Destiny Island

Chapter 49

The land they found themselves in after going through the portal was unlike anything they experienced before on the strange island they found themselves on. There was a certain lack of light, an obvious insufficiency of joy.

It was as if the colors in the forest they found themselves in were washed out, they seemed to have worn off as a consequence of being there too long. The huge trees must have seen a lot of different seasons pass by, many times and each one of them left a trace on the forest. It was like a crease on one's forehead that comes with age.

The first thing they noticed about the forest was that the trees were two or three times the size of regular trees and that in itself left them in awe. They felt so small and insignificant as they looked at those powerful giants towering over them. It humbled them to realize that no matter how great their powers were there was always something more powerful than them.

Mostly it was nature in all its beauty and whimsical character but that seemed to be even more prominent on the magical island no one knew was there. It was as if nature grew around its inhabitants and molded itself to fit their needs on the island.

That in itself terrified all of them because if their assumption was true then whatever or whoever lived there was more powerful than anything or anyone they had encountered so far. That didn't sit well with them, especially Ignacio who kept fidgeting and looking over his shoulder, checking where Amber and the others were.

It was a shock for him to go from admiring Amber's beauty and elegance during the elegant feast, to finding one's way through an enormous forest. A forest that was much bigger and darker than any forest had the right to be.

The forest didn't feel as magical and enchanting as the other places they visited, except for the Shadowworld of course which was technically a world between worlds. Something seemed off but neither one of them could figure out what it was.

Ignacio felt goosebumps rising on the back of his neck. The ones people usually associate with being watched. Being intensely watched by an unseen person or force and Ignacio didn't like the strange feeling in the slightest.

He could face any danger head-on, but he hated not knowing what was lurking behind those enormous tree trunks or in those dense branches of the trees. Even the strange coloring of the trees caused him distress.

How can the trees be green but yet at the same time not be green enough? It reminded Ignacio of his favorite shirt that was washed so many times that it's dark blue color turned into light blue. What he couldn't understand was how could the trees look like that. Where was their vibrancy?

Still, they went on. There was some kind of internal compass telling them they had to go on. Ignacio wasn't sure if that was destiny or the natural human curiosity to explore everything, even the most dangerous things.

What he could feel for sure was that there was danger in the forest but it didn't feel like there was any danger to THEM. It was as if they were one of those guys who went out to observe nature but tried to stay separate from it at the same time.

For the humans walking through the ominous forest it felt as if though danger lurked in the trees, in the branches, even in the air they breathed, they were not in any immediate danger. At least they didn't feel like their lives were in jeopardy.

That was until they started feeling the earth shaking under their feet. Until the trees started trembling and moving aside as if by design. Those powerful trees were giving way to someone or something else and that in itself made the humans fear what might be coming their way.

Birds flew off the trees in one swift move. They could see small forest animals scurry away in utmost haste. They could feel a predator approaching, and they were smart enough to move aside.

The four humans were not as smart since they stood still as if they were suddenly turned to stone. It was as if they had suddenly frozen in their movements, in the strangest positions and waited to see what fate had in store for them.

Soon enough they could make out two huge shapes among the trees moving towards them. From what they could see it was obvious that the approaching shapes were humanoid but much larger than humans. They were not quite as tall as the forest, but they were close enough.

Soon enough two booming voices could be heard, and they were so loud that all of them had to cover their throbbing ears. It felt as if someone was thrusting ice picks through their ears, that was how intense the pain was.

Still, from what the cadence of their voices it was obvious that the figures were just having a casual conversation, not a shouting match. For Ignacio and the others, it felt as if they were screaming from the top of their lungs.

Soon enough they could see who the voices belonged to. The huge figures were easy to distinguish as giants. After all, Ignacio and the others were familiar enough with the movies and books to identify them as such although they didn't completely adhere to the notion of what a giant was supposed to look like.

Their general shape reminded one of a human with a few exceptions. The most noticeable one being their enormous size and the fact that instead of two hands they had four. The second pair of hands situated at what seemed to be the middle of their body.

Second thing that was not so human about them were their faces which seemed to be partially decomposed as what Ignacio remembered seeing in zombies while watching zombie movies. Seeing that enlarged made it look even more terrifying.

However, probably the most surprising thing from all of them was the fact that both of the giants had huge horns that reminded of those of a ram in shape. They had never heard any stories mentioning giants with horns so the shock was even greater.

Ignacio thought that in this one instance nature was unfair. It gave the most powerful being even more powerful weapons.

"Is that...?" Amber whispered.

"Yep," Ignacio responded.

As he said that he slowly moved close to Amber. He wanted to try to protect her from those gruesome giants but also if he couldn't, he wanted to die by her side.

Shaking away those morbid thoughts he tried to focus on the approaching giants, to think of a tactic.

As he did that he took a look at Royce, and he could see that his friend was doing the same. It gave Ignacio hope that maybe they could talk their way out of trouble. After all, Royce managed to talk them out of trouble many times before. If they even understood their language and if they could even register their tiny voices, they might stand a chance.

To those giants they must have seemed like small mosquitoes, just a pest to be destroyed. Still, they didn't seem overtly evil so that gave Ignacio some hope that they could be reasoned with.

After what had happened with Ci Nada, he no longer believed that the darker creatures would be unable to hurt them. After all, evil always finds a way, and he didn't want them to risk their lives on blind trust.

Before either Ignacio or the others had the chances to think of something smart to say or do, the giants started sniffing the air loudly. To the small humans, it felt as if a tornado was trying to suck them into its belly but luckily didn't.

"Do I smell humans? I haven't smelled any in such a long time. Were they the ones that smelled like chicken or was it the elves?" The dark-haired male giant with a huge belly asked the other giant.

It was clear to Ignacio that it would be better for them never to find out what their diet consisted of. If they did it would probably be in their cauldron.

"Aye, fresh human meat. It hasn't aged well yet. But it does have that perfect flagrance of ripe meat that is just perfect. Not too tough and yet so soft to fall off the bones." The female giant said.

As she said that, her huge tongue came out licking her lips with eagerness. The mere size of the tongue reminded Ignacio of the Anaconda movies he had seen.

"And they thought they were in trouble." Ignacio's scattered mind thought as the giants kept approaching slowly them.

They hadn't spotted them yet but the dangerous duo was very close, too close for comfort. What awaited them was uncertain but from what they overheard it didn't sound good.