Jake & The Giant (The Gryphon Chronicles, Book 2) (26 page)

Jake and Archie huddled together mistrustfully as
the giant children mumbled their apologies.

“That’s better,” Kaia said
, hands on hips. “Now run along and stay out of trouble!”

“Thank you,” Jake said to the princess
while Archie leaned against him like he might pass out. “Are you all right, coz?”

Archie just looked at him like he might never get over it.

To make things even more humiliating, the boys now realized that the king himself had seen the whole thing and had gotten a good, merry laugh out of it.

King Olaf
came sauntering over, still chuckling. “You must forgive our children, master dwarves. Giant younglings are known to be especially high-spirited.”

The boys managed to bow to him, though they were barely up to the mighty giant’s knee. “It’s all right, Your Majesty,” Jake offered. “No harm done.”

Archie’s low whimper told a different story, but only Jake heard it. He elbowed his cousin and muttered out of the corner of his mouth, “Pull yourself together! It’s the King of the Giants!”

“They wer
e huge. They were all around me,” he croaked.

“Shrug it off!
You’ll be fine,” Jake whispered.

“We are honored to have you for our guests!” King Olaf continued. “Perhaps you would favor us with some dwarven music? Your people are renowned singers. Would you do us the honor of sh
aring some of your songs from your land with our guests?”

Jake and Archie froze at this request.

“Sing? In front of all these people?” Archie blurted out, still traumatized by the dwarf-tossing incident.

Jake was even more eloquent.
“Uh…”

When King Olaf’s shaggy white
eyebrows drew together at the boys’ hesitation, they realized it wasn’t
really
a request. More like an order.

“Right,” Jake forced o
ut with dire thoughts of being Blood Eagled for such disobedience. “Of course, sire. Of course we’ll be glad to sing for you. It would be an honor.”

The
towering king of the giants looked satisfied. He nodded to a servant, who picked the boys up one by one much more respectfully than the children had and set them on one of the picnic tables.

Surrounded by their Norse giant audience, t
he boys looked at each other in absolute terror.

Jake’s mouth was so bone-dry with fear he could hardly speak
, let alone carry a tune. “Can you start?”

Archie shook his head, his eyes stark and wide. “I have a terrible voice. It cracks.”

“Me, too.” Jake swallowed hard, his heart pounding. “But we have to, or we’re dead. We have to make them think we’re dwarves. Humans aren’t allowed here, remember?”

Both breaking out in a cold sweat, the boys
glanced at each other in panic.

Jake gulped and looked back at the king.
“We’re not really very good singers, sire, c-compared to our, our countrymen back home.”

“No matter. You will find us a tolerant audience.” The king sat down and waited for them to sing.

Blimey.
Jake couldn’t think of a single song.

His mind was a blank
.

The king tapped his jeweled fingers impatiently on the arm of his massive wooden throne.

“I can’t do it,” Jake breathed, totally frozen with stage-fright.

Archie
somehow found the courage to come to the rescue. He took a small step forward and cleared his throat.

Jake turned to him in desperation.

“Ahem.” He began rather pitifully, his voice quavering and thin as he attempted an all-too-familiar song. “Row, row, row your boat gently down the stream. Merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily, life is but a dream.”

Jake closed his eyes f
or a second in soul-deep relief. It was better than nothing. Apparently, it was the only song Archie was able to think of under the pressure. It seemed new to the giants, who listened intently.

Jake
forced himself to join in on the second repetition.

Gorm let out a rude snort of laughter when Archie’s voice cracked, but now the two cousins were
determined. Joining forces, they sang louder.

On the fourth time through, the king began to clap in time with the song, an
d all the princes quickly followed suit, hoping to win the King’s favor.

Encouraged—or at least
able to breathe again—Jake suddenly remembered it was customary to sing this nursery song as a round.

As Archie continued singing the main line, Jake paused, waiting to come in on the second phrase of the song. The giants ooh’ed and ahh’ed at the tune sung in round form
by the two boys, and applauded as the song continued.

