by Jason Wilcox
Maselda’s edge melted away. Her eyes seem to soften and she moved in closer to Azgiel. “I will, but I want you to focus on getting Bridget and our demons back first.”
“I’m on it,” Azgiel spoke. She gave him a peck on the cheek and walked away.
CHAPTER 13
Everything around Bridget began trembling and shaking, waking her up from her sleep. Raestal was already up and standing at the entrance to the cave holding his sword. Green letters, etched into the metal, glowed on the blade.
Cool sand sifted around Bridget’s fingers as she pushed herself up. “What’s going on?” the shaking stopped for a moment as she asked.
“I’m not sure yet,” Raestal spoke without turning around. He kept his focus on the entrance of the cave. “I’m still trying to figure it out. For now I think we need to stay low.”
“I hope these walls hold up until the shaking is over.” She chewed on her lip for a second until the shaking stopped. However, it only ceased for a moment before starting up again. “I would hate to be buried by a cave-in. Maybe we should go outside.”
Raestal looked back at her and was about to speak when a loud thud hit just outside the cave entrance, blocking the sunlight and shaking the ground stronger than before. It lasted for a moment and then was gone and the sunlight returned.
“What was that?” Bridget asked, getting back on her feet after being knocked over by the tremor.
“I think…” Raestal took a couple steps closer to the opening. The shaking continued on and off. “I think, I may know.” He looked back at Bridget. “Come up here,” waving for her as he spoke.
They both cautiously approached the opening and looked out. The shaking was lessening in intensity.
“I thought so,” Raestal spoke as he looked out. His wing was dangling, making it hard for Bridget to see. She pushed the wing back and her mouth dropped when she saw what was out there.
“I had completely forgotten they exist,” Raestal’s voice was mellow, considering what they were looking at. His attitude amazed Bridget. “I’m surprised they’re here in this type of climate. Normally they stick to the oceans and wander from place to place.”
“What…what is it?” Bridget tried to catch her breath as she watched a creature, possibly four stories high, walk through the desert following the cliff wall.
Turning around, Raestal gave her a funny look with one eyebrow up. “What do you mean, what is it? You’ve never heard stories about giants before?”
Bridget leaned out farther to get a better look, still feeling shock. The giant stopped walking and bent down, picking something up. Never had she seen anything like it in her life.
Her eyes couldn’t stop staring, she couldn’t look away. The giant was so enormous, but Raestal helped her come back to her senses as she felt him shove her farther out of the cave.
“Can you get a better look now?” he laughed. Bridget clambered back in as fast as she could.
“What did you do that for?” she growled as she stepped into Raestal’s face. “What if he saw me?”
“He could care less about you,” Raestal spoke through his chuckling. “Giants are snobbish creatures. They often ignore others, unless you’re their height. But I don’t foresee that happening.” He patted her on the head as he spoke, causing him to chuckle harder. Shaking began to vibrate the ground and walls again.
Pushing his large hand away, Bridget responded, “I’m not that short.” After giving him a dirty look, she poked her head out, still in shock by what she was seeing. “So, you’re saying they won’t pay us any heed?”
“None.” Raestal turned and took a couple steps back into the cave. “We’ll hang out here until it cools down and then head out this evening to find a better place to hide. When we go, the giants will totally ignore us. You have nothing to worry about.”
The shaking was growing in intensity again. “Umm, Raestal, he’s coming back and I think he’s looking at me,” Bridget spoke with her head looking out the opening.
“I’m sure he’s not.” Raestal leaned back against the cave wall and closed his eyes. “And even if he did look at you, he still won’t care about you.”
“I’m not too sure about that.” Bridget began backing away from the opening as the intensity kept growing. “He’s still looking right at me.”
“Nah, your fears are just getting the best of you.” The giant’s steps were very close, and shook the cave walls. “He’ll pass us up in a minute, and then you’ll see.”
Bridget moved behind the demon, causing him to chuckle more. The vibrations stopped just before the giant would’ve passed the cave entrance. Bridget could feel her heart racing. She didn’t believe Raestal because she knew what she saw, and the giant had been looking right at her.
The light from the sun faded again, but this time there was no foot blocking it, there was a large brown eye looking in. Moving quickly, the demon jumped to his feet with sword drawn. He was no longer chuckling.
Bridget moved behind the demon, looking around him to see what the giant was doing.
“What do you think he wants?” Bridget asked shyly.
“I don’t have a clue,” Raestal spoke quietly as well. “I’ve never seen one pay attention like this before.”
“What do we do? He’s just staring at us,” Bridget whispered, staying behind her protector.
“Maybe I’ll try to talk to him and see if he responds,” he whispered in return. “Hello,” Raestal called out while putting his left hand in the air. The giant moved away from the entrance, allowing the light back in.
“That’s it? Hello?” Bridget asked in amazement, moving back from the demon.
With the giant gone, Raestal put his sword back and turned to Bridget. “What was I supposed to say?” As he spoke, the ground began to shake again and the giant could be seen moving outward from the cave entrance.
