Terin Gaspar followed Lady Rosalve in a stone hall. Caldor Ando handled the rear while Mardon Lam watched out for any traps. Felecia focused her hands on manipulating this ball of light that gave them light.

The walls were made of black stone. Material similar to the Great Gates that Terin slashed in half. Terin Gaspar dragged his palm on the wall. Dust gathered on his palms to which he simply let his own power flow burn it away. It smelled stuffy and there was only the slight ting sound coming from the ball of light that Felecia was invoking.

Terin Gaspar traveled his gaze up. Cryptic runes that held no meaning to him were written on these black walls. Thousands of words written by beings that must have larger hands to have done. Not to mention that the black stone material was not normal by any means. Even with the sun’s power, Terin felt resistance when he destroyed the gates, and usually the sword of light he carried had no problem slicing through anything. Oh, the power, how invigorating it was to him.

“A question,” Felecia asked. “Why won’t we just make Terin light himself up?”

Lady Rosalve lifted her lips, “It’s the best time to practice your power. Besides, he is the living embodiment of the sun, but it doesn’t mean he had parted with his humanity. Just how a bottle with too much water would eventually erupt if forcibly filled from inside.”

Felecia didn’t reply, her face remained pouted. Mardon Lam braved the world in silence, strolling in these twenty-meter halls. Terin chooses to remain muted, absorbing the sight before speaking once more.

“Tell me, why are we here?”

“To see if Frigus of Gelum did not lie about the mighty giant that still lives. If the Maker of Black Stone lives, then we would have someone who can still understand how such a construct works. To blind the world, we need to hold it better. Like a flame contained in a lamp.”

“Focus the light in one direction, magnify it.”

Felecia said, she rotated the ball of light that she held. Her eyes landed on Terin with a complicated expression. She opened her mouth slightly, however shut it when she saw the half-opened eyes of Terin.

They came to this black gate with many symbols. Lady Rosalve stood before the gate, unfolding a scroll which had words of power. She sang her song of power, each letter of the words communicating with the symbols on the black gate. As the black gates ‘spoke’ with the scroll, it slowly opened.

“You can open a gate like this with that? Then why did I have to destroy the gate?”

The scroll on Lady Rosalve’s hands turned into powder. “Because it only has limited uses. And the power of this scroll contains so little that we would only be able to half-open the great gates of brampi. It wouldn’t be enough to open the great gates of brampi.”

Terin said nothing. He took the first step in this other section of the room. He exploded with a light, like a flame in the middle of the void. Before he could continue, a dreary, deep-sounding boom resembling a voice sounded at the end of the hall.

Terin didn’t understand the words. It was a language unknown to him. Lady Rosalve came in and spoke a short song which made the sprites on their shoulders wake up. The spirits glowed like a ball of light.

“I ask. Who are you, strangers?”

The words were understandable now. Lady Rosalve started singing loudly. Terin somewhat recognized the tune of the song. The ‘voice’ at the other end of the hall grunted, and then said. “Friends of blue-blood, you come a long way from your home. To cross great distances, have you managed to create the white sails once more? Hmm, the smell of the elven, no, a hybrid? And this warmth of light, I see. No wonder I felt tremors when the gates cried out in pain. Even my walls were shattered by such power. No wonder.”

The closer they got, the closer the figure was. This ten-meter giant with gray skin, large eyes, and a hulking yet wrinkled body was humongous. He was seated next to the furnace, and an anvil. The giant was bald. And yet there was such wisdom in its aged eyes.

“Which continent are you from?”

“The old one.”

“Which one, singer?” asked the giant again. “There are seven continents on this planet. How many have sinked since then?”

“We are from the Old Continent where Old Carthan lives.”

“Ah, Carthan, I remember that name. That was the sailor who had been one of the first to teach me of your continent. Hmm, perhaps you have heard of me, no, a stupid question, why wouldn’t you be here in the first place?”

Lady Rosalve stood before him and then spread her hands. “We’ve come here to talk about the matter of blinks. The maker must have sensed our purpose. The end comes, maker, and the world comes to an end. Will you join us?”

The maker giant looked at Lady Rosalve. He placed his hammer down on the anvil and gave her a curious look. He picked one of the metal slabs he was working on that was engraved with words on it.

“How long did it take your people to reach this place?”

“Months, the campaign and the movement of our forces were delayed because of the people of the Icean Spine.”

“I see. The forge-fathers had once spoken that there will be a time that a maker shall be there when the world is blinded. Nevertheless, it is not said that it is ‘people’ and only refers to one. I had once thought it was because one day the one branded with such a burden appeared.”

Terin looked at the metal slab that he was holding. It came to him that it resembled a tombstone. He looked up and met eyes with the aged giant. The giant stood up, towering about twelve meter tall. The giant led them in one of the bigger hallways and stench so awful that it made Felecia, Mardon, and even him feel nauseous. Lady Rosalve and Caldor Ando stood quietly before the room.

The giant pulled on a lever, lighting up the room where a great pit was. Each pit had corners where a part had a giant in it. The giant stood before the great burial pit. The smell of the room… it wasn’t that they were rotten, but because there was something in the bodies that gave off this smell.

