A balding man with dark skin stood before a pyre where men in armor and masks were tossing what looked like wrapped bodies into the fire to burn.

  “My lord…” A stout woman with a kind-looking face and orange hair stood beside him.

  He gave a heavy sigh. “Today brings the total to… thirty-seven.”

  Her face became downtrodden.

  “Any word from Hallfen?” The Lord asked.

  “Nothing on their timetable, but they did say they were prepping a lot of medicine, healers, doctors, and even Forest Spirits to come to our aid.” The woman answered.

  “Let me know-.” The man began but was cut off by a shouting soldier.

  “Your Lordship! Lady May!” Though his face looked exhausted, his expression was beaming.

  “What is it? Word for Hallfen!?” Lady May, the stout woman, asked, her eyes brightening.

  The soldier had to lower his head and rest his hands on his knees to catch his breath, but he gave them a solid nod once he did.

  “How long?” The Lord asked.

  “They said that the three goddesses were escorting the supplies! The Lord of Hallfen said they would likely be here by noon, which should be soon… I think.” The soldier replied, sounding a bit unsure.

  A soldier on horseback rode up to them. “Your Lordship! A large woolly bison pulling a massive cart is rapidly approaching the city!”

  The Lord became slightly slack-jawed momentarily but quickly called for a horse for him and Lady May.

  The two quickly headed toward the main gate.

  They arrived just in time to see the party arrive.

  “A giant?!” Lady May cried.

  The Lord couldn’t believe his eyes. Before him, there was a giant in black fur armor, kindly petting the bison while thanking it for its effort.

  A familiar raven-haired young woman landed by them. “Lord Albus, good to see you again. Hi May!” She cheerily said.

  “Violet!” Lady May rushed over and hugged the girl.

  Violet returned the hug but pulled away to face the Lord. “What is the situation?”

  The Lord furrowed his brow. “First, allow me to thank you all for coming to our aid. I am glad that you and your companions are here, though I will admit, I was not expecting the Crimson Goddess to be a giant.”

  Violet giggled. “Most don’t, but why are you glad we came?”

  “We learned this morning the source of the plague.” He grimaced.

  “Is it a curse?” The daughter of the Hallfen high priest stepped forward.

  “No.” The giant stated. “Some kind of sickness. It is permeating the land and water.”

  The Lord was surprised at her words. “She’s… right.” He shook off his shock. “Trolls have been flooding down from what we believe, the Moon Lake plateau. The Moon Lake is a major source of water for us. There was a great beast at the lake that had protected it for centuries. Nothing dangerous dares to challenge it. We are afraid something may have happened to it, and the lake is now polluted. Could the three of you head there to support my soldiers?”

  Violet nodded. “We will head there immediately.”

  The Lord then called for a nearby soldier to notify those heading up the plateau of the coming reinforcements and have them hold their place until they arrived.

  A unique-looking giant child who looked like she could be related to the full-sized giant ran up. “I’m coming too!”

  “Not this time, Rui, I need you here to help cleanse the land and water here.” The giantess stated.

  “B-But…” Rui pouted.

  The giantess smiled, causing the Lord’s heart to skip a beat, and she knelt, hugging Rui. “I know you want to help, but the Forest Spirits who came with us won’t have enough power to quickly cleanse the land. Only you can do that. Please, for me?”

  Rui frowned and reluctantly agreed.

  The giantess donned a special-looking pack, and Annabelle and Violet joined the giantess by getting into a couple of large pockets.

  “Um, Miss Giant, what is your name?” Lady May asked.

  The giantess turned her head to them and beamed. “Melody. Princess Melody of the Gaian Forest.” After her statement, she charged off after the messenger, looking to quickly catch up.

  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

  “GRAAAURRRGH!” A rotting beast lumbered down toward a group of soldiers.

  “Hold it back! Don’t let it get any closer to the city!” A commander called.

  Several fire arrows and fire magic were hurled at the beast, burning away at its body until it fell to the ground after a few minutes.

  More rotting beasts staggered toward the armed force.

  “Dammit! We can’t get any closer to the source!” A soldier yelled.

  “Just keep burning them down! We’ll make it to the moon lake soon!” The commander called.

  A rider brought his horse to a stop beside the commander. “Sir!”

  “What is it? Reinforcements?” The commander asked.

  The rider beamed. “Yes, sir! Forces from Hallfen arrived at the city and dropped off plenty of medical supplies. They should be here soon!”

  “Hallfen? Who did they send?”

  “The three Goddesses!” The rider exclaimed.

  The commander’s mouth hung open for a moment before he composed himself. “That is good to hear.” He then called out to his soldiers. “Protectors of Wesori! The three goddesses are coming to our aid!”

  “What?!” “No way!” “We’re saved!” “I wonder how tall the Crimson goddess is?” “They say she’s a giant.” “So, really tall?” “No, a literal giant.” “WHAT?!”

  The soldiers continued their banter while keeping the rotting beasts at bay.