Jake gave Archie a meaningful nod, then he walked down the
table waving his arms at the left half of the audience, signaling to them to join in.

Even Snorri had quickly memorized t
he words—easy enough for a giant. Once the shepherd started singing, all the giants on the left began to sing along.

Archie had realized Jake’s intent, and pleased with the notion, likewise, moved down the table and motioned to the giants on the right.

Kaia helped him, leading the other group in singing. Her half caught on and joined in, carrying the second line of the round.

“Row, row, row your boat, gently down the stream…”

“Row, row, row your boat, gently down the stream…”

“Merrily, merrily…”

“Merrily, merrily…”

“Life is but a dream.”

“…Dream. Row, row…”

All the giants were singing now. The children had leaped up and were holding hands, dancing around in a ring.

The night boomed with the happy tune, until finally, the laughing audience exploded in thunderous applause. The noise reverberated so loudly that the other Eight Worlds all probably thought a storm was coming.

Which it was, Jake thought, with Loki’s scheme never far from his mind.

Now that he had gotten to know the giants a little better, he was all the more determined to stop the trickster god from manipulating these large but simple folk into helping him bring on the end of the world.

And t
he best way to do that was to make sure Snorri won this tournament, married the princess, and inherited the crown.

All
their worlds depended on it.

PART IV

CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE

The Boulder Contest

T
he next morning, the tournament began with a test of strength. Colorful pennants snapped on the breeze and drums rumbled, adding to the excitement. All the giant peasant folk came out to watch. They gathered in the fields outside the village around the biggest hill nearby—a great, green mound known as Jotmar’s Head.

Along the bottom of this hill, the
ten contestants lined up, each with a large, rounded boulder placed in front of him.

On the
top of the hill stood Kaia, holding up a flag.

The Master of Ceremonies
, a balding, pompous official in long robes, explained the details to the contestants. “You must carry your boulder up the hill. It’s a race, gentlemen! Whoever is the first to reach Her Highness at the top and take the flag wins this challenge. Whoever comes in last will be eliminated before the next test. Secondly!” he continued. “You must retain control of your boulder at all times! If you drop it, you must start over again at the bottom of the hill. And furthermore, any player who does not have his boulder in his arms when the contest ends will also be eliminated from the tournament. Those are the rules of our first challenge. Simple enough, I trust. Any questions?”

The
re were none.

The
giant knights and princes each turned to consult briefly with their coaches and advisers. Snorri, likewise, turned to the boys.

Archie squinted against the morning sun, studying the angle of the hill.
“Watch out for those gopher holes. There are a few patches of mud around the bottom of the hill, too, where your footing could get tricky. And you’re going to have the sun in your eyes.”

“Is it just me, or d
oes my boulder look bigger than everyone else’s?” Snorri asked in dismay.

Jake hesitated
, not wanting to upset him, but it did seem true. “Don’t worry about it. You can do this,” he assured him. “Just make sure to keep a good grip.”

“Slow and steady wins the day,” Archie added.

“He’s right. Don’t pay any attention to what anyone else is doing,” Jake advised. “Just focus on your own race.”

Snorri absorbed all their advice
with a nod, then tried a few different holds on his massive rock to find the best way to pick it up.

Other giants
all down the row were doing the same.

Gorm was glancing around at his competition with a cunning smirk. He seemed to be planning something.

Then the Master of Ceremonies blew the horn, calling the contestants to attention.

It
was time to begin.

“Good luck, Sno
rri!” the boys called, backing away. Snorri gave them a resolute nod.

“On your mark,”
the Master of Ceremonies intoned. “Get set…!”

The giants picked up their boulders.

“Go!”

A
loud horn blew and, suddenly, all the giants were in motion.

The ground
shook as they rushed across the green field in a pack. The boys struggled to stay upright in the earthquake of their pounding footsteps.

