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Finding the Ice Knife turns out to be harder than Duck Team anticipated.
They figure out a strategy that kind of works, with Calder launching Sol high enough into the air for him to get a view through the swirling snow, but as it gets later and later they still can’t quite find it.
“Maybe we start trying to figure out a way to make camp?” Callie suggests, gesturing to the blizzard. Foster, huddled down on her shoulder, quacks in protest at the motion. “Didn’t Albin say being out once the sun goes down is really bad?”
Calder crosses his arms at the mention of Albin, looking markedly more determined. “We’ll find it.”
“Yeah, toss me up one more time,” Sol says, flexing his wings. “I think I saw something last time.”
“Use these, Mr. Bufo.” Kenna pulls a pair of goggles from her pack, holding them out to Sol.
Sol squints at them. “… How?”
“Oh, I’ve got it,” Callie says, grabbing the goggles and kneeling in front of Sol. She takes her eye patch off and fashions it over one of his eyes, putting a lens of the goggles over his other. “And then you can look around like this.” She holds her hands in a square in front of one eye, panning around with the other eye closed.
“Yeah! This works!” Sol looks around, mimicking Callie.
It’s as he does that he notices Kenna and Calder both pointedly not looking at him.
“What’s wrong?” he asks.
“Nothing!” Kenna says quickly. “It looks very cool.”
Calder coughs. “I’ll toss you again.”
“You got this, Sol,” Callie says, bardic magic in her voice.
Sol nods, then backs up and runs at Calder, who launches him into the air. The others watch him sail through the air, a few flaps of his wings keeping him airborne longer. After a moment, he falls back down, and Calder jumps to catch him.
“I think someone’s coming,” Sol says from Calder’s arms. He points into the distance. “Someone big.”
“Like a giant?” Callie asks.
“Bigger than Calder.” Sol looks up at Calder. “Huge.”
“Giants,” Calder says. He sets Sol down. “Maybe they can help us find the Ice Knife.”
Sol hands the eyepatch back to Callie and the goggles back to Kenna. “Maybe they can help us find your family,” he suggests.
“Yeah, maybe they know who you were taken from,” Callie says.
“Maybe…” Calder reaches into his pocket, turning his ice carving in his hand.
Callie puts a hand on his arm. “We’ll follow your lead, Calder.”
Sol does the same. “You guys had my back in the Crick, and with Swag, we’ve got your back here.”
“And even if you don’t find your family, you’ve got us, Mr. Kilde,” Kenna says.
“Yeah.” Calder rolls his shoulders back, a posture that he’s growing more and more used to. “Yeah, I’ve got this. Let’s see what these giants want.”
It takes a few minutes, with Duck Team crouched in the snow, just waiting. Finally, a pair of figures appear through the swirling snow, both with bows drawn.
“We don’t want a fight,” Calder calls out.
“Then why are you here?” replies a booming voice.
Calder glances at his friends. They nod. “We came to warn you. Someone’s coming here to try to steal something important from you. And… and, more than that, we need your help.”
There’s a long moment of silence. Then, the voice answers: “You’ve warned us. You can leave.”
“No, wait!” Calder steps forward. “Please, I think… I think I came from here. There’s this being called Alexandrite, and she took me, and now she’s trying to come back and take an artifact from you, but--“
An arrow sails through the air, embedding itself in the snow inches in front of Calder.
A different voice speaks up, hushed, though the snow carries it. The speaker sounds nervous. “Ranger General--“
“Do you think we’re fools?” the first voice booms again. Through the haze of snow, a giant strides forward, drawing a massive greatsword. He’s much taller than Calder, dwarfing the rest of Duck Team by a huge margin. “We know you can mimic people perfectly. We know you want the Ice Knife. You think I’m sentimental enough to fall for that?”
“I’m not Alexandrite!” Calder almost steps back, but feels his friends at his side and steadies himself. “We’ve been fighting her!”
“Mr. Kilde, it doesn’t look like he’s gonna listen,” Kenna says, nervous.
Calder tries anyway. “We’re not going to fight you,” he says. “We don’t want to!”
“Then you’ll make this easy!” the giant shouts, swinging the greatsword down at the group. Calder has to jump to the side, the others scattering behind him.
It’s as they recover that they notice the other giants closing around them.
