Horseshoe's Tall Tale

"Drawing First Blood"

Chapter Two:  Drawing First Blood.

  The bitter cold night soon transformed into morning, with young Ursula lying asleep at the base of the tree. A fresh layer of snow covered her, and the tracks of the commander’s horse as well. The morning sunlight washed over her face, and soon she awoke, groggy and unsure of where she was. The girl sat up and brushed the snow off of her, luckily for her the warm clothes on her body kept her warm enough through the night. Her blue eyes squinted in the bright morning light, as she strained to remember what happened and why she was in the woods. An awful headache arose from where she had hit the tree the night before. She rubbed her head, and began to remember the events that had led to this point. All at once it hit her, how she had tried to ride the commander’s horse and almost killed herself in the process. And now the commander’s horse was lost, all because of her. Ursula let out a gulp. What would he do to her for that, or worse, what would her father do to her. She slowly rose to her feet, shaky and off balance she managed to get up. For a brief moment, she contemplated running away and not going back to her village. She could make a living out in the wild, learn to fight and kill for food. It sounded good at first, a nice way to get away from the trouble she was in. But the longer she thought about it, the more she knew it wasn’t the right thing to do. She knew what she had to do, she had to admit to what she had done and face the consequences. Ursula looked around her, attempting to get her bearings. The forest stretched seemingly endless in all directions. There were no tracks in the fresh snow to remind her which way she had came, Ursula feared she might be lost.  The cold wind blew through her messy green hair that hung down over her eyes, like the cold reality of her situation slapping her in the face. She chose a direction, and then began her trek back towards what she hoped would be her home.
Ursula walked for what must have been an hour, before stopping by a tree to rest her tired legs.
“If this had been the right way, I would have seen the village by now, I know it.” She thought. “I must be going in the wrong direction.” Ursula sighed and rested her head in her hands. “Some great warrior I am… I’m such a fool.” A small tear ran down her cheek, and for a brief moment the hard outer shell of the brave young girl cracked just a bit. “Father, I hope that you will forgive me, if I ever make it back home that is.” Just then, something caught her eye, it was walking in her direction. As it got closer, Ursula was able to make it out. It was the two soldiers riding on a horse, the lieutenant in front and the commander behind him. The commander was holding his head, obviously with a bit of a hangover.
“We will find your horse, commander, don’t worry.” Lieutenant Williamson said, as he guided the horse through the maze of trees.
“Ugh… Lieutenant, I would appreciate it if we would limit the talking to a minimum.” Commander White groaned.
“Yes sir.” Williamson nodded.
“Hello!” The loud scream sent tremors through the Commander’s already throbbing head. He glanced over to see Ursula running up to them. “Hello commander, I’m very happy to see you. I was beginning to doubt if I would find my way back to my village.” The Commander stared at the young girl with glassy eyes.
“The commander is… tired, from the long days travel of yesterday.” Williamson spoke up for the commander. “It is best you keep your voice down young girl.”
“I’m sorry.” Ursula replied in a much lower tone.
“Well now, we are out here to locate the commander’s stolen horse.” The lieutenant stared an accusing eye towards her. “The guard at the gate described the thief as a little girl with long disheveled green hair. You wouldn’t have seen anyone out here that fits that description, would you?”
Normally someone calling her a little girl would send her into a rage, but Ursula was so ashamed and disgusted with herself, that she did not put up a fight.
“I… I’m sorry sir. It was me, I rode the horse out of the village. But, I wasn’t trying to steal it I swear.” Ursula pleaded. “I just wanted to see how it felt to ride a soldier’s horse. But, I guess I’m not cut out to be a great warrior. The horse got out of control and led me out here. I fell off and was knocked out… I don’t know where the horse went to.” Ursula looked down at the ground, as she muttered the last part. She was just to embarrassed to look the lieutenant in the eye. Lieutenant Williamson stared back at her.
“Well, I do appreciate you being honest with me, and I do believe that you weren’t trying to steal the horse. But, if we cannot recover it, your father will have to bear the burden of reimbursing the king for it, you understand that?” Ursula nodded back up at the lieutenant, who then reached down and helped the girl climb up on his horse. “Let’s just hope we find the horse.” Williamson gave Ursula a reassuring pat on the head before riding off.
