The Giants of Shattered Swamp

by Eddie Patin

  They kissed for a time.

  Jason's hand traveled up and down Morgana's side, and he tumbled along on a feeling of flowing waves of fire like a blazing inferno rolling along through the vacuum of space. The warmth flowed through his blood and he breathed with it—he breathed with her—then he felt Morgana's fingers exploring the muscles of his arms as she pulled harder into their kiss, rising from where she lay on the couch. He slipped his right hand around her and pulled her into an embrace.

  Morgana sat up. They paused their kiss long enough for her to slip one leg around their warm, tangled clinch to come around to Jason's other side. He found himself kneeling on the floor at the edge of the couch with Morgana's legs on either side of him. She bent down to kiss him and her hands explored his back.

  She found the lower edges of Jason's shirt and pulled it up. He let her.

  Morgana's hands felt desperate, kneading and pulling at the skin of Jason's back. He felt the cool air on his skin, but didn't care. He was burning inside! Finding the edges of Morgana's shirt, Jason slipped his hands under the fabric. The skin of her tight stomach was hot under his fingers. Jason reached up along her sleek belly, up over her ribs, then found her breasts, cupping them with each hand.

  "I don't," she said between kisses, "normally do this." Jason felt Morgana pull back. He looked up into her face. She was concerned. "I don't do this so fast."

  Jason looked into her eyes in the dim light. He wanted to make her feel good.

  "It's okay," he said. "I don't—"

  "I'm not ... I don't want you to think of me as..." She stammered, lost her way, then kissed him again. "I'm the leader of my people. I'm a Soloster. I'm—"

  "I want you," Jason said. "If you want me too, then—"

  "I want you, too..."

  Jason was a bonfire. He pulled up Morgana's shirt and found one of the dark nipples he'd awkwardly looked upon back before when she was vulnerable and up on the cross in the crossroads—now bared willingly and waiting for his touch—then slipped it into his mouth.

  Morgana groaned and breathed deeply. "Jason, let's go to your room!"

  He played with her breast and nipple for a moment with his mouth then stood, pulling her up with him. Jason felt his erection push into Morgana's stomach. She pulled him into another kiss.

  Without another word, he took Morgana by the hands and led her through the dark hall to his room. She fell upon the bed, pulling her t-shirt off over her head, then shook out her hair before slipping her fingers into the waistband of the sweatpants Jason had given her.

  Almost bursting and sore with desire, Jason watched Morgana shed her clothes.

  Then he closed the door.

  Chapter 4

  The wind was cool and carried the sweet scent of the pine trees and the musk of the beast that Gliath hunted.

  It was a bright, sunny day, but he was in shadows. The soft, pleasant ground was full of melting snow, but Gliath crouched in the shade under the thick bough of a tree deep into the mountains to the east of Jason Leaper 934's human domicile.

  Gliath watched the animal. He could smell it and feel the twitchiness of its senses fully alert, its muscles crackling with energy.

  With his paws touching gently down in the cool earth on the drier areas of the ground, the leopardwere stayed low and watched the dumb beast's tawny back. He could almost feel its powerful shoulders and legs ready to spring; ready to take the beast bouncing nimbly away if Gliath revealed himself too soon. The deer stood still with the fur of its back bristling. Its long ears tilted and swiveled.

  It chewed the grass in its mouth once, twice.

  Then it lowered its head again to feed.

  With the face of his prey down in the mountain grasses, Gliath slinked forward, keeping his long body close to the ground. He kept his face low and felt his ears pushing down onto his head.

  Gliath watched the deer as he prowled a dozen feet closer, slithering through the spaces in between oak scrubs, melting snow drifts, and dry grasses. He was like a rolling shadow along the ground. His muscles felt like cords of steel ready to snap. His eyes were wide and he could see everything. As he grew closer, he could smell the odor of the deer's sweat glands and musk pod. He could detect the scent of the grasses mixing with the creature's saliva.

  Just a little closer...

  The buck raised its head. Gliath froze, his right front paw hovering over the ground.

  He could feel his tail flicking behind him, but couldn't stop it.

