‘’J-jac—!’’ Amare blurted out right after the trees gave way to the giant leg.

Jackson slammed his staff down, revolved around, and pointed its tip towards the creature; his eyes had neither fear nor nervousness, and the lack of both helped Amare straighten his back to some extent.

The second leg popped out, another tremor spread beneath the ground— the sheer weight of the creature in front of them terrified even the gazes following them in the forest. A series of wails and shrieks rose from their back, then a rough, crashing that sent chills down Amare’s spine. Something splattered and Jackson raised his staff.

‘’Son, of which king do you hail from? Answer, or I won’t allow you to take a step forward.’’

Although he seemed cautious, and the twinkling of the gem indicated his willingness to cast a spell with no hesitation, Amare couldn’t find a shred of fear from his master. Just as he gained another burst of courage, the boorish, deep sound of the creature drilled a hole in his mental state.

‘’Master J?’’

‘’Oh? Whom might you be, son?’’

‘’It is I, master! Son of Kelbor and Balbal, Kelkut.’’

Master? Another slave? Amare looked at Jackson, who in turn smiled at him. He lowered his staff and gave a soft pat on his head.

‘’Look at that coincidence, come, come.’’

The gray, humanoid creature pushed away the dark branches in its way with little strength and revealed himself. Amare’s head rose and rose until the back of his head touched his nape.

The creature was no different from a man except his gray skin, singular eye, and his body and pants that might very well be ten times their size. Subconsciously, Amare let go of Jackson’s hand, took a step forward and blocked his path.

‘’He is a friend, Amare, don’t worry.’’ Jackson kept his smile and gave a thump on his shoulder. ‘’Do you want to know who he is? Well, he said it.’’

Amare looked back and forth between the man and the creature. After a moment of hesitation he lowered his head and took two steps back. He noticed traces of blood under the feet of it.

‘’Is he...is he your child, Master J?’’ The creature said. It showed Amare a terrifying smile and let out a laugh. ‘’No need to be shy, friend, I am a normal giant!’’

Amare took another step forward and slightly raised his gaze, trying to match it with the horizontal blue pupil.

‘’I am Amare...nice to meet you.’’ He gave a slight bow and returned to Jackson’s back; he stood with his hands clasped in front of his belly.

‘’My disciple is a little shy, do not be upset.’’

‘’I wouldn’t dare, Master J. Though now I know why you couldn’t answer our letters.’’

‘’Eh, nothing I can do about that, son. How come you are— oh, one moment please,’’ Jackson excused himself and slammed his staff down, the tip facing the sky. From the multicolored gem, several thunder-colored ‘Glows’ popped out and shot upwards, illuminating the surrounding road to full extent. ‘’May we borrow your shoulder?’’

‘’Anytime, Master.’’

Amare shivered for a moment when he saw the giant palm reaching for them but, believing in the confidence of Jackson, he made no attempt to stop it. The giant, Kelkut, Grasped them both and put them on his half-bare right shoulder. It was quite wide, so much that he and Jackson could sit with an empty space between them.

‘’Sit down, relax— also hold onto my vest, it should be shaky, hehe.’’

Amare, after receiving a nod from Jackson, did exactly so. He took a hold of the straps going over the shoulder and sat close to Jackson, who remained on his legs. Once Kelkut affirmed their security, he started walking down the road with somewhat familiar steps. In the meantime, Amare kept silent as they started chatting.

‘’How is your father?’’

‘’He’s old as always, no better than you, Master J. His voice has turned hoarse and crude from an infection, so he speaks more than a few words now; most for scolding me.’’

‘’Heh, he was ridiculing me before, wasn’t he? Now we are brothers of the same fate.’’

His voice is the same, isn’t it? Amare cast a glance, then turned it away to the forest. When did it become healthy, or turned back to being hoarse?

‘’Indeed, Master J.’’ Kelkut gave a loud chuckle.

‘’So, son, what about the letters you mentioned before? It has been months since I left Southern Sea, I hope nothing bad happened?’’

‘’One was for my mother’s sending ritual, but my father guessed you wouldn’t be able to join.’’

‘’My apologies, son. If you won’t chase us away, I’ll pray in front of her tomb.’’

‘’I wouldn’t dare,’’ Kelkut said. ‘’You will stay overnight, then?’’

‘’Perhaps longer. My disciple needs some rest, and me too— my feet have horrendous wounds, I tell you. I’ll buy some medicine for it if you have any left.’’ Jackson twirled his staff to tap his feet.

‘’We do, Master J.’’ Kelkut then changed the topic back to the letters. ‘’As for the other three letters— they were the sightings of Felaqt.’’

