The Savage and the Gunslinger (COMPLETED)

Chapter 1

Year 1856...

Savage.

Half breed.

Redskin.

She heard them all whispering as she rode through the small town of Rocky Creek, Colorado. Which is why it was a very rare occasion she ventured into it. She hated being the center of attention but ignored them the best she could. Some days she wanted to shoot an arrow right between their eye's.

"Ignore them, Cheveyo." Aiyanna whispered to her black friesian stallion, as he carried her through the dusty street. The damn beast could care less about all the whispers, she thought, as he held his head high. Almost as if he was proud to have her on his back as his rider.

She'd found him two winter's ago, half starved, with a tattered saddle and bridle still on his back and head. He had been roaming around her cabin. Whatever had happened to him destroyed his trust in most humans, especially men.

It took her weeks to earn his trust, catch him, and nurse him back to health. Now, he rarely left her side. She never knew where he came from, and just assumed he came from one of the California Indian War's. He had to have been a general's horse or belong to someone of great importance. His beauty and size alone was proof of that.

Now, he was her only companion besides a very large, young male dog that seemed to have made her cabin his home last summer.

At first he was quite the pain in the ass. Stealing her drying jerky by digging a hole into her smokehouse, killing a few of her chickens here and there. 

There was a point when she had almost shot him, however, she didn't have the heart to do it. The moment she pointed the gun at him, he looked at her with his bright golden eye's. In that moment, she couldn't pull the trigger. Those eye's seemed to stare into the depths of her soul. The moment she put the rifle down, she crouched down and whistled for him, he seemed to have an internal battle with himself for a few moments until he ran up to her, jumping in her arms, licking her face all over while wagging his tail and whining. If he had ran any faster he would've knocked her over. She couldn't help but giggle at the big soft brute. After that day she never had a problem with him stealing meat or killing chickens.

She named him Raven. The perfect name for him, he was mischievous and mysterious but overall friendly, and like Cheveyo, did not like strangers. Just Aiyanna. He always warned her of trespassers on her land and protected her from danger if needed.

She smiled, turning around to see Raven sitting just outside of town, right at the tree line. His tongue hanging out from the side of his mouth as he watched her. He never went further than that, but he always watched her like a hawk, looking for any signs of danger that may have come to her. She knew if she needed him he would help her, he always did.

The townsfolk were frightened of him, his size of one hundred plus pounds was enough to scare any man out of his boots. His bark was way worse than his bite, well to her it was. Others not so much.

Making her way to the town's general store, she hitched her horse and whispered reassuring words in his ears, telling him she wouldn't be long and to behave himself. The last time in town was not a pleasant experience.

Cheveyo had kicked the shit out of one of the town's local drunkard's, Dale Rogers, for getting to close.

She was just lucky, Marshal Ray Johnson and herself were close friends, and Cheveyo hadn't killed him. Both her and the Marshal knew Dale's intention was to steal him. Many tried to, but quickly learned, Cheveyo would not go without a fight, and most were not up for that challenge.