  “Bloody Bull!” A soldier called as a large, rotting bull quickly lumbered toward them.

  Before the commander could say anything, a green needle exploded the beast, followed by a rain of purple fire that burned away the other creatures.

  “The goddesses!” The soldiers cried out as Crimson, Moon, and Sun goddesses arrived.

  The Moon and Sun goddesses floated down from the pack the Crimson goddess wore.

  “Sorry for the delay. We were helping at the city when we learned what was happening here.” The Moon goddess stated as she fixed her raven ponytail.

  This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.

  The commander got down from his horse. “We are just glad to have you.”

  The Crimson goddess knelt. “What do you need us to do?”

  “We need to get to Moon Lake, which is at the top of this plateau. We realized too late that the disease is coming from our major water source.” The commander reported.

  “I should be able to cleanse it.” The Sun goddess’ voice echoed out of her helmet.

  “We’ll clear the path. I’ll burn down as many as I can. Just make sure that the corpses are reduced to ash.” The Moon goddess stated.

  “We will.” The commander turned and began issuing his orders while the Moon and Sun goddesses returned to the pack on the back of the Crimson goddess.

  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

  Melody moved forward steadily, disabling the rotting beasts so Violet could burn them with fire after her namesake, Violet Flame. Violet created a custom fire that, once it started burning something, would continue until nothing was left but ash.

  “Hey Violet,” Melody pinned down another rotting beast, “What are these things?”

  Violet burned a few more beasts down. “They’re called Trolls.”

  “What? I thought-.” Melody paused.

  “Yes, I thought so too.” Violet shook her head. “Trolls in this world are not long-armed, bi-pedal beasts that are rotten. Here, Trolls are cursed, living creatures that are constantly rotting and regenerating. They carry all kinds of bad diseases.”

  “Why aren’t the people in the city turning into Trolls?” Melody wondered as she pinned down four more beasts.

  “Mostly, distance. The further away you are from the ‘rot’ source, the more time you have before you become a Troll or die. Since they thought this was a plague, they were already burning the corpses. If left alone, they would have had trolls popping up in the city.” Violet explained.

  “Smite!” Annabelle called, taking down a flying Troll with a bolt of holy power.

  “I had it, Anna.” Melody pouted.

  “I know! I just wanted to do something more than maintain a cleansing barrier around us.” The cheery fridge stated.

  “Not that Melody needs it.” Violet snickered.

  They continued to make their way up the path toward the Moon Lake.

  After nearly an hour of killing Trolls, they arrived at a large lake.

  The commander rode up beside Melody and began looking around the open area. “Where is the source?”

  Violet and Annabelle scanned the area while Melody reached out through nature.

  Source… soooouurce… Melody thought. “Ah! I found it!”

  “Where is it?” Violet asked.

  Melody pointed at the lake. “Something big is in the lake. I should be able to shoot it.” She readied her bow.

  “Not yet, Melody. We need to draw it out of there first. If you blast it into pieces, cleanup of the water source will take forever.” Violet stated.

  “Hmm…” Melody fell into thought.

  “Oh!” Annabelle clanked her metal-covered hands together. “Why not fish it out?”

  “Melody said it was big.” Violet pointed out.

  Melody thought for a bit and had an idea. “Hang on! I’ll just grow a big fishing pole! Give me a few minutes.”

  Violet and Annabelle got down, and Melody started her work.

  “Do you really think it will work?” The commander asked as he watched Melody grow a tree to act as the pole.

  “Well, we should be able to bait it with meat. Trolls love going for fresh flesh.” Violet shrugged her shoulders as Melody had a bunch of vines intertwine to become the fishing line.

  “I know Melody will do it,” Annabelle said as the giantess attached her steel wood hook to the end.

  Melody held up her oversized fishing pole. “Done!” She opened her pack and pulled out some fresh meat. Hooking it to the end, she cast the line into the lake.

  “How long do you think it will take?” The commander asked.

  “Not long, like I said, Trolls love-.” Violet’s words were interrupted by a crash and Melody being dragged toward the lake.

  “NGH!” Melody planted her feet, using Nature Magic to root herself to the ground.

  “Greater Strength!” Annabelle cast a buff on Melody.

  “T-Thanks! Anna!” Melody grinned and began pulling.

  Step by step, Melody moved back, pulling the creature toward the shoreline.

  The soldiers of Silden had finished cleaning up the path and were now cheering Melody on.

  Melody fought against the underwater Troll for several minutes before Violet, floating in the air, called out. “I see it! I think it is a Crystal Tortoise!”

  “Oh! Violet told me about that one.” Annabelle stated.

  “Go… ahead!” Melody continued her march to pull the creature out.

  Annabelle explained that the Crystal Tortoise was about as big as a semi-truck with a trailer. Its shell was made of a hardened, magical crystal that made it nearly impossible to harm. The only way to hurt it was to go for the four legs or the head.

  “It’s breaching!” A soldier called as the water’s surface began to bulge.