“Calder,” Sol says, gritting his teeth. “What do you want to do?”
“Don’t-- don’t hurt them,” Calder says. “But don’t let them hurt you.”
Sol nods, eyes turning more dragon-like as scales grow over his fists.
“We’ll keep them off you.” Callie draws her cutlass. “Shout if you need backup, yeah?” She taps his shoulder and his size swells with an Enlarge spell. She winks at him, rolling away to face a pair of the giants closing in on them.
Calder turns to face the giant in front of him.
“If you’re really here to help,” the giant says, pulling his sword back. “Why are your friends drawing weapons?” his voice crescendos as he swings the sword again.
“You’re giving us no choice!” Calder dodges, mostly, but the sword catches his arm. He winces. “Please, just listen. My name is Calder Kilde. I-- I think I was born here. I know Alexandrite has attacked this place before. She took a child, right?”
There’s something that wavers in the giant’s face, just for a second.
“I’m that kid. I’m a child of the Ice Knife. I don’t really know what that means, but I-- I want to.”
The giant hesitates for a moment. Then, he shakes his head. “No. This is what mom warned me about. She plays mind games.” He narrows his eyes. “You play mind games.”
Behind him, Calder can hear his friends skirmishing with the giants. Sol grunts as something collides with him. Kenna’s armor clanks loudly with an impact. They’re holding their own, but they’re outnumbered and outsized.
He reaches into his pocket and pulls out the tiny ice sword with his name carved into it. He holds it up towards the giant as the giant pulls his sword back to swing again.
“My name is Calder Kilde,” he says again. “I know you don’t have any reason to believe me. I wish I could give you more than that, but I don’t know more than that. I grew up in Ezry. This--“ he gestures with the ice-- “is all I have. You don’t have to trust us just… hear us out. We want to help protect this place, but you have to let us.”
The giant is still swinging down, and this time Calder doesn’t move. He stays rooted in place, staring him in the eyes.
“Calder!” Sol yells.
At the last second, the giant reroutes the swing. It crashes into the ground beside Calder, sending snow spraying into the air.
“Let us help you,” Calder says. “If you don’t want to help me, that’s fine. I just want this place to be safe.”
“Stop,” the giant says softly. He raises his voice. “Stand down.”
The giants lower their weapons. The other members of Duck Team relax. One of the giants steps towards the group.
“Gowan, do you really think--“
“Don’t, Borris.” The giant, Gowan, sheathes his greatsword. “Run ahead and tell Gregor to get a room set up to hold them at First Light.”
Borris looks like he wants to argue, but nods. “Alright.”
“And don’t say a word to him about what you heard here. Just say we have some outsiders poking around who we need to secure.”
“But--“
“Not a word. I need to talk to--“ his eyes dart to Calder. “--the previous Ranger General first.”
Borris sighs. “Okay.” He disappears into the snow.
“The previous Ranger General?” Callie taps Calder’s shoulder. “They were probably defending the village back when you were taken. If anyone knows what happened to you, it’d be them.”
“Yeah.” Calder looks up at Gowan. “Yeah, that might be it.”
Gowan doesn’t comment, just looks around the group. “I’m going to leave you with one of my rangers until I’ve had a chance to sort something out. But--” he points to Calder-- “none of you are to say a word about the stuff he was talking about to anyone but me. If I hear that you did, you’re back in the tundra on your own, am I clear?”
“That’s not fair!” Sol exclaims.
“It’s fine, Sol.” Calder nods. “Crystal clear.”
“Good. Then follow me.”
--
Even with Gowan leading them, it’s getting difficult to travel by the time they reach First Light. The members of Duck Team are all hyper-aware that being out in the tundra much later would mean they were in serious danger.
As they step inside the tower, another giant comes up to greet them and Gowan.
“Dude, what the hell?” the giant says as a greeting, ignoring them all for Gowan. “What’s Borris on about? Outsiders?”
Gowan gestures to the group. “Take these four and secure them somewhere away from others. I need to go talk to mom.”
“That must be Gregor,” Kenna whispers.
“Seems like they’re brothers,” Sol whispers back.
“Does that mean the previous Ranger General is their mom?” Callie asks.
Calder waves a hand to his friends. “They can hear us,” he says.
Gowan just sighs, pinching the bridge of his nose. “Gregor, please just do it, okay? I’ll explain everything after.”
