responsibility

On the next day, at the entrance of the village of giants, a huge crowd, including almost every giant in the village, came to bid farewell to the people leaving the village, including the lord. The current team included all ten people Jack chose, except the runesmith, while everyone was ready with a bag on their shoulders, including Jack. The only exception from the original team was that Carus was nowhere to be seen.

The old chief was there, but even he didn't know about Carus's decision yet. Jack knew better than to ask about what the chief and Carus discussed; he did not care about their personal matters. They will leave in a few minutes if he does not show up. They will leave without him; he won't waste more time than he had to.

Suddenly, Jack was approached by the runesmith. "Here, take these; it might be helpful," he said, handing Jack three oval-shaped amulets made out of adamantite with runes ingrained in them. 

"This is?..." Jack asked as he examined the three amulets, still unsure how they worked as he touched one of the runes on one of the amulets, and another amulet's right rune lit up. "Wait, are these?"

"Communication amulets," the runesmith said, as the three amulets were interconnected via runes. Jack smiled, checking them out properly.

Each rune connected one amulet to another, letting their voice travel through the runes somehow. Jack didn't understand how that worked but was grateful nonetheless. So far, only the runesmith has proved useful to Jack. Honestly, this guy knew how to get the work done if you could leave him alone with his books, and Jack preferred those kinds of people.

As time came, Jack and his group finally prepared to leave. Jack whistled, and five different giant birds came flying down from the sky along with Ra. These birds were to be their traveling companions to the edges of the forest giants territory, or rather, what was left of it. 

As all the humans were getting aboard the birds, Jack stopped and looked behind at the crowd one last time, with the elder chief standing there and the runesmith sitting on his shoulder. Jack sighed, realizing that Carus wasn't coming in the end, or so he thought. As he got onto the back of Ra, someone came through the crowd. It was the much-expected arrival of the green giant Jack had first met, but now cladded in green armor and holding a spear with the forest giants symbol on it. 

Carus looked at his father, who just sighed, knowing that the young spirit of his son couldn't be held back and just hoping he would come back alive. Carus bowed to his father as a sign of respect. Carus was a man who was supposed to be a leader and the chief of the forest giants, but he was mad at what happened to his own people and his mother. He understood that blood for blood would leave the whole world bleeding. He knew what revenge felt like, but that was a personal matter. As a leader, he had to look past personal feelings. He would try his best to make amends for the past and for the people who died. The war needed to end, and Jack was going to conquer the other giants either way. He believed in him. So his going with Jack was completely necessary to fix the relationship with the other giants before they all came under one nation. He had to go as he walked up to Jack's team. 

The man simply smiled as Ra flapped his wings and flew upwards while Carus walked behind them while the rest of the people were just riding atop the flying birds. It was dangerous to take the birds past the forest since Jack's authority only went as far as the forest of the giants. Outside that, predators and monsters will become a threat, and it is better to travel on foot for that. 

Jack and his companions traveled via the air while Carus walked on foot, still keeping up with them. Izen, who was with Ikami for some reason, smiled, looking down on the scenery below and in front of them, as she was still a child and enjoying such little things might be fun for her. 

But Jack sighed upon watching the same reaction from Tumo and some others. Maybe in the whole apocalypse and the world going to shit, the little things could be the best part, if one can enjoy them at least. Jack didn't realize it, but a smile also crept up on his face while watching them.