The morning soon turned to afternoon, as the two soldiers and Ursula searched through the forest. It seemed hopeless until they came across some new tracks in the snow.
“Those are Hoof tracks.” Williamson observed the circular depressions in the snow. His eyes then moved over to another set of tracks that seemed to be following the horse tracks. “But those other tracks appear like large bear claws.” A loud whinny suddenly cut through the air like a lightning bolt. Lieutenant Williamson’s head snapped up towards the direction of the horse’s cry in the distance. “Yawww!” He yelled out, snapping the reigns of his horse which took off quickly to a full gallop. In a flash, they were rapidly weaving through the trees. Clouds flew up behind them as the horse’s hoofs tore through the snow. Ursula held on tight to the Lieutenant while the trees streaked by in front of her eyes. She soon felt herself grow dizzy and she closed her eyes to prevent herself from falling off the horse. When she felt the horse come to a quick stop, she opened her eyes back up. There, in a clearing, the commander’s horse was struggling against a rope looped around it’s neck. On the other side of the rope was a large beast that resembled a bear. While it looked like an animal, it stood on two feet like a human.
“What in blazes is that?” Lieutenant Williamson uttered in amazement over the sight of the half bear, half man. It roared in anger as it tried to pull the horse along with it, but the horse stood it’s ground against the monster, refusing to budge. Williamson jumped off of his horse and drew his sword from it’s sheath. “It’s a monster.” He growled.
“It’s a mire beast.” Ursula spoke out. Williamson looked back at her.
“A what beast?” The lieutenant asked.
“A mire beast, it’s what we call them. Vicious creatures that have been attacking our hunting groups.”
“Well whatever you call it, I still say its a monster. Okay, Ill take care of this.”  Williamson walked towards the beast, then turned back towards Ursula. “You wait there with the commander.” Ursula looked over at Commander White, who had somehow fallen asleep on the back of the horse. The mire beast still continued dragging the horse along, seemingly not concerned about the lieutenant walking towards it. With one quick swing of his sword, Williamson severed the rope in two, causing the mire beast to stumble backwards into the snow. It quickly righted itself and let out a bellowing roar directed towards the lieutenant.
“Wow!” Williamson waved his hand in front of his face. “All smell and no bite.” The beast lunged towards him, swinging its claw lined with dagger sharp nails. At the last moment, The lieutenant skillfully dodged the attack. Quickly he counterattacked while the beast was vulnerable, slicing his sword down across it’s outstretched arm. The beast fell to the ground in front of him, it’s arm severed at the shoulder. It’s terrible howl echoed through the forest as it laid bleeding. The lieutenant walked up behind the suffering creature and raised his bloody sword.
“Don’t worry, this will be quick and painless.” He declared right before sending his weapon slashing through the mire beasts neck, putting a swift and merciful end to it’s cries. Ursula watched on in amazement at the soldier’s fighting skills. This is what she dreamed it was like to be a warrior, facing vile forces of evil and vanquishing them in heroic combat. She loved every bit of it. The lieutenant walked over to try and calm down the commander’s horse.
“There, there. It’s okay now girl.” The horse refused to relax though, instead it began pulling away desperately. “What’s the matter?” Williamson asked. Ursula watched the horse’s distress and wondered why it was acting so frightened. Then she thought of something, every encounter with the mire beasts she had heard about was with more than one of them.
“Lieutenant watch out!” Ursula yelled. The lieutenant turned just in time to see a second mire beast lunging towards him. With no time to dodge, all he could do was use his sword to shield himself from the beasts mouthful of razor teeth. The beast’s attack knocked him down on his back, it’s mouth only inches away from his face. Williamson desperately pushed the monstrous mouth away from him with the broad side of his sword, but the beast was incredibly strong. It’s saliva dripped down past the sword wedged in the beast’s jaw, and down onto Williamson’s face. The ferocious animal’s hot, putrid breath rhythmically exhausted out from it’s lungs, which caused Williamson‘s eyes to sting and burn. The lieutenant stared down the throat of the deadly mire beast, fearing that he wouldn’t be able to hold off much longer against it. The stress on the sword soon became too much and it shattered in two under the beasts mighty bite. Now with nothing between the soldier and the animal’s razor teeth, it looked like it might be the end. The beast let out a bellowing roar right in Williamson’s face as if to display it’s dominance. Suddenly, a sword pierced the back of its throat causing its roar to be replaced with a loud gurgling. The lieutenant watched as the sword inched farther and farther until there were no more sounds coming from the huge monster. The sword then withdrew and the beast fell lifeless. Williamson pushed it off of himself to see Ursula wielding the commander’s sword covered in the blood of the defeated monster.
