The Forgotten Land: The Return of the Giants

The Truth

Soon the assembly among the Sorcerers and leaders of the world came to an end. They left the protected chamber while saying their farewells, each showing their respect by showing their wrist where a symbol had been tattooed on their skin. A tattoo that signifies their promise to keep the location a secret. When most of them set off and went on their own ways, Theodore called for Gretta of Theal.

The old man pointed at a door on the west side of the chamber. "This way." He said.

Gretta followed the latter quietly and gave a signal to the others who's waiting for her. As they went through the door, slowly they descended on a spiral staircase which leads to a secret room. The room was dark and had thin air that reminded the Sorceress of mountains from the Himalayas.

A spark of fire came from a match, then Theodore proceeded to light twelve candles. The room turned bright and it revealed centuries old wall paintings of the past. The room was shaped like a crescent moon, and the ceiling depicts the story of the three Pillars before the man named Cedar broke the truce and led to the annihilation of the White Witchers. Though the paintings were stained with dirt and were dilapidated throughout the years that passed, Gretta of Theal still marveled at its beauty.

"This place contains the history of the Pillars. A room where Magestries were used to be tested." Said Theodore. "Eras and Millenias ago, our ancestors were responsible to make sure that the Magestries that were to be used by the world leaders of the world were safe. We make sure that the relics, the holy items, would not taint man’s soul. Rather, our ancestors wanted to inspire them. Thus, this was one of the first areas which was created to purify any anomaly to the Magestries."

"I am honored to set foot on these grounds." Was Gretta's answer, she said in a whisper. She bowed her head and opened the palm of her hand as a symbol of respect to their Ancestors and to the Goddess of Sorcery, Magic and Wisdom — the goddess named Hecate. "May I ask why you brought me here?"

Theodore’s sight never strayed away from the paintings in front of him. "You seek an audience with tme, correct?”

"Yes."

"I will let you..." Theodore said slowly, as if he's in deep thought. "...but first, you have to know the truth. The truth about the annihilation of the White Witches, and how the line of Antheia, the white witch who bore a child in this world, managed to hide this secret from us.”

'A secret?' Gretta thought to herself. She was caught off guard and her expressionless demeanor was shattered. She was confused, and had no clue on what's going on. "What secret?" She finally gathered the courage to ask. "I don't understand."

"Our goddess showed up in my dream thirteen years ago... that was the day after I was appointed as the head of all the councils and was declared as the Supremist. She appeared to me in a form I've never seen before. Before I could only see her as apparitions or a glowing ball of fire. But on that day... I saw a beautiful woman and her body glows as she was covered in sand made of gold and silver. She raised her hand and began to conjure, creating a compass in front of her — in front of me. And then the arrows kept on spinning and spinning until it stopped---pointing the arrow into the heart of a crying boy who was in dire need of help."

"A boy?"

Theodore nodded. "Yes. A little boy who carries the blood of the witches and the blood of man.” He paused and looked at Gretta. “A half-breed. And yet… he’s destined to be the most powerful mage of all.” 

Tahani's eyes widened. "But… But I thought the son of Antheia the White was killed when the giants wreaked havoc on their land?!" Suddenly her mind went haywire, could the truth that they've known all along to be a lie?

"The legends were not true, for the boy survived." Theodore blurted out. "The son of Antheia survived and had his own son… and his son multiplied, bearing more children and passing on his blood until this day. But not only that… but I dreamed of a giant who remains living even though his soul has been long dead. His flesh continues to rot and decay. I saw him in my dream… "

"What?" Gretta was trembling, and was shaken. "Why are you telling this to me now?"

"Because I need someone I can trust." Theodore confessed. "Not everyone in our association truly accepts their purpose in life, unlike you. They were simply born into this family and have the Oldest one's blood running through their veins... but the purpose... the mission is not engraved in their hearts. The news of an upcoming war will surely test their purpose..." He sighed and closed his eyes. "...and as foretold by our goddess, their hearts will be led astray… and their souls, their will to help humans will deter and become greedy monsters of the dark."

