“Did you not remain awake for multiple days at a time during your time as a Shadow Guardian?”
“Aye, but I was taxed for it with delusion and questionable senses. Something I fear you will experience though your resilience to lacking sleep is intriguing. You should be careful; I am uncertain how your body will endure such a deficiency. Your mind may simply break without showing signs of weakening. It is hard to say since your origin is unknown.”
“I will be fine, Mother,” he assured her. “I will sleep soon. Just not today,”
“Tomorrow then. Promise me,” she insisted with a stern glance laden with motherly love.
“I will try,” he responded.
While Auvelia was not happy with his response, she left it at that, not wishing to argue. He was leader of their group, and she did not wish to undermine his position. She knew he had to learn his own boundaries and limitations and realized she would not always be there for her son. He would travel and quest on his own in the future, and he would have to rely on his own intelligence and reasoning for survival.
“Very well, I will leave you to the watch. Be careful. There are not only Drey’kan but also giants nearby,” she told him and then jogged off toward their campsite in the south.
He was grateful for his mother’s parting words as he had almost forgotten about the giants. The massive race had not shown since his group arrived at the Tri-Peaks, and the dangers they posed had slipped from his mind. He would have to be vigilant during their time in the glade. Between the Drey’kan and the giants, he would have little control over their possible adversaries and the timing of their potential attacks. One hid in the realm beyond shadows and light, and the other was as massive as a dragon. Neither would be a simple adversary in all-out combat.
The guardian knew his mother was right about his overdue rest, and he hoped he could stay alert and remain without delusions or misperceptions. He would attempt to push through the night without sleep, so the others could be prepared and rested for any possible encounters before the seal. The guardian knew he was not the best fighter in the group and had the least amount of experience in real combat, besides Leith and Aili. So he placed himself at the forefront of watches because he felt the others would be more beneficial during actual fights.
He would endure the sleepless nights and days until his body could not take it any longer. It would be the least he could do for his friends and parents, though he believed it was probably the only thing he could do for them, except for throwing down his life for theirs. He was at peace with his place in the group after his conversation with Caedmon on their walk to the trials, and he knew he was not as important as the others or the mages. They would be the ones to stop the seal, not him and not his lacking abilities. He was there to ensure their survival, not his own.
He recited the guardian’s code for confirmation of his responsibility and then glanced around the glade as he prepared for the long watch. He sat and listened to the wind and leaves while the day proceeded on and soon descended into night. He only stopped his watch for a quick dinner at the campsite as the potent memory of Aili’s acceptance of his courtship request reappeared in his mind, allowing him a respite and short glimpse of a future he eagerly awaited.
◆◆◆
Faolan stepped softly through the glade as he listened to his surroundings and watched the shadows. The others had slept for some time now, and the moon was high overhead, having finally moved into view between the high western cliffs and the tall eastern canopy. The moon would linger in view for only a short time tonight before it would dip below the cliffs, and darkness would flood the glade once more. Faolan glanced toward the cave and hoped his friends would emerge soon.
As he neared the northern forest, a tree branch snapped. His head swiveled, and he peered toward the trees, watching intently. Minutes passed, and no other sound was heard or movement seen. He knew what might have caused the sudden sound and did not wish to provoke them if his assumption was true. He moved away from the tree line and toward the cave entrance, hoping that the glade was a safe haven from the invisible Drey’kan. He treaded softly enough that his footsteps created no sound as he moved through the grass. He stopped a fair distance from the trials’ entrance so as to not encounter the magical barrier protecting the Ikalreev’s creation.
Faolan noticed a faintly glowing item in the grass. He crouched down, picked the item up, and discovered it was part of a deer’s femur. The faint glow was from the moonlight reflecting off its pale surface. A sudden realization came to him as he looked at the bone. He glanced at the cave entrance, then again at the femur, and it clicked in finality.
“The barrier proves fatal after all,” he whispered and grunted in a half-hearted laugh. “He was stronger than I thought.”
A strange feeling came over him, as if someone was approaching him. He stood up and turned around to confront the uncomfortable feeling, and his eyes came to rest on a lone figure standing behind him.
“Faolan?” the figure questioned.
“Treasach?” Faolan was surprised.
“What are you doing?” Treasach asked, dazed and unfocused.
Faolan glanced down at the bone in his hand, and his eyes widened before he tossed the bone off to the side. “Nothing. That was nothing.”
A confused expression crossed Treasach’s face. “Did we stop?”
“Yes, some time ago.”
“Why are you still awake?” Treasach wondered with drifting eyes and a yawn.
Before the guardian could answer, the prince began meandering back toward the campsite. The perplexed sentry followed the staggering prince as he drifted through the glade to his bed, where he collapsed to the ground and began sleeping again. Faolan watched the slumbering prince for a while, but nothing more happened.
“Sleepwalking?” he wondered.
He shrugged off the odd encounter and resumed his duties. The grass reminded him of his hometown, Darnum, with the serene memory of the wide-open plains and the starlit night. He had grown accustomed to observing in silence during his time as a scout, and in truth he preferred the peacefulness. Faolan crouched in the midst of the glade and listened to the night bugs.
