Rul alive!? Rul dead! RUL DEAD! DEAD! DEAD! DEAD! DEAD! DEAD! DEAD! DEAD! DEAD! DEAD! DEAD! DEAD! DEAD! DEAD! DEAD! DEAD! DEAD! DEAD! DEAD!

  Melody’s mind raged as it focused on finding and killing Rul if he had escaped.

  “But Rul was Plains Giant.” Melody’s voice echoed in her mind.

  NOT MATTER! KILL RUL!

  “If Rul did escape, is raging like this going to help? What about our friends we left behind?”

  Shut up, shut up, SHUT UP!

  “Dammit, just listen to me!”

  I no listen! I KILL RUL!

  “No. We will kill Rul.”

  “We… kill Rul?” The enraged Melody asked.

  “Yes. We will kill Rul if he somehow escaped. But first, we need to calm down. If we are enraged, we can’t use our skills to hunt him.” Inner Melody stated. “It is clear that somehow he is now a Mountain Giant. We can’t track him if we have no idea what he looks or smells like.”

  The enraged Melody turned toward a large boulder. “RAAAAAGH!” She punched the boulder, shattering much of the surface. Melody continued to punch the boulder, gradually reducing the hold of Wrath on her mind.

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

  “She’s just up ahead!” Rui reported. She had been tracking Melody through nature while they chased after the enraged giantess.

  “Got it!” Violet answered, ushering Aroo to hurry.

  “Rui, did you find her?” Okan called.

  “We are almost to her, Grandpa,” Rui reported.

  He sighed in relief. “Shani is on her way to you to help calm Melody if needed. But I feel she is calming down.”

  Rui thanked her grandfather and turned to Violet and Annabelle. “Grandpa sent Shani to help us, but he said she seemed to be calming down.”

  “How?” Violet asked.

  Rui shrugged.

  “Maybe it was from the training we have been doing? You know, to help her control Wrath better?” Annabelle asked.

  “I hope so,” Violet replied.

  After ten minutes, they arrived at what was possibly a colossal boulder, reduced to rubble, and an exhausted Melody on her hands and knees before it.

  “Melody!” Annabelle rushed off of Aroo and over to her friend.

  “I’m… o-… I’m not… okay…” Melody said through labored breaths.

  “First time I have ever seen you out of breath,” Violet commented.

  “I’m still… struggling to calm down,” Melody answered.

  A fluffy white tail boof’ed Melody in the face.

  “Then let my tail help calm you.” Shani, who arrived, stated.

  Melody gave a tired smile and rubbed her face into the fluffy tail.

  Rui sighed in relief as she felt the remnants of Melody’s rage melting away. “Grandpa, Melody seems to be good now.”

  “I am glad to hear that,” Okan replied in relief.

  “I’m sorry. Grandpa, could you work with Rui to establish a connection with where we are? I want to teleport to the cave to check Rul’s status.” Melody requested.

  “Okay… Are you sure you are okay?” He sounded worried.

  Happiness and love flooded from Melody. “Wrath may activate again later, but I think I might be finally getting control.”

  Okan accepted her answer with a little trepidation and instructed Rui to establish a temporary Fairy Ring.

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

  Melody and her group appeared outside of the old giant cave.

  Elder Elva, Autumn, Okan, and the other giants were waiting for them.

  “Did anyone go in?” Melody asked.

  Elder Elva shook her head. “We felt it would be wrong to not wait for you.”

  Melody nodded in thanks and headed to the cave entrance. She stopped and took several steadying breaths before heading inside.

  Memories flooded Melody’s mind. It had been a long time since she had returned to this place. All the horrible things that occurred stirred Wrath.

  “We kill them.” Wrath stated.

  Yes. We killed them all.

  “They deserved it.”

  They did.

  “They kill mom.”

  Rul killed Mom.

  “Mother, punish Rul.”

  Melody lightly smiled, fondly remembering Gaia becoming angry for her.

  After a few minutes, they arrived in the main room.

  Okan cast several balls of light into the room, lighting it up.

  “It’s… dead,” Autumn observed.

  The Nightmare Elm was withered, the dry leaves crunching under Melody’s steps.

  Rul’s corpse within the tree was rotting.

  “How long since you came to check on him, Elder Elva?” Melody asked as she touched the tree.

  “It has been months since we have checked on him.” Elder Elva sighed. “How could he have escaped?”

  Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  Though a tiny, small consciousness remained, Melody tried to feel anything from the dead tree. “Grandpa, a small bit of life is still left here.”

  Okan stepped up and touched the tree. “Hmm. Not enough to revive it, but perhaps we can learn something. Help me.”

  They two work together, and using nature magic, they connect to what was left of the Nightmare Elm.

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

  In a deep darkness, an aged, withering old man sat, curled into a ball. He rocked back and forth, muttering to himself.

  In the distance, he could hear voices and yells of anger.

  A dark portal opened nearby. “Hmm? I could sense a deep seated darkness here.” The being looked down at the old man with disappointment. “And this is what I find?”

  “G-Go away!” The old man yelled.

  The being had dark gray flesh, a small black goatee, long black hair, white horns, and eyes utterly dark like an abyss. It leaned down, its large size towering over the old man. “Hmm? Well, well, well.” He grinned.

  “GO AWAY!” The old man yelled once more.

  The being looked into the distance, watching the repeating play play out. “Seems you have been trapped here for a long time.”

  “Evil tree… do this to Rul…” The old man, Rul, stated.

  “Let’s see…” The being read Rul’s mind. “Ah, a powerful spriggan. Damn, trees have been troubling my goals for a long time.” He huffed and turned to Rul. “Tell me, how would you like to get out of here?”

  Rul stopped rocking back and forth, lifting his wrinkled face to look at the being. “Who you?”

  The being wickedly grinned. “I am !#)*&@&(#.”

  “Name hard.” Rul stated.

  The being chuckled. “Such are simple beings. Then call me Kraul.”

  “Kraul help Rul?”

  Kraul nodded. “Yes. Kraul helps Rul. Do you wish to leave this place?”

  Rul unsteadily stood. “Yes. Rul leave. Rul get strong. Rul kill tree. RUL KILL MELDY!” He yelled and began panting.

  Kraul laughed happily, grinning evilly. “Very well. I shall help you escape this place.”

  “How?”

  “I shall give you my blessing. I will help you escape, but you must help me.” Kraul stated.

  “What Rul do?” Rul asked.

  “Simple.” Kraul grinned. “Kill! Destroy! Wreak havoc on this world! Do as you please! Rape! Pillage to your heart’s content!” He extravagantly yelled. “With my blessing, none shall be able to kill you! Do not fear death! Fight and become stronger!”

  An evil grin came to Rul’s face. “Rul happy to help Kraul.”

  A burst of dark power emanated from Kraul and entered Rul.

  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

  “AAAHHHH!” Both Okan and Melody fell back from the now-dead Nightmare Elm, the last vestiges of life smote out.

  Autumn helped Okan while Annabelle checked on Melody, casting healing magic on her.

  “Grandpa, what was that thing!?” Melody asked in terror.

  The feeling that Kraul gave off, even through a memory, gave her chills.

  “That…” Okan huffed. “I think it was a God of Tartarus.”

  “Wait, one of those terrifying things you told us about before?!” Violet asked

  Okan nodded. “It seems things may be becoming bad. We must return to the Grove and contact all of Lyuten’s sons, especially your great-grandfather, Gyyanrel.”

  “I feel like we will be meeting the World Tree…” Violet swallowed hard.

  Okan chuckled. “That is likely.”

  “So,” Melody held her chin in thought, “it seems that god somehow reincarnated Rul as a Mountain Giant.” She huffed.

  “Mountain Giant?” Okan asked.

  Melody nodded. “The Crystal Tortoise who turned into a Troll had Rul’s arm within it. It was the arm of a Mountain Giant.”

  Okan sighed. “Unbelievable…” He shook his head. “Was it teeming with miasma?”

  Both Melody and Rui nodded.

  “Lord Okan, do you believe the one who Autumn and Shani battled?” Elder Elva asked.

  “What?” Melody was surprised.

  Okan sighed. “Well, I guess we might as well tell you. There has been a Mountain Giant rampaging everywhere it goes. Shani, have you picked up its scent?”

  “Apologies, but it has stayed far away from the Gaian forest.” Shani apologized.

  “Did he say anything?” Melody asked.

  Autumn nodded. “It asked me, ‘Where is Meldy?’”

  Melody cursed. “That was definitely Rul. He is the only one who would call me that now. Anything else?”

  Autumn looked away. “The rest of it was disgusting dribble or that he would rule the world.”