Amare felt his back turn cold while Jackson dropped his unperturbed smile for the first time.

He gave Amare a small pat of somesorts to ease his confused expression. ’’Where?’’

‘’First on the border between Aeon and Wilderness, for second near the frontier settlement of Gozse, and the third in Kingdom’s capital Kilan.’’ Here, Kelkut stopped and took a right, delving into the forest. The ‘Glows’ followed after them, some from above some from below.

While the conversation between Jackson delved into matters and names he knew nothing about, Amare’s focus disappeared. Instead he looked around, slightly curious about the origin of those eyes that followed them in the darkness.

While shuffling between leaves and branches of the dark, long trees, faint footsteps emerged in Amare’s ears, almost inaudible from the heavy tremors giant spread. In a second there were two, another second later they were four, and ten seconds later, it came to a point that he couldn’t count. All the sounds mixed between the whispering wind, ruffling leaves, and hurried, faint steps.

Amare emptied one of his hands and pushed himself to turn sideways; he sat down again, grasped the strap, and cast his gaze down.

In darkness, there were countless eyes watching him.

Amare’s mouth gaped open; his hands lost their strength and his head froze in that position.

The collection of eyes showed a smiling intent, then en-masse, they blinked in sync.

Amare wanted to scream in horror but something clogged up his throat. There was not even a grunt. His eyes widened as his grasp loosened.

His body leaned back, his leg slipped, and his body started falling back from the shoulder.

In that instant, the hundreds of eyes all showed yellowed sets of sharp teeth, bloodied and dirtied by who knew what.

No!

Right there, when he almost tumbled down from the Kelkut’s shoulder, he heard countless screams rising to his side. A storm of dizziness struck Amare’s mind and passed in an instant, and when the ringing beside his ears calmed down he saw himself still holding onto the strap of Kelkut’s vest, albeit half-heartedly.

‘’Amare?’’ In his back, he felt a palm supporting him.

‘’They- demons? Evil spirits? They dragged me- the- they’ll drag you-’’

‘’They won’t, Amare, don’t panic. Calm down, take it easy.’’ Jackson gave him a simple rub on the back and raised his staff. He made the motion of slamming it down, then pointed the tip to the sky.

‘’O’Tsetse, bathe us in light.’’ An ethereal voice came out of his lips as the multi-colored gem shone in the forest’s darkness. Contrary to the past instances, dozens of thunder-colored ‘Glows’ emerged from the gem in a frenzy, showering them and the surrounding area in a somewhat blue and gold-ish light.

The ‘Glows’ spread out in the shape of a whirlwind; Amare heard another series of screeches and shrieks from the eyes following them. The stench of ash wafted over. When the multitude of ‘Glows’ returned in numbers less than a few handful, Amare realized it was over.

His gaze went left and right between Jackson and the darkness, and when his fear settled down as well, he gave a small nod and turned to face their front. Jackson shook his head again, Kelkut made no comments.

For hours they traveled deep into the woods with no visible destination and break. Amare’s grasp on the straps were always tight and whatever sound he heard, he paid no heed. The danger he faced had imprinted a deep sense of horror that, while soothed for now, remained as a kind of anxiety. Each foreign sound caused him to shiver and tremble, but with Jackson and Kelkut always discussing matters of many kinds, most didn’t go beyond that.

Amare had no understanding of what they talked, of course, but the name Felaqt rang frequent enough for him to memorize. Calamity, death, disease, corruption— anything foul seemed to point to this...existence, whom while they called a ‘He’, with a real flesh and blood giant carrying him, Amare made no quick conclusion with him being of man.

There is not just man walking on these lands...where am I? In the past, his elders had always told him of times when gods ruled them with mythical beings under their servitude- but those days were long gone, they had also said. Thousands of years later, they produced no divine king or queen. Everyone there, in his homeland, in the land of whites, and in America, was mortal.

Here, and he did not know where here was, man and nature didn’t seem to be the sole owners of the land.

For not so long, Amare found himself thinking upon the words still passing between Kelkut and Jackson, trying to guess what they were, where they were, who they were...this process was too unfamiliar to his weary, old self. It might have been curiousness that made him follow their words and lines of thoughts, or it also might have been the free time he had in his tiny, smooth hands; it was a kind of luxury that a slave did not have, one that he couldn’t afford to give himself even when he worked for— with Jackson.

The act of thinking was an act that required immense quantities of time, after all.

His scattered train of thought focused itself on this particular man for a moment. Ever since his death, his short audience with God, and his coming to this lands in a body much younger and healthier, he had not once thought about what Jackson was doing, had done, or would do? Had he came here like him, in a body not of his own, or had he arrived with his real flesh? Why did he seek him and not his, perhaps, child and grandchild, or his wife and parents?

