Chereads / A Serpent's Rise / Chapter 12 - Ch-12

Chapter 12 - Ch-12

The forest was unusually quiet today as if devoid of all life. This always happened when a goliath went for stroll as they are the apex predators in this ecosystem all the the creatures become extremely quiet upon detecting them.

This particular goliath that was taking a stroll was none other then Giaia. She now stood at a full 3 meters tall and wore the serpent jewel like on a necklace. Over the years she had grown particularly fond of this little gem as if brings a sense of calm and fulfillness to her.

A few years back Giaia fell ill after she accidentally ate some fish with parasites within it, although a goliaths digestive system and immune response is much more efficient than a human it also had its limits and unfortunately for her these paraistes were one those conditions that her body couldn't deal with on its own. She suffered severe stomach aches, nausea And sometimes even vomitted blood.

She had lost all hope as this time Jharkhon won't be there to save her as he never came back to visit her after he left her the jewel.

In her last moments she reached out to jewel which she kept secured in her crude tent and curled up like a hedgehog and closed her eyes for the last time.

Next morning she woke up and was genuinely surprised to find her still alive as she had given up but a miracle had saved her. But miracles do not exist as they are certain phenomenons that can't be explained through rational science so people who dont have much knowledge about the true mechanism of the universe term them as divine.

Little do these sort of people know that everything has a meaning and an explanation, just because they don't know how explain certain things they immediately call it supernatural or completely deny the existance of these phenomenons at all.

This so called miracle which saved Giaia's life occured due the Jharkon's old serpent jewel which acted as an catalyst to better channel the kundlini/internal energy of Giaia's body to strengthen its immune response to purge the parasites inside her body. Although the mechanism through which the serpent jewel amplified the internal energy of her body can't be put into words and Giaia who had no knowledge about these things immediately jumped to conclusion and asuumed the jewel to be a divine gift.

After fashioning the jewel as a necklace she never let it out of her grasp. The jewel not only reminded her of Jharkhon as but also warded of any diseases and caused Giaia's skin to slightly glow as if she were a goddess, even her sweat didn't had any repugnant odour but now gave off a distinct scent of fresh roses. Her skin was free from any signs of acne or imperfection which would make any women on earth red with jealousy.

Today Giaia was heading towards the main camp of the goliath tribe. This was very unusual for her as she always avoided contact with other goliaths but this time she received an invitation from the tribe to celebrate the begining of the goliath new year. Yes that's correct these goliaths are not savages but have their own distinct culture as well as traditions which seem too advanced for them, maybe these traditions were a legacy from a time long gone that was Only being preserved through oral and crudely written traditions. Perhaps a remanant from a long lost civilization of Giants?

The goliaths settlement was littered with triangular looking huts which had a large tree truck at its center to serve as a base as well as various roots and leaves to serve as the roof along with crude mud walls.

The settlement was filled with poles having skulls of large beasts on top, some of these were just a much larger version of animals on earth but other were of giant insects as well as creatures that can't bw described as what they would lool like in life.

The center of the village had a stone sculpture which stood 4 meters tall and resembled a giant snake with five heads. Probably a totem of religious significance.

Upon Giaia's arrival the gaze of all goliaths of various sizes fell upon her as she not Only stood out due to her blonde hair and pale skin but also due to the glowing gem on her neck which was simply too eye catching.

The goliaths wore leather cloths of cover there privates but many females chose to not cover their breasts. They all had braided hair with the men boasting long beards while carrying clubs made of tree trunks as well as wooden spears which had a sharpened stones at there front. It seems that over the years they had been improving their weaponry but very slowly due to their large size they don't have to rely on weaponry too often.

Male goliaths are taller then the females just like what we observe in humans in most cases as Only a few females are as tall as the males but the males are always more muscular and athletic.

To understand the growth patterns of the goliaths we can take males for example:

-100 years, a goliath is now considered a fully fledged adult, expected to reach 3 meters in height.

-200 years, expected to reach 4.3 meters in height.

-300 years, expected to reach 5.1 meters in height, higher in status and respected by younger adults (middle age).

-400 years, expected ro reach 5.9 meters in height

-500 years, expected to reach 6.5 meters in height, is considered an elder.

We have no means of knowing the upper limits of a goliath life span as none have been found to die of old age and even scarier part is that we have no idea on how big these creatures could actually get.

This tribe only has 3 elders including the chieftain and his brother as well as one another unrelated and unseen goliath. Around 30 or so middle aged one's with the rest all being young adults and adolescents with no children around.

The monstrous 6.9 meter tall chieftain raised his arms and motioned Giaia to come closer and in a loud voice which was akin to bear's roar spoke

"Welcome thine Maiden, Welcome O Nagdasi (Sepent's servant). Let thy celebration begin".