Two Worlds among the Stars (G/t) OLD VERSION

Beyond the River

Noah's life was far from being perfect. He lived at the orphanage since he was seven. Had to work at a bar for three years now. Received more beatings than he could count, mostly from the owner of the bar. Had no friends, because nobody wanted to spent time with someone like him. Was way too skinny for his age, because he gave his meals to the younger children, who lived at the orphanage with him. And the list went on and on....

But this.... this was the icing on the cake.

The rhythmic rumble got louder and louder, which meant his life would soon come to an end.

Noah wasn't dumb. He knew exactly what was going to happen. He had heard all the horror stories about the man-eating monster, that lived across the river. But now they weren't just stories, they were the bitter reality.

The boy had no idea what he did to deserve this. Ok... he wasn't a saint, he did things he wasn't very proud of. But he didn't deserve such a gruesome death!
Noah had always hated the mayor. He was a greedy snob and many people suffered because of him. The high taxes were the reason why many people of his village lived in poverty. Because of him he had to work, instead of enjoying his childhood. Well... not that a childhood as an orphan was very enjoyable in the first place.
But right now his hatred for him couldn't be stronger.

But as much as he wanted to there was nothing he could do. One of the guards had a tight grip on him, that prevented him from running away.
He was going to die. There was no one, who could stop them from offering him to the beast and even if they could.... they wouldn't.

Because for once the mayor was right....

.... no one would miss him.

The pinetrees across the river began to swing.
Time was up.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Instantly the towering beast filled their vision. Within the blink of an eye the giant loomed over them. Noah felt an odd satisfaction as he saw, that everyone took a step back. At least he wasn't the only one, who was afraid.

The giant's voice shook all of them to their core.
"Well, well, well, looks like you have expected me. If i had known you were so eager to see me, i would have come a lot sooner"

"I guess all of you know why i'm here, right? Honestly, i'm kind of disappointed, you did so well since i last visited. Following my request like i asked you to. Yet, here we are. I didn't believe someone ever would be dumb enough to enter my territory, but seems like i was wrong. Seriously, it is such a simple rule how is it even possibly to be this dumb and just ignore my warning. Apparently i didn't make myself clear enough, when i said you would regret it back then. How about we change that." with that he bent down and made a grab for the humans infront of him.

However the yell of the mayor stopped him in his tracks. "WAIT! Before you do anything harsh, please let me explain." begged the man.

The giant rolled his eyes, but gave in eventuelly. "Fine, you have one minute. Explain." ordered the giant, a hint of annoyance in his voice could be heard.

"I'm terriblely sorry for breaking your rule. I promise i will personally make sure nobody of this village will step into your part of the forest ever again. I know i can't undo what happend, but please have mercy with us. As a sign of our remorse we brought you this sacrifice." said the mayor, while motioning towards Noah.

The sudden mention of him made Noah look up. He had to crane his neck to see the giant's face. To his surprise he looked just like a normal man, expect for his size, of course.  He wore simple cloths, his hair was trimmed short on the sides, but rather messy on top, it's color reminded him of a fox, and a matching stubble covered his jawline and ended with a goatee on his chin.

As the monstrous man looked down at him, Noah thought, that his eyes softened for a moment, but he must have imagined that.
The giant focused on the mayor again. "Do you really think the life of one little human is enough to make up for your mistake."
As soon as the words left his mouth he grabbed the mayor and lifted him up to his face.
"What stops me from killing all of you?" growled the giant.

By now the mayor was a crying mess. "P-please don't k-kill me! I d-don't want to die! Put me down! Please!"
He continued to struggle and beg in the giant's hand to the point where none of them could make out his words anymore.

The image of the crying man in his fist made the giant laugh. "Heh... I forgot how pathetic you humans are"

Without another word he dropped the mayor a few inches above the ground.

"Listen, i will have mercy with you this one time, give you a second chance and  accept your gift. But if i ever see one of you in my part of the forest again, i won't be this gracious, when i come back."

The mayor ordered the guard to hand over the boy.
Then Noah was shoved forward with so much force, that he fell facefirst in the dirt. He flinched as gigantic fingers wrapped around him and lifted him off the ground. Knowing that it was pointless to fight back, he just went limp in the grasp of his captor. Soon the towering man stood at his full size again. And made his way towards the forest.

A wave of nausea hit Noah as the fist, he was trapped in, swinged back and forth with every step the giant took.

The feeling of sheer helplessness filled his body.
'That's it.... i'm going to die.' thought Noah as they walked.

He wanted to scream, bite, scratch, anything that might help him, but he was too shooked to move or even beg for mercy.

..... And while he desperately tried to stay calm, he was too lost in his own thoughts to notice the surprisely gentle hold around him.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Looks like our second main character has joined the game.

..... what do you think? :)