Vaughn Heppner - Giants

“Singer?” Elidad asked. “Everyone else wishes to see what the pouch contains. Surely you do as well.”

Her face was tight. “Yes,” she whispered. “Show me.”

Elidad pushed the sinew open and upended the pouch. Two uncut emeralds, about the size of robin’s eggs, dropped onto his palm. The campfire seemed to brighten. The emeralds captured the light and flared at their heart with a cold and ice-green fire. They were of flawless purity. Elidad’s eyes shone with greed, and his mouth was wide with a triumphant smile.

“Do you see?” he said.

“They’re lovely,” Gens said. “They should be set in a crown and placed upon the world’s greatest stallion.”

“Pure and marvelous,” whispered Herrek. “We should add them to the treasures of Elon that our glory spread accordingly.”

“Such bewitching magnificence will have a source,” Adah said. “There the secrets of Nephilim may be found, and therefore the cause of Elohim increased.”

Joash gazed into the heart of the emeralds. They glowed with cold evil. He grew faint, seeing clear and enticing images in his mind. “Bewitching,” he whispered, thinking about what Adah had said before. Elidad was bewitched. And here was the source of it! Joash willed himself to look down. He couldn’t! The emeralds held him. Rage and fear drove him. He was a free man. No one or no thing controlled him. By an act of will he tore away his gaze and stared at the fire, thinking furiously.

“Joash?” Elidad called.

Joash looked into the warrior’s avaricious eyes.

“What do you see?”

“Gems to put on a scabbard that I would wear at my side,” Joash whispered. And he did see that. It was a crystal-clear image. He would become the world’s greatest swordsman.

Elidad smiled, nodded, and turned toward Herrek.

Joash immediately turned from the gems. What was occurring here?

“This,” Elidad said, pulling the parchment at his belt, “is a map I found under the pouch. It shows me where there are even more gems.”

“A… a map?” Herrek asked.

Elidad handed him the parchment.

Herrek unrolled it, frowned, and handed it across the fire to Adah. Joash almost reached up and snatched it. He would burn it. But he was too afraid. So he glanced at the map as it passed him. It showed a cave in the hills. He supposed that in this cave was a glittering pile of gems.

Adah studied the map. After a time she smiled. “This is a burial place. Notice these symbols.” She pointed to crooked crosses and upside down ciphers. Beside those marks were many others. The script looked sinister. “Someone, or something, very powerful was entombed here.”

“Evil ones?” Herrek asked.

“I believe so.”

For a moment, Elidad looked troubled. “You said something about Nephilim. I’d not thought of that before. Do you think some will be here?”

“Yes,” Adah said. “I relish the idea of stealing Nephilim secrets.”

Herrek nodded. “I relish the idea of slaying Nephilim.”

Elidad stroked his chin. “Might they bar us from the treasure?”

Adah lifted her eyebrows. “I will outwit them,” she boasted.

Herrek laughed. “I am the champion. To me will fall our ancient foes.”

Gens nodded. “None drive a better team than I. We will bewilder them with our tactics and drive them from the cave.”

“Yes,” Elidad said. “My cunning is superior to theirs.”

Joash couldn’t believe what he was hearing. They were mad. “We must return to the camp and get help,” he said. “It’s foolish to face Nephilim on our own.”

“You hold a spear,” Elidad told him. “Do you fear to wield it?”

“It isn’t that,” Joash said, looking to the others for help.

“Are you a coward?” Elidad asked.

“He’s no coward,” Herrek said. “Lord Uriah raised him from the rank of runner to that of groom. And Joash spoke with a giant, with Mimir the Wise.”

“Ah,” Elidad said.

“Bu-but, don’t we need help in order to slay more Nephilim?” Joash asked.

“The lad speaks wisdom,” Adah said. She was frowning. “We do need help.” It sounded as if she was surprised that she hadn’t thought of it herself.

“Perhaps so,” Elidad said smoothly. “But we have no time. Our ships will arrive. Then we must leave Giant Land with our stallions in order to take them to the market festival.”

“True,” Herrek said.

“We must strike quickly,” Elidad said.

“But…” Adah tried to frame her question. “What if the Nephilim overpower us?”

“Bah!” Elidad said. “We’re more cunning than that. We can slip past them, steal the treasure, and then we will slip away.”

“No,” Adah said, “our purpose is to gather Nephilim secrets, not gather stones.”

“No,” Herrek said. “We must slaughter the ancient enemy. I must show them they face the champion of the expedition.”

“Then we will slay them,” Elidad said.

The others pondered his words, as if he’d made a wise and thoughtful suggestion.

“Yes,” Herrek said. “We will slay them.”

Adah grinned. “Truth has been spoken. It is within our power to do this deed.”

Then it came to Joash that they were drunk, perhaps not on wine or strong spirits, but on the evil magic that poured from the emeralds. Perhaps the emeralds were a trick of Tarag’s. He swallowed. It seemed they were being drawn to the treasure cave. Surely Tarag waited for them there. He must go to the cave, too.

No, no, Joash told himself. This was a fool’s journey. They had to go back, to get help.

“When do we leave?” Gens asked.

“Now,” Elidad said. “The sabertooths have stopped me for too long.”

Joash was frantic. Did the emeralds truly work an evil spell on his friends? And if so, how could he break this spell? He hadn’t yet wondered why the spell, if spell it was, hadn’t worked on him as it had on the others.

“Joash, hitch the horses,” Elidad said.

“Not yet,” Herrek said. “They need to graze and rest first.”

“But—”

“No,” Herrek said. “If we’re to slay the Nephilim who lie in wait at the cave, then we’ll make the attack as wisely as we can.”

Elidad breathed deeply, putting the gems away. “Very well. First, the stallions will graze. But let us not wait long, lest the Nephilim depart before we arrive.”

“Agreed,” Herrek said.

“In an hour then?” Elidad asked.

“Yes, in an hour.”

When Herrek gave the word Joash unhobbled Asher and Pondon and led them toward the lake. They snorted and resisted his attempts to take them into the sun’s glare. He looked over at Gens. The lean driver enticed Galay and Geirrod with carrots. Galay caught and snapped off half of Gens’s carrot, but in so doing, stepped into the sunlight. Soon Gens had both horses drinking.

Joash didn’t have any carrots. He looked around and spied some flowers the horses loved. He picked a handful and tickled their noses with them. Asher tried to nibble the flowers. Joash backed up. Asher tossed his head. He tickled the stallion’s nose again. The stallion moved halfway into the sunlight and caught hold of the flowers. Joash ripped his half away, then brushed Pondon’s nose. In no time Asher and Pondon drank lake-water.

Joash kept a lookout for the shark as he waded his way beside Gens. The driver picked up a smooth stone and skipped it across the water.

“Good cast.”

Gens grunted and found another stone.

“Those were impressive emeralds,” Joash said.