Kendrick, The Gray Shadow, is a notorious, man-eating giant who defends his forest from all who dare to trespass his domain. That is until a winged fae named Twillow is banished from her magical realm and dropped into Kendrick's forest. Taken with h...
Kendrick stood very still as he watched the male human just ahead in the trees. Dressed in simple attire and black leather boots, the human was kneeling at the base of a tree picking mushrooms. Kendrick had atypically gone to the southern most edge of forest territory and had picked up the human's scent. It was close to the border of his forest and the human territory. Long ago he had deemed the forest his territory and decided the humans would reside in the area beyond. He could and sometimes did cross that boundary but for the most part if humans stayed out of his forest he felt no need to invade theirs.
This human didn't look like a poacher or a slayer due to the fact he didn't have any weapons on him typical of those professions. However, poacher, slayer, or not, Kendrick didn't tolerate human trespassers in his forest. With a careful step he inched closer, kneeling down in much the same position the man was in. Unaware, the man picked another mushroom and at that moment Kendrick picked him.
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The young man gave a surprised yelp as his whole body went rigid with fear. Kendrick held him with his fingertips, lifted him up, and turned the human around to face him.
Green eyes wide and white the young man said out loud, "Oh God...he's real!"
Kendrick raised a dark eyebrow at him, "Interesting way of putting that."
"Y-You understand me?!" the shock was evident in the human's voice.
A smug smile curled Kendrick's lip, "Yes. Shocked?"
"Y-yeah. You...you're the Gray Shadow...the Giant of the North Woods."
A chuckle rumbled through Kendrick's chest, "Funny how you humans seem to know that name...yet don't believe me to be real until it's too late."
He scrutinized the young man a moment. He looked to be in his twenties, short blonde hair with a small goatee of the same color, pale skin, and a narrow build; healthy but not overly strong.
"And how is it that you know of me?"
"I-I read books," the young man admitted.
"Published am I?" Kendrick was almost pleased at such an ego boosting revelation. "I gather the illustrations are less than flattering?"
"The...the books don't do you justice...no."
"So you're educated?" Kendrick smiled darkly, "But if you're educated why would you come here to my forest...that is something only a fool would do."
The blonde man was shaking, "I-I-I live here."
"Do you now?" Kendrick asked in a patronizing tone, "That's most unfortunate for you."
His eyelids lowered a bit as he applied a bit more pressure to the man. A gasp and a wince squeaked from the human.
Kendrick's smile got darker, "I don't suppose that book warned about what happens to foolish little men like you who trespass my domain?"