“I had suspected such a thing. Do you think that you could easily walk in here without that artifact, singer?” said the giant, he looked at the burial site, thick tears pouring out. “I’ve not taken you here for sympathy, I merely tell you that it seems that fate is cruel on those who are chosen.”

“Even if you had arrived sooner or later. The creatures of the interstice would have come and dealt with you.”

“They did this?”

The giant pointed to one of the passages. “While you waged war on the surface, they waged war in. There is little of us left, and we are not known for our fecundity. The creatures of the interstice had summoned creatures, for fifteen days and nights, we shedded blood. The last of my people were not fighters in the first place… I wonder what made them so eager to fight us than fight yours. We are so few and yet you are so many. Tell me, sons and daughters of the old continent. Were you hoping to get us to follow you?”

Lady Rosalve looked at the burial pit before she craned her neck. “No, we were hoping that a maker would help us. I am sorry--”

“Singer, I told you. I do not need sympathy. Answer me. Were you hoping for my people to join you?”

“Yes.”

The giant nodded. He did not introduce himself. And he only asked questions. The giant behaved as if he was out of energy. Like he was someone who had been awake for a long time. Terin looked around and saw that there were many metal slabs around the burial pit, each one had names placed on the chest of each giant.

Did the giant make it all by himself?

“I am Datu, the last of my kind. I have once been told that the blinder would come and seek us. To ask us to forge him a lamp that would amplify the light he holds. But I shall not forge you a lamp, but a sword instead. The sword of my people, the iron in their blood shall be your strength. Do you wish to carry this burden?”

Terin gasped, he was about to say ‘no’ unconsciously when he saw the look on the giant’s face. He laughed inwardly, and nodded his head to the burden that this giant carried.

The giant named Datu took out a strange brass-colored hammer with a crystal on the flat of the hammer. He raised the hammer with his fighting hand and muttered words of power, and a bizarre image happened before them.

Blood came out of the bodies of the giants. It came out of their orifices and before long they were turned into husk. Terin gasped at this ghastly sight, even Caldor Ando who remained stoic on this frowned. It was a desecration of the dead.

“They call us Makers, but in truth we are people of iron-blood. A living being’s blood contains iron, and my people’s blood, their blood that has been spilled shall be our gift, blinder.”

The sword cast was brought out and even though there was a lot of blood drawn out by Datu, the sword was not short or long either. The brass hammer heated the iron that was placed in the cast, and with a strike of the hammer, the gathered blood started to form.

Hatred. Anger. Frustration. The giant was forging with emotions. Caldor Ando stood straight, and even Mardon placed his rod across to give respect to the giant. As the giant forged, more thoughts appeared inside his head.

Afraid.

He was truly afraid.

All this burden.

All of it was heavy like a mountain.

The more hammer struck the blade being formed.

He felt his shoulder sagged.

Hundreds of them were killed… but for what reason? Is it because they knew that they were going to come after them? Were they threatened by the thought of such giants joining the war of the world?

Terin didn’t know.

But the whole world was watching. Perhaps, fate was picky on those they wanted to save. Why him in the first place?

What kind of world would place it’s fate on the shoulder of an ignorant boy in the first place?

Why blind the world so that you could stab its heart? He didn’t understand. There was little to none they would tell him. Caldor and Lady Rosalve knew but they were only saying things that would matter… and it was not because they see him as someone who was not learned, but because knowledge is helpful and dangerous as well.

The hammer strikes again.

But he also noticed that as the sword was formed, the brass hammer wielded by the giant turned into liquid, weaving around the blade, acting as its hilt. The giant looked at Lady Rosalve and she cast a song of water where the sword was cooled.

Datu lifted the sword and offered it to Terin.

“Once you take this sword… then the burden of my people will be on your shoulders, blinder.”

The giant knew how heavy it was.

How it would affect him.

How it would make the sword heavier than anything.

But Terin saw the truth.

The giant wanted him to refuse the sword.

...so that he could die in this hall.

Terin grabbed hold of the hilt.

The sword weighed nothing to him and yet...suddenly it was hard to bear. He saw how words were engraved in the flat of the blade, they glowed smoothly, and yet at the same time he felt this power being drained out of the giant.

The sword made of iron that came from the blood of giants sharpened. It’s flat was like a mirror and unconsciously it brought out flames sharper than the light he usually used.

“Our will, and the last of our giant’s words of power shall be yours now, blinder.”

Terin held the sword and stared at it longingly.

But before he could admire the sword.

A creature stepped in from the darkness.

“So another one was alive?”

The creature raised a sword, but when he saw the sword blazing with fire. The creature sounded and looked defeated. He took a step back and retreated to the shadows.

“The Hunter’s gone,” said Caldor, he took out a charm that resisted the powers of the creatures of interstice.

“Why did he retreat?”

"He’ll die here."

That’s what the giant said.

“The Baron of Interstice knows his limit,” said the giant. There was clear hatred on the giant, but there was a hesitant, grudging tone to it. “Nonetheless, he wouldn’t be making this mistake again.”

Datu stood with a frosty expression. Then stood in front of Terin with an unwavering expression. “I shall be your forger, blinder. May you reach the eye of the world with the tools that I make. I only have one wish.”

“On the day that you strike the heart of the world. Return me to these halls and bury me.”

“I will.”

And so a promise between the blinder and the last giant of the iron-blood giant, of the maker clans was sealed.