Subulai stood outside the main fire in the center of their campground. The furtives who were gathered around were silent. He looked toward the distance above the mountain peak eastward, before the sun had risen, when he saw a strange shadow hovering through the clouds.

  Subulai quickly reacted and headed to the central command tent and ran inside.

  “Overhead in the clouds!” He shouted.

  Kadus, Artesh and Livia stood around a map. Without saying a word they all quickly followed Subulai outside.

  Subulai stared in the direction of the mountains where the sun had yet to break over the horizon.

  The shadow had disappeared.

  “What? It was there not even a second before.” Subulai said with disbelief.

  “I shall investigate.” Kadus said and within moments was already high in the sky.

  “Do you think the dragon will attack?” Subulai asked aloud.

  “That dragon is long gone.” Artesh replied.

  “We don't even know which one is following us.” Subulai replied.

  “It has to be Teican.” Artesh replied. “No other dragon is that fast.”

  “It has been five days of the same behavior.” Subulai mentioned.

  “Is it that damn dragon again?” Moro asked as he joined the group.

  He looked toward the horizon like the others gathered there.

  “Yes it is the damned dragon once again.” Zhi answered him.

  “Cowards, they saw what happened to the Giants and know their days are numbered!” Moro boasted.

  Artesh looked at his lieutenant with a slight grin.

  “If only it were that simple.” Artesh replied.

  “Then what do you make of it?” Subulai asked.

  “Dragons suffer none of the constraints we do. We do not impose on their land, we do not threaten their livelihood, our lifespans are but a mere fraction of theirs. This must be nothing but a mere curiosity for them. Fear of furtives is not a consideration for them.” Artesh replied as he stared into the distance.

  Zhi was quiet. She wondered if part of the reason why the dragons were so apprehensive to approach was due to Tonatiuh’s end at Jokasta's hands. One of the strongest Titans alive brought down in such a quick manner was sure to have sent a message to the dragons that they would not forget.

  “Damn these Titans!” Moro finally said. “This was supposed to be the war of the furtives, not the march of the furtives!”

  The conflict against the Giants of the line proved so far to be an anomaly in the Legion’s efforts. The quick timing of the encounter against the Giants had given the furtives an expectation of things to come. They thought they would be engaging in fights with Titans on a near daily basis, but that had not been the case.

  Instead the intervening days consisted of long marches through thawing lands with little action to stir the hearts of the furtives. Some had spent months, others over a year drilling endlessly, preparing for combat, for moments like the battle against the line of Giants. The thought that they would spend long days marching countless hours through seemingly endless terrain had never been a consideration for any of them.

  Kadus landed near them.

  “Did you make contact? Did you see who might have been observing us?” Artesh asked.

  “I’m afraid not.”

  “What now?” Moro asked.

  “This changes nothing.” Artesh replied. “Our orders were to proceed south, approach Bukulkan’s position, and if we made contact with other Titans to fight them.”

  “Tell the Legion to prepare for the day's march.”

  ***

  The march that day was particularly harrowing. So far the Legion had traversed mostly even terrain but the trek that day had finally forced them to cover hilly terrain.

  As the Legion approached the hills Artesh had been the first to raise issues with the path they were to take.

  “This terrain ahead of us seems difficult to navigate! How is it that your scouts did not pick a better route?” He argued with Kadus.

  Kadus looked at the map and in front of him. It seemed that something perplexed him, but he himself could not tell what that was.

  “This is the only way forward.” Kadus explained to Artesh. “This might seem like a difficult path but I'm sure the scouts picked it because it would be the fastest route south.”

  Artesh fumed as he heard Kadus’ suggestions but he had no choice.

  “Fine.” He acquiesced. “But next time have your scouts confer with me on what kind of terrain to expect.”

  The Legion moved slowly through the rolling hills, struggling to maneuver the treacherous terrain with their machinery.

  Zhi was near the center of the army, marching with the other Legionnaires. She had not walked so much since traveling with Livia and the others. Back in those days the endless roads were torture for her. But now she did not think about it too much. The person that had gone through those ordeals felt like someone different to Zhi.

  “I personally scouted this area and I am telling you this is not what I recall!” A voice shouted in the background.

  Zhi turned to look at the commotion.