“Are you okay sir?” She asked.
“I’m fine… thanks to you.” Lieutenant Williamson replied with a smile. He climbed back up on his feet and looked over at the fallen mire beast. “I’m impressed, I was sure that was going to be it for me. I suppose we cannot underestimate these things.” Williamson glanced back over at Ursula. “Who taught you to wield a sword?“ He asked her.
“Nobody.” She responded. “I trained myself, actually it comes quite naturally to me.” Ursula kneeled down and wiped the commander’s sword clean in the snow. Once all the blood was wiped from it, she took the sword and handed it to the lieutenant. “Here is the commander’s sword, I’m sorry for taking it from him but given the circumstances I didn’t think he would mind.” The lieutenant took the sword from the girl and slid it into his sheath.
“You need not worry about that, you honor him with the skill in which you wielded it in battle.” The two looked over at the commander, still sleeping on the back of the lieutenant’s horse. “Uhmm… yeah well, let’s get back to your village.” The lieutenant tied the commander’s horse up to his own and with Ursula and the commander in tow, rode back towards the safety of Ironwill.
  It was late in the day, when the trio finally arrived back to the village. Under the dimming light of the setting sun, they rode through the gates of Ironwill. The temperature had begun its steady drop in the early evening, and the two soldiers yearned for the comfort of a warm fire and ale. Lieutenant Williamson motioned towards one of the village defenders at the gate.
“You there, I ask that you call a meeting of your most important officials, we have matters to discuss in regards to the beasts that have been attacking your villagers.” The defender nodded his head and immediately made his way towards the village meeting hall. Williamson dismounted off of his horse and then helped Ursula down.
“I’m sure your father is wondering where you are, you should go on home now.” He said to her.
“What about the horse…” Ursula began, but the lieutenant interrupted her.
“The horse is recovered and unharmed. As far as I’m concerned the situation is resolved, besides we have a much bigger problem to deal with now.”
“I can help against those mire beasts, they are so slow compared to me. They are no match for my speed.” Ursula boasted. Williamson chuckled as he reached down and patted her on the head.
“I don’t doubt you young lady, but why don’t you leave the fighting to us soldiers for now.” The lieutenants act of humoring her, made Ursula angry. She absolutely hated it when people didn’t take her seriously. Ursula just watched as the lieutenant got back on his horse and pulled on the reigns.
“Why don’t you go on home and get some sleep. Don’t worry about these monsters, we will take care of them.” The lieutenant then rode off towards the meeting hall. Ursula steamed over him treating her like a little kid, just like her father did.
“Go home and go to bed, I don’t think so!” She said. “If there is going to be a meeting about what to do with the mire beasts, I need to be there.” Ursula took off in the tracks of the lieutenants horse.
An hour later, all of the village officers and high ranking soldiers had gathered inside the meeting hall, a large building at the center of the village. Among those in attendance was the village elder,  Marshall Hallows, and his lead officer Leonard Andrews. Also there was the leader of the Blue Blade Militia, Ace Talon. The prominent feature in the hall was the huge table at which the officials sat to discuss matters of importance to the village. There were also chairs lined up in front of the table to seat ordinary villagers so they could witness these proceedings. On this night, the hall was full, as this matter was one of utmost importance to the safety of everyone. There was a definite sense of urgency in the air as the villagers continued to flood into the building. Two defenders stood guard over the entrance to keep order and take count of who is attending the meeting. They also turned away certain people that were not allowed entrance. Children, for example, were not allowed to attend the meetings. When they judged there wasn’t any more room, they began sending people away.
