1 Gretalons

On a dark and stormy night, the villagers of Altahoma lay on traditional mats in their grass thatched houses.

Everyone was asleep, as the sound of raindrops hitting the hard ground, sounded in their ears like a lullaby.

The night cold air forcing them to cling to their blankets for warmth as they snored.

Just as everyone enjoyed their dreams, a small earthquake that lasted a second vibrated through the ground.

It wasn't that intense and only a few light sleepers were able to feel it.

However, in the next second, another quake shook the earth.

It was more intense than the other. And this time, everyone pried their eyes with their breaths hastened as if they had woken up from a nightmare.

The quakes felt like something big was approaching them.

They all tossed the barkcloth they used to cover themselves away from their bodies as they stood up abruptly.

The next quake shook again and this one almost threw them off-balance.

They made haste as the quakes intensified in an unrhythmic pattern.

It was like whatever was making the quakes had increased in number.

It felt like a herd of giant bisson making a stampede.

As they exited their houses, they didn't run like headless chickens in random directions.

But ran to a fixed location. Like it was their only hope of survival.

They all gathered at a dead end. A solid mountain rock.

"Let the children in first! All children gather where I am!" An elderly man with a red robe that stretched from his shoulder across his shoulder and to his feet.

It looked like a greek loincloth.

He reeked of knowledge, wisdom, and experience.

The red cap he wore at the top of his head suggested he was the village chief.

with that said, the tiny people made their way to where the chief was.

He raised his walking stick and hit the rock three times.

And immediately, one could make out an image behind the rock as it turned translucent.

The children stepped right through the rock and disappeared. It was like the rock was just an illusion.

"Chief....the giants are almost here." said one of the village youths in a hurried voice as he could barely make up a silhouette of a huge tall figure under the moonlight.

Although it was a few kilometers away in the dark forest, its huge torso stood out in the woods.

It moved its head around as if looking for something.

And just then, its eyes zoomed on a deserted village not too far away from where it was.

A frown formed on its face as it discovered that it was deserted but soon the frown was replaced with a sinister smirk when it saw tiny dots packed together in a location.

It took massive steps putting one leg in front of the other in a repetitive manner as it made its way to the village. "Gretalons I found a settlement. Follow me!"

"Great Thudius, I found a settlement too. And it is packed with a bunch of running fleshies. Let's head there instead." One of the giants said as it halted Thudiud steps.

In truth, it wasn't the only giant that had its eyes on the settlement.

The other two ugly creatures looked at it with drool forming on their lips.

They licked their lips as excitement boiled up inside their stomachs.

The four giants stood at a distance of 1 km from each other.

Their voices vibrated through the air sending countless birds flying away from the trees.

The giant named Thudius turned spun on his heels to look at the other giants.

"I say...we go for this one."

He turned around as he prepared to head to his original destination.

But when he felt that his gretalons hadn't moved a meter, he halted and turned back to look at them again."What.....aren't you coming with me." he said in a displeased tone.

The three gretalons looked at themselves in silence.

"Fine have your feast, I'll have mine," Thudius said rolling his giant eyeball at his minions.

He wore his sinister smile again and took a massive step forward. This time he made haste as he knew that the fleshies he aimed for had something planned.

The violent short second quakes shook the earth again as the giants made their way to their desired dinner plate.

Along the way, Thudius discovered that the population had decreased significantly.

A deep frown formed on his lips as hurried his steps into a run.

For the tiny people who watched, it looked slow but the giant crossed quite a distance with each step.

His eyes never leaving the gathered people, he discovered that they were entering a rock. He growled angrily as he knew once they all entered, he would have lost his dinner." Damn gods!" he cursed.

In just five seconds, he had crossed the distance of 5 kilometers between them.

His eyes burned with anger as he realized only a few people remained. And they were still decreasing.

He smashed through whatever obstacle that came his way turning the village into a ruin.

"Chief...Take Faima, she isn't looking so well."A youthful man with barkcloth wrapped around his waist to his legs said.

"But Dema...." The chief said in a worried tone but he was stopped but he was interrupted by the man.

"No chief....there's no time for us. Take her. I'll hold down the giant. " He said hurriedly as he put a pregnant lady's hand into the chief's before turning away and running towards the giant.

The chief could only sigh and help the pregnant lady walk into the rock.

Cold sweat dripped from her forehead as she gritted her teeth from the labor pain she was experiencing.

Her walks were so slow, that the chief had to turn his head continuously to see where the creature had reached.

"Faster Faima. Faster.....It will all be fine." he said.

"Stupid Giant.....You are so dumb and slow. " the youthful man taunted as he craned his neck back to look at the giant.

Thudius was enraged by the tiny creature's stubbornness. He stretched his giant hand to grab it.

But the man evaded his palm.

It crushed deep into the ground sending tiny debris and clouds of dust into the air.

"Your aim is offset. You dumb pile of horse dung." the man mocked again as he rose up from the ground.

"How dare you fleshie! If my guts won't digest you today, then I won't be Thudius." Thudius growled as a gust of smelly air escaped his gaping mouth.

He stretched out his arm again but could only grab empty air as the man had clearly dodged him again.

"Faima. That's it you can do it. We can make it." The chief said as he helped the lady step into the gateway.

The youthful man smiled as he watched the duo's figures disappear through the rock.

He dodged yet another grab from the giant which infuriated it the more.