The moon moved across the sky, and soon the cliff’s shadows elongated across the glade. The cave entrance became more difficult to discern in the deepening night. When the beacon of light was fading beyond the cliff face, an interesting sound came from the trial’s direction. Faolan turned around in his crouched position and looked toward the cliff. His eyes came to rest on a large glowing insignia above the cave entrance. The glowing symbol was not the insignia of the five Archmages; it was a different emblem and much higher on the cliff face. The new insignia glowed red against the black rock. Not long after, a second insignia appeared on the right side of it and glowed a faint teal color. Then a few minutes later, a third insignia farther to the right glowed a vibrant green. Oddly, a large space separated the second and third emblems. Faolan watched in wonder as the new symbols glowed brightly in the darkness: red, teal, and green.
The silence was broken by a deep horn in the distance. The horn was distinctly made for war as it resonated with a foreboding call. The distant alarm faded and, a moment later, was raised once more, though Faolan had trouble discerning its direction due to its echo off the cliffs. His shifting eyes attempted to pierce the growing darkness. He crept slowly toward his friends, checking his blind spots and listening to the dead air. He clearly remembered the Drey’kan’s ability to go unseen. Oh, how he hoped the horn did not rise from a Drey’kan.
He stopped ten yards away from his companions, and there he waited, hidden in the grass. He observed his surroundings as the last moonlight faded from the glade. Once the moon was gone, it was harder for him to tell time, and the night seemed to roll on forever. He grew concerned about Caedmon and the other mages, as well as what might come from the horn’s call.
A rustling sounded off to his right, and he noticed Treasach was mumbling in his sleep. It seemed as if the princ
e was having a nightmare, though the guardian could not understand what the slumbering royal muttered.
Suddenly, the guardian held his breath and his mind focused as he believed he could feel the ground shake beneath him, but the feeling was fleeting and faint. He thought his mind was toying with him, but after another moment, he felt it again, and the vibration strengthened.
A heavy footfall came from the glade’s far northern side; branches snapped and trees swayed under whatever force caused their movement. The ground shook at a steady beat, and a crescendoing thump accompanied each tremor rolling through the ground.
Faolan kept low to the ground and prepared his swords.
A huge being emerged from the tree line across the glade, and a second followed. Their forms were enshrouded in the shadows. The only detail Faolan could discern was a glow of three distinct colors, filtering out of the cracks in the first being’s clenched fist. The guardian waited to see what would happen, estimating their heights to be near fifty or even sixty feet. The tall grass was flattened as each large foot took its next step, and to ease his anxiety, the guardian silently joked to himself that those would be the easiest tracks to follow.
The massive beings hesitated after several large steps into the glade and began conversing in an urgent tone.
Faolan tried listening to their faint mumbling voices, but he could not understand what they were deliberating, so he stepped forward to gain clarity on their discussion. He took great care to make no sound as he grew closer to the strange characters and crept through the tall grass as if a stalking predator.
The two giants suddenly rushed across the glade as if they were searching for something or someone, and Faolan froze where he stood. They stopped outside the cave entrance and peered into the dark tunnel, and then their voices rose again, though they were still indiscernible.
Faolan moved again and continued creeping closer to the giants in order to hear their conversation.
“I do not see anyone,” the giant on the right said.
“Deraj is no liar,” the giant on the left insisted.
“Perhaps the stones are broken,” the right giant drawled as he scratched his belly.
“They do not look broken. Not a scratch on ’em,” the left giant replied, inspecting the stones closely.
“Look, the glyphs are shining bright.”
“Oh, yah! They have got to be here somewhere.”
“What if they have gone?”
“I do not know.”
While listening to their discussion, Faolan felt the giants were not much of a threat and might not intend harm, so he stood up behind them and revealed himself. He lowered his weapons and tried to present a friendly demeanor to the giants, in hopes they would not crush him.
“Hello,” Faolan shouted up at them.
The two giants jumped in fright and turned around to see what small creature spoke to them.
“Who goes there?” The left giant queried the shadowy field.
“I am down here.” Faolan waved. “My name is Faolan Stardrifter. Who are you?”
“Oh, he is so tiny,” the right giant drawled when he saw the little being standing in the grass.
“My name is Chondrose. I am the leader of the Tri-Peak giants,” the left giant responded.
“Voresh is my name,” the right giant answered.
“What business do you have here?” Faolan boldly questioned the two giants, even though he was truly anxious.
“Eager question for one of such small stature,” Chondrose said. “We search for the five.”
“The five?”
“I speak of the Ikalreev mages,” Chondrose replied. “Are you one of the them?”
“No.” Faolan shook his head.
“Then why are you here, little one?” Voresh drawled.
Faolan hesitated because he was still unclear if the giants were friend or foe and if they posed a threat to his allies. The cautious guardian wondered if the giants were there to ambush the mages as they exited the trials, or if they came to support their journey. He lowered his gaze as he mulled over his thoughts, and the giants could sense the little one’s insecurity.
