At that moment, tons of thoughts came to my mind.
One thing was sure. As Mark had told, Raptor was there, waiting for me. I didn't understand the reason of his halt. Moreover, he always wanted to kill me and acted as if he knew something important about me which even I was unaware of.
The second disturbing thing was the venue: Kiltus Town. The Temple of Past had declared that Mount Hysuptris was between Kitlus and Saggron town. This meant that my friends were traveling to Mount Hysuptris by the route of Saggron town and assuming that we could survive, Oliver and I would be heading by the route of Kitlus town. It was risky but we had to escape to meet the DELTAs on the other side.
Mark had said that Kitlus town was his hometown. Did that mean that Raptor had found Mark there? But why would a person help Raptor?
I was going crazy with those thoughts. Then Mark said, "We have arrived." I had barely known the time it had taken. A vague guess of about half an hour. My watched showed 7:58 am. It was still early to die.
In front of me was …. nothing much. I saw shelter, a hole in the hill which made it a cave. Inside were hundreds of giants sitting and a campfire was going on. I watched Oliver standing in a corner, guarded by giants so that he could not escape. Straight in front of me, in the middle on a rock sat Raptor.
He noticed me and smiled. The giants were singing a very crazy song. It was crazy because they were singing it. Oliver saw me and almost jumped in excitement. Then his behavior changed and he looked at me like, What the heck are you doing?! Wanna die with me?
By then, all the giants had noticed me and had stopped singing which was a relief to me at least. "Well, good old Blaze Hunt is here!" Raptor greeted with his teeth showing. I showed no sign of greeting him back. My eyes were fixed on Oliver whom I needed to save. "What do you want? And why are you here in the first place?" I asked. Raptor had a laugh and the other giants joined him which made it seem like a pack of lions were roaring.
"To answer you first question, I am here to kill you, obviously!" He replied. "And you may know about Mount Hysuptris, right? I have not yet gone there because the time hasn't come. The Night of Xorains will arrive soon. That's when the King can awaken."
Trying my luck, I asked him, "When is the Night of Xorains?" He burst out into laughter and replied, "You really think I would reveal the date? Try your luck elsewhere, pal!" I knew that Raptor was smart. He wouldn't even reveal the date though we were dying, just in case we would flee.
"Here's what I was thinking. I think I should just throw you into the fire. How's that sound?" He said, pointing to the fire in front of him. The giants laughed, clearly knowing that I couldn't save myself now. I had walked into the trap so I had to bear it.
"Here's what I was thinking, Let Oliver free and fight me. Whoever loses can die, right?" I said, again trying my luck though I knew that wasn't how it works. Raptor just shook his head. I already knew the outcome so I wasn't too surprised. "Before awakening my lord, I don't want any obstruction. You are one. So you need to die." He simply explained.
"Why didn't you capture all the DELTAs?" I asked. "All I want is to kill you because you are the only threat. This friend of yours was just a puppet in the play." Raptor declared. I was getting sick of Raptor trying to kill me. I hate to say this but there were others as well. Why me alone? What was his problem with me?
"Enough talking." Raptor said and gestured one of the giants to fight me. I unsheathed Magnum though I was clearly scared. Fighting a thirty feet giant isn't a small thing. Moreover, he had reinforcements. I looked at Magnum. He wasn't glowing but I knew he was ready.
The giant rushed towards me and I immediately avoided his hand which created the ground shake. Climbing on his hands, I jumped onto his stomach where I thrust Magnum. He cried in pain as he fell. I took the chance to strike and slashed Magnum wherever I could. The giant was dead for sure.
But there was no time to relax. The others had already gotten up. There were hundreds sitting behind but five in the front were enough.
"I'll let your friend help you out too." Raptor helped out and gestured the giants surrounding Oliver to move away. He immediately rushed to help me with his Tortunem unsheathed.
He said, "I don't know how, but we have to do this."