Giant Versus Wizard
The giant was not stupid. The man was not weak. Each was convinced they knew one important thing about the other. But "knowing" is tricky.
They met in the forest on the first day of winter as agreed by their royalty. The giant's king wrote a royal edict saying "Go forth and smite the enemy's champion or come not back to these lands."
The man's queen said, "Go forth with our blessing for your courage and success."
The giant was not stupid. An unarmed man facing him calmly was not a powerless man. May it be that he was a sorcerer.
The man was not weak. He had faced challenges more daunting than a large man with a shiny sword.
He knew how this would go. The small would overcome the large, and the bards would wrap it in a lesson for children.
The giant charged.
The man called out "Stop!" using the Power in his voice.
The giant was not knocked down. He was not stopped. He took a mighty swing at the wizard.
The wizard scampered out of the way, confused. He yelled "Collapse!" Nothing. He yelled "Fall down." Nothing.
The giant took another swing and laughed. His laugh was somehow...off.
Then the wizard understood. And at the same moment, he became cold with fear.
The giant moved in again, quick as a scalded cat, and almost landed a blow with his dagger. He missed, but the pommel bounced off the wizard's temple.
His sight blurry, the wizard stepped back and, gritting his teeth, released the Power through his hands. He was never any good at this technique, and his teachers had agreed. It was like asking a highly-trained singer to make music by beating two rocks together.
A dull green glow began in his hands. The giant stepped forward again. He raised his sword.
The world rocked like a boat on the sea, and the wizard felt a warm trickle of blood running down his face. The urge to speak the Power was overwhelming, but he could not.
As the sword came down, the Power finally erupted through the wizard's hands.
The giant, deaf from childhood, dropped like he had been poleaxed. He was alive but senseless.
The wizard picked up the giant's enormous dagger, but his head was spinning, and his thoughts were a jumbled mess.
No. He dropped the heavy dagger. He would not kill a defenseless person.
Instead, he took the opportunity to bravely stumble away as his head pounded from his wound and his exertion. His stomach churned heroically.
He'd let the bards figure out how to tell this one.
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