The Bloodstone Prophecy - Book 2 (complete)

Chapter 20 - The Giant

For added intensity, hit the YouTube play button.

____________

The pounding in the cave stopped, and a few of the other prisoners started yelling. Liam turned around, and what he saw caused him to drop his shovel and step back. On the horizon, a human wall advanced. He could make out their camouflage uniforms and green helmets. It was the Egyptian army, carrying rifles and driving tanks. They had to be at least a few hundred strong. His heart leaped. This was it-the army the other prisoners had been talking about. They were coming to rescue them. This nightmare would soon be over.

The guards yelled at the prisoners, shoving them back near the cave. Liam pushed his way through the mass of bodies, trying to get in front where he could see. Most of them stood there dumbly, clearly gone mentally, just there in body. But among those still coherent, a great cheer rose up. A guard cracked one of the prisoners on the head sending him to the ground in a motionless heap, but it made no difference. The people were too wild for their freedom.

The guards turned and faced the ensuing army, who were now coming at a run with guns raised and yelling. A few of them were driving jeeps with machine guns mounted in the back. Trembling, the six guards threw down their weapons and fled into the desert. There was nothing standing between them and the army now. Liam and the rest of the prisoners thronged toward the army. He snagged a gun and took it with him. They were close now. Only a hundred feet away. Then fifty. They were almost there. They were going to make it. He was so close, he could taste it. He thought of his mother and father's faces. He would see them again. He thought of Haji, and of Kami.

Liam felt tears sting his eyes as it sunk in that he was free. He turned to thank one of his rescuers, but when he looked into the man's face, he saw a fearful expression. A quick glance at the other soldiers revealed they were backing up. Liam turned and stumbled when he saw it, a giant emerging from the mouth of the cave. This had to be the thing the guards had been talking about.

The giant was made of shadows, just like the other creatures, only it was larger. Much larger. At full height it had to be at least ten or eleven feet tall. It looked like a misshapen human, with a hunched back and stocky body and enormous feet. It wore no clothing. His eyes blazed red, and his arms bulged with enormous biceps. In each hand he carried a weapon¸ a giant battle ax and a morning star the size of a basketball dangling from a heavy chain. One swing with the weapon and Liam and his head would be separated.

Liam heard shouting and looked around. The army's guns were up. They were preparing to advance. He raised his gun too, but just as quickly realized it was futile. Bullets don't kill shadows.

Someone yelled the command, and Liam dropped with the front row. The army pummeled the giant with bullets. Round after round tore into its chest, peppering the giant's body with bullets. The shadows separated at the point of impact, but then immediately coalesced to reform its body. Liam realized with a sinking feeling that he'd been right. The giant advanced on them as if the bullets were nothing. The guns were useless.

Liam wished he still had the whip he had stolen, though he doubted it would be strong enough to fight the giant. The sting of the whip would probably be no more bother than an annoying gnat, but at least he'd have a weapon that worked.

As the officers reloaded, he stood up and sprinted away from the army just as they charged the giant. The shadow giant swiped the first soldiers, sending at least twenty of them flying with the morning star. The giant didn't move quickly, but his movements were deadly-a terrifying slow motion attack.

The giant smashed his battle ax through the next wave, sending them the other direction. This was suicide. The army was beginning to realize the same thing. It halted, and amidst the screaming and moaning, it broke into a mass of confusion. Liam watched in horror as men scrambled over their dead comrades and rushed to escape as the giant hacked and swung his way through them.

From the belly of the cave came a rumbling sound, then a high keening. A pack of shadow creatures leaped from the cave's entrance and tore into the wounded and dying soldiers. Blood-curdling screams filled the air.

Liam shrank back even further from the fight. There was nothing they could do, no way to fight the onslaught.

Three tanks advanced on the shadow giant. They fired at once, and a large hole formed as the shells passed through one of the giant's legs. The giant lost its balance and leaned first one way, then another, and for a brief moment, Liam thought maybe the giant would fall.

Then suddenly, the giant exploded, sending out a concentric wave of shades that consumed everything in its path. The tanks flew up in the air end over end and crashed to the ground upside down.

Outside the ring, the pressure knocked Liam to the ground and stole his breath. He struggled for air, and just as he was about to lose consciousness, he finally drew in a breath that had never tasted so sweet. He watched dimly as the shades merged back together, dancing over and under each other, until they reformed into the shape of the shadow giant.

The giant stood still, staring over the field of carnage. The battle was over before it had barely started. Liam thought of his friends who were likely planning a rescue attempt. Kami. Chris. Samuel. Haji. They didn't have a shot against this monster. The worst part was they had no clue of the trap they'd be walking into. He hoped they wouldn't try, that somehow they would figure out how futile the attempt would be and stay away. It was the only way to save themselves. It was too late for him and the other prisoners.

Guards spilled out of the mouth of the cave, like a swarm of black flies glutting themselves on the remains of the battle. There had to be at least twenty or thirty of the Shadow Queen's henchmen. They picked through pockets and claimed weapons, casually joking and smiling with each other, as if they were picking things up from a flea market, not off the bodies of dead men.

Liam felt a burning, a hot, righteous anger at their callousness. Then he heard something that provoked him even worse, the high-pitched sound of a woman laughing. He turned his head to get a better view. The Shadow Queen had followed the guards from the cave, clapping her hands gleefully and laughing at the dead and dying. She gazed at the battlefield in triumph.

He didn't understand how she could be like that, how she could find such joy in death. He had never seen such inhumanity, couldn't even comprehend it. It had been a total massacre. It was as crazy as Nero fiddling while Rome burned. It was madness. Pure madness. The fire raged through him, tearing him apart. He had never felt so alone, so lost, so helpless.

Then something hit Liam's head and he fell, unconscious.

_______________

Please click the star to support this story.

Poor Liam, so close to his freedom only to have it yanked from him. So do you have an idea what was under the tarps now? Exact details will be revealed in a later chapter.

Today's dedication goes out to an awesome reader @cheesepuf, who rocked through Born of Shadow and is already caught up with us. You can check out @cheesepuf's writing and follow by clicking in the dedication link above.