A Gathering of Giants by Jack Kincade

Author:Jack Kincade
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Jack Kincade
Published: 2023-09-30T00:00:00+00:00

-Chapter 25-

Reinforcements

Yuma snapped the gizmo-goggles on and poked fun at that elusive pink orb tumbling above his fingertips when Zack's Lucid blast hit him head-on.

The ballistic concussion from Zack's psychic discharge not only sheared away a small mountaintop but body-slammed the giant to the ground from the top of a redwood over five miles away, leaving Yuma breathless and blinded from his amplified lenses.

"I can't see." Yuma fought back to his feet.

Zack's formidable, almost point-blank Lucid Pulse had plowed straight through Yuma's heart––along with everything else standing within its incandescent radius. The defensive ring radiated throughout the forest in a swirling cataclysm of invisible colors, electrifying and illuminating every living thing it touched.

The astounded creatures of the Sacred Forest became vocal with the signal's elegant passage, and a delicate veil of falling leaves rained behind it, leaving the rest of the natural world shimmering but intact.

Yuma tore off the goggles and spun in the Pulse's direction.

"They are here!"

The sightless giant staggered towards the Pulse's origins, with Zip, Zash, and Zee trying to guide the way with their whispers. And as his vision cleared, he sprinted across a mammoth highway of interconnecting root systems to discover the source of the blast.

He finally discovered Zack's unconscious body bathed in dappled sunshine. From ground level up, the top layer of the Top Shelf Mountain had gone missing.

"Who is this? Where are my reinforcements?" Yuma was confused.

Zack remembered flashes of light as he slid in and out of consciousness for the rest of the day. Something gigantic had plucked him up and thrown him over a shoulder like a carcass.

He could feel the muscular shoulders moving underneath him––swaying with unnaturally long strides.

Harley hung off the opposite shoulder, his tongue hanging out. Zack remembered seeing his unconscious hero's lifeless body swinging from side to side and thinking––

Are we dead yet?

As Yuma carried the boy into the heart of the redwood groves, the crystal outcroppings scattered among the ferns shimmered as they passed, which only made the giant more curious about his find.

When Zack opened his eyes, he stared up at a tall, curved ceiling. A ribcage of living branches provided all the vertical support, and the rest of the room blended perfectly with the masterful woodwork surrounding it. Simple and elegant design. It felt natural and modern, yet as old as time.

Zip, Zash, and Zee hovered over Zack's head as he sat up. The soft downdraft from their wings tousled his hair.

I must have had way too many concussions today or something.

He was dwarfed on a bed of immense proportions and covered with quilts and handwoven blankets.

Zack reached up to find his forehead wounded, and when he felt his legs, he winced, seeing new stitches and bandages all over his body. Someone had placed his injured arm inside a makeshift sling lined with soft rabbit fur.

That's when he recalled the hideous rampage of the Creeps. He shot up in bed, frightened as a field mouse, afraid to make a peep inside these spooky new surroundings.

Where

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