Aldhelm

Prologue

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Once upon a time, the Giant fell.

Once there was a young man named Jack. He lived with his mother on a small farm at the foot of the Foggy Mountains.

Jack and his mother were very poor. Their only way of making money was selling the milk from their cow, Bess.

One morning, Jack's mother woke him up early. It was still dark outside. She was crying.

"Jack, wake up! Go to the market today and sell our cow, Bess." "But why?" asked Jack, yawning.

"We need money to fix our house. There are holes in the roof. The windows are broken. For heaven's sake, we have no front door. Winter is coming soon. If we don't fix the house, the cold will kill us!"

Jack packed his bag and fetched Bess from the barn.

As he was walking out the gate, he heard his mother shout: "She is worth at least five gold coins! Don’t sell her for less!"

When Jack was half way to the market, he met an old man.

‍"Good morning, my boy!" said the old man. "Where are you going today?"

"Good morning, sir," replied Jack. "I'm going to the market to sell my cow. Her name is Bess."

"She is a beautiful cow," said the man. "I will buy Bess, and I will give you a very good deal!"

“How much will you pay for her? I won’t take less than five gold coins!” said Jack.

“I don't have five gold coins," whispered the man. "But I have these five black beans. These beans are magic beans! They are worth more than gold! If you take these beans, you will be richer than the richest man in the world.”

And so, the boy took the magic beans.

He would use the magic beans to find the Giants, and Aldhelms father would be the one to chase him out.

The boy would cut the beanstalk and watch the giant fall to the ground in an untimely death.

The boy and his family celebrated their riches, the giant's family mourned.

This was the story from the Giant's point of view, and there won’t be any happy endings. No, because the day young Aldhelm watched his father fall from the clouds and hit the ground with a sickening thud. It was the day he knew he would never have a happily ever after.

CHAPTER 1 The Price of a Golden Goose

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His fathers body goes blurry, then visible again.

Aldhelm tries not to focus on it. But he couldn’t tear his eyes away. He remembered down to that single lone freckle on his dads left eye, to the food he’d trapped in his beard that morning.

Everyone knows the ending of Jack and the Beanstalk.

The scream tore out of his father’s throat like it was dragged there. Eyes wide—too wide—like they were trying to escape his skull before the rest of him caught up. It would keep him up on the worst nights. When the ale didn’t work. Alhelm didn’t remember looking at his father’s hands, but he felt them on his shoulders sometimes, even now, cold and trembling. His mother always said his father had a strong grip, like iron bands. That day, they were grasping at nothing while falling.

His father was falling. Falling. Plummeting down thousands of miles... the beanstalk went with him. No one covered his eyes when his fathers body hit the roof of a home, no one spoke a word.

The scene had been too grisly—the kind that punched through your eyelids even when you tried to shut it out. Something wet had splattered across the house his fathers body fell on, dark against the grass. He hadn’t understood what it was at first. Not until the tangy copper stench hit the back of his throat, filling his mouth like bile.

No one wiped the tears from his eyes as he heard the humans cheer and roar below. For the mighty giant was slain, and Jack had saved the day. No one watched him as he dropped to his knees, young Aldhelm, so very young. His hands buried deep in his hair as he screamed, screamed until his throat was torn to shreds, until his head felt like it’d split. Screamed until his body gave out and he’d curl up like his dead father down there. For a second, he almost thought of jumping off as well.

He’d never seen something so horrible in his life, and he’d stayed there with his arms wrapped around his legs for days after. Nothing would erase it from his mind. Nothing.

His town would forget though, because they’d be dead later. The clouds beneath him shifted, and his father dissolved right in front of him like a mirage. The clouds became floorboards and he could smell the smoke burning his nostrils. He was now sitting under his fathers floorboards as the humans led by Jack ransacked his home.

He stifled a sob, his hand clamped tightly over his mouth as if to physically contain the anguish that threatened to erupt.

He could hear more screaming just like his, but he’d already worn his voice out weeks prior. He couldn't scream, couldn’t cry. His stomach churned, fighting back tears as a human guard walked into his room carefully, torch in hand, ready to set everything aflame.

His father's study, his kitchen, his home—nothing was spared. The fire began to lick around him, devouring everything in sight. The flames danced higher, heat burning his skin. The guard was setting everything to flames. His fathers study, his kitchen, his home.

Through the floorboards, he saw a familiar face—Jack. All grown up, dressed in royal purple, and walking in with a smile that chilled him to the bone.

Jack took his time, strolling leisurely through the inferno as if he owned it. The way he looked around, with an air of nonchalance, dusting ash from his coat. He wore a twisted expression of triumph and disdain. The sight of Jack, untouchable by the heat, broke whatever resolve remained within him and he whimpered. That sound would be his undoing, as Jacks head swiveled towards him.

“There you are...”

He couldn't respond. Not with his voice, not with his body. The fear rooted him to the spot. He stared up, his hand still over his mouth, feeling the heat closing in, threatening to swallow him whole.

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Aldhelm tosses and turns in his bed, sweat shimmering across his shirt and forehead. His breath comes in short, sharp gasps, his hands clutching at the damp sheets beneath him...

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The knights are upon him, their rough hands grabbing at his ankles, dragging him out from his hiding place under the floorboards. Aldhelm kicks and screams, but his voice is hoarse, his body too weak to fight. His stomach growls in protest; it's been days since he last ate, his bones jutting out from his pale skin.

