Land Of Giants (Discontinued)

Chapter 15

Markl

"Do you think Triston's awake yet?" I asked, looking at Nicky, who sat silently on my shoulder as I pushed myself out of my bed, and onto my good leg.

"I don't know... Should we just go down to the kitchen?" Nicky asked, watching as I grabbed my two crutches, before nodding my head, and making my way out of the room.

Carefully, I made my way down the stairs, before coming across Triston, who was passed out in a chair, with his head on a pillow, and Malissa on the side; also passed out.

"Um... Triston?" I whispered, tapping him lightly on the shoulder, startling him awake.

"What? What happened?" he asked, pushing himself up, and out of the chair. "Are you ok?"

"Uh... yeah? I just wanted to know if you were going to make breakfast," I said, watching as he rolled his eyes as he sat back down into the chair, grumbling.

"You woke me up for that?" he asked.

"Yes?"

"Alright, give me a couple seconds to wake up," he sighed as he wiped his eyes from sleep, before stretching his arms, and legs. "What do you want to eat?"

"Eggs, preferably, and bacon too," I replied.

"Ok..." Triston grumbled, pushing himself out of his chair, and towards the kiln. He sets two pans over the stone top, and over the fire. Underneath, he sets the kettle onto the hook, and pours some water inside, before throwing some bacon into one of the pans, while he grabbed three eggs from a nearby basket.

"Ugh! Why does the morning have to be so early? Why can't it be later?" Jason shouts as he slams the door open, walking into the house, with Tobi beside him. "I mean, I love breakfast at your place, and all... but still! It's so early!"

"That sounds like something Malissa would say," Triston said as he cracked the eggs into the pan, before handing me a basket. "Could you get some more eggs from the back? We're running out."

"Yeah, sure," I said. "Let me just magically heal my leg, and get rid of these crutches."

"Ugh! I'll go, you little punk," Jason growled, snatching the basket from Triston's hand. "But you owe me one!"

"I owe you nothing!" I shouted, watching as Jason stuck his tongue out, before slamming the door closed behind Tobi.

Jason

I slowly made my way to the back, where Triston kept his chickens, and other strange animals, but stopped when Tobi started to growl a little. I didn't like the sound of that growl..., and he knows that I don't like it when he growls.

I watched as Tobi changes into his human form, right in front of me; not even giving me a chance to turn my head away, so I don't have to watch him change. Usually, he gives me some warning before he changes, but I guess something is seriously the matter if he doesn't care that I'm disturbed by the way he changes.

I felt a hand land on my shoulder, startling me a little, but when I turned it was Tobi, and... he seemed concerned. "Something's off... There's a strange smell in the air, and I just can't put my finger on where I've smelt it before."

"Is it the animals?" I asked, looking at the animals in their pin.

"No... it's different, and it's coming from deep in the forest," he growled, pushing past me, and into the brush.

"Where are you going?" I hissed, trying to keep my voice low, so no one would catch us. "We're supposed to be getting eggs, not wandering into the forest!"

"I told you... something's not right," he said, repeating himself. "There's something in there that I-"

He stopped, and turned his head in a couple different directions, before sniffing the air.

"What do you smell?" I asked, dropping the basket to the side, and running over to him.

"Shifter's blood...?" he muttered, confused. "Shifter's don't come onto the mainland. They hate water. They burn if they touch it. It's practically impossible to survive a trip here, without getting injured."

"Do you know which way it's coming from?"

"It's coming from... Cresent Moon Beach."

"That far?"

"You don't have to come if you don't want to," he said, continuing on into the forest, leaving me behind.

"N-no! Don't leave me behind!" I shouted, running after him.

"Then hurry up!" he shouted, still walking farther away from me.

~*~

"Are we getting close?" I asked, but Tobi quickly placed a hand over my mouth to silence me. "I'll take that as a yes..."

"You do know that it's illegal to spill a shifter's blood, right?" Tobi shouts, pulling his hand away from my mouth as he looked around the forest for any sign of movement. "They are an endangered species after al-"

Tobi quickly jerked his whole body around, before glaring down at a bush, watching it closely as he slowly made his way towards it. "You all are very far away from your home, which can only mean one thing... you are criminals."

I watched as two creatures suddenly dashed out the bush, startling me backwards, and into a tree, while Tobi quickly shifted into his wolf form; chasing them out, and away from me.

I pushed myself away from the tree, and looked at the bush for a couple seconds, considering if I should see if there's anything there, or not, before slowly making my way towards it, pushing some leaves, and branches to the side to see better.

Then I saw something lying on the ground, hidden behind some broken branches, barely moving around. I moved my head to the side, to see a girl lying on ground, grabbing at her ankles, which looked terrible, because it seemed to me that the creatures had been ripping up her ankles, and legs, so she can't run from them.

I slowly reached out, wrapping a hand around her; picking her up off the ground, and away from the bush in general. She shook as she looked up at me with wide eyes, before I slowly covered her body with my other hand, making my way to the house quickly.

I passed the animal pin, before pushing the door, to the house, open. "Hey, I think this person might be dying!"

I carefully placed the girl down on the table, and Malissa quickly dashed over to look at her, trying to see what she could possibly do to help. I mean... I'm pretty sure that that creature is on the border of dead, but she might actually be alive. I just need to have a little more hope.

I watched as Malissa wiped blood away from the girl's body, before pulling something out of her back pocket. She quickly strung something through, and quickly started working on the girl's injuries; patching them up, and everything.

After a couple minutes, the girl's breathing was calm, and she was sound asleep on the table, next to an exhausted Malissa, who had been working on her for a while now.

"She just needs to rest," Malissa said, placing a hand on the girl's head. "She's exhausted, and needs to calm herself down..."