Chapter 58

CHAPTER FIFTY-EIGHT

Ryker

The man stood at least seven-and-a-half-feet tall and had to weigh three hundred and fifty pounds, all of which was muscle.

"It's the giant," Ellery whispered.

My forehead furrowed as I glanced at her over my shoulder. She looked up from where she remained, kneeling by the river.

"From that day with Mouse in the Hollows," she said. "He was in the ring wrestling everyone and tossing them around like rag dolls."

The memory niggled at the back of my mind as the giant leaned on his staff and grinned at us. I didn't envy that staff or understand how it didn't break.

"If you insist on crossing, you can pay to do so," the giant taunted.

He was nowhere near the size of an actual giant, as those beings were around a hundred feet tall, but he was the biggest man I'd ever seen, and I wasn't in the mood for this shit. "I'm not giving you a dime."

The giant's grin widened to reveal all his straight, white teeth. "Then I'm afraid you're not crossing into our land."

"Since when does anyone own property in the Revenant Woods? This is the king's land."

The amsirah behind him… no, the children behind him all chuckled, and the giant's loud, barking laugh traveled through the night. " We are the kings here! These are our woods."

"Let's go, Ryker," Ellery whispered. "There's no reason to engage with him, and I can't do anything here without them seeing me."

She was right, but I wasn't in the mood to turn back. My father believed he'd wedged me beneath his thumb by trapping me here, and now this asshole was telling me what I could and couldn't do. That wasn't going to happen.

"Who's going to stop me from crossing?" I demanded.

"You're welcome to try getting through me, but—" The giant's gaze raked over me before his eyes met mine again. "—I don't think you will."

"Let's go," Ellery said again.

I studied the giant and the kids lined up around him. There were only a handful of them, and I doubted any of them knew how to use the weapons they held.

What is this man doing with these kids?

It didn't make any sense, but there could be other amsirah hiding in the trees. He could be using the kids to lure us into a sense of complacency while stronger fighters waited to trap us.

I looked back at her as I spoke. "There could be more fighters in the woods. They could be an asset."

"Those kids shouldn't be fighting anything."

"No, they shouldn't, but they could be helping to lay a trap. If they're here, then they hate the king too and will stand against him."

"If that's true, then they're probably like Tucker's followers and untrained in every way."

"I was once untrained too."

"That's hard to believe," she muttered.

"Eventually, we will go to war."

When she looked across the way again, sadness filled her eyes. "Many will be lost if we go forward against the king."

"We'll lose more if we don't go forward."

Her mouth parted, and she blinked at me as if this had just occurred to her. "These kids can still hide here."

"For how long? And how many of them will die here?"

She gulped.

"I'll give them a choice; they can fight against their oppressors or keep hiding. That's more than the king ever gave them," I told her.

"True." She shifted her attention back to the giant. "But do you really think you can get through that man?"