  An irate Kadus' was seen arguing with a green sparrowling. Zhi had seen this scout on several occasions but had never spoken to him personally. She remembered his name, Kaisu.

  “I followed the orders you gave me, Scoutmaster!” Kaisu tried to argue. “You specifically asked for flat terrain and when I was scouting this area, that is exactly what I was looking for! Not this!”

  “Then why is everyone struggling on this supposed flat terrain! What damned flat ground is this?” Kadus asked angrily as he stomped on the ground.

  The ground shook, seemingly in response to Kadus' question.

  “Did you feel that?” A legionnaire asked.

  “What was that?” Another chimed in.

  “Is there a Giant approaching?” A voice asked out loud.

  After the last question the Legionnaires were quiet. The ground stopped for a second as their question went unanswered. They waited for another sign of what might have shook the ground.

  This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

  Kadus and Kaisu flew into the sky.

  “Nobody move!” Zhi ordered.

  The ground shook once more.

  “Giant!” Zhi shouted. “Assume positions!”

  “Giant!” “Assume positions!” Began echoing through the line of Legionnaires.

  They all looked around as the ground shook awaiting the enemy, to discern where their weapons should be aimed at.

  But as the ground continued shaking there was no clear sign where the enemy was coming from.

  “Scouts! Where is the enemy?” Zhi called out.

  The ground shook so furiously that Zhi thought the Giant should be right upon them. But try as she might she could not see where the Giant would be.

  “I cannot see a Giant!” Kaisu shouted.

  “Kadus!” Zhi shouted.

  “I cannot see it either!” The reply came.

  “Wait!” Kaisu shouted. “The ground! It is giving way around you! You are on the Giant!”

  Zhi’s heart dropped at the realization. She looked beneath her feet and quickly realized Kaisu was correct. In the distance she could see a long appendage begin to rise from the ground. Some of the furtives around the appendage were raised high into the sky while some fell to the ground. Everywhere Zhi looked she saw furtives on top of the Giant. If it rose up with them it would be a calamity for their forces.

  “Warn the others!” She shouted. “Let Artesh know and tell the other Onsiels to do what they can to stop it from rising!”

  As Zhi spoke, the ground underneath her continued rising, she reacted immediately following her own guidance.

  Zhi moved her hands and created several frozen spikes the size of trees. She shot them down at the Giant to try and pin it down. If the Giant felt any sort of pain at the attack it did not react, and seemed to be only slightly hindered by the attack.

  I can't fight it here!

  Zhi raised herself off the ground with a strong gust of wind.

  “High Onsiel!” Kaisu quickly flew in and grabbed her.

  “Over there!” She pointed to an unaffected area.

  As Kaisu neared the spot a spray of rocks flew upwards hitting the two of them. The impact made Kaisu lose his grip on Zhi. She fell to the ground.

  While falling she summoned a gust of wind to cushion her fall, but it only slightly helped. She landed hard on her side, rolling on the ground several times. Once she stopped she could hardly breathe.

  She felt the world begin to darken around her.

  No… I'm not out of this fight!

  Reflexively, Zhi began to heal herself. The creeping darkness in her eyes dissipated. As she stood up she realized she could not feel her right arm. She looked down and saw it mangled and bent beyond recognition. She focused her energy on it and the arm rearranged itself. The pain as the arm mended itself was immense.

  Zhi screamed both in rage and in pain as the arm put itself back together.

  She was now healed enough to return to the fight. She looked and saw the rolling hills she had been on continue rising.

  “Argh!” She screamed as she manipulated the ground around the rising Giant.

  From the sides of the Giant large earthen slabs shot out and landed on top.

  “High Onsiel!” Kaisu shouted from nearby.

  The sparrowling struggled to fly and crashed next to Zhi.

  “I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to-” Kaisu began but Zhi did not stop.

  She quickly studied the sparrowling and saw his left wing. Half of it was missing. Zhi quickly healed the sparrowling’s wing, which was confirmed by Kaisu’s loud screams.

  “Get to the Legionnaires!” Zhi ordered him. “Tell them to evacuate. Tell the other Onsiels to help build bridges for the Legion off the Giant.”

  “Thank you High-” Kaisu began.

  “Now!” Zhi barked and turned her attention back to the Giant.