  They made their way out of the cave.

  “Sounds like that bastard,” Melody growled, pausing momentarily to stabilize Wrath.

  They gathered in the open clearing, and Okan teleported them back to the Grove.

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

  “Fire at will!” A commander yelled in a panic.

  Mages and archers, terrified, fired relentlessly at the large creature casually walking toward their wooden-walled town.

  Fireballs, shards of ice, explosives, ballista, nothing worked to slow it down.

  With the numerous attacks hitting it, a dust cloud formed and hid it within. They stopped their assault.

  “D-D-Did we…?” “Shut up! Don’t jinx us!” “Should we keep attacking?!”

  The commander nervously clenched his teeth. “Casters! Begin working together to make a massive attack.” He ordered.

  “HAHAHAHAHAH!” The creature happily laughed. “I TRULY THANK MY GOD FOR HIS BLESSING!”

  A Mountain Giant with ice blue eyes, messy silvery hair, and stark nakedness due to his hide armor being destroyed.

  “Casters!?” The commander cried.

  “Almost ready!” One of the mages replied, a massive fireball forming above them.

  Rul stopped in place, opening his arms wide. “Come! Hit me with your best shot, puny humans!” A wild grin was on his face.

  The commander was thankful for the giant’s bravado but terrified that the attack might not work. “Fire when ready!”

  A few moments later, the mages unleashed the attack. Like a miniature sun, it fell upon Rul. Rul yelled in pain, thrashing about within the spell.

  The soldiers cheered, thinking that they had finally stopped the giant. Their blood then ran cold when the screaming stopped, to be replaced with maddening laughter.

  “HAHAHAH!” Rul stepped out of the flame. His flesh was burned and scarred but rapidly healed. Within seconds, he was restored to normal. “How pathetic.” He then continued his trek toward the gate.

  “Dammit! Fire! Do anything to kill it!” The commander cried before turning to an old mage. “Sir, I have a mission for you.”

  The old mage shook his head. “Send someone else. An old man like me should stay to fight.”

  “You are the only one who is capable of teleporting! The emperor needs to know of this!” The commander yelled.

  The old mage looked at the faces of those around him.

  “You have to go!” “Others need to know about this monster!” “Don’t let our sacrifice be in vain!” “The people have been evacuated out the secret rear gate. Go!” The various soldiers yelled.

  The old mage took a deep breath and let out a sad sigh. “I am sorry… I wish I could take you all with me.”

  The commander set a hand on the old mage’s shoulder. “Go, Elheim. Trust me, I won’t let everyone here die.”

  Elheim nodded. “Goodbye. May the gods be with you…” With his final words, the old mage teleported away.

  The commander sighed. “Alright! Since we can’t kill the damn thing, let’s hold it in place! I want volunteers so we can allow as many others to escape!”

  Thirty of the older soldiers volunteered to hold Rul at bay, letting others have a chance to escape.

  The commander had his soldiers back off the wall and go into the town.

  Rul reached the gate, and with a simple punch, the gate shattered into pieces. He laughed and strutted into the town.

  As he stepped in, the ground beneath him broke, and he fell into a pit.

  “BURY HIM!” The commander yelled.

  “YOU SHITS!” Rul yelled as he struggled against the ground that worked to envelope him.

  “Keep it up!” The commander yelled. “Bury the bastard!”

  “RAAAAAAAH!” Rul roared, a dense, dark mist exploding out of the hole.

  The soldiers began coughing and hacking.

  “Damn! It’s miasma! Fall… fall back!” The commander yelled.

  They tried to escape the cloud, but Rul broke out of the makeshift prison.

  He grinned evilly and picked up chunks of the dirt. “You forgot something!” With a powerful throw, the chunks of dirt and stone ripped through buildings and killed off a third of the soldiers.

  Laughing manically, Rul ripped apart the town, killing the remaining soldiers and ending with the battered commander within his grasp.

  “What… are you?” The commander asked.

  Rul cruelly grinned. “The soon-to-be Titan of Pride!” Opening his mouth, he bit off the upper half of the commander, chewing happily before swallowing the man.

  “Hmm…” Rul contemplated with his eyes closed. “Eh, nothing new.” He shrugged and began looking about the town, reveling at the destruction he had wrought. “Soon, Meldy. You will be mine!” He laughed as he made his way out of the town to search for his next prey.