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Jiant

As Jiant’s foot pressed into the earth, it was enveloped in flame.

Sighing, Jiant kept walking, the tiny explosions of the fire-ants just a nuisance, little more than gentle warm tapping against his skin. Behind him, Vela shrieked in dismay. Amused, he turned and watched her charge into the shallow waters, steam and smoke rising from her clothes. A moment later, she stepped out again and Nash moved aside to let her return to the path.

She caught his glance, and gave him a sour look in return. “Can we please walk in the water?”

“No.” Jiant grunted, and turned back to the land before him. Ash and bones covered the ground as far he could see before him, burned and desolate. The ant’s doing, I’m sure. They were everywhere; crawling into their beds at night, climbing into their food, into their mouths, into their clothes. For two days and nights now, they had continued south through this barren wasteland, enduring the constant attacks from the burning horde. It was almost impossible to sleep with the constant barrage of fire. Even if the flames did not burn him, they caused pain for the others, and all night long, the lake had echoed with cries of dismay as one or another of his followers found themselves on fire and stumbling into the water.

But the worst part was the smell, the sour, acrid stench of dead ant, charred bones and lake water. And every time he thought he had gotten used to it, another, stronger whiff would drift past, turning his stomach.

Frankly, it was making him a little irritable.

Everyone kept their distance.

He kept them marching as the sun disappeared behind the mountains, the lines of fire providing an amusing guide. As darkness fell, he searched the land ahead for a fire, a human fire, but there were none to be found. Just more and more ants, creeping through the darkness, burning everything in their path.

Finally, as the last rays of twilight vanished from the sky, he called a halt. Warily, his followers set their bedrolls close to the water, searching for the least ant-ridden spot they could find. Without food, there was no need for a fire, but Suet and Makari built one anyways, using driftwood and the slender trees that clung to the mountainside as fuel. Once lit, the fire was a beacon for the ants, and it popped, over and over again as the ants exploded amidst the coals. He watched the fire, for a while, to try to get his mind off of his empty stomach, but it was no use. Sighing, he turned away, and looked at the sky. Above, the faintest crescent of moon was returning, the moon-lizards carefully returning what they had taken away.

After a while, he realized that Nash was standing behind him. “What?”

“There’s no hunting here.” Nash said. “The ants have eaten everything.”

Closing his eyes, Jiant suppressed the urge to throw his friend into the lake. “I know. What of it?”

“We’re out of food.” Nash said, simply.

His fist closed reflexively. It would be so easy. Nash backed away almost instantly, his face visibly pale. “Thank you, Nash, for telling me.” Jiant said, standing up, and pacing along the shore. “Because I’m slow, like Yora the simple. I hadn’t noticed that we didn’t have any food this evening.” He growled. “I hadn’t noticed that there’s no buffalo here, or bear or even rabbit.”

He turned to glance at Nash, but his friend had wisely fled into the darkness.

“I’m so hungry!” He roared.

The mountains taunted him. “Hungry.. Hungry… Hungry…”

And then his foot exploded in flame. He roared in dismay, and turned to the others. “Get up. Everyone. Get up now.” His followers scrambled up from their resting spots, panic on their faces. “We’re going to march through the night if we have to to get out of here.”

—

The mound was bigger than he had expected. And brighter, shining with the lights of uncountable hordes of fire ants. Even the ground around the base seemed to shimmer and glow in the night, all the way up to the edge of the dark river that flowed westwards through the pass.

Behind him, someone screamed in pain. Irda.

No, he had killed Irda. Who was this? He turned and watched them running towards the water, left arm wreathed in flame?

How did they get up on his arm?

>Jiant turned back to the mound, and felt something crawling on his face. Carefully, he brushed his hand across his cheek, and found a tiny ant crawling along his fingertips, the wings on its back a translucent shroud over its softly glowing body. Grunting, he squished his fingers together, wincing at the unexpected heat. And then the night air around his face came alive with stars, spiraling, floating, twisting through the air. In an instant, they landed on his hands, his shoulders, his face, lips, nose, and his face exploded into searing flames.

Waving his hands frantically, Jiant stumbled backwards away from the cloud, water splashing on his feet as he retreated into the lake. The bank shifted underneath him, and then he was falling, pitching backwards, spinning his arms frantically, too late.

The lake seized him, pulling him into unknown depths. Twisting, he clawed at the emptiness, trying to find earth, anything to stop this slow descent into death. He can hear the soft popping of the ants as the chill water washes them away, but his face burns still, the cold offering no respite from the scorching agony in his nose, his eyes.

Jiant could feel the currents rushing past him as the dark heart of the lake pulled him closer. His hands thrashed through the water, finding ooze, algae, rocks. Frantically, he seized the rock, pulling hard against it to slow his descent. It shifted as he pulled, the suction of the muck no match for his bulk.