“Now what’s he doing?” Bridget asked while getting lower, trying to look up at the giant. Raestal didn’t say a word, instead he walked to the opening and watched while the giant took a couple of steps away, turned then sat down, which caused a thunderous shaking of the walls and ground. Feeling a little more confident, Bridget joined the demon.
“Flonk el moleska ti fig?” the giant spoke, his voice loud and strangely rhythmic.
“What did he say?” Bridget looked to the demon.
Raestal looked confused. “I think he asked about us being here. Like why we’re in the desert.” He looked over to Bridget. “But I could be wrong. I haven’t spoken the ancient language in over a thousand years. I only remember some of the main chants and basics that we still use.”
“Ti fig?” the giant spoke again. His deep voice caused vibrations in the ground, making it almost seem as if the planet was talking to them.
“I think he’s definitely asking why we’re here.” Raestal stepped farther out of the cave as he spoke.
“What are you going to say to him?” Bridget rubbed her hands together and could feel the beads of sweat building on her forehead.
“I don’t know if I could say anything to him.” He turned and looked at her. “I somewhat understand what he is saying, but I’m not sure if I could say anything back. I really don’t remember much.”
“Well think of something, because I don’t think he’s going to stay this polite for long,” she pointed to the giant as she spoke.
“Safety…” Raestal said under his breath. “Plocta,” he called out as loud as he could.
The giant tilted his head and leaned forward. One of his eyebrows rose slightly. “Plocta? Plocta luth fig?” As the giant spoke, Bridget inhaled. His voice was magical, and she began to appreciate it more and more as she calmed down.
“Oh boy, umm…” Raestal rubbed a hand on the back of his neck. “Plocta… Triaad,” he shouted. “I hope this works.” He turned slightly to look at Bridget.
“Triaad!” The giant got to his feet. “Triaad!” he snapped again, his mellow low tone was now much louder. With a large s
tep, the giant began to move closer to the cave.
Bridget could feel her chest tighten and her breathing increase. She backed up into the cave. Raestal held his ground while the giant began spouting off all kinds of words.
“What is he going on about?” Bridget asked while moving back.
“I’m really not sure. He’s talking too fast for me to keep up,” Raestal replied. “But by his tone, I don’t think he likes Triaad.”
The giant came up to the cave entrance and knelt down. “Flonk. E ploctlo.” His hand was outstretched.
“I think he wants us to come with him, that he wants to keep us safe,” Raestal spoke hesitantly. “But I could be wrong.”
“You could be wrong?” Bridget raised an eyebrow. “I’m not going out there if you don’t know what’s going on.”
Turning around, even with the giant right behind him, he spoke to Bridget, “I trust him. I think we should go with him. They were never aggressive when I used to live here.”
“That was a long time ago. For all you know, he wants us for dinner,” Bridget spoke softly, worried the giant might understand her.
With a short laugh, Raestal kept talking, “No, no. Giants aren’t like what you heard stories about when you were a kid. Think of them more like a…umm…a cow to a bird. Normally cows don’t notice birds, but when they do, they aren’t aggressive with them.”
“You also said the giant wouldn’t notice us, and you were wrong about that.” Bridget held her ground, worried that the demon was wrong. The giant began to speak, but she didn’t pay much attention.
“I might’ve been wrong that time, but things have changed.” Raestal moved closer to her. “I think it’s our best option right now.”
Knowing that he was her personal guard sent to protect her, she looked deep into his black eyes. “Fine. But I want to make it clear that I don’t trust him!” Bridget gave him the sternest look she could muster.
With a smile, he turned around and nodded to the giant. Bridget followed Raestal as they exited the cave and stood in front of the crouching monstrosity. It was the first real look she got of him. He had the features of an enormous human, but with many differences: his skin was stone gray, had the texture of stone, and was full of cracks. As for his dark brown eyes, they were out of proportion to the rest of the face, they were larger. From his shoulders to his feet, he wore a cream-colored robe that was old and tattered. He had short hair that stuck up in some places, was flat in others, and was a lighter gray than his skin.
The giant’s face and hands looked lighter from the dirt and sand he had on them.
“Flonk,” the giant spoke again as he stood and began to walk towards one of the large openings in the cliff wall. Elaborate carvings of strange curved designs encircled the large arched doorway. Four intricately carved statues made of some type of dark red stone sat in four holes that were intertwined with the carvings, two on each side.
Being faster than they were, the giant was already in the archway waiting for them to catch up. Their feet sank into the soft sand, slowing them down. Bridget’s legs were still tired from walking across the sand last night.
The giant watched them and waited patiently. A light gust kicked up and tossed sand against their clothing. As the gust moved on, Bridget could hear it whistle along the cliff wall. She worried they were walking to their death, but she was trying hard to push away fear and trust Raestal.
In the darkness of the cave, Bridget began to make out another large shape. At first she thought it might be a large rock formation, but the closer she got, she began to make out a figure, another giant standing there staring at them.
Stopping in her tracks, Bridget spoke in fear, “Oh my gosh, there’s another one. We’ve got to get out of here. They’re going to kill us.”
Raestal grabbed her hand and pulled her along. “They are not. I noticed the other one some time ago. Stop acting so frightened, you’ll make them suspicious of us.” Hearing his words, Bridget stopped fighting and proceeded forward, not taking her eyes off the second giant.
