The Story of Toth and the Giants

"In the days of our Ancestors""After the ship crashed""After the those returned from cursed Tower""And the High Places""The people learned to love their new land"   "(Some of their ways are our ways,""Others have been lost""When the Ancestors disappeared East)"   "Some loved it more than others""Restlessness ruled in those hearts""And the desire to know what Si-Ban (the lost one) had seen atop the Tower""And in the High Places"   "Many stories circulated""Most believed they were Giants""For great shapes had played across the lit smoke in the night"   "So a group of our Ancestors organized""an expedition down the coast""In small new boats""Built to catch Waachi"   "Celem journeyed along his path many times""Before a small number returned""It took twice as long for them to recount all what they had seen…"   "When the group came upon the High Places""The Tower still stood—""But they saw no fires at its top""No sounds of drums either""The land was deserted""So a few scaled to the top""And returned promptly"   "The top had been swept plain""By the wind""The only sound heard from that now lonely place"   "A group of our Ancestors""Decided to journey up into the High Places""To see what was there""Another to take the boats further along the coast"   "They would return""When Celem had passed the place twelve times"   "On Celem’s twelfth pass""The boats returned""Full of what they had seen—"   "An island –a paradise of exuberant vegetation""That one could perceive""Even from the distance—its beauty was so overwhelming""That the group spent the whole time left with Celem""Staring at it"   "Then a storm rose up""A fine powder filled the air""Making it impossible to see""And nearly to breathe"   "It blew the boats""Scattered them around the sea""Some nearly to destruction against the rocks"   "When the air finally cleared""The island was gone from view""The time had grown short""Those in the boats decided to return""To find their kin and bring them to the Island"   "But those who went into the mountains""Could not be found"   "Celem passed by three times""Some declared – it was time to move on""--that the Giants who use the tower had eaten the group""And soon would return"   "Some were ablaze with desire""To return to the island""Others to go home""Only one – Toth – the smallest""known for his bravery""And his unbreakable spirit""Said they should go find the lost ones in the mountains""And slay the Giants who had taken them"   "His companions laughed""--Why should we die too? They said""--Be killed or worse?"   "And so a Great Dispute broke out amongst them""Whether to pass on for the island""Or to return to their homes"   "Never had an argument been so fierce amongst our Ancestors""Desire drove those mad""--who wanted to go to the island""Fear and a fierce longing to return inspired the others"   "The Dispute disgusted Toth""He could not believe what came over his kin""To make them forget their companions"   "--The true Valor of the Zem is not demonstrated by obtaining what is Easy""He declared""--but in pursuing what is impossible""--Therefore I will go to the mountains, for I wish to find my companions""Who are lost""And, if possible, see and overcome a Giant"   "This slowed the Great Dispute""For without exception they loved Toth""Like only brother know how to"   "They knew Toth was quick and tenacious""But he was no match for one bigger than he""Much less a Giant"   "They all wished him well and themselves separated""Some for the island""Others for home"   "It was these few who brought the story of the expedition home"   "They spoke of the Tower""Of the Giants""Of the glorious island""Some said it had never been there""But only existed as a dream""The wishes of a body addled by the sun"   "It is said that when Toth separated from his brothers""That he made a fire""By the sea""An offering to Celem""And to burn away his fears"   "Thus prepared he climbed into the High Places""In search of his companions"   "His search took him to all the canyons, valleys""To every High Place and""To every hidden low place between""Toth looked until he consumed all his food""Drinking from the pools of water that sometimes collected in the rocks""And found no trace of his lost companions""Nor of the Giants"   "Forced by necessity to leave""He headed towards where Celem rises each morning""Once on the plain he journeyed along the High Places inland""Hoping for a sign"   "He lived well off the peaceful land""And was never in danger""But his frustration grew""--for nowhere were there signs of Giants""Nor of the disappeared"   "He travelled far to the north""To where it is cold""When Celem sleeps""This surprised Toth""Who had to seek out shelter in a cave"   "It was the first time""Toth tasted real Fear""The kind that makes the teeth chatter""The skin to turn cold""And the soul to shudder"   "But his cave was small""Too small for a Giant""So he lit a fire and""Fell fast asleep"   "Deep in his slumber""Toth saw a Giant""Waiting alone""At the base of the High Places""With great feeling he cried""His