Meanwhile, back in the divine realm.
Ira sat alone in her sanctum, deep in thought.
She touched her mirror of divine sight, searching again for her celestial Navigator's signal. It was faint, but she was still alive. The mortal had not harmed her yet.
She stood up. Then, without waiting for another meeting, she summoned her emissaries.
A figure in pink robes, with roots growing from their skin, appeared in the room.
"Go to Eldoria. Watch the mortal. Protect my Celestial Navigator if you can. But if she turns against us… end her."
Her emissary bowed.
Meanwhile. In the mortal realm.
Dawn broke over the ridge mountain. The golden sun rises over the horizon, lighting the sky with peculiar red and orange colors. Samuel had opened his eyes, though he had not truly slept. Sleep had become something not of need to him ever since he had awakened with the divine essence of a god flowing through his veins. Still, he lay still for a while, watching the skies.
He stood up and stretched, his body silently tensed. Then he turned around and nudged Lira lightly with the back of his hand. She stirred, groaned, and slowly opened her eyes.
Then upon standing, she uttered.
"Ugh, I stink," she exclaimed, sitting back down and running a hand through her tangled hair. "I need a bath."
Samuel slightly scowled, irritated by the delays, but nodded. "Fine. There's a lake nearby."
She blinked confusingly. "How do you know that?"
Not responding to her. He just turned and began walking, his movements were precise. He had sensed the presence and flow of water earlier, the same way he now instinctively felt shifts in energy and movement.
He returned a few moments later, gesturing softly.
Lira rose and followed him, still tired and sluggish from sleep. Arriving at the edge of the lake, the water was calm and clear, reflecting the brightening sky.
Without hesitation, Lira slipped off her outer robes and strolled into the lake, sighing as the cold water embraced her skin. Samuel quickly turned away and gave her a moment, then entered the lake himself on the far side.
He washed quickly, There was no joy in his act, only necessity.
Afterward, they stood at the edge of the lake, drying off in the rising sunlight. Lira looked more alive now, her eyes clearer, her body smoother, her posture stronger.
Samuel adjusted the straps on his belt. " Now open the portal. To Eldoria."
Lira slightly flinched. "You're really going through with this, are you? The land of the giants... it's suicide."
"I did not ask for your opinion, did I?" he uttered coldly.
She swallowed hastily, then lifted her hand up. Light gathered at her fingertips, forming a bright glow in the atmosphere. A second glyph followed, then a third, each one forming a ring. The portal snapped open with a sudden spark, swirling with light.
Then they both stepped through.
The world and the atmosphere shifted.
When their feet touched ground again, the sky above was a pale blue, with high clouds that stretched across the heavens like massive brush strokes. A dense breeze carried the scent of moss, and stone, in the atmosphere.
Before them stood the entrance to Eldoria.
Two enormous statues, each over twenty feet tall, guarded the gate. The stone giants were carved in the likeness of the ancient True Blood Giant Kings, their faces solemn, Around the neck of one statue curled a massive stone serpent, its fangs bared and its eyes glittering with a crimson gem.
Samuel pauses, examining the statues.
He turned his eyes toward the wall beside the entrance, where ancient symbols were etched into the stone walls. As he gazed, the symbols shimmered and shifted in his vision, re-forming into a language he could read. Thanks to his God-like powers. Lira glanced at the same symbols and frowned.
"I can't make sense of it," she uttered In an intense tone.
Samuel proceeds, to read aloud.
"The higher a being stands, the farther it must fall to touch the earth. Only those who kneel to wisdom shall pass through the valley of True blood-Giant."
Lira glanced at him. "That's unsettling."
"Let's go, Please, let's keep going."
Passing beneath the towering statues and entering the ancient dominion of the True Blood Giants.
The landscape was completely different. Trees rose like towers, their roots as wide as houses. The earth was scarred, with craters in different places. Enormous feet had once walked. Everything in Eldoria felt too large, too heavy. The atmosphere itself was thicker.
Samuel's senses flared, alarming him of the incoming danger.
Then a high-pitched whistle cut through the atmosphere.
"Get down!" he uttered intensely, grabbing Lira by the hip.
In an instant, a shadow fell over them.
An arrow, if it could be called that, came crashing down from the sky above. It was the size of a tree, It smashed into the earth just feet away from them, exploding on impact and sending soil and debris flying in all directions.
Samuel moved at high velocity, grabbing Lira and moving faster than sound. One moment they were in the blast radius, and the next, they were hundreds of feet away, crouched behind a slab of stones.
Lira gasped heavily. "What was that?!"
It's the giant's Samuel replied.
"Oh my goddess, what are we going to do," Lira uttered in fear.
Samuel ignored her.
Rising slowly, his eyes narrowing, scanning the area.
Across the hills, massive shadows moved.
From behind the trees and rocky landscape emerged three towering figures. Giants, true-blooded, ancient, powerful. Their skin was like granite, their hair braided with bones. One held a bow the size of a boat. Another carried a great axe that could split mountains.
Their eyes glowed faintly as they looked in Samuel's direction.
One of them pointed.
The ground trembled heavily as they began to move.
Samuel exhaled slowly, adjusting his stance.
"Stay behind me," he said to Lira.
She nodded in fear.
The giants came closer, and closer, each step a massive quake, the trees swaying from their motion.
Samuel didn't flinch. Maintaining his stance.
His mind was already racing, calculating distances, escape routes, and weak points.
And then…
A voice echoed across the valley.
"You dare enter Eldoria, mortal? You who carries the scent of the gods?"
Samuel remains quiet.
The largest of the giants stepped forward.
"You have chosen death."
Samuel's eyes glowed faintly with dark green light. His fingers twitched.
"No," he responded. His voice was calm.