As the pack moved farther away,
Archie took his telescope out of his tool-bag and held it up to his eye, then passed it to Jake.

Snorri had a good grip on his boulder,
Jake observed, but unfortunately their large friend was already behind.

The
boys watched in concern, realizing only now that they had failed to warn him about how the
other
giants might behave.

For example, if the contestants
could manage to knock each other out of the competition by making one another drop their boulders, that was perfectly allowable within the rules.

Snorri
was
going a bit slower than his rivals, but maybe, Jake thought, that was for the best. His lagging behind spared him from getting caught up in the melee of giants trying to bash each other out of the competition as they ran.

The giants in the lead were ramming each other with their shoulders, tripping each other along the w
ay as they heaved their huge stones up the hill.

The peasants cheered wildly for their favorites. King Olaf was clapping and hooting for Gorm; in fact, rumor had it the King had wagered a fine sum of gold on Gorm to win.

As the hill grew steeper, each contestant had to work harder. The competitive knights and princes were growing desperate to win.

Jake could just imagine how all this must look from Princess Kaia’s viewpoint. A dozen red-faced, heaving giants marching up
the hill carrying boulders as big as carriages. Seeing them all rushing toward her must have been a slightly terrifying sight.

Prince Gorm was in the lead, but Jake peered through the telescope and saw one of the visiting knights pull even with him. The two were neck and neck.

Gorm glanced over angrily. Of course, he was not about to let anyone get ahead of him, so when his rival started to inch into the lead, Gorm stuck out his foot and tripped him.

The other giant roared and went down with a crash, dropping his boulder.

Jake and Archie gasped as the great rock began rolling back down the hill, plowing into other contestants, knocking them aside like gigantic bowling pins, and causing them to drop their stones, in turn.

Snorri was still marching along at the back, slow and st
eady, as Archie had advised. But in the confusion of loose rocks rolling by, and angry knights and princes chasing after them, he managed to pass several of his rivals.

The boys cheer
ed to see he was no longer in last place.

The giants who had
dropped their boulders in the chaos had to chase their escaping rocks downhill and start over again from the beginning.

But suddenly, catastrophe loomed.

A massive boulder that had gotten away from one of the players was rushing down the hill, heading straight for the group of giant children.

The giant boy,
Peter, and his friends and his little sisters were off playing apart from the main crowd of spectators. Engrossed in having their own junior version of the contest, they were not paying the slightest attention to the danger barreling down on them.

D
irectly in the path of the oncoming boulder, they were going to be smashed!

Jake saw Snorri hesitate as he, too, noticed
the danger. The path ahead of him to the hilltop and a possible victory was finally clear. From being in last place, he suddenly had a shot at winning!

B
ut as Snorri looked over at the giant children in jeopardy, he couldn’t help himself.

One of the giant mothers
screamed, spotting the disaster about to take place—but she was too far away to help.

Her scream jarred Snorri into action.

Jake and Archie stared in amazement as Snorri turned and ran, carrying his boulder sideways across the hill rather than straight up the slope toward Kaia.

He ran faster than they
ever would’ve thought he was able to; and
because
he was in the back, he was able to block the path of the approaching boulder before it struck the giant kids.

He arrived just in time a few feet in front of the rolling rock to plant his own boulder squarely in front of the oncoming one.

The two rocks collided, and the impact was so great that it shattered both of the great stones. Snorri threw up his arm to shield his face from the hail of gravel.

Pebbles rained down over him—
all that was left of his boulder—plus a few fist-sized chunks.

“He
saved them!” Archie exclaimed. “But what’s he going to do now? How can he finish the contest?”

Jake shook his head
grimly. “I don’t know,” he murmured.

“He’s going to be eliminated,” Archie said in worry.

Snorri seemed nonplussed. He looked at the ground, unsure of how to proceed, nor did he seem to hear the villagers cheering for him. He started picking up the pebbles and chunks and putting them in his hand so he could at least
try
to continue the contest.

