At dawn Lawrence was back at the temple, and even across the vast distance he could see quite clearly from his high altitude: black ships were annihilating the forests of once-tranquil Ixa'taka. The calculating mercenary weighed his options - he was still skeptical of Alfonso's revelations, but there was no mistaking it; they were in trouble now, and something needed to be done. He supposed Domingo, Centime, and Ilchymis had fallen right into De Loco's trap and were now in the Fifth Admiral's custody; he could not defeat the fifth fleet alone, and that left him only one option.
Reverently Lawrence extracted the Green Moon Crystal from his knapsack and studied it. The situation was truly dire, and although Lawrence despised Alfonso, he knew that this time the First Admiral was right.
Only Grendel could save Ixa'taka now.
With a slightly trembling hand Lawrence reached out and placed the Green Moon Crystal in the indentation in the stone dias; the Crystal gleamed with a sudden intensity, and placing both hands upon the pulsating gem the mercenary shouted, "Spirit of the Forest! Giver of Life; Mighty Sage of Peace and Nature! By your name I summon you - GRENDEL!"
The light radiating from the Crystal reached its peak, gleaming a blinding white so bright that Lawrence was forced to look away; for a moment there was nothing but that unbearable glare and a horrible silence. Then suddenly the light lessened greatly, and with watering eyes Lawrence looked up.
And then he heard it.
The weathered, ancient stone beneath his feet began to tremble as far off in the deepest, darkest part of the forest a mighty power stirred; a low, monotonous rumbling filled Lawrence's ears, pounding in his mind, and he had to grip the dias with all his strength just to keep himself upright. Trees were uprooted in the otherworldly earthquake, the wind switched, and just when Lawrence was certain that Arcadia would rip itself apart... the rumbling stopped, and everything fell still and silent again.
Shaken but not at all hurt, Lawrence righted himself and took a look around. The Valuan ships in the distance were flying about in complete disarray, and the sky was dark with smoke from the burning forest, but other than that, nothing seemed to have occured. Frustrated and confused, Lawrence turned back to the pedestel on which the Crystal sat, glowing serenely.
He did a double take. Standing on the opposite side of the temple, dwarfing the trees, the temple, and most of the floating islands, was the Green Gigas, Grendel.
Lawrence was quick to compose himself, though the presence of the massive, otherworldly creature with the powers of a deity made him anxious. Undoubtedly the Armada had seen Grendel and would be quick to investigate, and his first instinct was to order the Gigas to take out the whole fleet, but he remembered instantly that Domingo and the others had probably been apprehended. He supposed that Admiral De Loco (by Alfonso's account, the one in charge of the siege) would want to interrogate them for the whereabouts of the Crystal, and finally surmised that if they were anywhere, they were aboard the flagship. With the calculated quickness of a seasoned mercenary he formulated a plan, and then looked tentatively up at the unmoving Grendel. "I don't suppose you talk, do you?"
The Gigas gave no sign that it understood him at all. Lawrence sighed. "Here's what I need - I need you to drive those black ships - " Lawrence pointed toward the now-advancing Armada, " - far away from here. Only you can't attack the admiral's flagship, because my - er- friends are on it. Understand?"
Grendel was then in motion, lumbering around the temple with its massive legs, crushing trees with each step but moving unmistakably for the now not-so-distant Armada.
Lawrence stood there, flustered. He had no way to reach the flagship.
"Uh, hey! Grendel!"
The huge creature actually stopped and turned to regard him. Lawrence felt very childish. "Can you... uh... take me with you?"
The mercenary had just enough time to snatch the Crystal from the dias and stuff it in his knapsack before a hand the size of an island descended and closed around him, lifting him hundreds of feet into the air before setting him almost gingerly on the broad shoulder of the Gigas. Purely on instinct Lawrence grasped one of the deep grooves traversing Grendel's smooth body, and then the Gigas had started off again, bound for the Armada as its master had commanded.
From Grendel's shoulder, Lawrence could see the whole of Ixa'taka. He could see the sky rift to the east, separating the Lands Under the Green Moon from Mid Ocean. He could see the craters on the Green Moon itself.
It was very fortunate that Lawrence wasn't afraid of heights.
Author's Note: The image of Lawrence riding Grendel is funny... but the image of Lawrence trying to hold a conversation with Grendel is just plain hysterical.