Through the bracken Pacha saw someone approach, they reached towards her and stood her up. It was Heli, her uncle. Pacha was frozen, unsure at what had just happened. Heli held her tightly in his grip and looked her straight in the eyes.

“Pacha?” Heli asked, “Pacha. Are you ok?”

“Yeah,” Pacha replied, nodding slowly. “I’m ok. What was that?”

“A Giant,” Heli told her calmly.

“A Giant?!” Pacha exclaimed in both shock and excitement.

“Yes. A Giant,” Heli repeated as he began to lead her out of the forest.

“What is it doing here?”

“Getting food. You must not tell anyone about this,” Heli told Pacha sternly.

“Why not?” Pacha began. “This is a historic day. You met a Giant!” Pacha exclaimed.

“Keep your voice down,” Heli said firmly.

“Why?” Pacha asked.

“His name is Bertrum and he is heading North,” Heli explained.

“If he is heading North he is putting us in danger. The dragons will come for us,” Pacha said urgently.

“Most dragons have left these lands for the North. Many Giants are heading North to drive them south once again. When the dragons return the Giants will also,”

“How can you be so sure that the Giants will come back?”

“Because they dare not stay in the North.”

“Why?” Pacha asked. Even more intrigued, “What is there that they fear?”

“That’s enough Pacha, go home now,” Heli told her as Seu became visible in the valley. They paused and Pacha turned to Heli,

“You’ve met a Giant for the first time in our whole history and now you want to hide what you have learned?” Pacha said filled with anger and confusion. “We have to stop these Giants leaving, you know we won’t survive a dragon’s attack.”

“It’s our fault they have to travel North in the first place!” Heli shouted at her. Calming himself he continued, “Go home, Pacha. Do not speak of this again. I will explain more in time,” Heli tried to calm Pacha but instead, she began to walk back to Seu without saying a word. Heli looked back to see Bertrum walking into the distance.

That night Pacha lay awake in her bed. The curiosity and intrigue at meeting a Giant, finding out what dangers lay in the North and how to reason with one filled her mind. Enthralled about meeting a Giant, Pacha headed up into the mountains early the next morning. She wore a thick dress and around her neck she put on her warmest scarf. She filled a rucksack with food, water, medicine, a fire starter and two daggers.

She reached the mountain meadow just as the sun rose, then continued up the scree slope and climbed the cliff, just as Heli had taught her. At the top of the cliff Pacha came to a gap in the rock, like a needlepoint, and through it, she could see the mountains and valleys stretching out towards the horizon. Looking back Pacha could see Seu, so small in comparison to the landscape around it. She made her decision and stepped through the gap focusing on the wilderness that lay ahead of her.

In Seu, Heli knocked on Freida’s door strongly.

“Heli?” Freida mumbled as she opened the door. She had a blanket wrapped around her shoulders and she was not fully awake. “What are you doing here?”

“I am sorry to wake you up this early sister, but is Pacha here?” Heli asked her.

“I don’t know, I think I heard her leave early this morning. I thought that maybe she was going with you,” Freida replied.

“Do you know where she might have gone?” Heli asked urgently.

“I don’t know Heli, to the mountains most likely. She was mumbling about Giants in her sleep.”

“Thank you Freida, I am so sorry but I need to go.”

“What’s wrong, is Pacha alright?”

“I don’t know but I have a feeling that she’s in terrible danger. I’ll bring her back safely I promise.” Heli reassured Freida as he rushed away.

Pacha knew that what she was doing was dangerous and stupid, but there was nothing anyone could do to stop her. In the day she was safe from dragons and she knew of a few places to hide at night. All through the day, she walked, listening intently for any indications of Giants. She stayed the night in a small cave close to a mountain pass and at first light, she set off down into the valley. She walked through the heat of the day, before climbing up to a plateau. The afternoon grew cold and rain fell, at which point Pacha found a dry cave to shelter in. It took her a while to notice the sound of a waterfall coming from the back of the cave. Pacha watched the rain outside as it grew heavier and she decided to investigate the sound of the waterfall.

As she went deeper into the cave, the sound of the waterfall grew louder and daylight could be seen filtering in. A few minutes later she found herself stepping out of the cave and onto a ledge beside a 30ft high waterfall which fell from above her. The valley below her was wide and flat, being barren in terms of trees yet full of diverse grasses and plants. While she tried not to focus on the 25ft drop below her a strange sound filled the air. They were voices on the wind. The waterfall made it hard to distinguish the voices from one another but they were deep. The voices grew louder and Pacha could hear their conversation.

“...they have long beaks and red and white tales. You know...” Came the first voice in the language Pacha could understand. It was clearly a male voice.

“A Vesk.” Another male voice answered.

“Yeah, yeah. I got attacked by a flock of them heading North about 2 weeks ago.” The first one replied. The voice was joyful yet had a serious tone to it.

“North? But it's summer, surely they would be heading south?” A third voice chipped in, this one was very deep.

“No, the Vesk fly North. The cold summers there is better for them and they catch fish in the Sea of Notwen.” This one was one of the voices Pacha had heard before and she now could identify the Norwegian accent. The voices were growing louder as they came towards Pacha.

“Ahhh that's cold!” A new, female voice exclaimed as Pacha saw something pass underneath the waterfall. Three more figures could be seen just beyond the waterfall to Pacha’s right, and they turned to see what the exclamation was. At that moment, Pacha realised what they were. Just below her stood four Giants, three male and one female. Pacha backed into the cave and hid in the darkness, watching as the Giants came towards the waterfall.

“I could do with a shower,” The Giant with the deep voice joked before he walked into the waterfall. “Oh, that's bloody freezing!” He exclaimed. “Come on,” He called and Pacha watched as another Giant run into the waterfall. She couldn't see much as the platform she was standing on was almost the height of the Giants so she could only really see the top of their heads.

“Oh yeah!” The Giant who had just run into the waterfall called out. The third Giant then came over so that he was fully under the waterfall. Unlike the two last Giants whose hair was brown, this Giant’s hair was blond.

“Cor blimey chaps, it's just like home!” He announced joyfully in his Norwegian accent. “All I need now is something to smoke and I will be home,”

“What do you smoke?” The female Giant asked.

“Bata,” He replied.

“What's that?” Came the deep voice.

“It’s the leaves of the Bwayta tree,”

“Aren't they poisonous?” The third Giant said.

“No that's the Bwayto tree. If you even touch that tree with your bare hands you could die.”

“You can die from smoking, it's really bad for you,”

“It's not that bad,” The blond Giant argued.

“No, no. Because you inhale it into your lungs...” One Giant began before going into an in-depth conversation about the implications of smoking. Pacha listened intently to the Giants’ conversation as they finished washing, set a fire and sat around it. During this time Pacha was unaware that she had moved from her hiding position and into plain sight in order to get a good view of the Giants. Their fire was blazing now and they were sat around it chatting and laughing. They weren't eating anything but they were reaching for water pouches and drinking the contents, which Pacha concluded must have been water. After a while, the Giant with blonde hair got up and walked towards the waterfall to refill his water pouch. This Giant was a good foot taller than all the others. As he filled the pouch he looked up and his eyes met Pacha's.