adjusted, I saw we were where the grassy palace gardens ended, and the paved, pearly-stone passages began, and stretched through the open palace gates into the circular city below. Horses were grazing in the distance, and among them were our steeds, including Amabel.
Before any of us could ask the king what we were doing here, the earth shook again, this time with what sounded like—advancing steps?
I didn’t need to wonder long as a massive man appeared through the gates.
Jon might be gigantic for a man, but this was a real giant.
Even I felt his thudding steps in my bones, until he came to a stop before the platform, towering above us, blocking out the sun. I could barely see his coarse features within his silhouette against it.
“Theseus,” the giant bellowed. “I’ve given you enough time to get your affairs in order. Now the time has come for you to give me my bride!”
My gaze swung to Princess Erytheia. Gone was all her regal composure, and she looked ready to bolt.
Theseus placed a placating hand on hers, before he rose to his feet. “You’re right, Akropos. But you’ll have to partake in our tradition of wrestling the eldest male of the bride’s household first. If you win, you carry my sister up to your home in the mountains.”
Princess Erytheia quailed as Akropos advanced, eyeing her greedily. “Let’s do this, then. I will crush you.”
Theseus grinned mischievously up at him. “Unfortunately, with me being the king, that’s not an option. But I will nominate a proxy.” He pointed at Jon. “Him.”
Akropos the giant didn’t give any of us a chance to react, before he descended on Jon with a terrifying roar.
Jon hit the paved ground with a slam that made my own phantom ribs hurt.
Akropos stomped down his foot. A second before having his head squashed, Jon rolled out of the way, springing back up, hands held up in front of his face in a boxing parry. The giant swung at his head, but Jon ducked to the side before jumping to throw his own punch.
It landed on Akropos’s chin with enough of an impact to throw him off balance. Jon followed up with a barrage of punches to the giant’s gut, what I felt would have brought an oak down. They did make Akropos stumble back and crash to the stone-paved ground with an earth-shaking thud.
Jon charged his opponent, not giving him a chance to get up, plowing into his ribs with fists and feet. The giant crawled away, straining as he propped his hands on the grass, his blood vessels rising up against his skin, as thick as the roots of a small tree. Then he sprang back to his feet, catching Jon in a headlock.
We all cried out, each no doubt thinking he’d snap Jon’s neck. But Jon twisted the giant’s arm away, before jumping up to slam his forehead against Akropos’s nose. Bright red blood sprayed from his nostrils.
At Robin’s and Will’s raucous cheers, I looked at them, bewildered. “What are you cheering for? It’s not like he knocked him out.”
“Drawing first blood is a good sign,” Robin said excitedly. “It means whatever you’re fighting can be defeated.”
The giant reached for Jon’s throat again with a roar, but Jon only tore his hand away, and pulled his fingers apart violently. As Akropos bellowed in pain, I finally realized the struggle was, shockingly, not evenly matched. In Jon’s favor. Jon was the far better fighter, and he was a lot stronger than I’d given him credit for.
Jon soon had Akropos on all fours in a chokehold, and nothing the giant did budged his grip. The giant looked like he was about to pass out, strained again, and the veins in both his legs and arms popped out like earlier. Suddenly, he tore himself from Jon’s chokehold, and clamped his own hands around his throat. Jon gasped for breath, his attempts to escape the giant’s grip failing completely this time. I clearly knew nothing about fighting, and had severely miscalculated his chances.
“No!” Will yelled furiously. “How did he do that?”
“He’s cheating somehow!” Robin shouted, as angry and terrified for their friend.
“The only one cheating here is the king, when he pit Jon against something so large, he barely reaches his shoulder,” I hissed. “He put him in a fight he can’t win!”
“Jon was winning,” Robin growled. “Size doesn’t win fights, maneuvers do. And Jon had found out the giant’s weaknesses, was taking full advantage of them, until just moments ago.”