Berganashio - Chapter 27

"I still just don't understand why war is necessary. The fairies can't be that bad. The sea-wolfs on the other hand..." Pori scooped Bry up into her arms and combed his unruly hair with her fingers.

Larkin tensed his neck. "Pori, I've told you dozens of times, the decison to fight has been already been made."

"At this point, we're carrying out the wishes of the king and queen." Villi nodded.

Again, just as they had heard and felt at the bottom of the sea, there was another loud boom.

"There it goes again." Bry said with wide eyes.

As if the boom triggered his memory, Larkin exclaimed, "I almost forgot! We must go back and see the giant that Keenwai and I saw last night!"

Pori just wanted to distract her mind from the attack that was supposed to occur in three days time. "Ahh, yes, let's go!"

Bry hurriedly fluttered up, on top of Cotton's back. "Ya-ya! Let's go! Onward Cotton! Lead the way!"

"I woukd lead the way if I knew the way," Cotton chuckled.

"Oh yeah... I mean, Larkin, lead the way!" Bry looked at his older brother with excitement. A new adventure was in the making and they all knew it.

Larkin led the way back to the mountainous terrain that he had visited the night before. Bry rode on top of Cotton's back, as if he were riding on a royal litter in a caravan. Pori and Villi flew on either side of Cotton. It didn't take them long to get to the edge of the mountains. Carefully, the five of them peered down into the valley.

"Landsakes! It's clearly awake now!" Larkin said loudly, but then held his mouth shut because he didn't want to be heard or seen by the giant.

Pori furrowed her brow. "It doesn't seem to be a scary kind of giant."

"Look at its face, it has such a childish face and expression." Cotton observed aloud.

Villi noted. "It's not very coordinated at all. Look at the way it lumbers back and forth. It's knees are so wobbly..."

"Woooahhh!" Bry was in awe of such a sight.

"Look at the way it's eyes just stare off into the distance but yet it walks a different direction..."

"Wait a second!" Larkin exclaimed.

"What?" The others asked in tandem.

"Remember, how I told you all about father using his birthmark scales, how he flung them on the giant? Father blinded the giant. Look! The giant is blind now!"

"Ahhh!" Pori shook her head. "You were right. This is what father came to do last night!"

"But why?" Bry asked.

Villi was confused. "All those times, father and mother told us to only use the birthmark scales if we were fighting an enemy..."

Larkin nodded, "But Villi, maybe the giant would be... or is an enemy? And that's why father did what he did."

Cotton tilted his head. "Something of that size could most definitely do some damage!" He shivered and thought of the magnificent merfarie garden kingdom being crushed.

Larkin stuck his tongue out at Pori and blew a raspberry at her. "And you! You thought I was cruel for blinding a dumb little lizard once!"

"Oh, what is that? See! Look at the giant's shoulder!" Villi pointed out.

"I see now. What is that?" Larkin asked.

Pori smiled. "It looks just like a small dwarf. I've only see pictures of them from old books."

"A dwarf? But why would he be up on the giant's shoulder like that?" Cotton was growing more and more curious about the odd sight.

Larkin laughed. "This is really bonkers, but the only way we'll find out more is if we go ask the dwarf why he's up there."

Pori was entirely intrigued. "I agree. The giant cannot see us. Bry, you stay down here with Cotton, who will keep you safe, while the three of us older ones fly up there to see if the dwarf is stuck up there or something."

Bry patted Cotton affectionately. "Okay, sis. Don't worry... I'm not scared! But you don't fly too close to that giant's mouth... he might be hungry!"

Pori couldn't help but smile. The three eldest merfaries boldly flew up to the shoulder of the giant.

"Oh my, oh my. Hello there!" The very old dwarf was startled. He had a very long, white beard. He wore winter clothes, as it was very cold up on the giant's shoulder. Nothing in his appearance seemed fearful in the least. It was as if he had been used to being on the shoulder of the giant all his life.

"We thought you might be stuck up here and need help down." Larkin said without introduction.

"Oh, I'm not stuck. I can climb down whenever I need to."

"Oh, then what are you up here for?" Pori questioned. "I didn't even know that dwarfs existed, other than in storybooks!"

"Well, I am the last one alive, 'least that I know of. And I'm up here because I tell the giant what to do."

The dwarf held the end of a rounded tube device. He could speak into it and the other end was attached to the giant's ear.

"See, watch this!" The dwarf whispered into the tube. All of the sudden, the giant responded and picked up a large mound of clay and hurled it, as if it were a toy being thrown across a yard.