  The earthen slabs did not last long and the Giant easily broke through. Zhi saw the earth slide off the Giant. Beneath it Zhi saw roots tearing from the ground. She quickly realized the massive roots breaking through the surface were not being pulled by the Giant, they were the Giant itself.

  “The Tree Giant Baoba.” Zhi muttered.

  “It is Baoba!” She shouted.

  Baoba was one of the ten strongest Giants alive. Stronger than Bolno.

  But it didn't matter how strong he was, all that mattered was that if she didn't do something about him now the Legion would perish.

  Zhi froze the area in between Baoba’s roots, to try and freeze the Giant in place.

  As her attempts to stymie Baoba continued the Legionnaires started to flee its surface. Zhi looked to either side of the Giant and saw other Onsiels create pathways for the furtives to escape.

  “Escape its surface!” Artesh shouted in the distance.

  While Zhi focused on her surroundings her attention was quickly caught by a break in front of her. The ground in front of her broke open and a mass of roots shot out straight at her.

  “Agh damn it!” She shouted.

  She tried to set up a defense but they were coming too fast for her. She would have to take the brunt of the damage.

  “I think not!” Artesh shouted as he sliced through the roots mere moments before they impacted Zhi.

  “I'll be your shield!” He shouted at her. “Continue holding him in place!”

  Zhi did just that. She continued her efforts on holding the Giant in place while more furtives escaped its surface. More roots continued exploding from the ground around them. Artesh moved like lightning around the battlefield, cutting down the roots as they appeared.

  “Fire!” A voice yelled overhead. She recognized it as Kadus' voice.

  In moments Zhi heard the eruption of gunfire all around her, cannons and rifles, anything that could be used to attack the emergent Giant.

  Zhi continued her efforts in freezing the roots. She could see the frost continue to expand, and the Giant slowing down. A larger number of furtives were beginning to evacuate.

  “The Giant is slowing down!” Artesh proclaimed.

  For one breath it seemed as if the Giant had stopped moving. But that was soon followed by a loud roar that pierced the battlefield. Zhi understood what that meant, the rage of a Titan. In an instant a long wall of roots erupted between the attacking furtives and Baoba.

  “Press the attack!” Artesh yelled.

  Behind the wall of roots Zhi could see the Giant continue to move, breaking free of all constraints placed upon him by the Onsiels. Zhi tore through the roots in front of her with a large fireball, but as quickly as she had pierced a hole it repaired itself.

  “Look out!” Kadus yelled above.

  In front of Zhi the ground broke in three places and roots shot out at her. She erected a wall of ice, and Artesh cut through all the roots, save one. She saw the last segment fly towards her as if it were her destiny. She knew there was nothing she could do.

  The wall of roots hit her with such force that they pushed her back and slammed her into the ground. The impact was so great that she almost lost consciousness. The little she could feel was the roots that had pierced her body, quickly expanding inside and outside her, and she felt her whole body begin to be covered by roots.

  Her world darkened. She could not breathe, she could taste something metallic in her mouth, her vision faded, her body felt numb, she could not think.

  Is this it?

  Zhi could hear the yells of those around her.

  Some flashes came into Zhi's mind. The loneliness of Tonatiuh's palace as she grew up… … Rage. She remembered Fran, the only to care for her, the only one to show her any semblance of normalcy. She remembered how she had been publicly executed for giving Zhi care and affection… Rage. She remembered the countless that had died at the hands of the Zifors in their pursuit of her. Rage. She remembered the Oixia and how they plotted with a Giant to use her as a sacrificial pawn. RAGE. Injustice after injustice that she had heard from the Legionnaires that had joined their cause. That had come to their side because they saw in Zhi a way to fight against the many horrors the Titans regularly visit upon furtives.

  RAGE!

  A fire in her heart burned wildly. From inside her she felt a burning sensation like never before. She opened her eyes and only saw darkness, and a fire was born inside her, hot enough to melt the strongest metal but it did not hurt her. No, the fire was her ally. Her entire body went up in flames, burning everything around her. The roots were burned with savage dark red fire, and they were destroyed in an instant.

  Zhi’s eyes opened. Her vision was no longer obstructed by the roots, she could breathe normally, her wounds had been healed. The flames around her body died out. She shot up in an instant yearning for a fight, for a target for her rage.