Unfortunately,
it was already over. Gorm had won.

Setting his boulder
down at the top of the hill, Gorm snatched the flag out of Kaia’s hand and held it high, waving it back and forth like a proper champion.

B
ut because of the wind’s direction and his distance up the hill, it took a few seconds for him to hear the villagers booing him.

His
arrogant grin faded as the sound reached him.

“
Boo! Cheater! Look what you did, look at the trouble you caused!”

“We all saw you! Tho
se children could have died!”

“This was your fault!”

“Snorri should be the winner!” yelled one of the giant mothers, whose child he had saved.

Snorri looked over in surprise.

“He saved our lives!” Peter shouted. The other kids joined in, yelling their agreement.

“I’m s
orry, but rules are rules!” the Master of Ceremonies said. “All those who lost their boulders during the race are eliminated, including Snorri the Shepherd!”

“No
fair!” people yelled.

“Let Snorri stay in the tournament!”

“His rock is shattered! He didn’t complete the competition, therefore, he is disqualified!” the Master of Ceremonies insisted.

“Boo!”

The whole village began booing the Master of Ceremonies, and Gorm was beginning to look concerned.

Jake could understand why.
Based on what he’d overheard Gorm telling his followers at the feast last night, his sole reason for participating in the tournament was to become the next king. But Gorm desired the admiration of the people; he did not wish to start out his future reign by being despised by his own subjects.

“Snorri! Snorri! Snorri!” the people were now chanting.

Snorri looked around at them, rather dazed.

Gorm tried to hide the worried look on his face as he carried the flag back down the hill. The closer he came to the people, the more they jeered at him, making faces and blowing raspberries at him.

“Boo, Gorm! Cheater! We want Snorri! Let Snorri back in the contest!”

Gorm
did his best to ignore them and approached King Olaf, who was sitting in the shade of a striped canvas canopy. “Well done, champion,” said the king.

Gorm bowed in respect. “Thank you, sire.”

King Olaf’s gaze trailed across the booing crowd. “Our people don’t sound happy.”

“Sire,” Prince Gorm said
loudly, making sure the people heard him and realized how generous he was. “As the winner of the first round, I would like to request that the shepherd be allowed to continue in the contest—even though he ought to be disqualified, according to the rules. Perhaps we can show mercy, under the circumstances,” Gorm said with a grand flourish.

The people stopped booing to hear the king’s response.

“Snorri did have a good reason for his failure,” the king admitted. “But perhaps now the shepherd sees that this is a contest for warriors! Now that he’s seen for himself the deadly seriousness of our endeavor, maybe he would be glad to be freed from it. Round Two will be even worse than this—the test of courage does involve a dragon, after all.” King Olaf looked skeptically at Snorri, expecting cowardice, perhaps. “Shepherd, you have done a noble thing today. But do you really wish to continue?”

Snorri had
a hapless look on his face, a crestfallen slump to his shoulders. He did not look at all enthusiastic about facing down a dragon.

Surely he was tempted to seize
this dignified out he had been offered and flee back to the safety of his farm.

But
then he glanced at the people who were cheering for him, probably for the first time in his life. He frowned mistrustfully at Gorm and glanced up the hill at Princess Kaia. “Yes, Your Majesty,” he answered bravely. “I’ll continue, if you will allow me.”

The crowd cheered.

“Done! And you may thank Prince Gorm for his magnanimity,” King Olaf added, nodding at his favorite.

Snorri did not appear to have the least idea what magnanimity meant, and for that matter, neither did Jake.

If Dani were here, she could’ve told him. He rather wished she were, for the carrot head would not have believed her eyes at all this. Meanwhile, Princess Kaia beamed to hear that Snorri was still in the running. The first round of the contest for her hand in marriage was over, and against all odds, her one true ally had at least managed not to get himself killed.

The M
aster of Ceremonies ordered the field to be cleared. Everyone would take a break for lunch, and then the second round of the tournament would continue in the afternoon.