A most interesting read
@cake-shop-rarepair-bingo @witchermonstermayhem
Prompts: Reading Aloud, Write a fic based on a local legend, Grim giants
Fandom: The Witcher (TV, novels)
Pairings: Geralt z Rivii | Geralt of Rivia & The Hansa | Geralt's Company Members, Maria Barring | Milva & Cahir Mawr Dyffryn aep Ceallach
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Words: 2520
"Cahir, you can read, can't you?" Milva suddenly asks out of the blue while they are sitting by the campfire together. It is a nice evening, not raining for once, and two fat rabbits on spits are roasting over the fire. With a grumpy expression, Geralt is perched on a tree stub across the fire sharpening his sword, as far away from Cahir as possible, nothing new here. Regis is off somewhere in the woods to collect herbs and mushrooms, and Jaskier is busy close by scribbling something into this inevitable scroll of his that he is so secretive about.
"Yes. Why?"
"Because I can't. But I have this book."
"It'll soon be dark, Milva."
"It's a thin book. Will you read it for me? There's still plenty of time before those bunnies are done. Please?"
"It's not a romance, I hope?"
"How would I know? I can't read!"
"Alright, then. We'll see what it is, I suspect."
"Just one moment," Mila says, almost jumping to her feet with excitement. She fishes a little bundle from deep inside her saddlebag. She unwrapps it. A thin, leather bound book emerges, no, more a booklet than a book. Tenderly, she strokes across its binding with the fingers of one hand before she passes it to Cahir.
"It's a children's book," he says, surprised.
"What if it is? My father bought it for me because of the picture. It's the only thing I have to remember him by."
"Didn't you say your father died when you were a kid? You've had the book for years and nobody has ever read it out for you?"
"There was never the time, or the right person. I want it to be special." Cahir raises his eyebrow questioningly. However, Milva does not elaborate.
He opens the booklet. On the first page there is a beautifully crafted, somewhat scary looking illustration. In the centre a horrible giant hurling rocks at frightened people. A devilish face crowned by a pair of pointed horns is peeking out from behind a gnarly oak tree on the left, wiggling its forked tongue at the desperate humans. Not a picture you would expect to see in a tale of love, and neither in a fluffy children's bedtime story. Looks like an exciting legend or heroic adventure. The script is big and easy to read even in the falling twilight of the evening.
"Once upon a time there was an evil giant by the name of Mils," Cahir begins.
Continue reading on Ao3: https://archiveofourown.org/works/47385469
This is the Mountain called Milseburg after the Giant Mils, it’s about 25 km from where I live. How the mountain came into being is one of the most famous local legends here.
https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milseburg
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milseburg