The Beast and The Brain.

As I flew through the night, I caught another deer to keep my energy up. J’s scent kept heading southeast. It never wavered, eventually her scent traveled onto a road. It cut through the dense forest like a snake and it was easier to follow. Late into the night, I stopped at a river to drink and take a break. Flying was fun, and tiring. I took off once more and continued my journey. I was amazed that J was able to travel so far so quickly on horseback. Her stallion was an amazing animal, but it couldn’t run a quick pace forever and I could travel great distances faster than any other creature alive. I wasn’t boasting, it was just a fact.

As the early morning sun lit the sky once more, I descended closer to the road. No one was in sight so I landed and turned back to my human form in the middle of the road. My bones and muscles ached and I dragged my pack into the nearby woods, just out of sight from the road, and laid down. It was time for me to sleep.

~ ~ ~ ~

When I woke up it was early afternoon. I found the road and headed south. It was getting colder, and I knew that winter would be coming early this year. Though the farmers had already had their harvest, winter normally came a couple months later. I could feel it in the air, and the leaves on the trees had long since died. Soon the frost and snow would come. I had to find J before that time, or else all hope would be lost. Rain would dampen a scent and make it difficult to find, but not impossible. Snow however, masked a scent entirely until next thaw, and by that time, the trail would be cold. No, if I wanted to fine J, it would have to be within the week, before the first snows. No one gets away from me that easily J. I will hunt you down.

~ ~ ~ ~

Four days past and each day began to become a routine. I would fly through the night and hunt to keep my energy up. I would stop each day before the sun rose to find a safe place to sleep, then after I slept for six hours or so, I would continue on foot, or I would find a ride in a wagon. When I had been with J, I had forgotten how people had treated me. The few years I had been on my own after my power had surfaced people tended to avoid me like a disease. It was because of the Beast within me. It was the natural instinct inside of people to avoid me, to fear me, it took a lot of persuading to change people’s minds. J had made all of that go away. When I had been with her, people feared us, but they also respected us, well mainly J, but by being with her I was looked upon with respect. Now, people just feared me. I cursed the Beast inside of me, yet it was a part of me, it was me. By getting rid of my Beast side, it would be like letting go a part of myself; I wouldn’t be able to do it.

Today was a bad day. The night had been rough because the wind had been against me the whole time. So I didn’t make as much distance as I normally would have, then when I went to sleep last night a stupid coyote decided that I was too close to her pups. Now normally coyotes leave humans alone, but I guess since she already felt threatened since I was a Beast she decided to make a fuss. I wasn’t hurt or anything. It was just annoying because I had to find a new place to sleep. Then after I found a spot, a few hours into sleeping, it started to rain. I was able to stay dry for the most part, but it was so cold that I fell in and out of sleep.

So finally, around eight in the morning I decided to just get up and start walking. J had been sticking to the road. I guess she figured it would be safe enough now that she was far away from the western city. How wrong she was. The rain had picked up quite a bit more, and on top of things, it was muddy. I was not in a happy mood. I was wet, cold, tired, and sore. I wanted nothing more to have a good hot soup, a warm bed, and a large soft pillow.

I wrapped the cloak around me more, and watched my breath come out in swirls of fog. As much as I hated the rain, I was happy that it was not snowing. The only way I would be able to keep on her trail during snow was if she were only a few hours ahead of me, anything after that and the trail would be masked. It frustrated me, no matter how fast I flew, J seemed to stay a day ahead of me at all times. Nothing traveled faster than I did when I flew, yet J managed to remain ahead of me.

I heard the sound of sloshing mud and I looked over my shoulder, just my luck. I stepped off the side of the road, stood on the bank, and waited for them to pass. Soldiers. The two head commands were on horseback, and were in front of the small group of troops, the rest were on foot, and they followed by a supply wagon pulled by two large mules. The wagon was a covered wagon. The party was made up of twelve men in all. Two were on horseback, eight were on foot, and two were riding on the wagon bench.

At that very moment, I had a feeling that I should leave them alone, and let them go on their way, but I was tired and the thought of being out of the rain was just too tempting. So I ignored my instinct, held up my hand and stepped into the road just as the leaders were about to pass me. “Excuse me sirs.” The leader on the right held up his hand, and the company came to a halt, the one closest to me looked down at me and frowned. I was muddy and I hadn’t shaved in a while, so I looked pretty rough.

“What can we do for you citizen?” He asked.

“I was just wondering sir if I might be able to ride in the back of the wagon. The privilege of getting out of the rain would be wonderful.”

The man snorted with amusement, “Son, that wagon is full of army equipment and food, I’m not about to let someone I don’t know stay in the back and have the change to steal or sabotage anything just because they said they want to get out of the rain.” He nodded his head to his right hand man, probably the second in command and the company started forward again at a slow march.

I frowned. Normally I would have let them continue without a fuss, but I was tired and I wanted to be out of the rain. On top of that, I did not like how he treated me. I growled to myself and jogged to catch up, and then fell in stride beside the men who were leading.

The man looked down at me and frowned, “What do you think you are doing citizen?” He asked. I looked straight ahead.

“I’m walking down the road.” I told him.

“Get out of my sight, you cannot walk with us.” He looked away from me and put his eyes down the road

“I’m not walking with you. I’m simply using a public road, I Just happen to be walking to same pace as you on the same road, at the same time.” I shrugged.

The second in command let out a bark of a laugh, and then turned it into a cough. He looked away when the head commander looked over at him with a glare. I smiled to myself and continued walking. No one made anymore chit chat, I kept pace with the men for full hour with my heavy pack. If I hadn’t been in shape it would have been very hard to do so otherwise. “Company will stop to eat.” The commander ordered and they pulled off the road and everyone gathered around the wagon to get some food. Some found a few dry places under a tree to switch out their socks or to talk while they ate. I decided it was a good time to eat as well.