Thudius no longer cared about eating the creature anymore. All he wanted to do now was to crush it down to a pile of splat.

It stomped violently on the ground causing the earth to shake terribly.

Cracks formed wherever he stepped. But the man always dodged his attacks.

"Why you! Your dead now." he growled as he chased after the annoying creature that ran towards the rock his companions had disappeared into.

"This is not good." the man wiped the sweat off his forehead when he saw the rock was no longer translucent.

It was now completely opaque as it was supposed to be. Its rough texture clearly visible. No one could pass through it again.

But he didn't stop his advance towards it.

The giant grabbed empty air behind him as he was simply too fast.

Thudius wore a smirk as he saw that the creature had no place to run.

He spread his fingers wide as he planned to crush him in between the rock and his palm.

His hand closed in on the man but then something unexpected happened.

The man ran on the 4 men tall rock and did a backflip landing on his hairy hand that was already plunged into the rock.

He climbed along the length of the giant's arms up to his shoulders and slid down its back.

Once his feet touched the ground, he made a run for it into the dark forest the giant came from.

Thudius was caught completely off-guard as he turned his head to look at the fleeing fleshy.

A short second later, he came to his senses and chased after him.

But the man had long since disappeared into the dark forest.

He crushed the trees along its path as it angrily searched for the man.

The chief helped the pregnant lady through the dark tunnel dimly lit by the few torches on the walls.

The sound of water dripping echoed throughout the hollowness of the tunnel.

The screams of the pregnant lady bounced off the tunnel walls us her labor pains increased.

"Take it steady Faima we're almost there." the chief said as he looked at the light at the end of the tunnel.

The walk through the tunnel which should have taken a few seconds took a whole minute.

The light at the end of the tunnel grew as they neared the exit.

"Help, help!" the chief screamed to his lungs as he could already see people settling in.

"The chief is here.....he made it." one of the youths stated as he hurriedly made his way to the duo who had stepped out of the tunnel's exit.

They had now ended up in a vast cave that could accommodate the entire village.

Tents were set up and the fire was lit as they gathered around it to warm themselves.

The cave was brighter than the tunnel, as it had numerous torches on the walls.

At this moment, Faima had lost all strength to carry on. Her legs went numb as a stream of blood flowed from her thighs to the ground.

Her screams intensified as they pains increased. She felt like she was being torn apart from both sides.

A high-pitched sound rung in the chief's ears as the lady he helped screamed to the top of her lungs.

The lady clang on to his hand while she placed the other behind her waist to support her heavy back.

Screams echoed through the hollowness of the cave and everyone had gathered around them to see what they could do to help.

"Take it easy Faima. Take it easy. It will all be fine." the chief lay down Faima slowly so she was flat on the ground.

"Does anyone know how to deliver a baby?" he raised his voice so it could be heard by everyone.

And immediately, an old lady made her way through the crowd to them. "I can do it chief," she stated as she knelt on her knees to help the lady deliver her baby.

She spread Faimas legs and bent her knees upwards as she looked into the dark void under her barkcloth.

"Push dear....push."

The screams intensified once more and this time it came out more like a roar.

Faima raised her torso as she used her elbows as support. She gritted her teeth as she tried to push the big lump on her stomach out from in between her thighs.

Bids of cold sweat run down her face as she panted in between her rests before pushing once again.

"No....no....I can't...do it," she said after pushing for the fifth time. her voice coming out as low as a whisper. Her chest bobbed up and down hurriedly as she tried to fill her lungs with air.

" Don't say that dear. you can do it. don't you want to see your baby?" It's almost here. Just one more push." the old midwife said.

Faima could only get hyped as she thought of her baby coming into this world and holding it in her hands.

Taking one last long breath, she pushed as hard as she could. Her roars filling the cave once again.

A baby's cries replaced her screams. "You did it, dear. It's a boy." the midwife said with a beaming smile as she held the little bloody human in her hands.

Faima peaked a glance at her baby with a smile forming on her pale lips.

Her eyes rolled to the back of her head as she fainted. Deprived of all energy.

"Take her to rest. "the chief commanded as he stretched out his arms for the baby.

And the midwife handed it over happily.

He smiled from ear to ear as he looked at the baby in his hands. It was then that he turned around to look at the tunnel he came out from.

A frown formed on his face as looked into the silent darkness. "He didn't make it. Kiar didn't make it."

Although his voice was low as a whisper, everyone heard him clearly.

"Kiar didn't make it!"

"Kair....."

Everyone's moods turned pale as they thought of the man.

They tried to comfort themselves by thinking that he had to do it so the baby and the mother could survive.

Abandoning all grief, they made their way to the chief and the baby to look at the newborn.

The skies outside were illuminated with red lightning flashes.

And the storm seemed to get even stronger. Loud thunder sounded throughout the land as the giants had their feast.

*In a dark cave and quiet cave elsewhere*

The sound of waterdrops dropping on the echoed through the dark cave.

Not even a single ray of light present in the cave. It was plunged into an endless abyss of darkness.

A pair of two red eyes shot open making it look like two fireflies danced around in the dark place.

The creature's eyes illuminated the bottom of his eyelids and the start of his nose.

Crows' feet formed on one of his eyes. A sign that his lips had risen to one side forming a smirk. "He is born,"

A deep low majestic voice sounded through the hollowness of the cavern.

......