But it was enough. Forcing his hands downwards, he dug into the mud, gaining purchase, and reversing the slide. Feet and hands working together, he crawled forward up the slope as his lungs scream for air. He could see the stars now, just through the water, and with a final shove he forced himself up, breaching the surface, and collapsing on the glowling lake shore.

No, wait, this is the river bank. The current had carried him down the pass. Groaning, he forced himself to his feet, stepping backwards into the water to avoid another swam of ant burns. Glancing past the great mound, he can see his followers, standing some distance away, staring and pointing at him.

“Thank you so much for your help.” He yelled. They stopped and stared. Disgusted, he waved. “Come on. Keep moving. Follow me along the river.”

The cluster approached slowly, clinging together in fear. Suddenly, he remembered his own childhood, watching the youngsters approaching a caribou carcass for the first time.

“Then I will be the parent, if I must.” He muttered.

More shrieks, and flames – another cloud of fliers attacked, sending Nash diving into the lake. What are they eating? How did this colony get so big? It didn’t make sense. Before him, a fallen tree stretched across his path, connecting the two sides of the river. With a roar, he kicked, shattering it, sending the pieces flying through the air along with the army of ants that was marching across its back.

He turned back to the others. “Let’s go. Now.” He barked. Like a flock of startled pigeons, the group rushed forwards towards him.

“Follow me along the river bank. We’ll walk past the mound, and follow the river west out of the mountains.”

Revan clears his throat. “Jiant…”

“What?”

“What if there are pits in the river?”

Jiant clenched his teeth. “Then get your friends to fish you out.”

“Jiant.” Jora Lina said, quietly.

His fists clenched again, open and closed. “What?”

“Shouldn’t we wait until morning?” Jora asked. “We’re likely to get ourselves killed if we go walking along a dark river in the middle of the night.”

Turning, Jiant walked back towards the cluster. Jora Lina stood his ground as the others backed away, leaving the two of them alone in the water. Jiant leaned down, until he was eye to eye with Jora.

“Where would we go, Jora?” Jiant asked. “Shall we sit here in the river? Shall we head back north?”

Jora swallowed nervously. “Maybe a distraction. We just need to be smarter about this.”

And that was enough. Seizing Jora by the chest, Jiant heaved the small man through the air. Jora shrieked as he flew up into the sky, arcing down towards the mound of fire.

Jora Lina disappeared into the soft dirt of the mound, leaving a gaping hole in his wake. In an instant the gash was bright with ants, and-

Jiant flew through the air, a wave of heat shoving against him as the sky disappears into incandescent fury. Pain poured into his body as he smashed against a hard surface. And then he began to fall, spinning and banging against rocks as he spun helplessly towards the rocky riverbank. Face first, he crashed against the ground, blood filling his mouth.

His ears had gone numb, the only sound a distant flat ringing. Dizzily, he rolled over, climbing back to his feet, only to pitch forward again into the earth as his left knee buckled underneath him. He reached out with his hands to catch himself, planting them against the sharp rocks, his weight driving them into the soft flesh of his palms. Moaning, he teetered forwards again, collapsting against the ground, closing his eyes.

No. I am Jiant.

Gritting his teeth, finding several shifting in their sockets, he opened his eyes and climbed back to his feet, balancing his weight carefully to take the strain from the weakened left. He could feel the throbbing agony there, grating unpleasantly across his kneecap, but it would hold.

Where are the others?

Jiant slowly turned, every movement bringing new aches and bruises. There. He could see them now, juddled on the far beach, faces blackened by fire. Steam rose from the water, countless columns disappearing into the night sky.

Awkwardly, he limped through the river, and more than once the riverbed betrayed him, sending him lurching sideways, tumbling silently into the current.

But he is Jiant, and he stood up again, and pushed forwards. His followers stared in silence at the blackened crater of earth that once housed the mighty ant mound. He could see a few of the tiny sparkling beasts wandered aimlessly between the chunks of dirt and rock that littered the beach, searching for their home, their family.

He felt a surge of pride.

“I am Jiant!” He roared, but he cannot hear his own words. “You cannot defeat me.”

The others stared at him as he approached, and Nash said something, but he could hear nothing over the muffled ringing.

Angrily, he slapped his ear, feeling the sharp stick of the rocks embedded in his hand cutting into his face, but hearing nothing. The pain behind his eyes flared, and the world began to spin. Clumsily, he crashed to the ground, feeling the earth rumble.

They will go no further tonight. He looked at the others. “Rest here.” He said. And then a thought occurred. “Where is Jora Lina?”

Suet pointed, hand trembling, towards the center of the lake.

“In the lake?”

She nods and says something. He can hear her voice, faintly and far away, but he can’t make it out.

“How did he get there?” He asked, and smiled as he heard his own voice again.

She stares at him for a moment and said something else. Sighing, he pointed at his ears, and shook his head.

She nodded and turned. Pointing at the mound, she raised her finger across the sky, describing an arc across the sky, finishing in the lake at a spot where the water bubbled and steamed.

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Saturday, July 1st, 2006 at 7:26 pm.
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