Gregor puts his hands up. “Okay, okay, I’m not gonna argue. I’ll take care of the little guys.” He looks to Duck Team. “C’mon.”
Before they can follow, Gowan makes eye contact with Calder. “Remember what I said,” he says, serious.
Calder nods.
As Gowan leaves, the four of them follow Gregor down the hall. Gregor opens a door, gesturing for them to go ahead. “Sorry about Gowan,” he says, “he’s serious about the job of Ranger General. Sometimes he gets all weird about outsiders.”
“Seems like he just wants to keep your people safe,” Calder says.
Gregor gets weirdly quiet. “Yeah.” After a moment, he shakes himself out of his silence, looking around at them. “Anyway, what brings a bunch of smallfolk all the way out here? You’re all so tiny to be in giant territory. Especially this guy, am I right?” he points to Calder.
“Thanks,” Calder says, thinking back to his time in Ezry. “But I’m not a smallfolk.”
“Yeah, he’s a giant!” Sol gestures to his own height, then up at Calder.
“Yeah, right, this little guy?” Gregor leans down to elbow Calder in the shoulder. The weight behind it nearly tips Calder over. “Maybe where you come from.”
Calder can’t help his smile as Gregor leans into him. He does focus, after a moment, back to Gregor’s initial question. “We’re here on business with your Ranger General,” he says. “He told us not to say anything else.”
“That sounds like Gowan,” Gregor says, shaking his head.
“He’s your brother, yeah?” Callie asks.
“Twin, yeah.” Gregor sighs. “But he acts like the minutes he’s older by means he’s the most responsible one in the world, y’know?”
“He’s trying to protect you?” Callie asks.
“Always. It’s so annoying. Like, it’s not like I can’t protect myself. I’m not a kid. And, no offense, but you all are tiny. I could take you.”
Sol lights up, pointing between Gowan and Calder. “That’s a good idea. You two should wrestle.”
“What?” Gregor asks.
“Sol, why?” Calder asks at the same time.
“Oh! To see who’s stronger,” Callie says.
“Yeah, you get it!” Sol nods between them. “Back at the Crick, folks wrestle all the time. And Gowan couldn’t beat him in a fight earlier, so if you do--“
“Then it’s proof to Gowan that I’m strong enough to handle outsiders. I like the way you think, little bird-frog.”
Sol makes a face. “B--bird frog?”
“You’ve got wings, don’t you?”
“Dragon wings!” Sol says.
“They’re very obviously from a reptile,” Calder adds.
“Bird, bat, dragon, whatever. Point is, you’re right. You--“ he points to Calder “-- and I should wrestle.”
“I don’t see any of the logic here. Callie--“ Calder looks at Callie’s face, then thinks better of it. He turns to Kenna. “Kenna, back me up here. Me wrestling this guy is insane.”
“You have such a size advantage,” Callie is saying to Gregor, “how about I Enlarge him? So it’s an even fight.”
“You’re so smart, little ice girl.”
Kenna watches this. “I dunno, Mr. Kilde,” she says to Calder as Gregor, Callie, and Sol go back and forth with ideas. “But I don’t think we can stop them at this point.”
“You’re right,” Gregor says loudly, “I should be able to take on all four of you.”
“I know we don’t know him very well,” Kenna whispers to Calder. “But I don’t think Gowan would like that very much.”
“Yeah, no, I need to-- Guys?” Calder waves a hand towards Sol and Callie. “We definitely shouldn’t wrestle.”
“Oh, are you scared?” Gregor asks. “Think you couldn’t take me?”
“I could absolutely take you,” Calder shoots back, almost instinctively. “I could absolutely. But Gowan--“
“Gowan this, Gowan that. Square up, little dude. Come on.” Gregor gets into a low stance, preparing for Calder to come at him. “No excuses.”
“I don’t think--“
“I dare you!” Callie pipes up.
Calder looks her way. “Callie!”
“Oh yeah that’s perfect. We dare you to wrestle!” Sol jumps up to perch on a crate in the corner of the room, watching from above.
“You heard them,” Gregor says. “You gonna back down from a dare?”
“No!” Calder grabs his greatsword and tosses it to the side. “I’m not backing down. You’re the one who hasn’t come at me yet.”
