The Throne I Left

“Is this really it?” Note asked dubiously.

From outside it just seemed like just a big mountain. It was very anticlimactic. Johan had expected something…more impressive. Like a huge entrance, something giants could easily get inside of, or some kind of decoration seeing as Signe said the family of some dead guy had spent a lot of money burying him there. But no.

The opening Signe was leading them to was extremely normal, just a curved archway that was barely taller than Johan.

“It used to be prettier,” Signe noted and walked in. “We broke a lot of stuff to get rid of the draug. You can still faintly see some inscriptions around the entrance here though.”

Johan stopped for a second, looking up. A bunch of runes and symbols curving around the archway. They seemed to describe some fierce battle, but he couldn’t make out much, they were mostly buffed down and some even had lines drawn through them, making it illegible.

He eyed the missing chunks. That would also be the work of Signe and Wrath, he guessed. Since they had been there breaking things together, there was probably a lot more damage than there needed to be.

He followed Signe into the darkness, Note right behind him. It didn’t take long until they reached the other end.

“Here we go.” Signe said and stepped out into the bright cave.

“Woah..” Johan muttered in shock, eyes wide as he looked around, taking it all in. It was beautiful, like right out of a novel. The huge cave was formed almost like a circle, stretching hundreds of meters wide, and the roof reached almost as high, all the way up to where it opened to the bright sky above, letting the sun light up the entire cave.

“Well?” Note asked.

“It’s the right cave.” Johan confirmed. It was definitely the same from the vision. But there was something weird about it. Instead of the battlefield he had seen, or even a burial mound that Signe talked about, there was something else entirely.

“Wait, what?!” Signe surged ahead. “This wasn’t here last time! It’s like some kind of playground. But it’s huge!”

In the middle of the room were huge rocks in strangely familiar shapes, resembling swings and a slide, and even a seesaw, only that they were much bigger than any Johan had ever seen before.

“And overgrown.” Signe added, kicking some moss off of the ground. “It doesn’t seem like anyone has been here recently.”

“Recently? More like in years. This place looks completely abandoned.” Note said, and he was right, everything was completely covered in moss and tall grass. It didn’t seem like anyone had been here for years…except for one thing. The playsets were spotless. Everything was overgrown, until you got close to them, then even the ground was clear.

“Who would need a playground this big?” Note wondered loudly.

Johan paused, getting a bad feeling. The pieces were slowly falling into place. This wasn’t what he saw in his vision. He had seen the bare stone ground, not overgrown like it was now.

“And why would they just leave it? Nothing is broken, it’s pretty well maintained.” Note continued. Johan looked over to see him wading through some tall grass around a big rock.

“This can’t be good.” Johan sighed. He went over to the swing, barely able to reach the seat with his hand, and pushed it. It swayed gently, too heavy to swing just from a light push.

It seemed sturdy enough, the seat was hanging from a very very thick rope, thicker than Johan’s thigh and seemingly braided out of many smaller ropes into just one.

He looked around. Nothing seemed too out of place, all things considering. Nothing that wouldn’t be found in a normal-sized playground.

Then a light caught his eye. He looked over to see a piece of metal reflecting the sunlight. What was metal doing in a playground?

He wandered closer to get a better look. The bad feeling only getting stronger.

The metal was covered in overgrowth, making it impossible to see what it was. He cautiously kicked some of it away.

He jolted back with a yell.

For a second he couldn’t believe his eyes.

The metal turned out to be a sword. It was laying on its side, hidden in the dirt and plants, with only the middle part uncovered. But the disturbing part was the knuckles still holding onto the handle, connected to bones leading into the tall grass.

Oh lord. He stared at it for a moment, unsure about what to do. He closed his mouth with a click and slowly inched forward to carefully part the grass.

Nothing of the body was left, but the skeleton laid there, still inside its chestplate. Well, parts of it, anyways. Big cracks ran through the metal and big chunks were missing. Pieces of fabric hung off the bones in places and grass and flowers stuck up from between the ribcage. Most of the lower body was hidden beneath the dirt.

“What is it?” Note asked, having turned at his yell.

“Well...” Johan started uneasily, realization dawning. “Whatever I saw in the vision, it has already happened.”

