“We haven’t been able to get ahold of the Colossor or Colossa,” Brown Beard tells us with a frown, “and their advisers aren’t willing to let an unknown paranormal into the Firmament without strict permission.”

“Unknown paranormal?” Hudson asks. “We’ve already identified ourselves—”

“You said you were from the Indigo Circle. That means dragons, wolves, vampires, and witches,” Blond Man Bun interjects. “But she”—he glares at me—“is none of those things. So until we know what she is and have permission for her to enter, the whole group of you stays right here.”

He starts to shut the window before his words even register, but as a few of us try to get a hand in to hold up the window closing and convince him to change his mind, I hear a tinkling laugh.

And turn to see one of the most gorgeous girls I have ever seen walking toward us. That she is also nearly twelve feet tall despite only being twelve or thirteen years old only makes her beauty more obvious and her excitement inescapable.

55

Forged in Fire

“Oh my gosh, it’s true! Vampires here, at the Firmament! I couldn’t believe it when Rygor told me.” She holds out her enormous hands to us. “Come in, come in! It’s been so long since we’ve had visitors. I can’t wait to talk to all of you.”

“Cala Erym.” Brown Beard drops into a deep bow. “I’m sorry, but I don’t think it’s safe for you to meet with these people. They haven’t been cleared by your parents—”

“Give me a break, Baldwin.” She rolls her bright-purple eyes at him even as her sleek black ponytail shakes back and forth. “I don’t think the Vampire Court is here to assassinate us. And if they were, they wouldn’t announce their presence by showing up at the guardhouse first.”

She turns to us. “I’m Erym, cala of the Giant Court. Welcome to our home.”

“Thank you.” Hudson steps forward with a practiced smile that is as unexpected as it is impressive and introduces himself. This is Hudson the diplomat, I realize as I watch him chat easily with Erym. This is the vampire raised at court who I’ve heard about but who I’ve never really seen before.

Flint steps forward, too, and does a half bow that is both rakish and charming as he takes Erym’s hand, which is about twice the size of his. “I’m Flint Montgomery, first prince of the Dragon Court. It’s good to meet you, Cala Erym.”

She giggles, then gives him a half-curtsy back. “It’s good to meet you, too, Prince Flint. Dragons have always been my favorite.”

“And giants have always been mine,” he answers with a wink.

She giggles again, maybe even blushes a little, and Luca chuckles behind me. I glance at him to see what he thinks is so funny, but he’s smiling indulgently at Flint. When he catches me looking at him, he gives a tiny eye roll and a shrug. It’s totally his Isn’t Flint the most adorable thing in the entire world look, and he’s so right that I can’t help grinning back at him.

After Flint is done charming Erym, Jaxon moves forward and introduces himself to her as well. He’s not flirtatious like Flint or smooth like Hudson, but that doesn’t seem to matter to Erym, whose eyes light up the second his palm touches hers.

Behind me, Mekhi snickers just a little, because it’s so obvious that she’s about to have a giant-size crush on Jaxon, and I elbow him softly in the ribs. Partly because it’s rude and partly because I know exactly how Erym feels. It wasn’t that long ago that I was falling for Jaxon nearly as fast.

Erym greets the others with a gracious smile, but when I step forward to introduce myself, she claps enthusiastically. “Oh my gosh! You’re the gargoyle we’ve all heard so much about! Welcome, Grace! Welcome!”

And then she picks me up like I’m a rag doll and gives me a giant-size hug.

“It’s so exciting to finally meet you!” she says, even as she shakes me around like I’m a favorite pet. “And to think you’re really here, at the Firmament! I can’t wait to introduce you to Xeno! He’s always trying to leave because he says nothing exciting ever happens here, but look—” She gently sets me back down on the ground. “Look at all the fascinating people who have come to see us!”

I’m a little overwhelmed from having just been picked up and patted on the head like a puppy, but she’s so sweetly innocent that it’s impossible for me to be annoyed with her. A quick look around tells me everyone else is having the exact same reaction.

“Well, come on!” she says, waving an arm for us to follow her as she starts half walking, half skipping back into town. “I can’t wait to show you everything!”

Blond Man Bun moves in to try to stop her one last time, but she just waves him away with a, “Stop worrying, Vikra! We’ll be fine.” She looks over at us. “Right, guys?”

We all nod enthusiastically, because what else are we supposed to do? Also, it’s pretty obvious none of us wants to disappoint her.

“What do you want to see first?” she asks as she starts leading us through the center of town.

“Whatever you’d like to show us,” Flint answers. “We’ve never been to the Firmament before, but it looks absolutely amazing.”

She shrugs. “I don’t know about amazing, but there are a bunch of fun things to do. And I instructed Rygor to prepare a banquet in your honor for tonight. Mama and Papa will be home by then, and they will be as excited to meet you as I am.”

“Is there a hotel or an inn we can check into for the night?” Hudson asks as we wind our way through several small groupings of trees, each with some kind of house or building secure inside it.

“You don’t actually think I’m going to let you stay in a hotel, do you, silly?” She gives him a light pat on the shoulder that nearly sends him flying. “You’ll stay with us, of course.”

“We wouldn’t want to impose,” Flint tries, but Erym just shakes her head.

“It’s no imposition. We have plenty of room.” She rubs her hands together. “Now, what do you say I give you a tour of the Firmament, and we can all have some fun along the way?”

It’s not quite the investigation we had in mind for our first day here, but her enthusiasm is infectious. Besides, when will we ever have another chance to explore a city made by giants?

“I say, what’s first? I’ve heard your Gorbenschlam Challenge is an experience not to be missed,” Mekhi tells her with a grin, then winks at Macy.

“That’s the spirit!” She holds up a hand for a fist bump, and Mekhi doesn’t leave her hanging. But he does brace himself first—a lot—and she still manages to push him back a foot or three.

I can’t help laughing, because walking through this beautiful city with Erym, surrounded by my friends and the most magical trees in existence, is the most fun I’ve had in a very long time. After months of feeling scared and sad and sometimes even downright awful, it’s like I can finally breathe again.

Everywhere we go, giants stop to stare at us. Some are bold enough to come up and ask Cala Erym to introduce them, while others just watch or wave from afar. It feels strange being the center of attention like this, but then I try to imagine what it would be like at Katmere if eight giants just started walking through the halls. I’m pretty sure there would be a lot of staring then as well.

One of the first things I notice is that there are no vehicles of any sort in the Firmament. Everyone gets around on foot or on giant tricycles that are definitely bigger than we are. It seems odd that there is no other transportation here, but area wise, it’s really not that big of a town, since they make the best use of the vertical space as well. Besides, when you’re between ten and twenty feet tall, I’m guessing you can walk pretty fast when you want to.

“Let’s go this way!” Erym says as she herds us around a redwood with a base that has to have a circumference of close to ninety feet. The thing is massive, and unlike so many of the other trees, it doesn’t have a building nestled between it and some of the surrounding trees. Instead, down near the bottom, the trunk has been partially hollowed out so that people can actually walk straight inside the tree.

Above the twenty-foot triangular-shaped door is a sign that reads, GIANT CAULDRONS.

“Oh my God!” Macy shouts as understanding dawns. “All this time, I thought they were called ‘giant cauldrons’ because they’re so huge! Seriously, you can easily fit three people into some of the bigger ones. But really they’re giant cauldrons?” Macy asks, her voice dripping in awe as she moves closer to the tree door. “You make witch’s cauldrons?”

“Of course.” Erym grins indulgently. “Giants are the best metalworkers in the world because we can easily manipulate earth magic into everything we create. Come on. I’ll see if I can talk Sumna into letting you observe the process.”