Nokken by Mary E. Twomey

Author:Mary E. Twomey
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: romance, coming of age, elf, hero, garden gnome, tomten, scandinavian folklore
Publisher: Mary E. Twomey

Fourteen.

Bjorn

Nik was the only one with a smile when the nineteen-foot-tall giant dressed in tattered shorts and a brown knitted shawl came out of his cave to greet us. I was the shrimp amongst all the tall people as it was. To stand next to someone more than three times my height and several times my thickness made my heart pound.

There was a conversation between Nik and the giant hunchbacked, but muscular, man. Then there was small talk involving pleasantries about the weather and town gossip. I’m sure his name was mentioned, but I was too entranced by his appearance. He looked sort of normal, but with slight alterations. His skin was tinged greenish, like he was sick or something. His back was shaped like an old man’s, but he appeared limber in his movements, and strong enough to lift an elephant. I expected him to speak like Andre the Giant, but he sounded sort of Swedish. His feet were bare and clubbed, with the green almost as dark as grass around his toes like a fungus. His hands were as long as my torso with fingers like crazy long bananas that were still green at the stems.

The three kanins Foss and Jens had brought him as a gift now seemed like barely an appetizer. I picked up Henry Mancini and clutched him to my chest.

Nik introduced me, but my mouth went dry. “H-Hello, sir.”

“Are humans just skinny dwarves then?” Bjorn looked at me quizzically. “Prettier. Less filthy?”

Nik answered for me, since apparently I’d grown unbearably shy. “Queen Lucy is the finest of her race, Bjorn. She’s been hand-picked by me for a top-secret mission.”

This earned me an appreciative nod. He moved surprisingly quickly for someone so large and oddly shaped.

Nik lowered his voice in a gentle scold, “And remember our little talk on making personal remarks? Very uncivilized.”

Bjorn stood straighter, chagrinned. “A thousand apologies, Queen Lucy.” He bowed and almost knocked Tor over with the movement.

I waved off his apology with a shaky hand. “No problem. This is a lovely place you have here. I mean, these are the best trees I’ve seen in a while.” It was meant as polite conversation, but it was also true. The trees on the other side of the path from the mountain were tall with thick trunks and knotted roots that looked like something out of a Tim Burton movie. The roots wound around each other, almost holding hands in nature’s snuggle.

Nik placed his hand atop Bjorn’s, since that was the only place he could be reached. “Would you mind terribly if we passed through your territory along the path, old friend? We’re in a bit of a hurry.”

Bjorn looked over his shoulder, and I could see a few of the trunks shifting slightly. Upon closer inspection, I saw some of the bark was not part of a tree at all, but it was worn as armor by a group of trolls who were too afraid to come greet us. It was kinda cute.

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