  The Krulax knew that he could catch the animal now. He was close enough to bound at it and snatch it with his claws before it could get away. The beast was ready to spook. Gliath could see the animal's dark eyes glitter in the sun as it searched for predators, its long ears swiveling.

  There was a light snap off to the left. The deer's muscles bunched up—tawny fur prickling—and it set both ears forward toward the sound. Gliath moved his head ever-so-slightly to see it, too.

  Twenty feet to the left, a squirrel was doing something near the bottom of a tree. Gliath was downwind from the deer and could smell the larger animal clearly, but he didn't detect the small tree-rodent. Now that he was looking at it, he could faintly detect the scent of its urine carrying through the air.

  Gliath's attention went back to the deer.

  The deer stared at the squirrel and at the forest behind it for a moment, then lowered its head to feed again.

  Feeling the muscles all throughout his body fill with blood and energy, waiting until there was so much strength wound up in his haunches that he thought he might burst, Gliath suddenly exploded from the shrubs! He flew on the wind with the power of his iron muscles propelling him through the bushes and down the slope toward the deer, who immediately wound up its own legs, ready to spring into the air and away...

  Gliath was on the deer after skimming along the cool earth and snow with two blinding bounds.

  The buck twisted under him. Gliath dug his claws into the animal's sides and back, feeling his fingers and toes stretch magnificently as his natural weapons sank into the skin and fur. The leopardwere easily outweighed the deer, and under Gliath's mighty grasp, there was nothing that his prey could do to escape.

  It bleated and pulled away with forceful bursts of its hoofed legs—trying in vain to break out from under Gliath's weight and fastened claws—but the animal of Earth of u934 was no match for the strength of a Krulax Deathhand.

  Gliath powered the creature to the ground in an instant. Its face and neck crashed into the grass it had been eating. Then, the leopardwere reached up and sank his teeth into the deer's spinal cord behind the base of its skull, piercing the hide, muscles, and vertebra with ease.

  The animal collapsed.

  All became quiet again.

  Gliath lay on top of the beast for a moment with his fangs in its neck, scanning his surroundings. The thrill of the chase sped through his vigorous veins. He breathed heavily around the pinched hide in his mouth. The sunshine was warm on his back, which flexed with fire within muscles that yearned for more.

  His stomach growled. He wanted to eat the deer right then and there; to start with its quivering liver, the rich kidneys, and its slowing heart. Gliath could feel himself burning up what fat he had left—he was getting leaner by the second.

  But Ranaja had asked for him to gather meat for all of the Reality Rifters.

  He flexed the claws that were still in the hide of his fallen prey. This was his second deer of the day. Gliath had been hoping to find one of the 'elk' that Jason Leaper 934 had told him about, but within a few miles of their leader's domicile, he'd found no sign of the larger Earth herbivores. There were many rodents of ground and trees, many birds, and many rabbits. There were even some stray cats like Jason Leaper 934's pet 'Zelda', but no elk. The two deer would do. With the buck's blood seeping through his teeth, Gliath could already tell that this beast's meat would be tasty and nourishing.

  The nearby squirrel was gone. It had fled when the leopardwere had pounced
on the deer.

  At this moment, there was no overt movement anywhere around Gliath and his kill. He could sense the birds in the trees, but they were all hushed into silence by the presence of a predator.

  He smelled for other humans or dogs. He detected none within his range.

  Ranaja had warned him to avoid detection. There were no predators like Gliath in this part of u934's Earth—not even like Gliath in his primal form. Jason Leaper 934 had described the presence of what he called 'mountain lions', but they were rare and far smaller than Gliath.

  To be detected by other humans would be a disaster for their operation. If another human managed to see Gliath—even in his primal form—the authorities would no doubt begin a detailed search of the mountains like they did when they were pursuing the alpha minotaur Nargog from universe 408.

  Satisfied with his secrecy, Gliath released his multiple holds on the dead buck and stood onto his hind legs, shifting into his warrior form. As his body changed and his limbs lengthened—his torso, neck, and head rearranging orientation—Gliath's surroundings seemed to shrink as he grew in overall size. He felt more of his fat sizzle away to fuel his stretching body. His belly tightened.