"Hold him still!" one of the knights growls, his grip tightening around Aldhelm's leg. Young Aldhelm's vision blurs as he struggles.

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Aldhelm raised his arm over his eyes, a whimper escaping.

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With a final, desperate lurch, he manages to twist free, scrambling to his feet and bolting anywhere. His heart pounds in his chest, the sound of his own footsteps echoing in his ears. But he doesn't get far before he's tackled to the ground, the weight of the knights pinning him down.

As he lies there, face pressed into the dirt, he can hear the distant sound of laughter. He raises his head, and there, standing over him, is Jack. The original Jack, his eyes twinkling with amusement, his sword raised high. Aldhelm's stomach churns with a mixture of fear and anger, his fingers digging into the mud as he tries to push himself up.

"Look at you," Jack sneers, his voice dripping with contempt. "Just a scared little boy, playing at being a man." He steps closer, purple robes barely brushing the dirt.

“You’ll live, man-eater.” Jack sneers, “To pay the sin of being the son of that giant, you will live. You will see everyone die around you and live knowing you are the last.”

The fire seemed to devour him–

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Aldhelm wakes in a pitch-black room, his bed creaking under the strain of his quick, panicked breaths. He fumbles for a candle, managing to light it despite his trembling hands. His shirt is soaked in sweat, his body shivering uncontrollably. Unable to fall back asleep, Aldhelm gets out of bed. His feet creak against the floorboards as he moves to grab an oil lamp. He catches a glimpse of his sweaty reflection in the light but pays it no mind as he makes his way outside.

The sky is an impenetrable black, the moon high and cold, casting a silver glow. A chilly breeze cools Aldhelm’s overheated skin. He tips his head back, gripping the candle tightly as he lets out a shaky sigh.

He couldn’t believe it had been so long since those nights. They still had a tight grip on his dreams, preventing him from getting the sleep he so desperately needed. Every night, the same torturous dreams that drained his energy and left him lagging in his work.

With another sigh, Aldhelm steps further into the night, the candle flickering with each step he takes.

“Get it together,” he whispers to himself, the words disappearing into the night.

He couldn’t escape them anyway. Jack and his descendents. They visited every decade or so to rob him of his animals, his gold... his privacy. The mean old giant, who ate humans and tried to eat a little boy.

Of course, none of that was true. But humans... they didn’t care about truth when fear overwhelms them.

Only after he feels the chill set in does he finally walk back inside. The house groans with the weight of history as he steps in, the door closing behind him with a creak that echoes in the silent rooms. His breath is still visible in the cold air, misting up as he moves from one end of the house to the other, bolting the door tight, double-checking all the windows and openings. Once he's sure that no humans could sneak in, he makes his way to the small, cluttered kitchen where the ale is stored.

Grabbing his biggest cup from the wooden shelf, he pours himself some until the dark, frothy drink sloshes over the edges, drenching his hand in cold liquid. He doesn't even bother to wipe it off. Instead, he stumbles to the rickety table at the center of the room, its surface littered with the remnants of a solitary meal—an empty bowl, a chipped plate, and a spoon still caked with some dried-on sauce.

Dropping heavily into the only chair, he tips his head back and gulps down the ale, the bitter taste a sharp contrast to the lingering cold on his tongue. The liquid burns its way down his throat, pooling with a satisfying warmth in his stomach. For a moment, he just sits there, the world reduced to the rhythmic thumping of his own heartbeat and the lingering buzz of the ale. No more time for regrets. He wanted rest, and he’ll get it however it comes. Whether from drunken stupor or passing out.

His fathers axe was still in his bedroom, and just being away from it had his skin itching. His father lost all his belongings to that little boy jack. It made Aldhelm nervous to leave things out of his sight. He could never know if a human was already lurking.

It feels like hours Aldhelm has been sitting in the kitchen, the flickering light of the oil lamp casting long shadows across the wooden walls. The moon has barely shifted in the sky, indicating that only thirty minutes have passed. Time seems irrelevant in the quiet solitude of his home, but the chores waiting for him tomorrow nag at his mind, keeping it restless.

The sudden, heavy knock at his door shatters the silence, a sound Aldhelm has come to dread. His heart pounds as he straightens from his chair, the mug slipping from his large hand and clattering onto the table. "You will not enter! Descendant of Jack!" he shouts, his voice echoing in the small space. Be strong, be like father. He won’t give mercy to anymore descendents of Jack, they will die and he will not chase them.

Backing into his room, Aldhelm grabs his father's axe, the cold metal comforting in his grip. He is no longer the frightened boy he once was. Decades of threats have hardened him, and he is ready to defend his home with his life. If this so called jack descendent thought he was so weak he could just knock his way in, well, Aldhelm was already having nightmares. One murder would barely change anything.

Moving cautiously towards one of the bolted windows, Aldhelm peers through the small crack. He expects to see an army, but it's just one person standing at his doorstep. Suspicion gnaws at him. They could be hiding, waiting for him to let his guard down. But Aldhelm is big and strong now, like his father, and he will not repeat anymore mistakes. He doesn't undo the bolts on the door. Instead, he takes a deep breath, summoning the strength of his ancestors. With a mighty roar that reverberates through the wooden walls, he warns the intruder, "LEAVE! Before you lose your limbs!"