“Talking a big game, I like it.” Gregor jumps forward, arms wrapping around Calder. Calder wiggles out of his grip and throws himself around to Gregor’s back, trying to get him in a chokehold. The giant rolls over, and Calder has to launch off to avoid being crushed.
As the two’s wrestling match gets increasingly intense, it becomes clear that they’re evenly matched. At some point, Callie and Sol start running a commentary in the corner.
After a while, they both roll away from each other, panting.
“You’re good at that,” Calder says.
“You too. You fight like a giant.”
Something inside Calder swells at that. He pulls himself up. “I’m learning how to be one for real. It’s in my blood.”
“Oh, shit.” Gregor sits up. “You really are a giant?”
“Yeah.”
“I thought your friend was just talking you up. No offense, but you’re tiny for a giant.”
“I grew up in Ezry,” Calder says. “A smallfolk city. I was always the biggest person around. The only giant.”
“What’s a giant doing in a smallfolk city?” Gregor asks.
Calder goes to answer, then remembers what Gowan said. “That’s what I’m trying to find out.”
“I hope you do, dude. Family’s important.” He sniffs, looking towards the door for a moment. “If you find yours, hold onto it, y’know?”
“Yeah.” Calder looks at Sol, Callie, and Kenna, who are making a show of paying attention to each other and not the moment of bonding that he’s having with Gregor. “I think I do.”
“Good. That’s good.” Gregor stands, then offers Calder a hand up. “Look, Gowan went into town, which means he’ll be gone a bit. Are you guys hungry? Traveling across the tundra to get here from anywhere is a lot even if you’re used to it.”
“I could eat,” Calder says. He calls over to his friends. “Guys?”
Kenna nods enthusiastically. Callie and Sol give thumbs ups.
Gregor beams. “Alright. Let’s get you guys some food.”
--
Gregor, despite his relaxed demeanor, doesn’t let them leave the room. One of the other rangers brings them some food, which they eat while they (mostly Callie and Sol) pepper Gregor with questions about the village.
After another hour or so, Gowan returns, pushing open the door with a grim expression.
Calder feels something twist inside him. He can’t understand what.
Gowan looks directly at Gregor. “Gregor, go talk to Borris. We’re increasing our perimeter patrols. He'll need your help.”
Gregor frowns like he wants to ask what’s going on, but something on Gowan’s face seems to stop him. “Okay. I’ll see you guys later, yeah?” he says to Duck Team.
Callie and Sol nod.
When Gregor is gone, Gowan points towards Calder. “You come with me. Everyone else waits here.”
A nervous silence falls over them. Callie’s the first to speak. “Respectfully, we like to stick together.”
Gowan crosses his arms.
“Yeah I--“ Calder looks from his friends to Gowan. “I don’t think you’re trying to hurt us, but I don’t like the idea of splitting up.”
Gowan sighs. “Weapons in the corner, then. How about that?”
“Fair,” Calder says.
Sol raises a hand. “What if I don’t use weapons? I can’t put my fists in the corner.”
“Go stand in the corner,” Gowan says.
“With all the weapons?”
“A different corner.”
“But what if I--“
“Stop talking,” Gowan booms. “I’m making allowances because--“ he looks at Calder, and doesn’t finish his sentence. “But don’t push it.”
Calder hands Kenna his greatsword, then nods towards the back wall. “It’s okay,” he says. “How about they all wait by the wall?”
“Fine,” Gowan says. “That’s fine.” He sighs. “Look, the previous Ranger General is here to see you. She’s strong, so don’t try anything.”
“Can I tell her about the stuff we were discussing earlier?”
Gowan doesn’t quite meet Calder’s eyes. “I don’t think you’ll have a choice. Anyway. I’ll be within earshot.”
Before Calder can say another word, he’s gone.
A moment later, the door opens again. A giant woman steps through, then freezes as she sees Calder standing in the middle of the room. Her hands fly up to cover her mouth.
“Hello?” Calder says, suddenly feeling very small. “My…” his voice comes out small, too, and he clears his throat to try again. “My name is--“
“Calder,” the woman says for him, crossing the room in two large steps.
“You know me?” Calder asks.
“Know you? I…” She drops to her knees in front of him. She still towers over him, but somehow it makes Calder feel safe. “Look at you,” she says, tears spilling down her cheeks. “You’re all grown up.” She reaches up one hand to cup his cheek. “My giant heart. You came home.”
