A second rumble shook the ground beneath Remi's feet, this one louder and more powerful. It was a terrible growl from deep in the belly of the earth that struck fear into everything, the living and the dead alike.

Small trees toppled over, trampling everything and anything they fell on with no regard. Tiny forest animals scurried away with panicked cries.

Remi and Killure dashed forward into the center of the clearing of the huge Goldridge yard. Remi braced herself, but could hardly keep her thoughts straight. The entire island must be able to feel this shaking! But what could be powerful enough to make the gigantic island of Merricrest shake so violently?

Another shake, this time so powerful that it sent Remi to her knees. She narrowly dodged out of the way of a tall pine tree that was ferociously slicing through the air towards her. Her eyes darted this way and that, but all she could see were trees being shook so violently that they broke apart, and the roof of her house start to cave in, shingles and rafters plummeting downwards.

"We need a better vantage point."

Killure grabbed her around the waist and before she could protest, Remi was suddenly ascending into the sky, slowly at first and then all at once. Everything was a blur. She shut her eyes tightly closed, butterflies fluttering in her stomach from the sudden flurry of movement.

And then, all she could hear was the gentle but powerful flapping of Killure's big, feathery wings as they bobbed slowly up and down. When she hesitantly opened her eyes, Remi immediately tensed in shock, her eyebrows shooting to her forehead. Before her stretched an endless canvas of blue. She'd never been so high before--not even when she would climb trees as a kid.

The only thing holding her up was Killure's muscled arm. Her legs dangled beneath her.

Remi spared a glance down, and immediately inhaled sharply. She was so high off the ground that her mansion of a house looked about as large as her foot. As she watched the forest around her home crumble, the weakest trees and plants and shrubs were brought to their knees, spiraling to the cluttered ground in the wake of the rumbling and shaking.

Although she couldn't feel the shaking rattling her bones any longer, Remi could still hear the terrible sounds coming from beneath her. A deep, trembling roar, with a vicious ferocity that she'd never before encountered. It nearly burst her eardrums.

And then, as she watched her entire world fall apart, she realized something that should have been obvious from the start.

"The quaking . . . it's almost like . . ." she couldn't bring herself to finish—it was too crazy a thought to voice aloud. Not even relatively close to possible.

"Footsteps?" Killure's silky smooth voice finished for her, his breath fanning her ear. He'd read her mind. Perhaps he'd been suspecting as much all along—he always knew far more than he let on.

Remi suddenly became aware of just how close he was holding her to his body. Her skin prickled, and goosebumps spread rapidly across her arms. She could feel the muscled ridges of his chest through his skin tight shirt, pressed tightly against her back.

She wasn't able to suppress the involuntary shiver of delight that shook her body. When his body immediately tensed, she knew he noticed. When was the last time they'd stopped fighting long enough to remember what it had felt like to be this close? How good it felt?

Remi scowled at herself. This was not the time nor the place for such thoughts. Her head was spinning, and she wasn't thinking clearly, that was all.

Okay.

Killure continued on talking, pretending to be completely unaware of her internal conflict. "That's because they are footsteps, doll. Look," he murmured, using his free hand to tilt her chin to the right. His sharp claws lightly pricked her skin, but she hardly noticed.

The sight before her completely stole her breath away.

A giant.

A giant, walking towards them from the sea, who had torn the canvas of a starless night from the sky and painted it on himself until he became the night itself. Few of the trees even reached his knees, and he knocked them over as if they were strands of grass, and crushed everything in his path like they were particles of sand.

Fear made Remi's gut clench so hard that it hurt, and caused the tremble in her body. What sort of terrible monster was this?

"What . . ." she breathed, frozen in fear, her words getting caught in her throat and barely managing to break free from her lips. "What is that?"

Killure let out a sharp breath, his entire body more rigid than a corpse after it entered rigor mortis and became all stiff and unmoveable. It was almost a chuckle, but it was so full of deep, bottomless hate and the sourest form of bitterness that Remi did a double take.

The hatred practically oozed off of him, right out of his pores. His body began to shake now, but not from fear like Remi's was. No, he was shaking from what appeared to be pure, unadulterated rage. Remi was surprised that he still held onto her, surprised he hadn't forgot about her entirely and let her fall. His mind was in an entirely different place.

