A Wolf Guardian

In the height of the European plague, a shivering little girl wonders the muddied alpine roads of northern Italy; alone and famished. The loving parents she once knew are dead; killed along with many others by the deadly outbreak.

The tattered clothing she bears shows the pointless week long journey northward away from the crowded festering city. A black cloud appears and the heavens bathe the countryside in cleansing rain. But no rain will wash away her suffering.

Desperate to find shelter, the little girl breaks away from the retreating masses, stopping at a cave far from the road. But she is not the only inhabitant. Inside, a jet black wolf quietly watches as the little girl hovers around the cave, a wooden cross draped around his neck.

The animal approaches, unsure of the intent of his intruder. Before he can confront her she collapses in a exhausted pile, shaking on the bare rock floor. The wolf wraps himself around her, looks up into the sky and gives a understood nod.