"A—are you saying the great war from the past is going to happen again?"

Theodore lowered his head, “I am afraid so.”

Stories and legends about the great war came rushing into Gretta’s mind. Orcs, magical creatures and humans alike were screaming, and begging for their lives to be saved from the war that lasted for so many days and only stopped when every witch, every warlock was dead. 

The giants who were led by their mad general held torches in their humongous hands, burning the witches' homes. The fire that came from the land of the White Witches reached the land of the humans. Some burnt to death, not only the adults but kids and babies... the children. A great number of magical creatures and Sorcerers perished as well. Jerusiah of Rivia, her great, great, great grandmother died as she laid a barrier to save as many children as she could. A lot of lives went to waste. A lot was sacrificed.

Pain turned to anguish and anguish into anger. Suddenly her blood boiled and her face turned red. She bawled her fist, her long nails digging against her skin. "Our friends... our family. If a war is about to begin… they’ll all be killed. Is… is this the intention of the goddess?"

"No." Was Theodore’s stern answer. “It is not.”

"What about the boy?" Was Gretta’s question. "Does he know about this?"

Theodoree shook his head. "He does not. But I tell you this, Gretta of Theal... everything will come to place. Now, I need your help. Until we have found the boy and learned if his heart is good… I need you to protect everyone else and maintain the peace. Do you understand?"

"I understand, Supremist." 

==============

Series of strong and forceful banging against the door was heard all over the dark and empty tattoo shop that was used to be the office of the Sorcerer's counsel. The scent of blood covered the city, not only that but rotting flesh and human remains such as bones were scattered on the floor. It stank to high heavens and Fraco was getting too impatient.

"Why... won't you open... you stupid old thing!" He shouted, her words coming out incoherently as he kicked the door open. The doorknob has been broken from both sides of the door, and now they're stuck.

“Why don't you use some magic, Mr. Fraco?" Was Kane's innocent question. And yet, it sparked anger in the Sorcerer's already irritable mind. 

Fraco rolled his eyes as he gave the door another strong kick. “You think I'd be kicking this hard if this door wasn't magic proof?!” 

Last night after they've arrived at the city loomed by darkness, a creature that looks like a beast appeared before Kane and Fraco,  killing everyone and eating everything that it could grab onto. Even the military was no match for her. The manmade weapons, amos and grenades could only push her a few feet away, not even scratching or leaving a mark on her metal like body.

It was an orc who turned into a mindless zombie. 

And if it wasn't for Fraco's magic, she would've left the city of Nakoir, go to another town and devoured everyone else.

She practically ate anything that she could lay her hands on. Now, Fraco and Kane were the lone survivors. 

Now they have this problem. They can't get inside the Counsel's room.

"You want to try opening this, twrep?" Fraco snapped after giving the door a kick one last time. He looked at Kane with his piercing eyes, and specifically looked at puny and skinny body. "Come on, weren't you telling me how strong you are? Prove it then!" 

Kane snorted then asked the Sorcerer to step away. "Move aside." He said, before kicking the door open.

Fraco could only grumble and curse under his breath. “Finally… geez…” He acted relieved but was cursing the boy in his mind for being stronger than him. "Why didn't you just opened the door in the first place, huh?! You waited for me to sweat it out!"

"Well you keep teasing me, Mr." 

"Fine --- whatever!"

"Fine..."

"Fine ---" Fraco screamed. 

The two of them made their way inside the tattoo shop to look for the receptionist. “Where is she?” Fraco voiced out nonchalantly with a wishful thinking on his mind, hoping that the bad feeling circling around his mind wasn't true. The sorcerer  took a deep breath as shivers ran down his spine. A usual feeling he gets whenever something bad has happened. “Hello, is anyone here?! I am Fraco Rumulos, the son of the Theal's!” 

Fraco casted a spell, using his staff as a torch, and when there was enough light to reveal what happened to the receptionist, all the feeling inside them had vanished from the shocking scene that they witnessed.

One word can describe the scene. And it's Massacre.