“Sorry, but the meeting hall is full, all of you should return to your residences. There will be no more people allowed in.” One of the defenders said to those still lined up outside. Just as he was about to shut the doors, he heard a voice come from out of nowhere.
“Your telling me, you don’t have room for a man of my stature?” The defender looked around for the source of the voice.
“Who said that?”
“I did! Down here you bonehead!” The voice replied. The defender glanced down to see a tiny old man with a long gray beard and old tattered hat.
“I don‘t believe I‘ve seen you before sir. What is your name?”
“My name? Why you no good waste of armor. You don’t know who you are speaking to? Well I will enlighten you, then maybe you will realize what a big mistake you are making.“ The old man’s face turned bright red with irritation. “My name is Major General Ruckus! That’s what’s wrong with this generation, they are so shortsighted they overlook the people that came before them. Why, I was fighting in wars while you were throwing up baby food in your crib young man!” The old man scolded.
“I.. I’m sorry sir, I’m sure we can fit you in somewhere…” The defender stammered, not sure of what to say.
“Oh, are you sure? Are you sure you can “fit in” a honored member of the king’s army that fought in the rebellion war and was decorated with the star of valiance twice in combat. Are you sure you can find somewhere I can sit? Hmm!?” The old man huffed, raising his cane in the air and swinging it in front of the defender. The embarrassed defender stood at attention in front of the old man, and saluted him.
“Sir I do believe I see an empty seat over there. We would be honored if such a distinguished soldier such as yourself would join us.” The old man smiled.
“That’s better. Yes, I do believe I will attend.” As the old man said this, his beard began to slowly fall off. Before it could, he reached up and pushed it back into place. He looked nervously up at the defender and then let out a laugh. “Ha ha, when you get to be my age, it’s a struggle to keep all your features from just sliding off.” As he walked to his seat, he let out a sigh of relief. The doors of the hall were finally shut and the village elder struck the table with his gavel to signal all in attendance to be silent. He cleared his throat and began to speak.
“All quiet, this meeting will now come to order. I apologize for the lateness of this gathering, but when I heard of the importance of the matter at hand, I believed it to be warranted. Because of the hour and urgency of this meeting, I will keep things short and too the point. We have gathered here to resolve the issue of the mire beast’s aggressive action’s toward our people. When we first encountered these animals in the wild, some three years back, they were non-aggressive almost docile creatures. They kept to themselves inside of caves and burrows. They were afraid of our hunters and scouts, and therefore were not judged to be a threat to us. But, as we all know, their recent sudden changes in appearance and demeanor have brought about a severe change in our encounters with them. These beasts have killed and wounded numerous scouting and hunting parties since this change, and we were left with the decision of what to do with these now territorial monsters. The day of that decision is now, we must implement a plan to terminate the threat before us from these beasts. With that being said, I now turn the floor over to Commander White, one of the king’s soldiers sent to assist us in this problem.” The elder motioned to Commander White, who acknowledged his turn to speak. The Commander rose to his feet.
“Thank you Mr. Hallows, distinguished officials and defenders of Ironwill.”
“About time he woke up.” Major General Ruckus, aka Ursula in disguise, muttered under his breath.
“Excuse me?” Said the woman sitting beside him. Ruckus snapped back into character.
“Err.. I said, about time he spoke up. A man of his caliber will surely help us in this most dire of situations!” He proclaimed, overdoing his old general persona just a bit. The woman looked at him quite strangely. A strand of green hair slid down out from underneath his old weathered hat. When he saw the woman staring at it, Ruckus quickly tucked it back in.
“Just because I get on in years, doesn’t mean I have to show it in my hair.” He chuckled innocently.
“Like your village elder says, we have a serious matter to discuss here tonight.” The commander continued his speech. “I, along with the Lieutenant here, was sent by the king to evaluate the threat reported by your village three months ago. Now, having seen for myself the extent of the problem and the magnitude of the situation, I must agree with Mr. Hallows in his accretion that these monsters must be eliminated immediately. Last night, under the cover of darkness, one of these monsters snuck into this very village and attempted to steal my horse. But thanks to my fighting prowess, I hunted it down and made sure it did not get away with such an outlandish crime against the king!”
