Fear

Awe

There seemed to be little difference, just the scenery in front of us was able to invoke both, shaking my core, my very soul. It had taken a moment, a split-second in which my brain tried to make sense of what I saw, to bring perspective to the images my eyes were witnessing. It failed, there was no perspective that made the images less frightening. Less awesome.

Before us, now no longer hidden by the mist, was a wide valley, a meadow filled with colourful flowers but those were not what threatened my mind. No, that was reserved for the scenery at the end of the valley. There, where the sides suddenly closed in, as if arranged that way to create a stage, was a being, a creature of bronze and fire, majestic and massive. Perspective made it difficult to do more than guess at its size, but given the comparison to the nearby walls, I thought it was easily the size of a house, and not a small one. Twenty, maybe thirty, meters in height, standing upright. .

That creature, powerful enough to fill my mind with fear and awe despite the distance between us, was bound, thick, black chains securing it to the walls around it. There were manacles around its arms and legs in addition to one thick band of black metal going around its waist, with chains going to both sides. Other than those chains, the beings body was naked, without any adornments. Despite that, it radiated a majesty and might that shook my heart.

Time stretched, it felt like seconds turned to hours, as we stood there, spellbound, unable to do anything but stare at this massive creature. Suddenly, a gust of wind caused shivers to run down my spine and a bird, similar sized to the being before us, flew overhead, its wings causing the cold wind to buffet us. As we watched, the bird landed on the chains connecting the beings waist to the walls and stopped, looking over to us, as if making sure that we were watching. Under the gaze of that predator, just breathing turned difficult and I felt my focus narrow, until there was nothing in my sight but those two.

Then, once it had looked us over, the beak turned back towards the being and hacked into its torso, causing it to convulse and roar in pain. The sound itself rattled me, shaking my body and mind, but also shaking something loose within me. Just as the bird drew back, to strike again, I somehow managed to push out a little magic, to recreate the mantle of twilight I had used to block the confusing magic earlier.

While the bird struck a second time, ripping out some more flesh and causing more blood to run down the beings torso, I activated overflow, letting a veil of twilight settle around me and my friends, hoping to help them snap out of it. As if mocking my efforts, the bird let out a shrill, piercing cry, shattering my magic and causing me to stumble under the backlash.

Before I could fall, I felt Sigmir’s arms wrap around me, to steady me, and in her embrace, I felt power return to my body.

“Run!” I managed to gasp out, turning away from the ghastly spectacle in front of us and back to the woods. The quiet woods that had felt so eerie and creepy before, now seemed like a comfortable and safe haven, away from giant birds and bound giants.

Dragging Rai and Adra with us, Sigmir and I stumbled away, a primal instinct telling us that we had to run, to flee. Another pained roar, followed by the shrill cry of the eagle, followed us, making us stumble with their power.

Clutching Sigmir’s hand on one side and dragging Rai on the other, I stumbled into the woods, not caring where we were going, as long as it was away from the valley. We didn’t make it far, even that bit of distance only possible due to Sigmir’s ability allowing her to give me strength and protect me. But it took a toll on her and once her strength ran out, my shaken mind couldn’t support me any longer and I simply fell to the ground, curling into a ball, trying to avoid the predator.

Too much, it was simply too much, too much to see, too much to process. Narrowing my focus, I tried to only feel the rough texture of Sigmir’s hand, still tightly held within mine, letting the familiar feeling give me a root in reality. There was no massive bird devouring a bronze giant nearby, and if there was, it had nothing to do with me. Nothing, nothing that I needed to be concerned about, just Sigmir and her hand. She was there, she was real.

Feeling my breathing ease a little, I let the earthy scent of the trees around us intrude, letting it flow in and out of my nostrils, consciously measuring each breath. As I lay there, I felt myself get moved, the arm attached to the hand I held wrapping around me and pulling me in. A new smell entered my nose, the familiar smell of Sigmir, letting my mind relax just a little more, to the point that I didn’t feel like I had to hold onto my thoughts tightly, for fear of falling into a panic.

What power.

Now, with a little more headspace, it was easy to put a story, a legend to the display we had just witnessed. An eagle, feasting on the bound form of a titan, it was one of the most famous greek myths, the punishment for one who had rebelled against the Gods. Prometheus, the one who had given mankind the ability to wield fire, to create civilisation, punished by Zeus for his rebellion. It made me wonder what he had done on Mundus, how they had interpreted the myth. And a small part of me wanted to break those chains, to kill that eagle. But just as quick as the thought sprung to mind, it vanished, the fear too fresh in my mind to even consider such an act. No, the difference in power was absolute, no clever tricks, no brilliant strategy and no amount of pure, stupid luck could be enough to bridge it.

Pushing away those thoughts, I focused on moving my body, wiggling to twist around in Sigmir’s embrace, to embrace her back. The shared embrace had the side-effect filling my nose with her scent, letting my mind calm down.

“Are you alright?” Sigmir asked, hugging me just a little closer. I merely mumbled in reply, nodding against her chest, letting her strength flow into me.

My assurance seemed to have been enough and she turned, rolling onto her back and taking my smaller body with her, so that I was resting on top of her, similar to the way we often slept. Opening my eyes, I looked around and saw Adra and Rai nearby, still curled up but slowly starting to move, too.

It took some more time, until we all had managed to get our bodies back under control and moving, the others leaning against a nearby tree, while I was sitting on Sigmir’s lap, letting my head rest against her chest.

“What power.” Adra muttered, breaking the silence.

“I don’t think we’ll be able to take that power for ourselves.” I giggled, the idea to claim this place of power now completely preposterous. The others joined in, chuckling with laughter, even as tears were running down their faces, until it broke a dam, fear and relief flooding out of us in a mix of sobs and laughter. Oh, what hubris we had, to come here and think we could take this place for ourselves.

Even Lenore, still in her Hallow, was laughing along, even as I felt her desire for that power. She wanted it, wanted to devour that eagle, to rip its flesh apart, just as the eagle was feasting on the Titan.

“Maybe one day.” I mentally told her, knowing that such a day might never come. Even the idea that such a day might come, seemed to be difficult to imagine, the fear too fresh in my mind, the awe at their power.

“We should just get away from here.” I decided, once our catharsis had ended, leaving us both mentally and physically exhausted.

“What could be gained here, is not within our reach.” Lenore agreed, without even a trace of reluctance.

It took quite a bit of effort to get moving, some after-effects of the valley still lingering, making me wonder. Was it just the sheer panic, the adrenaline rush our flight-reflex had triggered or was there something more? Stumbling, I took the lead again, this time carefully moving away from the scent I had followed earlier, the sweetness enough to make me shiver in fear.