  Gliath's stomach growled again. The blood in his mouth made him crazy with hunger.

  He could wait. He'd eat his fill after processing this carcass back in the garage.

  Bending over, Gliath took the body of the buck and threw it up on his shoulder with ease. Then he began walking back to base. In time, the birds began singing again, and the small animals started moving and foraging. Gliath breathed in the mountain air, filling his nostrils. He took in the scent of the melting snow mingling with the mud.

  With long strides, sticking to the shadows of the trees, the leopardwere climbed the eastern side of the ridge, pausing at the crest to search for any possible passersby. He picked up the movement of a couple of humans down on the walking trail between the ridge and Jason Leaper 934's domicile. They would cross his path eventually. Gliath could wait. The Krulax also heard the mechanical whine and whop-whop-whop of a flying vehicle in the air a good distance away. Peering into the bright sky, he sighted the flying conveyance high over the town of Ridgeview at least a mile west of the Reality Rifter base.

  Looking down over Ridgeview of u934, Gliath scanned the many houses, yards, and streets. He could see vehicles on wheels moving and slowing and stopping and going all over the dark roads. West of Jason Leaper 934's property, he saw several people walking along the concrete paths that ran alongside the streets, some of them with small, mindless canines tied to their hands by thin ropes. Faint smoke rose from many chimney stacks in the neighborhood of Kestrel Drive, and whenever the wind turned Gliath's way, he could smell the human's foul junk food even from up on the ridge.

  In time, as the pair of human walkers made their way across Gliath's intended route, the leopardwere carefully crested the ridge to its west side—being cautious to avoid exposing himself against the bright, blue sky—then started heading down through the trees.

  When Gliath approached the tree line with a field and the 'hiking path' (as Jason Leaper 934 called it) on the other side, he shifted back down to his primal form again for improved stealth.

  Taking the deer by the neck with his mouth, Gliath streaked across the field and path like a dark ghost, then descended into the thicket of bushes, past the invisible rift to the Wilderlands, and rapidly dragged the body up the slope, through the untended yard, all the way past the grill that smelled strongly of carbon, charcoal, and badly-burned meat to the back door of base.

  After one last quick look around to confirm nondetection, the leopardwere shifted back up to his warrior form for ease, hefted the deer up into his broad shoulder again, then let himself through the door.

  Stepping through the kitchen, Gliath immediately knew that the others were still out. He was alone. He couldn't smell any of them yet—at least not the scent of them being somewhere in the house.

  He looked at the deer on his shoulder and checked the floor to make sure that it wasn't dripping blood. It wasn't.

  Gliath heard a small trilling purr from the living room and knew that his little friend, Zelda, had awakened.

  Carrying the deer quickly across the carpet—he recalled acutely that their leader Jason Leaper 934 had specifically warned him against leaking bodily fluids indoors—Gliath made his way into the garage. He heard Zelda chirp and jump down from the couch to follow him.

  His armor harness was in a pile near where Zelda sometimes slept on the couch. Gliath didn't bother to suit up again before butchering the second deer.

  In the garage, Gliath could still smell the odor of the old vehicle that Jason Leaper 934 had started up in there earlier when they left to 'go shopping'. He could also smell the traces of burnt ozone from the last time a rift had been closed in there. Gliath turned on the bright white lights—immediately annoyed by the buzz that assaulted his ears—then brought the deer to the table and sink to begin processing it.

  The aroma of the remains of the other deer he'd butchered earlier was stronger now. Its processed remains and viscera sat inside the large trashcan that Gliath would dump into the Wilderlands later. Its meat—fresh and red and juicy—was already packed away into the human 'fridge' and 'freezer' device. Back when he'd taken that prey apart—perhaps two hours ago—Gliath had allowed himself the snack of its kidneys and heart, but the fuel that those small morsels had provided was now long gone.

  Zelda called up at him with her small voice. She leapt up onto the metal table as Gliath drew his Blessed Warblade.