Note quickly came to stand beside him, sucking in a sharp breath when he saw the remains.

Johan let Note take his place by the skeleton and instead stepped back to look around with a new eye. Now that he knew what to look for it wasn’t hard to spot more. Remains were spread out everywhere. They had been hidden earlier, but he saw them now. He followed one with his eyes, seeing the boulder sitting on half of it. He hadn’t noticed earlier, but there were a lot of boulders.

“This is what you saw?” Signe asked sharply. “That can’t be right, you had the vision last night, this must have been here for years.”

She was right. Johan bit his lip, thinking hard. Was it even possible to have a vision of the past? He had never heard of it, but unless someone came to clear the area, nothing like what he saw could possibly happen here.

“How could they kill so many people?” Note asked, crouching down and inspecting the sword.

“The question isn’t how, it’s why.” Signe voiced up.

Note’s head shot up, glaring at her.

“What?” She asked. “Why do you think there’s so many people here? They didn’t come unprepared, look at all the armor and weapons. They obviously came here to fight.”

“You’re right.” Johan said, ignoring the indignant look Note sent his way and grabbed the dull sword from the ground, ignoring the knuckles hanging from it as he showed off the jewel-encrusted handle. “Nobody walks around in their nicest armor. This was planned.”

Note got up and snatched the sword out of Johan’s hands and without a word he walked towards the other end of the cave where a tunnel opened into the mountain.

If he believed them, he was clearly unhappy about it.

Johan sighed and followed.

He didn’t follow for long.

Suddenly he slowed down, his stroll becoming a trudge. Every step became heavier and the air got thicker around him. His vision turned black.

He was on a battlefield, people’s screams and cries surrounding him. The sounds of clashing metal, hard stomps, loud bangs and wet dripping came from all around. He glanced back, heart pumping in fear, and saw rows of warriors. Tens if not hundreds of people fought around him, equipped to the nines in their finest chestplates, brandishing their most valuable weapons as they stormed towards-

The giants?!

He clenched his fists around his spear, palms sweaty and armor heavy on his shoulders.

Straight ahead of them was a wall of giants. The first row was already engaging them. They were taller than any living thing Johan had ever seen, towering over the battlefield, even the smallest was multiple meters tall and they tok hit after hit without even breaking their formation. Using both hands and feet to fight, they threw nearby warriors and stomped down the even closer ones.

His body moved closer to the giants, his spear held tight and close to his body as his row of warriors engaged. He ran with all his might towards them. A roar came from above, a giant brought his hand back before throwing forward. The last thing he saw was something flying towards him-

Snap-

He glanced down, suddenly back to the empty cave, a bone crushed beneath his foot. He panted, his heart racing as he tried gathering himself, staring at the boulder just ahead.

“A memento?” Signe asked from where she stood between him and the entrance, looking back at him with a curious expression.

Johan nodded and swallowed. “Some soldier from my vision. The giants...”

“What about them?”

Johan frowned. “The humans came to kill them. I think.. I think the giants were acting in self-defense.”

“Self-defense?!” She almost yelled, her expression going from curiosity to shock. “Are you sure? I mean, they must have done something to bring this many people here?”

It was a rhetorical question, more like she was voicing her shock.

Johan felt the same. He was supposed to save these people, wasn’t he? He looked around once more and swallowed. The bad feeling was festering. He must have read the vision wrong somewhere. But if it really was in the past-

He shook his head. If he read it wrong then he had to figure out the real meaning. There was no point in dwelling on it.

He quickly followed after Note, Signe falling in step beside him. Now that they got closer, he could see how big the entrance really was. It was nothing like the small tunnel they had entered through, this was more like what he had expected, big enough that even the tallest giants only had to duck down a little to get through.

It didn’t take long to catch up with Note who had stopped near the entrance and was glaring at something on the ground.

“But…they don’t have children?” Signe startled, then glanced at him. “Do they?”

Johan stopped by Note and followed his eyes to see the remains of what seemed like two giants in the corner. One considerably smaller than the other and wrapped in the bigger bones.

“Oh.” Johan said faintly. He had never seen a giant before.

“Someone just murdered them all.” Signe said loudly, looking around almost in awe. “I have never heard of giants having children.”

“It’s not considered murder if it’s not a human.” Note informed with a tight voice, and wasn’t that the craziest thing Johan had ever heard? Yet it was true.

“Shit...” Johan breathed and with that he ventured into the next cave, seeing all the remains of carnage. His head hurt as he tried to wrap his mind around everything. He had never seen anything like this before.

“But who made the playground?” Note asked behind him, footsteps starting to follow him. Johan glanced back but Note quickly looked away as their eyes met, hands gesturing weakly back at the playground. Johan sighed, Note still didn’t believe them.

“They must have done it for their children.” Johan said simply.

“But giants don’t have intelligence, they are the same as animals…” Note tried but soon fell silent.

Johan had thought so too before today. But who else could it be?

He came to a stop, falling silent as he tok in the scene ahead. A big flat stone stood raised on its side, creating something like a wall and shielding two huge skeletons behind it.

“That stone is from the draug’s burial.” Signe pointed out, pausing beside him.

“An animal wouldn’t do that.” Johan said weakly, slowly realizing what he was looking at. He swallowed and looked away. The realization was damning. “They have intelligence.”

“..That’s...That’s impossible. What about everything we have learnt??” Note burst out.

“Maybe they didn’t know?” Signe shrugged helplessly.

“You shouldn’t believe everything you have heard in Heaven.” Johan said grimly. “There’s no information missing there. They intentionally taught us the wrong thing.”

“..When I grew up they-the giants I mean, were used to scare children.” Signe said lowly. “They said that if you don’t finish your chores, a giant will wander out of the forest and take you.”

Note didn’t say anything, just stared horrified at Signe. “There’s always some kind of truth in rumors.” He argued.

“If only one did it, that would be enough for a rumor.” Johan interrupted. He had learnt his lesson with the huldra. “The giants keep away from humans so we wouldn’t have any to compare it to anyways.”

“If it was only one, do you really think someone would murder them all?” Note asked angrily. Johan just watched him. Note saw the best in everyone, no wonder he didn’t want to believe them. He still had that childish belief in humanity.

“People are afraid of what they don’t know. If only one giant tok a child the parents could have called the entire village to kill the others in revenge.” Johan said. He had seen similar things before. One good public speaker was all it took to convince people to do terrible things.

“This is just speculation! Nobody would do this to innocent creatures.” Note snapped, getting louder. But Johan could easily hear the underlying fear. Note wouldn’t be convincing anyone if he couldn’t even convince himself. He might not have seen the terrible things people did, but he had lived through it while Johan had watched.

“People do stupid things out of fear.” Signe interrupted. “Let’s move on.”

The tunnel seemed normal enough, from what little of it that he could see into the darkness. But so did the other cave when they entered it.

“Let’s explore.” Maybe they would find some answers in there. He dug out a torch from his backpack and lit it up. It brightened their path and he stepped around Signe to lead them.

They walked further and further into the tunnel, traveling down into the mountain to the point where no sunlight reached inside anymore. The darkness made every sound much louder, their footsteps echoing around them. Here there wasn’t even the sound of dripping water like there had been in the cave near the village.

Johan stopped when eventually the wall he had been following turned to left and the floor flattened once again, the cave ahead was completely black and the only way forward was to walk into the pitch black dark with no way to tell where they were going or how to get back. He almost wished there was a nøkk around so Signe could light up the place for a second, just so they could see their surroundings.

He stopped when a small light shone back at him, brass metal suddenly in front of him.

Then the light turned on.

He shielded his eyes with a hiss and grabbed his ribbons as the darkness disappeared into blinding light.

“Ooooooh!” Signe’s mesmerized voice filled the air. Johan forced one eye open, trying to get used to the sudden light. “I found a light switch!”

“You found what?!” Johan rubbed his eyes. He saw Signe crouching down by the wall behind him and rising triumphantly to her feet as the whole cave lit up, big lights on the wall slowly lighting up one after the other, each making a loud clanging noise as they turned on.

“A cauldron.” Note said, suddenly appearing next to him.

“What?” Johan turned around, and there it was. The metal thing in front of him was huge, bronze and taller than both Johan and Note together. “Wow…This is awesome.”

It was primitive, sure, but if it really was a stupid and violent giant that had made it…To think they could make something so human!