I found a spot not too far away, and stopped to eat, the second in command was letting his horse rest, he spotted me eating my dry bread and apple and walked over to me, “Just happen to stop to rest and eat at the same spot?” He asked.

I grinned, “Small world.”

He laughed a bit and looked over his shoulder to the commander who had taken to ignoring my existence completely. “So what’s with you?” He asked me, “Did you get kicked out of the army or something?”

I stopped eating, “Why do you say that?”

He shrugged, “It seemed to me like you are trying to prove something. No one marches at that sort of pace just for the fun of it. I thought maybe you were trying to impress the commander so you could have a chance to get in the army.

I laughed and shook my head, “I would never willingly join the army friend.” I told him, “It’s not for me. No, I am not trying to impress him; I could care less what he thinks. I’m just doing it to annoying him, and to prove that I’m not some simple minded citizen and that he should show some respect next time or else another person might not be so forgiving as I was.” I went back to eating.

The second in command smiled, “I like you kid. Do you mind if I sit with you?” He asked. I motioned for him to sit on the log with me. The log was wet, but our cloaks were good for keeping the rain from our rear ends as we sat and ate. The company only rested for about twenty minutes. Their dark blue-gray uniforms blended in with the dreary weather. Only the commander and the second in command actually wore armor, the rest of the men only had leather on. I wondered why they didn’t wear armor, it seemed rather stupid not to have it on. The second in command stood up as the commander ordered the men to get ready to march again. He turned to me, “I’m Victor by the way.” He held out his hand.

“I’m…” I pretended to see something in the woods, but really, I was thinking up a name for myself, I turned back to him, “Sorry, I thought I saw something. You can call me Ash.” I shook his hand. Good one, you managed to take two letters off your name, very sneaky. I could just hear J’s sarcastic voice in my head.

The second in command nodded his head, gathered his things, and went over to his horse and packed it up. I stood up, pulled my pack onto my shoulders, and cracked my neck. I walked to the right side of the road this time, next to Victor. We made small talked as the small brigade marched down the road. The commander glared at us a few times then spoke up, “I order you to ignore him.” He said angrily then put his eyes back on the road.

Victor frowned at the commander and shook his head in disbelief. He looked at me and shrugged and I shrugged back. So everything was silent except for the pattering of rain and the small chatter of the group. As I took in my surroundings I noticed that the trees were changing, more pines were beginning to appear, which meant we were getting into cooler territory, further south.

I also noticed that the commanders’ horse was limping slightly, the horse was an amazing creature, its form and proportions were even. I saw the brand and smiled, then I noticed that its right front hoof was slightly cracked though, I narrowed my eyes at the commander, he wasn’t taking care of the horse and whoever was wasn’t doing a very good job at it. I gave the horse another hour before it decided that it would go no further and began to keep count in my head.

Sure enough, about an hour later, the horse slipped in some mud and decided that it was finished walking. The horse kneeled down and then went onto its side. The commander jumped off before he could got squashed. “Commander!” Victor jumped off his horse, “You alright sir?” He asked the man. The Commander pushed him away.

“I’m fine! This stupid horse!” He took out his crop angrily. I dropped my pack, ran forward, grabbed the man’s wrist and stopped him before he had a chance to hit the animal.

“Get out of my way.” He said dangerously. I stood my ground and held onto his wrist with a firm grip. I could feel my anger bubbling inside of me.

“Back away.” I told him.

“Unhand me boy before I have you arrested.” He warned, “This is the armies concern, not yours.”

I didn’t move, “Wrong.” I told him, “See that horse there comes from a very special breeder by the name of Henry Coal, and I happen to be his son, Asher Coal, so if you would please back away I will help your horse…sir.” Victor’s eyes widened in surprise, but he said nothing, the commander dropped his hand, and I backed away. “Thank you.” I turned to the horse then pointed to a random soldier. “Bring me your medical supplies.” The soldier looked at the commander.

“Do as he says.” He nodded. I took the saddle off the horse and placed it off to the side, and then ran my hand down the horse’s leg. It was hot. I shook my head; the soldier came back with his medical supplies. I took the next twenty minutes cleaning out the crack and then I mixed a special paste that my father had taught me to make. Then I spread it all over the hoof. When I finished I stood up and handed the things back to the soldier.

“Your horse needs rest; don’t ride him for at least a couple of days until the swelling goes down. I will teach one of your men how to make the paste, you need to keep it layered on the hoof for a week until it looks healed and I suggest you get a new person to take care of your horse. The hooves are the most important thing to take care of on an animal, especially one as active as this one.” I told the commander.

His arms were folded, “Very well, you there.” He waved at a young solder and he came forward.

“Sir?” He asked.

“You will take care of my horse; this man will teach you what you need to know. Victor, I will be using your horse now.” He turned to me, “And you, you will ride in the wagon with this man and teach him what he needs to know.” I nodded my head. “Very good, we move on.” The commander mounted Victor’s horse, I helped Victor get the other horse to his feet, we tied him to the back of the wagon, and I jumped into the back. The young soldier followed me and I then closed the back flap and tied it.

He lit a lantern and I pulled the hood of my cloak off and shook my damp hair out. “It feels good to be out of the rain.” I took my pack off and placed it off to the side, the wagon was full of supplies.

The young man nodded his head, “It is nice.” He pulled his pack off as well and placed it next to him in an open spot.

“Alright, first things first, I need paper and ink.”