Behind him, Calder hears one of his friends gasp. He raises a hand, reaching to touch her arm, then thinks better of it and instead points to himself. “I’m…” he swallows. “I’m your son?”
She nods, and then scoops him into a tight hug, pulling him into her chest. Calder can’t help himself. He melts into it, wrapping his arms around her.
“I knew you’d come back to us,” she says, the words making Calder’s chest rumble. “I’m sorry, Calder. I’m so sorry.”
Calder feels something crack inside him, and tears of his own spill over. He pushes his face into her shoulder. “I’m sorry it took me so long,” he whispers.
“It wasn’t your fault. It was never your fault.” One of her hands comes up to hold Calder to her chest. “Oh, my heart.”
She embraces him for a long time, neither quite wanting to pull away. Calder has learned to be okay with his size, most days, but for the first time he finds himself wishing he was bigger. If he was, he could hug her properly, provide her some real comfort.
Finally, she pulls back. “There’s so much we need to talk about,” she says. “But it can wait until we’re somewhere warm and rested. And until I’ve thanked your friends,” she adds, looking up at the others for the first time.
Calder feels Callie, Sol, and Kenna suddenly behind him.
“Calliope Petrichor,” Callie says from his left. She scratches Foster’s chin. “And this is Foster. It was our pleasure, Mrs. Kilde.”
“Sol Bufo,” Sol says from his right. “Calder’s saved our lives a bunch. No need to thank us.”
“And Kenna Ironheart,” Kenna adds from next to Sol. “Mrs. Ranger General Kilde. Ma’am.”
“Call me Mira,” she answers with a laugh. She scoops the group of them into her arms, a tight hug that envelopes all four of them. “I haven’t been the Ranger General for a while.”
He’s not sure why, but hearing his mother’s name for the first time is enough to make Calder want to cry again. When she sets them back down, he puts his hand on her knee. “Mo--“ he hesitates, but then she beams. “Mom? I have so much I want to ask, but… Alexandrite is after the Ice Knife. It’s why we came here. You guys are in danger.”
“She’s trying to get to the Feywild,” Callie adds.
Mira’s expression turns grim. “I know,” she says. “That’s what she was after when she took you, too. I stopped her to help protect the world, so she took my world.” She puts her hand on top of Calder’s. “She won’t do that again.”
“We can’t let her get the Ice Knife either,” Sol says. “She’s already taken enough.”
Mira nods. “We need to talk to Gowan. He’s in charge of protecting us now, and Alexandrite has already attacked this week. He’ll have a plan.”
“Alexandrite has already attacked?” Calder asks, at the same time that Callie exclaims--
“Oh, shit, Gowan is your brother!”
Calder turns to look at Callie. As he’s processing what that means, Sol adds: “Gregor too, right?”
“That’s why you were so evenly matched when you were wrestling! You’re brothers,” Callie says.
Mira raises an eyebrow. “You wrestled Gregor?”
“It was Sol’s idea,” Calder says, defensive. “And then Gregor got super into it.”
“You did too, Mr. Kilde, don’t lie,” Kenna says.
“I thought you were on my side here, Kenna!” Calder exclaims.
Mira laughs. She squeezes Calder’s hand, getting serious again. “Knowing Gowan, he told you not to tell Gregor, right?”
“Yeah.” Calder squeezes back.
“There’s a lot to do with Alexandrite. But first--“ she raises her voice. “Gowan!”
The door bursts open, Gowan half-drawing his sword. With his hand in Mira’s, Calder doesn’t tense.
“What’s wrong?” Gowan asks, scanning the group of them.
“Get Gregor back here,” Mira says. “We need to go see your father. Our family’s been apart long enough.”
Gowan looks from Mira to Calder, then back to Mira. “Mom…”
“It’s him, Gowan.”
Seeing Gowan’s hesitation, Calder steps forward. “I meant what I said earlier about wanting to help. I came here to find out who I am, and to make sure this place was safe. And it seems like you’re a part of both of those things…” he hesitates. “Brother.”
Gowan looks away. “I’ll get Gregor.”
“Gowan--“ Mira starts, but he’s gone. She sighs. “I’m sorry about him. He… might take some time.”
