"How long do we have to keep on running?" Granville panted.
"Don't you have any magic at all to use magic those giants away or even magically slow them down?" Frost asked.
"Why? You're not getting out of breath already?" Rincewind asked.
"We have been running through this forest for who knows how many hours!" Rodney complained.
"To me, it feels like we've ran more than two full bloody marathons!" Del complained.
They were all running through a huge forest with tall trees. Despite their tallness, they were not half as big as the giants that were still on their tails. Not to mention the ground was rocky and hilly making them hard to run on. They had lost count on how long they had been running and they were getting more tired the further they ran. The giants behind them weren't helping either.
"What's the name of this forest, Rincewind?" Frost asked.
"I don't know," Rincewind said.
"But you grew up and lived on this world!" Rodney snapped.
"But that doesn't mean I know every bit of it," Rincewind said. Then he sighed heavily. "All right! I'll use some magic to try to slow them down." He turned around and pointed his finger to the biggest tree. It immediately fell down and just in time for the giants to trip over.
"No time to celebrate. Just because I've slowed them down doesn't mean things are going nice and smoothly." Rincewind pointed upwards. "You see that tower up there?"
Everyone looked up to see a stony tower on its own on the top of a big nearby hill.
"That's where we're taking those jewels?" Frost asked.
"No," Rincewind said. "That tower contains something like a light beacon."
"A light beacon?" Del gasped. "We're running as fast as we can from nine leaning towers of Pisas just to put on a display?"
"It's a magical beacon that can blow the giants away, duh. The jewels are going somewhere hidden that even you guys can't follow me."
His friends were shocked to hear that.
"You're leaving us to climb up to the tower and fight those giants?" Granville cried.
"All you have to do is light a beacon," Rincewind said. "The sooner I sort these jewels out, the better. I'll come back to you whenever I can. Don't let me down." He clicked his fingers and vanished.
The BFG turned around to see their giant enemies were getting back on their feet. Then he had an idea. He picked up his friends in his hands and he started to run to the hill. "Just pickin' the pace up."
"Good idea, BFG!" Duckula cried.
They managed to reach the stony tower. After the BFG put his friends down to the ground, they started to inspect it. It was only ten foot and there was no hole on it with the exception at the very top under the red slate roof.
"That must be where the light beam goes out, if it is there and it works," Frost said.
They found a green door and they tried to open but it was really stuck. It wasn't even locked.
"Do you think it's a password kind of door?" Granville suggested.
"Look around, Granville," Del said. "Do you see a keypad?"
"He means a magical password, not a keypad, you plonker," Rodney said. Then he looked up. "How about climbing up it?"
"Good idea, Rodders," Del said. "Off you go."
"Me? On my own?"
"Do I look like a climber to you?"
"No, you look like a sack of mouldy potatoes," Rodney said sarcastically.
Del tried to charge for him, but Frost got in the way.
"Now, now, children," he said firmly. "There will be plenty of time for fighting each other until we've fought the giants."
Then they heard some grunting on the tower. They turned to see Granville starting to climb up their tower.
"You're sure you're up to this, Granville?" Frost asked.
"Well, I've not had any training but this is something I've always wanted to do and we can't waste any more time."
"Well, best of luck, Granville," Frost said. "We'll buy you some time."
"Buy him some time?" Penfold asked. "How much will it cost?"
"What Frost means, Penfold, is to distract the giants while Granville lights this beacon inside," Danger Mouse explained.
"And what are we going to distract them with?"
"How about a stand-up show?" Duckula suggested. "Or we could to do a circus? Or we could just – "
"Shush," Danger Mouse said.
"Yeah. Or we could just shush." Then the vampire duck realised what he said. "Shush? How can we – "
"Shush!" Frost snapped. "We must listen out for the giants."
So everyone kept their eyes and ears out for the giants. They weren't quite in range yet for either, but the sounds and rumbling was starting to get rougher by the second.