Larkin gulped. "He just threw a mountain!" Indeed, compared to the tiny size of the merfaries, the mound of earth that the giant had picked up was like a mountain.

"So, you're like a giant whisperer then..." Villi was amazed at the sight. She thought she was dreaming.

"Indeed. And that's why I call myself, Whisper." The dwarf nodded, with a chuckle.

Larkin and Pori looked at one another, with a sharp revelation.

"This explains all the booms that we have heard over the last several days then!" Larkin concluded.

Pori was breathless from flying in place. "May we sit on his shoulder too?"

"Ah yes, come on over." He motioned for them to come sit by him on the giant's large shoulder. "I'm very pleased to meet you three. It's nice to meet creatures who can talk back to me." He laughed. "The giants... they don't talk, they just mumble-mumble every now and again. But at least they listen extremely well, indeed."

"Giants?" Villi asked. "So there's more?"

"Ah, yes, yes! There are lots more of them and some I've never met before." He pointed down toward a round dark cave opening. "See that? That's where they come around on a wooden conveyor belt, but only one comes out, each morning. So, I meet one per day. I'm here to help them walk and play... and get their exercise I guess... Yes, long ago, I stumbled into this valley place and discovered that this is my purpose in life... Caring for the giants… I guess you could say. I am very very old... older than I look... so old, I actually forgot how old I even am!" He laughed hysterically.

His jolly laughter greatly entertained the three merfarie children.

"Are they all blind?" Pori asked.

"Ha! How did you know? This is one thing that I cannot seem to figure out, but yes, they all come out blind for some peculiar reason! I suppose they just weren't made to see... I don't rightly know really... But it's just as well because, though and they cannot see at all, their ears are keen to all my whispered directions... Yes, they walk by faith in my words, not by sight..."

The merfaries looked at one another. They didn't say anything about their father and what Larkin had witnessed the night before. Down below, in a rock clef, they could see the small shapes of Cotton and Bry looking up at them. The dwarf, named Whisper, stopped and told the giant something through the tube. The giant responded by plucking up some pine trees with such incredible ease. The blind giant turned the pine trees upside down and plunged the tops of the trees into the ground. The tree's root system were visible now. It was comical to witness the lumbering giant, who appeared to be having such a fun time with all the physical activity.

"Where do you think the giants come from?" Pori asked Whisper.

"I'm not entirely sure. But I believe my intuition when I think of this... which tells me that they come from another world... a world that doesn't want to keep them... Perchance, a world where their lives are cut far too short... which is why I am delighted to help them live here in the valley."

"Speaking of living... what on earth do they eat... you must have to feed them enough food… as big as a house, I bet!" Villi imagined aloud.

"Funny thing is, as odd as it sounds... They don't need food like you or I. I've discovered that the words I tell them are a form of food for them... in a strange sort of way."

"I sure am glad that you found them!" Pori said with deep sincerity in her tone.

"Ah yes, me too! I don't know what I'd do without them every day. I guess they need me... but I definitely need them too!" Whisper looked off into the distance. He possessed such a sage nature about him that felt supernaturally calming. He continued, "Each one of the giants are unique. Some of them are a bit more rambunctious. That's why, some days I tell them to pick up larger clumps of clay... 'Cause they need to focus their attention on something to get tired out quicker. It's no good if their hands are idle for too long... Other times, the giant of the day is more calm, and doesn't need to throw things around so vigorously."

Pori mused. "To think, all this time, you've been here with these giants in the shadow of this valley, and we just… never knew until now..." She felt such a surge of emotions over the whole situation.

"We were discouraged from ever coming this way by our..." Larkin started but was hushed by Pori.

"Well, it was quite a wonderful surprise meeting you three, I say. As I said earlier, it's nice hearing people talk back to me!" Whisper asked them what their names were. They laughed at the fact that they hadn't introduced themselves by name sooner.

"We must go now and check on our little brother." Pori shook the dwarfs hand. The other two merfarie children did the same. "But, we shall come back to visit, if that's alright with you."

"Oh yes, of course. That'd be very nice, indeed!" Whisper smiled and waved them a farewell. A few minutes later, the giant picked up some large rocks and rolled them, as if the rocks were balls and it was all part of a silly game. Whisper, the dwarf, happily braced himself on the shoulder of the giant. He continued to provide the giant with whispered directions of where to go and what to do next.

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Author's Note:

To read chapter 28, follow the link below: