The old man braced himself against the howling winds, putting his weight onto his staff for support. They'd die down shortly, but would start again in intervals, this was when Jörmund had learned through much error and trial that he should move up. Feeling the harsh blasts ease into gentle breezes, he hurried himself toward a small patch of bushes.
He'd have made it had a few pebbles not slipped out from under him, and Jörmund hit the ground hard. A colorful line of curses began before the winds began to scream once more, drowning them out . Struggling back to his feet, he grew tired of the wind and cast a raw wave of aura in front of him with a growl and flick of his wrist.
"By the gods above I'll fight forward, have at me whatever cruel fiend controls this wind!"
Suddenly a shield flashed brilliant white, the steely words strengthening the raw aura into a transparent round shield nearly as big as the elder. The winds died down and Jörmund dashed furisouly onwards, entering a clearing where the wind seemed to stop blowing altogether.
To the untrained eye the clearing was just that, a clearing, but to the old man's eyes he knew it had been shaped into farm land once, faint terraces remained, albeit massive in size. This let Jörmund know he was in the correct area.
The elder let his shield dissipate into the air with a less forceful flick, a small snap resounding as the aura disappeared. Towards the end of the former farmland sat a cave opening, one which the elder couldn't begin to imagine measuring, this was where he began towards. The field took the better half of a day crossing, it spanned a decent portion of the mountain peak by Jörmund's best guess. Once close to the cave opening he called out:
"Ho and behold, company comes to your door!"
The call traveled down into the cave, reverberating several times into a near roar, which made the elder wince, he didn't want to come off as an opponent. A gust of hot wind came out of the cave as the old man worried, nearly taking him off his feet, it smelled of spices and fermented fruit.
Wine.
Following the blast of what Jörmund figured as yawning came a deep and proud reply.
"And exactly what company dares to seek me out? I have no expected guests, stand back from my cave and let me come see you!"
Doing as told, Jörmund made quick to get a few hundred feet away from the cave. He'd barely gotten turned around from moving before a gigantic foot broke through the darkness of the cave, huge in size. As the rest of the leg came into light so did the other one and soon did the rest of the giant. It hurt the elder's neck looking up so high, that is until the giant looked down at Jörmund.
"What company is this? An old man come atop my mountain, tell me Ellri, what has made you tire yourself out to find Jötunn? Surely you know that finding giants is for the young and brave?"
Letting the remarks bounce off of him, Jörmund replied cooly:
"I've come to see a giant, and here you stand, I haven't had to fight you to get you to show yourself, surely you know that it isn't often for an elder, or Ellri as you call me, to make a giant talk before he fights?"
With a gargantuan smile spreading across his bearded lips, the giant began to laugh, clapping its hands over it's belly as it let out thunderous chuckles. Jörmund knew he'd struck an all too rare cord with the behemoth, humor was the best way to make a giant pause before it decided to crush you or not.
YOU ARE READING
Jörmund
FantasyJörmund is getting older, his years as a young battle mage have left him and it seems, for a wizard of his decree, he's seen and done all there is to do within the land of Lycia. Three evil rulers, a slew of flaming dragons, foreign armies, undead u...
