Far to the north, Melody looked over a vast field of snowy mountains. “Wow…”

  “Even after hundreds of years, I still find the Dragon’s Maw mountain range amazing,” Alure said cheerily.

  “How long before we arrive?” Melody asked. They had been flying for about an hour at a speed Melody felt might rival a fighter jet. She wondered how long it would have taken her to get here, even using the closest Fairy Rings.

  “A few more minutes. I can feel Mother Koda’s signal just below.” Alure answered.

  Alure brought them down, landing near the edge of what looked like a giant village. The village had log cabins, strong-looking walls, and stone-paved paths.

  “This is far more advanced than I thought,” Melody commented as she hopped down.

  “Mother Koda may have used her previous knowledge to help them advance.” Alure shrunk down in size, about the size of Melody.

  “Can you teach me that?” Melody asked.

  “I’m sorry, but this is a natural power for us dragons.” Alure led the way toward the gate.

  The gate opened, and five mountain giants stood to welcome them.

  “We welcome the Dragon Empress and Princess of the Gaia forest.” The female mountain giant bowed her head.

  “Are you… all High Giants?” Melody asked.

  The female giant smiled. “Yes. Thanks to Mother Koda, all of us are. You may call me Nia.” Nia answered.

  “Well, nice to meet you, Nia.” Melody held out her hand.

  Nia happily shook Melody’s hand. “A pleasure. Please follow me. Time is of the essence.”

  Melody nodded and followed Nia and the other mountain giants into the village.

  “This is amazing,” Melody commented. It was different to see it from above than in person.

  Each log cabin was large enough and looked to be spacious enough for giants, though the mountain giants were a handful of feet shorter than Melody.

  Nia smiled proudly. “Mother Koda has helped us advance quite a bit. Her mysterious knowledge brought us homes, tools, food, and clothing.”

  Many of the mountain giants watched on, curious.

  A little boy shouted at them. “Are you the legendary forest giant!?”

  Melody stopped. “Legendary?”

  Nia sighed, smiling and shaking her head. “You are kind of a legend among us. An oppressed giant of the clans of old became the first forest giant who rose up and broke the chains of fear of her people. You are known as the Forest Song.”

  Melody blushed and pulled her fur hood down. “I… see…”

  “You will have to visit after you defeat Oppal. There are those of us willing to convert to being forest giants.” Nia stated as she continued their walk to Mother Koda.

  Melody followed, feeling their eyes of awe on her.

  A few minutes later, they were standing in the biggest building, surrounded by many mountain giants, including one who was a little bigger than Melody. She was burly, with gray hair and a wide, warm smile on her face.

  “Welcome, daughter of my friend.” Mother Koda warmly greeted.

  “It is a pleasure to meet you, Mother Koda.” Melody beamed. Though the woman was not connected to nature, Melody could feel the elder’s warmth and kindness. Melody wondered if this was what her mother felt. “So, why did you become a giant?”

  Mother Koda laughed. “Because the land called to me. Showed me my path. The path of souls and spirits showed me that I needed to be here. I know it may be a bit vague, but it is difficult to describe. Now, are you ready to receive the blessing of spirits?”

  “Will there be a parade?” Melody jokingly asked.

  “Parade?” Mother Koda tilted her head.

  Alure sighed. “She thought blessings would be more wondrous.”

  Mother Koda laughed. “Well, this one will impress you, I am sure. Please, come forward.”

  Melody stepped forward and knelt before the sitting giant.

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  Mother Koda placed her hand on Melody’s head. “Oh, when is Gaia to wake?”

  “About a year? Maybe?” Melody remembered.

  Mother beamed. “Please tell her to come visit soon. I cannot wait to see my old friend again.”

  Melody shivered as she felt a new power enter her body, her senses expanding differently than with how her connection with nature was.

  “Ah! She has awakened!” “Can she see us now?” “Can she hear us?” Many young voices sounded around Melody.

  As Melody felt Mother Koda’s hand pull away, she saw tiny motes of light floating about the room. There were a multitude of them.

  “What… are they?” Melody asked.

  “She can see us!” “Yay!” “Now we can talk to her!”

  “Those are spirits and souls of others. Most of them are minor spirits who operate the world as a whole. Unseen and unheard. But with me being the most powerful shaman, I can communicate with them. Now you can as well.” Mother Koda smiled.

  Melody stood, and the various spirits flitted around her.

  “Using nature magic, you can manipulate the various elements that they control, but now that you can communicate with them, they will be able to help you, just as nature could.” Mother Koda stated.

  Hearing Mother Koda’s explanation shocked Melody. Just how powerful was she now if casting big magic like the thunderstorms and tornados would be easier if the spirits helped her.

  Melody then felt pain in her core, collapsing to her knees.

  “Melody!” Alure rushed to her.

  “She will be okay. This must happen.” Mother Koda stated.

  “What is happening?” Alure asked.

  Melody’s body was burning up, and looking down at her hands, she could see the aura of wrath was active.

  “The curse of wrath is being cleansed. The power of all three blessings will not allow the darkness of Tartarus to dwell within her.” Mother Koda stated.