“That miserable fraud.” Ruckus objected. He looked over at the woman beside him, who again gave him a curious look. “I mean… That deserves a round of applause!” He said as he stood on his seat an clapped his hands.
“Thank you sir.” The commander acknowledged the old man’s applause. “But that is just the beginning. I ask that your officials lend me arms from your militia defenders so that I might command a raid against these vile beasts. It is time for us to strike back against them, quickly and strongly as to put an end to this problem once and for all.”
“Ace, what say you about this matter?” Marshall Hallows asked the leader of the Blue Blade Militia.
“I agree, without a doubt the time has come to assemble and attack this head on. I will join this raid along with some of my best men. With the commander and lieutenant’s help, I am confident we could find out where these mire beast’s are organizing themselves and put a measurable dent in their population.” Ace laughed as he took a sip from his jug.
“Well then, it’s agreed.” The Commander said. “First thing tomorrow morning, we will assemble a raiding party and hunt down and crush these mire beasts where they live.” With that the audience stood and cheered. Ursula smiled under her disguise. A raiding party to fight the mire beasts, sounded like just the thing to prove herself in battle. The village elder pounded his gavel to restore order in the hall. After a few moments, the crowd sat back down and once again there was silence.
“Commander White, you and Ace Talon, coordinate your party and see that everything is ready to go by morning. I wish you both successful hunting. ” The elder said. “With that, this meeting is over. Thank you all for attending at this hour, I bid you all goodnight.” Mr. Hallows, and the rest of the officials got up and began exiting the building. Ursula threw off her fake beard and tattered hat, and ran up to the table where Commander White and Lieutenant Williamson were getting up from their seats.
“Lieutenant, I’ll be ready to go by morning. I’d be honored to fight for my village, you have to take me along.” Ace let out a belly laugh.
“Well, if it isn’t the little horseshoe maker, and would-be champion of Ironwill!”
“Please…” Ursula continued. “Let me prove to you what I can do.” The Lieutenant smiled back at her. Before the lieutenant could respond, Commander White spoke up.
“I was right about you little one, you do have a lot of spirit. But this fight isn’t for children no matter how tough they talk.”. Ursula’s face once again turned red.
“I am no child! And if you‘ll allow me to join your raiding party, you‘ll see for yourself.”
“This raid is serious business Horseshoe.” Ace Talon laughed. “Not like your warrior games you play against armies of potato sacks and pumpkins. And these meetings aren‘t for children anyways so why don‘t you run along home.” The nickname "Horseshoe" she had gotten for her skill in crafting artisan horseshoes, was not one she had welcomed. In this case, Ace had used it in a mocking way of belittling her. Ursula grew more and more angry at this continued scene of humiliation. She was just about to jump on the table and shove Ace’s jug down his throat when she heard her father’s voice.
“Ursula!” She turned and saw her father standing behind her. All at once, her stomach twisted up in nervous anticipation of what her father would do to her for being gone all day and making him worry.
“What are you doing here, and where have you been?” He scolded her.
“I… I…” She stammered.
“It’s my fault sir.” Lieutenant Williamson stepped into the conversation. “Your daughter was with me all day, I was giving her lessons in horseback riding.” Ursula turned to look at Williamson, who gave her a wink. “You have a very well behaved and intelligent girl, she learned to ride quite fast. And while the Commander here took care of the mire beasts himself, I had plenty of time to instruct her.” Ursula smiled, the lieutenant had just saved her rear.
“Well I certainly don’t mind you taking horseback lessons, but you should have told me first where you would be all day, I was worried sick.” Tiller said, as he walked up and placed his hand on Ursula’s shoulder.
“I’m sorry father.” Ursula replied.
“And you best get rid of this crazy notion of joining the raiding party tomorrow. We have already discussed this warrior business, you know how I feel about it.” Ursula nodded her head when her father had finished. “Let’s go home.” He said. And with that he led his daughter out of the meeting hall.
“Imagine that little blacksmith apprentice thinking she could help us in the fight against these beasts.” Commander White scoffed.
“Yeah.” Lieutenant Williamson replied. “Imagine that…” He said with a knowing smile on his face.

End of Chapter Two…