The morning sun slowly rose over Titan Hollow.
Golden light spread across the valley, touching the river, the cliffs, and the small wooden huts that had started appearing across the clearing.
Only three days ago, this place had been empty wilderness.
Now it had life.
Derrick stood on top of Tor's shoulder with his arms crossed, watching everything below like a very tired king.
"Well," he muttered, "this escalated quickly."
Below him, the settlement was busy.
The fifty-two villagers that Derrick had saved were working hard. Some were digging small farming fields near the river. Others were building wooden huts. A few were carrying water in buckets.
The children ran around in groups, although they kept a very safe distance from the giants.
Which was understandable.
Five massive giants were casually walking around the valley.
Grom was pulling tree stumps out of the ground like weeds.
Bor was carrying huge boulders toward the edge of the settlement.
Krag was dragging long logs for construction.
Tor was currently Derrick's personal transportation system.
And Luga stood nearby with his arms crossed like a giant bodyguard.
Derrick looked down and sighed.
"Alright… time to pretend I know what I'm doing."
He jumped down from Tor's shoulder.
The villagers noticed him immediately.
"Lord Derrick!"
Several of them gathered around him.
Derrick scratched the back of his head.
"Okay first… please stop calling me 'Lord'. I'm twenty-one. I still forget to do my college assignments."
The villagers looked confused.
Ragor, the ogre chief, walked over from the other side of the clearing.
Behind him, the twelve ogres of the Stone Tusk Tribe were carrying large stones.
"Human leader," Ragor said respectfully.
Derrick pointed at himself.
"Yep. Unfortunately that's me."
Ragor looked around the settlement.
"Your tribe works hard."
Derrick followed his gaze.
The villagers were indeed working.
Some were cutting wood.
Some were building huts.
A few older women were cooking food over fire pits.
The giants were also helping.
Grom lifted an entire fallen tree and dropped it near the builders.
The ground shook slightly.
Several villagers jumped in surprise.
Derrick sighed.
"Guys… please stop panicking every time a giant moves."
One of the villagers nervously raised his hand.
"He dropped a tree…"
Derrick nodded.
"Yeah. That's kind of their thing."
Meanwhile, Bor walked toward a large rock formation near the edge of the valley.
The rock was huge. Easily the size of a small house.
Bor looked at it for a moment.
Then he grabbed it with both hands.
The villagers froze.
Even Ragor stopped walking.
With a deep grunt, Bor lifted the massive rock.
The ground cracked under his feet.
The villagers stared in complete silence.
Then Bor simply carried the rock toward the settlement wall and placed it down like it was just another brick.
BOOM.
Dust spread across the ground.
One of the villagers whispered.
"…by the gods."
Ragor slowly nodded.
"Giants… truly are monsters."
Derrick crossed his arms proudly.
"Yeah. My monsters."
Nearby, Grom decided to show off a little too.
He picked up a large boulder and squeezed it in his hands.
CRACK.
The rock shattered into pieces.
The ogres stared.
Even the Stone Tusk warriors looked shocked.
Ragor stepped forward slowly.
He looked at Derrick with a serious expression.
"Human leader."
Derrick looked up.
"Yeah?"
Ragor placed his fist against his chest.
"Stone Tusk Tribe follows strength."
He looked at the giants again.
"You command giants."
Derrick shrugged.
"More like they tolerate me."
Tor looked down at him.
Derrick raised both hands.
"Okay fine, maybe we're a team."
Ragor nodded slowly.
"Then Titan Hollow will be strong."
Derrick smiled.
"That's the plan."
Just then, a loud crash echoed from the forest.
Everyone froze.
Derrick slowly turned his head toward the trees.
"…please tell me that was just a deer."
Another crash echoed.
Trees shook.
Birds suddenly flew into the sky.
Derrick sighed.
"Of course it's not a deer."
Several large figures slowly walked out of the forest.
Their skin was pale blue.
Their bodies were huge and muscular.
Their eyes glowed faintly.
Frost Trolls.
The villagers immediately panicked.
"Trolls!"
People ran toward the center of the settlement.
Children hid behind the huts.
Some villagers grabbed tools as weapons.
Ragor grabbed his massive club.
But the giants didn't move.
They simply stood there.
Watching.
Five giants slowly stepped forward.
The ground trembled.
The frost trolls stopped walking.
Their leader stepped forward.
He was even bigger than the others.
His icy eyes stared directly at Derrick.
"You."
His voice was deep and rough.
"Human."
Derrick waved.
"Hello there."
The troll looked confused.
"You control giants?"
Derrick looked behind him.
Grom was currently lifting another massive log.
Bor was stacking boulders like building blocks.
Krag had picked up a rock and was casually tossing it in the air.
Derrick shrugged.
"Yeah."
The frost troll leader growled.
"This valley belongs to the Frost Clan."
Derrick looked around the valley.
He looked at the huts.
He looked at the farms.
He looked at the giants building walls.
Then he looked back at the troll.
"Well… we already started building."
The frost trolls growled angrily.
Ragor stepped forward with his club.
But Derrick raised his hand.
"Wait."
He turned to the giants.
"Guys."
The giants looked down at him.
Derrick pointed toward the trolls.
"Show them."
Bor stepped forward first.
He grabbed a massive boulder.
Then he threw it.
The rock flew across the valley and smashed into a distant cliff with a thunderous explosion.
The frost trolls froze.
Then Krag picked up a rock and threw it.
The rock flew through the air and knocked over three trees in a row, He was basically bowling in the forest.
One of the frost trolls suddenly roared and charged forward.
"Kill the human!"
That was a mistake.
Grom's foot came down like a falling mountain.
CRUNCH.
The frost trolls stared in shock.
The ground shook as the giants stood together.
Five walking mountains.
For the first time, fear appeared in the troll leader's eyes.
The frost troll leader slowly stepped back.
He looked at Derrick again.
"You… command giants."
There was no remorse for his fallen commrades, only terror in his eyes.
Derrick scratched his head.
"Yeah… that seems to be the common theme today."
The troll leader lowered his weapon.
"We do not fight giants."
Derrick blinked.
"…that's it?"
The troll nodded.
Even if the entire Frost Clan attacked, they might bring down one giant.
Maybe.
And that was a very big maybe.
"We leave."
The frost trolls slowly backed away.
Within seconds, they disappeared back into the forest.
The valley became silent.
Then one of the villagers cheered.
"We scared them away!"
Soon the entire settlement was celebrating.
People laughed.
Children ran around.
Even the ogres looked impressed.
Ragor walked toward Derrick again.
He placed his fist against his chest.
"Titan Hollow is strong."
Derrick climbed back onto Tor's shoulder.
He looked across the valley.
Humans.
Ogres.
Giants.
A strange tribe.
But it was working.
Derrick smiled.
"Alright everyone!"
The settlement looked up at him.
"Back to work!"
He pointed dramatically toward the half-built walls.
"We still need farms, houses, and defenses!"
Then he added casually,
"And someone please build me an actual bed."
The villagers laughed.
High above them, the wind moved through the valley.
And Titan Hollow continued to grow.