  “AHHH!” Melody fell onto her side, curling into a ball.

  “Help her!” “Sooth the bones and flesh!” “Her soul is hurting. We must heal it!” The spirits rushed to her side and began using their power to heal her.

  Melody writhed in pain, but the spirits’ power helped soothe her.

  “Why is it so painful for her? Is there anything I can do to help her?” Alure asked.

  “You already have by giving her your blessing of the heavens. Her pain would have been far worse without it. She now has the help of natural and heavenly spirits.” Mother Koda answered.

  “Then, what will wrath become?” Melody was able to get to her hands and knees, sweating and panting.

  Mother Koda tapped her chin. “Hmm, who knows at this point? Though I am sure you will when you are cleansed.”

  Melody felt her consciousness fading. “Well, I look forward… to it.” Her eyes closed, and she fell to the floor.

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

  Violet unleashed a large ball of Violet Fire on Rul’s head again from the back of a ruby dragon. The fire hit him in the face, and he yelled in pain.

  “Damn bitch!” Rul yelled. Rul’s new titan form had his height at nearly fifty feet tall. His flesh was an ashen gray, and the silvery fur that covered his forearms now covered his entire arms, shoulders, and from his waist down.

  The ruby dragon laughed victoriously. “Nice shot, little one!”

  The battle had expanded, now including forces from the empire, temple, dragons, beast-kin, and forest spirits.

  “It’s still not enough!” Violet yelled. “Any news about Melody?”

  “The supposed savior?” The ruby dragon asked. “Nothing yet.”

  It had been a couple of days since Melody left to meet Mother Koda and receive her blessing. They had been doing everything they could to slow Rul down as he trekked toward Melody’s Grove. From Rul’s declarations, they quickly discovered that his goal was to destroy everything Melody loved.

  In his nearly sixty-foot height, Rul jumped and nearly snatched Violet and the dragon she was on out of the sky, but it was thanks to the dragon blowing fire into Rul’s face to throw off his aim.

  The ruby dragon flew away from the battle, heading to the rear line.

  They landed, and priests and forest spirits rushed to heal his wounds.

  Annabelle checked on Violet and began healing her.

  Violet winced for a moment before the pain began to fade. “Anything?”

  Annabelle shook her head. “Melody is still unconscious. Once she awakens, she will come this way.”

  Prince Matthew approached them. “How is she?” He was in armor and leading the human troops who were battering Rul with magic and siege weapons.

  “That damn curse aura is dangerous.” Violet spat.

  Rul constantly emanated a miasma that caused harm to others. It would cause minor wounds to become worse, burn the lungs and eyes, and cause plants around his feet to wither. Most of the damage he was doing was by throwing large objects at them. They were thankful his spells and skills were not that strong. It allowed them to keep attacking from a distance moderately safely.

  They looked over when they heard Rul cursing loudly at their various attacks.

  “I wish Melody didn’t have such a complex about her height all these years. If she was bigger, she could go toe-to-toe with him.” Violet commented.

  “But she is a powerhouse in a semi-small package.” Prince Matthew chuckled. “I just hope my little sister wakes up soon. We are fighting a one-way war of attrition against the bastard.”

  Maple flitted up to them. “Hey, have any of you seen Lord Okan?”

  They looked around and saw that the old treant was missing.

  “No. Where could he be?” Violet asked.

  “I’m not sure. He said something about having something to do.” Maple answered.

  “GRAHH!” Rul roared. “YOU DAMN PESTS WILL NOT STOP ME!” He then charged forward, tanking hits while gritting his teeth.

  “CLEAR THE PATH!” Prince Matthew called, but it was too late.

  Rul trampled large numbers of beings as he made his way through their forces. He continued his charge forward, heading straight for the Grove.

  “No… We have to stop him!” Violet rushed to get back to the ruby dragon to try to delay Rul, but Maple’s cry of glee stopped her.

  Maple turned to them with a wide grin. “Melody woke up and is on her way!”

  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

  Okan stood before Gaia’s tree, charging his magic into her. “Come on, daughter, you have to wake. A darkness is coming.” He wanted to wake her so that she could either fight or evacuate. All the other weaker spirits had been evacuated already, leaving the treant and many spriggans working to wake Gaia up.

  Silvanus rushed over to them in panic. “Rui!? Rui!? Where are you!?”

  “Silvanus?” Okan called to her.

  “Is Lady Rui not here?!” Silvanus asked with worry.

  Okan closed his eyes and reached out. “No…” “Rui! You must return at once!” He called through nature.

  “I can do this, Grandpa!” Rui answered.

  “It is a titan with a cursed skill! You cannot handle it! You get back here now!” Okan ordered.

  “I will buy you time to save Mother!” Rui answered and cut off her connection.

  “I will head to her, Grandpa!” Melody called.

  “Be careful… he broke through the allied forces,” Okan answered.

  Okan opened his eyes with a distraught look on his face. He began pouring his magic even more into Gaia. “Gaia! Your daughters are in danger! You need to wake up!”