screams rebounding off the canyon walls""He was waiting for his Love to return from the sky"   "Like a slap in the face Toth awoke""The screams weren’t just in his dream""At the mouth of the cave""A great creature, covered in hair""With bulbous eyes and folds of skin""Flopping around fierce teeth""Clawed past his fire to get him"   "Rapidly Toth produced his Wakat""To stab the creature""Not accustomed to struggle""The beast flew into a rage""Bashing the walls of the cave with his paws""Stamping the ground""He bellowed""And approached Toth"   "Despite bloody cuts from the Wakat""The beast shoved Toth to the wall""Toth sent a mighty blow from his blade""Which hit the wall and broke into pieces"   "Reaching out, the beast grasped Toth""Pulled him into a deathly embrace""Toth prepared for the End""Fought with what was left of the Wakat"   "The beast let fly a howl""Lost his grasp of Toth""For the piece of blade had pierced him""Cut his heart""Toth grabbed his blade""And with a mighty strike""Dispatched the beast"   "When Celem rose up Toth surveyed his dead enemy""From the beast’s skin he made a cloak""To fight off the cold""He departed from the cave""Bellowing to the Giants to come find him""For fear had left him for good."   "Toth continued his search in the High Places""And learned many things""About the wolves who howled at night""About the Eagles who lived on high""And visited the Gods in the air"   "He also learned some secrets of the mountains""Of the rocks that were stronger than flint stone""From these he fashioned a new blade""Short and straight""And repaired his wakat"   "Toth crossed and re-crossed the High Places""Until finally he came to a river""That cut the tall peaks in two""And flowed in the direction Celem travelled"   "Toth followed the river’s path till it came to a tall cliff""And leapt off into an abyss"   "But Toth didn’t watch the water on its journey""He saw the plain beyond the High Places""It stetched for leagues upon leagues""Till it reached the point where Celem disappeared"   "Dry and barren""A harsh wind blew across this land""But its beauty stole Toth’s heart""And he decided that he had found where to remain"   "Toth at first gave up his hunt""He built a dwelling with rocks and trees""Practiced hunting and fishing""Found vegetation to eat""And explored his new world""Meditating on the vast space""And the world beneath Celem"   "But soon his thoughts returned to the Giants""The dream returned in his sleep""And haunted him when Celem ruled the sky""--It must be true – he thought""The Giants awaited their lovers""In agony at the base of the High Places"   "So he founded a plan""To create the form of a Giant""Looking up to the sky – so as to attract one into his camp""He could then slay it""Or trapping it""Find answers to his many questions"   "He began his immense task""By finding a rounded hill""Made of soft rock"   "Every day he cut at the rock""With tools he formed from the High Places"   "He rose before Celem did and returned""Just as Celem left the sky""And every journey brought him a little closer""To creating his Giant"   "After two cycles (in which we Shinse measure the progress of time – 400 times Celem passes by on his eternal journey)""Toth finished a form""15 times his height""And many times around""Cut out of the hill""Sat a giant with flowing hair""And arms outstretched""In a silent scream to heaven"   "Meditating upon his work""Toth realized he no longer cared to see""A real Giant""But, satisfied with his new home""With the work of his hands""And his way of life""He would now leave it behind""To find others amongst his kin to join him in it"   "He prepared for his journey""Closed up his dwelling""Put up enough food to sustain him the long way""Staying a day to bid his Giant good bye"   "It was while beholding the work of his hands""That Toth noticed them for the first time""A long line of travelers""Making their slow way across the steppe""From where Celem goes to sleep"   "As they approached Toth realized""They were not his brethren""But a strange folk""Of great stature""Dressed in black""With long hoods that hid their faces"   "His heart filled with darkness""For somehow he knew""That though not Giants""These were the people he had sought""The people behind his companions disappearance""The ones who dwelled on the tower""And haunted the dreams of our Ancestor’s children"   "They moved as if in a trance""No step seemed out of place""They used beasts""To carry their belongings""Creatures that looked like Toth’s enemy in the cave"   "As they approached Toth""They created a half circle""Lined up arm to arm""Looking inward""The silence created a feeling in Toth""Of despair"   "But he did not show it""Straight he stood""His pack on his back""And a wakat in each hand""He was strong""And Wild, Celem had made his skin hard""The Steppe had made his eyes sharp""He was ready""The visitors began to raise their arms""As one living creature""They moved inward""Each step""Brought the circle in tighter"   "Toth felt it in his toes first""Then in his hands""A