The first thing to hit Cielidh's mind was how different all the proportions were for everything on the farm. She
felt like she was a child again as she climbed out of Eric's humvee and followed him to the farmhouse. Her uncle was
tall, a little over six feet and even he was dwarfed by the door; the doorknob was eye level with Eric, and bigger than
his head. When heavy, rumbling footsteps answered her uncle's knocking, Cielidh's heart skipped a beat, and despite
herself she had to bite back a yelp when the door swung open and revealed a ten-foot tall ogre, with barklike olive-brown
skin and dark green hair, with eyes that gleamed in the night. Silhouetted by the light from inside, he was a terrifying
sight to Cielidh, who had only seen ogres from afar.
"Eric?" the ogre rumbled. "Mera! Good to see you two! Come in! Come in!" The ogre ushered
them all inside, Eric practically having to drag his great-niece through the door. producing step ladders and boosters
for the chairs, he bid them all to sit at the table with him.
"I see you let another relative in on the family secret," the ogre chuckled, looking bemusedly in Cielidh's direction;
the girl stared fearfully back and tried to shrink down in her seat.
"Cielidh, my great-niece," Eric replied. "Cielidh, this is Vol. Vol, Cielidh. Cielidh's with me because
she's just as stubborn as her grandmother and she wants to find out who killed her brother and her aunt."
"I have to admit, I haven't been looking as hard as I'd like," Vol said. "Whoever did it has been keeping tabs
on my farm. I've been afraid to look too closely in case they get wise and start covering their tracks better, or worse,
attack the farm. I'm no good to you guys dead, and I'm not as spry as I used to be, you know."
"You're still a damn sight better off than Rikki," Eric joked. "And I'm just as old as you are; you don't see me slowing
down."
"We can't all be practically immortal," Vol said with a soft laugh. "I enjoy growing old, Eric. You're missing
out on a lot of interesting changes."
Cielidh listened to them banter back and forth, Mera occasionally chiming in, but as the conversation continued Cielidh's
fear faded and impatience set in. Finally she couldn't take it any longer.
"Who killed my brother?!" she shouted. "That's all I want to know! I don't care about all this stupid talking!
I just want to find his murderer!"
"Murderers," Vol corrected. "It was a group. That much I'm sure of."
"So who did it? Where are they?"
"All over the place, Cielidh," Vol replied. "Your brother was killed by soldiers of the Noram Union."
