Author's note: Apologies for the short chapter. I've been self evaluating and doing a lot of thinking lately. Anymore ideas would be helpful. I've reached a mental block sadly. This may be the last update for a while. I haven't given up. It will continue, just not as soon as I'd like.
Jack's mind went into a deep place as he began to dream. In his dream, he was back at home, smelling the vast amount of corn and potatoes. He looked around the faces of townspeople mere blurs in his vision. A gust of wind from above hit him from above. He held his ground, holding his foot in the ground, and pushed forward.
Every so often, he slipped but kept moving to prevent himself from falling.
My home! Jack thought as he kept moving. It felt like he was in the water, his movement was extremely limited even though he was on land. He closed his eyes and kept walking, refusing to let the wind lead him astray.
Jack, Where are you? Jack! He heard a feminine, elderly voice call out.
Mother? Mother! Jack began to panic as his heart picked up the pace.
Jack! Jaaaack! A rather feminine voice called out. It sounded frail and ghostly.
"Mother, I'm coming. Just a few more steps." Jack yelled out against the gusts of wind.
His lungs began to feel heavy and weak. He coughed, gasping for breath, and felt a warm feeling near his body.
"Mother?" Jack opened his eyes and when he did, the color drained from his face. He was as white as a ghost. His house was up in flames. A large cloud of smoke emerged from above was small embers burnt off from the fire and faded into the abyss.
"MOTHER!" Jack screamed as tears ran down his face. He wanted to run into the house, but it was already in flames. Too hot to enter. He'd probably die trying. His legs turned to jelly and he immediately fell to his knees.
He heard the sound of thunder in the distance. A cold wind blew against his face. The ground began to shake below him and pebbles in the ground rustled near his boots. Jack turned around, face still fresh with tears, and lost every ounce of his will to move. He was dwarfed by a large shadow with large white teeth.
"FI FI FO FUM" the loud and rambunctious voice of a large giant almost split his eardrums in two. There was no escaping the booming, deep sound, that came from the giant's lips. Jack began to cry and saw a massive hand come his way. He attempted to run, but the world of dreams was working against him. He couldn't move. The hand grabbed him and lifted him up high.
Jack trembled in fear as the cold, icy breeze of the wind enveloped him.
"A human!" Jack felt his own bones shake from the sheer power of this giant's voice. He tried to stop himself from shaking but he couldn't. He was too riddled with fear to move on.
"Who are you?" Jack managed to say with the remaining bit of his courage. He wanted to run away, but the giant's grip held him firmly.
"Me! I'm the true hero of these lands." The voice bellowed, "The rulers, the princess! They're all too frail, too weak to do what needs to be done." The voice sounded angry and full of angst.
"What needs to be done?" Jack asked. The voice let out a sigh and laughed, "You….human!" The voice emphasized the word, "human" to the point where Jack was left uncomfortable.
"Join me, and you'll have all the riches your heart's desire." The voice let out a bone-chilling laughter that shook the mountains.
"A-and what if I refuse?" Jack felt his heart about to burst from his chest. The voice let out a laughter from the depths of his belly.
"Well, to put it simply, You'll be nothing more than a blood splatter on the ground." The voice said. Jack felt his body rise up high into the air.
"Goodbye human. Pray that we do not meet, for your sake." The voice said. Jack immediately felt the weight of gravity push him forward toward the ground. His vision became blurry and the moment he hit the ground, he awoke with a scream.
Clutching his chest, he felt his heart beat faster than he thought possible. Faster than a hummingbird's. He was drenched in a cold sweat and looked around. It was still night time, possibly 11 or 12 at night. He looked over at Inma who was fast asleep. The light sound of snoring made it's way to jack's eardrums.
He wiped the tears from his eyes and made a resolution.
He had to escape from this land. No matter what.
