A Sleeping Giant?

Have you ever heard the phrase "Don't wake the sleeping giant"? The phrase refers to poking something larger than yourself. Most people hear phrases like this all the time, but they don't really think about them much. Me, I was different. Ever since I heard that phrase as a kid I had thought about it.

It's not like it was the only thing on my mind, but it definitely took up space in my internal filing cabinet. It was constantly at the back of my mind. I finally turned 25, and I still thought about it. I got a job after university. Still that one phrase stuck with me. "What was the sleeping giant?"

You might call me crazy. You might call me insane, but one day my coworkers told me about the legend of the sleeping giant in the mountains. I just had to go and see it for myself, so that's why I went.

It was a cold December night. The wind was howling and threatening to push me over. The snow had yet to descend on the mountain top, but the chill was biting at my exposed neck. "I should have brought a scarf. I thought this thick jacket would be plenty…"

I looked down at my thick brown fur coat. My breath came out as a visible mist. "Damn it's freezing, but the legend says the giant only hibernates here in the winter months."

The wind blew harder as I climbed higher. I was wheezing from the cold and the lower pressure. My lungs were on fire, but I had to keep going. My younger self would never forgive me if I stopped now.

I tracked on even as the incline grew steeper. It had become so dark that I couldn't make out the trail in front of me anymore. I pulled out my phone to light the way, but as I pressed the power button the only thing to pop up was the dead battery symbol. In small letters beneath that it simply said "charge your phone".

"Damn, I am an idiot!" I kept trying to turn it on, but soon even the symbol wouldn't show up anymore. My phone was done for, but just as my hope for even a faint light was beginning to vanish, I saw an orange hue further up the mountain. "There is light up there!"

Despite my burning lungs and the wheezing, I ran. I ran as fast as my legs could carry me. The cold bit further into my neck like a creature of the night. I ran as the hue grew and grew. After turning around a bend. It was before me. "The cave of the sleeping giant…"

I whispered the words into the large cave. It was tall enough for two semis to fit stacked on top of each other. The width was bigger than a California highway, or at least half of one. What startled me the most though, was the fact that the orange light was coming from within.

On the walls going further down there were torches. They looked rather old. The sconces were black, and the light coming from them was dim. They seemed to go down forever. What's more was that the cave had steps. The steps weren't giant sized; rather, they were human sized. Even those seemed to go down forever. "There is no way a giant would live down there. What kind of person would even…"

The better part of me told me that my quest would be over here. By all rights I should have known it was a mission failure, but I was curious. My curiosity had completely won me over.

I steeled myself. With my heart pounding loudly in my chest I took the first steps down. I instantly wanted to retreat. The first steps had echoed further in. "Why am I so loud?"

Even my whisper was pulled into the place, and as it reverberated I covered my mouth. There would be no more speaking from me. I still had a chance to flee, but I braved my fear, taking more unsteady steps.

Before I knew it I had descended into an abyss. I placed a foot down one after the other. I never turned back around. I had no phone. I had no watch. I couldn't tell you how long my descent lasted, but eventually the steps were no more.

Only when I reached the bottom did I finally turn around, but when I looked up, I couldn't even see the exit. There had to be at least a thousand steps, but it was hard to know for sure. This all was beyond real. If a human made this, surely everyone would have known about it. In that case, there would be no "legend of the sleeping giant".

After ruminating on that thought for a bit, I turned back to the large hallway in front of me. It was long, and at the end I could faintly make out a large black door. Everything was screaming at me to run from here.

My legs were shivering. I couldn't tell if it was the cold or the fear that was causing it. My teeth chattered away causing an annoying echo which only fed into my building dread. I clenched the coat tighter around myself as I walked forward.

The door grew larger and larger. The hallway was suffocating me from all sides. When I finally reached the large black door, I wanted to collapse to my knees and cry. The door didn't have any patterns, but above it on either side there were mounted bats. They matched the door, but they seemed to be polished. I couldn't tell what they were made of from this distance. Was it obsidian? Was it marble? They were upside down, just like a real bat would sleep.

