Page 18 of Gift from the Source
I tear my eyes from them and swallow down my doubt at the absence of a visible relic. I put every ounce of my faith in my sight to show me what to do.
The tiles in front of me begin to glow, showing me the steps to take, and my gaze follows the trail all the way across the room to the ward waiting at the end.
What not even two seconds ago were silhouettes is now a shining rune. The power pulsing off it thrums across my skin like the vibrations of banging on drums.
Shit.
I take my steps cautiously, turning my head from side to side with every move just to make sure the darkened blobs haven’t changed. With each foot I grow closer to the ward, though, the feeling of being crushed presses down on my shoulders.
“There’s a rune. I’m sending you an image of what it is,”I warn Oakly seconds before sending to her mind what I’m looking at.
“Fuck.”
“Don’t say fuck right now,”I scold, staring at the intricate design with even more apprehension.
In the center of the circle surrounding the rune is a large X with a line going straight through it. Right in the middle where the line and X touch is another small circle, grouping the pieces. I have no clue what the starting point or end point is. The designs just flow perfectly together.
“Sorry, sorry. Okay, everything’s fine. You haven’t touched it yet, right? You have to do it in order or it’s going to squash you.”
“Excuse me?”I ask, then shake my head. No time for freak-outs.“Of course I haven’t touched it. Whatever it is.”
“Good. Well, this isn’t good, but in short, that’s the sigil for the strength of a giant. There’re beings in Mystara Hollow who are, well…rather small, powerless. In the past, they’ve been brutalized and enslaved for their weaknesses. The giants, on the other hand, are natural protectors and very defensive of weaker beings. The two opposites came to an agreement of sorts. Although weak, any being in Mystara Hollow can activate a rune, and the giants allowed some of them to harness their strength. It’s a mutual agreement and once the caster says their incantations, the giant would lay their hand on them. The caster’s magic would weave around the touch, and be branded with the rune, allowing them to access the strength.”
“So this is a universal rune from the giants?”
“Umm, yes and no. It’s complicated. The sigil design is always the same, but the rune and its strength will be different depending on the giant. Also, a giant had to have laid their hand on this ward. The mechanisms have obviously been altered because typically only the original caster can remove this rune, but we already know your blood is going to work. Start with the straight line, then the X, the smaller circle, finish on the large one. You got this, just do it.”
I hear the tremor in her tone—her attempt to hide her fear from me—but I push that out of my mind and focus on her straight to the point delivery and instructions.
Just do it.
Do it right and don’t get squashed like a bug.
My bloody finger touches the top of the straight line, and I force myself to stay still, although my body’s natural reaction is to snatch my hand away the second a painful shock shoots through me. I hold firm as each drag across the rune has the pins and needles intensifying, causing my arm to shake uncontrollably.
Last little bit, Willow.
Lifting my trembling hand, I trace the large circle as I exhale slowly. The second my points touch, the entire room seems to freeze. The roaring silence has the hair on the back of my neck standing on ends, but my eyes stay locked on the ward as it begins to sway.
With little warning, it crashes down like a wave hitting the shore. The force of it has my hair flying behind me, and I shield my eyes from the wind with my arm. The chaos settles seconds later, and my breath whooshes out of me on a stunned laugh when my gaze lands on Dec and Xander.
“You’re both okay,” I whisper as a smile starts to spread across my face.
My elation for our victory only lasts a fleeting moment, though, as my excitement isn’t reciprocated. Instead, I’m met with concerned, almost panicked expressions.
“Willow, don’t freak out,” Dec says, holding both of his hands up.
“What’s going—”
My sentence morphs into a gasp as the floor beneath me trembles and I see why, or rather who he was attempting to warn me about.
“Dec…that’s a fucking giant.”
Three
Tillman
Breathe in. Breathe out.
