"Samuel… please… wake up…"
A voice.
Called out softly, yet desperate.
"Samuel! They're coming!"
His eyes shot open.
"Emma!" Samuel shouted, breath catching in his throat.
He was drenched in his sweat. His chest rose and fell fast. His heart pounded like a speaker's. He looked around in panic.
But the voice that called him back, wasn't Emma.
It was Lira.
She was kneeling down beside him, holding his arm tightly. Her Sliver hair was messy, her face scratched and pale. There was dirt on her cheek and a blood-staining part of her robe. Her eyes widened with worries.
Samuel's breathing slowed down slightly.
He jerked his hands away from her grasp. Not with violence, just enough to break contact.
Lira looked at him carefully. "Are you okay?"
Samuel didn't answer at first. He sat up. His hands were shaking. He rubbed them together slowly, still trying to ground himself.
"Yeah," he finally muttered while looking forward. "I'm fine."
But he wasn't.
Not even close.
"Emma…" he said using his internal monologue.
"I remember everything, he thought, except the last part."
He tried to retrace it. The embrace. Her face. Her tears.
"When I hugged her back when she was alive. There was no blood. Just tears. Her uniform was warm, but not soaked. Her voice was shaking, but not in pain."
"She didn't die that day, I clearly remember."
"Next day was the party, Then why…? Why, when I try to remember it now… my memory shows her smiling with blood coming from her lips?"
"Oh God..."
He clenched his fists.
"God… I don't understand this world."
"Fuck..."
Tears tried to push their way out of his eyes. He blinked fast. He shook his head.
"I promise, as long as I live and breathe I will surely kill those bastard gods."
"And when I'm done I would come back for that Kingdom, bringing the walls to the ground."
He bit his lower lip, so hard. The sharp pain pierced through him. Blood spilled into his mouth. It dripped down his chin. The skin tore, but almost immediately, the flesh began to stitch back together. His regeneration ability kicked in, healing it without leaving a mark.
Lira noticed. Her voice broke the silence.
"You scared me," she explained, softer this time. "You can't just drag me out to this cursed forest… and then decide to die on me and leave me alone."
Samuel didn't respond at first.
Then he turned slightly, with a low tone. "You said they're coming. Who?"
Lira looked toward the trees. "The giants. I saw them. They were looking for something.
Probably us. Samuel responded.
They passed through while you were unconscious. I don't think they saw us. But… I'm not sure. We might be covered, but I don't think we are safe here."
Samuel nodded once. He looked down at her legs, then back up. "How are your injuries?"
Lira sat up straighter. "I'm fine. Used what little essence I had left. I'll recover."
"Alright," Samuel replied.
They sat there for a moment, the silence thick between them. Samuel's thoughts drifted again. Back to the palace. Back to Emma's hand in his. The hug. Her smile. Her tears.
"I really miss you," he said internally.
He clenched his fists again.
Then, an earthquake.
The ground beneath them trembled.
Dust filled the atmosphere.
A shockwave passed under their bodies like something enormous was stepping closer.
Lira grabbed Samuel's arm instinctively, pulling herself nearer to him. Her breath caught in her throat.
Silence followed.
Then, slowly, from the roots of the massive tree they were hiding under, a giant face appeared. Its skin was rough and cracked like dry mud. Its yellow eyes scanned the inside of the roots. Then it smiled, slowly.
Its massive hand came down, fingers sliding through the roots, reaching for them.
Samuel grabbed Lira and shoved her hard out through the other end of the roots.
"Go!" he shouted with an intense look on his face.
The giant's fingers wrapped around Samuel before he could move again. He was yanked into the air. The wind rushed past Samuel's face. The creature opened its mouth wide, with rotten teeth, a black tongue, and foul breath.
Before it could bite down, Samuel called out.
"Aegirion!"
A flash of dark green energy erupted from his hand as the blade appeared. He raised it without hesitation and sliced across the entrance of the giant's mouth.
The steel tore through its flesh, bone, and muscle.
Blood was sprayed everywhere. The upper half of the creature's face twisted in pain as its jaw was torn apart. Its mouth sagged to one side, bones exposed, blood pouring like a river.
Samuel kicked off the giant's hand and flipped down to the ground. He landed hard on one knee, his blade still in his hands. He turned immediately.
"Lira!"
She was crouched a few feet away, looking terrified.
He ran straight for her, grabbed her by the arm, and pulled her to her feet.
"Run!"
They didn't look back.
The wounded giant let out a horrifying scream.
Alarming the others with their location.
Then, more footsteps approached.
Heavy. Fast. Getting louder.
Other giants are closing in.
Samuel didn't stop. He pulled Lira along, running as fast as he could through the thick underbrush. Trees snapped behind them, as they ran.
The sky darkened.
Seconds later, something massive crashed through the trees above them.
A whole tree was thrown, uprooted, tumbling end over end toward them.
Samuel murmurs intensely. "They have started again, I hate their methods."
Samuel glanced back. He turned around fully and raised his blade.
With one swing, he sliced the tree cleanly in half. The pieces crashed beside them, destroying the environment around them.
Another came flying toward them.
He didn't even think. He slashed it again, debris exploding in all directions.
Lira was panting. Her legs were giving out.
Samuel turned around and without warning, lifted her into his arms.
"hold on tight," he declared quickly, then picked up speed.
They reached the edge of a cliff.
Without stopping, Samuel jumped.
The world dropped out beneath them.
They plunged downward for several seconds.
Then, impact.
They hit the soil hard. It was soft, wet, and full of dark green plants. Mud splashed. Water soaked their clothes. The atmosphere was thick and smelled like decay.
Lira groaned in his arms.
Samuel helped her up. They both stood up slowly, panting, looking around.
The trees here were different, from the other regions.
The sky had a green tint. It was much colder.
Samuel quickly turned around. The giants had stopped chasing them. At the edge of the cliffs, the massive creatures looked down.
They weren't following.
"Strange." Samuel murmured.
They smiled looking down at Samuel and Lira.
Something was wrong.
Samuel's eyes narrowed. He scanned the landscape again.
It was too quiet.
Then....
Roar.
A sound that shook their bones.
For the second time.
Roar....
Lira's eyes widened in fear.
She turned to Samuel slowly. Her voice was barely a whisper.
"We're close…"
Samuel looked at her in confusion.
"To what?"
Her lips trembled.
"…the Lagoon of Agony."