The room was bare apart from the cauldron, only big treestumps were placed around, probably meant to be seats. Actually, it was surprisingly similar to the firepit back in the village, just much larger and not nearly as cozy.

He was lost in thought when suddenly a shiver went down his spine, throwing him back to reality just in time for him to turn and see a huge shadow appear from the darkness of the tunnel they just came from.

At first only the feet stood in the light, huge bare feet, each toe bigger than Johan’s head, then it took a step forward and the rest of the body followed.

Clenched fists and thick forearms appeared first, covered in ratty, patched clothing, then came the long beard, and finally the ugliest face Johan had ever seen.

It stopped there, barely inside the cave and blocking the only way out.

It was the first time he had seen a real giant before, Johan thought absentmindedly as he let his ribbons fall into his palms, quickly getting into a steadier position.

“Wait!” Note’s hand on his shoulder stopped him from attacking. “Maybe he’s friendly?”

Immediately, as if hearing the words, the giant raised a club from its back and took a big step into the room, the ground shaking at its stomps.

Johan sucked in a breath and stood there in anticipation as it stared down at them, eyes dark. If it moved that club even a little, Johan would take it down, no questions asked. But for now..

Johan clenched his jaw. If he had faced a giant at any other time he would have already killed it. But now all he could see was the surprisingly human eyes, not a shred of stupidity or anything animalistic in them.

Why was it just standing there? Something felt off. He moved his attention, getting a better overview. The ground felt heavy against his feet, his balance steady and body loose.

Then he noticed it.

Fuck, they were smart!

Johan sent his ribbons up around the cauldron’s handle before grabbing the closest person to him and slinging them into the air-

just in time for the big thing to get punted through the cave.

Johan’s eyes widened at the sight of another giant behind it. It was shorter than the first one, but also much wider. Johan gritted his teeth, if they had moved any slower, that thing would have killed them.

It raised a huge axe into the air behind it and stomped its stubby legs into the ground.

They were still falling when the giant swung and all Johan could do was send out his ribbon in a panicked hope that it would catch on something before the sharp edge of the blade cut through them.

“We’re going to die!” Note yelled and clutched onto him tighter. Johan gasped as his ribbon failed to find anything. And suddenly the blade was upon them.

It felt like time slowed down, yet he could only watch as the axe closed in.

He was going to be cut in half.

Then something shot past him, just barely not touching his head.

His hair whipped against his face as the thing slammed into the axeblade with enough force to send both it and the giant stumbling back with a loud roar. And at the same time, his ribbon finally caught on something!

Johan let out a sound of triumph as he pulled himself and Note away from the quickly recovering giant.

“Intelligence or not, let’s kill them!” Signe yelled from the ground, air coming out in pants, eyes wide with anger. Johan watched as the thing she had thrown clattered to the ground. It was the axeblade she had stolen in Heaven!

Somehow she must have managed to hurl it hard enough that it stopped the giant’s axe in its path and gave them the time to get away.

That was too close! It would have been so embarrassing to be cut in half by an axe-wielding giant! Johan tok a split second to celebrate their survival as they got away.

But he didn’t celebrate for long when he noticed what his ribbon was attached to.

The other giant.

He swore as they hurled through the air. Luckily it seemed even more shocked than them, only staring stupidly as they barreled towards it.

Using the shock to his advantage, Johan decided quickly. Immediately he pushed Note away from him, sending him tumbling down towards the ground while Johan sped up towards the giant. In the corner of his eye he saw the familiar flash of light as a weapon was summoned.

He sent the ribbon around the giant’s legs and he threw himself around in the air. His feet hit the giant’s chest and he kicked. The giant stumbled back and the ribbon pulled taut. With a roar it lost its balance and fell, the club swinging too close for comfort.

The ground approached quickly and Johan grabbed onto its ratted clothes with everything he had, heart hammering in his chest and praying he wouldn’t end up under the monster.

They hit the ground hard but at least Johan had something soft to land on, bouncing back as the giant’s head banged against the ground.

Johan quickly gathered himself and looked back to see Note running towards him, Signe fighting the other giant.

Johan winced as the smell hit him, and slapped a hand over his nose. Intelligent like humans, sure, but they definitely didn’t share the same opinion on hygiene.

