The Isles of Ice Book Three: The Destined World

Chapter Six- Darkness's Temptations

Atlas and Luna appeared on the Isle of Muerend in an instant. The island was just as dead as ever. The trees were decayed, the grass crunched beneath Atlas's feet, and the air was entirely calm.

There was a stinging chill in the air. The island had been reduced to a dead husk of its former self by Atlas. It was a trick deployed to keep Kingston away from the island.

It had worked. Good thing it did, too. Atlas would not have been in the mood to show mercy to the Kingston soldiers.

The island was the sanctuary of the Guardians. There was something about it that Atlas felt a close connection to. They hadn't been on the island in almost a year, and it was strange to be back.

Not since meeting Rose and Xavier. After that, the adventure had begun.

Luna looked around and shivered. "This whole place feels really eerie. There's some sort of familiarity, just like when we were underground in Solanja."

"We have some sort of connection to this island," Atlas explained. They heard a loud rumbling in the distance and looked over.

The shadow giant was making its way over to them. Atlas had faced the mighty giant once before. It wasn't nearly as powerful as the Cuthulaken was.

Still, this fight wouldn't be easy. The beast's body was made up of the same magic that the Guardians were. Instead of orange eyes, however, it had purple husks.

The creature didn't seem to have much of a will of its own. It was closer to an animal than something like a Guardian or Shade.

"What are we going to do about that thing? Won't it just crush us?" Luna asked.

Atlas rolled their eyes. "Obviously not. We can fly. Plus, we're going to stop it before it gets to the island."

"You can fly." Luna corrected. "I haven't been able to call on that power I unleashed since the battle. I don't even know if I want to."

Atlas looked away dismissively. "No time for that, then. We're going to have to make do!" The Guardian drew their blade and teleported away.

They reappeared in front of the giant, striking it in the face. The creature roared and tried swatting at the Guardian.

Atlas simply teleported out of its range and fired magic from their hand. The attack struck true, pushing the beast back.

Luna's magic ascended from the island, bombarding the monster with even more power. This would be a cinch.

Atlas flew back in at the beast. They were about to drive their sword into it, when a purple barrier appeared around its body. The barrier deflected Atlas's advance.

They were pushed back and suddenly swatted out of the air by a giant sword. The blade carried Atlas into the ground of Muerend.

The sword retracted, allowing Atlas to pull themselves up. The Shadow Giant had never used that power before.

Luna ran over to Atlas's side and tried to help them up. "Atlas! Are you ok?"

The Guardian shrugged her off. They looked up to see the sword heading down for another strike.

Atlas put up their blade to block the attack. The force of the opposing move was immense. Atlas nearly crumbled to their knees upon taking it.

"Atlas, what do we do?" Luna persisted, firing off volleys of her magic. The magic seemed to dissipate the barrier, much to the giant's irritation.

The Guardian sighed. "I don't know! Just let me think!" They snapped.

Luna's expression soured. "I just... I'm worried about you, is all." The girl shook her head and then ran at the beast.