  This blade is me, and I am its edge, Gliath thought to himself in a silent prayer. Then, he proceeded to skin the deer. The hide of the animal's belly and inner legs was soft to the silvery edge of his sacred weapon's blade, and he quickly had the animal naked down to the sheathing surrounding its muscular frame. Opening its belly, he dumped the entrails into the big, black trashcan next to the sink, then, Gliath removed the sweetest, most nourishing bits to share with Zelda.

  The leopardwere sliced a small piece of the deer's dark liver off of the trembling mass that slipped around in its abdominal cavity. He put the slice down before the small, white feline. Zelda meowed up at him and ate the dense meat intently. Putting his blade down on the table, Gliath consumed the organs he desired, feeling new life flow into his muscles and blood.

  Good.

  He licked his lips, licked his fingers and claws, then went back to work preparing fresh meat for his team. With expert care, Gliath split joints and fileted beautiful muscles from the buck's stout but nimble bones. He prepared fresh cuts of meat of pink and red, stacking what would eventually become steaks—either for the humans to cook and consume, or for Gliath himself to slurp down in delicious strips, one by one—onto the cool, metal table. The leopardwere sliced the tenderloin into attractive medallions, two of which he slipped into his mouth.

  Delicious.

  In short time, the deer was reduced to a partially-disassembled skeleton decorated by tendons, gristle, and other parts that would not be used. Gliath moved the remains into the trashcan—save for the deer's brain, which he'd cracked into a bowl—then began rinsing off the pile of stacked, saved meat piece by piece in the sink, wrapping the cuts in paper and plastic bags as he went. Two slaughtered deer would guarantee a good amount of meat for Gliath and his smaller-bellied Reality Rifter teammates for at least a few more Earth days.

  After the meat was stored in Jason Leaper 934's cold storage devices in the kitchen, Gliath found himself scraping the fat off of the inside of the buck's hide, working in the large metal sink, when he heard Jason Leaper 934's old, run-down vehicle approaching.

  The car—its tires crunching against the gravel on the road outside—slowed down just before the mechanism that opened the large, metal 'garage door' activated. Gliath looked up from his work as the opener motor engaged a belt and pulled the large metal panels up along some tracks; very loud to his ears.

  Gliath w
atched the small conveyance pull into the driveway. He could see the shadows of Ranaja and the others inside through the glass in front of the vehicle's cockpit. The car stopped just outside the garage. Its engine churned to a standstill. The humans inside were chatting excitedly.

  Turning back to his deer hide, Gliath continued scraping its inner side with the edge of his Blessed Warblade to prepare it for tanning. Soon, it would be free of fat and the last clinging bits of flesh, and the Krulax would pulverize the saved brains to make a paste that he would use to cure the inside of the skin. Ranaja hadn't been interested in the deer skins he'd saved up until now, so if none of his team wanted this hide for any reason, Gliath would eventually just stack it in the garage with the others; the kills from previous days.

  In truth, Gliath had little reason to tan and save the hides at all. With the powers of Jason Leaper 934, the Reality Rifters could acquire any hides or leathers or other materials they could ever desire. Still, the leopardwere loved processing his kills and practicing his skills. Working with the flesh and skins relaxed him. He enjoyed the extra work.

  In the Krulax language, there was no word to describe the concept of a 'hobby', but that is what Ranaja had deemed it for him. Butchering and working with the remains of animals and monsters was a 'hobby' to Gliath, so he would prepare this hide anyway—just like he did with the other hide earlier that day—unless Ranaja needed his assistance and commanded him to discard it.

  The doors of the battered conveyance opened. Ranaja stepped out of the navigator's seat, Jason Leaper 934 from the driver's position, and the female Morgana Soloster from the back. She was wearing new clothes. Gliath saw new boots on her feet; no longer the thin animal-hide boots from her old world. The three humans were laughing and talking.

  "But I don't see how this could be so damaging!" the woman exclaimed, pulling her long mane out of her face. "If it's just this tiny part on the front that comes out, how can it kill things?"