Picking up the damaged Harp, Merek raised his voice. “We awakened the slumbering dragons! Now leave us in peace! Fly away and do not return!”
The demand appeared to increase the confusion among those on the hillside. The dragons did not yet seem to realize the Harp had been destroyed.
Kendra felt the ground tremble. In the distance, she saw a ridgeline sit up. The blackened ridge had been almost totally burned by the dragons. As the ridge arose, charred soil and carbonized trees fell away, revealing a behemoth who looked as if he were in his sixties or seventies, easily the largest giant Kendra had ever beheld. The ridge had apparently been comprised of a giant resting on his back, covered in stone.
“Who is that?” Kendra asked.
“Pietro,” Merek marveled. “One of the sleeping giants. After all these years, he awoke.”
“He looked like a burned ridge,” Kendra said.
“The sleeping giants have hibernated for years,” Merek said. “Over time, they merged with the countryside.” He pointed. “Look, Zabella is rising as well.”
In the distance, Kendra saw a tremendous female giant brushing herself off. She may have been even taller than Pietro, though she was farther away, so it was hard to gauge.
“The Harp,” Merek said, looking down at the instrument in his hands. “It must have played a role in their long sleep. The timing makes sense. Their hibernation began while the Dragon Temple was under construction.”
Pietro had started using an enormous hoe to swat dragons out of the sky. Relative to him, they looked the size of chickens.
The dragons who had awakened were flying away, and the human avatars raced downhill. Some of the dragons still swarmed Pietro and Zabella, but others were apparently fleeing.
“WHAT ARE YOU VERMIN DOING TO MY ISLAND?” asked a voice as deep as the ocean and as broad as the sky.
Turning, Kendra beheld the largest being she had ever seen, striding from the north. Dressed in a white toga, he carried a sword and a round shield. A gold band circled his brow, his arms and legs rippled with muscle, and he grew larger with every stride.
“We woke Garocles,” Merek said reverently.
“Who?” Kendra asked, transfixed by his enormity.
“The father of Imani,” Merek said. “Garocles the titan. He’s the Dragon Slayer of Titan Valley, but he has slept for centuries.”
Several sleeping giants followed Garocles. Still others plodded into view, converging from diverse directions. The few dragons attacking Garocles looked like sparrows. He cut them down with nonchalance.
“YOU HAVE VIOLATED THIS LAND, SAURIANS,” Garocles declared. “DEPART OR PERISH.”
Dragons still assailed Pietro with fire, lightning, and gushing liquids. The barrage seemed like a minor irritant to the giant, who slew one or two attackers with every stroke of his hoe.
“The sleeping giants are colossal,” Kendra said. “But Garocles is unbelievable.”
“Legend has it he grows not only according to his anger, but also in proportion to the onslaught,” Merek said. “Celebrant could not have anticipated this.”
As Garocles came nearer, every step an earthquake, the dragons quit all attacks and started to flee. Garocles stopped, leaving the sleeping giants to pursue them. The dragons climbed high, out of reach, retreating to the southeast away from the titan.
“They’re running away,” Kendra said.
“Celebrant sounded the retreat,” Merek said. “Or whoever he left in charge of the battle did. I wish they had stayed.”
“Why?” Kendra asked.
“With Garocles awake, we could have won the dragon war today,” Merek said.
“Will he go after them?” Kendra asked.
“Garocles is the Dragon Slayer of this sanctuary,” Merek said. “His jurisdiction is here. A titan is as much a force of nature as he is a living being. With him awake, Titan Valley will be the last place any smart dragon will come. But it is impossible to say what help we can expect from him elsewhere. You and I lived through the day. Though many did not, and the preserve is in shambles, it could have ended worse. The dragons enjoyed great success, but they finally took some damage.”
“Did Seth know cutting the harp strings would wake up the sleeping giants?” Kendra asked.
“He made no mention of it to me,” Merek said.
“They got Terastios,” Kendra said. “I hope my cousins stayed in Humburgh.”
“Humburgh should be secure,” Merek said. “The protections there derive from Humbuggle and the Wizenstone, not the Giant Queen.”
“We have to find my cousins and the satyrs,” Kendra said. “And we have to find Seth.”
“I will help you,” Merek said.
“So will I,” Raxtus chimed in, still in fairy shape. “Is the titan shrinking?”
Kendra’s gaze returned to Garocles.
“The threat is diminishing,” Merek said. “His outrage is cooling.”
The titan watched the fleeing dragons until they shrank from view. He continued the vigil for an extra ten minutes, gradually losing size, until he turned and strode off the way he had come.
“Do you think the dragons killed the Giant Queen?” Kendra asked.
“I expect so, if she remained at Terastios,” Merek said. “She may have fled to Stratos. Or perhaps even to Humburgh. We’ll learn her fate before long. It should be safe for us to fly to Humburgh now.”
Raxtus returned to dragon shape.
“I’m worried about my brother,” Kendra said.
“We have to find him,” Merek said. “The fate of the world may rest on how he handled the end of the Titan Games.”
Seth sat in a dungeon cell with his back to the wall, hands on his knees, head bowed. The air was too cold. The only light flickered indirectly from a torch down the hall. Somewhere water slowly dripped. He no longer had the Unforgiving Blade or his satchel of gear. He still had wings. Calvin remained in his pocket.
But the little nipsie had stopped trying to reassure Seth. He seemed to realize that Seth needed time.
After leaving Titan Valley, Celebrant had personally carried Seth to the fallen Soaring Cliffs sanctuary. Flying steadily, they had crossed oceans and mountains, glimpsed cargo ships and airplanes. The old castle at Soaring Cliffs was now staffed by dragons, and Seth had been locked in the dungeon until he
