The Path of Giants by B.T. Narro (best novels to read .txt) 📕

before I met Hadley, or just because she was adorable, but I couldn’t look at her without feeling like I wanted to bundle her up in my arms. She was a small girl in stature, completely hidden in the fabric of her many layers. I didn’t bother trying to keep myself from feeling an attraction. The only thing I could not do was act upon it…unless I was given a clear sign.

The biggest surprise was when I found Aliana gazing at me as well, and it was in her curious look that I realized that my heroic act must’ve done something to change the way these girls looked at me. Or their attention might’ve had to do with how my shirt had come off while all my muscles were engorged from use, sweat glistening.

I kind of liked the attention, but I was uncomfortable with it at the same time. It made me feel too aware of myself, of how I might look riding my horse right now. I had to itch my nose, but I felt inclined not to. I had this annoying pressure to keep up this heroic persona. I didn’t want that. I just wanted to be myself.

So I told myself I would ignore it, and hoped I could stick to it.

The sun was starting to set by the time we made it to Koluk. We hadn’t seen Gourfist since Souriff had led him deep into the forest and beyond our vision. I figured he would soon be asleep again if he wasn’t already.

I looked forward to seeing Michael, speaking with Remi, and I even looked forward to talking with Leon. It had been a long time since I had done so. Jennava was someone I had never gotten to know very well, but it would be nice to see her, nonetheless. Everyone else in our group was already with me. We would finally be together again, though I had hoped it would be under better circumstances.

There was no wall around Koluk, no guards around to question anyone entering. We merely took the eastern path into the city, and I soon found myself in a very unfamiliar place. I had been to Koluk once before, to meet Jennava and discuss strategy regarding the group of sorcerers and soldiers coming from Rohaer that we later defeated. But it had been dark, and I had sneaked in from Curdith Forest to the south, not ridden in on the main path into the city.

The streets of Koluk were twisty. The buildings were small and strangely put together in that their sizes didn’t match up very well. Some extended far along the street, but their ceilings were barely taller than I sat on my horse. Others were three stories tall but standing with a bit of a lean as if they might fall over. There were beggars on the street who looked as if they had given up on actively begging a long time ago. They simply lay on the dirt with a bowl beside them.

Aliana had a note from the king, sealed. Before the bout with Gourfist, Nykal had told her to give it to Leon without reading it. When I wasn’t curious about the thoughts of the girls looking at me, I was wondering about this note. We dismounted at the only familiar place to me so far, the Groovewater Tavern where I had met Jennava, and I watched Aliana pull the note out of her pocket soon after we entered.

“You still can’t feel Gourfist anymore?” Charlie asked her nervously.

“He’s asleep.” Aliana had told him this a few times now, and she was starting to sound irritated.

“You’re sure?”

“I’m sure.”

“Relax, Charlie,” Reuben said. “I can also feel that he’s asleep.”

I wasn’t sure if Charlie believed Reuben as he glanced at the noble and then back at Aliana. I didn’t bother wondering whether Reuben was putting on a show for Charlie, for the rest of us, or he was actually telling the truth. It wouldn’t matter unless I needed to rely on his tracking skill, but we had Aliana for that.

“He’s asleep,” Aliana told Charlie definitively when she noticed him still waiting for her to answer. “We have other things to worry about now.”

The last time I’d entered this tavern, it must’ve been close to midnight. I had thought it to be closed, the lights out, the main floor seemingly empty. Jennava had grabbed me from behind and pushed me against the wall, if I recalled correctly. I think she might’ve even held a knife against me.

I had not seen that version of Jenna since then. She had been demanding, desperate to get the king’s aid. Most of the time in the castle she was more calm, even sporting a smile.

Right now, the tavern was busy. Musicians played, patrons drank. It almost felt like a celebration was going on, but then I realized this was just a normal evening at any tavern. It was the contrast to everything that had happened that made it feel like more.

Many of the patrons stared at the lot of us passing through, but no one said anything. We started to pass through the main serving area when Aliana yelled.

“Michael, get over here!” she ordered.

Michael, mug in hand, appeared shocked as he turned to us. He had been speaking with one of the serving girls, a small young woman with dark hair. Her laughter from their conversation quickly faded as she turned and hurried off to the kitchen. Meanwhile, Michael looked at Aliana for a moment, then back at the serving girl as if to say something, but she was already gone.

Michael had short black hair and dark eyes, but there was a friendliness to his awkward, toothy smile. He had a sense of humor that seemed to demand to be let out, even in inopportune times, and I felt like I could see it on his face whenever I looked at him. He was about the same height as Reuben and me, a little taller than