  Her dark red flames still lived through the roots and they made their way back to the Giant. Zhi stood up to see the wall of roots in front of her begin to go up in flames. Baoba screamed in pain and stood up, cutting off an appendage that shortly went up in flames. Now Zhi saw the Giant in front of her standing up as well.

  “Zhi!” Artesh cried out, his voice full of concern.

  “I will deal with this one!” She yelled.

  “Zhi, the Legionnaires-” Artesh began.

  Baoba was not going to wait and shot out thorns in all directions. Zhi blew out a wide swath of them from the air with a strong gale but she could not stop them all. The remaining thorns got past her hitting furtives all around them.

  Zhi could hear their screams as Baoba killed as many furtives as he could.

  “Hurry!” Zhi told Artesh.

  “Fall back!” Artesh yelled. “Regroup!”

  The hastily organized furtives followed Artesh's orders. As they fell back Baoba buried his leg into the ground and roots spread out trying to impede the Legionnaires retreat.

  Zhi turned and aimed her hand at the center of the wall of roots. From her hand a large column of dark red fire erupted.

  “Behind you!” Artesh shouted.

  Without turning, Zhi erected a column of fire behind her. She could hear the thorns impacting and incinerating behind her. Baoba was doing everything he could to destroy Zhi.

  “Fall back!” Artesh ordered.

  Baoba struck at the ground with his large arms and absorbed the earth into himself. He now had one single target in mind. He advanced toward Zhi and as he walked he sprouted multiple arms from his body.

  He raised one of them to smash down on Zhi. At the same time, another arm swung from the side to hit her. Zhi saw both strikes coming at her and pushed herself into the air with a gust that moved her out of the reach of the Giant. As she flew through the air Baoba shot a large amount of thorns at her from various directions. Zhi swept her arm around her creating a curtain of air that stopped all the thorns in mid air. Zhi then turned them around and shot them back at Baoba destroying a majority of his extremities.

  With Baoba recoiling, Zhi landed near him. It was her turn to strike. She brought her hands up and from them dark red flames exploded outwards engulfing his legs with them. Baoba reacted by severing his body from his legs and his massive body fell onto the ground creating quakes that were felt throughout the entire area. Baoba’s severed legs burned intensely and within moments had been destroyed.

  Seeing Zhi's amazing display the furtives began shouting. Zhi heard them as she focused on her prey.

  Zhi looked at Baoba and saw something that confused her. It seemed as if his body was being consumed by the ground. His roots burrowing deep into the ground.

  “He's trying to escape!” Artesh shouted.

  Zhi planted her hands into the ground, freezing it in front of her all the way to where Baoba had fallen. The ground froze and Baoba was unable to continue digging his way through. The roots that had burrowed broke apart from the sudden cold snap. Before he could react Zhi conjured a large crimson fireball and launched it at the mass of writhing roots.

  The resulting explosion shook the entire area. A large cloud of soot and ash floated over the area where Baoba had been only moments prior.

  “Did you kill it?” Artesh asked.

  “I'll verify!” Kaisu shouted.

  “Wait.” Zhi ordered.

  Before Kaisu could get airborne, Zhi summoned a strong gust of wind. The wind blew away all the smoke obstructing their view.

  They peered into the area that Baoba had been. All they could see was a large crater covered in dark glass. Nothing else could be seen.

  “Kaisu!” Artesh shouted.

  “Yes!”

  The sparrowling quickly flew into the air, high above the newly formed crater. Kaisu circled twice before landing in the crater.

  Artesh and Zhi followed him to the edge of the crater and walked into it. In the center Kaisu walked around crunching the glassy surface.

  “What is this?” Artesh asked as he stared around.

  “This is what remains of the Giant.” Kaisu said. “This melted glass was his heart!”

  “Amazing.”Artesh muttered under his breath.

  Seeing the glassy surface, Zhi felt a wave of exhaustion hit her. She sat down abruptly.

  “High Onsiel!” Kaisu shouted with concern.

  “I'm fine.” She said as she waved him off. “Tell the others of our victory.”

  “Yes High Onsiel!” Kaisu obliged and he took off.

  “I didn't know you were capable of such power.” Artesh remarked as he stared at the ground around them.

  “That makes two of us.” She said without turning her head.