Morning for Eni didn't begin with sunbeams, but with her bed and the tavern floorboards performing a frantic jig. The roar was deafening, as if the mountains themselves had decided to trade places. Dust rained from the ceiling, and the glassware downstairs shattered in a death rattle of clinking. Cursing under her breath and adjusting her lopsided uniform, Eni stumbled down the stairs.
The tavern owner, pale as a sheet, was convulsively wiping the counter with the same ragged cloth over and over. "What is this? An earthquake?" Eni barked, grabbing the edge of a table to keep from toppling during another tremor.
"Worse, milady..." the innkeeper stammered. "Starican has descended. The 'Star Titan.' They say the appearance of an Archon is a harbinger of great calamity—or changes we aren't ready to face."
Eni felt no fear. On the contrary, a burning curiosity stirred in her chest, seasoned with excitement. But before rushing into the unknown, she remembered her survival lessons: you don't meet fate on an empty stomach. "First—a beef steak. Well-done," she commanded.
After stuffing herself with juicy meat and feeling the corset's familiar, comforting squeeze against her ribs, Eni stepped outside. At first, she saw only terrified villagers and smoke from chimneys. But as the Titan took his next step, the earth trembled again, and Eni finally looked up.
Towering over the rooftops was a fifteen-foot giant. His attire was so vibrant and intricate that Eni didn't even have names for most of his garments: blue silks mixed with shimmering embroidery that looked like constellations. He seemed like a living piece of sky that had fallen onto the dirty earth.
"HEY! ARE YOU Starican?!" Eni shouted, cupping her hands like a megaphone.
A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.
The giant froze. His massive head slowly turned, and enormous eyes glowing with soft light fixed on the small figure in the violet uniform. "Oh... A Hero!" he boomed, the vibration of his voice making Eni's teeth rattle.
With one powerful leap, the Titan cleared a house, landing just a few yards from her. He leaned down so low that his shadow completely covered Eni. "What are you doing here? Why aren't you in the village protected by our followers?" he fretted, his voice full of genuine, almost childlike surprise. "Ah, right... Sorry, you must be new? Oh, where are my manners... Er... Let's talk somewhere safer!"
Before Eni could even protest, huge, warm hands closed around her waist. Starican lifted her like a porcelain doll and started walking away from the village. "Wait, please, this is for your safety and... for the sake of the new generation of Archons," he continued muttering to himself while Eni dangled in the air, watching the treetops fly by below. "Few heroes survive this cruel world now, and Nick forbids us from saving everyone. 'They'll become freeloaders,' he says. So what? Maybe I'm strong enough to feed them all!"
After twenty minutes of fast trekking, Starican stopped and gently set Eni on the ground. Before her lay a settlement completely unlike any she had seen before. People in white robes and frozen golden masks walked the streets with quiet dignity. "These are our followers, the priests," the giant explained, straightening up proudly. "Nick had a great idea—teaching them magic. Now this is one of the safest places."
Suddenly, he caught himself and awkwardly scratched the back of his head, which was the size of a large boulder. "Oh, right, what's your name, girl?"
"Eni. And you're Starican, I take it?"
"Yes, but everyone calls me Stark. My full name... well, it's complicated, you'd break your tongue," he gave a kind smile. "Ah, and don't tell Nick I brought you here. He's against it. Nick is against heroes in general—says they're being 'controlled.' But I don't believe it!" The giant suddenly got worked up, waving his arms so hard it created wind. "Oh, sorry, going on about Nick again... Have you seen a deer skull? Or... wait, was I looking for something else...?"
Stark sighed and sat down on a huge rock, looking incredibly lost in that moment. "I'm an idiot, always forgetting things... I can only draw, really..." He suddenly jumped up, slapping his forehead. "Oh, I remember! If you kill a god—you join our Coalition. And most importantly, if you see anything strange—tell Nick!"
And with those words, without waiting for an answer, the "Star Titan" bolted and disappeared into the forest with surprising speed for such a giant. Eni stood in the middle of the priests' village, watching him go.
"How am I even supposed to..." She sighed, adjusting the hem of her uniform and feeling the familiar weight of the anvils. "Fine. I guess they'll find me themselves."
