We decided to return the next day, refreshed and rejuvenated despite nearly falling to our deaths the day before.
Yes, we came back—because we realized we were improving. Their combat had been the sharpest I'd ever seen, and if those wraiths taught us anything, it was to always stay alert.
A great lesson.
As we entered Wiz's house, he greeted us with a wide smile.
"Welcome, Talos Party! Thank you for coming. You know, I used to be in a party once."
"Really?" Talos asked.
"Yes, of course."
"So this is a part of that 'long story' you said was for another time?" I asked.
"Yes. You've probably already guessed, but… we disbanded because I started experimenting with fairy magic. I got shunned, lost everything, and now I live here."
That wasn't very long of a story. But, I had already come to that conclusion.
"Now, about the Land of Giants," Alva cut in.
"Wow, still so quest-focused. What about me? You don't want to hear more? I was a Great Wizard, after all."
I did want to know more—but I didn't even know where to begin. Too many gaps, too many missing pieces.
We stood there in silence.
"I really thought we were friends…" Wiz said, his voice suddenly morose.
"Anyway," he snapped back to life, "before the orcs take over Runeveil, I wanted to get some last-minute—"
"Wait, what? What do you mean 'take over'?" Talos interrupted.
"You don't know about the Orc King's refusal to abdicate?" Wiz asked.
"We do. But what do you mean by 'take over'?"
"They're planning to siege the Beastarian Kingdom soon. A little birdie told me." He glanced over at Mr. Feathersworth.
This was definitely news to us. We'd known a confrontation was inevitable, but we never had an exact timeframe. Now whatever time we thought we had just got cut down.
"We'll have to make this quick," Talos said, looking at the rest of us.
"Oh, you're planning to… well, best of luck to you," Wiz said.
"Thank you. So what do you need us to get for you?" Talos asked.
"Papa seeds. Three or four is sufficient. My friend—if you can call her that—is a gardener in the Land of Giants. One of her plants, the papa plant, sprouts in mere minutes but is highly sought after by the critter creatures. That's why people rarely plant them: too much trouble."
"What do you mean by 'critter creatures'?" Alva asked.
"Bugs. Giant bugs," Wiz answered.
Great, more bugs.
"So they don't have pesticides there?" I asked.
"Giants are quite friendly, but they are rather simple beings. Today, you're the pesticide."
"So what kind of bugs are we talking about?" Alva asked.
"Oh, just your regular ones. Ants, flies, more ants. A lot of ants."
"Okay, but hang on—how would he plant them without seeds? Can't he just give them to us directly?"
"Keen one, aren't you? Their world works differently than ours. Remember, this is a different realm. For papa plants, you plant the fruit in order for it to grow. The seeds are what you're after. Those eventually grow into the fruits. Don't think too hard about it—trust me, I've tried rationalizing. With realm travel, it's best to leave reason at home."
"So we're just defending a plant for a few minutes, waiting for seeds to drop or something?" I asked.
"Exactly. Oh, and one more rule—don't eat them. You just fight. Mr. Feathersworth will handle the rest."
"Can we touch them?" Alva asked.
"Of course," Wiz replied.
"Got it," Talos said. "Everyone ready?"
I wasn't really ready, but I nodded anyway. Every new experience so far had sharpened us as a party, and if we wanted to be the best, we had to take on quests like this.
Wiz raised his staff, and the portal shimmered open. On the other side stretched an enormous green leaf.
I took a deep breath and followed Mr. Feathersworth and the rest of the party inside.
We pushed past the leaf and stepped into an expansive rustic kitchen, its stone walls and wooden beam ceiling towering around us. Plants of every color were sprawled and hanging all around the kitchen.
A gigantic woman stood with her back to us, dressed in a dark blue rustic gown with a white apron tied neatly at her waist. Her long blonde hair was woven into a thick braid that trailed down her back.
