A Peaceful End

You stand in the warm embrace of the sun, wrapping its arms around the clean blue, ever-pristine clearing. Your clearing; a lush, grass green dreamscape and the meadow that you call your home. You lean down, gracefully, to brush your nose against the bright green tufts. The simplest of treats, the bountiful green that spreads across this valley meadow, a wonderful wildfire. Its flavor hits you anew, each bite even greater, seemingly, than the last. Your taste buds flare with the experience of it all, and you feel a great joy overcome you. When you’ve had your fill, you regain composure, standing tall, a stark majesty amid the serene landscape. You begin taking stride after long stride, hooves wading, as if parting a sea, through the tall grass. A softly treaded trail appears in your wake; you gaze out over your domain. 

Creatures both tangible and not, of light, living and spirit. They land upon your dark crown, their spirits ebb and flow upon you. You are a shelter to them; they live with you. You prance over your kingdom, rising hills giving way to deep valleys and wondrous fields. A joyous display occurs, your march and the welcome host resting upon your royalty drawing a crowd of spirits and creatures alike. They follow you, as moths first discovering light. Your celestial procession continues, a brilliance illuminating the whole of your domain, even shining into the dark maze of forested wilderness beyond, teeming with shadow. 

A small bird, colored in the impressive and captivating tones of sunset, flicks its head to the forest beyond. The dark shadows cast by tall trunks and winding branches reach out, almost. The brightly flushed bird’s beak flits between your procession and the forest. Its talons tighten on your back, clumping fur in little clusters. Finally, after some deliberation, it lets out a short, shrill chirp and hops into the air, weaving and bobbing away in the air. Strands of your pristine fur fall from its claws as it goes.

You shake your head slightly, as if to ward off any strange feeling of worry or angst. Instead, you continue surveying the land, though your entourage is not so easily convinced by your air of indifference. Several small companions flee from the march; squirrels that scurry away up tall trees and into burrows, sparrows, oriels, and other delicate birds that take flight, quickly zipping through the warm afternoon air, away into the bright blue sky. The spirits that had warmed themselves in your aura dissipate, disappearing in starry shimmers.

Your procession continues to thin, and soon you are left with only the largest of companions; badgers, deer, eagles. Even they begin to slowly disperse, retreating in an anxious pattern.

Though the lovely colors of day do not cease, and the mid-afternoon sun’s rays continue to rest themselves upon the meadows and valleys, a veil of tension falls over your domain. You turn your head about, tilting your neck down slightly in quiet perception. Shapes move from within the dark shade of wood, barely noticeable amid the withering black. The bright radiance that had once repelled this darkness is now gone, suffocated and lost by another presence. A whistling noise emerges from the quiet that you had been swimming in moments before.

A large bird, an eagle or buzzard, falls from the sky, caught as it was fleeing. Its huge wings, glistening and radiant, whip about in the air behind it as it descends in one final flight. You make out a large bolt protruding from the beautiful creature, a miserable taker of life. It strikes the ground. From the bird comes a sickening crunch that echoes through the valley, and its once awe-inspiring body distends awkwardly.

The bird’s spirit flies freely above you, and its starry outline wakes you from your stupor.

In a wild burst of adrenaline, you take off in a mad dash across the valley. Your mighty steps create small explosions of dew as you sprint with mighty speed away from that horror. In the midst of your thunderous gallop, you swear you’re able to make out the pitter-patter sound of dozens of pairs of feet hitting the ground at once.

A long, dark bolt, splintered in places and tipped with a razor-sharp metal point, poison-covered and sinister, slams into the ground dangerously close to you. You rush even faster, not daring to twist your head around to look.

Incredible is your speed, but it dawns upon you. You have nowhere to go once the green expanse runs out. And you see it closing in: the glowering visage of the forest, its trees seeming to draw you in, embrace you with their arms. You slow to a trot, frantically searching for an exit, but you’ve been cornered. You refuse to believe that there’s no way out other than blindly plunging into that infinite dark, but it becomes increasingly clear.

Turning finally, you find a crowd of savages, wielding crossbows and quivers full of bolts, all converging on your position. Some spirits dive at them, tearing at their clothes and faces, while others emerge from the ground to trip and stagger them. But why are there so many? There were far fewer in your procession. Your eyes fall to the broken bodies of hawks, deer, groundhogs, badgers, and herons lying, lifeless on the ground behind the barbarians.

A crossbow bolt strikes your thigh, and sinks into you, its barbs tearing your skin and poison working its way into you. Without further hesitation, and ignoring the spreading pain quickly taking you, you turn, limping, and take the plunge into the forest. Jagged black tree branches extend their arms to you, swallowing you.

You twist, dodge past a tree that seems to simply appear from the mist in your path, trying to stop you. You pay no mind, your huge form winding expertly through the dense wood. Your light, once a blinding radiance, now a soft glow that penetrates only the air in front of you. Behind you, the hunters continue their warpath. Grasping vines emerge from the earth to restrain you in their twisting fingers. Even in your wounded state, you manage to fend them off, your celestial glow too much for them, and the forest backs away.

A deer’s path emerges; you’ve tamed the wilderness. You dash for the exit, and burst free from the endless maw of the shadowy wood. 

A wide expanse of beauty appears before you; you are filled with joy. A large, pristine river flows carefree past the soft meadows in front of you. In a moment of forget, you dreamily stride across the field in front of you, and you’re reminded of your home. The domain you were forced from. You feel at peace among this wonderful place, and you suddenly realize your wounds. You feel the poison spread across your body.

A barbed metal tip slams into your shoulder, and you are overcome with intense pain. You stumble toward the water. You only wish your last moments to be at peace; you feel your light fading.

The cool water touches your hooves, and you collapse. You feel a soft flow around your fur and keratinous crown, and you feel calmed. You lie on the far side of the river, and take in your surroundings. At least such a beautiful creature as you will expend its last breaths in such a place as this, a place full of light and wonder. Verdant, abundant, and gorgeous.

Your blood seeps into the water, your heavenly life and soul. It clouds the water, an angelic gold against the clear, crystalline blue-white. 

Hunters pour into the water on the opposite bank, ready to cut you open, brutalize your dying body. 

But the water swells. Your blood awakens it, and summons forth a mighty surge. The river swirls and collects, then rushes at the fleeing hunters. They are not fast enough, their strides slow in the now frothing water. They are pulled off their feet and dragged under, where once they were, now gone. And in that instance, you are alone.

You close your eyes, weary from your wounded state. You feel, however, the warm bodies of large and small creatures curling up next to you. You can imagine them now, pressing themselves against you, staying with you. You feel yourself drifting off, your body entering its final, endless sleep.

Your spirit breaks loose from its body, and you look down to see your lifeless form, crowning reaching for the heavens, haunches slack against the earth, embraced by the countless animals that called you their home. You then turn and prance away, a host of spirits following you, to gaze out over the beautiful world.