  The tortoise’s rotting head was drawn out of the water. It hissed angrily as Melody pulled it out.

  The tortoise’s crystal shell was beautiful and clear, showing the disgusting mixture of rotten flesh and organs slushing about within. One of the legs buckled, and the bones shattered under the weight.

  “What’s happening?” The commander asked.

  Violet landed nearby. “I see… That’s why it stayed in the water. The weight of its shell would break the bones. Dragging it out should make this easy for us. Can you do it, Melody?” She asked the struggling giantess.

  “I’ll help!” Rui arrived in her wood golem and ran to her sister.

  “How are things in the city?” Melody asked, letting Rui get a hold of the large fishing rod.

  “It will take a while, but things are improving already,” Rui answered.

  Rui and Melody began their joint effort, quickly dragging the tortoise out of the water. As the shell weighed more, more of its limbs shattered until the sisters were dragging the shell across the ground.

  “Right, there is good!” Violet called.

  “I’ll start the Purification Ritual.” Annabelle giggled and headed toward the lake.

  Melody and Rui dropped the fishing rod, and the tortoise withdrew its head into its shell.

  “Do we have to worry about its legs re-growing?” The commander asked Violet.

  She shook her head and pointed. “Even though it drew what was left of its legs in, it won’t be able to move now that it is grounded.”

  Rui eyed the insides of the tortoise. “Ew.” Melody agreed while smiling.

  “Violet, I have a question,” Rui said.

  “Yes?” Violet smiled happily as she got ready to send a Violet Flame into the hole where the head was.

  “How do Trolls come to be?”

  “Oh, I’m curious about that too,” Melody added.

  Violet stopped, knowing the tortoise wasn’t going anywhere anytime soon. “Hmm...” She held her chin. “Ah! I remember now. It is a curse caused by a high level of miasma.”

  “So, it is like a demon?” Melody asked.

  Violet nodded. “Yes. Studies had been done, and it was found that if a creature ingests the flesh or blood of a powerful demon and dies, the undigested miasmatic flesh within the body will cause the corpse to turn into a Troll.”

  “Oh, so that is what that was,” Rui commented.

  “What?” Melody and Violet asked.

  Rui pointed at the tortoise. “I can see there is a powerful thing in there that oozes with miasma.”

  “Huh, I’ll take a look.” Melody went to the side of the shell and looked in, focusing her Nature magic on her senses. Reaching out to the shell, she could sense all the disease within the rotten insides, but within it all was something sinister. Melody shivered as the level of… evil enshrouded the long object within. Focusing a bit more, she made out the form. “Is that an arm?”

  “Is it?” Rui asked as she copied Melody to investigate. “But if it’s that big, isn’t that a…” Rui stopped and looked over at Melody.

  “A giant’s arm,” Melody commented.

  It took a couple of hours of careful work, but they managed to retrieve the giant arm while killing the tortoise and burning away all of the diseased flesh.

  “It’s bigger than your arm, Melody,” Rui commented.

  “Why does it have fur?” Melody asked.

  “Mountain giant,” Violet commented, drawing the attention of the curious group. “Pale skin and silvery fur are unique to them.”

  Melody sat down on the ground. “How long has the plague been going?”

  The commander thought for a moment. “About a month ago, the first people started getting sick. Mostly the elderly or those of poor health.”

  “So, this arm has been in that thing’s stomach for a month, yet it looks barely rotted… How is that possible?” Melody asked.

  Violet looked at Melody with a disappointed look. “You’re the one with the ability to assess.”

  Melody laughed at herself, used her Identify skill, and froze. Her eyes widened, and she began to tremble.

  “Melody?” Annabelle looked up at her friend with worry.

  “It… can’t be… he’s supposed to be dead!” Melody screamed. She began to hyperventilate, and the red aura of Wrath began to flash in and out.

  “Rui! Get Melody away from it!” Violet ordered, using magic, to toss the arm away.

  Rui quickly erected her wood golem and pulled her sister away. Melody was struggling to keep herself under control.

  “IT CAN’T BE HIM! RUL IS DEAD! THAT CAN’T BE HIS ARM! THAT’S IMPOSSIBLE!” Melody roared.

  “What?” Annabelle was shocked and then looked toward the arm. “That’s… that arm of Rul?”

  “I don’t want to believe it either,” Violet replied, looking at the raging Melody. “But I doubt Melody’s raging for nothing.” She sighed. “Melody said he was imprisoned in a Nightmare Elm.”

  “AHH!” Rui flew through the air as the now fully enraged Melody roared angrily.

  “Shit! Melody!” Violet called out.

  “HE CAN’T BE ALIVE!” Melody yelled before sprinting away.

  “What?! Melody!” Annabelle called. “Where is she going!?”

  “There is only one place she could have gone.” Violet sighed. “To where Rul is.”

  Violet and Annabelle gathered Rui, returned to Wesori to collect Aroo, and chased after Melody.