All characters are 18+
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"Almost there, almost there!"
Eliandra adjusted the heavy satchel on her back, hearing the contents clink inside, and trudged forward. The journey had been a treacherous one. Her village sat at the very bottom of the mountain she had almost scaled, living in its shadow in the winter months. There was no defined path to the top for none made the journey unless absolutely necessary and even then rarely did so willingly.
There was only one regular exception to the rule, an annual ceremony that saw one villager randomly selected to brave the elements and scale the mountain to deliver the offering. This villager was chosen at the end of the winter and spent until fall training themselves for the excursion.
For atop this mountain there was a large cave, cavernous from outward appearance, but as one walked inside it you could see intricate carvings in the stone as if performed by a master stonesmith. Within the cave lived a man, although it was difficult to call him such as he was no ordinary mortal man. He was, in no other terms, a giant.
Stories of how large he truly was had become mythical in nature as no one living could say they had truly seen him. Any villagers who made it back from delivering the offering (and not all did) could only tell tales of a booming voice that emanated from the shadows, thanking them for making the journey and then bidding them luck on their way back down. Judging from the height of the cave ceiling, however, guesses ranged from anywhere between 12 to 15 feet in height.
This offering typically constituted a selection of rare materials and foods, collected and preserved throughout the year for this special occasion. The ceremony was a celebration of the giant and had taken place annually for at least 150 years marking the day the giant arrived in the village. He had appeared suddenly as the village faced decimation from a marauding band of ex-soldiers who had been ransacking any town or village they happened to come across leaving many dead in their wake. The sight of him had been enough to make them flee, taking with them tales of a monstrous defender of the village. They had faced no such hardship since that day.
The village folk praised their protector and lavished him with any and all the meagre gifts they could muster. He had thanked them and made to leave, but was begged to stay. Noting there was nowhere big enough for him to dwell, he looked up at the mountain shrouding the village and stated he would make his home at the top, carving a place for him to stay where he could watch over the village. The villagers pledged to not forget his aid and so every year sent their offering to him in thanks.
This was the story Eliandra had been told every year on offering day as she watched the chosen villager set off on their journey. The story fascinated her, the idea that this benevolent giant lived in solitude so close and yet so far away from her. She would often dream of one day meeting him and making the perilous journey herself and now as a fully grown woman she was finally eligible. She had taken matters into her own hands and volunteered to go, something unheard of that had caused a stir.
The biggest issue had been that Eliandra was the village's potions master. She'd inherited the craft from her mother and was heavily relied upon in the village for all sorts of medical needs in particular, so the prospect of potentially losing her to the mountain was of particular concern. Thus she had promised to prepare large stores of healing potions as well as thorough instructions on how to brew more in her absence alongside the training to scale the mountain.
Eliandra didn't mind as she had factored needing to do this into her thought process for volunteering. Truthfully healing potions were now so commonplace to her that she found making them consumed barely any time or effort, but it also meant they were no longer a challenge. In her spare time she had experimented with a number of different combinations, most of which she had kept secret but that she hoped would be put to good use on her trip up the mountain.
One such potion was what she called an 'Elixir of Renewal'. In practice it granted one the energy and rest gained from 12 hours sleep and could potentially forgo the need for sleep altogether. She had thought about sharing this concoction with the village but decided against it as she felt no one would appreciate suddenly being able to work twice as many hours in the day every day as she guessed would become the expectation. Plus the materials were a little harder to find so keeping up to demand would be difficult. As an answer to combat her exhaustion from the climb though, it was perfect. She had also made another discovery that had worked incredibly well when tested, but that was for a scenario that might not happen...
The wind and snow cut against her skin but Eliandra pressed on, knowing her journey would soon be complete. With each step forward she could make out a faint light flickering in an encroaching darkness. As she grew closer, she started to make out that light was emanating from a brazier affixed to the wall of a large opening in the side of the mountain. Filled with excitement, she took another few swift steps forward and found herself at the entrance of the giant's cave.
It was every bit as imposing and wonderful as she had imagined it. She hurried inside out of the direct blast of the wind and snow and took a moment to gaze around. In the flickering light she saw glimpses of the fine carvings in the rockface, every bit as detailed and beautiful as the legends had stated. She had almost forgotten why she was there but then was brought back into reality as she once again had to adjust her satchel.
Remembering the key purpose of her endeavour, she laid the satchel down carefully and began to unbag its contents. There was a good selection of items this year including cured venison and ham, a bottle of double strength mead, a jewel encrusted chalice and letters from the young children of the village. Eliandra remembered when she used to write her own letters. Her young mind could never have dreamed she'd make it up here, but it was her mature mind that had finally had the resolve to do it.
