Page 263 of Gift from the Source
It was like the night of the war all over again and my mind instantly flashed back to me dying. I couldn’t control my light. I lit up like the sun had collided with our bedroom.
She didn’t hesitate to wrap her arms around me and hold me until I knew there was no threat.
There have only been a few times in my life that that memory has haunted me. Each time, she and some sunshine surround me until I rein it back in.
That particular night, she apologized endlessly for scaring us but said we had to go. When we asked where, she said the giants needed us.
And needed us they did.
Mystara Hollow had practically turned them into mining and whatever they needed them for slaves.
She opened a portal right in the heart of the realm where the largest population of both giants and Mysterians were. It just so happened that at that exact moment, two of the Hollow’s leaders were there.
Her eyes shifted, purple flames licked her body, and she stepped forward.
Tillman and I nearly snatched her back because we most certainly didn’t have backup. While Draken and Cas laughed, called their gifts forward, and stepped up with her.
Her voice rang across the land as she stared the leaders down and told them this would be their only warning to leave Colosyree.
It didn’t take more than that.
Their petrified eyes widened comically as their knees hit the ground. One of them even mumbled Elementra.
In that moment, she truly did look like the embodiment of what we assume a creator would resemble.
She looked fucking magnificent.
She smirked at him and said, “A daughter of hers. One with far less tolerance for this bullshit.”
The sass coming from her in that very serious moment had the four of us chuckling around her and everyone else taking a step back. She dropped it, though, and gave the massive-ass giants small smiles when she saw their fear. That was the last thing she wanted.
The leaders of the villages around Colosyree came and met with us once the Mysterians left. Each of them was worried about what they’d do now as they didn’t want to be slaves, obviously, but Mystara had taken over their resources and basically ran everything for them.
Willow reassured them they’d be fine. She’d help replenish the land and the portal to Elementra would be opened again if they needed us.
She swore they’d find a home and help in Elementra.
I’d never been so proud of her.
To watch one of the giants now pass through the portal is an experience I don’t think any of us will grow tired of.
Unlike the ways of old when the portals were originally open, they’d pass through and still have their colossal size. Now, a few seconds after they step into the Everest trees of Aeradora, they shrink down.
They don’t feel out of place for a moment when they reach our lands.
Our travel to Colosyree was the first and only time so far we’ve seen the full extent of what her gift and responsibilities of being a Source entail. It was the most breathtaking experience.
I don’t believe it’ll always be to that extent unless another realm is in serious trouble. Which the giants were. She explained when we got back home that they were on the verge of losing who they were.
The power of their realm may not give them abilities, but the other-realmly capabilities they possess such as their incredible strength and protective instincts have created its own magic system entirely. Because of the chains placed on them, it was draining who they were at their core.
They needed her and she came.
It was so natural to her. She didn’t even bat an eye.
She’d always been so scared and nervous of what it would be like to rule a realm, but she was already making decisions and doing what was best for people.
She’s going to be a marvelous ruler here one day.