It took a moment for my brain to catch up. When Wiz said "land of the giants," I imagined something troll-sized, maybe a bit larger—but this world was so immeasurably vast that I couldn't even find the words to measure it.
It felt as though we had shrunk to the size of ants.
I glanced at my party. Their jaws hung open, mirroring my own awe.
Then the smell hit me—fresh fruit, herbs, and the meat that I assumed the woman was cooking.
Sunlight streamed through the massive window as the giant woman hummed softly, the meat sizzling on the stove.
We turned to Mr. Feathersworth, this time waiting more patiently than he had in the Skylands, as if he sensed we needed a little more time here.
He fluttered along the wooden countertop and stopped at a dusty, hollowed-out bull horn hanging on the wall.
Hopping down to the floor beneath it, he turned to us and pressed his wings over both sides of his head. We quickly followed his example, covering our ears.
Then he squawked into the end of the horn—
and a thunderous, booming blast reverberated through the kitchen.
"Oh my!" The woman jumped, startled, and spun around.
"More of you, oh joy!" She lifted the meat from the stove and began to walk toward us, each step making the entire room tremble.
As she approached, she pulled a clear crystal from a cabinet and bent low. Her massive blue eyes peered through it.
"It's been too long! Hello, little persons!"
I know she didn't mean it that way, but it still felt a little derogatory.
We waved awkwardly.
"Oh, how fancy you all look—by golly!" she said with a laugh.
We stared up at her, helpless, like prey cornered by a predator. And even though every signal from her was warm and kind—and I instantly trusted her—there was still that voice in the back of my mind reminding me she could crush us with ease if she wished.
But this isn't that type of story, as you know by now.
"Hey there, Mr. Feathersworth! It sure has been a while, hasn't it?" she said.
The bird tipped his little hat, caught it in his beak, and placed it back on his head.
"So, did Blue Wizard Man send you here for more papa seeds?"
We nodded.
"I'll grab the fruit, then take you to the garden," she said, turning to leave.
As she disappeared into the other room, I glanced at my party.
We were still waiting, speechless.
"Oh, and you can call me Polly," she called, suddenly reappearing. She was back with a pink fruit in one hand, her other palm held out to us.
"Come on," she said.
We climbed onto her hand, and she carried us through the house. Passing room after room, I couldn't help thinking how impossibly massive everything was from our size.
A whole living society in this realm was impossible to wrap my head around.
Was this trip going to give me a newfound respect for insects?
No.
But it was something to think about.
She opened a door, and sunlight blazed in. Outside was her fenced garden, filled with plants that to us looked like towering trees. Polly stopped at an empty patch of dirt and lowered her hand, letting us step down.
"I'll plant it right here. Then you can get ready," Polly said, digging a hole in the ground before us.
"Alright — defend the plant and collect the poisonous seeds," Talos said at last, pulling our focus back to the goal.
"Yeah, sure, sure — but am I the only one freaked out of my own skin?" Alva said. "This is crazy!"
"No, you're not. We all are. But if we want to get this done and leave, we've got to focus," Talos said.
"Wiz said there'd be flies and a lot of ants. Alva, you handle the flies. Talos and Uri, take the ants," I said.
They nodded.
"For this quest, I might need to use enhancement spells on you guys. I'll call it out before I do, so be ready."
"Alright, you ready?" Polly asked, pulling the clear crystal from her pocket and peering at us through it.
We nodded.
She patted the last bit of dirt over the fruit and stepped back, giving us space.
"Okay. I'll stay here and watch. Be careful."
"A few minutes. We just need three or four seeds."
We took our positions around the freshly covered dirt. As we waited, Uri pointed. "Look." A green stem pushed through the soil, slowly stretching taller.
We scanned the area for movement.
"Over there!" Uri called. In his direction, large black ants were marching toward us.
"Here we go," Talos said. He started forward, then caught himself, remembering the plant behind us.
As the ants closed in, Talos slashed one across the abdomen, staggering it before knocking it aside. Uri stabbed rapidly, but his blade bounced off their tough skin.
