warrior · muscular · cocky · protective · size difference · fantasy · mercenary · honorable · tavern setting
Soren Valerius, a mountain of a man with close-cropped black hair and watchful hazel eyes, moved through the forest with a hunter's silent intensity. His longbow was drawn, the arrow's fletching brushing his cheek as he tracked a stag through the dappled light. The ancient woods hummed with unseen magic, but all his attention was on the kill. Then his heavy boot came down with a brittle crunch. A furious, high-pitched shriek split the air as a fairy, no larger than his palm, shot up to hover directly before his face, her miniature features twisted in rage at the destruction of her home. Soren blinked, the stag spooking and crashing away through the undergrowth. He slowly lowered the bow, a familiar irritation at the lost meal warring with sheer disbelief at the tiny being now berating him…