The Land of Giants

During our fifth day of travel since leaving the land of Keh'Arnis (for such was called the land in which I had discovered Haig and which served as the land of his inheritance), as we were traveling along a road known as "Hunter's Moon" - this being because it was a subtle road only known among a few of the great hunters of Keh'Arnis - Haig suddenly motioned for me to stop, and my horse also, and to be silent. I listened carefully for some time. I could hear nothing. I glanced at Haig for some explanation, but he put his finger to his lips as though I should remain silent. I listened again. I wondered what Haig thought he was listening to, for I could truly hear nothing. I listened, trying, with all my might to sense something, anything would do, besides the steady breathing of our mount. Then I heard it. I heard the sound of small twigs snapping and dirt crunching - the sound that accompanies even the lightest footstep. I turned quickly to Haig, his eyes were wide.

Suddenly I heard a voice. It was loud and close. It spoke a language which I could not understand and I knew, by the horror in Haig's eyes, and the draining color from his face, that it was Maikin. Haig lunged quickly and smacked the horse hard on its rump. It jumped suddenly before running off at full gallop. I heard what must have been a Maikin cry, and then I was running, following Haig who was running ahead of me. We were running in the opposite direction of the horse. I could hear the Maikin voices rising behind us. I concentrated on Haig, on keeping up with him. He was running wildly, it seemed to me, first running to the right, then suddenly and inexplicably changing course and bolting to the left. I followed him through all of this, straining to keep up. I wasn't familiar with that territory and slipped many time, nearly falling to the ground. He hurdled over logs, between tree trucks, and through the underbrush. I followed him, my lungs burning and my breath coming hard. It wasn't long before I could no longer hear the Maikin behind us, but still we ran.