Return of the Titans

PART THREE: ESCAPES

The wildfire spread faster than we could run.

Flames leaped and danced all around us as we chased trail after trail, narrowly dodging fallings trees and burning bushes. The smoke consumed us no matter where we went, and even though we stuffed our noses and mouths with our clothes, some of us weren't so fortunate.

Blood dripped from my torn shirt to stain the burnt grass. Whatever remained of the fabric flapped in the wind as I literally ran for my life, but it wasn't easy. My eyes burned and my vision was blurred with tears. My feet wobbled with every step and my heart pounded harder than a bass drum from within my chest.

"S-Stop," I rasped as I wiped away drool that dripped from the side of my mouth. "Stop, please..."

"We can't stop," Maria said. "If we do, the Giants will catch us."

"I... I can't..." I gave one final heave before my legs completely gave out, and I fell, body quivering.

Jay turned around and, gasping, rushed forward to help me. He draped my arm over his shoulders, wrapping his around my midriff, and with our combined weight, I stood again.

"Thanks," I said, breathless.

"Us rejects gotta stick together," he said with an encouraging smile.

My lips spread, but Maria pressed us on with her persisting voice. "We've gotta go!" she shouted. "I already hear them coming now!"

"I... I don't h-hear anything," I stammered, and I didn't. All that was around us were the crackling flames as they devoured all that got in their way.

But as I stood there, ears aching as I craned to listen, something came out of the fire. A distant voice, low yet booming, escaped through the dying forest.

"... ie, Giant scum!"

"Did you hear that?" Jay whispered. "It sounded like a --"

Just then, a Lion-man came flying through the screen of smoke, stopping only when the rough trunk of a pine snapped against his back. His jaw hung at an angle, tongue lolling, almost as if it had been popped out of its socket. He held his paw close to his chest, which had a round outline in the middle of it, as it something had stomped on it, crushing it beyond repair. But before we could run to get out of the way, his assailant came charging through the smoke, war hammer swinging.

Thelonious paid me no attention as he went to finish what he had started, but that wasn't the case for me. I took all of him in in awe. Golden armor covered his hindquarters and his chest that glittered against the leaping flames. His antlers had been sharpened to precise points, his owl friend flying above his head for needed support.

But it was his weapon that caught my eye: an enormous iron war hammer. Its spiked tip was stained red from crimson blood, its face soaked from that which still dripped down it. He brought it down with surprising fluidity to strike the Lion-man across the head, and I looked away as his blood came to wash its wielder's legs.

Maria tugged on my arms, pulling me and Jay away from the horrific sight. "Go," she commanded, pushing us forward, where Thelonious first appeared. "Just run, go!"

I run blindly into the screen of smoke, but it didn't last for long. As soon as we stepped through, the smoke cleared, and so did the forest. Close together trees gave way to a wide expanse of green, where, against a backdrop of flames and black smoke, a battle raged hard.