*******************BOOK ONE: Endless******************************
~~~~~~~~~PART ONE: Beginnings and Destinies~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
------Chapter One: Birth of the Giants--------
'twas at the beginning of time. The world was barren, save
for a village at its center.
The village was called Termina,
"End," though it was truly barely the beginning.
In Termina, though there were maybe only
ten score villagers, its people were greatly varied. There
were short, plantlike people made of wood, tallish
pink-skinned people with pointed ears, rocky people with
the strength of mountains, tiny glowing winged people, and
people who were streamlined, like the fishes that swam in
the single river nearby.
Then there were the Different.
One day, a member of the pointy-eared people gave birth to five
children. The mother then died.
But her brood was Different.
The first four children were young giants,
twice the size of the mother herself. The villagers
correctly assumed the babies were born through magic, and
ran off to find the Mother Abbess, leaving the mother of
four alone.
The Mother Abbess was the mystical leader of Termina Village.
She did not have a name; no one did. They were you or me,
sister or brother, field-tender or Mother Abbess.
A midwife of the streamlined people was about to knock upon
the door to the Abbess's chambers, but was slightly surprised
when the door slowly creaked open of its own accord. In the
doorframe stood a tiny woman, about seventy-five years old.
But seventy-five was as old as time itself; the world was young.
She was slightly hunched over, with a tattered gray cloak.
At one time it had been a creamy white, but time, although
young, still took its toll on everything. Her skin was dirty
and gray too, like an ancient overused rag. Her white hair
was wild and tangled, as it had been neither washed nor combed
in over a decade.
She looked for all the world like a creature you would find lying
in the slums, in this time, this world, begging heartless people
for money so she could pay for an operation for some disease that had crippled her, though she knew it was already too late. Or she would have, if not for one feature:
her eyes. Her eyes were like a new-born baby's, large, sparkling
and full of innocence.
Although the midwife had seen the Abbess on several prior
occasions she was still mystified by her appearance. She gawked
for a moment, then quickly slammed her jaw shut.
"Mother Abbess," she began. She was for some reason trembling,
although the Abbess looked like the embodiment of kindness.
"Mother Abbess," she repeated, "I've come to tell you . . ."
"I know." said the wind, or maybe it was the Abbess; it made
little difference. "Let us go."
As the midwife guided the Abbess to the young pointy-ear's house,
noises could be heard. If a gong could make a strangled, choking
sound, that would be the best way to describe it.
"WOLLLRG!!"
The midwife froze, but the Abbess kept on walking toward the
source of the noises: the new mother's house. Seeing that the
Abbess was not moved from her task, the midwife quickened her
own pace to catch up.
"Mother Abbess!" she cried out as the old woman turned the corner
leading to the house. "What beeth that sound?" But the midwife's
eyes answered her own question.
There, standing outside of their mother's locked home, stood the
four young giants, their cries curious and innocent. They
scraped, pounded, and kicked at the door, but could not open it with only the strength they possesed as newborns.
"But," a bewildered midwife spoke softly, "how didst they get
out?"
"Magic," whispered the wind.
~~~~~~~~~PART ONE: Beginnings and Destinies~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
------Chapter One: Birth of the Giants--------
'twas at the beginning of time. The world was barren, save
for a village at its center.
The village was called Termina,
"End," though it was truly barely the beginning.
In Termina, though there were maybe only
ten score villagers, its people were greatly varied. There
were short, plantlike people made of wood, tallish
pink-skinned people with pointed ears, rocky people with
the strength of mountains, tiny glowing winged people, and
people who were streamlined, like the fishes that swam in
the single river nearby.
Then there were the Different.
One day, a member of the pointy-eared people gave birth to five
children. The mother then died.
But her brood was Different.
The first four children were young giants,
twice the size of the mother herself. The villagers
correctly assumed the babies were born through magic, and
ran off to find the Mother Abbess, leaving the mother of
four alone.
The Mother Abbess was the mystical leader of Termina Village.
She did not have a name; no one did. They were you or me,
sister or brother, field-tender or Mother Abbess.
A midwife of the streamlined people was about to knock upon
the door to the Abbess's chambers, but was slightly surprised
when the door slowly creaked open of its own accord. In the
doorframe stood a tiny woman, about seventy-five years old.
But seventy-five was as old as time itself; the world was young.
She was slightly hunched over, with a tattered gray cloak.
At one time it had been a creamy white, but time, although
young, still took its toll on everything. Her skin was dirty
and gray too, like an ancient overused rag. Her white hair
was wild and tangled, as it had been neither washed nor combed
in over a decade.
She looked for all the world like a creature you would find lying
in the slums, in this time, this world, begging heartless people
for money so she could pay for an operation for some disease that had crippled her, though she knew it was already too late. Or she would have, if not for one feature:
her eyes. Her eyes were like a new-born baby's, large, sparkling
and full of innocence.
Although the midwife had seen the Abbess on several prior
occasions she was still mystified by her appearance. She gawked
for a moment, then quickly slammed her jaw shut.
"Mother Abbess," she began. She was for some reason trembling,
although the Abbess looked like the embodiment of kindness.
"Mother Abbess," she repeated, "I've come to tell you . . ."
"I know." said the wind, or maybe it was the Abbess; it made
little difference. "Let us go."
As the midwife guided the Abbess to the young pointy-ear's house,
noises could be heard. If a gong could make a strangled, choking
sound, that would be the best way to describe it.
"WOLLLRG!!"
The midwife froze, but the Abbess kept on walking toward the
source of the noises: the new mother's house. Seeing that the
Abbess was not moved from her task, the midwife quickened her
own pace to catch up.
"Mother Abbess!" she cried out as the old woman turned the corner
leading to the house. "What beeth that sound?" But the midwife's
eyes answered her own question.
There, standing outside of their mother's locked home, stood the
four young giants, their cries curious and innocent. They
scraped, pounded, and kicked at the door, but could not open it with only the strength they possesed as newborns.
"But," a bewildered midwife spoke softly, "how didst they get
out?"
"Magic," whispered the wind.