Roann the Warden (special preview)

At the beginning, you weren’t afraid about making this journey on your own. You had traveled it many times with your father before, so you knew the route like the back of your hand. Or...so you thought. You had assured your family you could do this on your own. As your father was ill he was apprehensive to send you out, but the money was needed. With a heavy heart your family bid you farewell that one chilled morning.

The chill was long gone though and it was frigid now. Snow had covered the earth in the span of one restful sleep and you could no longer tell your left from your right.

“Confarned snow.” Your grumbling came out in thick white clouds. It had been lucky that the inn keeper had given you an extra scarf and gloves when you left. Your horse was doing his best, trudging through the cold snow while no doubt being frozen himself.

“We’ve got this Mortimer.” You stroked his neck and he huffed as if disagreeing with you. “I’m pretty sure we’re on the path.” Your eyes darted around, trying to recognize the scenery. The snow made it almost impossible to tell what was new and what was familiar.

“Yeah,” you agreed with yourself. “We’re on the right route.”

Time went on, and while you expected another small village to be around the bend, all you found was a frozen lake.

“This is new.” You stopped Mortimer and climbed off his back. You approached the lake, staring across it as you stomach sunk into the deepest depths. “I don’t think there was ever a lake on our trips before.”

Mortimer huffed.

“Okay, you were right,” you grumbled. “Let's head back. Maybe we can get our bearings.” You climbed back up onto Mortimer, jostling the saddlebags that contained the silverware you were supposed to be selling.

“We’ll give this one more go, okay boy?” You patted Mortimer’s neck, but he didn’t seem too pleased to be turning around.

It was getting dark and you were growing hungry. All day you’d been traveling a path you thought you knew, but now you were realizing you had just traveled two completely unknown routes.

You stopped and found a place where the trees had kept a lot of snow from falling on the ground. As you cleared it out to make a fire, you smiled for Mortimer.

“We’ll rest here for the night. Okay boy? I’ll build us a nice fire and you can graze on these bushes.” You knocked snow from them. “We’ll head back in the morning!” You tried to sound optimistic, but your stomach hadn’t risen back up since the lake.

Once your small fire was built, you leaned back against a tree and ate something from your bag. The fire crackled and popped, flickering shadows everywhere. The way the snow twinkled in the light of the flames was almost beautiful.

The heaviness of sleep settled on your shoulders and eyelids. Though you knew you needed to stay awake, the exhaustion of the day was getting to you. If only you had stayed at the inn a day longer, maybe this wouldn’t have happened. You drifted to sleep against the tree.

A crack on the side of your head roused you from slumber. You looked up to see an attacker standing over you, delivering a kick to your face. You fell to the ground, laying on your stomach to cover yourself. Mortimer was making a racket as other voices were hollering about the silver in the saddlebags.

“Stop!” You cried out, but it was a worthless endeavor. Your attacker hit you again and they started searching through your clothes. They bent your arms back to keep your still and someone else stood on your legs. When they found nothing they both kicked you over and over and over.

You thought you were going to die. You started crying, praying you could see your parents one last time. You covered your head and prayed you didn’t suffer for long.

A roar that chilled the air more than the snow stopped your robbers. They moved away from you, breathing panicked words.

“Leave the fucker for the Wardens!” One said.

Another roar shook the wind and the attackers fled.

You laid there shaking and breathing, watching as the snow turned pink then red. Tears rolled down your cheeks and you reached out your hand to try and claw at the earth. You couldn’t feel anything and feared this was the first step towards death.

Footsteps approached you and something stepped through the trees and underbrush. You saw great big feet covered in white fur. Your eye was swollen shut, so you couldn’t look up to see who was approaching you.

A deep voice spoke in a language you couldn’t understand, or maybe the attackers had kicked the brains from your head. The creature came closer, sniffing the air and muttering to themself. After a moment it knelt down and placed something warm over you. This, you thought, meant you dead, and the creature was giving you some privacy in your final moments. Some comfort, whatever it was.

You woke a second time, warm but still in pain. You breathed in the scent of a fireplace with a cauldron simmering over it. The savory scent of meat and broth with crackling firewood. Your whole body hurt, not an inch was spared.

“I didn’t think the afterlife would carry over any pain,” you muttered to yourself. A bit of blood collected on your tongue from a bite you’d left in your cheek. “Fuck.” You cupped your hand over your face and there were bandages on your head.

“The human rises.” The deep voice flows through the room.

You turn slightly, wincing at the pain in your shoulder as you did. Across the room there is a great figure by the fireplace.

“Be you angel or demon?” You asked.

“Neither.” The massive creature stepped towards you. “I am warden.”

You looked up, only able to make out a cascade of thick white hair. “Oh, an angel,” you murmured softly.

“Warden,” your angel repeated. “You are not dead.”

“How did that happen?” You muttered.

A candle was lit and you could see the creature above you. He was all pale, soft white and shades of rosy pink. He had long white hair and a bear tied off into two sections. He had tusks and ears that pointed back like horns.

“I found you in time,” he replied.