“Errorous the spust?” the giant’s rhythmic voice called out.
“What’s he saying?” Bridget tugged at Raestal’s wing as she walked beside him.
Raestal waved her hand away. “I’m not sure. I think he’s saying something about a problem, but I could be wrong.”
“What are you going to say?”
“I’m not sure.” Raestal sounded frustrated by Bridget’s constant questions. “I don’t know what he asked. Just keep walking.”
Tilting his head, the giant repeated himself, “Errorous the spust?”
Raestal still didn’t answer, and Bridget began tugging on his wing again. The giant that stood in the shadows turned and walked away, causing the ground to shake.
“Do something!” Bridget snapped. Her trust in her protector was quickly diminishing.
“Fecka…um…ecstap Spectian. Fecka ecstap Spectian,” Raestal called out. “I hope he’s okay with that.”
“What did you say to him?” Bridget pressured, pulling harder on the wing.
Again, Raestal slapped her hand away. “I believe I told him that I don’t speak the ancient language, Spectian.”
Turning his head towards the cave, the giant muttered something. His words echoed down the passage. Then the strangest thing happened, he started laughing. More laughter could be heard from within the cave.
At first, Bridget didn’t know what to think, but then the giant turned back to them and smiled. The smile calmed her fears. There was something about it, something friendly and welcoming. However, she did find his grayish teeth peculiar.
They finished the last short bit of sandy desert and followed the giant into the cave. The sunlight from outside dimly lit the inside, but it was still quite dark. A large stone table with stool-like boulders sat not too far in. From there, three different tunnels led deeper into the home.
Taking a seat at the table, the giant waved his hand for them to come to the table and tapped the center of it. Raestal opened his wings and took a hold of Bridget. They lifted off the ground and flew to where the giant directed them.
“Merz,” the giant said as he pointed to himself. Bridget put her hands over her ears. She hadn’t expected his voice to be so loud when she was that close. Holding his hand to his mouth, Merz showed he got the point.
“Raestal,” the demon called out while pointing to himself. “Bridget,” he introduced her as well, holding both hands in her direction.
Merz gave a smile and bowed his head slightly. Raestal did the same. The table began to shake, and they could hear another giant coming. From the middle tunnel, a slight glow developed. Within seconds, the other giant came out holding a couple of large cactuses that were at least three times taller than Bridget and glowed vibrantly. They looked fresh, unlike the ones they were burning last night. She couldn’t help but smile as she realized what had been glowing in the desert last night.
Looking over at Raestal, Bridget had to speak her mind. “The glowing last night could’ve harmed us, huh?” She chuckled under her breath, “Just cactuses.”
“Better safe than sorry.” Raestal smiled and Bridget chuckled even more.
The other giant was smaller than the first; Bridget wondered if he might be younger.
“Blec,” Merz said as he patted the other giant on the back. He then pointed to them. “Raestal. Braget.”
To Bridget’s side, Raestal nudged her on the arm, chuckling about the mispronunciation. Blec smiled and lowered his head slightly. Raestal and Bridget returned the gesture.
Blec laid the cactuses by the table. Bridget could see that the needles had been shaved off. Putting his hand into his pocket, Blec pulled out a knife. The blade wasn’t metal, instead it was red. Bridget assumed it was the same mineral as the statues out front. Turning around, Merz reached over and brought out two cups made of dried cactus about the size of Bridget.
Pulling up a cactus that was cut in half, Blec squeezed it into the c
ups and glowing juice came gushing out. Little glowing drops fell to the table as he pulled the cactus away. The squeezed cactus barely had any glow to it after he drained it.
Grabbing another chunk of the cactus, Blec brought it over to Raestal and Bridget. Merz grunted to get their attention and showed them to hold their hands out together to make a cup. Raestal immediately followed the directions and Blec squeezed the cactus. Glowing liquid drenched his hands and overflowed all over the table. Both the giants began laughing.
“Tupat,” Blec said to Raestal, while pulling the cactus to Bridget.
Bridget shyly held her hands out. The giant squeezed the cactus but was gentler this time. Only a couple of drops overflowed to the table. The liquid was sticky and thick, like honey mixed with a little water.
Merz grunted again and lifted his cup, drinking the juice. Raestal quickly followed. Uneasy about the substance, Bridget watched Raestal waiting to see if anything was going to happen to him.
A large finger pushed against Bridget’s hands, startling her. She wanted to resist, but the giant was too strong and pushed her hands to her mouth. Unsure of the drink, she took only a sip. Her dry mouth became alive with a sweetness she had never tasted before. She quickly gulped down the rest. Everything inside of her felt as if it were rejuvenating with life and energy. Even her chapped lips became moistened.
She looked up at Merz, and pulled back, startled by his new look. The cracks in his skin were glowing along with the veins in his eyes and the tips of his hair. In shock, she looked over to Raestal and saw something similar. The veins throughout his body were glowing, in his eyes, arms, legs—everywhere. The tattoos on his skin had a soft glow along with the carvings in his horns.
