Searching for the Curse-Maker

The creature had thick, jagged mandibles and they looked blunt. To be caught between them would be a death sentence via crushing rather than slicing. Hypatia was not too keen on the idea and backed away slowly. It hadn’t seen her yet… oh, too late.

Hypatia raised her fist; the one that clutched a stone the size of her face. It was heavy but nothing a Giant woman couldn’t handle. The muscles in her arms and shoulders could be seen tightening as she widened her stance, inadvertently exposing her uncovered body as she prepared to defend herself. She’s never seen a creature this disgusting and she was prepared to go all out if it came within range of her swinging arms.

Unfortunately it was already skittering over as horrifying high speed, antennae pressed to the ground in front of it, sensing for the vibration of her steps. Not that Hypatia had any idea what antennae were for. Before, she had had little concept in her mind that creatures this small even existed. And now she was one of them. Revolting.
The thing’s head was knocked to the side with the force of the blow she dealt. Reeling, it stood back on four of its six spindly legs and spread its dark mouth pieces defensively. Hypatia screeched in terror and indignation as the dull crushers were inches from her chest, the tiny hairs on its face looking horribly like needles. Appallingly, it still wanted to fight. Throwing the stone she held in panic, the rock hit right in the centre of its open mandibles and thankfully, by the time the stone hit the ground, the monster had changed its mind and sprinted in the opposite direction. Hypatia was beyond relieved to see it go.

It was tempting to collapse in the dirt, the ex-Giant was so tired. But she was also proud and refused to do such a thing. Besides, there was something hot pulsing in her veins that wouldn’t let her be still. She needed to find a way out of this canyon. It seemed to go on for miles as she followed the wall of it, trailing her fingers over the crumbling surface. It was approximately four times as tall as she was now and the last time she’d tried to climb it, an entire section of the wall had come away to try and bury her. She still had earth and root fibres in her hair from that.
As she walked, she tried to comb out the tangles with her fingers. Usually she kept her hair tied up in bunches with cords of dragon leather but these, along with her clothes, had not shrunk with her when the old Mage had cast his curse on her. As a result, the thick blond waves fell down her back to tickle against her bare butt. Strands of it fell into her eyes and stuck to her face irritatingly as she walked up a slight perspiration in the otherwise cold mountain air.

Finally Hypatia spotted something up ahead. An orb of earth leaning conveniently against the wall she wanted to climb. If she could get on top of it then she was already half way towards freedom. Hopefully she wouldn’t end up buried alive this time. Hypatia tested the sphere of earth by giving it a shove with her shoulder. It rocked a little before stabilising; risky but good enough.
The sun was an orb low in the sky by the time Hypatia made it to the top with mud coating her front from pressing her bare body to the wall. Her shins bled where she’d scraped them on small rock shards and she had a nasty bruise on her elbow where she’d hit it in a hurry to catch her next handhold. Lying at the top and breathing heavily, she could see still miles of rubble. It was still a desert of stone out here.

Waiting for night to pass seemed pointless. Hypatia wasn’t tired, just worn down, frustrated and utterly lost. Better to keep moving, lest the thing gnawing at the back of her brain take over and make her do something foolish – like give up hope. She walked until the sun was gone and only moonlight remained to guide her. Night was cold without fire or fur to cover her. She scratched her arm with dirtied nails and powered over the uneven ground. Her own body heat from moving would have to do.

Tall dark spears camouflaged themselves against the black sky until the Giant woman found herself right under them. As she touched one, the strange texture of it shivered right up to the tip. It was green. She could see when she squinted. The blade bowed to the side as she pushed it and stepped past. It was like a whole forest in here. Pushing on and on, blades acquiescing to the side at her request, Hypatia hadn’t any bearing to ensure she walked in a straight line. Only determination kept her on course.
The breaking of dawn allowed Hypatia to see her first real tree since the curse. It stretched up completely out of view. Without being able to see all the way to the top, it was difficult to tell what it was at all; however, the general shape and texture of the trunk gave it away.

The ex-Giant fought her way through the last of the blade forest to begin yet another arduous quest walking up one of the actual tree’s roots. Perhaps if she could get high enough, she could see the world as she once used to from 40 feet up. She could get her bearings and figure out a way to get to the mage who had made her this way. It was thoughts like these – and the beast that burned in her chest – that kept her from stopping even when her feet were bloodied and sore from walking unprotected so far.