Walking With Giants (Completed)

Chaper 2

Eon was having the time of his life.

He had created a staff with a green orb he had discovered from the bushes off the sandy shore where he had crashed, and now felt normal in his grip, like a companion. He was leaping from tree to tree, laughing to himself about what a sucky day he was having when he landed. And, now, he was feeling incredible. Eon stopped himself suddenly. Yes, He thought. That's exactly how I feel. He could not find an answer to why he was where he was, and even worse, where he had come from. Or why he was named Eon, but he sort of liked the name, so he didn't really care.

Suddenly, he heard something on the forest floor amidst the vines. "Who's there?" He said, while peeking to the forest floor.

There was nothing.

Oh, crap!

Eon felt his staff slip out of his grasp as he was swinging across the trees. He reinforced his grip on the tree limb and watched his staff plummet to the forest floor, and, to Eon's relief, did not break. He made his way to the trunk of a tall canopy forest tree, and grabbed hold of the trunk. He then began his descent, slowly slipping down the trunk. Eventually the angle of his descent down the tree was seemingly more and more precarious. His palms were beginning to sweat, and he was getting increasingly nervous. He began to carefully slide, very slowly, down the steep angle of the tree.

Then, as fast as he could blink, his arms slipped and he began the perilous descent towards the forest floor. He landed with a cccrunch, and he screamed. He screamed so loud, every bird in the forest in a 40 foot radius took flight to escape the ululating screech. Hyperventilating, Eon took a glance at his leg. It was covered in blood, streaming down his leg, and his bone was protruding out from under the skin. He let out another cry of pain, this time, he knew, it was vain. He was dying, there and then. Seconds were hours, and minutes were moments as Eon lay there, crying in vain, speaking wills. He was about to accept his fate even after bandaging the wound.

"Shut the hell up, I'm comin'!"

Suddenly, Eon shut his mouth, wondering whether he had gone into shock, or if someone just told him they weren't allowed to have chocolate before dinner. No, that wasn't it. Someone just told me to shut the cupcake up. I think.

Suddenly a tall figure wearing a plain leather tunic and a blood-red sash rushed into the clearing.

"You scared just about every single bird out of the area. This better be good, I didn't intend to come out for nothin'."

Eon looked at the person with complexion. The ice cream man has cupcakes? What kind of ice cream man has cupcakes?

The ice cream man shook his head at Eon.

"Dude, you're bleedin' pretty bad there." True, I am bleeding yogurt...

Suddenly, the ice cream man slapped Eon in the face, and the ice cream man looked more like a guy in a tunic. "Wake up, you lunatic! We need to bandage you. A leaf won't do."

Eon looked at his leg, and he remembered the fall.

"My staff..." Eon muttered, trembling.

The tunic man cocked his head. "What?"

"My... My staff... over there..." Eon attempted to sit up, but the tunic man held him down.

"Here, I'll go get it for you." The tunic man ran over and grabbed the staff that had fallen into a bush. He gave it to Eon, and Eon was relieved to find it unharmed.

"What is that, anyways?" The man was beginning to wrap his leg with a long, silky white film.

Eon looked at the man in the eyes for the first time. "I'm Eon."

The man was struck with surprise. "Oh, yeah, I forgot to introduce myself. I'm Ursa."

"Ursa," Eon repeated over and over. "That's a pretty weird name." He smiled.

"Not as weird as Eon, I'll bet," Ursa said with a chuckle under his breath. He finished the wrapping with a neat knot on the top.

Another wave of pain overcame Eon, and he struggled with his leg, cringing.

"Oh, I forgot." Ursa's look of content shifted into a look of worry at Eon's knee. "We need to get a brace on that thing, fast." He turned his gaze towards the horizon; a look of horror was sliding along his eyes. And, just like that, the horror was replaced with a look of courage.

Eon began to wonder what kinds of dangers in the woods would want to eat him for a midnight snack.

"There's a lot of dangerous things in the woods," Ursa slurred. Eon smiled, pondering if he should tell Ursa that that's exactly what he was thinking.

Ursa rotated his face towards Eon, and a look of sincerity and knowledge targeted him. He said the last phrase with distaste. "That would eat you for a midnight snack."

Holy crap. Eon was stunned, as if someone had punched him in the gut. Did Ursa just read my mind?

Ursa didn't say anything else. He turned towards the sun, which was making its way towards the horizon. "I'll go get some wood for a brace for your leg. I'll be back in less than an hour." He left, trudging on the dirt as though it were ice.

Eon stayed there, recoiling away as much as possible from the previous events. How could someone read someone's mind? He thought. How could Ursa come at the exact moment that he needed him?

Then it hit Eon. This was a setup. Everything had happened exactly where it should have. Ursa. The bandage. The brace.

I need to get away from here.

From Ursa.

Eon began to reach for his staff. Though the pain had began to swell down, it still seemed ineffable to withstand the barrage of torment. His fingers curled around the staff, and he smiled. Having his staff always made him feel better.

And, for some reason, more powerful.

He began to wonder if he could use his staff as a walking stick, similar to what he did in the crater. Sadly, he thought, he would not be able to do it so easy. Eon had not had a broken leg that time. But - he sighed - it would have to do.

Cringing, Eon struggled not to scream in pain as he rose. He eventually reached the point where he could take a step. Two. Three. Soon, he was well away from the splotch of crimson blood lying next to the trunk of the tree.

That was when he experienced a little bit of what he called "his own magic."