Calder thinks back to what Gowan said while they were fighting, and what Gregor had said about Gowan. He looks at Mira. “Does… Does Gowan feel responsible for what happened to me?” he asks.
Mira looks surprised, but then nods. “The day you were taken,” she says, reaching over to take Calder’s hand again as she mentions it, “the twins were at the house with you. They tried to stop her, but… well, they were kids too.”
“It wasn’t their fault,” Calder says. “Alexandrite will exploit any weakness she sees.”
Mira nods. “After that day… I think they both wanted to make sure nothing like that could ever happen again. So Gregor got strong, and Gowan got serious.” She squeezes Calder’s hand. “He might take some time to come around, but he will come around. I’ll talk to him.”
Calder thinks about it for a moment. “If you don’t mind,” he says, “can I talk to him?”
“Of course,” Mira says. She hesitates. “Are you sure?”
“I think… I think I can understand him,” Calder says. He thinks back to the helm, to the moment that he realized that if he didn’t protect Sol and Callie, no one would. “And if we’re brothers, we should settle things like brothers.”
“You’re gonna wrestle Gowan?” Sol pipes up.
Calder goes to say no, but then stops himself. He smiles. “If it comes to it.”
“I can dare you again,” Callie offers.
“Please don’t,” Calder says.
“I’ll make sure they behave, Mr. Kilde,” Kenna says.
“Thank you, Kenna,” Calder says. He notices Mira watching them, and gives her a curious look. “What’s wrong?”
“I was just thinking how lucky I am that you found such good friends,” Mira says. “I worried, all these years, that you were out there alone.”
Calder hesitates. “I was, for a while,” he admits. “But I found my people--” he nods to his friends “--and now I want to get to know my people. You, Gregor, Gowan, my dad, this place… all of it.”
Mira smiles. “I would love nothing more,” she says.
The door opens again, then, with the tail end of Gowan saying “--explain. Just talk to mom,” as he pushes Gregor through the door.
“I’m going, I’m going, gods,” Gregor says over his shoulder to Gowan.
“Gowan,” Mira calls. “Stay here.”
There’s a pause, then Gowan appears behind Gregor. Gregor looks around at the room, with Mira kneeling in front of Calder, Sol, Callie, and Kenna. He narrows his eyes a little when he notices that Mira’s been crying.
“What’s going on in here?” Gregor says, suspicious.
Mira looks to Calder, giving him a nod as if to say go ahead.
Calder takes a deep breath. “I don’t think I introduced myself earlier,” he says.
“Yeah, we were too busy wrestling. I got everyone else’s name, not yours.”
“Yeah,” Calder says. “My name’s Calder. Calder Kild--oof!” he grunts as, before he can get through his name, Gregor has tackled him.
“Gregor!” Mira chastises. “You’re going to hurt him.”
“It’s fine, mom, we already wrestled.” With one giant hand, he messes up Calder’s hair. “Fuck, that’s why Gowan was being so weird. You finally came home.”
“I did,” Calder says.
“Well, shit, I can’t believe I didn’t put it together when you said you were a giant, you were always tiny. Little brother. You’re giving the word a new meaning, huh?”
Calder chuckles, but tries to push Gregor off him. “Yeah, I guess I am.”
“Gregor, next time, don’t tackle your brother when trying to give him a hug,” Mira says, crossing her arms. “Just do it normally.”
“Oh, that wasn’t a hug,” Gregor says, “that was a noogie.”
“Then-- don’t give your brother a noogie!” Mira scolds.
“It’s okay,” Calder says. “It’s kind of nice.” He regrets it as soon as he says it, because Gregor grinds his knuckles against Calder’s skull again. “Nevermind, nevermind! Mom!”
“Gregor,” Mira scolds again, and Gregor drops Calder. She looks up at Gowan. “And you. Get over here.”
Calder can see where this is going, so before Mira has the chance, he raises a hand up to Gowan to offer him a handshake. “To getting to know each other?” he offers.
Gowan hesitates for a moment, but then nods and takes Calder’s hand. “It’s good to see you, Calder.”
Calder smiles. “It’s good to see you, too, Gowan.”
“My boys,” Mira says, voice full of warmth. “The three of you, get over here. And you three as well,” she adds to Callie, Kenna, and Sol. “You’re part of the family, too.”
She spreads her arms for a hug, and Calder doesn’t hesitate.