Chapter 28: Shattering
"Can you stand?" Irwin whispered as he looked at the spot the hound, Coal, was looking at.
Greldo frowned and struggled to move, managing to get upright. "Yes, but I'll need a hand," Greldo whispered.
Irwin blinked as he looked at his friend, noticing the crooked smile. He grimaced back and pulled Greldo up by his elbows. Greldo's legs wobbled slightly, then he took a tentative step and remained standing.
"I can move, but don't ask me to run," Greldo whispered.
"I won't," Irwin said, turning to Daubutim, who had been following the interaction, club and shield in hand.
"Ready?"
Daubutim nodded and moved towards the bushes they had entered the den from. Irwin looked up when he stopped and frowned before looking at Coal.
"Can it fight already?" Daubutim asked.
"He says he can, but that he's still small," Greldo replied, sounding both excited and worried.
"Does it know how big it will become?" he asked, wondering if his brother's owl Glint could also talk with him like this or if it was something only available to uncommon and higher summons.
Greldo didn't immediately respond, and Irwin saw his frown deepen before his eyes turned wide. "Coal says he'll become two times as big, or four times if he gets gigantism!"
Irwin's eyes went as wide as Coal's as he looked at the hip-sized dog. Did he mean tall? If he became four times this high, he'd be like a plow horse!