Must Defend Him

Chapter Five

Zelphar woke up to the sound of chatting. It wasn't loud at all but nearby. He groggily opened his eyes, only a sliver. They were sitting in a circle, discussing something.

"Shut up..." The giant groaned as he lifted his hand and grounded it next to them. They all shrieked and scurried away to avoid the landing zone.

"Watch it!" Theo barked. "You could have hurt us!" He continued, furious that Zelphar could have killed his friends.

The giant woke up, his eyes wide. He sat up and looked down at the humans. "W-What?! I-I didn't mean to! I'm so so so sorry!" He scooted back to keep them at a safe distance from him. Tears were building up in his eyes, afraid they viewed him as a monster.

"...It's alright, just be careful next time, okay?" Theo's face relaxed as he looked up at the sad giant.

"I-I'll be careful." Zelphar sniffled before wiping his tears away. After being forgiven, he stayed at least fifteen feet away from the humans, not trusting himself.

The three humans, a little shaken up, continued talking. They were debating on what they were going to tell their parents.

"We are NOT telling anybody about Zel! They would hunt him down!" Theo commanded, worried by what the villagers would do to Zelphar.

"No one would believe us anyway," Herman grumbled under his breath.

"We can tell them we went camping and forgot to tell them," Eliza suggested, rubbing the back of her neck.

"How? With no supplies? That's not going to work." Herman pinched the bridge of his nose in frustration, giving up hope that they'll have a good excuse.

"Then if we did it on a dare or want to test our skills against nature." The two human boys looked up at her with shock, not expecting that idea.

"Yeah, maybe that could work!" A hopeful smile spread onto Theo's lips while Herman smirked at the idea.

"Eliza, we really don't give you enough credit," Herman mentioned as he approached her.

"SIMP!" Theo called out, making everyone besides Herman and Zelphar burst out laughing. Herman growled at him before the giant interrupted.

"What's a simp?" He asked innocently, tilting his head. Theo and Eliza's laughter grew louder, scaring a few nearby birds. The giant was still confused.

"Anyway, we should really get going." Herman went over to his friends, rolling his eyes at them.

"I could carry you guys!" Zelphar blurted, making Herman and Eliza tense. "Er-I mean, it is faster if I carry you, but you guys don't have to." The giant mumbled the last part.

"Perfect! Come on. It is really cool!" Theo waited for the giant hand to land on the ground. Then he happily hopped on, sitting in the center of his palm. The other two were hesitant but sat down next to him.

As Zelphar stood, he used his free hand to cover the humans to protect them from falling. Herman shrieked when he saw the oncoming hand.

"Relax, it's just in case we fall off." Theo snickered, earning a glare from him. Everything around them shook as the giant was getting up. Eliza and Herman were huddled together, terrified.

When the giant hand removed itself from on top of the humans, they awed at the forest. Theo looked back to Zelphar and noticed how nervous he was.

"Zel, what's wrong?" Theo asked, catching the other two human's attention. The giant gulped.

"...I don't want to make any of you more scared than you already are. It's challenging to walk this still. Er-don't worry about me. You guys just look around, I guess." Zelphar's cheeks were red from embarrassment as he tried to look anywhere else besides the humans on his hands.