Jenna followed his gaze and gasped. The entire band stared at an enormous red horse standing in the stadium entrance.
Unable to see the creature from his perch, Lee called over the silent field, “Can we please get back to our rehearsal?”
The animal strutted slowly onto the field. Smoke seemed to pour out of its nostrils. Jenna’s feet felt like they were rooted in the ground. As the horse neared the band, Jenna noticed a figure slumped on its back. Purple and gold robes draped over the heavy, red belly of the gigantic beast. A mottled, muscular arm dangled lifelessly from beneath the drapery.
Towering above her head, the horse passed by Jenna and stopped right in front of Tony. Tony and Jubie stared at the creature with wide eyes and pale faces. The horse snorted, then lowered its head. Kneeling slightly, it twisted its back and dropped its load on the ground at Tony’s feet. Jenna, Erika, and Katie stepped next to Tony. The five friends peered in awe at the mound of cloth. Whatever was wrapped inside the fabric was huge.
The horse reared above the students, its whinny sounding more like a lion’s roar, then galloped out of the stadium. Jenna could feel the ground shaking under its hooves. The music director scrambled down the scaffold as the rest of the football squad joined the band. Tony knelt beside the figure and placed his hand on the colorful robes.
“It feels hot,” he said, “and it’s breathing.”
Jenna joined him on the ground. She lifted a corner of the purple garment, revealing the massive arm they had seen before. It looked sallow and leathery, and was covered with strange symbols which were too faint to be tattoos. Tony gave Jenna a nervous look. She reached out and touched the arm. It was indeed hot.
The mysterious being groaned and flipped violently, knocking Jenna backward. Tony caught her and helped her to her feet. They watched as the arm shakily pulled fabric from the face of an old, wheezing woman. The giantess was probably over ten feet tall, and she looked more than a hundred years old. Her wrinkled lips quivered as if trying to speak, but no audible words would come.
In frustration, the old woman gripped the folds of her clothing and strained to pull them away from her neck. A blue glow emerged from under the fabric. All of the students took a step back from the giantess. She tugged at the robes with a hoarse scream, and finally revealed a glowing wound on her chest. Jenna covered her mouth and squeezed Tony’s arm.
“That’s too weird,” he whispered.
Carved into the giantess’s chest was a bizarre symbol that looked like a backward “F.” Her pale skin appeared bruised around the wound, and a blue light pulsed from the rough shape. The mark seemed strange to everyone except Jenna and her friends. They had seen the same symbol numerous times last year, and it had led them through a series of monsters and curses to find the magical staff of Moses. Jenna didn’t know what to make of this new appearance, but she suspected something awful was about to happen.
The giantess’s arms dropped to the ground, and she lay lifeless in the middle of the field. The short grass around her body trembled. Jenna grabbed Tony with both arms as the stadium began to move. Small cracks began to appear in the turf as the earthquake grew. Within seconds, every person was knocked to the ground. Bricks and bleachers shook around them, mixing with screams of terror.
When the ordeal ended, an explosion thundered from the heavens. An immense swirl of dark red clouds developed overhead, spinning ominously against the pale blue sky.
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