Still in the bag were the two potions she had brought with her and she reached for the Elixir of Renewal. Her exhaustion would soon be a thing of the past and she was glad for it. She downed the mixture (which she had taken much care to ensure was flavoured with her favourite pairing, honey and cinnamon) and felt the effects start to wash through her body. She couldn't help but marvel at her own ingenuity at times and particularly now as her body stopped aching and instead filled with an intense rush of energy that made her feel so alive and unstoppable.
"Hello?" she called out into the darkness.
The shout echoed around her in the expanse of the cave like a hundred tiny voices were mimicking her at once. Other than this she was met with silence.
"My name is Eliandra, I have come from the village with our offering for you," she continued.
"Thank you, Eliandra," a deep voice boomed from the darkness.
It was just as the stories said. She could almost feel it reverberating through her body and shivered with excitement.
"I-I have brought you fine meats and trinkets and..."
"It is appreciated as always," the voice said, cutting her off. "I wish you good luck on your journey home."
Eliandra looked back over her shoulder at the still raging wind and snow and then back towards the darkness the voice had come from. This would be her only chance to do this, so she had to ask now or at least find time to be able to ask soon.
"The journey has been long and very treacherous and the weather has not been kind," she said. "If it pleases you, may I stay a while until the storm changes?"
There was a moment of silence before the voice spoke again.
"You truly wish to stay?"
"Yes, but only if it pleases you sir," Eliandra replied hopefully.
Silence again as the giant seemed to be considering his answer.
"Ok, you may stay until the worst of the storm passes."
"Thank you sir!" she told him gleefully, a step closer to realising her dreams.
"And please, I have no wish of you to call me 'sir'. I am not your master," the voice added from the shadows.
"My apologies, I just don't really know what else to call you," Eliandra replied, finding a space to kneel down and 'rest'.
A short laugh came from the dark.
"All these years and none of them wrote down my name anywhere," the voice said. "All too busy being reverent I suppose..."
"That sounds like them," Eliandra smiled. "So, what is your name?"
"Balehaut," the voice replied.
"A pleasure to meet you, Balehaut," Eliandra smiled. This was going so well. "You can call me Ellie if you like. May I call you Bale?"
"I suppose," the voice uttered.
Eliandra noticed she had started to shiver slightly. The acclimation with the cold her trek up the mountain had given her was starting to wane and it felt far more bitter than before.
"Are you cold?" asked Balehaut.
"I am beginning to feel the cold, yes," Eliandra admitted. "Are you not cold yourself?"
"Many years of living up here have left me numb to it," he replied. "Also it is difficult to find an adequate fuel source up here..."
"Oh, I see," Eliandra replied, recognising he was right, it would be difficult to get firewood at the top of a mountain.
"However," she heard him say, "I think I can make an exception..."
She heard a noise other than Balehaut's voice from the darkness, the sound of movement. What sounded like a pile of logs was being moved into some sort of position but then she felt the earth beneath her start to tremble slightly. She watched in awe as the darkened figure of this impossibly huge man stepped from the darkness holding a length of wood with a swathe of cloth attached to the end. He held it to the already lit brazier, waiting for the cloth to light, and once it did, turned back towards the darkness. He lit numerous other braziers adorning the walls of his home and lighting the room up to the extent that Eliandra could finally see everything, before placing the wood into a firepit that first started to smoke but then lit.
Gazing around the room, she could make out far more of the elaborate carvings than before until her gaze finally shifted back to the far end of the room where the giant had taken a seat in what could only be accurately described as looking like a throne carved from stone.
"Get yourself closer to the fire to warm up," he told her.
Eliandra did as he asked, but all the while her eyes were now fixed to the suddenly visible Balehaut. He was every bit as huge as she had imagined. She had never been one for measurements other than the ones in her potions, but knowing that she herself was just about 5 feet tall, the giant was easily at least three times that. With his increased height came increased width too, his broad shoulders keeping him in proportion with his height and making him look like a normal, if tall, man who had been simply scaled up.
His clothing was sparse, covering his crotch but not much else, which allowed Eliandra to see his physique. He looked strong and muscular but in the way a man becomes from tireless hours working hard labour. What surprised her the most though was his face. Given his age and the general oversized nature of his body, Eliandra would have expected him to look oafish or ogre-like, but instead he was ruggedly handsome, with long hair and an again surprisingly well maintained beard.
"Is everything ok?" he suddenly asked.
It was then that Eliandra realised she had been staring at him the whole time without saying a word. Whilst she couldn't bring herself to stop staring at him yet, she could at least talk.
"Y-yes, everything is... great," she said trailing off.
"I know it must come as a shock..." Balehaut began, "there's a reason I normally conduct these meetings in the dark."
"You're so... so..."
"Go on..." Balehaut sighed.
"Big!" Eliandra blurted out.
"And you're so small," Balehaut replied gruffly.
