No Way Out Part 9

   Maia decided that she probably had eaten a bit too much, seeing as she hadn't eaten in

days. Her stomach had shrunk during the days of being chained in the desert, and now it

was stretched to capacity. It was so nice to have some part of her be satisfied for once,

between the (surprisingly) good night of sleep and the meal that she nearly gorged

herself on. The giant had produced for them some dried meat, nuts, and bits of dried

fruit from his bag; traveling food no doubt. What surprised Maia was that the size of the

food matched him….much too big. Where had he gotten such almonds? What place had fruit

that grew so large?

   At times the giant…Jacob…had taken to talking to them regardless of the fact that they

never understood what he had to say. Maia couldn't tell if it was repeated attempts at

understanding one another, him speaking to himself, or just pure loneliness. He was

speaking to them now, as he put away the remnants of breakfast, taking care to move

slowly for their benefit. The words flowed over the twins; sometimes it was soft

mutterings, and at other times it was still too loud for their liking. Maia surveyed him

closely, looking for any sign that would be a basis for mistrust. She was normally pretty

good at reading people, but she wasn't too sure how those skills would transfer to this

situation. Not that it really mattered too much, as they were still completely trapped if

she did decide that he wasn't particularly safe. There was no way they could outrun even

just his reach of his expansive arms….and even if they could then they would be

confronted with impossible survival in the wilderness.

  In a desperate situation, she supposed that there were only desperate conclusions. They

had to trust this massive being. Maia wasn't sure why, but that realization wasn't hard

for her to accept, as daunting as it was.  She felt a strange sense that this was right.

Looking up at him now, it seemed obvious to her that his brown eyes exuded nothing but

warmth. His mannerisms, although overpowering, showed her that he clearly meant no harm.

She watched as he finished up his quick cleanup and re-tied any loose curls back onto his

long ponytail. Feeling the gaze of tiny eyes, Jacob turned and smiled down at her. She

took in the planes of his face and the strength of his jaw line as if she was seeing him

for the first time. Very slowly, so as not to frighten her, he lowered his hand towards

her, speaking more of his strange language.

   Maia sucked in her next breath sharply. His palm lay spread out before her and she

understood his intention. This was the first time she was offered his palm rather than

being swept up. He wanted her trust. She took a hesitant step forward and stood nervously

before his fingertips.

"Maia! You can't be serious!" Acadia hissed.

   Maia only glanced back at her sister then craned her neck to the sky. Jace smiled

encouragingly from high above, waiting patiently. Her stomach was in knots, but Maia

found that it had much more to do with her fear of heights rather than what this giant

could do to her. His hand continued to invite her, and he tried to keep it as still as

possible as she made her decision. She did trust him.

Slowly, she crawled onto his hand. It was warm, and both soft and rough to the touch at

the same time. Jace waited until she was settled in his palm and then slowly began to

lift her. The experience of being held was much different for Maia this time around,

having been given a choice. It wasn't ….terrible. Still scary, but incredible heights and

people of monumental proportions always have that sort of effect.

His hand came to a stop before his face. She could tell he was beaming, obviously happy

to have earned a bit of trust.

   Maia's attention began to shift between his face to the sensation of his skin beneath

her. It felt….warmer than it had a few moments ago. Yes, now that she was paying

attention it definitely felt like there was heat building between her tiny body and his

palm. Dismissing it as her imagination, she turned her attention back to the experience

at hand (and even smirked inwardly at the pun). Jacob had glanced back to Acadia and

offered her the same gesture, but from just the look on his face she could tell her

sister was probably rejecting any ideas of freely allowing herself to be lifted. Maia

thought about peering down for herself, but the idea of seeing exactly how high up she

was just wasn't appealing to her. Better to face one thing at a time.

The sensation of heat rapidly continued to build, so much so that Maia knew it wasn't her

imagination at all. In fact, it was uncomfortable. What was going on? She stood up,

tripping and falling back on the uneven flesh, panicking. Jace's head snapped back in her

direction and his face automatically was consumed with concern. The heat surged through

every part of her body, electrifying every nerve. Suddenly she jumped up and stumbled

again, in a wild effort to get away from the inescapable. At the same time, Jace's hand

flinched as he tried to restrain any further movement caused by his own pain. Tumbling

backwards, she fell over the side of Jace's palm and screamed as she plummeted towards

the earth.

   Luckily, Jacob had quick reflexes, and she felt herself thud against his soft flesh

instead of the rocky ground as he caught her with his free hand.

Maia lay still. The heat had left just as quickly as it came on. What was that?

"Maia?! Are you okay?" A male voice, drenched in worry, boomed around her. She lifted her

head in a confused daze.

"Who is there? How do you know my name? Don't tell me there is another damned giant."


Silence.

…..

"You understood me?"

Maia sat up and looked around, and finally looked up at Jacob.

"Is that you?" She said in awe…just above a whisper. Clearly, she could hear his heart

beating faster now in that enormous chest of his. His face filled her vision again as he

leaned in closer.

"Your going to have to speak up, I can't hear you when you speak that low. Seriously, can

you understand me?"

Maia stared at him for a moment.

"Yes….yes I can."