Syn had never seen a man so big. The titan would tower over the world’s tallest athletes, and was as big as a bear, with limbs as thick as tree trunks.

The monster of a man slowly began to walk towards him, and it felt as if thunder roared with every step, he radiated a powerful and terrifying aura. Syn’s body instinctively took a step back, a weird feeling flooding his mind, one he hadn’t felt in a long time. ‘Am I. Scared?’

“Do I know you?” Syn asked as friendly as possible. He didn’t think it was a good idea to aggravate the man. Or at least not make him any angrier he thought after analysing his posture.

The man suddenly vanished. Syn backed away his eyes racing around searching for the behemoth who’d somehow just disappeared. But he was seemingly alone only the storm to keep him company.

He kept backing up until he hit a wall. Wait. Was there ever a wall behind him?

Syn spun to be greeted by what he assumed was a lower chest. A very large lower chest that was visible through a thick black cloak. Syn’ eyes darted up and he stared into a hooded face. In the hood’s shadow he could see sinister blue eyes that sparked like lightning and what seemed to be an unruly red beard.

Suddenly something struck Syn across his face. He had no idea what it was, but it felt like he taken a sledgehammer to the cheek. A sledgehammer that moved faster than his eyes could see. Syn was launched through the air and slammed into a house across the street, with enough force he could’ve swore the bricks trembled. He slid down the wall and managed to land on his feet. ‘What just happened?’.

“Who are you!” Syn called out to the stranger. Suddenly lightning flashed blinding his vision and the stranger appeared in front of him. Before Syn could move a thick, muscular hand clamped around his face, like a steel trap. Reflexes kicked in and Syn strained against the man’s hand, but it was like trying to move a mountain. The stranger threw him aside like he was an insignificant annoyance the man had been forced to deal with. Syn bounced off the road and landed face down on the opposite street. Placing a strong handing into a deep puddle Syn forced himself up. The stranger calmly approached, the storm growing more aggressive with every step he took. The wind fought against his black cloak pushing it back revealing a muscular, strong upper body however that’s not what caught Syn’s eye. Attached to his attackers right leg was the most unique looking hammer he’d ever seen. It had a golden handle and a leather grip, the head was a strange metal he didn’t recognise with what he made out to be Nordic runes carved into its surfaces. Also it looked small.

“Why are you attacking me?” Syn roared.

“You shouldn’t exist” he bellowed. Thunder shook the sky. He grabbed the small hammer from his leg and held it in one hand. As it got closer Syn could see that the hammer was actually huge, it just looked smaller in the man’s massive hand. He then realised how close the hammer was getting. Too close. Syn raised arms into a guard and his attacker swung the hammer towards him the Nordic symbols suddenly glowing like lightning. It felt like he’d been bulldozed by a train. Thunder roared and lightning flashed as the hammer slammed into his arms. In an instant Syn’s guard broke and every muscle in body felt like it had been put through shock therapy. He was launched back and sent flying straight through someone’s car, which instantly exploded. With a smoky trail, he slid across the drenched road until he came to a stop of the opposite side of the street. His muscles cried out in pain as he stumbled up. How long had it been since he’d felt pain like this? Been helpless?

He looked up to his attacker who was making his way down the road with murderous intent, the storm narrating his every movement ‘Bastard’. His mind raced as he tried to figure out who he could’ve possibly pissed off for someone like this to try and attack him. Syn didn’t even think people like that could even exist, the man was inhuman. ‘Also did he say I shouldn’t exist?’.

Syn’s wasn’t able to come to a conclusion as a loud roar of thunder brought him back to reality. He watched helplessly under a barrage of rain as his assailant got dangerously close that, terrifying hammer held tightly in his hand.

“You’re just a child” a deep grumble left his attackers mouth. ‘Great he’s already broke me physically and now is going for mentally’. It might’ve been his imagination but in that moment the man’s glowing eyes seemed almost sad. Like he felt sorry for him. But clearly not sorry enough.

Suddenly lightning began to dance around the hammer and Syn cautiously backed up, but the man just swung his thick arm through the air and a bolt of lightning struck Syn. It felt as if he’d been giving a new hole in his chest as the bolt burned deep into his sternum and knocked him to ground, his head banging off the tarmac completely dazing him. By the time his vision cleared the behemoth was stood over him. The hammer raised high. ‘That’s not good’. Syn tried to move but couldn’t. It was like his muscles were in shock and wouldn’t respond to any command he gave them. Plus the pain radiating from his chest probably wasn’t helping.

“Syn Veroir! You are a forbidden existence” The man bellowed like the storm, that Syn had started to expect was due to his attacker. It was only then Syn realised the man hadn’t been speaking English. ‘That language … is that the same as’, a blurry figure almost like a shadow filled his mind, the one that came whenever he tried to think of his mum. His inner thoughts were cut short as his soon to be killer continued “There is no other option”.

In that moment Syn felt the sense in his arms return he raised them high to guard his face though he doubted it’d do him any good. The hammer came plummeting down, streaks of lightning trailing behind it.

Everything went black. Everything went silent.

It remained that way for what seemed like an eternity, but Syn realised he still felt conscious.

“So … am I dead?” He spoke into the darkness. It now felt as if he was standing in a black abyss expanding out from every direction.

Suddenly he felt something brush across his face, like a cold breeze. The black abyss quaked, and a pure white light emerged in the distance.  Something brushed against him again but this time he could feel it more intensely as it passed along his hair, nose, and eyelids. Wait eyelids. The black abyss shook more violently, and white light expanded devouring any darkness in its path. Syn somehow managed to force his eyes open.

The storm had vanished and had been replaced by a calm, bright blue sky with patches of soft white clouds. Only then did he notice it’d turned day. Had he slept through the night outside? Using his abdominals, that no longer felt sore, in fact they weirdly felt stronger than ever before, he sat up.

“My nan is going to kill me-” He cut himself off after seeing his surroundings. He was no longer in the street. In fact he was no longer in Liverpool. For some strange reason he didn’t even think he was in the United Kingdom any longer.

Sitting up he could see he was in a field of vibrant grass, a consistent cold breeze passing over it. Looking around with wide eyes he could see that it expanded to the horizon all around him. He rubbed his eyes in disbelief, blinked a few times, even punched himself but nothing changed he was still sitting in the field or valley or whatever you’d call this place.

“Nah” he said to himself, “this is all just a dream. I must’ve fell asleep when playing games earlier” he mumbled to himself. He lay back into the surprisingly comfy grass and closed his eyes hoping to wake up from this nightmare.