“You need to spend time crawling alone through shadows to truly appreciate what it is to stand in the sun.”
― Shaun Hick
[ ϟ ]—– Akin to a boar stuffed to the brim with forest’s treasures he had settled by the hearth, massive form slack and beard gleaming where ale had clung to bristles of auburn and gold.
Heat, but more so the promise of sustenance, had coaxed the god to the earl’s home, and within it song and stories had kept him amused well into the night, exchange of both resonating within the hall. It was the most pleasant ensnaring of the senses, rarely found outside of battle, and he indulged in it with roaring laughter, reveling in the sensations.
Such was the devotion of his folk, such power lay within that joy, that even battle wrath was soothed, subdued for a brief moment in time.
And yet, not even sated weight within belly could keep the urge to rise from blossoming, freedom and fresh air an eternal beckoning his mildly hazed mind could not resist. Warning and more offerings were ignored then, with a beaming smile and vague gesture, reassurance offered he would return, one day...
Darkness enveloped slightly swaying form, and beneath heavy steps did the earth rustle, yielding ever so slightly to the thick soles. With each inhale lungs expand with crisp air, oxygen-rich and so filling it turns veils within his skull thicker, and his chuckle is a heavy, rumbling sound voicing his merriment.
Perhaps the earl’s ales and mead had been laced with more than herbs and spices, and he ignores the flicker of shadows in favor of forcing his sight on the path before him, sounds of the night mingling with yet another chortling sound from mighty chest. Limbs sway in barely controlled fashion, balance constantly sought as he moves onward, gloom growing thicker and surroundings transforming into a blanket of ebony and grey.