I gulped as I looked back at the large entrance. Entrance to what exactly? I didn't know, but the doors lacked any handles. It also looked like it weighed more than a ton. I placed my hand on one of them and pushed. If it didn't open, I would've finally turned back. To my surprise, however, it opened with ease. I gulped, as I gazed out into the large room. It was larger than any room I had ever seen, and there were towering stone pillars holding it all up. On each of the pillars there were large basins of fire facing the center of the room. At the very end of the room were steps. At the top of those steps was a platform, and on that platform a throne. And in that throne there was someone…something…All I saw were red eyes as the door slammed behind me and the lights went out.

"Who…who's there!" I whipped out my phone, but in my panic it flew from my hands. I knew it had cracked from the fall. I knew because that sound bounced off the walls for a while. Or maybe I just wanted to hear that sound?

"My, my, my." A sweet sounding voice surrounded me. I should have been even more terrified, but strangely, it managed to calm down my rapidly beating heart. I turned every which way, but I couldn't find the source of the voice.

"You know it is rude to trespass on someone else's property? Isn't that so?" Her voice was sweet, but it was laced with venom. I didn't know if she was toying with me or not, but I knew I shouldn't make this… person angry.

"I am sorry, miss. I will leave if you open the door." I could occasionally make out the sound of her feet touching the stone, but no matter where I looked I couldn't find her. It was too dark.

"Nope, not gonna happen. Maybe you will get to leave, if you tell me why you are here. Or maybe not." My heart picked back up. My body was full of adrenaline, but there was nothing I could do. Somehow I knew I couldn't run from her. Then there was only one option. I had to confront this. I had to make it out alive at any cost. "Well… I'm waiting…"

She whispered so close to my ear I could feel her cold breath. Her breath landed on my neck causing me to shiver yet again. My heart wouldn't stop its pounding, but my stomach was becoming warm. What did it mean? I didn't know, so I decided I would answer instead.

"I-I wanted to find th-the sleeping giant." Her breath against my neck vanquished, and I could no longer feel her presence. I knew she was still there, and that thought proved to be right. After a few seconds she answered.

"Well, you will no longer find those here. They are gone. None of them have a home here anymore. Soon not even me." Despite myself and despite the situation I was in, I sighed. I was disappointed. I felt like this person would know. Could my dreams really end this way? Was this the end of my sleeping giant delusions?

"You don't have to look so down. I told you they have gone, but I know where they are." I reacted instantly. As my head shot up, I met her eyes. The red was more beautiful than any velvet cake. I could hardly see the rest of her face, but I saw her devilish smile and the fangs that came with it. A lump formed in my throat, but I managed to speak.

"You really know where they've gone?" She stared into my eyes, never blinking. I could feel our breaths overlapping, but hers was so cold. I couldn't feel any warmth coming from her body; nonetheless, we were so close I could almost kiss her. My stomach started to feel warm again. She ran a hand over my neck. I felt her nails on my skin. Her hand was colder than I could imagine. Causing me to shiver even more, but I couldn't turn away from those eyes. Finally she responded to my question.

"I know where all of them have gone. All of the giants. All of the dragons. All of the… Well that last one isn't important." I went blank.

"Did she say dragons? Do dragons count as sleeping giants… I certainly wouldn't want to wake up a sleeping dragon…"

"You are speaking out loud, you know?" I lost focus. The thoughts that were supposed to be internal leaked, and now…I couldn't believe my eyes. It almost looked like she was pouting. Her cheeks were inflated. "Cute…"

To my disbelief I watched her cheeks go red. My heartbeat increased. I thought she would be angry. That's why my heart was skipping a beat. My stomach became all warm again.

"Anyway, you ruined the mood…but…" I ruined the mood? I had no idea what she meant, but I was actually comforted by the fact that her voice had become so casual.

"But… I can take you there." I was so distracted by my internal torment, I had forgotten what we were talking about. "Take me where?"

"Haah…" to my further disbelief she held her head in exasperation. "I can take you to the place with the giants. I can take you to a different place. My place."

"You really mean it!?" I got loud as I grabbed her hands on my own, jumping up and down as I held them. "I want to go! Please! I will do anything!"

The girl's cheeks became red again. Once my excitement finally calmed down, she stared into my eyes once more. In a serious tone she asked. "Do you actually mean it?"

"Of course! It has been my life's dream to wake the sleeping giant!" She smiled at me, but this smile was different from the others she had shown me. There was no hidden meaning. It was a bright smile that sent my mind into even more of a frenzy. Before she finally said, "Will you become mine?"