The giant, grey beast tore through the forest. Massive trees shattered under its strength and momentum. The ugly troll gripped his weapon, a massive limb, tightly in his meaty fists. The smell of Folkin driving him forwards in hunger and lust. The tasty beings would soon be his dinner. With a might roar he burst through the tree line into a clearing with a beautiful lake, his lake.
"Fuck." Cassius cursed as he saw the giant beast that he had previously hid from, enter the clearing behind them. It's ugly face was scrunched up in excitement at the prospect of a tasty meal.
The beautiful beings who had previously bowed down to him, all crouched low in battle positions. Cassius couldn't see any type of fear on their faces. "What the hell is that thing?" He asked them, not expecting them to understand, or answer him.
Cassius blinked in surprise when the woman who had initiated this strange meeting answered in a language he could clearly understand, but wasn't English. "Trolkin, or as humans call them. Trolls. Vicious beast with tremendous appetites; they are very hard to kill."
The Troll stood at the edge of the forest, his simple mind was overcome with joy at the amount of Folkin that had gathered at his lake. His malicious gaze wandered over his soon-to-be meal, but stopped on the giant man with blonde hair and sea blue eyes. Hate exploded through his brain, "Humanzzz!" It roared in anger and charged.
The woman glanced back at Cassius, "You must stay safe Ancient One. Nothing can happen to you." Her voice was soaked with not only awe, but fear for his life.
Cassius stood back and glanced around; he desperately needed a weapon to fight this beast. Each of the Folkin had a bow and short-sword. They peppered the Troll with arrows, but they were ineffective against his hard skin. He wasn't amount to let these people die for him. As he looked for a temporary weapon; the Troll met the first of the Folkin. A young male, barely a man; wasn't quick or experienced enough to evade the Troll, he froze up just as the giant beast reached him.
Cassius watched in shock as the Troll effortlessly grasped the young man in one hand and consumed him whole. "Holy shit!" Cassius had never seen anything so brutal; he was even more determined then before. He quickly grabbed a rock from the beach as the Folkin agilely assaulted the Troll and then dashed away to cover.
The Troll's focus had shifted from the man after eating the Folkin, the yummy taste had caused him to momentarily forget about his sworn enemy. This changed quickly as Cassius smacked his rock against the troll's knee. "That sucks," He sighed as the rock shattered against the Troll's knee. The Troll, angered by the human, back handed Cassius into the air.
The Folkin watched as the ancient one was sent flying into a tree. They couldn't stay focused on him because the Troll continued his onslaught.
Cassius groaned and slid to the ground. His eyes were held tightly closed, fearing the worst. After several minutes of not being dead, he opened his eyes to discover he was unharmed. His chest was sore from the powerful beast, but he was relatively unharmed. He laughed at his new body's insane durability. Cassius quickly regained his feet and charged the Troll, who had just managed to snag another Folking; a female this time.
"Sh'Ma!" Cries the woman in the Troll's fist. Cassius glanced at the woman he had initially spoken to, she was obviously Sh'Ma. Sh'Ma was scaling the Troll's rocky back in a bid to distract it and spare the woman. Cassius took a gamble and punched the Troll in its leg. To his delight the Troll's knee gave out and it fell to one knee, releasing the female Folkin.
Sh'Ma held on tightly as the Troll fell to one knee; she didn't have time to admire Cassius's amazing strength. With great precision and accuracy she jumped onto the Troll's shoulder. She drew her short sword, but right before she could stick it into the Troll's eye; a meaty fist grabbed her. She shouted in pain as another Troll took her.
"Motherfucker!" Cassius shouted as a second troll appeared and took Sh'Ma in its hands. The first troll had recovered in a split second. Cassius was relieved to see that the rest of the Folkin was distracting the new Troll so it wouldn't consume Sh'Ma. "Guess it's just you and me, big man." The Troll glared down at Cassius with hate filled eyes.
The Troll slammed down it's giant fist, attempted to hit Cassius, "Me hatezz humanzzz!" It roared in anger. Cassius rolled right, barely missing the fist. He jumped to his feet with lightning fast speed and punched the Troll in the stomach. The giant Troll roared in pain as the pathetic human struck it. This only made it more angry, how dare such a pathetic human hurt the might Troll. "Kill!" It screamed, spit and dirt flying from its disgusting mouth.
Cassius jumped over the Troll's club as it swung quickly at him. He found himself thinking of ways to kill the Troll. Amazingly, he was quite strong; if he could just onto the big son of a bitch's shoulders, he could maybe snap it's neck. He glanced around for help, but knew that none was coming since the Folkin were still attacking the other troll.
He scurried in between the Troll's legs, and nearly puked as he saw the Troll's massive penis. It was definitely male. He threw a punch at the back of the Troll's leg, causing it to stumble. The Troll swung it's club over its shoulder in an attempt to strike Cassius. It missed by a large margin.
Cassius gripped the rocky skin of the troll and hauled himself onto it's back. "Damnit," he spat as the Troll's massive had reached back for him. He barely dodged it and grabbed either side of it's head. "Did you ugly piece of shit!" He screamed as he twisted the Troll's neck with all his strength. To his relief a nasty 'pop' echoed throughout the clearing and the Troll tumbled down, dead.