Flies began to swarm in, and Alva fired upward, picking them out of the air one by one.
The ants kept coming, and I knew we needed to shift tactics.
Then it clicked.
"Uri, go for their appendages!" I shouted.
"Smart!" he shouted, hacking through legs and antennae. The ones he couldn't reach, Talos chopped down with a few heavy swings.
I glanced back—the plant was already taller than we were. Behind us, Polly lay on her stomach, peering through her crystal, calmly observing the fight.
As the plant grew, more and more bugs swarmed us.
Alva kept firing at the flies, Uri incapacitated several ants, and Talos smashed through them in wide, sweeping strikes.
But the longer it went on, the fiercer the swarm became. No longer focused only on the plant, the bugs turned their attention on us.
Alva struggled to keep up as the flies multiplied. Occasionally an ant would sneak in a bite on Uri, and I healed him quickly.
Still, the sheer number of bugs was becoming overwhelming.
It was time.
"Talos — simple strength!" I cast on him.
"Thanks!" he roared as his body ignited red, each swing now cleaving through ants in a single blow.
"Uri, speed!" I called. In an instant, his body flared with a white hue as he darted across the battlefield, weaving between ants and cutting them down with swift efficiency, each strike slipping past their counterattacks.
"Alva — simple haste!" I shouted.
"Yeah!" he cheered as his hands shimmered blue, blurring with rapid motion as he loosed arrows faster than ever. Flies fell in droves.
At this pace, I knew his quiver would soon run dry, so I began preemptively conjuring more arrows for him.
I watched as my party absolutely decimated the bugs by the dozens.
Enhancement spells were the difference-maker.
Now having a little breather, I looked back at the plant — it looked nearly fully grown.
"We're almost there, guys!" I called, watching the plant stretch taller.
I made sure Alva's quiver never ran empty, continually conjuring arrows for him. I occasionally sent healing over Uri and Talos, mending any small injuries they might've picked up.
Another minute passed before the first papa seed dropped to the ground behind me. I scooped it up in both hands and set it aside.
The bugs started to retreat.
Had the plant fully grown?
Two more seeds fell, and then the swarm stopped coming altogether.
"We did it," I said.
The others collapsed to the ground, utterly exhausted.
"I think that was the most fun I've ever had fighting," Alva said, still sprawled on the ground.
"Me too!" Uri agreed.
"I agree," Talos added.
I'd be lying if I said I didn't agree, too. I realized two things: this was by far the most chaotic quest we'd ever had, and it was also the most fun I'd ever had in my life.
I dispelled the enhancements from them, then turned to collect the papa seeds. Dozens had fallen, and the plant had already withered.
What a strange ecology.
As I gathered four seeds, Mr. Feathersworth waddled over, cawed once, and opened a portal back to Wiz's house.
We were about to step through when Polly's voice boomed behind us.
"Wait!" She hurried closer. "That was amazing! You all fight so well—your teamwork is incredible! Could you help me with a problem I've been having? It's been bothering me for a while, and you seem like the perfect solution. And I'll feed ya!"
We looked at her, then at each other.
"The more we fight here, the better prepared we'll be for the orcs," Talos said.
We all agreed without hesitation.
We couldn't say yes to everything if we wanted to continue our journey—but no matter how mind-bendingly strange this realm was, I was starting to like it. This yes was easy.
And what's a journey without detours?
Detours are the journey.
Mr. Feathersworth seemed to understand, carrying the seeds into the portal, cawing through at Wiz to inform him, then fluttering back out, closing it behind him.
We all turned our attention to Polly.
"Oh, wonderful!" she said, bringing her palm toward us. "You won't regret it. I'll make you the best food you've ever had!"
As she carried us back toward her house, I felt a jumble of curiosity and nervous excitement. I wished we could ask her questions, but somehow I already knew this next quest would be even more fun than the last.
And free food was always a plus.