“This reeks.” He complained as he struggled to get down to the ground with Note’s help. The giant was immobile beneath him and if it wasn’t for the heavy breathing, Johan would have thought the job was already done.

Though, he knew this was only the beginning.

“You,” He started, addressing the giant. “Where’s the rest of you?”

Two of them had already come out, there had to be more nearby. He grimaced. He didn’t even know what he wanted to do with them anymore, the vision didn’t leave any clues about what Johan was supposed to do.

Slowly it’s head turned to glare at Johan, but it didn’t say anything.

A horrifying thought hit him. Could giants even speak?

“Oh, come on. I want to go home.” Johan whined and kicked the giant weakly. He sighed, hand on his face. It didn’t seem like they were going anywhere anytime soon. Was it too much to ask for a vision that was easy to understand?

“Home?” A low voice rasped out.

Huh? Johan turned back around and found the giant’s eyes watching him. For a long moment they stared at each other, each in similar states of shock.

“You understand me?” Johan asked helplessly. The giant nodded slowly, its long beard dragging against the ground as it did.

“Oh…” Johan looked to Note for help. He didn’t think he would get this far. Their eyes met and for a moment they just watched each other, then Note turned to the giant.

“Take us to your leader.” Note said simply, brandishing his sword towards the closest part of the giant. Its beard.

Johan stared at him. What was he talking about, leader?! Did giants have leaders?

But the giant shook its head violently at the words, almost like in a panic, and pushed up on its elbows. For a second Johan thought it would attack again, but then it froze, eyes widening in horror.

Johan followed its gaze to where the other giant was still fighting, slowly getting beaten down by Signe.

“Do not, Viddi!!” A voice rumbled through the room quickly followed by a groan and a loud, angry roar.

Oh? Johan looked back to the giant in front of him.

“Viddi?” The giant’s head snapped back to him. “That’s your name?”

It’s expression was enough of an answer. Well then, apparently giants had names.

“So, Viddi.” Johan smiled. He would have knelt down if he was talking to a human but instead he stretched himself even a little taller, pushing himself to reach into the giant’s line of sight. He nodded towards Note without looking away. “You heard him, take us to your leader.”

Whatever leader a group of giants could have... It was better if he played along so Note didn’t seem stupid. It would be bad if they lost their upper hand already.

“Or else.” He added for good measures. The giant looked at him with wide eyes, seeming conflicted as it glanced between them, then to Note’s sword.

“Don’t!” The other giant hollered from the other side of the room, a crash following immediately.

“But-!” The first giant, Viddi, yelled before stopping, seemingly changing his mind and switching his focus back to them. “I will take you to our leader. But you have to promise not to hurt anyone.”

Wait, Johan faltered. That actually worked? He glanced at Note only to meet his eyes. He blinked.

Oh well, whatever. As long as it worked Johan wouldn’t complain.

“Not hurt anyone?” Johan repeated thoughtfully. It seemed like a decent deal, they would get more information if the giants didn’t think they were in danger.

Either way, Johan wouldn’t keep his promise if a fight broke out. All things considered, the giants didn’t seem like the biggest threats. It wasn’t everyday strange humans broke into your home, so Johan could see why they would attack them. “Sure, I agree to those terms.”

With a nod he withdrew his ribbons from the giant, and wow- Johan watched as the giant rose to its full height in front of them, easily reaching halfway up to the roof. Behind them the other giant roared angrily.

“Signe?” Note yelled, checking in on her.

Johan turned-

And paused. The giant was on the ground now, sitting and breathing harshly, which was pretty much what Johan had been expecting. Signe however was standing on its chest, in his thick beard, axeblade in one hand as she seemingly searched for something.

“Signe! What are you doing?!” Note yelled angrily.

She turned around and yelled back. “What?!”

“We’re leaving,” Johan simply called out and with a final look at the giant, Signe jumped down and set off towards them. Johan turned back to Viddi. “Lead the way.”

The giant looked hesitantly between them and the other giant and Johan tok the opportunity to look back at the shorter giant. It was still sitting in the same spot, slowly sinking lower, the fight seeping out of him now that Signe had left.

Finally Viddi nodded, a steeled expression fitting on his face as he turned, and the three of them followed after.