Walter pointed the sword at the giant’s feet. “So you’re not one of Mardon’s plant creatures? You weren’t suspended in a growth chamber for years?”
The giant scrunched his brow. “How do you know about Mardon and growth chambers?”
“Let’s just say a little blue-eyed girl told me.”
Crouching to Walter’s level, the giant drooped his shoulders. “I see. … You know Mara.” He let out a blustery sigh that whisked through Walter’s hair like a stormy breeze. “If she informed you,” he continued, “then you are likely acquainted with many details about Nephilim.”
“Her name is Sapphira now, and she did tell me quite a bit. I met some of the other Nephilim, and they looked almost exactly like you, but they had red eyebeams, kind of like lasers.”
“I have them as well.” The giant flicked his beams on and then back off. “But in this place of scarlet light they only serve to give away my location. It is better if I keep them off and stay in hiding.”
“So are you like the others? Are you one of Mardon’s hybrids?”
“Only in that I developed from a hybrid seedling in a growth chamber. I acquiesced to Mardon’s plan, because I learned that obeying him was the only way to survive. He and Morgan had no patience with even the slightest hint of insubordination. Many of us suffered death by poisoning.”
Walter scratched the pebbly soil with Excalibur’s point. “Any idea how you ended up here?”
“We were running low on food, so Mardon told us his plan to make us sleep until he could figure out how to get us into the upper lands. After we dug out new growth chambers, he implanted a device in the strongest of us that would wake us up when the time came. He then gave us a potion that would make us sleep, and I stepped into my chamber. After that, I woke up in this dark place. How I came here is a mystery.”
Walter propped Excalibur on his shoulder again, whispering to himself. “Maybe you’re the one Karen replaced.”
“If you are addressing me,” the giant said, “I cannot hear you.”
Walter shook his head. “I’m just thinking out loud.”
“Thinking is good, but we would be better served now by acting. If, however, you keep waving that glowing blade around, you will likely not survive long. Your presence will soon be noticed by the devils.”
The word echoed shakily from Walter’s lips. “Devils?”
The giant rose to his full height. “If you are a valiant man, then please follow.” He marched into the darkness.
Walter let the sword’s glow diminish to a bare minimum and trudged through the mixture of gravel and sand. No sense in not following. Even though this giant looked just as dangerous as Chazaq and his buddies, his story about trying to fool Morgan was convincing enough. Besides, flying back up to the surface wasn’t exactly a reasonable option.
Now that his eyes had adjusted to the dim red light, Walter darkened Excalibur and scanned the coastline. With its areas of beach and rocky promontories, it reminded him of the coastline he visited in Oregon, though this one lacked any hint of the Pacific breezes that had chilled his skin in the Northwest.
As the giant headed toward the floating red lights, a sulfur smell drifted into Walter’s nose, growing stronger and stronger as they neared the black ocean. When they reached the water, a wave washed over the ground near the giant’s bare feet. He jumped back to avoid it. As the wave receded, it left strings of dark vapor rising over the stone.
Walter guided the blade near the edge. The glow fell over the black waves, a restless ocean seemingly coated with thick oil. Although the lapping of gentle surf masked all other sounds, Walter kept his voice quiet. “Is the water too hot for dipping your toes?”
The giant whispered in return. “It is hot, indeed.” He lowered himself to one knee and shot his beams into Walter’s eyes. “May I address you by your name, swordsman?”
Squinting at the red light, Walter fumbled with his words. “Uh … My name’s Walter.”
The giant shut off the beams. “Walter, please pardon my visual intrusion. My beams are harmless. When I look into someone’s eyes, I can often judge his character, and since we will be passing by an area where I have seen the devils before, we might soon have to go to battle together. I want to be sure I can trust you.”