In the break of dawn, with a small group of Skhite and Hornie warriors I went seeking the Stone giants. Soon we came across a multitude of smaller monsters, but the Stone giants were nowhere to be seen.

As per the warriors, the stone giants had odd living habits. Sometimes they would dig a hole and stay put for months. The fact that they looked like boulders further made it more difficult to differentiate them from actual stone. I realized that the last time Sam and I had seen the Stone giants brawling had been by pure luck.

The sun climbed the sky and soon began its downward descent. Dusk fell. Then night came in full force. We were so far from the palace that we decided that we would not return tonight. I told my warriors that there was no going back until and unless we met the stone giants.

We began a fire. The sparks floated up to the twinkling stars above. The monsters offered to guard me whilst I slept. I asked them to do the opposite. Only if I felt sleepy would I rouse one of them. With some hesitation my monsters made themselves comfortable on the ground of the forest floor and slumbered.

I remained awake, leaning against the trunk of a tree. I listened to the monotonous singing of insects. I listened to distant howls. I listened to the wood being eaten by the fire. After a while the faraway howls died out. The insects seemed to have attracted their mates. The wood crumbled, turning to ash. All noises faded and only the sound of silence prevailed. The fire only gave off smoke now. The glowing embers painted the scene with a dim reddish light.

I was tired, and a drowsiness washed over me, making me lethargic. I should have rekindled the fire, but just watched as a thin line of smoke reached the tops of trees.

Everything was still. A certain calmness hung in the air. I felt peaceful. It was then that a soft sound drifted to my ears.

It was as though someone was sniffling, trying to hold back tears. I checked my monsters to make certain that it wasn’t any of them. I strained my ears. The sound kept coming, but there would be gaps of quietness in between. Someone was crying, that was for sure. But who?

I should have been afraid. We were afterall out in the forest in the dead of the night. But my curiosity gobbled up my fear. I got up. One of the guards stirred.

“Vicky?” he asked. “Is everything alright? Where are you going?”

“Nowhere, just keeping myself awake.”

“The fire has died; do you want me to light it again?”

“No,” I said, “let it be.”

The guard fell back to his sleep. I left the small group, all the while straining my ears for the sound. I wanted to find out in which direction it was coming from. The source was in the neighborhood, I could tell.

Someone blew their nose forcefully. I took note of the direction. A voice inside me warned I was being a total idiot. What if it was a player? But another voice guaranteed that even if it was a player then it was somebody who was either hurt or sad for some other reason. They wouldn’t pose any immediate threat to me.

The sound of the sniffles resumed and got louder as I kept moving. Finally I reached a spot from where I assumed the sad person was in a radius of only a few feet from me. I was a considerable distance from the camp. The faint embers thankfully remained noticeable and would aid me to get back.

“Can I help you?” I asked. It was a wild thing for me to say. But at the same time nobody would try to kill me for extending a hand of help, would they? The sniffles abruptly stopped.

And then a voice reverberated.

“Go away,” it was a male voice. I whirled around, but failed to see anyone.

“I heard you crying,” I said, “if there is anything I can do, tell me.”

It occurred to me now why I was not feeling scared. My sixth sense was telling me that I was interacting with a monster, and it was unlikely they would hurt me without a solid cause.

“I am the problem, not her,” the male said.

“Her?” I said. “You mean a girl?”

A pause. It was a few moments later that the unseen male monster spoke.

“Yes,” he replied. “Have you ever fallen in love with a girl?”

“I have,” I replied. I was in love with Kiara. No denying that.

“Did she return your love or did she reject you?”

“She loved me back,” I said.

Another pause.

“But what if she had rejected you, and told you bad things?”

“Well, I guess I would have left her alone then,” I told him.

“As simple as that?” the male said as though he was finding it hard to believe my words.

“Well there is nothing much to do, is there?” I said. “She would find someone else and then I would find someone else too.”

Another pause. This was longer.

Suddenly the very ground quaked. Trees near me were uprooted. A stone that had been lying on the ground seemed to bounce to the air in an unnatural fashion. The shuddering earth made me lose my balance, and I fell face first to the ground. A cry escaped my lips. In the distance I heard the monsters waking up to find me missing.

Finally the ground stopped shaking. I had fallen in an awkward manner, such that my legs were above the rest of my body. It was a little tricky to get back up, and required a few seconds. My loyal monsters reignited the fire and came running towards me with torches.

With the light from the torches, I realized that in front of me was a hole of massive proportions. I let my gaze travel up and saw a monolith beside the hole.

My monsters arrive, shouting, “Vicky! Vicky! Are you all right?”

And then the monolith moved!

I registered only now that the monolith possessed a head, arms and legs. With one of its massive stone legs it kicked three of my guards, and they went flying. A couple more monsters were picked up by a colossal stone hand.

I had been talking with a Stone giant all the while.

“Stop it!” I cried, before the stone giant could crush the monsters. “Please! Stop it!”

The stone giant thankfully halted.

“They didn’t come here to harm you,” I said to the stone giant. “Besides, they can’t harm you.”

The stone giant considered my words and placed the monsters down on their feet. Quickly, I gave health vials to the three injured monsters. I had brought a total of five health vials and I was ready to donate four. I had no desire to experience the intense guilt of last time.

Once the monsters revived, I went back to the stone giant. His face was wet with tears. Judging from the hole in the ground, it came to me that all the time I was conversing with him, I had been standing atop his belly that was underneath the soil.