The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

As a devout believer of God and Christ, and as a man whose filial piety went above the highest amount expected from a priest, no doubt he would attempt to first find his relatives than a slave he tried to set free.

Amare’s thoughts stopped there and his head rose slightly up, his eyes looking at the figure not aware of his gaze, still talking with the giant Kelkut while bearing an unperturbed smile.

Why would he come for me...my wish?

With a sense of guilt, Amare lowered his head and no longer thought of the matter; with his eyelids heavy and his limbs tired from the constant tremors and trembling, he decided to rest until they arrived the so-called home of the Giant Duke Kelbor; husband of Balbal, father of Kelkut and Balfol, and another old friend of Master ‘J’, Priest Jackson.

*********

Their journey lasted two more hours, in which Amare found it hard to keep himself awake and aware. He was not much hungry, for he had lived through times with no food for days— they were the most ordinary of the times as well. But sitting on the shoulder of a giant was by no means easy; walking might have been better for his body in comparison.

Jackson didn’t seem to be much troubled by the same thing, and when Amare remembered his constant pace he kept in the forest, he didn’t muddle much over it, except Jackson complained about his feet every now and then. And while doing so, at one point, he had taken him into his right arm and held up with his staff, his left hand holding onto the giant’s curly mustache.

He realized this point when they stopped at the lights of dawn, standing near the foot of a wide, small mountain facing the first sunshine. They came from an opening, a ravine carved from the middle of the mountain, and none of the lights coming from afar managed to light up the depths of the eerie darkness. What they touched , however, remained not far from that; it was a humongous farm house with glistening wood doors, taller than Kelkut by two heads-Kelkut heads- and several windows from which a shadow moved past.

‘’Father! I brought you a gift!’’ Kelkut shouted and took them off his shoulders, holding them in his right palm beside his face. Jackson put Amare down and grasped his staff with both hands, pointing it down. While the gem at the tip started twinkling, the rotating door slammed open and another shout arose.

‘’Have you brought Red Ember!?’’ A giant rushed out, and behind him a long trail of dry gray hair followed. Grizzled, cracked skin of his had something unpleasant awaken in Amare.

‘’No, but-’’

‘’Then what are...you...waiting...?’’ The giant who confirmed himself to be Kelbor, father of Kelkut, slowed his pace until he stopped right in front of his son, a hand ready to slap down remained in the air. ‘’J?’’

‘’Heh, you sound grizzled, old friend.’’ Jackson let go of a hand from the staff, took off his veiled hat, and put it over his chest. ‘’Nice to see you again.’’

Kelbor made no sound or move— as if the time had stopped for him, his horizontal eye remained on Jackson and Amare, staring daggers at the former. Amare himself wasn’t sure if he was also a target of the glare.

‘’Ha...haha...hahaha...hahahaHAHA!’ After an uncomfortable period of silence, Kelbor started roaring; laughing was too dangerous of a word to use for Amare, as experiencing more than a few terrifying events in succession had him imagine what a roar would be in advance. The sound that only existed in his mind jolted his ears.

‘’Idiot, welcome!’’ The slap above descended into a claw that dug into Kelbor’s lengthy beard, scratching, perhaps, his chin hidden under them. ‘’It seems you brought back a disciple?’’

‘’Indeed, a fine one,’’ Jackson smiled and straightened his posture as well as his staff, which had lost its luster. Amare saw the last handful of ‘Glows’ popping out of existence.

‘’...He seems not fine at the moment— though I doubt you’ll leave him in this state,’’ there he looked at Amare’s forearms, where two half-moons resided. ‘’That is not important now; let me get you two some pillows and beddings. We’ll talk right after you rest and eat a meal.’’

‘’Father, what about me?’’

‘’You will go back and get us some Red Ember, moron,’’ Kelbor snorted at Kelkut and took Amare and Jackson from the latter’s palm. ‘’Now my throat hurts! Go, don’t force me to raise my voice!’’

Kelkut let out a whimper and ran out towards the wild forest again, and in a moment he was gone deep into it. It took a few more seconds for the tremors of his steps to disappear.

*********

Inside of the house accommodated no item that could be considered luxury; there were three beds, each carrying piles of leaves upon a stone surface, leaning to the edge of the walls. There also laid a long table of polished wood circled by humongous chairs and across it, at the end corner where two of the beds met, stood a square iron furniture reminiscent of a fireplace, but Amare saw no chimney or a special hole to expel the smoke.

