figures ascended a cliff by the beach. A guard noticed some movement and went closer to verify the situation, torch in hand. All he saw was three people dressed in soaking wet simple togas, two men and a girl.
— What are you three doing on this cliff this time of the night? Return to your homes at once! — He ordered.
— We're deeply sorry. We were simply fishing, but a hole formed in our boat, which sank with all our equipment. Still, we managed to swim back in safety. — The taller man replied.
— Alright then, now go heat yourselves up. Take care, you three.
The guard turned around and walked back towards the colony.
— By Ymir, since when do you speak Marleyan, Arnulf? — Sören questioned, surprised.
— I will learn… I have learnt it some years ago. It's certainly very convenient, but you two better stay close to me so I can speak for all of us if something happens.
— Can we go to a tavern or something already? — Ulrika said while shivering. — I'm freezing to the bone here!
— Do you have the silver? — Arnulf asked Sören.
He lightly tapped a series of small pockets on the inner side of his toga, feeling most of the silver nuggets on place, and nodded in agreement.
— This will last a few weeks. Now let's rest. We have a busy day ahead of us.