coldness""Accompanied by a stiffness""His body no longer obeyed him""He let out a yell""So powerful it shook the air""But he could not move"   "The coldness advanced into his face""Covered his eyes""Brought a living darkness""A wakeful sleeping""And dreams"   "At first Toth saw his homeland""The misty forest""His people about their business""And the sea"   "Then images ripped out others""The tower""The High Places""And the Island""He saw faces of his comrades""The great dispute"   "The images moved more rapidly""As they leapt""before his eyes""Toth realized he no longer could remember""What had gone on before"   "The desert has a stillness""It penetrates so deep into the soul""That the soul no longer knows its name""So it was with Toth""But this stillness was a weapon"   "He watched the visitors make preparations""Around him""As if he were not there""They stretched out a covering""That became a dwelling""Rolled great drums off the weary beasts""All without making a sound"   "Then Celem went to his rest""The visitors created their own light""Everywhere it shone""And then it began"   "A quiet sound that grew""In complexity""As well as strength""The visitors pounded on their drums""And brought the lights""towards Toth"   "Toth felt the heat from afar""Like a pain from a dream""But in what was left of his soul""He could sense it was the end"   "The drumming intensified""Until it was no longer merely the drums""But Skara herself""Beating a rhythm"   "Skara’s rhythm grew stronger""It overcame the visitors""For it had not come from them""And it shook Toth back to himself"   "Amidst the chaos""Caused by Skara""Toth let loose with his weapons""Caused havoc with each wakat""Exacting revenge"   "He cut the beasts free""He sliced and hacked at the visitors""Tore their black cloaks""His heel smashing those who fell to the ground""Toth’s rage knew no bounds""Countless fell by his hands"   "Then""Swiftly as it had come""Skara was silent""She shook no more""Though the High Places still rumbled"   "Toth’s rage subsided""And he realized""The very earth had given him a chance""To escape"   "So he ran""Away from that place""From the statue""From the visitors""From death itself"   "He crossed the High Places""And before Celem rose in his glory""Toth was on the other side""Making his way home"   "It was not many of Celem’s trips""Before Toth arrived to the misty forest""And the sea""At their first glimpse Toth knelt""And wept with joy"   "Our Ancestors at first""Did not know him""With great fear they looked on the wild man""Covered in a fur cloak""And stained in a strange blood"   "The Toth spoke""--Zem, It is I, Toth""Who left from the tower in search of missing brothers""And the Giants that slayed them""I am here now to declare"   "--I have found those who slayed our brothers""But they are not Giants.""They have come from the land where Celem Sleeps""And with your help""We might rid ourselves of them"   "With grave wonder""Our Ancestors listened to Toth""They made their mind as one""To commit to a hunt""The first war"   "A great company of warriors, male and female""Followed Toth to the High Places""They fashioned new Wakats""Like his""And learnt to deliver""swift blows with them"   "Toth led the warriors across""To the waterfall""His old home""There by the statue of the Giant""Lay the signs of the battle""But none of the visitors in black"   "Our Ancestors were overcome""By the steppe""And by the place Toth had learned to call home.""Seeing no battle was immediately at hand""Each went his way""To explore and discover the new land"   "When Celem went to his rest""The warriors gathered by the statue""Toth felt the same uneasiness in his heart""Haunted""his memory of the battle kept him quiet and alert"   "Late into the dark time""Toth kept watch""While his fellow warriors""took their rest"   "That was when he heard it""The sound of the drums""Far off in the darkness""Then the drums stopped""And out of the darkness they attacked"   "Our Ancestors suffered heavily""That night""The deliberate visitors moved swiftly""Made no noise""And carried strong weapons made with the material""Toth used to build the wakat"   "In their circles the visitors""Created the power that had imprisoned Toth""Many it overcame""Except the female warriors""These feeling nothing""Of the coldness""Fought bravely and killed many"   "When Celem awoke""The battlefield lay strewn""With bodies of Our Ancestors""And the visitors."   "Amongst them lay Toth""Surrounded by dead enemy visitors""He was cut and bloodied""Almost beyond telling it was he"   "Our Ancestors had prevailed""But at great cost""For every three who left our home""One still stood"   "If some had survived of the visitors""They had left""For whence they came"   "Our Ancestors built a settlement there""But many did not stay""Instead they returned""To the soft life of the misty forest"   "They buried Toth and honored him""Raised a great pillar""Where he had died"   "It was not the last""Our Ancestors had seen""Of the visitors in black"---

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