Cassius, who was still tightly gripping the dead Troll's head, laughed in relief. He took a second to catch his breath and glanced up at the progress the Folkin had made. They had successfully speared the Troll through the eye with Sh'Ma's sword. He rolled off the Troll's back and steadied himself on his feet. His body was covered in mud and he was still stark naked. Upon realizing this, he covered himself with his hands.
Sh'Ma looked on in relief as the Ancient One rolled off the dead Troll. She had feared that they would not be able to defeat one Troll, let alone two; luckily, the powerful Ancient One had felled a Alpha Troll by himself. Her relief turned into sorrow as she looked on the dead bodies of two Folkin. They had lost three tribe members to the Trolls; many would consider that light casualties, especially when fighting two Trolls. Sh'Ma treasured her people's lives and every death hurt her soul.
Cassius noticed Sh'Ma's regretful expression and quickly apologized to her, "I am sorry for your loses, I know all too well how it feels to lose those under your command." He bowed his head in remembrance of his men.
Sh'Ma smiled sadly at Cassius, "Thank you, Ancient One. Your condolences truly mean much to my people. Without your help today, we would have surely suffered greatly." Sh'Ma looked reverently at Cassius, causing him to feel nervous.
"Why do you call me Ancient One?" He asked seriously.
"Does it offend you?" Sh'Ma glanced at her comrades who shared her scared expression.
Cassius frowned at their obvious fear, "No need to be afraid, I just simply wish to know." He explained.
Sh'Ma'a tension left and she smiled, "You are of the first races. The Runes that cover your body and the power you posses tell us this. Only Ancient One's have these symbols."
Cassius scratched his chin, "And what are these Ancient Ones?"
Sh'Ma's face scrunched in confusion, "You do not know?" She glanced warily at the other Folkin, who also stared at Cassius silently.
"Humor me." He said, playing it off.
"Of course, Ancient One." Sh'Ma nodded, "The Ancient One's are said to be three long forgotten races. The Gods, Dragons, and Immortals." She paused in thought, "Follow us Ancient one, the forest is unsafe and the Troll's will attract greater predators. We must bury our dead at our village, then we will get you acclimated; you have obviously been resting for a very long time, your memories are scattered."
Cassius played along and nodded his head, "Very well, I will assist however I can along the way." He would follow these people, he desperately needed food, clothing, and information. He had a sneaking suspicion that he wasn't on Earth anymore, however crazy that may sound.
****
Far to the West, in a beautiful city; elegant, sprawling buildings spread across the skyline. Carefully carved, stone roads were located everywhere; commerce and travel were easy and safe. The Capital City, Vano, was a beautiful and prosperous place.
It had been founded by the mortal descendants of the War God, Vano, some tens of thousands of years ago. At that time the kingdom that founded it had been considered the greatest military power in all of Telon; it was home of history's most fearsome warriors and heroes. The city had been conquered and reclaimed hundreds of times since then, but it's beauty and history had not diminished.
Easily the most intriguing part of the grand city was the giant statue that stood towering over everything else in the dead center of the city. It was carved from some unknown ore, and had never broken nor scratched. The statue was charcoal grey and extremely detailed, almost life-like. It depicted a behemoth of a man with fearsome features and horrifying scars; hoisting an equally intimidating sword in the air. Thousands of scholars had traveled from all over the world to study the mysterious and beautiful carving.
Many of the less intelligent common folk spread rumors that the statue was actually the body of the long deceased, Vano. This was obviously disregarded as fake and too preposterous to even consider. That opinion changed when terrible thunder echoed across the land and a crimson flash split across the sky.
All the people in the city cowered in fear, they were sure that a world ending catastrophe had struck. When nothing happened after several minutes, the people of Vano went back about their business. To everyone's shock, a giant fire erupted on the legendary statue; shielding it from the eyes of the people. Just as quickly as it started, the fire stopped. The people were no less afraid when the statue moved, and it's eyes opened; displaying deep purple eyes. The statue spoke, and it's deep voice struck fear into the hearts of everyone within a hundred miles. "So it begins..."
The statue smiled and then turned it's gaze on the millions of people who were watching him in fear, "It's good to be back." He chuckled grimly.
****
Deep under the earth, somewhere in the great Dwarven Kingdom of Gathola; an ancient forge laid, forgotten by both time and Dwarf. The flow of magma had long since dried, and the anvil had sat unused for an unimaginable amount of time.
The dusty black anvil was engraved with dull runes, depicting a giant hammer. The many priceless ores lay stacked in their containers, unused and brittle. The tall ceiling of the dome shaped room had thousands of spider webs and creatures living there. Giant Stone-Worms had even eaten through a section of the floor; leaving the once beautiful forge ragged and decrepit.
The bats that perched themselves at the peak of the dome scattered as the earth shook. Buildings throughout Gathola crumpled, but the force remained steadfast. The long dead runes flared a bright blue and proceeded to maintain a pleasant hue. The ancient walls of the force shook as a brass voice echoed throughout the Kingdom, "And so the pieces are finally aligned."