Kelbor put them over one of the soft beds and ran to one of the side-doors that led to some kind of compartment. After a moment of shuffling and scratching something, the old giant came out with a pair of human-sized mattresses, also carrying red pillows. He laid them at the edge of the bed a few steps apart and motioned for them to rest.

After receiving an affirming nod from Jackson, Amare picked the right one and put his head down to sleep. The exhaustion surged with a ferocity enough to have him all asleep in a matter of seconds.

When he woke up, he saw the sunlight gushing into the farmhouse from the glasses facing outside; that meant it was past-noon.

He stood up and looked around. Jackson was gone but his bedding remained in its place, messy and filled with tendrils of white hair. His staff, however, remained beside his pillow.

Amare raised his gaze up high and surveyed the room. Apart from what he had noted before, there were also shelves nailed to the left-wing of the house, and Amare found it reasonable to assume them as rations and alike from the sealed mouths of the pots and vases, as well as how close they were to the table itself.

Oh— there was also the giant, Kelkut sleeping on the bed across him.

With no idea of what to do, Amare walked to the edge of the bed to see whether he would be able to climb down. Of course not. There were more than a few meters between ground and him and any attempt to descend would leave him with broken bones. Many of them.

Amare sat down at the edge and looked around once more. Kelkut had turned to face the wall, presumably while he was looking down, and continued to snort and snore in his sleep. He turned around once more, and he seemed in no way comfortable— but Amare couldn’t pinpoint why.

He waited while watching the sunlight leaning more and more to the ground. With each passing minute it edged closer to the eyelid of Kelkut, who at that point started scratching his face. A few more minutes passed and now the pillar of light shone right onto his eye.

‘’Aaah- let me sleep father...huh-’’ Right after he spoke, his eye opened wide.

He shot up and revolved onto his feet, looking around. ‘’No, father, I was only rest...ing?’’

‘’...they don’t seem to be here.’’ Amare said.

‘’Oh, they’ve not returned yet!’’ Kelkut let out a sigh and collapsed back onto the bed. He his eyelid fell down and rose up more than a few times when he shot right up again, this time still seated on the bed. ‘’Ah, sweet sun, you are awake?’’

Sweet son? Amare cast a glance with faint tinges of red on his cheeks. ‘’I...I am...’’ He paused for a moment, not sure of what to call himself.’’...his disciple. Not son.’’

‘’Son? I said Sun, the Sun, sweet Sun!’’ Kelkut patted his own chest. ‘’Ah- don’t mind, Master J. said my tongue is a little bit rotten. I hope you can understand me.’’

‘’...I do...but—’’ Amare stopped there and cast his gaze to the huge door. ‘’Is Sun sweet?’’

Kelkut put his right elbow on his knee and supported his chin with a fist. ‘’Not in taste...but they are indeed a sweet God.’'

‘’God?’’

‘’...um, yeah?’’

Amare looked straight at the giant’s horizontal pupil, then lowered it to its limit. Blasphemy- God is God, he is not the Sun, he is not...

‘’Little friend, where are you from?’’

‘’Iv...America’’ Amare said.

‘’Oh...’’ Kelkut stopped, then laughed. ‘’Indeed I’ve never heard of it!’’

He didn’t? His thoughts were interrupted by Kelkut’s arise; the giant stood up and came before him, lowering his palm open.

‘’I’m sorry, Master J. had said to not ask you about where you lived, but I was just too curious-’’ He urged with his head. ‘’While they are out looking for herbs, would you like to take a bath?’’

Amare straightened himself and looked down at the palm. ‘’Bath?’’

‘’There is a spring to the east, not far from here,’’ Kelkut said. ‘’It is cool and clear- and it is perfect for a routine cleansing.’’

‘’...’’ While he did not respond in the first moment, for the fear against the giant still lingered inside his heart, Jackson showed more than enough trust and familiarity with Kelkut, if not Kelbor as well. His judgment was then his judgment, and so it wouldn’t trouble him to act...on his own.

‘’If you want...that is alright.’’

‘’Hm?’’ Kelkut stopped for a moment, then gave a laugh. ‘’Alright, hop on!’’

Amare took a deep breath and leaped a meter forward to the palm of the giant. He found himself on his both feet, though one stood lower inside a crevice of the hard skin, and looked up.

‘’Are you steady?’’

Amare gave a nod and took his right foot out of the gap-like line, and seeing him done, Kelkut moved towards the door. He peered the entrance a bit and stepped through without making any large sound. He looked to the left. There were faint mutters and chatters of unknown birds echoing towards them.