His arm was squeezing her waist hard now, and it was becoming painful. She squirmed a little beneath his grip—not enough to fall, but enough to try and get him to loosen up. "You're hurting me," she said softly, and immediately he loosened his arm just enough, his shoulders deflating slightly.

"That's what I was startled awake by one morning, years ago, on Northfall. Peered out the window and saw that monstrous beast, crushing everything in its path, right before it decimated my island—it, along with its allies. Or should I say, his allies." Each word he spoke was thickly layered in ice, yet at the same time, burning with pure loathing.

Remi gasped in surprise as the giant turned his big head and happened to glance directly into her eyes. They weren't the eyes of a monster, or of a terrible giant, but of someone she knew well, and loved dearly, with all her heart.

She gulped.

The giant was in the shape of her tiny, old grandpa.

But how . . . ?

Dark tendrils of black fire shot from her grandpa's fingertips into the sky. Remi shrieked in surprise. She had no idea how she'd managed to recuperate enough for a tiny portion of her powers to come back, but when she instinctually raised her hands before her, a circular shield of blue energy materialized in front of her and Killure.

She knew it wouldn't hold, but put the remainder of her energy into holding it firm, and stopping it from tearing apart at the edges as it attempted to disappear.

But the black tendrils didn't hit her or Killure. Instead, it sailed straight past them, so close that a small section of Remi's airborne hair singed right off.

And then, in an instant, the dark energy went back just as quickly as it had come, but this time, it held Remi's father and her uncle in its grasp. They wriggled and flailed, attempting to saw their way out of the giant's grasp using their powers, but to no avail. They just weren't strong enough. Nowhere near strong enough.

A deep, raspy, earth-shattering voice rang out across the entire island. "Enough," it hissed angrily.

Both Levi Goldridge and Fahrem Goldridge, whether voluntarily or involuntarily, obeyed instantly. They froze in place as they were lowered to the ground.

And then the giant's gaze rose upwards, meeting Remi's. "Remi, come down," it added, this time a lot more gently. Almost . . . adoringly, and without a hint of malice or anger.

Although she was more confused than she'd ever been in her entire life, Remi nodded once. "Killure, bring us down."

Killure let out a low growl that rumbled through his chest against her back. "No way in hell am I letting you near any one of those bastards."

"Please," Remi asked softly, turning her head back towards him until she could see the sharp outline of his chiseled jaw.

"I'm going to kill him, Remi!" he snarled furiously, his grip on her tightening slightly. She'd never heard him so passionate about anything before. It scared her. His rage was terrifying, like a living, breathing thing.

"You can't," she whispered back in an attempt to soothe him, letting her shield dissipate. "Not yet, anyways. Let's go down and see what he wants."

A brief pause.

An aggravated huff.

And then they were descending quickly, plummeting to the ground. Remi grimaced, squeezing her eyes tightly shut in terror.

Just before they hit the ground, Killure extended his wings once again, slowing their descent significantly. They floated the last few feet down, landing in Remi's backyard. Her head swam.

Remi felt the soft touch of the grass tickle her feet. She curled her toes, relishing the feeling of the earth beneath her feet. And yet, it was hard to think of that without remembering all the carnage surrounding her. Fallen trees, shards of glass, a collapsed mansion, and the distant screams of people in the heart of the city scrambling for cover, or to get onto ships to escape to another island.

Tendrils of dark energy still held her uncle and father in place so that they couldn't move or try fighting each other once again. Instead, all they could do was glare daggers at each other like mere children who were bitter after an argument but forced to be civil.

Gaping in shock, Remi craned her neck all the way upwards. The head of the dark giant was in the cloud, obscured from her line of view. Standing at her full height, she barely reached the height of his toes.

The giant was massive.

It was a titan.

Then, the titan began to shrink.

Slowly but surely, the darkness began to recede. The shape distorted, wavy and bubbly as it became smaller and smaller, coming down from the sky.

And then all the darkness was gone, leaving one man standing in its place.

A wrinkled man with a balding head and wispy white hair, bright blue eyes, and a reed-thin figure that was ever so slightly hunched over. He was barely as tall as Remi, and looked like a mouse in comparison to Levi and Fahrem. A small horn erupted from each side of his head, above his ears.

Grandpa Bericc.

What in the hells . . .

———

A/N: I know I just updated yesterday, but I just couldn't wait to write this part.