“Come now. If I were here to harm you, then I would have crushed you when you spoke your greeting. I promise, I will not,” Chondrose assured the small guardian.
Faolan was still cautious but felt the giant spoke the truth and said, “I protect others, friends that needed to come here.”
“So do you travel with the five, then?” Voresh asked.
“Yes, but not all five. Only three have come,” Faolan said.
Chondrose spoke to Voresh in a quieter tone. “Only three have come? But there should be five.” He glanced down at the stones in his hand. “Ah, now, only three stones glow, and the blue one remains dull.”
Faolan looked up at the giant’s open palm and caught a glimpse of only four stone. “Is there a fifth stone?”
“What?” Voresh asked.
“I assume those stones relate to the mages. Is there a fifth one?”
“Five mages, yes, but only four stones,” Chondrose stated.
“Why are there only four stones?”
Chondrose had not thought about it before and became perplexed. “I do not know. These stones were given to us by Deraj, the most powerful Archmage. He told us these stones would only glow when the five mages completed their trials, though he only gave us four stones.”
“It is peculiar he would only provide you with four stones if there were five mages and magics. Why would he give you such stones?” Faolan asked again.
“We are allies of the Ikalreev, and the five Archmages were my friends. Deraj was the most powerful, and long ago they visited us and sought our aid. The Archmages told us to watch for the day when these wee stones glowed. On that day, they told us, we would be going to war and protecting the little mages created by their spell,” Chondrose explained.
“War?”
“Yes,” Chondrose said with a nod.
“What war?”
“I do not know; was not my place to ask. The Ikalreev had protected us from the Drey’kan for thousands of years. We would fight any war for that protection.”
Faolan understood the giant’s reasoning all too well. He remembered his only encounter with a Drey’kan, and a shudder ran through him.
Chondrose continued. “If you are a friend of the mages, then the giants are your allies as well.”
The guardian smiled at the good news. He was not quite sure of the Ikalreev’s intention behind providing the giants with the magical stones, but he gathered it was another part of their grand scheme.
“Are the three mages you protect still inside?” Voresh asked.
“Yes.”
“Then we shall wait for them,” Chondrose informed the guardian.
The two giants sat down, and the ground trembled from their movement.
Time passed, and the sun rose as the birds began to chirp in the early morning hours. The glade grew lighter, and the giants were revealed in more detail as the shadows of night receded. Thick layers of dirt covered their pinkish skin, and their faces were less terrifying than Faolan had imagined them to be in the pitch dark.
Their forms were indeed massive. Chondrose stood at sixty-two feet tall, and Voresh stood at fifty-six feet tall. Voresh had quite the belly protruding forward, but Chondrose was muscular and looked quite strong. They both wore knee-length coverings around their waists, and Voresh had a golden pendant hanging around his neck.
Both giants wore wide smiles and spoke in easy conversation, though the guardian was unable to understand their words as they were speaking in their native tongue. The Shadow Guardian occasionally looked back toward his companions at the campsite. He was watching for any sign of their waking, hoping to prepare them for what they had missed during the night.
Around midmorning, a voice rang out from the cave’s direction. “Faolan!”
The guardian spun around. “Caedmon!”
Faolan was reli
eved to see the mages as they walked out of the cave, Ireli and Ehreion were awake and well.
The giants rose from their sitting positions and moved to meet the mages.
“Chondrose!” Caedmon greeted the giant with a warm smile. “How are you, old friend?”
A hearty laugh boomed from the giant. “Good! It has been a long time, wolf child of the Ikalreev. I have greatly missed your company.”
“As I have missed yours, my friend. What brings you here?” Caedmon inquired with a shout, so his words would reach the giant’s ears.
“These stones,” Chondrose replied, and he lowered his open palm to show the mages.
“Are those two your fellow mages?” Voresh wondered, scratching his back.
Caedmon glanced at Ireli and Ehreion. “Yes, they are the mages of Gales and Flames. Why do you ask?”
“Deraj asked the giants to protect the Ikalreev mages when these stones stopped slumbering. We must know the mages in order to protect them,” Voresh said.
“Intriguing. My master never alluded to involvement of the giants, although his actions always had reason. Deraj would not have requested your aid unless truly necessary.” Caedmon thoughtfully considered his creator’s possible intentions.
Chondrose looked down at the little wolf with a childish expression, and the old guardian could see a brief semblance of innocence. The giants had remained reclusive over the ages, taking refuge from the world beyond and claiming the Tri-Peaks as their home. The Ikalreev magic kept them safe and hidden here, though the giants had their occasional confrontation with the races.
An interesting thought slipped into the wolf’s mind as he wondered if the Archmages had planned for the giants to call the Tri-Peaks their home in order to protect the trials from outside influences. Perhaps they knew the races of present day would not dare explore the Tri-Peaks and discover the trials if the giants inhabited the area.
Caedmon brushed his thoughts away. “We would, of course, appreciate the aid, Chondrose, though we must move quickly to the north so we may prevent the First Seal from opening.”
“The north?” Chondrose asked, and his expression became worried. “The giants never go north.”
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