Shield Maiden (Preserver)

We warned you little mouse Ch. 2

Chapter 2

We warned you little mouse

The fire she had lit, had to be fed. Day after day she fed it spurts of her flickering flame, protecting it with her bony wings when gusts of wind blew in from the far corners of the galaxies. She nurtured it as it was her newborn babe, and to her it was. Gradually it began to take shape, forming systems. Systems that rotated around one another, searching for a perfect balance, a harmony to exist upon. She marveled at the complexities it formed, such formations that were behind her wildest dreams. Her creation had a mind of its own, building upon itself with a fervent passion. And with her creation she grew as well. Bony wings filled and shaped into a strong broad frame. Her flickering flame had strengthened into a steady blazing flame that held such intensity; even she squinted in its wake. 

The candle flickers feebly. Gusts of wind flick their shadowy fingers through the flame. In an attempt to save the light she shields it with her hands. Peering out into the dark night, she sits by a window in a small drafty room. Her mattress is lumpy, riddled with tufts of straw sticking out, but to her it is the extent of her bedtime luxuries. Usually she welcomed her few meager hours of rest, but tonight was different. She could not forget no matter how hard she tried, her thoughts would not let her sleep!

The strangers, but these were not just any strangers, like other travelers passing through their inn. These were the strangest strangers! And oh don’t forget their horses. Strong spirited beasts, many hands high and wide. With wild rolling eyes and flowing mane, she was still sure they were meant to pull the golden chariots of the gods. Sighing she lays her head down upon the lumpy mattress and forces her eyes shut. But try as she might her jumbled erratic thoughts tease away her tired mind from sleep. If only she could have touched them she wishes. Feel their smooth flanks and velvety nostrils; then she could sleep well. Suddenly she hears a soft nicker. It has broken through the feeble protection of her drafty boarded room, reaching her restless sleep. In an instant she is wide-awake, reaching for the flickering candle. Tensing she listens more carefully. Snorts and restless shuffles can be heard.

            To her this is an ample enough invitation to see the horses up close. Who knows, maybe horse thieves had followed the strangers. The noises gives her an excuse visit the great stallions.

            Silently but hurriedly she slips with her candle out of the room, the door creaking ever so slightly. Down the dusty steps she tiptoes, now ever so silently past the sleeping Maher.

“Mustn’t want to wake the old hag,” she thinks.

She sneaks out the back door of the inn and snakes her way towards the barn. Her thin nightgown flaps loosely in the wind giving little protection in its chill. Shivering she lifts the latch of the barn door and steps in.

            The horses are much more agitated now with a human among them. Tired and in an unknown barn they are restless. But who is the little human with darkened features, and shadows dancing of her face from a small light in her hand? They sniff, pounding their hooves on the battered barn floor.

            “Stranger, stranger beware!”

The girl peeking around for any prospective horse thieves jolts up startled. Strange overlapping whispers seem to fill the air.

            “What does the little one seek? Quiet as a mouse she sneaks her light into here.”

The girl shakes her head peering with a new intensity at one of the horses before her. Coal black eyes meet soft green ones. She takes a tentative step forward. The horse snorts tossing his head up and rolls his eyes at her. Ever so slowly, not to alarm him she approaches his stall.