The Beast Within

Titans in the Distance: Chapter Five

I woke to Jedd pinching my arm.

"Josiah! Wake up!"

Shadows flickered over his wrinkled face. He was grinning, and when my eyes rolled up to meet him he chuckled and pulled me into sitting.

"What happened?" I rasped. 

"You fainted, but we did it, boy! We made it without a single sheep lost!"

"You're concerned—about the sheep? We could have been squashed into the ground!" 

The herder clucked his tongue and said nothing more on the matter. Through the groggy haze of my waking mind, I slowly caught up to the world.

We were in Jedd's home. The fire in the pit had gone out, and the only light came from a candle in the herder's hand, which threatened to douse each time he spoke. A blanket was around my body, suggesting Jedd had covered me once I transformed.

"Your robe was left in the field," he explained. "I doubt it's still there."

He moved to one of the chests and after rifling through it he tossed me a spare robe.

"Last one," he warned, "take care of it."

He was oddly giddy, given what had happened. As I dressed, he went to the stone pit and used the candle to start a fire. Jedd's home owned no windows, so I could not tell if it was night or day. Outside there were no sounds of bleating sheep or chirping insects. No thunder or sign that a titan was near. A terrible notion struck me.

"Are...are we dead?"

Jedd winked. "Almost, but not yet."

My ears suddenly picked up the gentle pattering of rain.

"No," I moaned, "the rain! It means—"

"Not a Warning Rain. This is a Peace Shower. The threat has passed." The fire in the pit rose to life, bathing the room in a warm glow. "Lightning's washing away the horror left behind. Cleansing the plains for a new day." He blew out the candle and turned to me. "Might've lost some of the flock if it weren't for your help. Thank you, Josiah. And thank the wolf, too."

He began cooking us a meal. Jedd's clothes were still washed in blood and splatters of it remained on the walls and floor. The stench remained, too, but was less intense.

A vivid memory of the attack returned to me.

The field covered in red. The ground quivering as the titan took a step that crossed miles. Jedd raising his hands in the air, cackling with manic glee. The sheep crying in the barn, as terrified and confused as I was. 

"Jedd...the titans...does that happen often?"

"One attack is often enough," he said as he filled two bowls with vegetables. "But it's not common. Every few months, if I had to count it."

"Every—few months?"

"Dreadful when it happens, but Lightning provides. The house and barn, unseen by those brutes, are just two of the many gifts the god has provided His people. You were scared, but you had no cause to be." He laughed softly to himself. "I don't mean to tease, but even if the titan had jumped upon the roof, Lightning's shield would protect us from getting smashed."

"Where did it go—the one that approached us?"

"I suppose it continued on, hopefully to a place where the people have Lightning's love. But it'll be back the next time we move into the field. They're always looking for Him, so they always return."

"But Lightning is gone. He's in the sky with Micah."

"You remembered, very good."

I thought of Jedd's god as we ate. There could be no doubt that we had been protected by powerful magic. Whether it came from the sky or something else was still a mystery to me—but I wouldn't say such a thing to Jedd.

To be forced to engage with the titans for one's entire life, with nothing but the promise of protection from an unseen being, seemed unfair. There was no peace, I realized, that was worth enduring the horror they inflicted.

The tranquility of the plains was overshadowed by the giants that drowned its fields with a single blow, and the pleasant dream of Jedd's life was dashed upon witnessing one of the monsters up close. All I could think about was what might happen the day Jedd and his sheep were unable to get away. The herder might accept and love his way of life, but I could not.

The rain stopped, and after a silent meal we led the sheep back into the field. By some miracle, all the red that stained the grass was gone. The clouds that had pulled together to form lightning under Jedd's command were settled back into a calm state, though their dark bodies remained heavy. The sun peeked through them, shining its beams upon serene, luscious greenery.

"Peace Shower washes the blood," Jedd explained at my curious expression.

Even the holes in the ground, dug by the massive claws on the titan's feet, had been covered with new life.

As if nothing had happened.

"Nothing to fear anymore, they've righted themselves. Look."

Jedd pointed to the distance where the titans were standing in their usual line.

Only now, instead of four, there were five.

The sight did nothing to ease my tension. I didn't ask Jedd where the new titan had come from and the man made no mention of it. The wolf spent the day with its eyes fixed ahead and its fur raised in alarm. Jedd attempted to calm it by reading poetry, but all the wolf could do was pace and watch.

Pace and watch.

Pace and watch.

Jedd was comfortable with a threat looming two steps ahead, but the wolf and I were not.

We could not continue in this constant state of dread.