21 Take (1/2)

The giant's words reached him from all directions at once, reflecting off the flat surfaces of the gigantic cave he had found himself in. He looked all around, studying his surroundings while being peered at like a guinea pig by all those present.

Lit by blazing braziers placed evenly all around, this was the largest enclosed area he had seen since waking up. The ceiling was high, high up in the air. It was doomed, with the highest point being at least 70 feet from the floor. Behind him, a flat wall was pockmarked by at least 50 small holes exactly like the one he had just fallen out of.

As for the dwarves…there were so many that he could hardly count them. Still, a preliminary estimate was that at least 300 of them were present, and that raised all sorts of questions.

'What do they eat? Where do they live? How are there so many? And who the hell are they?'

The last one seemed to be the most pressing, but the only answer he received on further inspection was for the second one.

The giant was seated on a large wooden chair which was an architectural marvel on its own right. Banded with metal, it looked sturdy enough to even handle the weight of two giants.

What he was interested in was actually beside the chair. On both sides of it, they were large openings that hinted at spaces farther inside, and as he studied them with the intention of seeing a hint of what might lay within, he also noticed that the giant was studying him, in turn.

That was when he remembered that he had been told to 'come', so he lurched forward to the satisfaction of many of the little, bald men in front of him.

They clapped and hooted as if he was giving a performance, and their eyes shone with excitement.

”Quiet. Don't make our guest panic, little folk. The show is done. Go back to your little hovels.”

There was quite a bit of discontentment when the giant's words rumbled in the cave again, but quickly, the dwarves began to walk in the direction of the opening on the left of the chair. Just like the one who had brought him here, their legs were swift, and they were gone in merely a minute.

Daneel walked forward even further as the space cleared. Soon, he was standing right in front of the colossal chair, and his puny size made him feel all the more conscious now that he was so close. But there were other details to notice, too, so he thought on them instead of dwelling on the fact that the hand resting on the armrest could crush him in a moment if it so wished.

The giant's skin was extremely wrinkled, as if he was a hundred-year-old man clinging on to life. He also had many scars all over his body, much worse than even what he had seen on Reese, and one of his legs was actually shorter than the other.

Seeing him studying that leg, the giant spoke again.

”When we were little, ages ago, our brother broke that leg so that he could take on the work we were doing. We used to be very good at mining; we could do the work of two good men on our own, but he was going hungry. It never healed well…”

A film of memories glazing over his eyes, the giant dwelled on his past, and Daneel, in turn, dwelled on everything the man had said so far.

It was hard to think of anything else except his overpowering size, so first, he wondered whether it was possible for anyone to grow so big.

'Is it something he was born with? Or, wait… he talked about power! But how can what he is be similar in any way to what that succubus was doing?'

The confusion in Daneel's face amused the giant.

”Ha! That's always the first question in anyone's mind. It just so happens that we can show you the answer, instead of telling you. Oh, and the fearlessness of children is really something to behold… most of the others who come here are convinced that they will soon die as soon as they see us. They try to run, they try to hide, but they never succeed… take, for instance, the one who is going to soon be here. Fenris! Get them in!”

Daneel could never have imagined that it would be possible for the man to raise his voice, and when he did, it grew so loud that he had to close his ears. Instead of echoing just in the cave they were, it traveled into the caverns beside the chair, and soon, a group of dwarves appeared.