‘’Lovely sound, isn’t it?’’ While he entered the forest and strolled through a myriad of trees in Kelkut’s palm, Amare kept his attention sharp and focused on the surroundings. Of course, he saw nothing but greeny green leaves and bright brown trunks and branches; and he heard, now louder, of the birds and sometimes bugs shrugging and flapping their wings.

With a lack of any danger, he took a deep breath— it tasted sweet.

Kelkut advanced with heavy steps as he pushed a series of vines dangling from the trees. ‘’No comment?’’

‘’...they are good,’’ Amare replied. ‘’But...where are they?’’

Pondering for a moment, Kelkut made a surprised face under Amare’s gaze. ‘’The ghosts? They only come under dark, no need to worry about them— actually, they don’t even always come out.’’

While he received an answer to his question that lasted from yesterday to today, Amare’s mind did not recognize the latter portion of the sentence. He only heard ‘ghosts’ and when he regained the mental faculty to think, he felt a shudder pass through his feet and back.

Ghosts...giants...What had happened here to incur the wrath of so many ghosts, pitiful souls? That, he did not ask.

‘’Sweet Sun is quite bright today, so the pond must be warmer than usual,’’ Kelkut said. ‘’Say, friend, would you prefer warm or cold?’’

Amare turned to look at their front where he saw a light-blue twinkle, then he gazed up to the giant Kelkut. ‘’Whichever you like.’’

‘’It doesn’t matter? It should be— Oh, I understand!’’ He let out another laugh. ‘’You are the guest, don’t be that considerate, I’ll arrange the temperature for you.’’

How? While he thought about the means the giant had, he remembered the ‘Glows’ of Jackson; Magic...is it the same?

Amare gave no definite answer and instead gave a modest bow, then continued looking forward. In no time, at most three more minutes later, he saw the twinkling blue enlarge into his whole field of view, flooding to the limits of the horizon and stop at the foot of a series of green-topped mountains, rising to the farthest east.

This was no pond.

This was a lake.

Surrounding this lake was a brown-ish earth declining into it, and at each side there were, surprisingly, herbivore animals of all kinds. While passing through the forest with Jackson, he had not seen any, yet here they were abundant.

Of the deers at the right bank, some looked at them, their beady eyes shone for a second, then they returned to drinking. However, one took its way towards the giant. It leaped over a series of boulders with movements quite erratic, not in line with its physique. Kelkut lowered him to the ground in response and sat at their side, gazing at the newcomer.

Amare turned sideways to face the unfolding greeting: The deer shook its head back and forth, and in response Kelkut nodded and let out sounds not much different from an animal cry. He pointed to the right, grumbled, then pointed to the left bank where wild horses, monkeys, chipmunks, foxes, and a pair of black bears seemed to bicker among themselves. The deer gave another shake, licked the giant’s palm, and sprinted back to its herd.

He could, of course, make no sense from the interaction between the giant and animal, or how there were dozens of foxes snickering and ridiculing other animals without getting eaten— or eating.

‘’They hunt at night and relax in the day,’’ Kelkut said and stepped past him. Step by step, he dove into the lake until only his torso and head remained visible.

‘’What...are they doing?’’

‘’Discussing the losses. There are much more evil than the past— but that does not matter to us,’’ Smiling, Kelkut raised his arms and looked at him. ‘’See if the water is fine for you. If not, I will adjust the temperature.’’

Amare nodded and took off his dirty tunic, still holding onto the ripped pants. He moved forward and brushed his right foot on the surface; The water was comfortable, slightly cold. Amare moved his body in, a chill spread over his body, but in a matter of moments it was gone as everything beside his head delved into the lake.

He did not dare go much forward. The last time he swam remained decades away, and he wasn’t sure of how much he remembered, or his body remembered, how to keep himself above water.

Accompanied by the roars of the bears at the left bank, Amare gave a small bow, causing his chin to submerge as well. ‘’It is comfortable, thank you.’’

Kelkut lowered his arms and nodded. ‘’All is fine, then. Try not to go further— it becomes quite deep there.’’

‘’Alright.’’

After he fell silent, Kelkut started humming a song. They bathed and rested for some more time until animals around the lake retreated into the woods. With their departure, Kelkut and Amare also decided to return back.

After picking up his tunic, which he swooped into the water to clean before leaving, Amare got onto Kelkut’s palm and together returned to the gigantic house at the base of the mountain away from the ravine. Even in the day, except the entrance where several red-leaved thin trees stood rooted, nothing beyond could be seen.

When they stepped inside, Amare saw Jackson sitting on the edge of the long table, his legs dangling to the side.

At the base of his two foot bloomed blisters and ripped skin, full of blood.